On April 28, 1941, at the end of the fifth week of the Allied forces landing on the British mainland, the area south of the Thames River in London had become an Allied occupation zone.
Next, the Allied forces were only separated by the Thames River from conquering North London.
Compared with the south, the central military and political institutions of the British government are actually established in the area north of the Thames. Therefore, as long as the Allied forces have not crossed the Thames, the London government and the London City Defense Command can continue
Maintaining its fragile existence.
In order to ensure the defense security of such an important north London, Gott had borrowed Churchill's name to order the blowing up of all the bridges on the Thames River and the establishment of a channel blocking position.
Without the original bridges across the Thames, it would be difficult for the German army to advance into North London. Gott would be left with less than 5,000 army troops, more than 30,000 National Guard militiamen, and de Gaulle left behind.
The 2,000 Free French troops were evenly dispersed on the north bank of the Thames River and issued the order to "prevent the German army from crossing the Thames River at all costs!"
Gott only had this few troops left for final defense. This was not to say that the army under his command had been annihilated by the German, French and Norwegian allied forces in the previous five weeks.
He did not even arrange for a reserve force, nor did he even leave an armored force on the north bank of the Thames that could be used to counterattack and drive back the enemy.
Yes, over the past five weeks, the continuous huge losses have reduced Gott's troops to a loss, and they are infinitely close to a deficit. Of course, even under such circumstances, Gott originally reserved the north bank of the Thames River from the beginning.
1 infantry division and 2 armored battalions in reserve.
But under de Gaulle's suggestion, Gott suddenly discovered a new method. He could turn the Thames into the Irish Sea, and transfer the riddled London position to the North with intact military facilities and excellent logistics construction.
Ireland.
There is a fundamental difference in difficulty between using the same force to fight the Thames River Defense War and the Irish Island Coast Defense War.
Basically without much thought, after losing more than 10,000 army soldiers in south London, Gott finally gave up the last hope of fighting the London City Defense War, and instead made every effort to prepare to transfer his strength to the island of Ireland for redevelopment.
With one division of army infantry, two armored battalions, and 50,000 National Guard soldiers, Gott has transferred such a powerful military force to Northern Ireland.
Tonight, Gott will also secretly take the elite infantry regiment directly under the London City Defense Command, which he had originally used for a last-ditch effort, without telling the soldiers engaged in coastal defense operations on the north bank of the Thames River, and arrange to move it to the north.
port and then shipped to the island of Ireland.
When the Thames River defense line is about to be breached, Gott will finally take his headquarters personnel and guard company away, abandoning London completely.
The reason why the defense line on the north bank of the Thames River was still established was that Gott really did not want to waste the excellent natural defense line of the Thames River and hoped to use the Thames River as much as possible to stop the German army.
On the other hand, Gott is also using this line of defense to delay time, gain more time, transfer various government agencies in London, and transport as many National Guard troops as possible.
However, there is not much time left for Gott.
With the fall of the south bank of the Thames, those British citizens in north London who had not yet become enemy-occupied people collapsed in the face of fear.
They had never thought that the war was so close to them. Until not long ago, they still trusted Prime Minister Churchill and believed that the British army would drive the criminal coalition forces of the Allied Powers out of London and back to the sea.
However, as the situation gets worse and worse, and Churchill, who had been delivering all kinds of inspiring speeches, has been extinguished in the past few days, there is no news. The people of London can no longer hold on.
Taking advantage of the night time when the German troops were not bombing, the British people on the North Shore held two large-scale anti-war demonstrations in succession, accusing the Churchill government of incompetence and inaction.
These people are fed up with not having enough food and clothing, and they don’t understand the inside story. Since the German head of state has repeatedly proposed peace and an armistice, why are Churchill’s followers unwilling to do so?
Promise?
They didn't care about the harsh conditions Reinhard put forward for the ceasefire, nor did they understand that Reinhard actually had no intention of peace talks at all.
The German army and their allies had been fighting so smoothly since the beginning of the British Landing War. If Churchill's army had fought so smoothly, Churchill would not have agreed to the enemy's surrender.
So, things became very interesting.
Gott wanted to delay time, but the British people were tired of the war and did not want the war to drag on like this...
...
Germany, Berlin.
After sending Paulus to the Soviet front, the next best person Reinhard could find to discuss the matter was Keitel.
Keitel has some abilities, but his shortcomings are also obvious, that is, he overly caters to his superiors, that is, catering to Reinhardt's intentions, and rarely puts forward opinions that are contrary to Reinhardt. Even if Keitel has better ideas,
If the opinion was different from what Reinhard meant, he would not express it.
From this point of view, Keitel's personality is indeed very suitable for being a caring subordinate.
However, Reinhard strongly encouraged the generals to put forward suggestions and brainstorm in this life. Therefore, Keitel is more able to put forward independent opinions and suggestions than in the original time and space.
In the head of state's mansion, Reinhardt, who summoned Keitel, smiled slightly, turned around from the large-scale map on the wall, and looked at this man who had served as the first instructor at the "Hanover Cavalry School" and was born into a middle-class landowner.
Admiral Keitel asked: "What do you think about the British side?"
"The arrangements made by the head of state are all correct. I have nothing to comment on." Keitel stood at attention and saluted.
"You were once one of the best military instructors in the empire, and the generals you trained have now become leaders. I also agree with your talent," Reinhard said with a smile.
Authentic: "Tell me, now is not the time for you to be humble."
"Yes!" Keitel nodded respectfully and walked quickly to the map of Britain that Reinhard had seen before: "From my subordinate's perspective, the situation on the British battlefield is already clear. We are going to attack the British army.
If we want to delay, what the two sides are fighting for now is time."