At half past seven in the morning of May 11, at 10 Downing Street in London, England, Winston Churchill, the prime minister of the British Empire's wartime cabinet, was woken from his sleep.

The secretary, George, knew that the Prime Minister had a habit of going to bed late and waking up late, and looking at the few black lines that appeared on the Prime Minister's forehead, he hurriedly led the trouble to the east and talked about the reason for waking up the Prime Minister's sweet dream: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister Renaud of France wants to talk to you on the phone. ”

Churchill asked, half-open, in a dreamy tone, "What time is it?" ”

"Seven:30." George said.

"Seven-thirty-ten ・・・・・・," Churchill repeated with his eyes closed, then leaned back on the head of the bed and remained silent.

George looked at the Prime Minister and seemed to be asleep again, blinking his eyes and not knowing what to do.

Remembering Reynolds' hasty tone when he answered the phone just now, George decided to remind the Prime Minister that the matter was urgent.

Pick it up. ”

George hurriedly picked up the telephone microphone at Churchill's bedside, said a few words into the microphone, and then handed the microphone to Churchill, and then tiptoed out of Churchill's bedroom, and gently closed the door, so as not to disturb Churchill's office.

Churchill looked into the microphone and said in a flat tone: "Mr. Prime Minister, I am Churchill, you have ・・・・・・"

"We were defeated!" A panicked voice came from the microphone.

"What did you say?" Although Renault's English pronunciation was fairly standard, Churchill still didn't trust his ears.

"We were defeated, the line of defense near Sedan was broken through, and German tanks and armored vehicles were pouring in en masse." Renault shouted on the phone.

"Didn't you mobilize three armored divisions for a counteroffensive yesterday? And what about the three armored divisions? The drowsiness on Churchill's face vanished, and he loudly questioned Renault on the phone.

"They were all defeated by the Germans, and we now have no power to stop the Germans."

"Slow down, I need details." Churchill said.

Renault stammered over the phone about what had happened, and yesterday morning, Ganmalin mobilized three panzer divisions to launch a counterattack on three German river crossing points, only to be met with head-on attacks by the Germans.

The 1st Panzer Division was responsible for counterattacking the German bridgehead in the Dinan area, but it encountered the German 15th Panzer Corps, which had already crossed the river, and under the siege of the German 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions, the 150 tanks of the French 1st Panzer Division were reduced to less than 50 tanks in less than a day, and had to retreat westward.

The 2nd Panzer Division was responsible for counterattacking the German bridgehead in the Montmé area, but due to a mistake in coordination, the logistics unit of the division encountered the German 41st Panzer Corps moving south alone during the march, and in the face of the German 6th and 8th Panzer Divisions, the French logistics troops that were almost ineffective were wiped out in an instant. Without the support of the logistics forces, the combat units of the French Second Panzer Division, including tanks, infantry and artillery regiments, were divided among several nearby infantry divisions.

The 3rd Panzer Division, which was attacking the Sedang area, was also besieged by the 19th Panzer Corps, which had absolute numerical superiority, and was heavily damaged in less than a day, and the remnants had to flee to the right bank of the Maas River to rest.

After listening to Renault's explanation, Churchill suddenly felt that he was not even in the mood to light a cigarette, and after a few seconds of silence, Churchill asked: "What about the other reserves?" Even if these three armored divisions are gone, what about the other reserves? ”

"No, no, there is a gap about fifty kilometers wide in our line of defense, and the Germans are pouring in from this gap." Renault cried on the phone and said, "We were defeated, we lost this war." ”

Churchill gasped into the phone, and it was with great difficulty that Reynolds' defeatist rhetoric stirred up waves in his mind.

After calming down, Churchill gradually cleared his mind and skillfully sketched a map of France in his mind.

"Where did the Germans march after breaking through the Maas? The English Channel, the Maginot Line or Paris? ”

"I can't say for sure right now whether they're going to Paris or outflanking the Maginot Line, but it's certain it's not the English Channel."

