"Poor for you French who fought for the islanders, in Zeebrugge, Ostend and Niupulte, the islanders have fled in large and comfortable warships, and you have only fishing boats......"

Read this, Pierre. Lieutenant General Björtte's face turned pale, and he handed the leaflet in his hand to William. Admiral Tennant.

"Colonel, I wonder if what this leaflet says is true?" Pierre. Vice Admiral Björtte asked, "Did the British Expeditionary Force flee on the Royal Navy's big ship?" ”

William. Admiral Tennant smiled wryly, not knowing what to say to this stubborn old man. The old Frenchman not only refused to board the yacht himself, but also did not allow his soldiers to escape on board. As a result, the entire daytime on the 25th was wasted...... Although the fishing boats and yachts on the sea could not carry many people, it was still possible to transport three to five thousand a day. These people could not defend Paris, but they were enough to sustain the existence of the French overseas empire.

The damned German Nazis, however, were not at all cruel during the day, except for the fact that at eight o'clock in the morning more than two dozen Fokker Type 99s dropped some bombs, and the German bombers that flew to Dunkirk were throwing "paper bullets" -- the leaflets that Lieutenant General Björk was holding.

Since 2 o'clock in the afternoon, several He-111s have been flying in every hour to throw paper bullets, and now at least 500,000 leaflets have been dropped, probably one in the hands of every Frenchman here in Dunkirk!

Look at these leaflets, look at the small fishing boats on the sea, and think about the British Royal Navy, which dominates the world, and anyone with a little brain can know that the Germans are not lying.

But William. Tennant, on the other hand, could not be as honest as the Germans, and even if he knew that no one believed the lie, he had to say it over and over again.

"Lieutenant General, you should not believe the lies of the Germans, the British Empire will never abandon its friends, and the Royal Navy is doing everything in its power to rescue every Allied officer, whether he is French or British. So please cooperate with us and order your men to board the ship immediately......"

"Lies, all lies!" Lieutenant General Björtte was about to explode in anger before Tannant finished speaking, "I will not let a Frenchman board your fishing boat, this is detrimental to the honor of France, I will report this to Paris!" ”

In fact, the French government in Paris knew about this without Lieutenant General Björtte's report, because the French army had observers and liaison officers in the British Expeditionary Force. Moreover, the German bombers also dropped leaflets with the same content in Paris, and now the whole of Paris knew that the British were going to abandon France and flee on their own. And France will soon have to suffer the bitter consequences of defeat alone......

"Mr. Prime Minister, given the complete desperation of Army Group 1, it is now certain that France will inevitably be defeated. The resistance of the French army at present can only achieve one goal: to save the honor of the army and to obtain decent terms of surrender. ”

In the basement of the Palais Martingnon, the new commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Admiral Weygand, was reporting to the cabinet on the general military rout. The morale of the French 1st Army Group had collapsed, and it was possible to lay down its arms and surrender at any moment - in fact, Lieutenant General Björtte had already raised the possibility of surrender of the troops in a telegram!

Maxim. Wei Gang sighed, glanced at a group of high-ranking cabinet officials in the conference room who were just as depressed as him, and then said: "Through the analysis of the previous battle situation, we can conclude that the German army has a real overwhelming advantage. Over the past ten days, the losses suffered by the Germans in manpower and technical equipment have been insignificant. This means that they can launch a military operation against Paris within a few days after the settlement of our 1st Army and the British Expeditionary Force.

At that time, 10 or more panzer divisions will march towards Paris from both east and north. We had no forces to stop their advance, and since we could not bring back enough troops from the Maginot Line and Belgium, it was the forces that were used to defend the Somme-Aisne line. I therefore propose to declare Paris an undefended city at the appropriate time......"

Speaking of which, the 74-year-old Admiral Wei Gang could not help but shed tears, and every senior French cabinet official present was like him, either wiping tears or secretly crying.

"Admiral," French Prime Minister Renaud still cheered up, "is it possible for us to establish a stronghold of resistance in Brittany?" Maybe we can hold out there for a few months and wait for the situation to turn? ”

The Brittany Peninsula is in the northwest of France, like a bayonet plunging straight into the Atlantic Ocean. The French only needed to hold a 100-kilometer or so line of defense (in the middle of the peninsula) to hold their last foothold on the mainland with British support.

