The visit of the Johans family was warmly welcomed by their cousin Consuelo and their cousin-in-law, Jacques Ballerson. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Although Consuelo hadn't seen John before, only her uncle Frederick and brother Harold had visited her a few times since her parents died. After many years, she was still a little excited to see her "family" again, and as soon as she met, she warmly hugged little Ella and kissed her.

When she was young, Consuelo was a model of a generation of celebrities, and her fair and slender body was very much in line with the aesthetics of the era, and everyone was fascinated by her style. Even though she is now in her 50s, she is still so graceful and elegant, and her charm is extraordinary. Especially the aristocratic temperament she inadvertently exuded, as soon as they met, Adele and Ella had a good impression of her.

His cousin-in-law, Jacques Ballesson, was a personable French gentleman from the famous French family of Ballesson. The family was very influential in the textile and clothing industries in France, and they were also well connected in the political and military circles, and they were the main suppliers of military uniforms to the French army for nearly a century.

Jacques warmly beckoned everyone to the tea-room to take a seat. Today's visit is not only John and his family, but also Consuelo's best friend, the fashion maestro Coco Chanel, and Ballesund's friend, Lieutenant General Henri Giraud of the French Army. After a while, everyone chatted happily.

When women get together, it's never a matter of fashion jewellery or makeup, especially when a famous fashion figure like Coco Chanel is present. Even Ella, who was only four years old, sat there and listened with relish, not bored at all.

The three men, Johan, Jacques and General Giraud, talked about the World Cup that was taking place in Paris. John and his family's tickets for the finals were obtained by asking Jacques to help them get them in advance. But as they chatted, they shifted from the green field to the battlefield, discussing the recent German threat of war against Czechoslovakia.

The Franco-Czech Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed between France and the Czech Republic. According to the agreement reached between the two countries, in the event of a war between Czechoslovakia and Germany, France had to declare war on Germany. Now unless Hitler voluntarily renounces his territorial claims to the Soviet-German region, or France voluntarily reneges on the treaty, war between Germany and France is inevitable.

The discussion started off with a lively one. Although John and the other two men were very different in age (Jacques and General Giraud were both nearly 20 years older than John), they still had a common language on the question of Germany.

Since he came to this world, in addition to thinking about how to develop FedEx, John has thought about how to deal with this upcoming world war. Whether it is the future trend of the European or Asian battlefield, he has repeatedly deduced it in his heart many times with the memory of his previous life. Talking about this topic now, of course, he will not be speechless.

Jacques had a close relationship with the French military. During the First World War, he was a decorated pilot of the French Army. In recent decades, he has acted as a liaison between the Balleson family and the military, and is well aware of the situation in the French military circles.

From the outset, Jacques was unequivocally advocating an early intervention against Germany. Unexpectedly, this old man who looked polite and polite still had a very hot temper, and he approved the chief of the French General Staff as worthless with one mouth: "The older he gets, the younger he becomes, the more he looks like a man when he was in Verdun, and now he only dares to play prestige in front of the Syrian tribal forces riding camels." Before the Germans could make a move, he was so frightened that he made holes like a vole. ”

John knew that Jacques was satirizing Gammelin's advocacy of building fortifications for passive defensive positional warfare. He wasn't surprised that Jacques was a pro-war faction. As soon as the cannon goes off, there are ten thousand taels of gold! Although the Balesson family is not in the arms business, military uniforms are also strategic materials. As soon as the war between Germany and France began, the business of the Balesson family's textile factory and military uniform factory could not be doubled.

In fact, John was more interested in General Giraud's opinion on this. In that sense, General Giraud was the most vocal of the three of them. He is now the commander of the 6th Military Region of France. The military district was based in Metz, on the northeastern border of France, and guarded the choke point to contain the southward movement of Germany.

And, as soon as they met, John recognized it. This bearded general is the French "master escaper" who co-chaired the French National Liberation Council with de Gaulle.

Henry Giraud's title as the "Master of Escape" is not for nothing. His legendary experience was once made into a movie, which was much more exciting than later American TV dramas.

