When the Germans' armored forces burst out of the "impenetrable" Ardennes Forest and drove the Anglo-French troops to the sea like rabbits, the British chose the combative Churchill over the urbane diplomat Lord Halifax as the leader of the country. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

It was a wise choice, at least for many years later, when the French attributed their defeat to the lack of a great war leader.

It was only at this time that the indecisive Prime Minister Renault summoned the courage to remove the "incompetent defeatist Gammerin" whom he did not like and did not trust, under the threat of resignation. But the French commander-in-chief, General Weygon, whom he appointed, was no more brilliant than Gammelin.

The 73-year-old veteran, who had served with Marshal Foch in World War I, had just returned from Syria and knew nothing about the situation in Europe. To make matters worse, although he had been in the army for decades, he had always been a staff officer and had never commanded an army on the battlefield.

Weygand wasted his precious time in the early days of his presidency on ceremonial visits to the French president, cabinet ministers, and senior military commanders of France, Britain, and Belgium. No countermeasures were taken against the German panzer divisions led by Guderian, Reinhardt and Rommel.

By the end of May, John and all his colleagues in the Army Staff knew that France had lost the Battle of France outright. There are only two suspense in the suspense, one is how many British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) can be withdrawn from Dunkirk, and the other is whether the 82-year-old Marshal Pétain (whom Léo has just recalled to his country as deputy prime minister to avoid responsibility for defeat and handed over most of his powers) will choose to surrender or rely on the vast colonies to continue fighting.

On the first question, the staff officers of the Army General Staff were generally pessimistic. Dunkirk is not Calais, and the port conditions are not very good, and there are not many large ships to dock.

Although British Vice Admiral Ramsay had assembled a large number of small boats in Dover, including fishing boats, pleasure boats, and boats of the London Fire Brigade, as well as 40 Dutch offshore trade cargo ships operated by the Royal Navy.

However, they also needed to clear the channels of mines that they and the Germans had laid before they could brave shelling (the Germans had received a large number of long-range train guns from the French), U-boats, and Stuka bombardment to bring back the remnants of the Belgian army, the remnants of the French 1st and 7th armies, and most of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) stranded along the 48-kilometre coastline.

Many, including Major General Boer, believed that Guderian's armored forces could strike a devastating blow at any moment, and that the chances of the remnants of the army escaping were slim. But John knew that Hitler was going to make a serious mistake at this critical moment. Fearing that the armoured front would be too long, he accepted the advice of General von Rundstedt to halt the advance of the armoured forces and wait for infantry support to follow.

And Goering, who likes to talk about it, took the opportunity to snatch this historic victory from the Air Force. He assured Hitler that his air force would be sufficient to "deal with the encircled enemy forces." In this way, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Lord Gott, miraculously received a crucial "probation" sentence from Hitler.

Contrary to the pessimistic view of the "dynamo" program, the officers of the Army Staff generally believed that the French would continue to fight. In particular, a group of "veterans" who participated in the last world war, such as Marshall and Buer, had confidence in the "old and strong" Marshal Pétain.

The 84-year-old Marshal Pétain was considered the strongest and most successful French military commander. Thanks to his successful organization of the Battle of Verdun in the last world war, the veteran has become a symbol of French courage and patriotism. Back then, he said, "They can't get through!" It inspired the best men of the French nation to walk along the "holy road" into the worst "meat grinder" in the history of human warfare.

Marshall and others have vivid memories of the veteran's fearlessness and courage back then, and firmly believe that he will not give in. Moreover, the French did not lack the capital to continue fighting. Behind the Maginot Line and in the south of France, they still had more than 100 divisions, and the main forces of the French Navy were still alive. France's vast colonial system across Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East also had a strong war potential to be tapped, and the combined number of troops in the hands of the governors of those colonies was considerable.

So, even if John told them that Petain would surrender and hand over 3/5 of the French territory, including Paris, to German occupation, they would not have believed it. Anyway, Consuelo's cousin's family had already gone to Zurich, and his father-in-law, Mr. Degano, had already returned to China. Those Gallic roosters don't fight for themselves, what's his business.

John is most concerned about changes in U.S. foreign policy right now. The other day, while attending a gathering of Democrats, he heard Uncle Stimson say that President Roosevelt had planned to warn at a special joint session of the US Senate and House of Representatives next week that Germany's advance in Western Europe meant that the Atlantic would no longer be a US protector. German bombers, submarines, airborne troops, and the "fifth column" could also threaten the security of the United States.

It is said that President Roosevelt had asked the Secretaries of the Treasury, the Army, and the Navy to come up with a plan for the expansion and modernization of the existing armed forces of the United States and to conduct a feasibility study for the establishment of a mobile expeditionary force.

Historically, on the last day of the month, Roosevelt proposed to increase the number of US military aircraft produced to 50,000 per year. To that end, he specifically asked parliament to authorize an additional $1.3 billion in defense spending, and asked lawmakers not to interfere with arms shipments to allies, even though this clearly contradicts the provisions of the current Neutrality Act.

John had been waiting for this day for a long time, but when it was really coming, he found that he was not as excited as he had imagined. In fact, there have been two events that have seriously affected his current mood and made him not happy about it at all.

First of all, the money for these 50,000 aircraft is not so easy to earn. Treasury Secretary Morgenthau is said to have begun to sharpen his knives and prepare to impose a special tax on these aircraft manufacturers who have received government orders. Although it is not known exactly what the tax rate will be, John estimates that it will not be lower.

Historically, President Franklin D. Roosevelt raised the personal income tax ceiling by an outrageous 94% during World War II (23% for annual income of $2,000 or more, and 94% for annual income of $200,000 or more). If it weren't for the fact that wealthy families have a tradition of using trust companies and family foundations to avoid taxes, he would basically be working for the government.

Another troubling issue is that the Republican Party will hold a party convention next month to select candidates for the presidential election at the end of the year. Originally, John thought that the military uniform on his body would keep him away from this doomed presidential election, but he still did not hide it.

In his previous life, he only knew that active duty military personnel in the United States had the right to vote, but he did not expect that according to the Political Activities Regulations for Members of the Active Military Forces, they could openly express political opinions (but should not give any impression, as if such opinions were related to the military), attend (not "participate") in political rallies (but not in military uniforms), and donate money to political organizations and candidates.

The most fatal thing is the last one, I didn't expect him to hide in the army, and he still can't escape the fate of bleeding every four years.