The war in Europe has entered its fourth year, and even the British Empire, which was once rich and oily, has become poor, and France, which is not as rich as Britain, can even more unbearable.

Of course, the unbearable France here is not the French government in Paris, but the Free French government in London.

In June 1940, when the German army occupied Paris, the new French cabinet signed the instrument of surrender, and General de Gaulle led part of the French army to London to form the Free French Army. Britain then recognized the Provisional Government of Free France, and the Allies later recognized Charles de Gaulle's Provisional Government of Free France.

However, the Provisional Government of Free France did not have its own land, nor did it have revenue, and it was all supported by the British. But it is important to note that the French colonies in Africa are still at the behest of the Provisional Government of Free France.

At that time, France had about 70,000 French troops in Chad, Cameroon, Congo and other African colonies, which was a combat force that could not be underestimated.

The level of the Italian army was also really good, even the army of the French colonies could not defeat it, and was finally defeated by the French army, which led to the complete chaos of the entire African strategy of the Axis powers. So Germany had to send Rommel to North Africa to destroy this part of the French army. It can be said that this group of French troops pinned down a large part of the German armored forces in the North African battlefield.

In 1943, the U.S. military intervened in the North African theater and gradually reversed the situation in the North African theater.

France itself was still under German control, so de Gaulle's troops mainly came from the French colonies in Africa, that is, the indigenous people of Africa. Although these African aborigines are all black, after years of French colonial rule, their language has long been changed to French, and their culture is also biased towards French culture, coupled with the fact that de Gaulle promised them French citizenship, so that the people of the French African colonies are very enthusiastic to sign up for the army.

Before the Normandy landings, the Free France had about 400,000 troops, of which 300,000 were blacks recruited in the colonies, and it was precisely because the blacks in these colonies performed very well in World War II that after World War II, France formulated some immigration policies that were more open to African colonies, which also led to a large number of colonies of black immigrants to France. That's why there are so many people of African descent in France today. Having said that, people have helped you sell your life, and it is also appropriate to give people some benefits.

It takes money to recruit an army of 300,000 people of African descent, and it takes a lot of money to feed and drink 300,000 people, train expenses, weapons and equipment, and even pensions. It is enough for the British to be able to support the French troops who fled to London, and it is obviously impossible for the British to pay for the French to arm 300,000 troops, and if the British government has that money, it is better to buy more planes from the United States, at least to ensure the safety over the British Isles.

Moreover, the British were certainly not as enthusiastic as the French in counterattacking France, and for the British, it was the right thing to defend their country first, and as for helping the French to recover their homeland, that was later. De Gaulle was well aware of this, and he knew very well that it was up to the French themselves to recover France.

Therefore, the current Free French government is extremely short of money, and it is also extremely in need of money, and they have a lot of money to use the armed forces, so as to counterattack France in the future.

Moreover, the current Free French government has a rather embarrassing position in the international community, France itself has fallen, and the so-called Free France basically has to rely on Britain to survive, and the French do not have much say in the Allied forces. It can be seen from the various meetings of the Allied forces, such as the Trident Conference, which is a meeting between Britain and the United States, and the Cairo Conference, which is a meeting between China, Britain, and the United States, and the Tehran Conference, which is a meeting between the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union.

Even Chongqing could send people to Cairo for a meeting, but de Gaulle could only stay in London and stare blindly, just because De Gaulle had no soldiers in his hands and had no right to speak. In contrast, although the Chinese army at that time lacked weapons and ammunition, and the quality of the soldiers was not satisfactory, there were millions of people, which contained a large number of Japanese troops, so the right to speak was much higher than that of the French.

De Gaulle had long recognized that France had to form a large army in order to have a say in the Allied forces and to safeguard French interests in the next war, so he did not hesitate to give many promises to the colonies and recruited 300,000 Africans to join the French army.

Now de Gaulle is doing everything possible to raise money to form a French army of African descent in order to gain a voice in the Allied forces. As for the funds for the formation of the army, the French colonies could raise a part, but it was still far from enough, so de Gaulle thought of the United States. In 1943, only the Americans could come out with the money to help France form an army.

De Gaulle sent a special envoy to the United States to meet with President Roosevelt for financial support and to lobby members of the U.S. Congress. And this Quesnel is one of the members of the special mission.

After Quesnel came to the United States, he got news from the French immigrants that someone in New York was buying Chinese antiques on a large scale, and this antique buyer was very rich, and he had spent more than 200,000 US dollars on the acquisition of antiques. Quesnel was instantly moved, because the French had a lot of antiques in their hands, and if they could sell these antiques, they would get a lot of money.

So Quesnel immediately sent a telegram to the Free French government in London asking for instructions, and London quickly replied with the message, that is, one word: "sell"!

Now De Gaulle is really short of money, if the seller's capacity is exchanged for money, De Gaulle is 100,000 willing, it is estimated that if someone is willing to buy the French colony, as long as the price is right, France is willing to sell.

What's more, the Chinese cultural relics in the hands of the French were all looted, and they were originally bought and sold without capital, and they were sold to make money. Is it still distressing to sell other people's things? Moreover, the British have not lost an inch of their country, and they have begun to sell the looted cultural relics to raise money, and the French mainland has fallen, and the sale of the looted cultural relics does not have the slightest sense of guilt for the ancestors.

After the Opium War, the two countries that took the most cultural relics from China were Britain and France, and there were more than 30,000 pieces of Chinese cultural relics in the Louvre Museum alone, and the French people estimated that there must be more than 30,000 pieces of Chinese cultural relics. If the French sold all the stolen Chinese cultural relics, they could indeed make a lot of money.

So Hu Kenel practiced with the antique shop owner through relationships, and then met Chen Qiang.

