"The leaders who have commanded the French armed forces for many years have formed a government.

This Government, having concluded the defeat of our army, has begun to negotiate with the enemy with a view to cessating hostilities. It is absolutely certain that both on the ground and in the sky, we were and are overwhelmed by the enemy's mechanized forces. It was the German tanks, planes and tactics that forced our troops to retreat, and far from our outnumberedness, it was the German tanks, planes and tactics that provided the elements of the attack that brought our leaders to the present unfortunate situation.

But is this the final ending? Do we have to give up all hope? Is our failure too foregone to be saved? My answer to these questions is: No! ”

It was Charles on the radio. General de Gaulle's Speech: "Letter to the French People".

General de Gaulle jumped on a British plane on 8 May and flew almost as a defector from France to London. The next day, on May 9, he published a "Letter to the French People" in London, calling on the French army and people to continue to resist, and no matter what happens, the flame of French resistance cannot be extinguished!

With a soft click, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill turned off the radio in his office.

"Colonel," said the stocky prime minister with a smile, smiling as he slowly turned his body and looked at a tall man in his fifties with a big nose and a pair of very big eyes, "there are still people in France who are willing to resist, and soon more French people will stand with us." ”

The man Churchill called "The Colonel" was named William. Joseph. Donovan. He was a classmate of President Roosevelt at Columbia. After graduating from college, Donovan joined the army, fought in Mexico with General Pershing, and was promoted to the rank of colonel. After retiring from the military, Donovan entered politics for a time, elected governor several times, but was not elected, and in 1924 he also served as deputy secretary of attorney of the United States, and later opened a law firm on Wall Street (Wall Street lawyer), making a lot of money.

Now he got the title of secret envoy from his old classmate President Roosevelt, and went to Europe to study the war on the ground - on behalf of the U.S. government and Wall Street!

"Prime Minister," Colonel Donovan frowned, clearly worried about the prospect of war, "is the French Navy still in Toulon now?" ”

Churchill nodded. Keeping the naval fleet in Toulon was Germany's request, and the Pétain government, which was bent on peace, had no choice but to do so.

"Will the French government hand them over to Germany?" Colonel Donovan asked again.

"We won't allow that to happen!" Churchill said, "Admiral de Gaulle also appealed to Admiral Darlan, asking him to sail the fleet to Algeria in North Africa." ”

"Admiral Darlan obeyed de Gaulle's orders?" Donovan felt a little strange.

"Probably not," Churchill whispered, "but we have a way of solving this great problem." ”

Is there a way? Colonel Donovan couldn't think of Churchill's solution, but the British Prime Minister was not going to discuss it. Instead, he turned his attention to the upcoming "Geneva Peace Conference."

"The Germans wanted to turn the League of Nations into their instrument," Churchill said, "and they wanted to use the League of Nations to absolve the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, Trianon, Sèvres and Lausanne." What was President Roosevelt's opinion on this? ”

"I think that's another big problem!" Donovan shook his head, "The president is fighting for his third term...... At this time, there wasn't much he could do. ”

The United States was not a member of the League of Nations, and it was not a signatory to the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, or Lausanne. Under these circumstances, it will be difficult for the United States to speak out at the peace conference hosted by the League of Nations. At the very least, the United States cannot disagree with the abrogation of the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, and Lausanne – the United States in 1940 was not as unreasonable as it was later in demanding compliance with treaties that the United States itself did not recognize.

"But the president will send a representative to Geneva," said Colonel Donovan, "because the United States is a party to the Treaty of Trianon." ”

"Haha, that's enough!" Churchill smiled and said, "As long as the United States opposes the Trianon Treaty, we will be able to open a new battlefield against the German-Italian military bloc." ”

"It's the Balkans?" Donovan raised an eyebrow, "There's a powder keg there!" ”

"The Germans brought it on themselves!" Churchill smiled and lit his cigar, "They want to go back to what they were before the last World War...... He also invited Crown Prince Otto, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, to Berlin, an act that had already pushed Yugoslavia and Romania into a corner. If the United States can speak for these two countries in Geneva, I believe they will definitely rise up and resist! ”

……

Miyakezaka, Tokyo, Japan, the Office of the Minister of War,

The astonishing changes in the situation in Europe have clearly had a huge impact on Japan's domestic political landscape. Admiral Mitsumasa Yonechi, the prime minister who was close to Britain and the United States, is now a little gray, and the official residence of War Minister Shunroku Hatata, who has always advocated cooperation with Germany, is crowded with representatives from all walks of life visiting every day. Of course, the most common visitors were Hideki Tojo, Seishiro Sakagaki, Ninji Okamura, and Ishihara Wanji, who were really powerful figures in the army.

As a result of the defeat of Britain and France in Europe, the two socialist countries of Germany and the Soviet Union became the dominant power in Eurasia. For Japan, the road to the west and north can be said to be completely blocked.

