72

"As expected, things are going as well as I expected. Excellent. very good."

Operation Sickle is proceeding smoothly as I know from history.

Rommel's 7th Panzer Division has just captured Onge, and Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps has captured Sedan and is now racing toward the Atlantic.

Kleist was concerned that Guderian's advance was too fast and asked me to order him to stop, but I let Guderian run wild.

Ordering Guderian to stop is like holding back a player who is about to score a goal in a marathon match.

Kleist may have been concerned that Guderian might advance too quickly and be surrounded and annihilated by the French army, but contrary to Kleist's thoughts, the French army did not have the ability to do so.

Ah, now that I think about it, it's not like it doesn't exist at all.

There was one person in the French army, which was no different from the Tang Dynasty army.

Charles de Gaulle.

In history, De Gaulle's 4th Cuirassier Division moved to the rear of Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps and launched a counterattack, but it failed due to the quick response of Captain Johan von Kilmanseck, the logistics staff of the 19th Panzer Corps, who noticed this.

Although it ended in failure, de Gaulle's counterattack at the time was virtually the only opportunity to inflict significant damage on the 19th Panzer Corps.

I'll have to order Guderian to keep a good rear guard just in case.

While Army Group A, the main force, broke through the Ardennes Forest and the Maas River area, Army Group B, which was in charge of tribute, clashed with the French army in Anneu, resulting in a large-scale tank battle.

At first, our forces, led by the thinly armored and under-fired Panzer 2 and Czech-made light tanks, were somewhat outgunned by the French army, but the situation turned around when the heavily armored Hatchers were deployed.

None of the French Army's tanks could penetrate the Hatcher's 60mm sloped armor.

The hatchers, heavily armored and armed with powerful 75mm guns, kept their distance from the French troops and fired shells, leaving the French tanks helpless to the attack.

In addition, as the Stukas bombed the area on a large scale, the French army fell into a state of panic and was unable to fight properly.

In the end, the French army retreated, losing about 180 tanks and armored vehicles.

Our forces also lost about 70 armored vehicles, but they were all light tanks and armored vehicles, and Hatcher did not lose a single one.

It is said that only a few tracks were broken, but they were soon repaired and returned to the front line.

Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group B, succeeded in pursuing the retreating French troops and inserting his troops between their ranks, and pushed the French troops mercilessly.

French artillery was unable to properly support its own troops due to problems with enemy identification, and taking advantage of this confusion, Army Group B was able to advance up to the Deal defense line.

The military's victory was a record, but what made me even more excited was the news of the replacement of the British Prime Minister a few days ago.

As in history, Chamberlain took responsibility for the crushing defeat of the Norwegian campaign and resigned from the position of Prime Minister.

However, it was not Winston Churchill who became Prime Minister, but Foreign Secretary Halifax.

"Halifax became prime minister?! Not Churchill? "Is that really true?!"

"Yes, yes, Mr. President. "Why are you so surprised all of a sudden?"

When I heard that Halifax had become prime minister, I was so surprised that I screamed so loudly that the entire conference room rang.

The staff members who were planning the strategy all turned around in surprise, but I paid no attention and bombarded Ribbentrop with questions.

"Why on earth didn't Churchill become prime minister? "Have you heard what the reason is?"

"I didn't hear the details, but it is said that Chamberlain strongly opposed Churchill's inauguration as Prime Minister, so it was ultimately aborted. "I heard that Chamberlain's revelation that it was Churchill who first called for an attack on Norway also played a role."

It is said that Mr. Gallipoli infuriated Chamberlain by trying to blame not only the crushing defeat in the Norwegian campaign but also the cause of the attack on Norway. Should I say it's very Churchill-like?

Anyway, when Churchill tried to blame the cause of the attack on himself, Chamberlain's eyes rolled back and he cursed at Churchill before fainting and collapsing.

When it was revealed through Chamberlain's revelation that the fundamental cause of the attack on Norway was Churchill, not Chamberlain, the Labor Party, which had previously supported Churchill, changed its position and began to criticize Churchill, ultimately preventing him from becoming prime minister.

Instead, the person who became prime minister was Halifax, the foreign minister in Chamberlain's cabinet and a proponent of appeasement toward Germany.

"ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"?"

"Mr. President?"

When I started laughing like a crazy person, concerned looks came from people around me.

He starts screaming all of a sudden, and now he's even laughing without knowing what's going on, so I'm worried that I'm going crazy.

