After France surrendered, Britain was temporarily in dire straits.
At this time, the British mainland army basically had no combat effectiveness. The only thing that comforted those old British gentlemen was the British Channel.
The German Naval General Staff was worried that the French fleet would sail towards the British Royal Navy, and the British Admiralty was also worried that the French fleet would serve as the vanguard of the German Imperial Fleet's attack on the British Isles.
After all, the French Navy, the fifth strongest in the world, is a huge modern fleet. No matter which side it joins, it will have an important impact on the strategic balance.
Because the German High Seas Fleet defeated the British Home Fleet in the North Sea, and the German Navy captured a large number of Polish, Danish, Belgian, and British warships, the strength of both sides waxed and waned.
In fact, the ranking of maritime combat power in this time and space is no longer the United States, Britain, Japan, France, Italy and Germany in history, but the United States, Japan, Britain, France and Italy.
As the fifth largest naval power, as of June 7, 1940, the French Navy actually had 2 battlecruisers, 7 battleships, 7 cruisers equipped with 8-inch caliber guns, and 11 cruisers equipped with 6-inch caliber guns.
inch-caliber cruisers, plus 27 light cruisers, 26 destroyers, 27 submarines, an aircraft carrier, and a large number of small ships.
Yes, you heard it right, the French fleet has aircraft carriers!
Some people may find it incredible, because in the history of World War II, the navies of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan shined. Aircraft carriers seem to be the patents of the above three countries.
Even the famous "Zeppelin-class" aircraft carrier of the Third Reich only existed in the plan. There were many difficulties at the beginning of construction, and in the end it died midway.
However, France, a country that was completely defeated by the Third Reich in less than six weeks, has an aircraft carrier that even the Third Reich in history did not have.
This French aircraft carrier is the little-known "Béarn".
So how powerful is this aircraft carrier "Béarne"? You can see it with an example.
In terms of full load displacement, that is, tonnage, it has reached 28,900 tons, which is close to the "Essex" class fleet aircraft carriers later built in large quantities by the United States.
However, it also has many immature features. For example, a total of eight 155mm naval guns are installed around its hull, and it is equipped with 6 75mm and 8 37mm high-level dual-purpose guns on both sides.
Four torpedo launchers are also retained.
Such a large number of artillery and torpedoes are enough to arm a light cruiser, but they have no effect on the thinking of "fighter is king" in aircraft carrier operations.
It can be seen that the French's thinking is still stuck in the era of giant ships and cannons, and they do not fully understand the new naval warfare model. Compared with the aircraft carriers built by the German Navy under Reinhardt's intervention, their aircraft carriers have a lot of flaws and shortcomings.
.
However, the French Navy still has an aircraft carrier after all, which is better than nothing. Because it has an aircraft carrier, it has firmly established itself as the fifth strongest navy in the world.
Unlike the British navy, which has a large number but is mostly old, the vast majority of the French navy's ships are new warships built in the 1920s and 1930s. For example, the two battlecruisers "Dunkirk" and "St.
The "Las Fort" was just built in 1937 and 1938. Each is equipped with eight 13-inch caliber naval guns and has powerful firepower. Among the other seven battleships, the "Richelieu" and the "Jean Bart" are two
The latest warship, which is about to be completed, is equipped with 15-inch guns.
The "Richelieu" started construction in 1935. Because France's relatively weak shipbuilding industry made its construction speed unable to compare with that of Britain and the United States, only 95% of the construction progress was completed by June 1940.
Although the main equipment has been installed, it has not been debugged and has no combat effectiveness.
However, when France surrendered, the "Richelieu" left Brest on June 15 and arrived in Senegal, French West Africa, on June 18.
At the same time, France's other main warships also left French mainland ports one after another. A few small warships, led by Vice Admiral Misselier of the French Navy, secretly went to the United Kingdom to join De Gaulle, but more warships were under Admiral Darlan.
Under the instructions of the governor, he followed Governor Belante and sailed to the port of the North African legal colony, maintaining a wait-and-see attitude.
"Dong dong dong!" There was a regular knock on the door outside Churchill's office.
"Come in!" Churchill, who was reviewing documents, shouted without raising his head.
After all, "Operation Ballista" has been confirmed to be implemented, and there are too many related matters waiting for Churchill to deal with.
Personnel scheduling, information confidentiality, material distribution, troop deployment, fund allocation...
After all, Churchill had failed too many times and he really didn't want to face any new failure.
Before Churchill became Prime Minister, he suggested a surprise attack on Norway to block Germany's route of importing iron ore from Sweden.
As a result, the British and French forces invaded with more than two divisions, but Reinhard only transferred one division to lead the Norwegian army, which cost-effectively defeated two British divisions and one regiment of French troops.
Surrendered.
Defeating more than less, this is already a loss-making deal. What is even worse is that Britain and France not only completely failed militarily, but also left a bad impact on the world, giving Germany a chance to become the savior of Norway.
Opportunity.
It was because of this disastrous defeat that it almost directly promoted the downfall of Chamberlain. Churchill also naturally became the new Prime Minister of the British Empire.
When Norway was defeated, Chamberlain was actually made the scapegoat of Churchill, and he unjustly accepted the responsibility for this failure.
But later during Operation Dynamo, Churchill, now the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, could no longer shirk responsibility.
The destruction of the 200,000 elite expeditionary force was ten times greater than the number of British troops that surrendered in Norway.
In "Operation Dynamo", the huge losses of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet were ten times, twenty times, or even more than in the Norwegian Naval Battle!
Today's Churchill is actually worse than the failure Chamberlain faced back then.
The reason why he has not yet fallen like Chamberlain is even more bizarre - because no one is willing to step up and take over the current mess, so Churchill can only continue to work.
Churchill knew very well that the current British Empire could no longer afford to lose. And he himself could not afford to lose even more!
"Prime Minister, General de Gaulle of France wants to see you." A confidential secretary pushed open the door and entered.
"De Gaulle? Who is he?" Churchill, who didn't react for a moment, looked up from the copywriting with a swipe: "How come I haven't heard of it?"
It’s no wonder that Churchill was very unfamiliar with the name de Gaulle. After all, de Gaulle in this life was just a young major general with great ambitions.
