From a long distance away, de Gaulle in his office seemed to be able to hear the applause coming from the British House of Representatives.
Yes, the British won the battle, but the Free France, as the British ally, lost the hearts of the people.
In London, even de Gaulle, who is a general and the leader of a country's government, is not as tough-minded as a British major general or a mayor.
"Operation Ballista" allowed the British to expose their most selfish side to the world.
If they dare to do this, they dare to offend the French people and bear the resentment of France which has no power.
Since his existence itself was dependent on the British government, de Gaulle was unable to make any negative criticism of Churchill's assassination of the French navy.
He can only remain silent, and in his silence he loses the hearts and minds of the French people!
"General, for this war, should we make a celebratory speech to congratulate the British allies." A close confidant of De Gaulle reminded softly: "After all, the British are the only country that recognizes the legitimacy of our regime and are also our allies. This
It’s time to congratulate you.”
Although de Gaulle is already the supreme leader of the Free French regime, holding both military and political positions, his cronies still call him general.
Not for anything else, just because de Gaulle liked to be called general.
The Battle of the Ruhr was de Gaulle's first war since he joined the army, and it was also his last battle.
Since the defeat of that battle, De Gaulle never had the opportunity to gain access to military command and has since faded out of people's sight. If he hadn't made a spur-of-the-moment decision and jumped on a plane flying to England, perhaps his whole life would have ended like this.
However, he came to the United Kingdom and formed a new French government. Although the international community did not recognize the legitimacy of Free France, this was, after all, de Gaulle's last chance to regain his reputation.
He wanted to defeat the Germans and avenge the humiliation of the defeat at Cherul. Before taking revenge, De Gaulle hoped that every one of his subordinates could become generals like him, thus warning himself that sooner or later he would be able to save the original military failure.
hatred.
However, it seems that the opportunity for revenge may have to be postponed for a while.
"There is no need to speak publicly." Knowing that Churchill had offended the French people and was regarded as a public enemy by the whole of France, De Gaulle did not want to risk the embarrassment of France and get too close to Churchill's British government at this time.
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"Privately, I will personally visit Churchill and congratulate him." After thinking about it, de Gaulle said: "By the way, I also want him to ask for an explanation for launching the Oran naval battle. We cannot let him think that we are cowardly puppets.
, sometimes you still have to have a superficial attitude."
"Yes, I will go to Churchill's confidential secretary and make an appointment for a meeting." De Gaulle's cronies had also always been worried about Churchill's sneak attack on the French fleet. Naturally, they were very happy when they heard that De Gaulle asked for an explanation.
Although everyone knows that this statement is probably irrefutable. However, it is better to remind Churchill that the French still have tempers than to pretend to be deaf and dumb.
.........
"What? De Gaulle wants to see me." Churchill, who was signing documents commending Wavell on his desk, raised his head in confusion after hearing his secretary's report.
It was only three streets away from de Gaulle's government building, but if de Gaulle wanted to see Churchill, it was not as simple as crossing three streets. At least, he had to wait for Churchill to make time, or to wait for Churchill to make time for some reason.
"Stop him for me, I don't want to meet the French now." Churchill said with a guilty conscience.
Ever since he ordered the execution of "Operation Ballista" and sent a telegram "expressing forgiveness" to Darlan, he began to feel that he could not hold his head high in front of the French.
Yes, politicians can be shameless, and many politicians are proud of being shameless.
However, Churchill still had to survive in the international community after all. His despicable fraudulent telegram was clearly sent to the Port of Oran in order to increase its credibility.
After doing such a heartbreaking thing, Churchill really couldn't remain indifferent.
At this point, he is indeed less popular than Reinhardt of Germany and Mussolini of Italy.
"Just say that I have to arrange the deployment of local defense forces in the near future and have no spare time to meet with him." Churchill deceived himself and said.
We were only a few streets apart, and it wouldn't take long to meet. Churchill used this excuse to refuse, and his secretary probably guessed that the Prime Minister was deliberately avoiding the French.
So, the secretary nodded knowingly: "Okay, I will reply to the Free French Government right away."
Speaking of the deployment of home defense, Churchill suddenly thought of something and said: "By the way, I used two Australian divisions to exchange for the two British divisions in Wavell's hands. Why have the officers and soldiers of these two divisions not come yet?
Home War Department report?”
Churchill also didn't think about it. If General Wavell in North Africa had not delayed the dispatch order after consulting with the British Chief of General Staff John Deere, how could anyone else have defeated the Italian army attacking behind?
.
Could it be that the conflict between Italy and Britain in North Africa had to leave the fate of the two Australian divisions in the hands of them?
What's more, due to the long journey, these two Australian divisions only arrived under Wavell today and had no chance to catch up with the previous North African battle.
In other words, if Wavell was really just a rigid general who only listened to Churchill's orders, when Graziani launched an offensive in North Africa, he would have been a bare-bones commander with no troops at his disposal.
Seeing the secretive and embarrassed facial expression of the confidential secretary, Churchill quickly guessed the cause of the matter.
"Okay, let me ask why Wavell was suddenly so proactive. After winning the battle, he reported that he was leading troops to continue the counterattack on Italy's Libyan colony. It turned out that he wanted to use the established fact that this attack was being carried out to prevent me from deploying him.
His British troops are launching an attack."
After all, Churchill was a fat man with a short heart, and he guessed Wavell's little thoughts in the blink of an eye.
After all, the only troops available to Wavell were two British divisions. Among them, there was also the 7th Armored Division, which Wavell regarded as his treasure.
No general would be willing to exchange the most elite troops under his command for the Australian division whose two combat capabilities were questioned.
However, a month ago, perhaps Churchill would have scolded Wavell for having evil intentions and supporting his own troops.
But now, Churchill simply loved the blessed general who had won him victory, and he forgave Wavell for delaying his return.
"Forget it, the troops of these two divisions will be regarded as rewards for him. Send me a telegram and let Wavell use the troops I left for him to take Libya." The experienced Churchill chose to send Wavell along as the tide went.