With the German army moving all the way south and the Italian army attacking the French mainland in the north, the French army finally could not hold on.

Faced with the North and South attacks of the Central Powers, they seemed to have only one choice.

Meanwhile, in one of the offices of the French government, which has moved to Bordeaux, two elderly men are sitting face to face in the dim light.

They were silent, looking at the copy of the Draft Franco-German Peace Treaty on the table.

These two may be sad in their hearts at this moment, or they may be emotional.

They lamented the eventual defeat of the Franco-German campaign, and lamented that France was sitting on so many armies that it was about to let its country and sovereignty go to waste.

They are also sighing, in the future of Western Europe, the whole of Europe, and even the whole world, is Reinhardt's allies really going to start leading the world?

Thinking about it, they don't think about it anymore, because that's not what they should think about now.

All they need to think about now is their own future and that of their country.

The old man's face was full of furrows, and the wrinkles of old signs were all over his face, and with the light on it, his face looked even more distorted, and perhaps his own mood was not good, so that his whole body was even more sickly.

The old man now feels like a seriously ill patient in bed, dying.

In connection with the current situation of the French army, it is not surprising that the old marshal behaved like this.

And the other old man's face is not very good, although he has so many wrinkles in the old man, although he does not look old, but he also shows a decadent temperament at the moment, as if his heart is blocked by heavy snow and ice, the whole person has no energy, and he shows the same sickness.

The two of them sat there for a long time, but neither of them said a word, as if they were waiting for the other to speak first.

After a while, the young general finally couldn't bear it anymore, and he took the lead in breaking the dead silence and said: "Marshal Petain, do you think there is still hope for our French army? Has it come to such a point of no return? Is there really no room for manoeuvre? ”

He grabbed the hand of the old gentleman, Marshal Petain, and his tone was full of unwillingness and helplessness.

Yes, this old man was the famous French Marshal Petain, who was famous all over the world during the First World War.

It has to be said that Marshal Petain had outstanding military command talents.

It was because of him that France was able to turn the crisis into safety during the First World War, and successfully prevented the German army under Wilhelm II from attacking.

You must know that the slogan "they can't pass" that he left in Verdun at the beginning became the battlefield motto of the French army at that time.

And now, in the face of the current situation, the former savior of France has no choice.

And the other old man is also the famous French general Wei Gang.

He didn't want everyone's efforts so far to be in vain, after all, he had also set up the Weygand Line to defend France, and although the outcome was not satisfactory, it was still painstakingly for national security.

But at this time, the battle situation has already had to give up resistance and bow down to its own enemy, which will not be comfortable no matter who it puts on it.

"Weygand, we've done our best, we can't be blamed for that, but we still can't save our France." Marshal Petain said indignantly, his eyes full of unwillingness but helplessness.

"I think it's time for us to seek a decent ending for our country." With that, Marshal Pétain turned his head out the window and looked out at the dark night sky.

After another dead silence, Petain turned his head and smiled at Wei Gang, who was haggard. He smiled very reluctantly, and there was a hint of despair in his eyes.

However, Petain continued to analyze calmly: "The current form is different from the last war. In World War I, we seized too much of the initiative, and I was able to stabilize the morale of the army. And now, the initiative is on the German side, and we are even embarrassed to lose our own capital to someone else. ”

"In the last world war, we fought in Belgium and some border areas, and no matter how the war was fought, it was other countries that were destroyed after all, and our country was naturally consumed. Because even if we had to smash those regions to pieces, France would not have suffered irreparable losses. At that time, we, like the British Expeditionary Force today, were not fighting in the core of our country. ”

"Why did we rush south in Paris without firing a single shot? Isn't it because we also don't want to see Paris baptized by war, and we don't want to see Paris in ruins? Petain was very straightforward, and explained in one sentence the reason why the French army did not dare to contend with the German army.

Immediately afterward, he continued: "We can afford to wage war on someone else's land, or on an already barren land. However, fighting in our own core area, we do not yet have that capital. Of course, I don't want to see my country, my people's homeland, devastated by war. ”

Pétain pointed to a map of France hanging on the wall of the war room, and continued: "But, General Weygand, have you thought about it, if we continue to fight now, where will we be? Where is Lyon, Chalon, Dijon or not? I can't think of any other places than these. ”

"But these places, wherever they are, are part of the core of our country. As soon as the war starts, it will be devastating. We will lose our land, our houses, our money and our people, our historic French heritage over the years, and what we cannot reparate. Even if we win after many years, what will be left of France? It's nothing more than more families, wives are separated, families are ruined, and France's economy and culture start all over again! ”

Marshal Pétain paused, took a sip of water, looked at Wei Gang and sighed and continued: "The British naturally want us to continue fighting, they hope that we will fight as long as possible, so that we can die with Germany, and they sit at home and make a lot of war money, and even sell us weapons and equipment, watching us spend a lot of national strength and money to drag Germany down, so that in the future they will have two less powerful competitors." ”

"However, we also know that only a fool will use all his belongings to help others fight a war that does not know the outcome of the war!" Bell became more and more angry when he said this, but he didn't show it after he was very angry, and instead sneered and said: "The British Prime Minister Churchill, really take the French for fools? He wants us to resist to the last soldier! ”