The morning light was brilliant and bright, and through the crystal square window spilled into the suite, Fang Yan slipped out of Sylvia's room quietly like a ghost, and tiptoed back to his bedside. On the soft bed, little Alice was still sleeping sweetly, which made Fang Yan breathe a sigh of relief in his heart, and stretched out his hand to cover her with a thin quilt that was scattered and open. Looking at her daughter's beautiful and quiet sleeping face, Fang Yan felt more and more that it was time for her to sleep alone. As for the reason, 6-year-old girls who are about to enter school must learn to be brave and independent early!

After dressing and washing, Fang Yan pushed the door and walked out of the suite, at this time the hotel restaurant had already prepared a delicate and rich breakfast, seeing Fang Yan arrive, the waiter next to him immediately prepared the meal for him as usual, and handed over the news newspaper that had just been printed this morning. Fang Yan sat down and just glanced at it, and it was difficult to take his eyes off it: this newspaper issued by the German occupation forces prominently wrote about the situation of the French overseas fleet under British control.

"At about 2 o'clock this morning, Berlin time, the despicable and shameless Britain flagrantly violated international law by brutally plundering the warships of the Neutral French Powers that they had forcibly detained in their harbors. It is reported that at least a hundred French sailors were killed in a clash of gunfire on the ship. At present, all the French warships in Plymouth Harbour have been plundered by British bandits, including 2 old Dreadnoughts of the Colbe class. The commander of the French detachment in Alexandria was even more lured by the heavy money offered by the British, and actually ordered the whole army to surrender to the puppet Free France and surrender all the ships. ……”

Fang Yan's pupils contracted, and he read the summary of the newspaper in his hand carefully. As a result, apart from the looting of French ships anchored in British ports, there was no news of an attack on French overseas military ports. A trace of disappointment flashed across Fang Yan's face, and at the same time, he sighed inexplicably in his heart: the British's grasp of the situation was indeed very accurate, and it was no longer in their plan to do this to their teammates who were unstable.

On the other world front, the reason why Britain killed the French fleet was based on the fact that they still firmly held the initiative at sea and were not afraid of reprisals from Vichy France. At that time, the French Navy only had two capital ships available in Dunkirk and Strasbourg, and together with a large number of light ships, they were moored at the Mirskbiel Naval Base in North Africa. Therefore, the British fleet only needs to eliminate this point, which is enough to eliminate the main unstable factor and achieve its own strategic objectives at sea.

However, in this plane, the French Navy, due to the fierce competition with Italy in the 30s, led to a much higher lineup and combat effectiveness than in history: not only did it build 2 Richelieu-class battleships before the outbreak of the Western Front, but also overhauled 3 old Breton-class battleships, and developed a real fleet aircraft carrier, the Chauffy. However, due to financial scarcity and its own slow response, the British Navy started the riot two years later than the European countries, which caused great tactical and strategic consequences.

With the current balance of British and French naval forces, and the fact that the French fleet is scattered and cannot be annihilated in one fell swoop, Britain's use of force against the French navy is tantamount to poking a hornet's nest and digging its own grave. You must know that at this time, Reival and a large group of high-ranking Vichy politicians clamored all day long to join the Axis camp with huge advantages, and use the corpses and blood of Britain to redeem all the rights and interests lost by France. The main reason why this voice has not yet become mainstream in the Vichy government is that the French have just experienced a terrible defeat, and the morale of the people is at the lowest point on the verge of collapse, and everyone wants to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the surroundings, and recuperate and weep for a while in grief and pain.

If now Britain kicks France in the ass, then the French, who have been disturbed by the negative dream of escapism, will not be able to find this treacherous and despicable former ally to fight hard? At that time, Reival's call will be a natural answer, and in an instant 40 million French people will be rallied to launch a mad revenge on England!

It was precisely on the basis of this pattern that was different from history that Fang Yan did not raise the issue of the French fleet to the naval command after the end of the Western Front campaign. If Britain had continued to fire on the French fleet as it had historically done, Germany would have benefited greatly: although it would have lost some of the ships that might be available in the future, it would have a great deal of certainty that Vichy France would declare war on Britain, which would have played an irreplaceable role in extending Germany's influence into West Africa and the Middle East. What's more, the French Navy could not be completely wiped out, and the remaining ships were enough to enrich the German naval lineup.

Although tactically, the German Navy could take this opportunity to squat back and seek an opportunity to inflict another heavy blow on the British fleet, a look at the map reveals that the British fleet was either targeting the Mediterranean Sea or Morocco. At present, the German navy is still beyond the reach of these places, and only the Italian fleet can intervene effectively.

