"Admiral, we are surrounded!"

Admiral Verrick, commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, was sitting at his headquarters in Paris, watching the optimistic war briefings from the Allied Command. Suddenly his chief of staff, Henry. Major General Bonnard hurried into his office and told Admiral Verrick a sensational message as soon as he opened his mouth.

"What?" Admiral Verrick, who was a little sluggish, was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked, "Did the Germans attack?" ”

The reports on his desk clearly showed that the Germans were "saving fuel". Their bombers had not crossed the Franco-German border for several days, and their surface ships had been stuck in Wilhelmshaven.

In addition, there is information that the German leader and Chancellor Adolf . Hitler and Crown Prince Wilhelm visited Romania on April 8, today, to ask King Carol II of Romania to agree to sell more oil products (Romania also has some oil processing capacity) to Germany - but who in Europe did not know that the king of Romania, who belonged to the Hohenzollern dynasty, was a staunch Anglo-French? If it weren't for the fear of the German invasion through Hungary and Transcarpathian Ukraine, he would not have sold even a drop of oil to Germany.

And after the French bombed the Soviet oil refinery in Batumi, the Romanian king would only be closer to Britain and France!

Could it be that the Germans were going to take a risk when such oil supplies could not support a protracted war?

"No, not the Germans."

Henry. Major General Ponnard's answer relieved Admiral Verrick.

"Who's that?" Admiral Verrick asked.

"It's the Bolsheviks!"

Henry. Major General Bonnard's answer startled the Admiral, and Admiral Verrick jerked himself up from his chair.

"What? The USSR declared war on us!? Admiral Verrick stomped his foot, "I told Churchill a long time ago that the risk of bombing Batumi was too great, but he just didn't listen!" ”

"No," Henry. Major General Bonnard shook his head, "The USSR did not declare war, it was the Bolsheviks of France!" Supporters of the French Bolshevik Party surrounded our command! ”

As he spoke, Major General Bonnard went to the window and pulled the two windows open with force, and then the shouts of the French poured in.

"British, get out!"

"British, Europe doesn't need you!"

"Defending the Soviet Union Against British ......"

"Peace and not Britain!"

"Hit the fascist leaders Renault and Gammelin!"

Admiral Verrick was stunned in the square outside the building where the headquarters was located, and at some point it turned into a sea of red flags - it seemed that the red flag had already been planted in Paris without Stalin's Red Army coming.

Along with these red flags came the innumerable angry working people of Paris and the vanguard of the French working class - the French Bolshevik Party!

Although Stalin did not declare war on France, he would not allow the French right-wing bourgeois government to have a good life. The day after the events in Batumi, the Third International gave instructions to the French Bolshevik Party: oppose Renault and defend the Soviet Union!

The events in Batumi were characterized as the beginning of a general offensive by international capitalism against the USSR! The Third International therefore called on the French working people to immediately and concretely fight against the French imperialist bloc and to defend the Soviet Union, the common homeland of the world's working class.

The French Bolshevik Party, on the other hand, immediately took action after receiving the instructions, and also united the opposition Popular Front parties to jointly launch a protest against the "Reynolds militarist authorities" and at the same time launched a general strike.

"This, this is ridiculous!" Admiral Verrick looked at the crowd of people in the square downstairs and muttered, "We are here to protect France, we are here to protect them, how can they let us go?" ”

"Admiral," Major-General Bonnard said, glancing at his commander-in-chief, "I suddenly had a very bad premonition. ”

"I have a hunch of that too!" Admiral Verrick shook his head, "When will these Frenchmen be serious?" It's a world war...... If defeated, France will be destroyed! ”

……

Outside the French Chancellery, the Palais Martingnon, the same scene was the same at this moment, but the number of people was larger and the emotions were more intense, and the voices of protest and the singing of "The Internationale" came and went. And in the Palais Martingnon, Prime Minister Reynolds, who had just been in office for a few days, had become an ant on a hot pot -- not only because there were many Parisian people who opposed him as a "fascist", but also because the camp of the right Pai of the "Democratic Alliance" to which he belonged was also divided.