But don't worry. Because I'm perfectly fine.

"Now we live! He lived! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

"·······???"

"Bring the champagne. "I should have a drink on this nice day."

Two days after the invasion of France began, I opened champagne.

The war was still in full swing, but it was already over for me.

"Mr. President, has something changed in your feelings? "I'm sorry, but isn't it too early to pop the champagne?"

This was what Goering said to me after drinking champagne with a nervous expression on his face.

It's only been two days since the invasion of France began, and I guess I'm worried that I'm already getting complacent.

"I absolutely do not doubt the Fuhrer's insight. However, I would like to tell you that complacency is prohibited."

I never thought something like this would come out of his mouth. I thought I only became human on the outside, but I ended up becoming human on the inside too.

I emptied my glass, feeling satisfied with Goering's 180-degree change in appearance.

"Of course, being overconfident is prohibited. But there's no need to worry. "It's as if this war has already been won."

"May I ask why you think that?"

"We would have won the war simply because Churchill did not become prime minister. "You will soon find out what I mean."

***

A day later, on May 13th,

Britain had proposed a ceasefire via Switzerland.

If the German army withdraws to its previous borders by May 10, Britain will lift the economic sanctions imposed on Germany and condone Germany's occupation of the Czech Republic and Poland.

If we accept this offer now, the war will end.

But the war must not end yet. Of course, the war must end in the near future, but not immediately.

If Germany accepts Britain's offer now and ends the war in vain, Germany will forever miss its chance to conquer France.

That will never happen.

"I don't know about anything else, but we must firmly follow France. Be very thorough so as not to interfere with Germany again. "It is not too late to go and sign the armistice treaty then."

"I understand, Mr. President. "Then what will we say to England?"

Ribbentrop, who had evaluated the British truce proposal positively, did not criticize my words, perhaps because he thought France should be conquered at least.

"Just reply that you will positively consider your proposal. It is the UK that has proposed a ceasefire, not us. In other words, the one who gets nervous first is that side."

***

May 15, 1940

10 Downing Street, London, England

-It's all over now, Prime Minister. We lost, we lost.

The voice of French Prime Minister Paul Reno, heard over the phone, was full of deep despair.

Halifax was taken aback by the allied prime minister's crying voice.

"What do you mean, Prime Minister? "You mean we lost?"

- That's literally it. France was attacked and the battle was lost. There is no hope now.

Leno reported that the Germans had occupied Sedan and were racing toward Paris and the Atlantic. He also added that the French army that was supposed to stop this was on the verge of destruction.

-I have also requested support from Mussolini, but honestly, I do not expect his army to be able to change the situation of the war.

Although Italy had many shortcomings in many ways, it was still a powerful country and thought it would provide some help, but it showed arrogance and was unable to advance even a single step.

Mussolini loudly declared that this offensive would definitely succeed, but considering everything so far, it did not seem like a very realistic statement.

The situation was similar for the Belgian and Dutch armies. Although the two armies fought hard, they were unable to stop the German advance in the slightest.

After finishing the phone call with Leno, Halifax held up her teacup with trembling hands. The black tea was still warm.

As I took a sip of black tea with sugar and milk, my mind regained some peace. Although she still had her head messed up.

Germany responded positively to the ceasefire proposal he delivered to Germany through Switzerland.

However, even while Germany was considering the ceasefire proposal, the German army did not stop its advance.

It would be nice if Hitler would answer quickly. Only then can we end this damn war.

Halifax wanted to end the war as much as possible before the situation worsened. Wouldn't that improve Britain's prestige a little more?

"Billy."

"Please speak, Mr. Prime Minister."

"Call Foreign Secretary Cadogan. "We need to get a confirmation from Germany quickly before the war situation gets worse."

Halifax's prediction that Germany would also want a ceasefire was not wrong.

However, I just didn't know when that time would be.

***

"Company, move forward!"

With a powerful command, the tanks lined up began to advance. As the tanks moved, the infantry also began to advance.

Mussolini was on edge due to the failure of the Austrian air raid and the much higher-than-expected loss of the air force. He narrowly avoided being dismissed as commander-in-chief of the German invasion force, but if he failed this time, he might really have to take off his clothes.

To that extent, Balbo was well taken by Mussolini.

To ensure complete success, Balbo put the Matilda tank and Somua S35 tank, which were gifts from Britain and France, at the forefront.

