Father of France

Chapter 123 The Israel Model

Standardized urban construction certainly has its drawbacks. There was a joke that was popular in the Soviet era: if you kidnapped a person while they were asleep and took them to another city thousands of miles away, then when that person woke up, they would walk down the same streets, return to the same neighborhood, use the same key to open the same door, and live in the same house.

This joke bluntly illustrates the standardized urban development of the Soviet Union, which resulted in cities from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean looking extremely similar.

However, focusing solely on the shortcomings without mentioning the advantages is a generalization. It is precisely because of this standard of urbanization that urbanization has been greatly accelerated, which is also what France's overseas departments in North Africa currently need.

France cannot control German prisoners of war, a cheap labor force, forever. As Germany's importance becomes apparent, the United States will eventually lift the restrictions on Germany. France only has three or four years to use this almost free labor force. Therefore, Algeria's urbanization must be initially completed within three or four years.

Koeman only had a preliminary discussion with General Dracon. As for the standard urbanization construction in Algeria, he also had to take into account the different national conditions of France and the Soviet Union, and compare them with the population size in his memory. Therefore, examining the compatibility of French towns with initial modernization was indispensable.

All that's needed now is for Admiral Dragon to have the concept. As for what the standards for standardized town construction are, Koman still needs to do some research and combine it with his memories.

After finishing the discussion on Algeria's standard urbanization construction, Koman went downstairs and saw his younger brother circling around Eva Gardner. It's normal for a little boy to unconsciously want to get closer to a beautiful woman. But if Como were two years older, Koman would give his younger brother a demonstration of what it means to be an elder brother like a father, with a father's love as solid as a mountain, and then promote him.

Back in his room, holding Ava Gardner, he woke up and first took the lady, who was of equal status to his wife, to Cartier. Then he went straight to the Ministry of Land and Resources and obtained some blueprints for the construction of French cities.

Koeman selected a few of the plans and left, adding the standards he remembered. The construction of Algerian immigrant settlements would certainly start from scratch, so adding the established standards was not difficult.

Incorporating the concept of micro-zones, a micro-zone is a residential area covering tens of hectares, typically demarcated by a main urban road.

The size of typical settlement towns is limited to around 20,000 people, with limited or prohibited through traffic within the micro-zones to create a relatively quiet internal environment. Standard amenities include: kindergartens, primary schools, convenience stores, community clubs, green spaces, and public land.

There are strict regulations on the spacing between buildings to ensure that each household receives the required amount of sunlight, which makes the spacing between buildings usually very wide.

Even if buildings are constructed, they should ideally be more than three stories high. This micro-community concept ensures that basic living needs are within walking distance, reducing reliance on cars.

For this North African overseas province, which is not yet considered wealthy, the micro-zone concept offers the advantage of maximizing its strengths and minimizing its weaknesses to optimize the environment for non-motorized travel.

A good living environment contributes to the birth of a great society, and only a great society can give rise to a powerful army, especially an army.

During the recently concluded World War, many medical experts had already taken note of this issue.

Medical experts believe that during wartime, everyone oscillates between courage and cowardice. When mild signs of war phobia appear, a short rest can help a person recover. However, if nervous tension exceeds its limit, anyone can break down.

Of course, this is a complex issue. Generally speaking, well-trained, disciplined, and well-educated people have a stronger ability to control their fears than those who are intellectually inferior or psychologically unbalanced.

When it comes to a cohesive society, Koeman doesn't think the United States is such a society, at least not the United States after the Vietnam War.

While Corman was busy building settlements in the overseas departments, General Dracon went to the tank factory, not far from the outskirts of Paris. It was perfectly normal for the Chief of the Army General Staff to be concerned about the army's main battle equipment.

France is currently in the process of absorbing German technology, and the military knows this will not be easy, but still hopes to do so more quickly.

“They said it had to be light, fast, and able to hold back the steel torrent from the east,” Chief Engineer Morris’s voice was hoarse, as ash fell from his fingers. “But the budget was only enough to build half a Sherman.”

Admiral Dragon's gaze lingered on the model: the sloping frontal armor resembled a medieval shield, and the low turret was almost flush with the chassis. This was a modified drawing of the heavy tank design.

"The German 88mm gun taught us one thing," General Dragon tapped on the cross-section of the large-caliber gun, "Dignity lies within range."

