"We have to hold on as long as possible! The Italian Navy has already come to support us!" General Jean Sur encouraged, "The British Royal Navy now is not the navy of the past. As long as the British fleet in front of us is wiped out, the Mediterranean will never be the same again." There is no British power left!" General Jeansur looked at his watch and said, "The Italian Navy has been setting off for four hours. As long as we persist for two hours, we will be able to annihilate the British Navy in one fell swoop. Long live France!"
"Long live France!" everyone shouted. After a brief period of confusion, the soldiers of the French Navy have accepted the cruel reality. Their allies a month ago are now going to war for their own interests!
Except for Churchill and several leaders who knew about the ballista operation, only Lin Wei, a man who understood history, knew what was going on. So at the beginning, both Germany and Italy were confused about this matter. Water, I don’t know why Britain and France are suddenly going to fight. Although this is something that Germany has always dreamed of, when it really happens, whether it is William II or Marshal von Blomberg They were all at a loss and didn't know what to do, but Goebbels, who returned to Berlin with Wilhelm II, immediately knew that it was time for him to show off again. Goebbels was very familiar with this kind of situation. Don't forget his famous saying: a lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth.
Goebbels described this matter as the result of Germany's efforts to provoke relations between Britain and France, and found a bunch of arguments that made William II have to believe his words, starting from the softening of the front of the Maginot Line. Policy to the fascist organizations in France, Goebbels did his best to find out the influence exerted by Germany in France.
"Your Majesty, this is a stamp designed by a specialized psychologist of the SS!" Goebbels took out a stamp and introduced, "This stamp is ostensibly a souvenir given to the soldiers of the Maginot Line at that time, but Your Majesty, please see, behind the stamp in the background is an old British man having a tryst with a romantic French girl! Such stamps can hint to these French soldiers that while they are fighting bloody battles with us, the British are behind them with their wives. A tryst! It can destroy the morale of French soldiers to a great extent and create a feeling of distrust towards the British!" Goebbels said with smearing.
"Your Majesty, this is a souvenir we sent in the United States!" Goebbels selected an oil painting. The oil painting was full of tanks and planes, the ground was covered with dead bodies, and the background was even more like hell. : "Your Majesty, we want Americans to know the horror of war, so that the American people will not be deceived by the British and fight against Germany!"
"Very good!" William II expressed his appreciation for what Goebbels had come up with. In his time, this kind of psychological warfare had not yet taken shape, and it was far from the psychological warfare that Goebbels and others now use. Superb. Connectedly, William II felt, Hit? Is this Austrian corporal also good at employing people? So he asked, "What should we do about the French Navy now?"
Goebbels certainly knew what Lin Wei's plan was, and now it seemed that the plan was about to succeed. Therefore, Goebbels knew that he had to drag France into the water and completely break France and Britain, without any possibility of reconciliation, in order to protect Germany's interests. So he encouraged, "Your Majesty, we must support France in this matter and let the French know that Germany stands with them. We must also encourage Marshal Pétain to declare war on the British, put them into a state of war, and completely tear apart the so-called of the Confederate Alliance!”
William II leaned on a cane and looked toward the empty ceiling, as if he wanted to see the future. After a while, William II sighed, "I'll leave this matter to you!"
"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty!" Goebbels said in very unskilled court etiquette.
Goebbels was extremely enthusiastic about this information. Only half an hour later, the German people heard the good news told by Goebbels. Goebbels sent the British Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet and the French Navy Fleet to News of the conflict between the two was informed to the German people. Then he severely condemned the actions of the British and expressed sympathy for the French people's experience: "If the British had not been beating the relationship between our continental countries for hundreds of years, there would be no such relationship between us. After many wars, now that they saw the dawn of peace between Germany and France, they immediately became angry and took action against their former allies, just like they did against Alexander II and Napoleon of Russia. By the way, the last war was also the last war. Gifted by the British!" Goebbels shouted at the top of his lungs. How did the Germans react? Goebbels didn't know, but what Goebbels knew was that the French would be excited. This is exactly what Germany wants to see.
Ribbentrop immediately followed William II's wishes and expressed Germany's views on the naval issue between Britain and France, clearly expressed support for France, and pointed out the shameless and despicable British move. Ribbentrop said: "The despicable and shameless Britain has finally let people see his true face. Now the whole world knows what kind of people the British who call themselves gentlemen are. Regarding France's experience, Germany said that it fully stands with France. Three million The German Wehrmacht will be France’s biggest backing. When the world’s number one army and the world’s number two army join forces, there will be no place for the British in the world!”
