This time, however, the winners and losers swapped places. The Battle of France ended with a German victory and a crushing defeat for France.

In the Battle of France, the analysis of the operations of the two sides can be started from two levels: the guiding ideology of war and the general strategy and tactics. From the point of view of the guiding ideology of the war, the French high command prepared a war at the level of 1918, while the Germans prepared a new type of mechanized war against the level of 1918, which was the key to the success or failure of the Battle of France. So, in this sense, the French lost the battle before it began. In the usual strategy and tactics, the French made a series of mistakes, most of which were directly caused by the outdated guiding ideology of war, which hastened the pace of defeat.

Since the Englishman Fuller, Liddell. The main point of mechanized warfare is to 'concentrate on the use of' tanks, that is, to use tank units to organize large units, with motorized artillery, infantry, engineers, and scouts as the core, and with the coordination of the tactical air force, quickly break through one point of the opponent's defense line, break through to the far-reaching rear, and sweep the opponent's entire defense line. Conservatives in power are dismissive of this. In the twenties and thirties, France's Etienne, de Gaulle, and Reynaud shouted for the French authorities to establish mechanized troops with armored divisions as units, but they were suppressed and attacked by Pétain, Weygand, and Gammelin and other army veterans. Hart likened himself to the war with the mind of the last great war. Out of this conservative 'mind' came a series of outdated things, such as 'scattered use of tanks' and 'building a continuous frontal line of defense', which led to a series of serious consequences.

In addition to the outdated military concepts and guiding ideology of war, the French high command also made a series of mistakes in general strategy and tactics. It is manifested in many aspects, such as the judgment of the direction of the German offensive, the neglect of the Ardennes mountain terrain, the irrationality of the command system, the ineffective communication, the obsolete concept of time, the outdated form of positional warfare, and the rigid and rigid military dogma.

……

De Gaulle still didn't catch it, Zhang Jun had already told his subordinates not to let de Gaulle run away, but De Gaulle ran away with Churchill who came to France a few days earlier, and De Gaulle had 100,000 French troops in his hands in history, and now De Gaulle is a bare-bones commander, but Churchill still instructed De Gaulle to form a French government-in-exile in London, England.

The French Navy also faced difficult decisions due to the crushing defeat of the army and the surrender of the government.

In 1937, when Darlan was promoted to admiral and became commander-in-chief, the French Navy had changed from a second-rate navy with only three dreadnoughts of the "Lone Pull" class after World War I to the most modern navy in the world, ranking fourth in the world in terms of overall strength. It should be said: Darlan made an indelible contribution to the reconstruction of the French Navy. In 1940, the actual strength of the French Navy was as follows:

3 dreadnoughts of the "Lone Pull" class: Lone Pull, Ocean, Paris

3 super-dreadnoughts of the "Provence" (provincial) class: Provence, Brittany, Lorraine "Dunkirk"

2 battleships: Dunkirk, Strasbourg

1 battleship of the "Richelieu" class: ......

In addition, there were more than 50 destroyers of various types and 101 submarines of various types, which was such a powerful fleet, but in 1940 on the Western Front, because of the rapid rout of the army, it was forced to concentrate in the port and wait to be disarmed according to the "Franco-German Armistice". At that time, the French Navy was deployed as follows:

The military ports of Portsmouth and Plymouth on the British mainland: two battleships, four cruisers, several submarines, eight destroyers, and about two hundred smaller auxiliaries, minesweepers and anti-submarine ships. Anglo-occupied Alexandria, Egypt: one battleship, four cruisers, the military ports of Oran and Mearsk in French North Africa: "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg", several light cruisers, a number of destroyers, submarines and other ships.

French Algiers: seven cruisers,

French Casablanca: "Jean? Barr".

French Dakar: "Richelieu".

French West Indies: 1 aircraft carrier, 2 cruisers

Martinique: one aircraft carrier, two light cruisers

At this time, the French navy had no enemies and no allies, and the French Third Republic had already succumbed to the iron heel of Germany. And where will this world's fourth-largest fleet go...... At this time, François, the only one who was able to master the entire French Navy. Admiral Darlan, the reinventor of the French navy, will choose between two paths before him: embrace the Atlantic and lead his fleet alongside its former allies in the hope of restoring French glory, or embrace the Mediterranean, and follow the orders of the Vichy government and seal the fleet in the port of Toulon and live under the watchful eye of the enemy.

He did not believe in Hitler's promises, just as he did not believe in the British, and all he had in mind was France. He understood that his departure would mean the complete fall of mainland France, and that France would retain a shred of dignity if he stayed. Eventually, as a military man, he obeyed the government, obeyed orders, and was forced to join the company of the Germans whom he hated.