Churchill pressed the telephone microphone to his chest to prevent Renault from hearing his breath, and the fact that the Germans did not march towards the English Channel showed that the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium was safe for the time being, and there was no danger of being surrounded.

"I'll go to France in the afternoon, and we'll meet and discuss the next step of the battle. You have to figure out the direction of the German advance before we can make a plan for the battle. Churchill said.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, a Flamingo airliner flew to France under the escort of a squadron of Hurricane fighters.

In the cabin, Churchill asked General Deere, the British deputy chief of the General Staff, who was accompanying him, "What are the army units that we can use now?" ”

"At present, the army only has the First Armored Division and the Third Infantry Division that can be used, but the First Armored Division has only completed its establishment, and it still needs full training and run-in to be able to give full play to its combat effectiveness. On its way home from Norway, the 3rd Infantry Division was attacked by German submarines and lost most of the equipment and personnel of the two artillery regiments, while the rest of the divisions were not damaged, and the two damaged artillery regiments were now largely replenished. ”

"You mean the 3rd Infantry Division is ready to go into battle at any time?" Churchill asked.

"Exactly."

"You immediately inform the War Department and ask them to organize the 3rd Infantry Division to cross the strait, and then wait for orders.

・・・・・・

On the south bank of the Maas River, Chen Dao poked his head out of the Bandit No. 1, pointed to the large and small craters on both sides of the road, and said to Captain Lorenz: "Look at the size of those craters, at least they are also masterpieces of 500 kilogram bombs, and it seems that the bombers of the Air Force have not been here to comfort the French." ”

"Those French captives will certainly not accept our enthusiasm." Captain Lorenz replied.

Chen Dao turned his head towards a forest on the left side of the road, where there were thousands of French prisoners, sitting, lying or squatting, their postures different but highly uniform.

"Do you see those Frenchmen, what do you see on their faces?" Chen Dao asked.

"They seem to have lost their souls." Lorenz looked at it carefully for a while and then said seriously.

"That's right, a soldier who loses a battle is equivalent to losing his soul, and if you don't want to lose your soul, don't lose the battle." Chen Dao said.

"Colonel, your telegram." A herald rode a motorcycle parallel to Chen Dao's Bandit No. 1, stretched out an arm to hand Chen Dao a telegram.

"You're a good rider." Chen Dao took the telegram and praised the herald with a smile.

"The main force of the regiment is marching to the area of Nesato, the source of the Maas River, following General Guderian, and it is expected to arrive before dark tomorrow, quick, bring the map." Chen Dao said after reading the telegram.

After Captain Lorenz unfolded the map, Chen Dao quickly found the Maas River on the map. Chen Dao's fingers followed the course of the Maas River into the interior of France, and soon found Narsato.

Captain Lorenz took out a ruler and compass and made measurements on the map, and determined that Narsato was one hundred and eighty kilometers from the border between France and Switzerland.

"One hundred and eighty kilometers is the distance in a straight line on the map, which is certainly much farther, and with the time consumed by the French resistance, they may reach the Swiss border around May 18, and with a week to destroy the French in the encirclement, the first phase of the French campaign should have been completed on the 25th, and it took only twenty days. After the completion of the first stage, we will have another twenty to thirty days to complete the second phase of the operation, and France will be finished, the total time will not exceed fifty days, and it can be completely controlled within eight weeks. Chen Dao kept sneering at the map.

Captain Lorenz quietly glanced at each other with the four orderlies in the carriage, wondering if the commander was too optimistic about the battle situation, but seeing Chen Dao's excited expression, he still wisely chose to be silent is golden.

After crossing the Maas River, the Ghost Battle Group marched much faster.

On the afternoon of May 10, in only half a day, Chen Dao led the troops to advance more than 30 kilometers. If it weren't for the time spent waiting for the Air Force transport planes to drop fuel by air, they could have gone even further.

At 7:20 p.m., the various units of the Ghost Fighting Group drove into a small town called Lechenne. The town is small, with a population of only about 1,000, and most of them have fled.

