Bab 81: 81
The signing of the Anglo-German Peace Treaty surprised the world as much as the German-German Non-aggression Treaty, if not more.
The world was shocked by the signing of the treaty, which was in words a peace treaty but was in reality no different from Britain's surrender.
Media outlets all over the world featured the news of the signing of the Anglo-German Peace Treaty, and newspaper boys walked the streets distributing extras.
While eating breakfast while listening to the radio, people from all over were so shocked by the news that their bread got stuck in their airway and were rushed to the hospital.
When the news of the signing of the Anglo-German Peace Treaty was announced, BUF party members, their supporters, and anti-war activists who had been protesting all along chanted for independence and shouted hurray.
"This treaty is an event of the century that will go down in history! "It is an important event and a blessing for the people of Europe, signaling that not only Britain and Germany, but all of Europe has ended long-standing hatred and conflict and passed the first gateway to a new era of peace!"
BUF leader Mosley commented to reporters:
At the same time, he praised Prime Minister Halifax and Foreign Minister Cadogan, who played a major role in concluding this treaty, as great people who achieved the most outstanding achievements in British history in the 20th century.
There was no response from the British government to Mosley's comments.
Jewish organizations in Britain, including the British Jewish Representative Committee, which has close relations with the BUF, and the British Communist Party, which changed its stance toward Germany with the signing of the German Non-Aggression Treaty, all released welcome statements.
On the other hand, the hardliners, who had been wary of Hitler and had persistently demanded that Germany adopt hard-line policies, were enraged by the news of the conclusion of the negotiations.
Media outlets that supported hard-line policies against Germany placed provocative and politically charged articles on the front pages of newspapers, such as 'The Fall of the British Empire', 'Britain Kneels to Germany!', and 'The Most Cowardly and Lame Declaration of Surrender in History'.
A leading anti-German hard-line journalist published a cartoon by David Low depicting Halifax and Cadogan kneeling down and kissing Hitler's boots.
However, the British reaction to the Anglo-German Peace Treaty was generally welcoming.
After Dunkirk, the British people were tired of war.
In particular, parents of children enlisted in the military, lovers, and women who sent their husbands to the military enthusiastically supported the government's decision.
It was a surrender and a betrayal, and the most important thing for them was that their sons, lovers, and husbands returned home safely.
While the reaction of the British people involved was divided in half, the reaction of France and Italy was generally the same.
"Britain betrayed us!"
"You damn bastards! "Whenever you asked to fight together, you betrayed me now!"
"You pure fraudsters!"
The French viewed Britain's actions of strengthening Germany and withdrawing from the war first without consulting France as a betrayal of France.
Media outlets rushed to publish articles criticizing Britain in newspapers, and radio announcers expressed in passionate tones that France was in desperate danger due to Britain's betrayal.
Anti-British protesters burned the Union Jack and attacked the British Embassy, and the French government poured out harsh criticism, even mentioning severing diplomatic relations with Britain.
Italy criticized Britain, calling it a petty and cowardly betrayal.
Even Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, who fled to England with the help of the British Navy and continued to live in exile, fiercely criticized the British government's actions.
In fact, Britain also had something to say about this. Britain was the first country to suggest that war would be hopeless, so why not conclude peace talks with Germany?
However, France and Italy responded lukewarmly to Britain's proposal, citing various excuses.
Unlike France, which still had hundreds of thousands of troops, and Mussolini's Italy, which was concerned about a backlash from domestic public opinion, Britain, which lost the main force of its army at Dunkirk, chose to negotiate with Germany right away without waiting for a response from its allies.
When Britain, which had the largest stake among the Allied Powers, withdrew from the war, the situation became even more favorable to Germany.
The morale of the French army, which had already been low, had now completely evaporated, and no one was willing to fight the German army.
The war was so victorious that Britain gave up, so why sacrifice their lives? Once defeatism and pessimism began to spread, there was no way to shake it off.
***
May 28, 1940
Bastille Square, Paris, France
"Get in line! line!"
The station was saturated with people flocking to buy tickets early in the morning.
Station employees and police officers ran around shouting at people to keep order, but no one listened.
People whose reason was paralyzed by fear screamed at them to give up their tickets right away because they would give them several times the amount of money.
However, no matter how many times the price was paid, tickets were no longer available.
Before 9 o'clock, tickets for all trains leaving Paris were sold out.
-······Let me inform you once again. Tickets are currently sold out. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. We would like to inform you once again. Tickets are sold out.
