It seemed that there was not enough bad news, and at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the members of the United Governmental Synod were about to temporarily adjourn for dinner, when more explosive news poured in. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have just received the latest news that the French have submitted an ultimatum to London......" Secretary of State Hull, who had not spoken much in the afternoon, suddenly reported a bad news.

"What?" The congregation was taken aback, and the French were about to get on the ship of the Axis.

"On what grounds?"

"First, it demanded that Britain transfer the convicted de Gaulle and others back to France, ban the activities of 'Free France', and announce that they would no longer support the anti-French movement;

second, the return of gold reserves and important cultural relics that had been lost to Britain and its colonies during the European War;

Thirdly, to compensate Britain for the losses caused by the treacherous seizure of the French colonies and the attack on the French fleet, and to punish those responsible......"

He read the seven demands in one breath and finally said: "The authorities in Paris order London to reply within 24 hours, and if one of them is rejected or is not answered within the time limit, it will be regarded as a rejection of the ultimatum, and relations between the two countries will be in a state of war from 12 noon on July 28, Paris time!" ”

"Is Petain insane? France, a defeated country, dares to declare war on us? What ecstasy soup did Hitler pour on him? ”

"It's not us, it's the UK." Hull reluctantly said, "The urgent message from the ambassador in Paris is already the unanimous opinion within France, and London will either accept it or go to war." In addition, the French said that they did not want to be hostile to us, and suggested that relations between the two countries should remain neutral. ”

Ecstasy Tonhoffmann was of course to give Petain a little, but more importantly to Darlan a little. It was clear to all the French top brass that Petain's health was deteriorating day by day, while Germany's prestige and prestige were in full swing, and the big French ship was soon faced with a new choice.

The German Führer's attitude was very clear: after Petain, if Darlan insisted on Franco-German rapprochement and EU integration, he would support him to become the head of France, and if Darlan refused, he would support Reival to become the head of France, and Germany left France a second place in the European Union - although it seems that Italy is the second place at present, France is actually better than Italy in terms of land, strength and economy, so it is a historic opportunity.

In addition, in order to win over the French, Hoffmann, in addition to allowing France to take advantage of the British colonies in Africa, also allowed a part of the Middle East oil fields to be opened to French capital, and at the same time persuaded the Japanese side to give France a share of the Indian continent -- allowing France to expand the area of several colonies in India, on the condition that France agreed to sign a declaration that all French Indochina would be handed over to Japan.

Although Japan now occupies the whole of Indochina, it is always unjustifiable, and it is naturally best to get the endorsement of France, as for the existence of French colonies in India, Japan also believes that it cannot afford to monopolize the entire subcontinent, and it is not enough to let the French get a little cheap, but can accelerate the collapse of British India.

"Hitler unexpectedly gave France a lot of preferential conditions, the occupied French territories were returned, the French prisoners were released early, France was allowed to rearm, even including the formation of the most advanced armored divisions and aviation, a large number of orders were placed against the French industry and big capitalists, and even his own ship drawings and aero engine drawings were given to the French, and now many products, including German standard trucks, will wheels, No. 4 tank parts, train locomotives and other products are produced in France, Not to mention the artillery industry and shipbuilding industry, which France already has advantages, and French agricultural products are constantly imported into Germany......" Hull said with a wry smile, "Except for the fact that France has a bad reputation as a defeated country, it is not bad in other aspects, the people's living standards have basically remained the same, the unemployment rate has also dropped greatly because of the war boom, and the German occupation in France is generally relatively mild, and there are not too many vicious incidents." ”

Admiral King added: "At the beginning, the French also handed over the entire fleet to Germany in its entirety, and there were many French warships that fought with us and went to the Atlantic to break diplomatic relations, and the west coast of France was full of German submarine storage areas......

Marshall also added: "I heard that the SS is also recruiting volunteers in France, and the French have joined quite a few, at least 20,000 people!" ”

"So, it is inevitable that Britain and France will declare war on each other? We don't have to use diplomatic good offices anymore? Roosevelt frowned and said, "I thought that with Petain's cunning, he would have disdained to do so." ”

"The key is the Gaullists!"

"Well...... Roosevelt sighed, "do we need to declare war on France?" ”

Everyone shook their heads together, France declared war on Britain and the two sides may not really fight, this is mostly a political attitude, but if the United States declares war on France, it can only push France further into the arms of Germany, and the thought of a world's fifth industrial country is about to be used by Germany, everyone feels a tingling scalp.

"The situation is not so simple, the ambassador also disclosed a message in the urgent message - it was told to him by the French." Hull looked very anxious, "Hitler issued a notice to seize the colonies in Africa, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands and even Greece were notified that they were allowed to send troops to rob Rhodesia, Germany did not participate, whoever else grabbed it will belong to whomever else, and it will be protected by the EU in the future!" ”

Everyone gasped, Rhodesia is the only remaining British colony in Africa, closely connected with South Africa, Germany's move is vicious enough, it is tantamount to rallying an anti-British alliance on the continent - if this vote of countries are encouraged by Germany to rob Britain, it will be even more difficult to counterattack the European continent in the future.

"Why haven't our diplomats in these countries been notified?" Stingson asked curiously.

"This shows that these speculators are tempted." Roosevelt said hatefully, "This is a bunch of ghoul vultures!" ”

Although the United States is very strong, it is obviously unwise to confront so many countries at the same time, if the United States threatens with force and Germany lures with interests, everyone will make a wise choice, but now there is nothing to attract this group of wall grass, and the Allies will not be able to fight the war.

Roosevelt's heart was in turmoil, but his face was still relatively calm, and he said unhurriedly: "Let these wall grasses be proud for a few days, as long as we win a few battles and turn the situation around, they will soon cry and shout again." ”

"We ......," Hull began, "should we consider Winston's situation, he might ......"

"Send him a telegram and tell him that the United States will always be the strongest supporter of the British Empire, and that I hope he will get through it, and that one more France is not a big deal, and that France cannot fight anyway." (To be continued.) )