3:10 p.m., May 27, 1940. London. 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister's official residence.

Winston. Churchill stood with his hands behind his back in front of the map of Europe hanging on the wall of his office, frowning at that corner of France.

In his hand was a telegram, and the person who delivered it sat on the sofa beside him with his head down, looking at Churchill without saying a word.

"Mr. Aiden, what else do you have to say now?"

Churchill turned and looked at the Secretary of War with a blank expression.

"It was only because you and General Ismay patted their chests and assured me that you had found the loopholes in the German army and promised to use them to save our expeditionary force that I was persuaded by you to agree to this foolish plan. Do you see how it is now? Your plan has put the expeditionary force in an even more dangerous position! ”

Churchill slowly walked back to his desk and sat down.

"Prime Minister, this is not our fault, you also saw the situation two days ago, the information is accurate, but it is just a miscalculation of the time it will take for the Germans' armored forces to be repaired. If Gort's forces had moved faster, we might have succeeded. Ismay discerned.

"What? Time? That alone is fatal enough, you've been wrong for a whole day! Now it is because of your mistake that our 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 50th Infantry Divisions are heavily surrounded by the Germans at the breakthrough you have chosen! Do you still believe in this plan? ”

Churchill slammed to his feet, finally unable to contain his anger and spoke aloud.

"Don't you see by now that all this is a trap for the Germans? The Germans may not have trimmed at all, they are not short of fuel, they are waiting for us to send the expeditionary force into their trap stupidly. Now the main force of Gort's expeditionary force slammed into the muzzle of the German Kleist armored group, and although they had stopped the German attack, they could not hold out much longer.

Now the Gorts were preparing to retreat, they did not have a solid defensive position, did not have enough firepower, and there was no reason to continue holding out in front of the German armored forces. This was the news he got this morning, and Gort gave a detailed report of his current situation. Most of his supplies and ammunition had already been consumed in this operation, and now they only had two days' provisions, and their ammunition was only enough for one attack. The plans of the Germans this time were so insidious and cunning that they finally deceived us all.

Now the only thing we can be thankful for is that they have not yet broken the main force of the expeditionary force. But if we don't do something about it now, then it's only a matter of time before they fall. Now I want you to come up with a proper plan for how we are going to deal with this disaster. ”

"Your Excellency, do you have any ideas?" The Minister of War asked with a sad face.

Churchill exclaimed, "Have you not considered any backup plan in these two days?" ”

"Well, we had been expecting this plan to succeed, but it happened so suddenly, and we only received a report from the expeditionary force this morning, and then we learned that our plan had been frustrated. So we haven't had time to make a remedial plan for a while. Ismay replied with a shudder, he could not have looked at Churchill's angry eyes.

"Frustration? It's a failure! Do you still want to save the face of the Chiefs of Staff? Churchill roared.

"If the expeditionary force were wiped out by the Germans, we would all end up in the same situation, not only in face, but also in the whole cabinet because of this incident, and you would be kicked out of the army by the angry British people. Nine divisions of 250,000 men, I don't dare to think what would happen to our Britain if we lost these troops. We won't have the strength to defend our empire for half a year.

Although I have given orders to bring in some elite troops from the colonies, it will take time, and the number of these troops will not be enough to compensate for the loss of the expeditionary force to the army. Even if it is too late to recruit soldiers now, it will take at least six months to wait until the soldiers have finished training. Until then, we had to rely on retired veterans and untrained rookies to protect our coastlines. ”

"So what do you mean?" The Secretary of War asked.

"What do I mean? I don't mean anything, I just think about how to keep these troops. Churchill calmed his mind a little.

"The situation is serious, it's just catastrophic. This stupid operation has already cost us four elite infantry divisions. Although two of them were heavily damaged in the last battle, the other two were rare main forces in the expeditionary force, and those two division commanders were also rare excellent officers. Now we simply don't have the power to get them out of the encirclement, so we have to leave them to deal with their own problems.

We now have only five full infantry divisions left in our hands, and we can no longer afford to watch them be wiped out as well, so I decided to reactivate the "Generator" program. We must withdraw them from France. ”

"Prime Minister, have you really decided to restart the "Generator" program? But it may be too late, and the navy has not yet been able to clear a passage in the minefield that can be used by large ships. It may take another two days. Imes asked.

"Then speed up the minesweeping, and first clear a channel for small ships to pass, or at least we need to open up the supply lines at sea first. Supplies can be transported by as many ships as they can be. Now we must do everything we can to support Goth in his defense. Whether it's airdrop or sea delivery, be sure to send the supplies he needs most. "Dent is finally thinking again.

Churchill excitedly said: "Yes, at the same time, we have to tighten the whole line. With the loss of those four infantry divisions, we could no longer maintain the same long line of defense as before, and we had to gather our forces together with the French First Army. Re-establish a suitably strong line of defense. Hold off the German attack.

We also have to pay close attention to the Belgian line, and I have not received any reports of it so far, and I do not know how the Belgians fought after the British troops were transferred there, and the last report said that the Germans seemed to have strengthened the troops there.

If the Belgians are defeated, then there will be a big hole in the line of defense of our expeditionary forces . I think we should build a line of defense in the rear of the Belgians as soon as possible to prevent this from happening. If necessary, take over the Belgians' positions directly, and if they show signs of collapse, immediately bring their government and the king to London by plane, and they will be of great use to our future battles. If they don't want to come, we can use force when it is critical.

As long as our line of defense can withstand the German attack for a week, we will be able to withdraw the main force of the expeditionary force. We will do whatever it takes to accomplish this difficult task, and the Royal Navy and Air Force must do their best to support this project.

