Five hundred and sixtieth chapters collapse of France
After China's conditions were presented to Churchill, the newly-appointed Prime Minister couldn't help but gasp. According to China's method, South Asia will be completely divided. China's power will take advantage of the situation to invade the Indian Ocean. By then, I am afraid that the entire Far East will be destroyed.
Colonies will be lost.
This is the result of hundreds of years of colonization of the world by the British Empire. Countless predecessors have devoted energy and money. If they want to give up now, they will really be the sinners of Britain.
Churchill did not expect that the price offered by China would be so high. Although he promised to agree to any of China's conditions, he also knew that once he agreed to China's conditions, he would become the gravedigger of the British Empire. Before Hitler could conquer Britain
To conquer, Britain would hand over world hegemony in advance.
What's even worse is the impact on his prestige. When he came to power, the old guy put on an extremely tough stance and vowed to defend the authority of the British Empire, but now he is making strides to compromise with China. Isn't this a slap in the face? Isn't he a slap in the face?
Tough and selective?
Be tough on Germany and compromise on China! This kind of thing cannot be said, and the opposition party will definitely hold on to it. Although Churchill also has this intention in his heart, this is not something that can be put on the table.
U.S. President Roosevelt also had to get involved at this time. He had to coordinate Sino-British relations as soon as possible and jointly deal with Germany. You must know that once Britain and France failed, the United States would have to face Germany directly, which would be absolutely terrible. Therefore, Roosevelt continued to act as a mediator.
The person's role is to persuade both parties to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
Qiao Yu is very clear about the British mentality, but he is still confident. Churchill will soon compromise, because Germany has begun to attack France. This is definitely a hearty victory and the best stage for the performance of German armored power.
Qiao Yu firmly believes in this.
After being strengthened by China, the German war machine is sharper than in history, but France is even more decadent. Their soldiers have been huddled on the Maginot Line for more than half a year without firing a single shot. Such troops who dare not fight are still
What does it do?
The top Chinese military officials have a very pessimistic view of France. As long as France is defeated miserably, Britain will lose its most important fulcrum on the European continent. By then, Britain and Germany will confront each other across the English Channel. When faced with life and death, the British will definitely move quickly
Compromising.
From the time Hitler reorganized his army, the Germans knew that they would have a decisive battle with France. For this reason, Hitler ordered his staff to formulate a battle plan. At that time, the German staff was still in charge of the old-school generals of the Wehrmacht. They formulated a code name
It is the yellow plan's combat plan, and its combat ideas are similar to those of the Schlieffen Plan before World War I.
Attack Belgium and attack northern France from here. According to the plan, it will take two years to capture the Somme area. Germany will have to sacrifice at least 500,000 people. Seeing this, Hitler was disappointed with this plan. He personally participated in a
war. He knew very well that if the war continued according to this plan, Germany would definitely repeat its defeat in World War I, even if it defeated France.
The current world situation is not good for Germany. The huge Soviet Union in Eastern Europe is stepping up war preparations. The Slavs have always regarded territorial expansion as their ultimate mission. Sooner or later, there will be a war between the Soviet Union and Germany, and although isolationism is prevalent in the United States across the Atlantic,
.But Roosevelt has begun to increase his support for Britain and France.
The most worrying attitude outside of Germany was China. Originally, Hitler hoped that China could become his ally and the two countries could jointly fight against Western forces. However, it turned out that this was just Hitler's wishful thinking. China had cut off trade with Germany and was seeking to cooperate with the United States and Britain.
cooperate among them.
This made Hitler feel a kind of loneliness from the bottom of his heart. The real big and powerful countries in the world are still seriously wary of Germany. If Germany falls into a long-term war, the United States and China will definitely fight like World War I.
By siding with Britain and France, Germany will eventually be consumed by life and death.
The only way to break this curse is to quickly resolve France and Britain without giving the United States a chance to interfere.
At this time, Manstein, Guderian, and Rommel jointly submitted a combat plan to Hitler. These three people had all gone to China for exchange and study. Manstein also participated in the battles between China and Japan. After returning to China,
, he has been thinking about the huge changes that armored power will bring to the form of war.
To be honest, the Japanese soldiers are very good. They are tenacious, loyal, brave, brave and skilled in tactics. Their individual soldier qualities are very good. However, they are vulnerable to China's superior armored forces and are completely like lambs to be slaughtered, especially when China only
It took a few days to occupy the entire North Korea, which made Manstein realize the most critical thing, that is, speed.
Germany must also build the same armored force as China, or even a more elite force. This is the common proposition of Manstein and others. Of course, only good weapons are not enough, but also have excellent war thinking. Manstein
Because in his own battle plan, he chose the Ardennes Forest area in Luxembourg as the breakthrough point.
