I Don’t Need Nazis I Chapter 112

< World War II - Darkest Hour (5) >

June 26, 1940

Paris, the capital of France, the ‘City of Light’

[France's Greatest Victory! Surpassing Napoleon!]

[Delivering French Justice to the Despicable Traitors of the Alliance!]

Newspapers filled with all sorts of sensational headlines flew around Paris. When war with Britain was first declared, the atmosphere within France was one of utter chaos.

But when victory in the Battle of the English Channel was announced in just one day, and the French Army succeeded in landing on the coast east of Portsmouth, public opinion reversed.

And the next day, when aerial photographs of a shattered HMS Victory and images of the French flag flying over Portsmouth Harbour spread, all of France was ecstatic.

The voices that, just the day before, had been demanding an explanation from Pri Minister La Rocque were buried under the evaluation that he was the Pri Minister who brought a great victory to France.

For the French people, who had only suffered repeated defeats in diplomatic battles with Germany amid Britain's neglect, the sinking of the Victory and the Royal Navy's Channel Fleet, and the landing on the British Isles that not even Napoleon could achieve, held that much symbolic power.

Of course, it was a reaction based on the boundless optimism that a ‘Britain without a navy’ would be no match for the ‘Grand Army’.

There were so voices of concern that Germany might enter the war due to the excessively despicable start to the war and the alliance with Italy, but amid the national fervor and the suppression by the Socialist Party regi, they had no more influence than a small whisper.

However, La Rocque himself was not at ease.

"Damn it, why haven't those Italian bastards attacked Malta and Alexandria!"

"Well, signs of an imminent German Army offensive were detected, so they had to divert their air force for holand defense.

The Italian Navy apparently dug in its heels, saying they couldn't attack without air support…"

"Those moronic bastards! What the hell is that fellow, the Duce, even doing!"

According to La Rocque's original plan, the mont France struck the British mainland, Italy was supposed to declare war alongside them, attacking and damaging Alexandria and Malta with airstrikes and their fleet.

"And that damn son of a bitch pig Franco hasn't even declared war yet!"

Spain was supposed to have attacked Gibraltar.

Not a single part of it went according to La Rocque's plan.

Italy only belatedly declared war on Britain after confirming the annihilation of the British Channel Fleet and the landing of the French Army on the British Isles, by which ti the British diterranean Fleet, with one aircraft carrier and three battleships, had already raised its alert to the highest level.

La Rocque's plan to inflict maximum damage on the Royal Navy with a surprise attack and then join forces with the Italian Navy to check the remaining British fleet was now completely ruined.

"It's my fault for trusting those damn Italians!"

Although they had successfully struck the main British fleet at Scapa Flow, in the end, only two obsolete Revenge-class battleships were completely sunk there.

The remaining ships could be repaired, though it would take ti, and so could sortie imdiately once the mines were swept.

Moreover, the French submarine fleet, which had hastily withdrawn after carrying out a surprise attack and mine-laying operation at dawn using only submarines, had failed to properly assess the damage they had inflicted on the British fleet at Scapa Flow.

They had only managed a one-ti surprise attack with specially modified oxygen torpedoes usable by French submarines; the French submarine force had not studied proper doctrine like Germany had.

"And on top of that, what the hell are our navy guys doing! Did they really lose all those transport ships just because we used them as bait? Our naval power was over 1.

5 tis theirs, and it was 9 to 2 in battleships alone! We had air superiority too! And yet they couldn't stop it, taking huge damage and losing so many transport ships!"

The damage the French fleet suffered was also enormous, but the loss of a large quantity of transport ships was a painful blow.

La Rocque had played the gamble of throwing the transport ships out as bait, but of course, he had not been resolved for nearly all of them to be sunk.

The Dunkirk withdrawal operation of the original history, which just carried soldiers, might have managed with civilian ships, but proper transport ships are essential for transporting military supplies and heavy equipnt; there's no way he'd use them all as throwaway cards.

"Damn it, do they think transport ships just fall from the sky!"

But the Royal Navy and the RAF, even in their overwhelming inferiority, tenaciously inflicted imnse damage on the bait convoy protected by the French Navy, going down in a blaze of glory.

"Do they think it's over once we land! How will we import oil now, and how will we provide supplies to the landing forces!"

