At midnight on May 12, 1940, Toulon, the home port of the French High Seas Fleet, was in flames, and the desperate struggle between British torpedo bombers and the French fleet continued. After the departure of the first strike wave of the British, the second strike wave, also consisting of 36 "Swordfish" aircraft, then roared!

An oil depot in the port of Toulon where aviation fuel was stored was accurately hit by a bomb dropped by the British, causing an explosion and a fire. Another oil depot that stored heavy fuel oil was also bombed, and a large amount of fuel leaked into the sea.

There were also five battleships on the surface of the sea that were hit by bullets and caught fire: "Richelieu", "Brittany", "Lone Pull", "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg".

Although the three battleships except for the "Brittany" and the "Guba" were not seriously injured and there was no possibility of sinking. However, the fire caused by the explosion could not be extinguished for a while due to the lack of manpower on the ship, turning these battleships into floating torches, pointing the way for the second strike wave of the British army.

"Torpedo!"

"Shock-proof, ready."

"Boom, boom......"

Two more black barracuda-like shadows slammed into the burly body of the "Richelieu" from under the sea, and huge waves rushed onto the deck, and the hull of nearly 50,000 tons trembled violently.

"Report a loss ......"

Before he could regain his footing, Captain Henry had already grabbed the ship's phone and asked loudly.

"There were two lightning shots in the mine-protection compartment of the ship's amidships, and there was no major problem......

The battleship "Richelieu" is a cutting-edge battleship built in 40 years, with a very strong mine protection design, and the depth of the mine protection compartment is very large, so it will naturally not be seriously injured by aviation torpedoes.

Admiral Darlan, however, was very worried about the fleet's flagships, the Brittany and Provence, as well as several other old ships that had been launched before the First World War. Although they have also been modernized, the old foundation is there, and it is impossible to be reborn.

"Your Excellency," the communications officer aboard the Richelieu suddenly shouted, "Admiral Lapard orders our ship to move closer to the Brittany, and the commander's flag is to be transferred to our ship......"

The Brittany is coming to an end!

Hearing this command, Darlan knew what was happening...... The flagship "Brittany" will definitely not be able to withstand it and will sink. He gritted his teeth and thought to himself: the British are so hateful, France should immediately ally with Germany and declare war on the treacherous British!

"Admiral, the 'Lone Pull' has been hit hard, the engine room has been broken, all power has been lost, the deck is tilted 10 degrees, and it is filling with water!"

"Admiral, the port side of the 'Provence' is flooded, the rudder of the stern is damaged, it is tilted 5 degrees, and it is being filled with water!"

Two more pieces of bad news followed, and in the low and muffled voice of the communications staff, the hearts of Admiral Darlang and everyone were bleeding.

Not far away, the deck of the flagship of the French High Seas Fleet, the Brittany, had been deflected almost 30 degrees, and even a small part of the bottom of the ship was exposed. There is a high probability that this battleship with a standard displacement of more than 20,000 tons will sink! And the "Provence" and "Guba", which had just been named by the communications staff, were also seriously damaged!

In addition, the two cutting-edge battleships "Richelieu" and "Strasbourg" also suffered a certain amount of trauma, and it was not possible to sink them, but it was indispensable to overhaul them for several months to a year.

And these battleships were all bargaining capital for France and Germany! Now that it has been bombed by the British, the capital has been devalued, and France may have to accept even harsher peace conditions...... It's all the British's fault!

At this moment, the ship's communications officer shouted again: "Admiral, we have received a telegram from the Germans that they have sent 3 squadrons of night fighters to support us!" ”

"What?" Admiral Darlang was stunned and stunned, what is this called? The French fleet was bombed by British planes, and German planes arrived to support the bombed French fleet......

Who are France's allies and who are France's enemies?

……

The sun of May 13, rising slowly over the eastern horizon, illuminated the temporary residence of the French government in Tull, and penetrated through the glass window into the conference room of the Provisional Chancellery.

The Chief of the General Staff, General Wei Gang, had a somewhat trembling voice, as if he was holding back his anger, looking at the corners of his lips, everyone was surrounded by feelings of anger and disappointment.

"The flagship battleship Brittany sank, the battleship Guba sank, the battleship Provence was heavily damaged, the battleship Paris was damaged, the battleship Ocean, the battleships Dunkirk, Strasbourg and Richelieu were lightly damaged......"

Weygand put the telegram on the table, and he knew what it meant, not only was the cost of peace talks in France's hands depreciating, but even if France was willing to endure humiliation, it would not be able to achieve real peace. Because the British Empire, France's original ally, did not allow it!