This is the northern terminus of France's Maginot Line, and it also connects Belgium and the Netherlands. After breaking through here, it will be the French military town of Sedan, which is like the shoulder joint of France. It is of unparalleled importance, but the French are still here.
There is not enough defense power.
Attacking here is just like Sun Tzu's Art of War emphasizes surprise and unpreparedness. After Hitler saw the plan of Manstein and others, a smile finally appeared on his face. This was exactly the battle plan he needed. Hitler immediately ordered Manstein to
The others continued to refine the combat plan.
At the same time, Germany began a large-scale deployment of troops. In order to deal with France, its old enemy, Germany mobilized a total of 136 divisions, including 10 armored divisions, 4 motorized divisions, 2,439 tanks, 3,700 aircraft, and
600 transport aircraft.
The huge German army was divided into three combat groups, the most powerful of which was the center group, which included 64 divisions, including 7 armored divisions and three motorized divisions, forming an unprecedentedly powerful assault group, preparing to attack France.
Vulnerable joints deliver a fatal blow.
At this time, France's military strength on paper was not too weak. The French, British Expeditionary Force, Dutch, and Belgian armies combined totaled 135 divisions, equipped with 3,469 tanks, and 2,000 aircraft. In addition, they could obtain 1,000 British aircraft.
Aircraft support.
At dawn on May 10, swarms of German Stuka dive bombers suddenly carried out violent bombings on airports, railway hubs, heavy troop concentration areas and cities in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
At 5:30, on a front of more than 300 kilometers from the North Sea to the Maginot Line, the German ground forces launched a large-scale attack on the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, kicking off the invasion of France.
On the day the war began, the small country of Luxembourg, which had only 300,000 people, surrendered without a fight. Guderian's 19th Armored Corps was responsible for the main attack. It took him only two days to cross the 110-kilometer-long canyon of the Ardennes and penetrate deep into the French territory.
On the afternoon of May 12, Guderian's three armored divisions had reached the north bank of the Meuse River and captured the famous French fortress city of Sedan.
You must know that this was a strong fortress that Germany spent more than four years without attacking during World War I. It only took one day to announce that it had changed hands. The impact on the entire war situation was simply incalculable. Immediately, the Germans began to prepare for the forced crossing.
Action on the Maas River.
With the assistance of nearly 400 bombers, Guderian crossed the Meuse River in only half a day and rushed into the depths of the French army. Once the Meuse River defense line was lost, the road leading to Paris and the English Channel
The road is open.
The British and French troops fighting in Belgium were in danger of being outflanked, and the French army on the Maginot Line would also be attacked from both sides. Only then did Britain and France feel that the situation was serious.
The UK quickly dispatched 10 additional fighter squadrons to join forces with the British Air Force and the French Air Force stationed in France to launch a counterattack. On the afternoon of the 14th, the most intense air battle since the war broke out over the Meuse River. The British Brenhem bombers and the French army's latest mine-laying
Under the cover of fighter jets, the German bombers headed straight for the Maas River. About five wings of German fighter jets took off to intercept the attack. Each side invested more than 500 aircraft.
From noon to dark, there was continuous sound of gunfire on the landing site. Fighters from both sides flew up and down, chasing each other. From time to time, planes were hit by bullets and caught fire. Faced with the well-prepared Germany, Britain and France, they once again exposed their incompetence. There were hundreds of
A British aircraft was shot down, with more than 60% losses, and air superiority completely fell into the hands of the Germans.
What followed was a perfect performance of German armored power. On the plains of Western Europe, the German steel cavalry advanced rapidly and were invincible. The French army was as fragile as tofu and simply vulnerable.
Speaking of which, Churchill was unlucky enough. The British navy suffered a disastrous defeat before he came to power. He had to bow his head to China and pray for help. What happened to France made him even more anxious. If France couldn't hold on, what should Britain do?
Churchill immediately called French Prime Minister Reno, who just said in a tired tone: We are afraid we are going to lose.
Churchill still didn't want to believe it, but he had to fly to France in person and met with Prime Minister Reynaud and Commander-in-Chief Gamelin. Both men's faces were gray and gray. Seeing this, Churchill knew that France was really finished!
Churchill was also shocked by the concentrated use of armor, but he still hoped that France could organize enough strategic reserves to stop Germany. However, Gamelin shrugged: France does not have strategic reserves!
The advancing speed of Guderian's 19th Armored Corps not only caught the coalition forces off guard, but also unsettled the German high command. The superiors even ordered him to stop advancing. Guderian, who had gone crazy, did not hesitate to resign in protest.
The German army advanced so quickly that when they encountered groups of French soldiers crumbling on the road, they did not want to waste time getting out of their cars to capture them. They only used a loudspeaker to shout: "We don't have time to capture you. You must put down your weapons and get off the road."
, so as not to block the road."
"How can you identify French soldiers? Look at their armpits, which are very healthy from the sun!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian () to vote for recommendation, monthly vote, your