However, the Roman hierarchy also believed that the war had been won, and their navy almost ceased all operations after the French surrender, and all nine capital ships returned to the port of Taranto. In the face of a person who had no intention of fighting, no matter how much effort Fang Yan put in his efforts, it was in vain, and he simply let the French fleet fend for itself. If they put up stubborn resistance, they can also fight out a few British warships.

However, to Fang Yan's surprise and disappointment, Britain finally chose to accept the situation that the French Navy could lose control at any time, and only incorporated the tattered bits and pieces under its control. You must know that compared to the 7 battleships that are about to sail into Toulon, the 3 ships that the British grabbed are not enough to see at all, and if you really want to face those compatriots who join the Axis fleet one day, you will be tortured by cutting melons and vegetables. The number of light ships captured by the British was only a small percentage of the French navy, and the performance was not superior.

When you think about it, this is probably the best option for the UK. This kind of behavior of eating what is already in the mouth will not cause an overly violent reaction in France, and it will also allow you to really benefit.

“…… In response to Britain's brazen seizure of French warships, Marshal Petain, the head of France (the official name of the Vichy regime), expressed strong condemnation and indignation at a press conference held in the early morning. Marshal Petain said that Britain's move was a barbaric plundering of France's precious property, and France had the right to reserve all countermeasures. And those who surrendered to the service of the puppet regime of de Gaulle, they have betrayed their nation and the motherland, and are no longer worthy to be French citizens. After the end of the war, all legal traitors will be subjected to the most severe trial. ”

"Sure enough, the reaction of the French was to let go gently, not wanting to get too entangled with Britain on this issue......" Fang Yan, who had finished reading the last page, put down the newspaper and already knew the true attitude of the Vichy government.

At present, Petain has not severed diplomatic relations with Britain, as he has done in the past, which shows that he expected and accepted the change of ownership of these warships in these British ports. After all, there is no reason to spit out what is eaten, and anyone else will do it, and the loss of these ships has not affected the bones of the French Navy. What the Vichy government wanted most now was to get out of the way and get out of the war as much as possible. When the peace treaty is finally concluded, the powerful fleet in his hands will be used as a decisive bargaining chip.

However, this is not possible. As a defeated country, the Vichy government had too much to look up to for Germany's breath, and as long as the latter wanted to use the French fleet, all kinds of inducements and coercion were enough to make Vichy's neutral heart a joke. More crucially, the current strategic situation in Germany is far better than history: Britain is no longer the iron turtle that makes Hans's navy weak, but flickering and dimming like a candle in a strong wind, and finally extinguishing it at hand. This situation was enough to make a large number of French people want to ride the victory train, and greatly encouraged the power of Reival's pro-German clique, and Petain could not reverse this trend on his own.

As soon as he thought of this, Fang Yan's mood became happy again. Britain renounced the use of force against the French fleet, which meant that Germany would soon be supported by a relatively well-equipped navy. Although there is only one regular aircraft carrier, it is still a small ship with a displacement of only 18,000 tons, but its large number of light ships is enough to solve the current top-heavy situation of the German Navy, making the composition of the fleet under the 10,000-word fleet more balanced and reasonable.

At present, the total number of cruisers and destroyers in the German Navy is less than 40, while the total number of active aircraft carriers and battleships is as high as 13, and two merchant ships converted into aircraft carriers will enter service at the end of the year. The addition of the French Navy will more than double the number of German light ships, and even if there is still a long time before that day comes, it will be much less time and effort than newbuilding. Fang Yan expected that by not waiting for the beginning of spring next year, the attitude of the Vichy government and Darlan on the issue of the fleet would be softened, and they would be able to go to sea to fight as soon as they negotiated terms with Germany.

In fact, compared with the cold dead objects of warships, carrier-based aircraft pilots, as well as the corresponding ground crew, command professionals and other software, are the most important gaps that the German Navy needs to make up for at present. By the end of this year, the 11 active aircraft carriers will theoretically need to be equipped with 1,700 units, but the current Navy carrier-based aircraft formation has less than 1,000 units, of which 400 are still newly recruited rookies. In this regard, Fang Yan didn't have any good way, after all, the steel hull of an aircraft carrier was always more convenient and easy to obtain than the elite personnel who had been tempered for thousands of years.

"Next, I should do my thing, too." Fang Yan whispered inwardly. Calculating the time, I have been in Paris for 1 week, and considering that the Hitler ideas were put forward by the joint Watt & Erter, the launch of the Führer's Ode is just around the corner. This political whirlwind will carry the Brom family to the top of the center.