"Westward expansion was now impossible, because Germany's victory in Europe also blocked the Soviet Union's westward advance. In this way, the direction of development of the USSR could only be in the east and south. If we move westward, the Soviet Union will inevitably go toe-to-toe. And in order to completely remove the threat from the east, Germany will inevitably support the Soviet Union's eastward advance. ”

Ishihara Wanji, who is considered to be the smartest and most talented staff officer of the Japanese Army after Nagata Tetsuyama, was kneeling on tatami mats at this time, his mouth like a river, explaining the latest situation to a group of army generals who did not have much international vision.

"But the imperial army is not what it used to be, the A division has been expanded to 21, the B division has also expanded to 17, and the mecha army (composed of 3 tank brigades) and the cavalry group each have one, and there are many independent brigades and wings, the total strength has reached more than 130 thousand, is it not enough to carry out the westward war?"

The one who raised the objection was the Chief of Army Staff, Prince Kanin Miyajihito. The elderly prince was a rare figure in the Japanese imperial family, having studied at the French military academy at a young age, and was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, the Saumur Black Knight Cavalry Academy, and the French Army University. He was an admirer of the mighty French Army, so he was shocked that the French Army had been defeated in just a few days (the French resistance had not stopped, but the victory and defeat had already been decided on the 6th day after the start of the war).

However, he still does not look down on the armies of his neighbors, which are not even up to the level of World War I in Europe, and he does not look down on the Russian army, which was defeated by his former subordinates.

"Your Royal Highness," Ishihara glanced at the Imperial Marshal, whose thinking had been completely outdated, "Germany's rapid victory in this European war shows that the mode of war has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the army's mecha and motorized and rapid centralized use of mecha motorized units have become the key to defeating the enemy.

At present, except for the mecha army, our imperial army is all infantry and cavalry in the first war mode, and it is difficult to cooperate with the mecha army to carry out operations. Moreover, the combat vehicles attached to the mecha army cannot be compared with the combat vehicles owned by the Soviet Red Army in terms of quantity and quality. Once there is a war on the mainland, it is very likely to be passive. ”

"But Britain and the United States have already expressed their pleasure to see the Imperial Army take action on the mainland." Prince Zaihito of the Idle Courtyard said.

The British and American ambassadors to Japan have been agitating for Japan's westward expansion during this time. He expressed full recognition of Japan's freedom of movement on the East Asian continent, gave loans and a lot of oil and steel, and pointed out that Japan's western neighbor was a vassal of Germany and the Soviet Union, regardless of the facts.

"Anglo-American, pointed out a fire pit for the empire to jump in!" War Minister Shunroku Hahata snorted coldly, took over the topic and said, "That is, Mitsumasa Yonechi doesn't know that stupid guy still fantasizes about forming an alliance with the United States, and says that he is going to fight against Germany, but the United States and Britain just don't hear it." ”

This is actually the reason why Prime Minister Mitsumasa Minei can't do it, and the words are all here, but the US and British imperialism have no reaction. This actually speaks for itself - the East Asian continent is a fire pit, and Britain and the United States themselves dare not jump!

Prince Zairen of the Imperial Palace was still undecided, "But the lifeline of the empire has always been threatened, if the imperial army is deep in the South Seas and the East Asian continent changes again, how should we deal with it?" ”

Seeing that the old man was still hesitating, Tojo Hideki was a little anxious, he said: "If you go west to the north, you will fall into a bitter battle, if you don't win a long battle, it will inevitably change, and if you don't move, the lower classes will have complaints, and only if you go south, you can quickly make meritorious deeds." And French Indochina is a land of abundance, and it can alleviate the poverty of the lower classes, which is a policy that must be implemented! ”

Although this Tojo doesn't have a high IQ, he can make things clear. Going west and going north will definitely be a bitter battle, and if you don't win the fight, the officers and soldiers below may have to make trouble again on "2.26". And it is not possible to stand still, now Germany is eating meat in the west, Britain and France have been beaten into paper tigers, I don't know how many people in the army are hot to make contributions, if the upper echelons dare not do it, sooner or later there will be a change - it is "2.26" or something. Therefore, the only way out is to pick up the soft pinch of persimmons, regardless of three, seven and twenty-one, go to French Indochina first and eat a big bite.

Speaking of which, the old man of the Xianyuan Palace also knew that he had no choice, so he nodded and said to the Minister of War: "Hata-kun, tomorrow you will go and ask Mitsumasa Yonechi for your resignation!" ”

The Minister of War resigned, which meant that the Army was about to fall down, and because of the existence of the military attache system on active duty, the Minister of War resigned and the Army did not send someone to replace him, and the pro-British and American Mitsumasa Mine Cabinet had no choice but to resign. (To be continued.) )