I will now inform the Minister of the Navy and the Minister of the Air Force to come and discuss this plan. We have to succeed, for the sake of our empire, and for our own sake. Even if only one division is saved, no, even if only one regiment is saved, it is a victory. It is better than sitting back and watching them annihilate, not to mention that the current situation is also caused by our mistakes, and we have to take all the responsibility. ”

At this time, Imes reminded: "The most important thing is supply, without which everything else is empty talk." We had to supply not only our expeditionary force, but also the French First Army, which also had few supplies. If those French collapse first, then the end of our expeditionary force is not far off.

Although the combat effectiveness of those French ** teams is not very good, now they can only rely on them to hold the defense line in the middle. When we begin to withdraw the expeditionary force to the UK, we will need them to break the back.

Hell, we had contacted the French to have their main force on the southern front to cooperate on the other side of Arras, but they didn't start a tentative attack until this morning, and as soon as they made contact with the mechanized infantry division that the Germans had placed on the defensive line, they were stopped and slashed by the Germans' 41st Panzer Corps.

Two of their divisions had been heavily damaged, and now they had retreated behind their Weygang lines. We could have asked them to launch a few attacks to relieve the pressure on the troops in the encirclement, but now it seems that we can't count on them. ”

"What the hell is that Ironside doing? How did he get in touch with the French. He was the general who was most supportive of this plan, and it was his strong demand that we let the expeditionary force break through from the southern front, and we would have come to this point. I think if anyone is to be held accountable for the current situation, he should bear the main responsibility. The Secretary of War said excitedly.

"Chief of the Imperial General Staff of Ironside? I also remembered that many people raised questions when discussing this plan at that time, but they were all strongly rejected by him. It was his stupidity that brought the expeditionary force to its present crisis. I now ask His Excellency the Prime Minister to hold the Chief of the Imperial Staff of Al Arneside accountable for this defeat without delay. Ismay also exclaimed excitedly, he couldn't help but throw himself at the five bodies admired by the Minister of War, and found a scapegoat so quickly, and it was full of weight, enough to drag him and the Chiefs of Staff into the quagmire.

Churchill listened to the words of the two people, and his heart was also moved. He picked up the half-extinguished cigar from the ashtray, picked up the lighter on the table and lit it, then took a sharp puff. Then he began to frown, considering the feasibility of the proposal that the two guys had just made.

Churchill thought about it and thought it was feasible. Someone has to take responsibility for the current situation. The position of Chief of the Imperial General Staff is very suitable to be the scapegoat for this. In that case, even if Operation "Dynamo" fails and the expeditionary force is completely destroyed, it is possible that he and his cabinet will continue to stay in their current position.

"Now, Mr. Dent, recall General Ironside to England at once, and then detain him at the airport, and at once assemble a committee to investigate General Ironside's responsibility in this plan. It's all up to you, and you know what to do with the media. Churchill made up his mind, and in the middle of two sentences, the tragic fate of the Imperial Chief of Staff was decided.

The Secretary of War and the representatives of the Council of Chiefs of Staff were happy in their hearts, but on the surface they were still serious, and they looked at Churchill and nodded their heads in understanding.

At that moment, there was a knock on the office door. Churchill hurriedly shouted.

"Come in!"

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, this is an urgent telegram from General Goth just sent by the War Department!" Churchill's secretary walked in with a telegram.

"Oh, give it to me." Churchill took the telegram and just wanted to read it, but he remembered something.

"Wait a minute." He called out to the secretary as he was about to leave.

"You shall now immediately inform the Ministers of the Navy and Air Force and the Chiefs of Staff of all branches of the armed forces to come to me for a meeting at once."

"Yes, Prime Minister, I'll do it immediately." The secretary walked out and closed the door.

Churchill lowered his head and began to read the telegram carefully, but the more he saw the more ugly his face became, he walked back to his desk and sat down slowly. His face turned pale, and he frowned and stared at the telegram tightly, and sat there without saying a word.

"Prime Minister, what does Gort's telegram say?" The War Secretary asked nervously, and he could tell from Churchill's face that the situation might have deteriorated again.

"The situation has changed, you can take it and see for yourself." Churchill picked up the telegram.

Dent hurriedly walked over, took the telegram from Churchill's hand and read it, and Ismay on the side also hurriedly came over. The two men were taken aback when they read the telegram.

"What? Calais lost? What can I do? Now we are left with only one seaport in Dunkelke. Guderian's Panzer Corps would have taken Calena and would have been able to rush along the coast to Dunkerke, and even the flood lines of the Canal Zone would not be able to stop him, and he would have reached Dunkelke in two days. We may not have time to carry out Operation "Generator". The Secretary of War exclaimed.

"God, have pity on England." Ismay was also there to lament.

"No, it's not the last moment, we can't afford to lose faith that justice is on our side. As long as Dunkirk has not fallen, we will not give up. If there is still a glimmer of hope, we will continue to operate and we must withdraw those troops. ”

Churchill jerked to his feet.

"We still have an air force, and we have a strong navy, and we will do whatever it takes to help the expeditionary force hold that city, and if we can hold out for a week, we will be able to withdraw most of our troops to England, and it will be worth whatever we pay for them. Weapons can be built and bought, but trained elite troops are not immediately available for purchase. As long as we have this army, we can hold our empire. I am confident that the final victory will be ours. ”

Just as Churchill was speaking loudly with confidence, there was another knock on the office door.

"Prime Minister, the ministers and chiefs of staff have arrived, and they are waiting for you in the living room."

"Oh, ask them to go to the conference room first, and I'll be right there."

"Yes, Prime Minister."

The secretary withdrew. Churchill turned and said solemnly.

"Gentlemen, let us now go and discuss with the elites of the Empire how to save our British Empire. Hopefully they can come up with a better idea. ”

;