France was once the king of Europe and had the best army in the world. If Napoleon hadn't insisted on attacking Russia, there would have been no Germany at all. Whatever happened to Italy, Britain could only stay in a corner and had no qualifications to intervene in European affairs.
France is now completely flat, and its status among the Allies is not even as good as that of India, but slightly stronger than Greece.
The Free French Army must have a auxiliary status in cooperating with the Southern African Army. De Gaulle knew this very well, and he had no idea of competing with Southern Africa.
However, de Gaulle still had ideas about the Italian Navy.
Southern Africa is wealthy and only wants the three "Veneto" ships of the Italian Navy, but looks down upon other naval ships.
De Gaulle has no right to dislike him. The French Navy currently relies on two "Richelieu" ships to support the situation. When it goes to sea, it can't even assemble a complete battleship formation. The Italian Navy's cruisers, destroyers, and even submarines, for De Gaulle
All are very attractive.
The reason why de Gaulle actively petitioned for war was to get more post-war dividends. For this reason, de Gaulle did not hesitate to tie Free France to southern Africa.
Hold on to the thighs of Southern Africa. When Southern Africa eats meat, Free France at least has bones to chew on.
If you follow the United States, you won't even be able to survive.
The bones left over by the Americans are British.
Although there are many existing warships in the Italian Navy, not many are capable of following the fleet to North Africa.
Admiral Borgamini was also ruthless. He ordered all warships that could not follow the fleet to North Africa to be scuttled, including the battleship "Cavour" that was still being repaired on the slipway, and the "Cavour" battleship that was under construction and had not yet been launched.
Battleship Imperial.
"Cavour" was built in 1915, so I don't mind if it is scuttled.
The "Imperial" is the latest fourth-class "Veneto" class ship. The Italians are actually willing to scuttle it. The Italians are still courageous.
According to the agreement between Admiral Borgamini and Patton, the remaining warships of the Italian Navy will leave La Spezia on August 9, bypassing Corsica and Sardinia, passing through Palma in the Balearic Islands, and heading directly to
Algiers.
Balearics is a Spanish territory currently under the control of southern Africa, about 750 kilometers away from La Spezia.
In order to prevent German fighter planes from taking off from Corsica to threaten the Italian fleet, Patton decided to launch a Corsica landing operation at the end of July.
The experience of launching a landing campaign in southern Africa is very rich, and it is very different from the two idiots who were embarrassed not long ago.
In order to ensure the successful completion of the landing operation, Patton organized a campaign headquarters, with Mike Tolan, commander of the Cyprus Squadron, as the overall commander. Southern Africa sent a total of 130,000 people to participate in the battle, and the Free French Army sent 60,000 people to assist the southern African army in its operations.
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This is of great significance to the Free French Army. Corsica is French territory. After France stopped resisting, it accepted the leadership of Vichy France. After the French Navy sank in Toulon, Germany sent troops to occupy Corsica. There were about 70,000 defenders on the island.
people, 40,000 of whom were French troops led by Vichy France.
These 40,000 people are now under German command.
"Corsica is French territory. This is the first time that the Free French Army has fought on French territory. If possible, I hope that the first wave of landing troops will be composed of the Free French Army. This is the glory of the Free French Army. France
The territory must be recovered by the French." De Gaulle had a positive attitude. In order to fight for the right to land on Corsica first, De Gaulle voluntarily joined the joint command and accepted the command of Mike Toland.
"The first phase of the landing operation is usually the most intense battle. The Free French Army has not received training in this area and may encounter stubborn resistance from the enemy." Mike Tolan reminded de Gaulle that it is not easy to be the vanguard.
"It doesn't matter, all of us are ready to sacrifice." De Gaulle was aware that no one would die in a war.
As long as they don't die in such a miserable way like the British and American airborne troops, that's fine.
Despite de Gaulle's guarantee, Mike Tolan only agreed to de Gaulle's request after consulting Patton.
The battlefield situation is changing rapidly. If the first wave of landing troops wants to establish a beachhead, they will definitely face a crazy counterattack by the defenders.
