Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 135



Only Noblemtl

#135

Roosevelt quite disliked de Gaulle.

Would you rather spend money like the Queen of the Netherlands and buy fighter jets to arm your country’s soldiers, or have an elite airborne corps like the Poles?

How shameless can a penniless person be? De Gaulle, who had such strong pride that he was even stiff, had no attractive features, including his tall stature and stubborn appearance.

For that reason, the person Roosevelt wanted as the leader of Free France was not de Gaulle, but Giraud. Unfortunately, Giraud was too weak to defeat de Gaulle.

In fact, it was Britain that supported de Gaulle. Churchill had been supporting him since de Gaulle first came to London in exile. Naturally, the goal was to expand his influence in postwar France.

So, did Churchill like de Gaulle? No.

So, de Gaulle was an unwelcome figure to anyone except the French.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand.

But from the perspective of someone who knows the sorrow of losing a nation, not from the perspective of an American, de Gaulle was doing his best.

So if you ask me if I have an agape heart to help him a little, I can’t help it.

I said I understood his behavior, but I didn’t say it was good.

“But if you think about it from the beginning to the end, it’s useful.”

“Are you talking about before and after?”

“Yes. Let’s make sure the Germans never start a war like this again.”

“Yes.”

“Then shouldn’t there be someone to watch over them to see if they’re doing anything stupid?”

“!”

Immediately after the end of World War I, everyone was afraid that they would become part of the German garrison.

I too had to ask for help from my mother, whom I had never seen before, in order to return home as soon as possible.

Now that the war is over, everyone is desperate to cross the Atlantic and come to Europe, but it was obvious that things would turn out the other way the moment the war ended.

Above all,

“You know how much it costs to maintain troops stationed overseas.”

Of course, there was no intention of complete withdrawal. Building military bases in other countries becomes more difficult as time goes by.

“So you’re saying we need a French person?”

“Right. And to bring them here, wouldn’t you need a wind catcher?”

“But de Gaulle is not the type of person who will listen to us obediently.”

Someone responded in a worried tone.

It was not a wrong statement. It was no secret that on the eve of the Normandy landings, Churchill had demanded that de Gaulle make a radio speech asking for the cooperation of the French people, and had fought with him when he refused.

“That’s because it didn’t give de Gaulle confidence.”

“Then we···.”

“No. We can’t choose the French leader as we please. But can’t we help those in France make their choice?”

For example, if we could portray de Gaulle as an unparalleled patriot, who would be able to surpass his stronghold?

Even in French history, it was the combination of three events that allowed de Gaulle to establish himself as the undisputed leader of France.

The first is a radio address in 1940 known as the Free French Declaration.

De Gaulle, who had fled to London to oppose the surrender just six weeks before France surrendered, gave a radio address calling on the Resistance and others to join in the fight against Germany, saying that France’s will to be free was unwavering.

And this speech made de Gaulle, who had been nothing more than a nameless military man, suddenly rise to become the pride of France and one of its major leaders.

The second time was in August 1944, two months after the Normandy landings, when he moved to Rambouillet and established his headquarters. He then ordered Leclerc, commander of the 2nd Panzer Division of the Free French Army, to advance on Paris.

Although it may be an unfamiliar place name to foreigners, Rambouillet was the place where Napoleon resided after ascending to the throne as emperor, and also where he spent his last night before being exiled to the island of St. Helena after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

In short, it was a region that had both recognition and meaning to the French people.

It was here that de Gaulle declared that he would recapture Paris, and he succeeded.

And finally, it was the triumphal procession held immediately after the recapture of Paris that firmly established de Gaulle as the leader of France.

Pictures of de Gaulle passing the Arc de Triomphe and marching down the Champs-Élysées to the cheers of hundreds of thousands of Parisians were broadcast throughout France, and de Gaulle was instantly crowned leader of France.

Of the three, the most intense was, of course, the last Paris Triumph. But in fact, it was none other than the US military that exerted the most force in the street fighting in Paris at the time.

Of course, we did cooperate with the Free French Forces to reduce damage at the last minute, but the scale of the troops involved was different.

However, the US military did the tricks and de Gaulle took the money, and they didn’t even show off to de Gaulle.

So shouldn’t things be different this time?

Moreover, it was even better because De Gaulle was in a very unstable situation at the moment, with only one of the three plans having been realized.

“You’re an ambitious friend.”

“That is true, but.”

De Gaulle’s ambition was not simply to seize power in France. The France he wanted was a strong and great country.

“They say that those who wish to wear the crown must bear its weight. De Gaulle will not be able to refuse our demands.”

And my prediction was right on target.

What was especially effective was that the British had not yet properly captured Caen, let alone Rambouillet.

“Do you want me to hold America’s hand?”

“No. Aren’t we already allied forces? What I want is for France to play its proper role.”

“It’s a role···.”

“Both we and England continue to bleed. Frankly, Normandy and this place are not our lands.”

“···”

Ultimately, the war will end only when we reach Germany and stamp our seal on Berlin, but before that, the land where we will have the most fighting is, of course, France.

And although the Normandy landings were successful, there was no miracle of the German war machine suddenly becoming disabled.

Of course, they are also human, so they will die, get hurt, and eventually the bottom will be revealed, but how many more of our children will die until then?

So I needed someone to die for my children.

It doesn’t matter if they’re French, Soviet or British.

My blunt words left De Gaulle silent.

“He who would wear the crown must bear its weight.”