At Le Xenne, the Ghost Battle Group encountered the logistics units of the 2nd Armored Division of the 19th Panzer Corps, who had just crossed the Maas River and were chasing the main force of the division.

After a friendly exchange of pleasantries, the two sides divided their respective camping areas, with the 2nd Armored Division in the east of the town and the Ghost Battle Group in the west of the town.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas, the head of the logistics unit of the 2nd Panzer Division, generously invited Chen Dao, Major Schubert, and Major Schumacher to dinner.

After dinner, Chen Dao reciprocated and invited Lieutenant Colonel Thomas to spend the night in the villa area, and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas followed Chen Dao and the others to a villa in the north of the town with a locked gate.

Major Schumacher personally mounted a turret and rushed to the villa, first "opening" the iron gate of the courtyard of the villa, and then "clanging" down the two obstructive oak doors, and the road to the villa's accommodation area was completely open.

"Please, Mr. Thomas." Chen Dao waved his hand and made a gesture of invitation to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas.

"Dear Colonel Rosen, I like your style so much." Thomas said with a smile.

After a few polite words to each other, they each chose a bedroom to spend the night in this villa with nearly 100 rooms on four floors.

The next morning, as soon as Chen Dao woke up and washed up, he was taken to the first floor of the villa by Major Schumacher, and after walking down thirty or forty steps, Chen Dao entered an underground wine cellar.

Chen Dao nodded to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas and Major Schubert, who had been waiting for a long time, and then looked at the furnishings of the wine cellar, which was full of honeycomb wine cabinets, and Chen Dao roughly counted that there were more than 2,000 bottles of various bottles of wine, not counting the stout barrels.

After turning around the wine cellar, Chen Dao frowned and said to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas and the others: "Have you seen that the exploiting class in France exploits their people in this way, and we must not condone this kind of atmosphere of their people, nor can we waste the fat and ointment of these French people. ”

"You mean ・・・・・・?" Lieutenant Colonel Thomas asked.

"It's a shame to be wasted, and we can't let these hard-earned drinks spoil here, we need to wipe them all out before their expiration date. Call someone at once, confiscate, confiscate everything. Chen Dao said awe-inspiringly.

Two hours later, south of the town of Le Chéenne, Chen Dao and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas reluctantly said goodbye.

Before leaving, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas gave Chen Dao, a young colonel who was very close to his eyes, a large number of hams and sausages

ingredients, Chen Dao gave back a box of Universe brand cigarettes to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas.

The two then led the team to part ways, with Chen Dao taking the southwest route and Thomas heading straight south.

Soon after the party departed, Chen Dao received a telegram from Mandolfer, in which Mandolfil asked where Chen Dao had gone, and said that Guderian was eager to see him.

Chen Dao sneered at the telegram a few times, and said in his heart that Guderian was in a hurry to see him, it must be because of the equipment. After pondering for a while, Chen Dao decided to delay for a few more days, and wait until Guderian's appetite was enough to see him.

Chen Dao had not yet replied to Mandolfir's first telegram, and Mandolfir's second telegram was sent to him by the communications platoon.

After reading the contents of the second telegram, the smile on Chen Dao's face froze, and in the second telegram Mandol said that he and Guderian's military headquarters would stay for a few days in a village called Solni, hoping that Chen Dao would be able to meet in time.

Why stop, and it's still a few days, don't they know that they have to seize every second to hit the Swiss border? Chen Dao couldn't help but feel a wave of anger in his heart.

Chen Dao immediately ordered the communications platoon to send a report to inquire about the specific reason why the 19th Armored Army had stopped marching, and then sat in the Bandit No. 1 and waited for a reply.

Mandolfer's reply did not wait, but Chen Dao waited for the report of a traffic jam in front of Major Schumacher.

"Who's fighting us? Ask their numbers? Chen Dao shouted over the radio.

"He said they were Waffen-SS, skeleton division men."