This is Paris. In the Place de la Concorde in Paris, tens of thousands of Parisians are now gathered. They are waiting here for the current head of state of France, Marshal Pétain. Two hours ago, they had heard about the British Mediterranean Fleet and the French Fleet. The confrontation between them, now they especially want to know how far this matter has developed. What is France's future policy? Now they are eager for Marshal Pétain, the French protector of the country, to appear in front of them and give them a reassurance.
"Marshal Pétain, the Germans have made a statement. They are completely on our side. The first batch of 200,000 prisoners of war will be released immediately!" Foreign Minister Laval said to Marshal Pétain, seeing that Marshal Pétain was still there. After hesitating, Laval persuaded, "France is rising again step by step. The defeat of the British has been determined. We must be responsible for France. Besides, it is the British who attack us first. No matter what, we in France cannot be so cowardly!" When you become a marshal, whether France can rise again depends on your thoughts!"
The eighty-four-year-old Marshal Pétain finally agreed to Laval's request. Looking at the dark crowd outside, Marshal Pétain knew that now he had to make a decision. Pétain walked tremblingly to the front of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, and saw that Marshal Pétain had appeared in front of him. The originally noisy square fell silent for an instant, and everyone was waiting for Marshal Pétain's speech.
"Today, the British Mediterranean Fleet suddenly appeared at the Mirsk Biel military port where our navy is stationed! And surrounded the French fleet in the port!" Pétain said seriously, "The British came with bad intentions. They want to disarm the French navy." , not only in Mirskbil, but now I have received news that in other military ports in Indochina, Britain, the Mediterranean and North Africa, the British navies everywhere are ready to attack. I don’t know now, what am I going to do? manage!"
After listening to Petain's words, everyone in the square was at a loss and didn't know what to do. Su Ri'an had rumors before, but most of them were skeptical. They could not accept that a country that was their ally a month ago was suddenly at war with them.
"Declare war on the British!..." Suddenly, a shout appeared in the silent square, which seemed so incongruous. But as if the anger in their hearts was ignited, this noise immediately caused a chain reaction: "Declare war on the British..." More and more people joined the ranks of denouncing the British. The person who shouted first just now quietly disappeared into the confused crowd. ,
The angry voices of the French soared into the sky, and now there is no way to restore Britain's image in the hearts of the French. At this time, two pieces of news came. The two French battleships that had escaped from the British military port had successfully returned to France. Among them, news also came that the German Air Force was protecting the French Navy. Secondly, Germany had decided to release 200,000 French prisoners of war and assured that this was just the beginning. For a time, the Frenchman's favor with Germany greatly increased. Liande's resistance to the British no longer exists only in the mouths of politicians.
Pétain signaled people to calm down, and then shouted loudly, "I declare that from now on, France and Britain are in a state of war!" Pétain's move undoubtedly showed that France had declared war on Britain.
"Report leader! We have asked Franco to temporarily hand over the Spanish railways to our management! Within twenty-four hours, we will cancel sixty-seven trains, so that we can send two divisions of troops in one day To Gibraltar!" said Robert C. Crawford.
Lin Wei took a quick look and said, "Just handle this matter!" Seeing that Robert C. Crawford was still not leaving, he asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Leader, I just got the news! Marshal Pétain has declared war on Britain!" Robert C. Crawford said excitedly.
"What? Are you telling the truth?" Lin Wei stood up suddenly, grabbed Robert C. Crawford's shoulders and asked, "France declared war on Britain?"
"It's absolutely true, leader!" Robert C. Crawford didn't care at all about Lin Wei's abnormal performance. In his opinion, this kind of performance is the most normal.
"First send the Prince Eugen Division to Gibraltar. Once it arrives, it can join the battle! We must cooperate with the actions on other battlefields!" Lin Wei ordered, "Of course, before the Gustav railgun is transported to the Gibraltar Fortress, no* !”
"Understood!" Robert C. Crawford said and went down. Lin Wei was still digesting the news just now. What Lin Wei dreamed of was for France and Britain to completely fall out. Now it has come true, no, it is better than expected. The fact that France and Britain are at war shows that the war between Germany and Britain will definitely end with Germany winning. Lin Wei really couldn't describe the beauty of this feeling in his own words. If Germany, which has completely relieved its worries, loses the war, it will only mean that people can no longer compete with the sky.
Two hours after Germany expressed its attitude, Italy, which had been advancing and retreating with Germany, also expressed its attitude. Mussolini immediately ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Italy, Zinoia, to express Italy's attitude. Therefore, Germany condemned the two Italian parties. An hour later, Chino also announced: "Italy has the same position as Germany on this matter, and has already sent the Italian Navy to assist the French Navy fleet earlier!" Italy's position was now dispensable. But this undoubtedly announced the fact that the British and Americans have been worried about, that is, Germany, France, and Italy, the three most powerful military countries in Europe, have come together to deal specifically with Britain.
