"Paul, the time has come when it is necessary to make a decision whether to continue the hopeless war or to choose a new friend. France could no longer afford a long war, and we lost a generation in the First World War, and in just a dozen years, will we have to lose another generation of good French sons and daughters for the British, the Americans, and even the Chinese on the other side of the world? What's the point of us sticking with it? Is it for victory, or simply as cannon fodder? Pétain said as he looked at Renault, who was sitting on the throne with his head buried in his face. His words were full of a threatening tone, as if what was in front of him was not the prime minister of a big country but a junior subordinate, of course, if you look at it from the perspective of seniority, Petain, who once served as a high-ranking military officer in World War 1, does have this qualification!

"Let's surrender to the feuding Germans? Will the humiliation of William I's coronation in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles and his military parade on the Champs-Élysées be repeated again? You're selling the country! You are ruining the future of France! Look at Italy! They are beasts who don't even let go of their former allies, will they still let go of their old enemies? Under the suppression of the Germans, France may not even be able to do it independently! The accumulation and glory of France for hundreds of years will be in vain! Before Petain's words fell, Renault, who was originally a little decadent, suddenly broke out, and his unusually high tone contained soaring anger!

"Well, well, dear national hero, then tell me now, this traitor and scum, what you, the great hero, intend to use to save France? Will they use the flesh and blood of those people to stop the German attack, or will they go to London or Washington to ask for more help? By the way, maybe add Beijing! Huaxia is a big financier. Those exiled Italians are the ones who are being fed by China! Petain was not annoyed, but spread his hands. Sitting in a very comfortable and relaxed posture, he looked at the French Prime Minister in front of him with a mocking face.

"My approach is not the best option for France at the moment. It's the only option! Whether you are willing or unwilling, we can only choose to give in the end. France's strength is not enough to stand up to the powerful Confederate bloc, and the so-called allies are a bunch of guys who only care about their own interests and don't care about the lives of others! The British have the Strait as a barrier, the Americans and Europe are separated by an Atlantic, and China is on the other side of the world, and their homeland is very safe, so there is no need to think about what will happen if the war is lost! The purpose of their war with the Allies was to divide up the rest of the world's land and resources. And in the case of confrontation, only France has no choice. Petain's words were filled with a hint of chagrin and concern.

"I have fought in World War I, and I know better how cruel and destructive war can be. I also know the strength of the Allies and what the so-called allies are! The British had too few land forces in World War 1, and they devoted most of their energy to the navy to defend their islands, and the Americans only entered the war in the middle and late stages of the war with the intention of taking a handful and leaving. And what about Huaxia? They were allies of the Allies in World War I, and they only participated in the war in World War II when France fell, so what did they do? Pétain paused and repeated: "Let go of the unrealistic illusions of the past, we must survive first, and then we can talk about anything else!" I don't think you, nor anyone with a conscience, would want to see France in ruins? Hube asked rhetorically.

"What is Mr. President's opinion?" Paul Renault calmed down and asked with a little excitement.

"Mr. President is not against it. To be precise, he was acquiescing, and he also believed that the war should not be fought any further. We should talk to the Germans, while we still have the capital. The earlier we negotiate, the less we give. Petain saw that Renault's attitude had loosened a little, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show a smile. Facts are always the best words. Even the most staunch pro-war faction has to think about how to end the war!

"Give me three days, and I'm going to think about it." Renault said after a half-ring. "Don't think it's been too long, General Wei Gang is still on the front line. The army also obeys his orders, if you act too aggressively. I can guarantee that you will not see the day when peace will come! Reynold's last sentence was full of menace, and he knew that Petain was relatively close to the pro-German elements in the country. And maybe there was a direct way to contact the Germans. He said this not only to Petain, but also to the Germans behind him! After all, the Germans faced more than just France!

"Well, it's only three days, and I'll come on the fourth day to ask about your options. You have two options, one is to accept my suggestion, and the other is to accept my suggestion with another person. Farewell, Your Excellency Prime Minister. Petain turned and left, he could feel the threat and anger of Paul Reynolds, of course, he had a way to deal with it, but he did not want to take this step, although the president had acquiesced to his actions, and he could even form a cabinet in place of Paul Reynaud if necessary. But as Renault said, most people are still resistant to surrender, especially the soldiers, who are afraid of being counterattacked by the Germans or the new government! If there is an incongruous voice within the government at this time, God knows what these troops will do!

However, Petain's purpose has also been achieved, he exerted great pressure on Renault, and although Renault is still stubborn, but in Petain's opinion, this is the last struggle, according to his understanding, no one with "reason" will let this war continue! If Renault had agreed, Petain might have wondered if the French prime minister had done some tricks, but the current reaction and the meaning of his expectations, although Renault was very unwilling, but he didn't have any tricks! But is that really the case? Will Renault really give up as Petain imagined? Of course not! Shortly after Petain left, Maxim Weygand, the commander-in-chief of the French army, whom Renault had personally promoted, arrived at Pétain's office, and the two men were planning the final fate of the Second Republic.

"General Wei Gang, I know you think the war should end as soon as possible. Or in a way, you and Petain are on the same page. But we have to prepare for another path, and we couldn't be worse off now. But we should strive for a brighter future, as the Italians did a few years ago. Their government yielded to the Germans, but Marshal Tycho joined the Entente with those who were willing to resist, and this double-headed bet was a good idea. And there are still people in the army who are willing to fight! Do you say so? Checkmate. At this time, Renault had reached the point of exhaustion, although he used Wei Gang to scare Petain, but he couldn't even guarantee whether Wei Gang would go all the way with him! The only advantage he could take advantage of was that Wei Gang had been on the front line and had no direct contact with Petain!

