He saw with his own eyes the mighty British Royal Navy cornered and left the place where they were fighting. It is precisely because of this www.biquge.info that Darlan decided that this time he could tilt his position slightly and provide some help to the Germans.

Besides, the sky-high asking price, the price of selling two new destroyers with two old destroyers, the business itself sounds pretty good.

"In the matter of destroyers, we in France also have to face a lot of pressure...... After all, there are anti-German sentiments among the soldiers in the country, and I would like to ask Mr. Special Envoy to understand this matter. Although Darlan had already agreed in his heart to lend the destroyer to the German Navy, he did not immediately nod his head in agreement.

Only in this state could he get a better price—after all, the war reparations that France owed Germany were so much that they were a heavy burden.

"General Darlan, first of all, I want to say that if the matter of the deal dragged on until 1941, then the French destroyers, perhaps, would not be worth much." The envoy looked at Darlan's face, a vague smile on his lips.

Darlan raised his eyebrows, looked at the German envoy, and asked, "Oh? So, can you tell me why our French destroyers are no longer worth anything after a few months? ”

"Because...... Plans to land in Britain were to begin in earnest in January 1941...... "The German envoy swore to Darlan.

The frequency of the bluff was quite high in diplomacy, and the German envoy improvised to make a statement, and Darlan certainly did not believe that the other side would leak the exact time of such an important combat operation to France.

But thinking about it carefully, Darlang also felt that in a few months, maybe the situation on the battlefield would be clearer.

After all, Germany is now winning one victory after another, and when the Germans do win a series of victories in the Balkans, which is obviously not a difficult task, then the French will naturally become even less valuable.

After all, giving charcoal in the snow is still more popular than icing on the cake, including the person who gives the gift. Dar Lang understood this truth, so he believed that under the premise that the situation was clear, it was in the interests of France to sell the Germans two destroyers.

"Okay...... In terms of price, I hope there can be a fair proposal that will save us all time. After Darlan figured out the key, he immediately opened his mouth to admit.

The German envoy didn't talk nonsense either, smiling and handing Darlan a purchase agreement, the two destroyers on which were of the right age among French destroyers.

Moreover, these two destroyers are not the most advanced, nor the most backward, neither new nor old look the most suitable, and as soon as Darlan saw the names of these two destroyers, he knew that the Germans had come prepared this time.

When Darlan flipped through the documents behind him and found that the Germans were going to buy two second-hand destroyers at the original French purchase price, he knew that the deal didn't even need to be bargained.

Buying a second-hand car at the original price is a sign of sincerity in itself. After all, it was just two destroyers, and Darlan didn't have any excuse to refuse.

Both destroyers were in the Toulon military port, and the transfer of the two destroyers could be done in Italy - all this took care of the face of the French navy, and Darlan was very satisfied.

"Actually, the Führer would love to be able to cooperate deeply with you, General Darrang...... Issues such as the redistribution of oil production in the Middle East can be discussed. The German envoy, having finished talking about the purchase of destroyers, spoke to Darlan.

When it comes to this question, Darlan is not so enthusiastic, after all, the land of the Middle East is still in the hands of the British.

Oil-producing regions, including Iraq and Iran, are long distances from the Suez Canal. It's too early to get your hands on the Middle East's oil-producing regions.

"The matter of cooperation, your two countries have done very well, and we have cooperative relations in many places, including arms trade and so on." Darlan is not fooled, what he has to do now is to continue to ride on the wall and watch.

As a mature politician, he would rather choose to stand still than bear the embarrassing consequences of betting the wrong bet until he sees the situation clearly.

"General Rommel will soon take the Suez Canal, and it is a matter of time before our army enters the Middle East, and I hope that General Darlan can weigh a series of cooperation after we enter the Middle East." The German envoy still spoke bitterly and persuasively.

Being able to use a piece of cake to enter the war in exchange for France is a very suitable business in itself. If France could officially join the Axis powers and enter the war for them, it would have some impact on the world pattern.

However, the feud between France and Germany is a bad debt that has been reincarnated since a hundred years ago, and it is impossible to release the old suspicion in a short time.

