Chapter 202: Chapter 280 Abandoning Paris
Half an hour later, Prime Minister Reynaud returned to the meeting room with a somewhat peculiar expression on his face. Amid the curious gazes of the others, he slowly began, "Prime Minister Churchill suggests that we retreat to Brittany and establish a resistance stronghold. He assures us that the British Empire will fully support us."
"Full support?" General Gamelin sneered with disdain. "If not for their Viscount Gort's unauthorized surrender, our soldiers could have held out for a few more days. Now they have the nerve to talk about full support?" In reality, even if the British hadn't surrendered, the French forces wouldn't have lasted much longer. Surrender was only a matter of time. However, with this scapegoat, Gamelin was secretly delighted.
Marshal Pétain did not echo his sentiments. He said thoughtfully, "Defending the Brittany Peninsula is not impossible, but the cost will be extremely heavy!" The Brittany Peninsula is located in the northwest of France, resembling a dagger thrusting into the Atlantic. It seems that the French only need to defend the central 100 kilometers or so of the peninsula. "But from what I know, there isn't a decent defense line there. To establish a defense line, we'll have to organize a defense of Paris to buy time. By then, Paris will be reduced to ruins, with hundreds of thousands dead and wounded. Who will take responsibility for this? Who can guarantee that even if a defense line is established, it can withstand the Germans? Even the meticulously constructed Maginot Line has become a decoration; how effective can a hastily built defense line be?"
The French high command had already subtly divided into surrenderists and escapeists. There were no proponents of continued war or peace talks. The proponents of continued war were somewhere between the escapeists. They could only thrive by escaping overseas and establishing an exiled government. As for peace talks, no one thought that Germany would be interested in negotiating at this time.
The representative figure of the surrenderists was Marshal Pétain. After all, Prime Minister Reynaud brought him here to elevate him as a scapegoat for surrender and seeking peace.
Moreover, Marshal Pétain was well aware that the current French people had long lost the courage of the "smiling sacrifice for the country" during the previous World War. Even if the government fled overseas, it would be impossible to command the French people on the mainland to continue resisting.
Of course, everyone present could vouch for themselves. In the silence, only Prime Minister Reynaud muttered with a somewhat uncertain tone, "Prime Minister Churchill said that as long as we persist for a few more months, the situation might change."
"..." Everyone knew what Churchill meant by "changing the situation." It simply meant that the United States might join the war.
However, most people were not optimistic about the United States joining the war.
The last time the U.S. military participated in the war, it did not have the current strength of being the most powerful on the surface. Instead, it appeared very unprofessional. When the U.S. military was preparing to intervene in the Great War, there wasn't even a fully prepared division domestically. In fact, before the U.S. military received congressional authorization to expand its forces in 1916, the regular army had only 130,000 personnel, even fewer than some small countries on the continent. However, the United States was, after all, a naturally gifted large country with vast territory. When Uncle Sam's war machine started running, it could quickly muster a million-strong army in the blink of an eye.
In June 1917, after the United States declared war on Germany, it began sending troops to France. American soldiers, led by General Pershing, excitedly boarded European soil, shouting, "Lafayette, we are here!" However, due to a lack of necessary training, the performance of the American forces in actual combat was extremely poor. Due to a lack of telephone lines and constant movement of infantry units, communication between infantry and artillery remained inefficient. The firepower advantage was not well utilized, and the poor maneuverability made the infantry attack slow, turning them into excellent targets for German artillery and heavy machine guns.
Moreover, the American military units participating in the war were severely lacking in modern artillery and related equipment and supplies. In the first major offensive operation of the American military in the Saint-Mihiel campaign from September 12 to 16, 1918, a total of 3,010 guns were used for bombardment. Not a single one of these guns was produced by the United States; all were provided by the British and French forces. As for the latest weapons, tanks were also provided by the British. Ironically, the civilian factories in the United States provided a huge amount of raw materials for the military industry of the Allied powers. However, their own military factories produced at a slow pace.
"Although the initial involvement of the U.S. military was chaotic in many aspects and lagged behind in various ways, the main role of the U.S. military was to boost the morale of the Allied powers rather than to contribute significantly to the actual combat.
Marshal Pétain continued, "The United States might join the war, but currently, isolationism is prevalent in the U.S., and even the Neutrality Act has not been amended. How long will it take for them to join the war? Even if the United States starts full mobilization now, we would still need to endure for over six months to receive reinforcements."
The people couldn't help but sigh. Given the current situation, it would be challenging to endure for six weeks, let alone six months.
Prime Minister Reynaud sighed, sounding somewhat resigned. "Prime Minister Churchill asked me if, in case we can't hold on any longer and have to surrender, we could hand over our fleet to them. What are your thoughts?"
"Absolutely not!" Several military high-ranking officials, including General Gamelin, unanimously and resolutely opposed. Admiral François Darlan, the Chief of the Naval Staff, expressed his indignation. "These British fellows are shameless to even propose such a request."
It's worth noting that the surprise attack on the British fleet at Scapa Flow had severely damaged it. However, until now, the overall strength of the British navy still surpassed that of Germany by a considerable margin. In this situation, Germany eagerly hoped to take over the French navy warships.
The lead ship of the Richelieu-class battleships, the Richelieu, had recently been commissioned. With a standard displacement of 38,500 tons and a full load displacement of 47,548 tons, it was equipped with eight 380mm main guns on the forward deck, nine 152mm dual-purpose guns on the aft deck, and 12 100mm anti-aircraft guns on each side of the hull, boasting dense firepower. The ship was powered by six supercharged boilers driving steam turbines with a total power of 157,000 horsepower, achieving a top speed of 32 knots. It was indeed a formidable vessel.
Four ships of this class were originally planned, including the commissioned Richelieu and the soon-to-be-completed Jean Bart. The third and fourth ships were also in the process of construction.
Additionally, there were two Dunkerque-class battleships: Dunkerque and Strasbourg. Dunkerque began construction in December 1931 and was completed in April 1937, while Strasbourg started in November 1934 and finished in December 1938. These ships were armed with eight 330mm caliber guns and sixteen 130mm secondary guns, with a full load displacement of 35,000 tons, a main engine power of 112,500 horsepower, a top speed of 27 knots, and a range of 5,500 nautical miles.
Apart from these, several aircraft carriers were also under construction in French shipyards.
Once the German forces gained access to these already commissioned or soon-to-be-completed warships, their naval strength would significantly increase, enough to challenge the British navy directly. Consequently, the French fleet was considered France's most substantial bargaining chip, and the Germans might offer favorable conditions for the Richelieu and Dunkerque-class ships.
Given this situation, it was impossible to hand over the fleet to the British, especially considering the potential consequences, such as the British using these ships to blockade France, leading to starvation and poverty.
After a thorough discussion, everyone ultimately decided to abandon Paris, with the government relocating to Tours, 200 kilometers southwest of Paris.
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