At this time, heavy equipment such as tanks and armored vehicles usually have not yet been sent ashore. The landing troops have to fight against the defenders' armored forces with their own flesh and blood. Not only will they suffer heavy losses, they may also affect the subsequent battles.
In Mike Tolan's plan, the first wave of landing troops was handled by the Marine Corps. After all, the Marine Corps had amphibious tanks, an advantage that the Free French Army did not have.
In order to improve the combat capabilities of the Free French Army, Mike Tolan handed over some of the Marine Corps' amphibious tanks to the Free French Army. Tankers don't have to worry. Many tankers in the Marine Corps are mercenaries of the Umbrella Company. French-Americans
There were already a lot.
Coincidentally, the Free French Army was also formed based on the French Foreign Legion.
The two well-known mercenary groups have completely different situations. The Free French Army has a big gap with the mercenaries of the Umbrella Company in terms of treatment and combat capabilities.
Cherif, whose ancestral home is Quraya, a small town in French North Africa, had already worked for the Umbrella Company for seven years before the outbreak of the world war.
After the outbreak of the World War, Sharif took the initiative to join the Marine Corps and obtained Southern African citizenship last year. His family lives in the New Cape of Good Hope. Sharif has a son and three lovely daughters.
There is a photo of the family in Sharif's wallet. The background is the new house that Sharif bought with a loan from Rand Bank. The new house has 12 rooms in total. Sharif also owns a heavy-duty pickup truck produced by a Rhodesian company, which was also loaned.
purchased.
"Oil - have you forgotten where I come from? There is oil everywhere around the Persian Gulf, but only southern African companies can mine it. Umbrella has a cooperation with Adan Company. As long as my tank is out of oil, I can just find a gas station.
It only costs one rand to fill a tank of fuel." Sharif is now an instructor of the Free French Army, responsible for training Free French Army soldiers to use amphibious tanks.
At this time, it was less than half a month before the landing operation in Corsica. It was not easy for the soldiers of the Free French Army with no cultural foundation to learn to drive amphibious tanks in such a short period of time.
France invaded North Africa in 1830 and completed its occupation of French North Africa in 1905. Before the outbreak of World War II, France had not yet had time to implement universal compulsory education in French North Africa.
Of course, it is more likely that the French did not want to do that at all, otherwise there would be many ways.
"You are so lucky. The price of gas here is very expensive. Even if you can afford a car, you can't afford to fill it up with gas." Louis, who also comes from Quraya, is extremely envious of Sharif's life.
But it's a world of difference.
Cherif joined Umbrella ten years ago, and Louis has been living in Quraya. After the war broke out, Louis joined the army and served in the 2nd Division of the Free French Army.
"I wrote to you before and wanted you to join the umbrella. Why didn't you come?" Sharif didn't mean to look down on Louis. He chose his own path and no one can blame him.
"I want to go too, but I'm married. I have six children, but only two survived-" Louis looked sad. The medical level in French North Africa was very low, and the infant mortality rate was very high. Look at Louis' economy.
Considering the situation, it is estimated that even if the child is sick, he will not care.
"Do you have any photos?" Sharif said with great interest.
"No -" Louis was sad. Photos were also a luxury item for the poor in French North Africa.
Sharif was silent. It was difficult to find a suitable topic. He couldn't keep recalling the mud games he played in his childhood.
Fortunately, the break ended soon, and once the teaching work began, Sharif became meticulous and would severely criticize Louis' mistakes without mercy.
"I have said it many times, don't stay in one place for a long time. Don't give the enemy a chance to target you. Amphibious tanks are not Tigers. German anti-tank guns can pose a fatal threat to amphibious tanks.
Especially the German rocket launchers, you must not let the German soldiers holding the rocket launchers get close to your tank -" Sharif emphasized many times, but Louis always couldn't do it.
"If we go through the next yard, do we have to lose money?" Louis never dared to take shortcuts when driving a tank, and he obeyed traffic rules more than Sharif when driving.
"If necessary, we can go directly through the house. If the landlord wants to lose money, let him go to General de Gaulle." Sharif was very angry and helpless.