Several small centre-right parties have threatened to withdraw from the coalition - the Democratic Union is not a party, but a coalition of parties, and unlike the current stable Nazi-Fatherland coalition government in Germany, French politics is made up of a bunch of small scattered parties. So all governments are "coalition governments", very unstable, and as soon as a small party in the ruling coalition (Popular Front or Democratic Alliance) withdraws, the government will collapse. Moreover, unlike other countries with a responsible cabinet system, the French government does not have the power to dissolve the parliament as a check and balance. As a result, several small parties in a coalition government sometimes become the ancestors of the government......

And this time, the "ancestor" made a fussy of pure unreasonableness. They did not want to withdraw because Renault was wrong in bombing the USSR, but because the British released French pigeons and let French planes bomb Batumi alone.

This not only made the French left Pai very dissatisfied, but even the French right Pai were not happy - how could the dignified France let the islanders of England play monkeys? Now France is confused and annoys the Soviet Union, in case the Soviet-German alliance is really formed, the "Maginot Line" will not be able to withstand it!

"Admiral, what do you say? Now what? Paul, who is also Secretary of Defense. In the conference room, Renault loudly questioned the chief of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense and the commander-in-chief of the army, Gan Molin, who was also the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces.

"Mr. Prime Minister," said Ganmalin, as calm as ever, "our bombing campaign in Batumi has been so successful that the largest oil processing center in the Soviet Union has been reduced to a sea of fire. According to the information we have, they asked the Germans to help process 250,000 tons of crude oil per month, which is 40-50% of Germany's annual oil processing (Britain and France do not know how much Germany produces synthetic fuels, so they overestimate Germany's oil processing capacity). As a result, the German army has now begun to save fuel...... This would significantly weaken the offensive capabilities of the German army, and there was no danger at all fronts. Of course, if the Germans were to take a desperate gamble, we would have enough strength to defeat them. ”

"Really?" Paul. Renault's face looked a little better, "But my government is in trouble now!" ”

"Mr. Prime Minister," said Admiral Gammelin in a calm tone, "I can join forces with General Weygand and General Darrang and a group of army and navy generals to issue a joint statement of resolute support for your government!" ”

"This is military interference!" Paul. Renault looked at Ganmalin.

Gammelin shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile: "War is also politics, France needs a truly courageous commander, in our opinion, this person is you!" If those people insist that you step down, then we will resign en masse! Those who oppose you will have to think twice. ”

Paul. Renault is the big right Pai, and a little further to the right is the "fascist", and the right Pai and the "fascist" are generally more popular with the army in this era, and I believe that all the French army officers at the moment are unwilling to let a bunch of white left virgins come to power.

Because in the eyes of these French officers, these "big left Pai" were the culprits who connived at the rise of Germany!

"Okay!" Paul. Renault thought about it and nodded. Because he felt that only he could lead France to win the war.

And, judging by the current situation, the Germans are experiencing difficulties with a lack of fuel, and the situation seems to be very good. Maybe France can really sit and win a world war......

……

"Good news, leader, the mass protests in Paris, France, were initiated by the French Bolshevik Party!"

Ludwig. Feng. Heinsberg-Hersmann told Hitler, who had just run into ashes in Romania – Romania's dictatorial King Carol II told him very clearly: Romania could not increase its oil supplies to Germany at the moment.

"The French Bolshevik Party?" Hitler asked, "What do they want to do?" ”

"They want to defend the USSR!" Hersman replied. "This is the result of the bombing of Batumi by the French Air Force...... The Third International ordered the French Bolshevik Party to riot, with not only protests but also strikes. ”

"These Bolshevik parties are simply a cancer of the country!" Hitler said in a tone of disgust, "But they can't make it in France, can they?" ”

"Yes," Hersman smiled, "a group of generals in France made a statement that supported Renault's government. But...... This will still shake the morale of the French army and will be very beneficial for the offensive we are about to launch! ”

Today is April 9th, 1940, and Operation Scythe will begin in the early hours of tomorrow morning!

So Hitler, having concluded his trip to Romania and Hungary (which was also an operation to paralyze his opponents), rushed to the General Staff of Tsosen to listen to Hersmann's report on the preparations for the offensive.

"Leader," Hersmann only smiled faintly when he saw Hitler's somewhat nervous face, "this time there will be no difference from the attack last September, the British and French air forces have long been defeated by us, and with overwhelming air superiority, our armored forces will soon pass through the Ardennes Forest." By the 13th at the latest, we will have made a key breakthrough! (To be continued.) )