His voice trembled even more: "Admiral Dar Lang said in a telegram that the least injured Dunkirk also needs to be repaired for two months, and it will take at least 12 months for all the wounded battleships to be repaired, which means that we ......"

"We've lost the bargaining capital, and we're ...... It is possible that the whole of Europe will be blocked by the British because of this! ”

Before Weygand could finish his words, he was interrupted by the sound of Petain gritting his teeth.

If you count the Richelieu, France had a total of 9 usable battleships and 1 aircraft carrier before the defeat. If the Germans get them, not to mention occupying the LinkedIn islands, the Mediterranean will always be able to take them smoothly. But now, the Lorraine and Baenya (the only French aircraft carrier to be detained by the British on the way to transport planes) were detained by the British, the Brittany and the Lone were sunk by the British, and the remaining six battleships were all wounded. In the coming months, France will not be able to take out even a single intact battleship and aircraft carrier!

In such a situation, why should France bargain with Germany? Moreover, even if the Germans were easier to talk and were still willing to be lenient with France, without the French battleships, Germany and Italy would have had the upper hand in the Mediterranean for the next few months or even twelve months. And Britain will certainly make the most of this opportunity to deal a fatal blow to the useless Italians.

And once the Italian navy was destroyed, even if Germany got a few French battleships twelve months later, it would not be able to change Germany's disadvantage in the Mediterranean......

If Germany does not win in the Mediterranean, then Germany will not be able to completely solve the problem of insufficient supply of resources, primarily oil. Even if the European Community were formed, it would be impoverished and deprived by the British blockade!

It seems that France will have to reconsider its position after the armistice......

Petain sighed: "Inform the Germans of the losses, and tell them that the French High Seas Fleet has lost its combat capability, and I am afraid that the fleet will not be able to be used to compensate for the reparations......"

"Prime Minister." Before Petain could finish his sentence, the secretary had already interrupted him by pushing the door open and coming in.

"What's the matter?" Looking at the secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, everyone suddenly felt a palpitation, there must be something big about happening, and the bombing of Toulon Port is probably just the beginning!

The secretary said with a sad face: "Prime Minister, a telegram from Tokyo (Hanoi) in Indochina, the Japanese army suddenly attacked and occupied Haiphong!" ”

"Day, Japanese...... Is even a country like Japan going to bully France now? Marshal Pétain muttered.

"Marshal, it must be Britain behind Japan," said Admiral Weygand angrily, "the British are going to attack the overseas empire of France!" He looked at Petain, "Marshal, what shall we do?" ”

"What else?" Petain sighed, "Tomorrow I will personally go to Geneva, and I will do my best to secure the most favorable peace for France." ”

……

"The British have done something stupid!"

73 William Street, in the High Command Chamber, Adolf. Hitler's first reaction when he heard of the attack on the port of Toulon was joy. "There is no doubt that the French will be on our side, and the incident in the port of Toulon will make the French see the true face of England! If a vote on France's accession to the European Community were held now, it would have passed. ”

"Public opinion in France will definitely change, after all, what the British are doing is too despicable." Hersmann smiled and said to Hitler, "But these useless Frenchmen will not only hate England for this, but they will also fear it for it...... I think that joining the European Customs Union and the European Monetary Union can be done by a referendum (the French referendum), but it is difficult to say that joining the European Community. Unless we can prove to the French that we can win the war. Otherwise, the cowardly French would not have joined the community and handed over the fleet to us. ”

There is still a distinction between the Customs Union, the Monetary Union and the Community. The first two are economic integration, while the community is political, diplomatic, and military integration. If France were to join the Community, it would have to fight Britain alongside Germany.

"We're going to win!" Hitler confidently said, "Even without the French fleet, we can defeat the British!" ”

Hersmann shrugged and smiled: "Leader, we need a fleet of the French...... In particular, the 'Richelieu', 'Jean. 'Bar', 'Dunkirk' and 'Strasbourg' were four cutting-edge battleships. ”

"And how are we going to get them?" Defense Minister Schleicher frowned slightly.

"Of course, it's proof that we're going to win!"

Hersman smiled and said, "Of the four ships, Jean. The Barr was only 75 percent complete, the Richelieu was only 95 percent complete and wounded, and the Dunkirk and Strasbourg were also wounded...... I think it will take 6-12 months for the French to get those ships repaired. At that time, we will certainly show the French proof of Germany's victory. So in the Geneva peace talks, we can allow France not to join the European Community for the time being, and not to hand over the fleet. But the fleet had to remain in Toulon, and all wounded battleships had to be docked for repairs under the supervision of German engineers, and at the same time refit according to our requirements. (To be continued.) )