Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Chapter 261 The end of France (31)

After writing the letter to Roosevelt, Churchill came to the conference room.

As soon as the secretary opened the door of the conference room, a cloud of smoke suddenly spurted out. The secretary was so frightened that he almost called the security guard to put out the fire.

The atmosphere in the conference room was very depressing. Everyone had a heavy look on their faces, and they were all puffing up smoke. The whole conference room was filled with mist, making it feel like a fairyland. Seeing Churchill walk in, everyone snuffed out the cigarettes in their hands.

Churchill had no time for nonsense and got straight to the point. "You must also have some understanding of the war situation. The situation in France is getting increasingly serious. The main force of our expeditionary force is about to be surrounded by the German army."

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, those are our elite troops, we must not make any mistakes." Everyone's faces were worried.

The thunderous assault of the German armored forces caught everyone off guard. The Schlieffen Plan in the last war was defeated by equipment, but now the advanced equipment of the German army gives them a huge advantage!

"Of course." Churchill nodded. "So I have already discussed with the French side to bring all the coalition forces over."

Sir Charles Forbes wondered. "Bring all the coalition forces here? You mean also bring the French and Belgians?" The last attack on Scapa Flow caused the then First Sea Lord Sir Dudley Pound to die on the spot from excessive excitement. Sir Charles Forbes is promoted to First Sea Lord. "That's more than 300,000 people."

"Although it is very difficult, this is a task that must be completed!" Churchill said with great determination. "Our soldiers must be brought back intact, one by one!" In his view, even if France is defeated and surrenders, it is far less important than the hundreds of thousands of British expeditionary troops.

You must know that Britain has many colonies, and most of its troops are deployed in the colonies, leaving only a few troops on the mainland.

Once France is defeated, the hundreds of thousands of expeditionary forces on the European continent will be the main force to defend the homeland. Even if they are expanded, they will be based on these main divisions. Otherwise, they will all be a group of farmers who have just put down their hoes or workers who have just walked out of the factory. How can these super rookie troops defend the British Isles?

Therefore, Churchill particularly emphasized that the expeditionary force should be withdrawn intact to the British mainland.

As for the others. "French and Belgian soldiers must also be transported back as much as possible, the more the better. These people will be the main force in counterattacking the European continent in the future."

In later generations, why can Britain counterattack? It had a lot to do with the Dunkirk evacuation, which preserved a large number of effective forces. A few years later, these retreating troops once again landed on the European continent from Normandy.

"That requires a careful plan and the cooperation of the Air Force to ensure air superiority over the strait." After all, transporting more than 300,000 people and equipment is not an easy task, and it cannot be completed in a short time; and during this period it requires Air force cover to prevent interference and attacks by German aviation.

All eyes turned to Hugh Dowding, commander of the Fighter Air Force of the Royal Air Force.

Although Hugh Daoding felt helpless, he couldn't pour cold water on everyone, so he could only bite the bullet and agreed. "I will send as many fighter jets as possible to ensure air superiority over the strait."

"Very well, Sir Charles, work out a retreat plan as soon as possible. The sooner the better, we don't have time. Also, keep a minimum number of troops stationed in Canada, South Africa, India, Australia and other places and transfer them all to the country." Churchill had an ominous premonition that once France surrendered, the Germans would definitely attack the British mainland, so he decided to mobilize troops from various colonies to defend the mainland.

However, this decision is also quite dangerous. You must know that British colonial rule was already in danger before World War II. The British government had to seek allegiance by conceding profits to the subordinate colonial regimes. This was also an important reason why the former subordinate regimes in the colonies became independent one after another after World War II. Once the defenders in these colonies are mobilized, no one can guarantee whether those colonies will stay honest.

But the top priority now is to defend the homeland. If the homeland is lost, then future counterattacks will be nonsense; and as long as this war is won in the end, even if those colonies are dishonest, they can settle their accounts later.

These damn Germans! Churchill cursed fiercely in his heart.

Even if the Germans take ten thousand steps back, the Germans do not plan to attack the British mainland, and the British will not sit back and watch Germany unify the European continent.

The dream of a unified Europe traces its origins to France.

The first person who almost unified Europe was Charlemagne.

Charlemagne's official name is Charles I. He was honored as Charlemagne by later generations because of his outstanding civil and military achievements. He was the second generation king of the Carolingian dynasty of the Frankish kingdom. He was born in 742 AD. His father was Pepin III, the founding king of the Carolingian dynasty. When Pepin III died in 768, he succeeded to the throne as crown prince.

At that time, the Frankish Kingdom was already the most powerful country in Europe. Charlemagne followed his father's ambition, took advantage of the situation, and worked hard to govern. He developed the Carolingian Dynasty of the Frankish Kingdom to its peak, conquered and annexed many surrounding countries, and established a territory that is today With France as the center and covering today's huge countries such as Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, it unified most of Europe. Therefore Charlemagne is also known as the Father of Europe.

Unfortunately, after the death of Charlemagne, the empire began to fall apart. In 843, according to the Treaty of Verdun, the empire was divided into three parts: the area east of the Rhine River was called the Kingdom of East Frankia; the area west of the Scheldt and Meuse rivers was called the Kingdom of West Frankia; and the Kingdom of Middle Frankia started from the North Sea in the north and followed South of the Rhine, including the Rhone, to central Italy, its king Lothair I inherited the title of Holy Roman Emperor. It basically laid the foundation for the three kingdoms: the First German Empire, the Kingdom of France, and the Kingdom of Italy. This is the best outcome.

Later, two big figures came out of France who wanted to unify Europe. One is Louis XIV. France was definitely the overlord of Europe during that period. Louis XIV could be said to have defeated the entire Europe and was invincible. It is a pity that he wanted to dominate Europe more than to unify it; when Louis XIV died, the whole of France was devastated, the treasury was empty, and problems abounded.

There was also Napoleon, who indeed swept across Europe. Spain, Italy, Prussia, Austria, etc. were all occupied by this country. Except for Britain and Russia, the entire Europe was a slave state of France. However, Napoleon ultimately failed miserably because of his attack on Russia, and was defeated by the anti-French alliance organized by the British. Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena Island where he remained until his death.

Is it now the Germans' turn to try again?

However, Churchill firmly believed that even if the Germans were strong for a while, they would eventually follow in the footsteps of Napoleon, because the British Empire would never allow the unification of the European continent!

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