"Ahem. It is a fact that the Pri Minister's strategy was excellent, but the navy high command clearly expressed concern about using the transport ships as bait.

The fact that such damage was possible-"

"Then, was there another plan to annihilate the Channel Fleet and succeed in the landing within the short ti we had air superiority?"

Admiral Darlan shut his mouth with a displeased expression. Even if they had dealt a blow to the air bases in southern Britain, they could probably be restored enough to be used as landing and takeoff bases within a day.

To sohow force a landing using that fleeting mont of air superiority, France had also shouldered a considerable burden to make it happen.

From what had happened, it seed as if Britain was on the brink of ruin, but in the end, the Ho Fleet at Scapa Flow was not completely annihilated, nor had Britain surrendered.

Thanks to the unexpected large-scale loss of transport ships, they had to reduce the number of landing points, and even then, a considerable number of casualties occurred in the process of the advance party landing and occupying Portsmouth.

The surprise attack and gamble worked, and they sohow managed to land, but the war with Britain was only just beginning.

And yet Italy, their supposed ally, was so preoccupied with defending its ho country that it failed its promised raid on the diterranean fleet, and Spain was still testing the waters.

To check Germany, La Rocque sent a secret envoy to the Soviet Union, emphasizing anti-German cooperation and requesting Soviet military action during the operation, and since they didn't know how the British Far East Fleet and Arica would react, he even brought in the powerful naval nation of the Japanese Empire with conditions of docking rights in the Indochinese peninsula, rubber, and British Malaya for the sake of a check.

He had thought he couldn't be more thorough, but in reality, only about half of his plan had been realized.

"Those damn Italians insisted so much on dispatching the army, and now they can't even do their own job properly!"

And that other half was a variable sufficient to decide the fate of France.

La Rocque felt like his blood was running dry.

"Damn it, all I can do is hope that General de Gaulle quickly captures London and secures their surrender."

At least the rearmant of the British Army, which had been proceeding vigorously until the invasion of Poland, was set back to square one by Halifax, and in any case, France's surprise attack and landing were successful.

La Rocque expected that if only London fell, the chaotic British governnt would soon surrender.

-

June 26, 1940

London, the capital of Britain – Palace of Westminster

"Order, order!"

Even as the Speaker shouted "Order!" until he was blue in the face, it had little effect.

The British House of Commons was in pandemonium, filled with shouts and chaos that could be called the greatest in its history.

The fact that the pride of Britain, the Royal Navy, had taken a massive blow without being able to properly respond left a devastating scar on the pride of the British Empire.

Moreover, the fact that the French Army's landing on the British Isles had been permitted even after the Channel Fleet threw itself in, prepared for death, brought about a sense of crisis that the current situation was no longer just about Britain's pride, but about its survival.

The straight-line distance from French-occupied Portsmouth to London is not even 90km.

In Britain, which had not yet grasped the fact that France had used empty transport ships as bait, there were even mbers of parliant who disparaged the Channel Fleet's heroic sacrifice as a death that had achieved nothing.

"Mr.

Speaker, and mbers of Parliant. Our country is facing a more serious crisis than ever before!"

The Labour Party leader, Clent Attlee, was raising his voice to speak amidst all the chaos and shouting.

"While this grave crisis was approaching, the Pri Minister of our proud British Empire, despite so much opposition, pushed for disarmant and chased the illusion of 'peace for our ti'."

Halifax listened to Attlee's accusations with a hardened face and closed eyes, as did Chamberlain, whose complexion was close to that of a corpse.

"In the history of the British Empire, June 24, 1940, will be rembered as the day France, once our ally, despicably betrayed us! Furthermore!"

Attlee pointed his finger at Halifax and shouted.

"It will remain as the day the Pri Minister, who more than anyone should have led the nation steadfastly, miserably betrayed that expectation and stood by as the nation fell into crisis!"

The reaction was explosive, splitting between Conservative MPs denouncing Attlee and opposition MPs cheering him on.

"Crazy talk!"

"Betrayal? Watch your words!"

"What part of that is wrong!"

But even among the Conservative MPs, not a few turned their backs on Halifax.