……

Quesnel claimed to be a special envoy of the Free France, Chen Qiang still had some doubts in his heart, but this kind of thing is easy to verify, after all, Quesnel is an official sent by the Free France, and his identity is easy to verify.

Chen Qiang is also very interested in the Chinese cultural relics looted by France, the current French are very short of money, deserve to be a fat sheep to be slaughtered, this is a once-in-a-lifetime good opportunity to recover Chinese cultural relics, after this village has no such shop, and after the end of World War II, the French have eased up, that is, to give money, and the Louvre is not necessarily willing to sell those Chinese cultural relics.

So Chen Qiang spoke: "Mr. Quesnel, I am very interested in the Chinese antiques you mentioned. ”

"That's great, I don't know how many pieces Mr. Chen plans to buy?" Quenell asked immediately.

"As much as you want, as much as you want, the more the merrier." Chen Qiang paused, and then said, "I don't know when I can see the goods?" ”

"Well......" Knel looked squirming at the mention of the goods, and he hesitated for a long time before he spoke;" Mr. Chen, to tell you the truth, these antiques are not in the United States right now. ”

"Not in the United States? Is that in Europe? Chen Qiang pondered for a moment, and then said: "Europe is now in a state of war, it is impossible for me to go to Europe to inspect the goods, so you can ship these antiques to the United States, and I will pay for the freight." ”

"It's more difficult, too." Quesnel spoke.

Chen Qiang nodded: "That's right, the German submarine is wreaking havoc in the Atlantic, and it is indeed not suitable for transportation at this time." Otherwise, you can give me a detailed list of antiques, let me know what antiques I want to sell, and a folder is enough for the list, shouldn't it be difficult? ”

"I can't do that." Quesnel said helplessly.

"Mr. Quesnel, you're not kidding me, are you? If you want to sell me an antique, I, as a buyer, can't I see the physical object of the antique, not even a list of goods? I should always know what I'm going to buy, right? Chen Qiang said with some unhappiness.

"Mr. Chen, I'm very sorry, your request is very reasonable, but we can't do it." Quesnel let out a long sigh and continued, "Let me tell you the truth, the Chinese antiques we are selling are still in France. ”

"I buy things from you French, and there is something strange about the goods in France. Wait, you say France? Do you mean mainland France? Chen Qiang asked in surprise.

"That's true." Quesnel nodded.

Chen Qiang laughed suddenly, and his laughter was full of sarcasm.

Now France is still under the control of the Germans, but those antiques are in France itself, that is to say, on the territory of the Germans, the Free France wants to sell the things on the territory of the Germans to themselves, what is the difference between this and selling other people's things!

Quesnel also heard the sarcasm in Chen Qiang's laughter, and he said: "Mr. Chen, although those antiques are still preserved in mainland France, after our Free French army counterattacks France and drives out the Germans, these antiques will be taken back by us, as long as you buy these antiques now, when we drive out the Germans, we will send you all these antiques." ”

"Mr. Quesnel, I've heard of soybean futures, I've heard of wheat futures, I've heard of iron ore futures, but I've never heard of antique futures. What's more, your futures antiques don't have a specific delivery date yet. Chen Qiang said with a smile.

Quenell smiled awkwardly, he also knew that he was like a white wolf with empty gloves, and he was completely unreasonable in his heart, and he didn't know how to respond to Chen Qiang's ridicule.

After thinking for a long time, Knel finally spoke: "Mr. Chen, you may think that what I am talking about is like an illusory promise, but now the war situation is developing in a good direction, in the North African battlefield, the Allies are winning one after another, the Germans are about to be unable to hold on, and in the Soviet Union, the Germans have been blocked in Stalingrad, and they are no longer able to continue the offensive." I believe that it will not be long before the time of the counteroffensive will come, and we will definitely be able to recover the French mainland and drive out those German invaders! ”

"Mr. Kernell, I believe all this you said, and I also hope that what you said will come one day sooner, I am Chinese, in this war, our two countries are allies, we are allies, our position is the same, I also hope that the allies can achieve victory as soon as possible." But the position is the position, and the reality is the reality. The superiority on the battlefield in North Africa, as well as the Battle of Stalingrad, was, at best, a turning point in the war, and we were still a long way from the final victory. ”

Chen Qiang said with a long sigh, and then said: "Mr. Quesnel, you should know that my motherland fell into war earlier than Europe, and we have experienced many war turns. As early as 1938, our Chinese army won the victory in the Battle of Changsha, which was a major turning point, but we still could not stop the Japanese invasion, but only temporarily slowed down the pace of their attack, the Battle of Changsha has been five years away from now, and we have not yet won. Even after the outbreak of the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese army had to face a two-front battle, and after such a major turning point, my country was still losing its territory. ”

"Mr. Quesnel, I say this to tell you how far the turning point of the war is from victory in the war, in fact, is an unknown, it may be a year or two, it may be three or four years, it may be more than ten years. I believe that the soldiers of Free France had the courage to drive out the Germans and were capable of recovering the French mainland, but I also know that no one can give an exact time. ”

Chen Qiang's words made Quesnel bow his head and remain silent, he knew that what Chen Qiang said was the truth, the victory of the Allies in the North African battlefield and the defeat of the German army in the Battle of Stalingrad could only be regarded as a turning point in the war, and it did not mean that the Allies had achieved victory. In the current European theater, the German army is still strong, and the Allies have not set foot on the European continent, and the two sides are at most evenly matched.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Chen, that I bothered you." Quesnel let out a long sigh, he knew that it was too whimsical to take money from Chen Qiang with a blank check from a Chinese antique.

Quesnel's depressed look fell into Chen Qiang's eyes, but Chen Qiang couldn't help but be a little happy.

Because Chen Qiang knows that this blank check for Chinese antiques issued by the French can actually be cashed!

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