Chapter 258 The French Doomsday (28)

Q: How do you address 100,000 French people raising both hands?

A: Of course, it's the French army.

Q: How can you recognize a French veteran?

A: Just look under their armpits; they have a healthy sunburn there.

Q: If the French wanted to sell surplus rifles from World War II, what would be their advertising slogan?

A: "Brand new, never fired, just thrown on the ground once."

In the midst of such jokes from future generations, Guderian was driving through them, using a loudspeaker to clear these people out of the way. "We don't have time to capture you. Drop your weapons, leave the road, and don't obstruct the way."

Guderian's 19th Armored Corps was advancing rapidly towards the English Channel. Occasionally, the ones blocking their way were not the brave French warriors ready to sacrifice for their country but rather the mentally shattered, completely demoralized French people.

"These guys are really annoying." Watching the French soldiers running off the road, Guderian spat with disdain.

The adjutant beside him looked at these disheveled French soldiers, unbelieving. "I can't believe these are French soldiers. How can there be such a huge difference compared to their performance in the last World War?" If French soldiers were like this during the previous war, France would have likely fallen into German hands long ago.

"Incredible. I guess they were scared off from the last time." Looking at the French soldiers rushing away, Guderian casually replied.

The adjutant added with surprise, "It's hard to imagine that they are all fellow countrymen. During the last World War, the French were very courageous. They put all their efforts into World War I to wipe out the shame of the Franco-Prussian War. Throughout World War I, the French military's equipment and combat capabilities were top-notch globally."

At that time, with a revengeful atmosphere pervading all levels of French society, the mentality of the French on the battlefield was, "At all costs, we must crush the Germans." For example, in the famous Battle of Verdun, the Germans did not gain any advantage over the French. In the ten months of intense fighting, the French army suffered 156,000 casualties and over 400,000 wounded, while the German army had 143,000 casualties and 350,000 wounded.

Therefore, it is inappropriate to say that the French military "lost miserably" before the U.S. entered the war. Before the U.S. joined the war in 1917, just the Battle of the Carpathians (January to April 1915) between the German-Austrian coalition and the Russian army caused the German-Austrian forces to lose 800,000 people, while the French army continued to launch fierce attacks on the Western Front.

Now, looking at these French soldiers lacking any fighting spirit, it's hard to imagine that they are the same people.

Guderian casually responded, "Maybe they got scared off by the last time." Just like how people often unleash infinite potential between life and death, but when they come to their senses after the danger has passed, they become frightened. Asking them to unleash that potential again is basically impossible.

The most important thing is that the Maginot Line consumed too much of the French people's efforts, giving them an illusory sense of security and even becoming their spiritual support.

French soldiers spent their days doing nothing – no combat, almost no training, and certainly no exercises involving unfamiliar tactics like infantry-tank coordination or air-land coordination.

French soldiers' daily work consisted of digging useless field fortifications and enjoying the rich entertainment facilities provided in the rear. They believed that the Germans would inevitably be defeated in front of the Maginot Line, and this war would be an "easy war".

Until the German army broke through the Ardennes Forest, the Maginot Line played almost no role. This left the French army feeling as if the sky were falling, disoriented and with weakened willpower. A military force in such a state could hardly win a war.

Guderian had no interest in the various weapons the French soldiers threw on the road. He ordered tanks to roll over them, turning these French weapons, which had little capture value, into scrap metal. His only interest lay in the gas stations and depots along the way.

The rapid advance of the 19th Armored Corps not only caught the Allies off guard but also made the German High Command somewhat uneasy. Even Field Marshal von Rundstedt, who usually allowed his subordinates a free hand, asked Wilhelm if Guderian should temporarily halt the advance.

Wilhelm just smiled indifferently and ordered to keep going as long as there was enough fuel.

Back in London, after issuing the order to convene a meeting, Churchill took the time to write a letter to the U.S. President.

To be precise, it was a plea for help.

After the attack on Scapa Flow, he had written to Roosevelt, hoping to purchase warships from the United States. Although Roosevelt was willing to help, the U.S. was not Germany. As the President of the United States, Roosevelt couldn't act as recklessly as Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany. Especially, he couldn't damage the interests of too many capitalists.

Those members of Congress represented various monopoly factions, and these influential figures in the United States had established companies and factories of various sizes in Germany, earning abundant profits as the war expanded.

Naturally, most of these people supported Germany!

Apart from them, there were quite a few German immigrants who had moved to the United States after the last World War. As a defeated nation, conditions were naturally harsh in their homeland, and many Germans chose to immigrate to the United States. However, they carried the shame of World War I in their hearts and still harbored affection for their homeland.

Moreover, most of these people were wealthy and had some influence after living in the United States for so many years.

So, when Roosevelt proposed the plan to purchase warships from Britain in Congress, he faced strong opposition from most people. The plan to purchase ships for Britain was subsequently scrapped.

Especially now, a new round of elections in the United States was about to unfold, and Roosevelt, who was preparing to run for president again, would not dare to do anything that would anger the public.

Yes, he was aiming for a third term as president. It should be noted that since President Washington, no one had been re-elected for a third term. Washington voluntarily stepped down after two terms, setting a precedent that became a political tradition. Jefferson, Madison, and others did not seek their party's nomination after two terms. Grant sought the nomination for a third time in 1876 and 1880 but failed both times. In the 1880 Republican National Convention, he led in the votes for the first 35 rounds but failed to reach a majority. In the 36th round, James Garfield emerged as a dark horse and became the Republican candidate.

However, this was just a tradition and was not written into the constitution (until the 22nd Amendment was passed by a two-thirds majority in Congress in 1951, formally limiting the president to two terms).

When Roosevelt first took office, he inherited a mess. The U.S. economy was on the verge of collapse, and Roosevelt managed to turn things around successfully.

Originally, this was an extraordinary achievement, making the Democratic Party, in the eyes of the American people, a "reform" party, and Roosevelt a "reform" leader. In the 1936 second-term election, Roosevelt's vote share was 98.49%, second only to Washington and Monroe, becoming one of the presidents elected with the highest electoral votes.

But now, Wilhelm had already implemented various new policies and reform measures in Germany. Roosevelt's measures didn't seem that novel anymore. The opposition party mocked Roosevelt as a "plagiarist" president, even saying that even if a monkey sat on the presidential throne, it could do a better job.

Therefore, in this alternate 1936 election, Roosevelt's approval rating was 62%, much lower than his original timeline. The Democratic Party had no confidence in Roosevelt's third-term candidacy, especially since there was a highly popular candidate on the Republican Party's side, Wendell Willkie. It seemed difficult for Roosevelt to win. However, Roosevelt stubbornly decided to participate in the third-term election.