In 1939, Gillot was promoted to general, and de Gaulle's military rank at that time was colonel.
The hierarchy in the army is very strict, and there are several ranks between general and colonel. De Gaulle is indeed inferior to Giraud in this regard.
Now de Gaulle is Giraud's direct superior, which has become the source of conflict between Giraud and de Gaulle. Giraud believes that he is the only one qualified to represent Free France, so how could de Gaulle give up?
Giraud, who was supported by the United Kingdom and the United States, did have the capital to compete with De Gaulle.
However, Giraud ignored the fact that the Free French Army was also founded by de Gaulle, and the senior officers were personally appointed by de Gaulle. Many senior officers were even French nationals who had acquired Southern African citizenship and were only temporarily serving in the Free French Army.
Therefore, whether Giraud can completely control the Free French Army is still a question.
"The strength of the Free French Army is still very strong, especially after you have obtained two 'Richelieu' class battleships." Winston quietly fired. The French were willing to die, and Winston was willing to bury them.
When Southern Africa returned the two "Richelieu" to the French, it also gave the French two cruisers, six destroyers, and a comprehensive supply ship, which was regarded as the prototype of the Free French Navy.
The warships that the United States promised to give to Free France never arrived.
This did not affect Giraud's mood. Giraud only promised to send ground troops to participate in the war, and the navy had to wait. There were the British Mediterranean Fleet and the Southern African Cyprus Squadron in the Mediterranean, and the French Navy only played a supporting role.
Although the status of a supporting role embarrassed the French, both De Gaulle and Giraud were happy to see it. They fully reached an agreement on the naval issue. The French Navy only had the last two battleships left and could not act rashly.
"The navy still needs time to familiarize itself with the performance of the two 'Richelieu' ships, and it is not yet possible to go to sea for combat." Giraud expressed weakness, he did not want the navy to take risks.
Free France's navy and army were different. The army was established earlier and was mostly composed of colonial servants.
The navy is mostly composed of soldiers from France. Although North Africa is also French territory in name, in the eyes of the French, there is still a difference between overseas colonies and the mainland.
"Our plan should win Locke's support." Roosevelt wanted to bring southern Africa into the plan, which would be equivalent to double insurance.
In the just-concluded North African campaign, the combat effectiveness of the southern African army was once again proven, and the honor of "the best army in the world" was once again consolidated.
Without the participation of the German army and only the Italian army, Roosevelt and Winston were confident that they could win.
If southern African armies are involved, there is simply no reason for failure.
"Locke pays more attention to the Far East." Winston is not optimistic. Locke has always been less interested in landing in Italy and prefers to force the Italians to surrender.
Roosevelt's proposal to land in Sicily was actually to force the Italians to surrender, but in a more radical way.
The effect is hard to say.
What if the Italians surrender?
"The situation in the Far East has completely gotten out of control, and we have lost balance in this region." Roosevelt was also very distressed. Southern Africa was the dominant player in the Far East, which was very detrimental to other countries.
Before coming to Casablanca, Roosevelt had a plan to try to divide his sphere of influence with southern Africa and Britain.
The current situation is obvious. Southern Africa's advantage in Africa is unshakable, Europe is the traditional sphere of influence of the United Kingdom, and the Americas are the Americas of the United States.
Therefore, Roosevelt's vision was to carve up East Asia on this basis and achieve a balance of interests among the United Kingdom, the United States, and Southern Africa in East Asia.
France was not considered at all in this plan, let alone Japan.
The Italians can change sides, but if the Japanese want to jump sideways again and again, even if the United States agrees, Southern Africa will never agree.
"Yes, we should maintain the balance in East Asia and restore the status quo ante," Giro said actively.
Roosevelt and Winston looked at each other, with smiles in their eyes.
Giraud thinks beautifully!
After the last world war, East Asia was divided among the victorious countries. Britain owned Malaya, the United States occupied the Philippines, France ruled Indochina, and East India became the sphere of influence in southern Africa.
Now this balance has been completely broken. After the war, British and American rule over Malaya and the Philippines may be restored, but France faces the permanent loss of French Indochina. This makes de Gaulle controversial.