Cherif, like Louis, is a native of French North Africa, not a pure French.
In French North Africa, people are different from each other. Even among the civilian class, the highest status is definitely the French people from France, then the white people from other European countries, and finally the natives of French North Africa.
In Algiers, people of different classes cannot live in the same district. Locals like Cherif and Louis cannot even go to the wealthy districts where the French live. If property is damaged, compensation will definitely be required, even if it is destroyed.
In lawsuits, judges will also be more inclined to those who are French.
Cherif fled French North Africa to escape the suffocating and harsh social hierarchy.
Louis had never left French North Africa and had no idea how big the outside world was.
"Sir will not allow us to do this -" Louis was very afraid of the officers. In the former Foreign Legion, like the current Free French Army, most of the officers were white Frenchmen.
"Fuck you, sir, if your commander asks you to die, will you go too?" Sharif yelled. Soldiers are not afraid of death, but they also have to deal with circumstances.
In the Southern African Army, if the troops need someone to perform cover tasks when retreating, most of the Southern African soldiers will not refuse to carry out the order even if they know that they will die if they stay.
It’s not like there are no stupid officers. There are very few front-line troops. If an officer cannot get the support of the soldiers, he will not be able to survive in the front-line troops.
"It is the bounden duty of soldiers to obey orders -" Louis' eyes widened. This was what Sharif had emphasized to the soldiers on his first day as an instructor.
"Your memory is good, but it's a pity that you used it in the wrong place!" Sharif was even more angry. Some people suffered miserably, and they really deserved it.
After the day's training mission was completed, Sharif took Louis to eat.
Louis's military rank was corporal and he was not eligible to eat in the officers' mess.
Sharif did not go to the officers' mess, but took Louis to a restaurant next to the camp to open a small stove.
"After the war is over, immigrate to Southern Africa. You can work in an umbrella company first, and you can apply for Southern African citizenship in a few years." Sharif helped Louis find a way. Southern Africa is very friendly to ordinary people, and there is no need to go all out.
, you can live a good life.
At least it's better than life in French North Africa.
"Okay, I will join you when the time comes." Louis made up his mind to immigrate to southern Africa even for the sake of his children.
Staying in French North Africa, Louis' children will most likely achieve nothing in the future just like Louis.
If you go to Southern Africa, there is a complete compulsory education system. Under this system, you will not necessarily be able to change your destiny, but at least the probability will be greater.
Louis also wanted to live in a big house like Sharif's, and he also wanted his children to be like Sharif's children, well-dressed and sit in a spacious and elegant classroom to study.
"No, I will probably stay in France and will not return to the New Cape of Good Hope." Sharif said frankly.
"Why?" Louis was surprised.
France is a pit of fire compared to southern Africa.
Louis could not figure out why Sharif would return to France since he had acquired Southern African citizenship.
"Stay and build a new France, someone must stay -" Sharif was half-sentence.
Construction is only one aspect, and the other aspect cannot be stated publicly. Southern Africa will next increase its influence on France.
This work has been going on for a long time. It was first carried out by the Rhodes Foundation under the name of Stoudemire. Now it has expanded to involve more organizations, more funds, greater intensity, and more covert methods.
As mentioned before, hundreds of outstanding students go to Southern Africa to study through the Rhodes Foundation every year. Some of them leave Southern Africa after graduation and return to their hometowns to work, even if the school and the Rhodes Foundation do not require it.
I will be very grateful to Southern Africa.
There are many Southern Africans in European countries, especially in France. Even in Vichy France, there are many people who oppose declaring war on Southern Africa. Madagascar's entry into Southern Africa did not lead to a rupture in relations between France and Southern Africa, nor did it affect public opinion in France.
The voice has a lot to do with it.
The Free French Army was originally trained by instructors from Southern Africa, and many of its officers were of French descent from Southern Africa.
Cherif and his group of officers have directly joined the Free French Army and will become the backbone of the French army in the future.
In a few years, the Free French Army will completely become part of the military force in Southern Africa. Even if the Free French Army does not join the Southern African Union, the relationship between the two parties will be unbreakable.