"It's a good idea, the opposition within the army is really strong, and Darlang is still waiting. His fleet was at the farthest point from the Germans, and his autonomy was still very strong. And they were also close to the British. If the fleet wanted to go, the British could give them cover. And then there's the Charles de Gaulle, many of his men who are placed in our colonial army, and who control the vast majority of France's overseas powers. He himself had in his hands the most elite armored regiment in France, and he was now stationed in Saint-Nazaire. If they want to keep fighting, we can give them that chance. "Wei Gang is not the first day to think about this problem, almost everyone knows that the war cannot be fought and France will inevitably lose, but different people have different arrangements after defeat. Petain belonged to the kind of man who was ready to run with Germany, Renault was the kind of person who still had hope for the victory of the Entente, and Weygand was somewhere in between, who was ready to bet on both ends. In this way, no matter who wins in the end, he will have a way out!

"So. I would like to talk to the United States and Britain that we can hand over these troops and equipment to the Entente. The United States and Britain were then responsible for withdrawing these troops to Britain or elsewhere. The Air Force wants to go. We can also arrange. In this way, we can at least keep the domestic opposition as low as possible. And in the event of a victory for the Entente. We'll have a little bit more chips in our hands. Renault tentatively expressed his thoughts, and he wanted to obtain the "understanding" of the Entente before negotiating peace with Germany. And if the Germans could be made aware of the determination of the French to resist, France would have had an advantage in peace talks!

"It's an idea, but if I want to do it, I need time. The Germans' army had two directions of attack, the left flank corps advancing along the western coastline, while the right flank corps had already surrounded Viesy and was preparing to advance in the direction of Paris. They have put most of their energies on the left, and they intend to cut off our foreign aid altogether and force France to submit. On the left flank, it was mainly the army of the main battle faction, as well as the forces of the United States, Britain and China. The Germans seemed to know that the decoy would not do much to them, so the battle was fierce all the time! Wei Gang thought for a while and said. Whether it was the Entente army or De Gaulle's legions, it would take time for them to retreat, and their situation could only become more and more critical as the Germans continued to press.

"It's not something we can handle. I just hope that you will send as many arms as possible to the front or to the British, and these things cannot fall into the hands of the Germans, regardless of the outcome of the negotiations! At the same time, you should try to contain the actions of the Germans on the right flank, so that they cannot support the left flank, of course, this does not necessarily have to be achieved by large-scale battles, what we need is a situation! That's all we can do at the moment. "In all fairness, Renault's requirements are indeed not high, and they are also within Wei Gang's ability. So Wei Gang agreed without hesitation.

At a time when the atmosphere of defeat prevailed in the French upper echelons, and even the most staunch militants began to admit the reality of preparing for the aftermath of the Second French Republic. There were still many French who were unwilling to submit to the Germans. Among them are mainly soldiers, and many of these soldiers have participated in the Italian War, the attitude of the Central Powers towards the enemy and their policy of ruling vassals made these people decide to resist to the end, and in the eyes of some people, the Allies are not invincible, in terms of national strength, in fact, the two most powerful countries have united to deal with the Germans, and from the battlefield, the Chinese Air Force has just joined the battlefield to make the Germans suffer a big loss, this victory rekindled the flame of hope for people's resistance!

De Gaulle was almost the busiest man in the French army at this time, not only managing his own army, but also liaising with the top of the Entente powers, and even thinking about doing extraordinary things when necessary! De Gaulle's plan was beyond the imagination of the French leadership, and he did not intend to take away not only his own troops, but also those that were still vacillating, but were indeed valuable!

"What's going on now? According to your telegram, the German offensive seems to be showing signs of easing again? Is this true? Why did they give up on attacking? Since the end of the battle in the south, de Gaulle has become increasingly disbelieving in the claims of the intelligence services. According to de Gaulle, the intelligence services provided that the German advance was always half a beat slower than it actually was, and they were always optimistic about the German Army's loss estimates! He now trusts only his own men. And when the Germans, who had been advancing all the way, suddenly relaxed their offensive, it made him a little confused.

"Although it is amazing, but I have to admit that we have finally regained air supremacy in the local battlefield, the Huaxia Air Force is as strong as ever, the aviation regiment commanded by General Wang Yue not only successfully rescued the Allied fleet from the clutches of the Germans, but also expelled the German bombers above our heads, and now in Saint-Nazaire, I can see the Huaxia Shicha Falcon fighter as soon as I look up. The Germans may have thought that the losses were too great in the face of the enemy's air attack, or perhaps they thought that victory was in their hands, so they were a little hesitant now. Leclerc, who was in charge of the front-line defense of Saint-Nazaire, once again assured de Gaulle.

"General Patton, what do you think of this now?" After confirming the news, de Gaulle looked at Patton next to him, although in the Great War in the South, the two men had been beaten to the teeth by German armored forces armed to the teeth. After the war, the two complained to each other, but the result of the complaint was that the two sides had to lean back together to keep warm, the reason was simple, Patton found that although de Gaulle lost the battle, he was the most capable unit in the French army, and the performance of the other units was even worse, and the reason why de Gaulle and Patton were close was that the supplies needed for De Gaulle's Chinese equipment were provided by American transport ships.

Thanks to the book friends zhouyu1976 and Tang Muyun for their rewards~~~, as well as the monthly ticket ~~~~~support of the book friend Daysleep Animal and the Emperor of Crying Blood. (To be continued......)