On the one hand, there was the invasion of Prussia and other loose small countries during the Napoleonic period of France, and on the other hand, there was the blood feud of the Franco-Prussian War......

On the one hand, there was the oppression of France after the First World War, and on the other hand, there was the humiliation of the German sweep of France three months earlier......

It would be harder than to get Darlan to abandon these grievances and get together with the Germans like this.

On the other hand, Darlan saw the serious impact of Germany's approach to the Suez Canal and the discovery of Libyan oil fields.

The United States has not yet reacted, and their decision-makers have not yet adjusted the status quo of Germany's quick victory. But the Soviet Union, which had always regarded Germany as its imaginary enemy, was now ready to move.

On the one hand, Stalin was putting pressure on Germany through diplomatic channels, and on the other hand, he was also concentrating his forces on the Soviet-German border to create problems for Germany in practical actions.

At this time, if Germany disregarded the feelings of the Soviet Union, entered Suez, and crossed the Suez Canal to attack the Middle East, then it remains to be seen whether the Soviet Union will declare war on Germany.

Therefore, Darlan did not dare and did not need to rush to make his own choice, he preferred to wait until the Germans had indeed occupied the Suez Canal before deciding whether to join the team to carve up the Middle East.

After all, France has a Mediterranean fleet, and in any case, the Germans will need a French fleet in the Middle East.

"I heard...... The Soviet side was very tough on the German entry into the Middle East, and it would not be good if it provoked a conflict between the Soviet Union and Germany, right? Darlan asked tentatively.

The German envoy sneered when he heard Darlan's question, approached Darlan's ear, lowered his voice and said, "General Darrang, you are too worried about this matter. ”

After a pause for a second, he continued: "No one can stop the Empire's determination to establish a new world order...... The USSR, not either! ”

……

In Germany, in the Chancellery in Berlin, with a face exactly the same as Hitler's, Li Le was sneering at a large group of subordinates such as Ribbentrop and Brauchitsch.

"My Führer, in this case, rashly entering the Middle East, the Soviet Union is likely to declare war on us......" Ribbentrop looked at the Führer and said respectfully.

"The army is not ready for full-scale war, most of the newly expanded units are being trained, and we need time to ......" On the other hand, Brauchitsch also raised the difficulties of the army.

Goering was easy, knowing that his air force had an unrivaled quality advantage, so his troops seemed to him to be more than enough, both offensively and defensively.

This time, the navy has nothing to do with itself, and they have recently been studying the formation of the Mediterranean Fleet, as well as worrying about the training of the fleet, and they are really too busy.

Of course, in the event of a war with a land-bordering behemoth like the Soviet Union, the German Navy really has no use, just follow the soy sauce all the way, and no one expects them to do more.

Hess has been a bit distracted lately, and he is anxious about Goering's prosperity. At this time, when I heard that the Führer planned to let Rommel rush to the Suez Canal desperately, I was inevitably a little worried.

He opened his mouth and persuaded Li Le in front of him: "My Führer, if you ...... Let's stop the offensive in Africa and slow down the pace to appease the Soviets...... Wouldn't it be better? ”

Looking at the subordinates in front of him, Li Le still sneered and didn't speak, maybe everyone here, only he knew what the future was like.

The Soviets were not ready for a full-scale war in June 1941, let alone a surprise attack on Germany in October of '40.

The weather that had already begun to get cold showed that much of the Soviet Union was entering a cold winter, and that Stalin was not so foolish to launch an attack on Germany at this time, regardless of logistics and front-line preparations.

Li Le knew that the war would not really break out until the spring of 41 at the earliest. And at that time, Germany's strategic preparations had also been completed.

Although in this world, Li Le has changed the outcome in the direction of the Mediterranean in North Africa, but because of the rush of time and the distance, it is obviously impossible to have a huge impact on the Soviet side.

In Li Le's estimation, the Soviet Union wanted to launch the "Thunderstorm Plan" in advance, no matter how early it was, it could not be advanced to May 1941, at most, it was only in June.

It is precisely because of this that Li Le judged that all the threats that the Soviet Union gave Germany now were bluffs and could not be realized at all.