"Gentlen, who have the duty to lead the nation on the right path. Shafully, this may be the last House of Commons in Westminster. In this crisis situation, we propose that we forget our past conflicts for the sake of the national interest and form a national warti cabinet."

Attlee, who had proposed a warti national cabinet, stared at the silently seated Halifax before shouting heatedly again.

"But I can assure you! If we form a national warti cabinet for our country, it will be under a Pri Minister other than you. If you have any sense of decency and feel any sha, resign for the sake of the nation!"

Halifax, his face stiffly hardened, kept his lips firmly sealed and said nothing.

-

June 27, 1940

London, the capital of Britain – Buckingham Palace The old, fat ‘English Bulldog,’ Winston Churchill, was walking down a corridor of Buckingham Palace when he ca across a familiar face.

"Pri Minister Halifax."

"Forr Pri Minister. Churchill… Pri Minister."

To Halifax's statent, Churchill replied with his characteristic sullen expression.

"Not yet, as His Majesty has not appointed ."

A mont of silence flowed between the two n.

"…As you said, war was interested in us."

Halifax, as he said this, looked as though he had aged ten years.

The French Army, having occupied Portsmouth Harbour, was engaged with General Alan Brooke's Southern British Army to advance on London, the Far East Fleet and British Malaya had begun to be attacked by the Japanese Empire, and the diterranean Fleet was tied down in a confrontation with Italy.

He had wanted peace rather than sacrificing his people to the flas of war in Europe, and he had wanted to protect the Commonwealth, but he had lost both.

Churchill watched Halifax without saying anything noteworthy, and Halifax had so much he wanted to say to him, but the words could not form and leave his mouth.

"…I am ashad to leave you with such a heavy burden."

Halifax passed by Churchill after leaving only that one remark, and Churchill followed an attendant down the dim corridor of Buckingham Palace, where the sunlight was blocked by the foggy weather characteristic of London.

In the dark building, only the light of the lamps illuminated his path, and he thought it was just like the situation he and Britain were in.

At the end of the corridor, Churchill finally ca face to face with a man in a navy uniform.

"His Majesty the King."

"Mr. Churchill."

The gaze of Britain's King, George VI, was not so kind.

Winston Churchill was one of those who had supported the marriage of his brother, Edward VIII, who had abdicated in disgrace, until the very end, and had made many blunders, including Gallipoli.

But in the worst crisis of the British Empire, no Conservative MP wanted to take on the post of Pri Minister, which might be saddled with the responsibility for defeat.

Moreover, when all the Conservatives sided with Chamberlain and Halifax, Churchill, who had argued for intervention along with the Labour Party, was the only Conservative supported by the opposition, and was ultimately chosen as the Pri Minister to lead the national warti cabinet.

"I, in accordance with my duty as King, intend to appoint you as the Pri Minister of the British Empire.

Do you accept this and will you form a Cabinet?"

"I will do so, Your Majesty."

Churchill approached the King and finished the formal procedure by kissing the back of his hand.

George VI watched Churchill for a mont before speaking.

"Then, Pri Minister. The forr Pri Minister advised

to evacuate the governnt from London to Manchester, and for

and the Royal family to withdraw to Canada."

George VI hid the feeling that a sigh was about to burst out and asked Churchill.

"What is your plan, Pri Minister?"

"My plan is to fight on, Your Majesty. I will not retreat not even an inch from here, where the citizens of London are, and I will do so until the mont we drive the French, who betrayed a long-standing ally, from the British Isles."

George VI just stared at Churchill.

"Is that possible? Is it not a reckless thing? What can you do to fight on, Pri Minister?"

"I have only my blood, toil, and sweat to offer, Your Majesty."

George VI did not speak at Churchill's words, and Churchill looked up at the King with blazing eyes.

"No army will risk their lives for a governnt that gets scared and runs away before even fighting, and for us to abandon London and flee is no different from announcing that we will be defeated in this war. To get help from the Commonwealth, Arica, and… Germany, we must not show any sign of wavering."

George VI watched Churchill for a mont, then closed and opened his eyes.

The man who was once timid and stuttered.

The King, who had once burst into tears before his mother under the burden of a throne he never wanted, now had a strong resolve in his eyes.

"…Give it a try, Pri Minister. If you defend London, then I will defend Buckingham Palace."

Britain's will to fight had only just begun.