But who is to blame for all this? Operation Ballista was originally a seamless plan, but Churchill may never have imagined that someone had already known about the plan in advance, and then took the opportunity to give the British a chance. It was foreseeable that even if the British center successfully surrendered, If the French naval fleet there loses its combat effectiveness, it will also be chased by the main fleet in France and flee across the Mediterranean, not to mention Italy.
Although the British naval strength is the best in the world, it was already a year ago. The current strength of the British navy has dropped to the third in the world. Even the French navy, which is the fourth in the world, may not be able to handle it. Add in the Italian navy, which is fifth in the world, and the German navy, which is sixth in the world. Britain is in trouble for itself for no reason. A big disaster happened.
The current British government is in a difficult position and has to continue to implement the angry artillery plan, hoping to weaken the strength of the enemy country and add some benefits to its future actions.
At the French military port of Mirskbil, the navies of Britain and France are in a cautious confrontation. France is trying to delay time, while the British want to force France to surrender and hand over its warships. In this way, time passed little by little with the confrontation between the two sides until the afternoon.
General Jeansur ordered: The fleet set sail at full speed, with "Strasbourg" setting off first, followed by the flagship "Dunkirk", and the two old battleships "Provence" and "Bretagne" setting off last. . Suddenly thick smoke rose from the harbor.
Vice Admiral Somerville observed the actions of the French fleet and it was time to launch an attack! At 16:56, the "Barham" at the head of the British fleet column began to fire first, followed closely by the "Warrior" who also opened fire one after another. At this time, the British ship was only 14,000 meters away from the port. The French ship "Brittany" first fired back at the "Barham" among the British ships. However, the French naval ships did not consider fighting while anchored, and there was a hill on the land connected to the Mirsk Bill breakwater. Although it blocked the sight of some British ships, it also seriously affected the aiming of the French ships. The measurements were made in a hurry. It turned out to be the two masts of the Dunkirk!
Of course, the distance between the British ships was not enough, but at this time, it was only less than 90 seconds before the British ships opened fire. The targets of the British ships were mainly French battleships and battlecruisers that were parked behind the breakwater and were difficult to fight back due to poor visibility. They used several aircraft that took off in advance to conduct shooting verification, and the hit rate was quite high. Shortly after the opening fire, the French fleet flagship "Dunkirk" began to loosen its mooring cables and stern anchor chains and prepare to lift anchor and set sail. A salvo of 381 mm main guns from the "Barham" hit the breakwater and scattered ships flying into the sea. Shrapnel and stones hit the tugboat that helped the "Dunkirk" sail, and also hit the main gun firing director of the "Provence" moored next to the "Dunkirk", killing most of them. Without personnel and some observation and sighting equipment, the "Provence" had to cease fire after firing only 22 rounds of 320 mm shells. Although the "Barham" battleship is also a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, it is somewhat useless against the German Bismarck-class battleships, but it is enough to deal with the French Dunkirk-class battleships.
The captain of the "Dunkirk" ordered the stern aviation gasoline tank to be emptied immediately. At the same time, two seaplanes were launched from the "Dunkirk" and the "Strasbourg" to provide corrections for the fleet's counterattack. These seaplanes later bravely rushed to the "Hood" and tenaciously used the machine guns on the aircraft to fire fiercely at the "Hood". They even "cross-fired" the British flagship, and the bounced shrapnel injured two people. A British sailor.
At this time, less than a hundred nautical miles east of the fighting area between the two sides, the aggressive Italian naval fleet had already come over. Even Mussolini was not confident of fighting against the British navy alone, but this time the British and French navies The opportunity for confrontation prompted Mussolini to make up his mind, and then the opportunity to cooperate with the French Navy completely uprooted the British Navy in the Mediterranean. This would also support Italian operations in North Africa.
Because of this, Mussolini is preparing to eliminate the threat of the British Navy at once and replicate the Italian version of Germany's huge victory off the coast of Belgium. Mussolini's comrade-in-arms Hit? Although Le was dead, he also saw that although Wilhelm II had returned to Germany, the government currently chaired by the German National Socialist Party still maintained an alliance with Italy. Mussolini, who was prepared for danger in times of crisis, decided to use a huge victory to prove Italy's value.
Mussolini, who had decided to take a gamble, was really prepared to spend all the capital of the Italian Navy this time. Cao Dulio and Andrea Doria of the Cao Durio class battleships, Veneto class and Littorio of the Veneto class battleships. There are four Zara-class heavy cruisers: "Zara", "Fiume", "Grazia", and "Pola". There are 2 Taranto-class heavy cruisers: Taranto and Trieste.
This naval fleet consisting of only four battleships, six heavy cruisers and a dozen destroyers was already more than half the strength of the Italian Navy. Mussolini really went all out this time.