Darlan's behavior strengthened the determination of British Prime Minister Churchill, and the British Navy began to implement the "Ballista Plan", the British Navy's down-and-out behavior turned the face of the former allies, and the sound of Mirskbill's cannons made him equally hateful to the British, and the death of 1,297 sailors angered the entire French Navy.

The "Ballista Plan" was a plan developed by the British Royal Navy to seize and control the French Navy after learning of the surrender of France, in order to prevent Germany from using the French Navy to attack the British mainland or threaten the transport lines. The program was carried out in June-July 1940 in three regions.

On the morning of June 24, at the military ports of Portsmouth and Plymouth on the British mainland, the British Navy abruptly disarmed the French fleet and put it under armed control. With the exception of the submarine "Surguv", there were no armed clashes in the entire takeover.

In the French West Indies, on July 3, the local French fleet disarmed in agreement with the United States. At the military ports of Oran and Mirskbir on the coast of North Africa, the British put forward the following conditions: (1) to continue the war against Germany and Italy with the British; (2) the reduction of crew and the dispatch of British ports under the supervision of the British; (3) To sail to a French port in the West Indies under the supervision of the British fleet, and to be disarmed, or to be entrusted to American trusteeship. If the French fleet refuses the proposal, it must scuttle the ship within six hours.

Such a request was rejected by the French fleet, and the Royal Navy "H Fleet", under the command of Vice Admiral Somerville, surrendered to the harbor. The French Atlantic Fleet under the command of Admiral Sur launched an onslaught. The most helpless battle of Mearsbiel in the history of world naval warfare began, under the fire of the British Navy sea and air, the French fleet trapped in the harbor suffered heavy losses, the "Brittany" was blown up by British carrier-based aircraft, the "Dunkirk" and "Provence" ran aground, the "Strasbourg" fled back to Toulon after being heavily damaged, the French lost 3 battleships and many small ships, 1297 French sailors were killed and 341 were wounded.

This event led to the Pétain government severing diplomatic relations with Great Britain. Darlan immediately ordered retaliatory measures and bombed Gibraltar. From then on, the French navy regarded the British as its old enemy.

After the implementation of the "Ballista Project", the strength of the French Navy was greatly damaged, but the British Navy was not reassured, and in September 1940, the British launched another "intimidation" operation against the French naval fleet in Dakar, North Africa. In the Battle of Dakar, the French fleet stationed in Dakar received a strong willingness from the batteries and the cruisers arriving from home, damaged the British destroyers "Ingerfield", "Prophet" and "Cumberland", and severely damaged the battleship "Resolute". Two French submarines were sunk. Two destroyers were burned and stranded, and the battleship "Richelieu" was damaged. The result of the Battle of Dakar was the victory of the Vichy government, but the British also achieved their main goal - the destruction of the battleship "Richelieu".

Britain no longer faces a maritime threat from France. At the same time, the Battle of Mearsbir and the Battle of Dakar also turned Britain and France, the former allies, against each other.

The turning point happened again to Darlan, who was already the commander-in-chief of the three armies of the Vichy government, and who happened to be visiting his sick son in Oran when the "torch" plan was being implemented. Out of a deep hatred of the Germans, much more than the British, he ordered an immediate ceasefire on the fleets, and ordered the remaining French fleets at Toulon and Dakar to sail quickly to North Africa. However, the French fleet in Toulon was unwilling to fight alongside the British fleet, they could not forgive the British for the mistakes they had made in Mirskbir and Dakar, and the commander of the Toulon fleet, Admiral Laborde, categorically rejected Darlan's demands. The British paid the price for their actions that year.

At the same time, news of an immediate ceasefire across French North Africa reached Germany, and Hitler once again bypassed Zhang Jun and directly ordered the capture of the French fleet at Toulon. Faced with the encirclement of the Germans, the arrogant French navy refused the aid of the British, unwilling to give in to the enemy, whether they were Germans or British, and they chose the most tragic way of all, self-sinking, in accordance with the orders issued by Marshal Pétain and Darlan in July 1940. The French fleet, including 3 battleships, 8 cruisers, 17 destroyers, 16 torpedo boats, 16 submarines, 7 communications ships, 3 reconnaissance ships, and more than 60 transports, tankers, dredgers, and tugboats, all sank themselves, and only 1 destroyer, 1 torpedo boat, and 5 oil tankers were captured by the Germans because they did not sink themselves. Three more submarines fled to Algiers. This navy, once the fourth in the world, fulfilled its oath and defended its honor with a tragic self-destruction. The arrogance of the French determined that they would not surrender to their enemies, and the honor of the French navy determined their fate.

…… (To be continued.) )