At 12:30 noon on May 27, King Leopold III of Belgium went behind the backs of Britain and France and sued for peace to the Third Reich alone, and quickly accepted Reinhardt's request for "unconditional surrender."
Belgium's surrender immediately created a 20-mile-wide gap in the defense line of the three-nation coalition. This section of the defense line, which was originally responsible for the Belgian troops, created a dangerous vacuum zone due to the unified disarmament of the Belgian Army. In other words,
, the German armored forces can drive straight into any position in this 20-mile-wide undefended area at any time.
In desperation, the British Admiralty decisively ordered the implementation of the "Generator Plan".
However, the situation at this time has become a hundred times more dangerous than when they originally formulated the plan. Among the three French ports planned to be used in the "Generator Plan", only Dunkirk can now be used. In addition, there are two ports of Boulogne and Calais.
, were occupied by German troops on the 23rd and the day Belgium surrendered.
This means that the only way for more than 300,000 British and French troops to survive is Dunkirk and its nearby 40 kilometers of coastline.
As the last escape route for the coalition forces, Dunkirk was actually developed from an ancient castle with a long history. It has been an important port in northern France since the 9th century AD and was listed as a throughput in last year's statistics
Counted as the third largest port in France, it has a total of 7 deep-water berths for large ships, 4 docks and an 8-kilometer-long pier. At the same time, the waterway of Dunkirk Port has always been very well dredged, and large ships can enter and exit freely.
, the perfect breakwaters and convex piers can also effectively withstand the strong winds and waves of the English Channel. If these port facilities can be fully utilized, more than 300,000 British and French troops can safely board the ship with all their equipment in just a few days.
However, since two weeks ago, Dunkirk, which has not yet shown great value, has been subjected to inexplicable and violent bombing by the German army, resulting in the destruction of all four docks and the destruction of the 8-kilometer-long pier.
Ruins, and even most of the city of Dunkirk were razed to the ground in the air raids.
At that time, when the German army focused on bombing and destroying the port of Dunkirk, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, General Gamelin, still felt baffled and wondered why the Germans would spend time on this ghost port. But now it seems that...
Needless to say, the Germans' strategic predictions are so accurate that they are frighteningly accurate!
Far from the beginning of the war, when the two sides were still fighting and the outcome was still uncertain, the Germans dared to conclude that Dunkirk would play such an important role and significance two weeks later.
In Gan Molin's opinion, this is simply unbelievable, unbelievable, and unreasonable!
What kind of commander can use this kind of prejudgment talent that is almost like having a God's perspective? Gamelin even began to wonder whether the German head of state was really a gift from God to Germany.
A rare genius?!
But it is too late to say anything now. Of the three major ports mentioned in the "Generator Plan", only one is left, Dunkirk, and it is still incomplete. The only one there that can still accommodate ships is
An east embankment less than 1,200 meters long, it was temporarily built with wooden piles and planks. It is very simple and can only be wide enough for 8 people to pass side by side at the same time. Moreover, there is only a concrete pillar on the seaside side with a lighthouse.
, there are some small wooden piles around the embankment. Although boats can be moored in an emergency, the current is strong and it will be very dangerous for boats to dock.
There are no port facilities or breakwaters on the coastline near this final passage, and there is a deep-water channel parallel to the shore not far from the coast. Although it is connected to the Dunkirk port channel, this channel has fast currents and reefs.
It is densely covered and dangerous to navigate.
Gamelin silently picked up the phone and prepared to contact Lord Gott of the British Expeditionary Force to discuss countermeasures. In his opinion, the German encirclement and annihilation war had reached the final and most important moment. For the Germans, it was
This is true for the British and the French!
However, the moment his hand reached out to the phone and touched it, he was stunned.
"I almost forgot, I am no longer the commander-in-chief of the French Army." Gamelin smiled mockingly.
Since Prime Minister Reynaud forcefully reorganized the French cabinet a week ago, appointing him as Minister of Defense, and recalling Marshal Pétain, who was pushed out by Gamelin to become ambassador to Spain, as Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Gamelin's situation of sole control of the French Army has been broken.
.
He can still clearly remember how a week ago, the major general named Berante led a group of guards to escort him away from the conference room where he was holding a combat meeting. At that time, the major general was not sentimental at all.
No one was left alone.
"Marshal Pétain is back, get out of here right now, you loser!" These were Berante's original words.
Gamelin knew how much the major general hated him. To be honest, he had never liked the major general who once worked under Petain.
However, the current situation is that under the new commander-in-chief of the French Army, Navy, and Air Force, the famous General Weygand, Berlant was immediately put into important use. He was promoted to lieutenant general at the critical moment and was directly involved in the planning of all future combat operations.
And he, Gamelin... was exempted from all real rights and thrown into an office in the logistics department, sitting in the same office where Berante was a week ago!
Things are changing!
I heard that Wei Gang was planning to implement the "Generator Plan" with the British. Standing in the empty office, Gamelin sighed lonely: "Although I hate everything now, I hate you guys
People, but... I hope you can succeed."
Withdrawing his hand that was resting on the phone, Gamelin said silently in his heart: "Pétain and Weygand were both famous generals in the last world war, and both were famous for being good at fighting evil in crises.
Maybe, the two of them can really recreate the miracle they did in Verdun."
God bless France!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In fact, the person protecting France now is neither their Marshal Pétain nor their General Weygand, but a British Major General named Montgomery.
Originally, Montgomery's 3rd Division of the British Expeditionary Force had fallen behind the coalition forces because it had lost the support of the Belgian 13th Division under Major General Lukaku. The collective surrender of the Belgian Army also allowed the German army to move directly from the Belgian defense zone.
Attacking Dunkirk, by the way, cut Montgomery's British 3rd Division outside the Belgian defense area, cutting off their road to Dunkirk.
However, Montgomery, a young British player, got the first opportunity to show his talent.
He issued the most risky order in his life. This decision was more risky and bold than any order he would make in the future!