"It may be possible to hold out for a few months, but the cost will be very heavy!" Maxim. Wei Gang frowned, "Because the defense line guarding the Brittany Peninsula is at least 100 kilometers long, and it has not yet begun to be built. If we want to defend the peninsula, we will have to organize a battle for the defense of Paris to gain time. Hundreds of thousands of French people would lose their lives, and a makeshift 100-kilometre-long line of defense was not impenetrable. We're going to lose more lives to stay there...... Maybe 10-200,000 French people die on that line every month! At this cost, will there be the desired change for a few months? ”

The advice to stick to the Brittany peninsula was that Churchill made a long-distance telephone call to Paul this morning. Renault proposed. The so-called "conversion" naturally refers to the entry of the United States into the war, which is the only thing that Britain and France can now look forward to.

"There is a possibility that the United States will enter the war," Marshal Pétain interjected at this time, "but at the moment the size of the American army is very small, at the end of last year they had only about 335,000 men, of which 144,000 were in the navy." With an army of less than 200,000 troops, what would happen even if all of them were sent to France? If we really want to expect American reinforcements, then we have to hold out not for a few months, but for at least 12 months...... If the United States starts a general mobilization now! ”

"If you want to hold for 12 months," Admiral Weygand whispered, "then be prepared to die at least 2.5 million French men, not counting the lives of the Battle of Paris and other battles...... We, France, will shed another generation of blood for British world hegemony! ”

Prime Minister Reynolds sighed: "We are wasting our time...... I know that no French person would want to do that. Not to mention dying 2.5 million, even dying 1 million, they don't want to. ”

He paused, "If the Somme-Aisne line is breached, let's declare Paris an undefended city." The government was to move to Tours and, at the same time, sued for peace with Germany. As for the encircled 1st Army Group, let Lieutenant General Björtte resist for as many more days as possible, and if it really doesn't work, lay down his arms and save his life. ”

……

"We might consider merging Britain and France into one country, with a unified government, a unified parliament, and a unified army. This will allow us to take over the French fleet and overseas colonies after the fall of mainland France. ”

At the British cabinet meeting held on the night of the 25th, British Prime Minister Winston. Churchill suddenly came up with a brain-wrenching plan - the merger of Britain and France!

The cabinet members were stunned by this proposal and looked at Churchill in a daze. Churchill smoked a cigarette and said, "What? Do you think this plan is bad? Britain and France will be the most powerful country in the world when they become one. ”

"Prime Minister," asked Viscount Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, shaking his head, "will we still have to merge with Germany after the merger of Britain and France to achieve European integration?" So that the world war is over, is it? ”

Churchill thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "Of course Germany cannot be added, Germany has too many people, and if they join, the Germans will be able to conquer Britain with their votes." All we want is to merge with France, and I think that's the best solution at the moment. ”

"But how is this approach different from the 'European Community' proposed by the Germans?" Viscount Halifax then asked.

It doesn't seem to be any different. Because the current Third Reich is not a Nazi dictatorship, but a Nazi party-fatherland coalition. And Adolf. Hitler, the "leader and chancellor", was also elected by German citizens. And the "European Community" that the Germans are now proposing is in fact a federal democracy, similar to that of the United States.

"Of course it's different," Churchill said, shrugging his shoulders, "because we Britain never had a grand vision of a united Europe, and we are not Franconians." We merged with France only to save France, and as long as Germany was defeated, France could be separated at any time. And once France joins the German-dominated European Community, France will lose its independence forever. This is unacceptable to the arrogant French! ”

As if there was some truth, the British cabinet ministers looked at each other, and although they were not willing to let Britain and France become a unified country, at a time when the fall of France was inevitable, the Anglo-French union was the only "legal" way for Britain to get the French navy and colonies.

If this method is not used, then the British Royal Navy will have to attack the French fleet in Toulon! Such a treacherous stab at the allies would seriously damage the prestige of the British Empire, and might even push France over to Germany's side.

The members of the British Cabinet have expressed their support for Churchill's idea, and since the current Cabinet is a coalition government, and the leaders of the major political parties are all cabinet members, there will be no obstacles in Parliament to pass the Cabinet meeting.

"Okay," Churchill nodded, "and when Operation Dynamo is over, I'll go to Paris to discuss the matter with Prime Minister Renault." (To be continued.) )