Those who oppose De Gaulle certainly don't want to know how difficult it was for De Gaulle to make this decision.
At that time, only Southern Africa recognized the Free France, not even the United Kingdom. French North Africa and Indochina both accepted the leadership of Vichy France. De Gaulle was the bare commander. If De Gaulle did not do this, the Free France would be a joke.
Now that the strength of Free France has expanded, some people have begun to question De Gaulle's decision under the banner of safeguarding France's interests. These are all people who jump out to pick peaches. They don't care about De Gaulle's difficulties.
"We will discuss this issue after the war is over." Winston did not want to discuss this issue, let alone French Indochina. After the war is over, it is uncertain whether the British and American colonies in East Asia can be preserved.
The key is not whether southern Africa should be returned or not, but whether it is worth it.
In other words, whether input and output are directly proportional.
The loose state of Malaya has now established its own army to participate in the war and has a certain strength. The British must carefully calculate the cost if they want to resume their rule after the war.
To restore colonial rule, a colonial government must be formed. Now that the Malay states have a certain military strength, the British government must give up part of its power in order to gain the support of the Malay states.
Next, in order to restore the economy, massive reconstruction funds will need to be invested.
The British mainland also suffered heavy losses in the war. To restore the local economy, it had to borrow money from the Americans or southern Africans, and it had no ability to provide more financial assistance to Malaya.
At that time, there will be no need for external forces to take action. The Malay kings will be enough for the British government to drink.
The situation in the United States is even more serious.
After Japan occupied the Philippines, the Filipinos welcomed Japan's invasion and formed hundreds of thousands of servant troops to cooperate with the Japanese and Allied forces.
This resulted in the United States having to pay a higher price if it wanted to resume colonial rule over the Philippines after the war.
The capitalists in the United States are all unprofitable and do not get up early. They only invest but do not produce, and no one can bear it.
"I will raise this issue with Lord Locke at tomorrow's meeting." Giraud didn't want to wait, he wanted Indochina back now.
Compared with the North African battlefield and the Russian battlefield, the battle in the East Asian battlefield was one-sided. Now the Allies have basically controlled the entire territory of Indochina, the local colonial government has lost all power, and the entire Indochina is under military control.
The local government in Indochina was formed by Vichy France. After the Japanese army entered Indochina, the Vichy government still retained administrative power.
After the Allied forces invaded Indochina, they declared a state of war in Indochina, imposed military control on Indochina, and the local government's rule completely collapsed.
Angel, the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in East Asia, obtained the true biography of Rock. On the pretext that the battle in Indochina was not over yet, he controlled all power in the hands of the army. All the officials stationed by Vichy France in Indochina were sent to East India, nominally
He was protected, but actually under house arrest.
In Indochina, what now replaces the colonial government and manages various parts of Indochina are committees formed voluntarily by various local people, and there are basically no white people.
"Good luck to you." Winston was happy to watch the show. It didn't matter if Britain lost Malaya. Anyway, Malaya did not bring much benefit to Britain.
Just seeing the French being unlucky is worth the price of admission.
The meeting continued the next day, with a joint press conference in the morning.
The meeting had been held for several days, but no news came out. The reporters in Casablanca were so anxious that they had to focus their reports on the conflict between De Gaulle and Giraud.
This is simply putting the cart before the horse. The Allies want to establish an image of unity to the outside world, so they have this joint press conference.
The press conference was held on the lawn in front of the castle. Roque, Winston, and Roosevelt were lined up. Giraud and De Gaulle were scattered among the three of them. Roque took the center position.
According to the agenda, the first content of the press conference was the handshake between de Gaulle and Giraud, which symbolized the cooperation between the two and the unity within the Allied forces. The rumors were self-defeating.
Both De Gaulle and Giraud were quite resistant to this aspect.
When Roque brought it up to de Gaulle, de Gaulle even expressed direct opposition and did not even want to attend a joint press conference.
Roque was patient, analyzed the pros and cons with de Gaulle, and insisted that de Gaulle participate.
De Gaulle was "forced to agree".
The same goes for Giro.
So when de Gaulle and Giraud shook hands, the smiles on their faces were a little stiff, and they didn't even look at each other, but looked at the reporters' cameras.