During World War I, General Giraud, who was still a captain, was wounded in the leg by a bullet in the leg. His shameless men left their commander and fled, and the hapless Giraud was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp. Even after being lame, Giro, who was unwilling to be a prisoner, still took advantage of the German army's change of guard and escaped from the prisoner of war camp wearing the clothes of a military chaplain.

In order to escape the German raid, Giraud is a lumberjack today, an elementary school teacher tomorrow, and a coal seller the day after tomorrow. In this way, he changed his identity 14 times in a row, and finally escaped from Germany to the Netherlands, and from the Netherlands to England, and finally returned to France on a British warship.

Giraud's legendary experience catapulted him to fame in the military, and he rose through the ranks of lieutenant general in just twenty years. John knew that it would not be long before he would become commander of the French Seventh Army and be promoted to general.

Although Giraud can be regarded as prosperous on the road to promotion, on the battlefield, the luck of this French general is really not good.

In 1940, not long after the start of the French campaign, Admiral Giraud was attacked by a small German force while inspecting the front-line positions. A large group of high-ranking French officers were thus taken prisoner. The commander of the German battalion who led the team at that time never dreamed that he would be able to capture so many French generals, let alone a French general like Giraud.

After the German occupation of France, Giraud was imprisoned in a hilltop castle in Dresden, along with other captured French generals. Although Giro had a history of escaping, the Germans were not worried that he would run away again. First of all, it is surrounded by cliffs on all sides, and it is very well defended. Secondly, General Giraud is 61 years old, and he is also lame, not only can he not run fast, but he is also easily recognized.

It can be said that Giraud does not have the requirements for a prison break in all aspects. But after two years of careful planning, the "master escape" once again managed to escape from prison under the noses of the Germans.

When Hitler was furious when he received the news that Giro had escaped from prison again, he ordered the Gestapo to conduct a close manhunt. But Giraud managed to evade the pursuit again and again, and finally made it to neutral Switzerland.

Giraud's legacy even won the favor of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who at one point hoped that he would be the leader of France and take full command of the French army against the German army. But by that time de Gaulle had already founded the Free French organization in England, and he had the full support of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

At the Casablanca Conference in 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill had a bitter argument over the issue, and in the end both sides gave in, with de Gaulle and Giraud co-chairing the French National Liberation Council. It is a pity that General Giraud was not young at that time, and his energy was far less than that of the young de Gaulle, and finally he had to retire in the political struggle.

Now when General Giraud is in full swing, he confidently says: "The Germans are just posturing, they are not ready to go to war with us at all, and if we are tougher, they will obediently retreat." ”

John admits that Giraud had a point, and that Germany did not have the strength to challenge France by this time in 1938. But Giraud forgot that France is now a parliamentary country, and the French people are afraid of war.

In the last world war, the country, with a population of only 50 million, lost 6.5 million adult males. This generation of French people grew up in fear of war, and they were all afraid of war.

And as a parliamentary democracy, when the people are not willing to fight, the government can't be tough if it wants to. They don't rule for a fixed term, and if they don't pass a vote of confidence in Parliament, the prime minister and the cabinet will have to get out of the way immediately.

Therefore, even if it knows that it is to quench its thirst, the government can only echo the anti-war voices of the people, otherwise it is likely to step down before the war starts. There are still few prime ministers who have been ousted in just a few days in these years. It is no wonder that after the war, de Gaulle said that he would also implement a presidential system, and it is estimated that he was frightened by this situation of changing the head of government twice in three days.

"Makes sense." John nodded, "Now that neither side really plans to go to war, it depends on who can't hold on first." ”

"Brave Frenchmen are not afraid of any threat!" General Giraud said proudly: "That rude and arrogant mustachioed dictator is destined to reap the consequences." Just like in 1917, all the forces of the civilized world will be on our side, right? ”

"It's right to be on your side, but you'll have to be able to make it to that point." Faced with General Giraud's temptation, John silently complained in his heart, and finally could only use "God help the self-helpers (Godhelpsthosewhohelpthemselves)!" This famous quote to answer him.