Among the tanks owned by the Italian military so far, they were the most high-performance and were treasured and treasured.

The performance of British and French tanks was truly outstanding. The two tanks easily bounced off the 37mm shells of the PaK 36, which had hitherto pierced the Italian army's tankettes like sheets of paper.

-Kang!

"It bounced!"

"Yes, this is a tank!"

"The British certainly make good tanks."

Italian tank crews aboard the Matilda tank expressed admiration for the British-made armor, which ricocheted off all incoming shells.

The L3 tankettes and M11/39 tanks operated by the Italian army often burst into flames when hit by shells, but the Matilda tank has not been penetrated even by more than five shells so far.

It was an incredible defense.

However, there is no tank that only has advantages.

This seemingly invincible tank also had its drawbacks. The speed was slow and the only shells were armor-piercing shells.

"found! Enemy anti-tank gun position at 11 o'clock! Turn the turret!"

When the tank commander shouted after discovering the German anti-tank gun, the gunner immediately rotated the turret.

"Loaded!"

"launch!"

The 2-pounder main gun fired and hit the enemy position, but no loud explosion or flash was seen.

Although the 2-pounder's penetration power was clearly excellent, it had many difficulties when attacking unarmored targets such as enemy positions.

The biggest problem was that it was difficult to inflict significant damage to the enemy even if it hit a target, as the bullet was only a single armor-piercing bullet, which was no different from a piece of metal.

Sure enough, a moment later another cannonball flew. The shell hit the turret's mantlet and bounced off like a thumb rubbing the surface of butter.

"Fuck, they're not dead yet!?"

"Knock it down with a coaxial machine gun!"

In the end, it was the Somua S35 that followed behind that destroyed the anti-tank gun position.

Although it had less penetration than the Matilda, the Somua S35 with grenades was more useful than the Matilda when dealing with infantry.

"Anti-tank gun hit, ensign!"

"Withdraw! "This place will be breached soon!"

"Take the machine gun and ammunition! "Hurry up!"

For Italian tanks with paper-thin armor, the PaK 36 was sufficient, but it was not enough for the Matilda and Somua S35.

The German army abandoned its positions and retreated due to the Italian army's attack led by British and French tanks.

"Now we finally get to fight a war that feels like a war!"

"Let's run to Vienna like this!"

The Italian soldiers who occupied the trenches left by the Germans were triumphant.

They had only advanced a few kilometers, but for them who had always been at a standstill, even this amount of progress was an overwhelming experience.

but,

-bang!

"Car number 2 hit!"

"Car No. 3 was hit too!"

"Damn it, what is it this time?!"

The Italian army's advance was soon stopped again.

When the PaK 36 no longer worked, the Germans immediately deployed the PaK 38.

Unlike the PaK 36, which is small and light and easy to move and camouflage, the PaK 38 was rarely used because it was large and heavy and difficult to move.

However, as the PaK 36 became ineffective against the British and French tanks brought by the Italian army, an opportunity arose for the PaK 38 as well.

The heavy armor of the Matilda and Somua S35 pales in front of the PaK 38, which has a longer range than the PaK 36 and can penetrate 78 mm at 500 m.

"Loaded!"

"This time it's the one at 2 o'clock. Shoot!"

The Matilda tank, which was turning its turret around to find an anti-tank gun, was destroyed with a hole in the front of the hull.

While the surviving tankers opened the hatch and escaped, Somua S35 ran towards them and met the same end.

Yellow flames came out through the hatch that had been blown away by the impact of the explosion.

The Italian army's advance was halted by only two anti-tank guns.

While anti-tank guns were dealing with enemy tanks, German soldiers in the trenches fired machine guns at the charging Italian troops.

Every time the MG34 spewed fire, Italian soldiers fell like leaves in a cold wind.

Unlike scenes from war movies, the enemies did not scream when they fell.

You have to feel pain to scream, but your breath was cut off before you could feel the pain.

The only ones screaming were the living soldiers.

Although their lives were saved, the soldiers screamed as their arms and legs were cut off and their internal organs protruded from holes in their stomachs.

When the order to retreat was given, the Italian army left the wounded soldiers on the battlefield.

Since it was difficult to take care of my own body, I couldn't even take care of the wounded soldiers.

The German soldiers shot the wounded Italian soldiers left crying on the battlefield one by one, suffocating them.

The front line became quiet again as the last wounded soldier fell with a bullet lodged in his head.

It was a dead silence