"The tickets are sold out, does that make sense?"
"Where are you lying?"
"Calm down, everyone! Tickets are truly sold out! "For now, we can't do anything about it!"
People who had been waiting in line since morning to buy tickets became angry when they heard that train tickets were sold out.
People who could not accept the sudden change in the situation ended up causing a riot, and the station employees ran away blowing whistles.
The commotion was finally calmed down after the police and military police on patrol came forward, but the fear did not go away.
With Britain out of the war and the main forces of the army destroyed in northern France and Belgium, there was no obstacle left to stop the German army.
When news arrived that German troops were coming to Paris, the City of Light was thrown into chaos.
The rich and the quick-witted left Paris early by car or train.
Citizens who believed only in the government and their own military, but belatedly realized the reality, flocked to the train station to leave Paris with their families.
However, train tickets were already sold out.
As the situation became more urgent, the government carefully packed the expensive paintings and exhibits stored at the Louvre in a requisitioned train and sent them to southern France.
The halls of museums and art galleries, which were once crowded with citizens out on weekends, now echoed only with the footsteps of employees packing exhibits and putting them into wooden boxes.
Police and military police roamed the streets, looking for deserters who might be biding their time among the people.
Tens of thousands of French soldiers had already deserted, further increasing the workload of the military police and police.
Random checks occurred everywhere, and people who forgot their ID cards and went out were arrested on the spot and taken to a detention center for interrogation.
Cafe and restaurant owners boarded up their windows to guard against fighting, bombings and looting.
At the grocery store, people who came out to buy food in advance in preparation for the food shortage formed a long line like a snake, anxiously waiting for their turn.
The only thing they usually do is monitor whether their employees are working hard and always smiling brightly in front of customers. The bosses move pottery and plates imported directly from Japan to the underground warehouse and store canned food for pet dogs in preparation for food shortages. The sight of boxes being carefully moved was both comical and shocking.
However, not all Parisians were panicked and confused.
While there were people who abandoned everything, including their homes and jobs, and left the city to take refuge in the countryside, there were also people who continued their daily lives as if nothing had happened.
People selling trinkets and ice cream at newsstands did the same, newspaper delivery men distributed newspapers from door to door even today, and some restaurants posted large drawings on their fronts with 'Our stores are open as usual' written on them, as if they were not at all worried about the war.
Although there were fewer customers than before, there were also customers sitting in the store.
Marie Lenoir, an ordinary housewife with two daughters and a son who had just started walking, was one of those people going about their daily lives.
She lived in a small house rented near the Place de la Bastille, left her children with the landlord, an elderly couple, and went out to the street to buy food.
Her husband, an engineer sergeant, was fighting the Germans at the front.
Even though I thought I showed up early, there were more than 30 people waiting in line in front of the grocery store.
After seeing the line of people, Marie realized that it wasn't about the money she had in her pocket, but that she had to worry about running out of food before it was her turn.
Fortunately, she was quite lucky.
This is because half of the people who arrived in line before her could not find a place to wait and left the line.
Entering the grocery store, Marie felt relieved to see that the shelves were not empty.
The only food left was vegetables that were on the verge of wilting, canned cold meat that was tough and smelled so bad that no one noticed it, baguettes that were as hard as rocks, and cheese.
Marie bought all the food that her money allowed.
The moment I was about to get to the end of the line at the checkout counter to pay, the air raid alarm went off.
"It's an air raid!"
"Everyone, take refuge in the bomb shelter!"
People waiting in line outside the store dispersed all at once when they heard the siren.
But the people inside the store did not go to the bomb shelter.
This is because the store owner yelled at those who did not pay to put down their food and leave if they wanted to go to the bomb shelter.
The store owner's two sturdy sons were standing at the entrance with lights in their eyes.
People who had paid in advance were let out of the entrance, but they were firm on those who had not.
It was either pay the price or put down the food in your hand and leave.
Marie gave up her shelter and chose to stay put.
If a bomb falls on the store, she will die.
But she was more afraid of her children waiting for her at home going hungry than of herself being crushed by the rubble of a collapsing building.
Sirens continued to sound and even the sounds of anti-aircraft guns and machine guns could be heard. But Marie waited patiently.
"Is this all, miss?"
When it was her turn, the store owner asked. Marie nodded her head.
"yes. But what?"
"I thought it was a strange combination."