The reporters were as if they had found a treasure, and the flashbulbs kept clicking and banging.
Rock and Winston, Roosevelt sat behind them and became the backdrop.
Farther away, there are Southern African soldiers carrying rifles on duty.
This scene was later described by American newspapers as "forced marriage at gunpoint."
It's very vivid, but also a bit too damaging, because Americans described De Gaulle as a "forced bride."
Next came the propaganda session, where Russian Foreign Minister Molotov introduced the situation on the Russian battlefield to reporters.
Molotov took the initiative to introduce to reporters that in the just-concluded Battle of Volgograd, the Russian army wiped out more than 3 million Axis troops at the cost of 1.5 million casualties and pushed back the Axis troops' front line by 350 kilometers.
These figures made Rock, Winston, and Roosevelt a little embarrassed.
The North African campaign lasted for more than two years, and more than one million Axis troops were wiped out. In the final battle, 180,000 German troops and 250,000 Italian troops were captured. This was regarded by the southern African, British, and American media as allies against the Axis powers.
The major victory was widely publicized.
The situation on the Russian battlefield is relatively closed. There are many journalists accompanying the Allied forces in North Africa. News on the Russian battlefield relies almost entirely on the propaganda of the Russian government.
According to Molotov, the Russians wiped out 3 million Axis troops in Volgograd alone.
With the little victory achieved by the Allied forces in North Africa, what else is there to be proud of?
"This damn water is too mixed with water." Winston chatted with Roque through de Gaulle, his voice was not quiet, and he was not afraid of being heard by Molotov.
Even if he heard it, Winston probably wouldn't care. He probably did it on purpose. It would be best if the reporters could hear it.
"Even if we don't have 3 million, we should have 1 million." De Gaulle also muttered, it's a bit scary that the Russians can fight so well.
During the Battle of France, a total of 27,000 German soldiers died, and another 100,000 were wounded or missing.
Compared with the Russians, the French army is simply useless.
"In addition to 3 million German troops, we also destroyed and captured 25,000 trucks, 35,000 artillery pieces, 4,500 tanks, and 3,500 aircraft. Under the brutal attack of our Russian army, the Germans are at the end of their rope, and we will surely win the final victory.
Victory, long live the great Russia." Molotov was frothing at the mouth, and the reporters were angry if they didn't understand.
25,000 trucks!
35,000 artillery pieces!!
There are so many tanks and planes!!!
Although the Germans have not announced their industrial production capacity, it is estimated that all the tanks and aircraft produced by Germany in the past two years were lost in Volgograd.
There are still knowledgeable reporters among the military reporters. Many of them are originally soldiers. Even if they don't understand the industrial strength of various countries, they can have some idea of what they are doing after such a long interview.
"Now we only need to work harder to drive the Germans out of Russia, spread the flames of war to Germany, let the Germans taste the consequences of launching a war, and let them die in pain," Molotov said.
In a twist, he called on allies to give Russia more support: "We now need more tanks and aircraft, more oil and medicine. The strong Russians are winning the war, and we need support from the whole world."
"Mr. Molotov" Henry Price, a reporter from "Journal de France" couldn't bear it anymore and raised his hand on his own initiative.
"What's the matter? Can't you wait until I finish speaking before asking questions?" Molotov was very unhappy and really didn't understand the rules.
"What I want to ask is, since you have captured so much German equipment, you should have no shortage of equipment now, right?" Before Henry could finish his words, sporadic laughter could be heard on the lawn.
Rock suppressed his laughter to see how Molotov would answer.
Winston burst into laughter, but did not laugh out loud, which still saved some face for Molotov.
Roosevelt seemed to be in a bad mood and was dozing off in his wheelchair.
A sarcastic smile appeared on De Gaulle's face, and he did not hide it at all.
Giraud spat hard on the ground. He was really bragging about not paying taxes, wasn't he?
"Didn't you hear? What I just said was destruction and capture. Those destroyed weapons and equipment can no longer be repaired, and the brave Russians do not bother to use despicable German equipment." Molotov can come back,
The size of a person is also the length of his body.
This is true. More than ten years ago, German products were still synonymous with fake and shoddy goods.