At the other end of the workshop, welding sparks fell like dying stars. Foreman Jacques, staring at the gradually taking shape first prototype, suddenly spat, "This weld can't even keep out the rain in Paris!" He had once repaired Panther tanks for the Germans, but now he was forging a new blade for the dignity of France. Shame and pride burned within the same weld.

Visiting as a representative of the National Defense Committee, General Dragon's shoes slid across the waterlogged ground. "The sandstorms in Algeria are more deadly than Soviet tanks. The heavy tank program is not urgent, and the concept of assault tanks is outdated."

Admiral Dragon tapped on the tracks. "What we need are mobile fortresses."

The test driver silently started the engine. The roar of the diesel engine tore through the silence, and amidst the mechanical fury, he whispered to his assistant, "See that? This is the first roar since the war that doesn't belong to wailing."

As the prototype vehicle rolled over the first trench at the test range, the turret jammed due to a hydraulic stabilizer malfunction. Yet everyone present remained standing—the sloped armor gleamed coldly in the setting sun, and the gun barrel pointed towards the forest ahead, as if it had already pierced the shadows of the Iron Curtain.

France currently has two requirements for postwar tanks: a heavy tank design and a light tank design. The heavy tank design aims to match the Soviet Stalin series tanks.

Upon returning home, Koman learned that his general father had inspected the tank factory that day. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "The old classification of assault tanks and cruiser tanks is clearly outdated. There is no need to distinguish between light and heavy tanks now; they can be classified as main battle tanks."

Main battle tanks evolved from medium and heavy tanks, combining the firepower and protection of heavy tanks with the mobility of medium tanks. As the basic equipment of modern armies and the main assault weapon for ground combat, Koeman was very reluctant to let France continue to waste time exploring new paths.

He recalled that France's post-war tank development did not go smoothly. Although the heavy tank was designed to compete with the Soviet Stalin series tanks, the value of the heavy tank was questioned due to the widespread use of Soviet medium tanks such as the T-54/55, and the project ultimately failed.

As for the light tank project, it was successful. However, the light tank, which weighed thirteen tons, was most famous for its astonishing weight. It could deal with Third World countries, but it was no match for the Soviet Union, the biggest hypothetical enemy. Even though it was successful, its biggest contribution was wasting France's research time.

“Modifying the German Panther tank would be a better development than these two options, at least it wouldn’t be a waste of resources,” Koeman said to General Dracon. “Otherwise, we’ll really have to use American tanks as France’s main battle equipment for a long time, which is embarrassing to think about.”

"You should focus on studying the construction of the settlements," General Dragon said, not believing that Koman had any say in such matters. "As for the future development of tanks, leave that to the professionals."

“Okay.” Koeman felt he had indeed overstepped his bounds. The development path of tanks ultimately required practical experience to prove its worth, right? So he steered the conversation back to the previous issue of settlements. “Besides standardized urban construction, establishing settlements is definitely in France’s interest. Settlements and related infrastructure will fragment the Algerian Arab community into isolated enclaves, disrupting their cohesion.”

This is Israel's tactic of gradually encroaching on Palestine. Koeman never gets bogged down in ideological issues; if he thinks it's effective, he'll use it.

In environments like Algeria, Israel's strategies are actually quite effective, since both are located in arid desert regions at the same latitude and longitude, and their tactics are similar.

The facilities that aided Germany's Final Solution, namely the concentration camps, controlled water resources in Algeria, fragmented the Arab settlements, and eradicated the soil for resistance.

"Of course, standardized urban construction must be applied equally to all. After completing the immigrant settlements, we must immediately relocate the Arabs to the new towns as well, abandoning their previous nomadic lifestyle," Corman said confidently to General Dracon. "By bringing the confrontational environment into a familiar area, the Arabs will no longer be our adversaries. France must be willing to invest in construction."

If it's a long guerrilla war, many French people will eventually get tired of it, but if it's a siege warfare, then the superior ships and guns of the old imperialist powers can be demonstrated.

Arabs absolutely cannot be barefoot and unafraid of those wearing shoes; a large number of Arabs must also wear shoes, otherwise the battle will be much easier.

After chatting for a while, Koman turned to Ava Gardner and asked, "Honey, could you help me register a company and be the legal representative? Besides our two children, we only have two military personnel left in our family, so we can't directly run a company."

"Didn't your father have another wife?" Ava Gardner blushed and whispered, "Why are you bringing me up? I'm not French."

"I'm doing this to help you get into a bigger stage," Koeman said with a look of concern for your well-being.

(End of this chapter)