All there was was a can of lamb, which is famous for its foul smell, two beets, three or four potatoes that were about to sprout, camembert cheese, and a baguette. But Marie also had something to say.
"These are the only ones left on the shelves, so what should I do? "The price has already been raised several times the previous price."
The owner shrugged his shoulders and started counting. The calculation was completed quickly.
"Give me three francs."
"Here you are."
The sirens were no longer heard. Come to think of it, I couldn't even hear the sound of a bomb exploding.
Feeling puzzled, Marie came out and soon discovered white objects covering the street.
"······paper?"
What fell on the floor was paper. white paper.
Marie hesitantly picked up the paper that covered the city of Paris and when she turned it over, she could see letters written the size of a fingernail.
The identity of the paper was a leaflet distributed by the German military.
'Citizens of Paris!
We Germans have no intention of destroying your cities. Unless you choose to fight in vain.
The British had already made a wise decision to stop the war and choose peace.
The trend has already turned. The French army you so firmly believed in has collapsed, and tens of thousands of French soldiers are surrendering every day.
If you don't want to see Paris destroyed like Warsaw, please surrender immediately. This is by no means just a warning.'
The leaflets contained photographs of Polish cities destroyed by bombing along with text urging surrender.
Most of the photos on the leaflets had already appeared in newspapers and newsreels, so they were not new, but it was enough to bring out what had vaguely remained in people's memories and imprint them in their minds.
In particular, the last sentence under the photo made Parisians feel the greatest fear.
'P.S. Be thankful the bomber was carrying leaflets instead of bombs.'
***
May 29, 1940
New Fuhrer's Residence in Berlin, Germany
According to Brauchitsch's report, Army Group A was advancing toward Beauvais, and Army Group B was engaged in combat with the French near Compiègne.
The morale of the French army is low, and they often surrender or abandon their weapons before their allies even attempt an attack.
In history, French tanks had superior performance over German tanks, but here, since they don't even have that, it won't be fun to fight. Britain has already backed out.
Lev's Army Group C, which had been waiting at the German-French border to capture the French troops on the Maginot Line, also began action three days ago and reported that it occupied Wittel today.
Army Group C's mission was to advance from the German-French border to the French-Swiss border and encircle the French forces stationed on the Maginot Line.
The 40 divisions of the French army, which had been wasting time stuck on the Maginot Line until Dunkirk was surrounded, found themselves in a very difficult situation.
If we stayed still, we would be surrounded by the Germans, but if we tried to move, the problem was the Germans in front of us.
When they see a situation like this, they say it's impossible to get rid of it.
If France had stationed only 5 divisions on the Maginot Line and moved 35 divisions to the north, it may have had a significant impact on Operation Sickle.
However, France did not do that and made its boasted elite army and Maginot Line useless.
"The biggest contributors to the victory are definitely the French. If they had known that they would turn their heads even a little, the situation in the war would have turned out to be exactly the opposite. When the war is over, I plan to award Gamelin the Iron Cross. What do you think?"
"Hahaha, I strongly agree!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!"
The atmosphere in the conference room was always harmonious thanks to the awareness that victory was imminent.
After negotiations with Britain were concluded, no one doubted victory.
In Berlin, the blackout system has already been lifted, and beer halls only close right before sunrise due to people drinking late into the morning.
Although France and Italy still remained, their citizens acted as if the war was already over. Britain has withdrawn, and Paris is on the verge of fall. What is there to fear?
Less than a year after the first shots were fired in Danzig, the war was coming to an end.
"Mr. President, Italy has proposed a ceasefire."
"To Italy?"
As I was about to leave work and leave the remaining work to the generals, Ribbentrop appeared and delivered news from Italy.
According to Ribbentrop, Mussolini secretly proposed a truce through his son-in-law, Count Ciano.
As if he can't let go of his bravado until the end, he says, 'Let's make a big reconciliation and return to the border before the war.'
Let's make peace when kneeling down and begging isn't enough. It's so shameless that it's almost admirable.
"Whose will it be? "This idiot thinks Truce is the name of someone's dog."
Keitel said. It was a look of bewilderment, as if it was truly absurd.
"I agree. It looks like you still don't understand the situation. "I'm so excited."
Needless to say, I have no intention of acceding to Mussolini's ceasefire proposal.
Britain has already gone to war, and France is also on the verge of surrendering. I've already defeated the final boss and the mid-boss, so why save someone who can't even fit into the boss axis?
I need to clearly show what happens if you make fun of yourself without even understanding the topic.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone