my head

But this time the positions of the winners and losers were swapped.The Battle of France ended with Germany's victory and France's disastrous defeat.

In the Battle of France, the analysis of the operations of both sides can start from the two levels of war guiding ideology and general strategy and tactics.From the point of view of the guiding ideology of the war, the French High Command prepared a war at the level of 1918, but the Germans prepared a new type of mechanized war against the level of 1918. This is all the key to the success of the French battle.Therefore, in this sense, the French had already lost this battle before it even started.In terms of general strategy and tactics, the French made mistakes again and again, most of these mistakes were directly caused by outdated war guiding ideology, which accelerated the pace of failure.

Since the British Fuller and Liddell Hart put forward the viewpoint of "mechanized warfare", there have been two opposing viewpoints on the issue of tanks, namely "scattered use" and "centralized use". The key point of mechanized warfare is "centralized use". Tanks, that is, use tank troops to form large units, and use them as the core to equip motorized artillery, infantry, engineers, and scouts. With the coordination of the tactical air force, they can quickly break through one point of the opponent's defense line and penetrate into the deep rear to sweep the opponent. The line of defence, however, was dismissed by those in power in conservative circles in both British and French military circles.In the 30s and [-]s, Etienne, Charles de Gaulle, and Renault in France clamored for the French military authorities to establish mechanized units with armored divisions as units, but they were suppressed by veterans of the army such as Pétain, Weygand, and Gamelin. and blows, so the French High Command did exactly what Liddell Hart described.He came to the war with the mind of the last war.What comes out of this conservative 'mind' is a series of outdated things such as 'distributed use of tanks' and 'establishing a continuous frontal defense line'.This led to a series of serious consequences.

In addition to the outdated military concept and war guiding ideology.The French high command also made a series of errors in general strategy and tactics.It is specifically manifested in the judgment of the German offensive direction, neglect of the Ardennes, unreasonable command system, poor communication, outdated concept of time, outdated forms of positional warfare, rigid and rigid military dogma, and many other aspects.

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De Gaulle still hadn't caught it, Zhang Jun had already told his subordinates.We must not let de Gaulle run away. As a result, de Gaulle ran away with Churchill, who came to France for a visit a few days ago. In history, de Gaulle had [-] French troops in his hands. Now de Gaulle is a polished commander, but Churchill still instructed de Gaulle The French government-in-exile is formed in London, England.

The French Navy also faced difficult decisions due to the disastrous defeat of the army and the surrender of the government.

When Darlan was promoted to admiral in 1937 and served as the commander-in-chief of the navy, the French navy had changed from a second-rate navy with only three "Guba" class dreadnoughts after World War I to the most modern navy in the world. fourth in the world.It should be said: Darlan made an indelible contribution to the reconstruction of the French Navy. In 1940, the actual strength of the French Navy was as follows:

3 "Guba" class dreadnought ships: Guba, Haiyang, Paris

"Provence" (provincial) class super dreadnought 3 ships: Provence, Brittany, Lorraine "Dunkirk"

2 class battleships: Dunkirk, Strasbourg

1 "Richelieu" class battleship: ...

There are also more than 50 destroyers of various types.There are 101 submarines of various types. It is such a powerful fleet. On the Western Front in 1940, due to the rapid defeat of the army, it was forced to concentrate in the port according to the "French-German Armistice Agreement" and wait to be disarmed.The French Navy deployed at that time as follows:

British mainland Portsmouth and Plymouth naval ports: two battleships.Four cruisers, several submarines, eight destroyers, and about two hundred smaller auxiliary ships, minesweepers and anti-submarine ships.British Occupation of Alexandria, Egypt: [-] battleship, [-] cruisers, Oran and Milskbier naval ports in French North Africa: "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg", several light cruisers, some destroyers, diving boats and other ships.

French Algiers: seven cruisers,

Casablanca, France: "Jean Barr"

Dakar, France: "Richelieu"

French West Indies: 1 aircraft carrier, 2 cruisers

Martinique: one aircraft carrier, two light cruisers

At this time, the French navy had no enemies and no allies. The French Third Republic had already succumbed to Germany's iron heel.And where will this world's fourth largest fleet go... At this time, how will the only Admiral François Darlan who can control the entire French Navy, the rebuilder of the French Navy, choose? There are two roads ahead of him, embrace the Atlantic Ocean, lead his fleet to fight side by side with the former allies, in order to restore the glory of France, or embrace the Mediterranean Sea, follow the order of the Vichy government, seal the fleet in the port of Toulon, and fight against the enemy. Live under surveillance.

He didn't believe in Hitler's promises, just as he didn't believe in the British, and all he cared about was France.He understands that his departure means the complete fall of the French mainland, and if he stays, France can still retain a trace of dignity.In the end, as a soldier, he obeyed the government, obeyed orders, and was forced to join forces with the Germans whom he hated.

Darlan's behavior strengthened the determination of British Prime Minister Churchill, and the British Navy began to implement the "Ballet Gun Project". The death of 1297 sailors outraged the entire French navy.

"Project Ballista" is a plan formulated by the British Royal Navy to seize and control the French navy after learning of the surrender of France to prevent Germany from using the French navy to attack the British mainland or threaten shipping lines.The program was carried out in three areas in June-July 1940.

In the naval ports of Portsmouth and Plymouth on the British mainland, on the morning of June 6, the British Navy suddenly disarmed the French fleet and put it under armed control.Except for the submarine "Surguf", there was no armed conflict in the entire takeover.

In the French West Indies, the local French fleet disarmed on 7 July in agreement with the United States.At the naval ports of Oran and Mirskbier on the coast of North Africa, the British proposed the following conditions: (3) continue to fight against Germany and Italy with Britain; (1) reduce the crew and sail to the British port under the supervision of the British; (2) Sailed to a French port in the West Indies under the supervision of the British Fleet, and disarmed or placed in American custody.If the French fleet rejects the above proposal, it must scuttle the ship by itself within 3 hours.

Such a request was rejected by the French fleet, so the "H Fleet" of the Royal Navy, under the command of Vice Admiral Somerville, launched a fierce attack on the French Atlantic Fleet commanded by Admiral Jean Sur in the port. The largest naval battle in the history of the world The helpless battle of Millskbier began. Under the attack of the British Navy's sea and air firepower, the French fleet trapped in the port suffered heavy losses. , "Provence" ran aground, "Strasbourg" fled back to Toulon after being severely damaged, France lost 3 battleships and many small ships, 1297 French sailors were killed and 341 were injured.

This incident caused the Petain government to sever diplomatic relations with Great Britain.Darlan immediately ordered retaliatory measures, bombing Gibraltar.From then on, the French navy regarded the British as their old enemy.

After the implementation of the "Ballista Project", the strength of the French navy was greatly damaged, but the British navy was not at ease. In September 1940, the British launched another "intimidation" operation against the French naval fleet in Dakar, North Africa.In the Battle of Dakar, the French fleet stationed in Dakar received strong volunteers from the fort and the cruiser fleet from the mainland, and damaged the British destroyers "Inglefield", "Seer" and "Camber". Lan", severely damaged the battleship "Resolute".Two French submarines were sunk.Two destroyers were burned and stranded, and the battleship "Richelieu" was damaged.The result of the Battle of Dakar was that the Vichy government won, but Britain also completed its main goal-the battleship "Richelieu" was destroyed.

Britain no longer faces a naval threat from France.At the same time, the Battle of Mirskbir and the Battle of Dakar also turned the former allies of Britain and France against each other.

The turning point of the matter happened to Darlan. At this time, Darlan was already the commander-in-chief of the Vichy government. When the "Torch" plan was implemented, he happened to visit his sick son in Oran.Out of a deep hatred of the Germans (a hatred that far surpassed his hatred of the British) he ordered the fleets to cease fire immediately, and ordered the remaining French fleet at Toulon and Dakar to sail quickly to North Africa.However, the French fleet at Toulon was unwilling to fight with the British fleet. They could not forgive the mistakes made by the British at Millskebier and Dakar. Require.The British paid the price for their actions.

At the same time, news of an immediate ceasefire across French North Africa reached Germany, and Hitler again skipped Zhang Jun and directly ordered the capture of the French fleet in Toulon.Facing the siege of the Germans, the proud French navy refused the aid of the British. They were unwilling to surrender to the enemy, regardless of whether they were Germans or British. They followed the orders issued by Marshal Pétain and Darlan in July 1940 , chose the most tragic way-self sinking.French fleet including 7 battleships, 3 cruisers, 8 destroyers, 17 torpedo boats, 16 submarines, 16 communication ships, 7 reconnaissance ships, and more than 3 transport ships, oil tankers, dredgers and tugboats All sank, only 60 destroyer, 1 torpedo boat and 1 oil tankers were captured by Germany because they did not sink.Three other submarines escaped to Algiers.This navy, once the fourth largest in the world, practiced its oath and defended its honor with tragic self-destruction.The pride of the French determines that they will not surrender to their enemies, and the honor of the French Navy determines their fate.

... (To be continued..)