“ha.”

De Gaulle let out a long sigh and then opened his mouth.

“But it’s better than those bloody Tommys. They keep talking nonsense about how they can’t recognize me, our Free France.”

“It’s not like it’s just yesterday or today that they can’t do their job.”

“Oh, really? But can I trust America? Tommy is honest, though.”

I shrugged as de Gaulle looked at me and said that if he had to choose between them and the United States, he would choose the United States.

“That’s their point of view, and although we speak English, it’s not like we’re in a slang-based language. Above all, I find Tommy, Churchill, and Montgomery very noisy.”

De Gaulle nodded as if he understood what I said. Looking at him like that, I lowered my voice and muttered.

“To be honest, it was also because of Montgomery that I turned down the promotion to Marshal, saying something about Paris.”

De Gaulle opened his eyes wide at my words and burst into laughter as if he understood.

And we shook hands.

“Okay. I don’t know about the US, but I think I can trust you, General MacArthur.”

“Is that so? That’s fortunate.”

##

The original purpose of the Dragoon campaign was to secure a port for supply in southern France.

Even if the Normandy landings were successful, it would take a month to build a temporary port called Mulberry to unload supplies.

Since it is a temporary port, it is unknown how long it will be able to withstand the strong winter waves of the North Sea.

In a North Atlantic port city like Cherbourg, it was hard to find one that worked properly. As expected, it took time to make it usable.

So, in order to ensure stable supply, it became necessary to secure various supply routes, and for this purpose, the Dragoon Operation was devised.

It was originally planned to begin at the same time as the Normandy landings, but it was pushed back in time due to a lack of ships to be used for the landings.

After that, the British bastards talked nonsense about Eastern Europe instead of the cavalry since it was already too late, but it seems they didn’t really think it would be feasible.

“If it works out, that’s fine. If it doesn’t, then that’s fine.”

“Ha. I really don’t like those guys.”

“What, are we the only ones who hate those guys?”

“Ha, ha. That’s true.”

In any case, the Dragoon Operation, which was simply aimed at diversifying supply lines, was changed thanks to information received from Rommel.

“Black Orchestra···.”

“Well, not all Germans are fools.”

“The important thing is to get the timing right, is that possible?”

“It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match exactly. There’s still some distance, right?”

“That’s true.”

They say that real-time communication became possible with the introduction of telephone lines, but I’m not sure.

How can we guarantee that the communication breakdowns and errors that occurred in the 21st century will not occur in the 20th century?

So, a time difference of one or two days was within the range that could be covered.

“Why don’t you just get there first and wait?”

“All right.”

“Oh, by the way, how are the kids’ singing practice going?”

“They are called roughly similarly.”

The song is none other than La Marseillaise.

This is a song sung by the French Revolutionary Army long ago, and is currently used as the military song of the French Army, which later became the national anthem.

“It’s not so bad if your first destination is Marseille.”

“Yes, it would be quite a sight if we marched in the Place de la Marseille singing this song.”

The reason we, as American soldiers, practiced French military songs was, of course, to promote de Gaulle.

The French were wrestling with the British at Caen, not knowing that the situation would turn out like this.

We can’t take the French army out there, and if we just take de Gaulle, the picture won’t look good.

Of course, de Gaulle is somehow gathering people from here and there, but how much can it be?

It was a military uniform, so it seemed like it was okay to just wear the supplies we gave you, so you didn’t need anything else and just memorize some songs and go.

“If we start marching while singing anyway, wouldn’t the local residents or resistance fighters join us?”

“yes.”

It was important to take good-looking photos and videos to distribute here and there.

Compared to the 21st century, it may not seem like much, but the 20th century was truly the age of advertising.

Among the famous figures in history, such as MacArthur, Churchill, de Gaulle, and Montgomery, and figures whose wonderful photos have been floating around the Internet for a long time, there was not a single author who did not bring a photojournalist with them.

Of course, there is a story that among the original history, MacArthur was so good that he even had a public relations officer.

Anyway, our goal is Paris.

The plan was to take Marseille, put de Gaulle in the lead, advertise heavily, and then continue on to Paris.

“From now on, it’s a race against time.”

“I know.”

“I have to wait until I get to Paris.”

“Well, by the way.”

As we were doing our final checks before leaving tomorrow, someone asked in a serious voice.

“What, is there a problem?”

“Hey, Lieutenant General Patton and De Gaulle, are you okay?

At those words, not only I but everyone else froze.

There was general agreement in the General Staff that Patton was the man best suited to advance at high speed in time to Marseilles.

But what no one had thought of was that both Patton and de Gaulle were authors with similar personalities.

Patton was Patton, but de Gaulle also had an extremely bad temper.

In particular, he was so fierce when arguing with Churchill that Churchill’s bodyguard was worried that our Prime Minister might get shot and killed by that man.

“Oh, what should I do?”

“If Lieutenant General Patton really gets into trouble···.”

“Then it would be a problem on a completely different level from the soldiers’ fandom.

“With that big body, wouldn’t he just sit there and take the hit?”

“That’s more worrying. Just try fighting with your fists.”

You and I both had a lot of worries. And I couldn’t find a solution to this problem either. All I could do was to make a plan in advance.

“I’ll talk to Patton. If he causes trouble this time, I’ll take off his uniform and send him back to the US.”

“Please do so.”

But the bottom line is that our worries were for nothing.

“The two of them became very close friends.”

Racing, adventure, action and more…