Father of France

Chapter 174 Helmet Master

“International impact?” General Leclerc’s words were full of skepticism. “You mean, we’re fighting for show?”

"In a sense, that is indeed the case, especially because of our adversaries," General Dassanliu readily admitted. "After the Iron Curtain speech, the hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union increased dramatically."

General Leclerc may not admit it, but General Dachanliu cannot deny that the United States has now demonstrated widespread influence over Western European countries.

He believed that once the fighting between the French and the Viet Minh began, the entire Indochina Peninsula would become the focus of international attention.

If Coman were here, he would definitely not agree with General Dassanio's view. The importance of the Indochina Peninsula is only useful to France at present. To be honest, the international community had long suspected that France and the Viet Minh could not coexist peacefully. Therefore, when this actually happened, not many people were surprised.

For the United States, the civil war in the world's most populous country is the most pressing issue in Asia right now, and it would rank second globally. Compared to the turmoil in the Indochina Peninsula and Europe and the major Eastern power, what is that?
General Dachaniu's perspective was at best that of a colonial empire, not a global empire.

This is quite normal. After the start of the colonial era, France only ever rose to the position of the second strongest power. Before that, it was overshadowed by the British Empire, and now it is overshadowed by the United States.

France never truly existed as a global empire, though perhaps it had that opportunity before the Seven Years' War.

Koman was holding an Indian newspaper, observing the progress of British India's independence, mostly about strikes happening somewhere.

It must be said that Indians are quite professional when it comes to strikes. Four hundred thousand workers in Calcutta launched their latest strike in support of the Congress Party and the Muslim League to put pressure on Britain.

The Indian newspapers I finally found gave a moving account of the strike: "The British Indian police and soldiers treated the strikers cruelly. At a single order from the British Indian government, the police and soldiers rained down blows on the workers' heads with wooden batons. Not a single worker covered their head or retreated; they fell like bowling pins. The horrifying sound of the batons striking heads could be clearly heard. Bystanders stood there, tears welling in their eyes, holding their breath. Every time a worker was hit, they would let out a cry of sympathy and anger. The workers, bleeding from their heads, lay on the ground, some unconscious, others struggling to crawl forward until another round of blows."

"The workers fighting for independence, each of them knew the consequences, but they did not flinch or retreat. They marched forward bravely with their heads held high, needing no shouts of encouragement, no drums or horns to aid them, and no cover to prevent casualties. The second group of workers were knocked down. There was no counterattack, no struggle, only a silent march forward until they were knocked down. When they fell, there were not even angry curses, only low groans."

"Are they trying to exhaust the British military and police? Nonviolent non-cooperation, Calcutta? Ha." Coman curled his lip. This largest city in India was the most direct victim of Indian independence. It was a city that had been used as a base by the former Kingdom of Bangladesh and Britain for a long time. It was the capital of British India for a long time, but after independence, it quickly turned from an economic center into a border town.

It could have rivaled Mumbai for the title of economic center, but instead, it went from being known as "Magic City" to "Nanjing" (a famous Nanjing city in China). Its largest industrial area, Kolkata, was also split in two and declined significantly.

Kolkata probably never imagined that its central position in the region would become history with the partition of India and Pakistan. After all, the Congress Party still gave most Indians a very confident attitude on the issue of the Muslim League, believing that Ali Jinnah would compromise.

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" With that voice, Bokassa appeared. Every time he saw Koman, he had a big smile on his face, his dark skin highlighting his white teeth. "They said you went to another country. I didn't expect you to be back so soon."

“It’s not too far away, just around the corner. The country I went to has a similar environment to yours.” Koman gestured for Bokassa to sit down. “Perhaps the only difference is that your country is not by the sea, but otherwise there are many similarities.”

The Central African Republic is not much smaller than Thailand and has abundant water resources. Its weaknesses are its sparse population and soil quality, which is not ideal for agriculture.

Koman, who has returned from Bangkok, is ready to continue his tyrant-raising program. Central Africa also experiences rare simultaneous rainfall and heat in agriculture, but the difficulty lies in the poor soil quality and sparse population.

But this isn't a big problem. With a sparse population, it's easy to control. And the area is quite large, so we can easily implement a rotation system.

In terms of colonial policy, France did not develop its colonies. Unlike Britain, which invested heavily in colonial development, France's colonial policies were almost entirely based on usury. French usury imperialism involved investing in public and national debts intended to stabilize the country, such as in Tsarist Russia, which bankrupted two million French families.

The limited amount of construction was concentrated in overseas provinces and French Indochina, while the vast majority of African colonies were essentially left undeveloped.

“Bokassa, your African unit, and other African units, should not participate in frontline combat. There are suitable training grounds for you.” With a ready-made tyrant right in front of him, Koeman absolutely could not allow the other party to be in danger on the Vietnam battlefield. Tyrants are also very valuable, and it is not easy to find a good one.

Bokassa's presence in French Indochina as an African soldier demonstrates his courage, but the Asian version's difficulty level is still too high for African troops.

Koeman wasn't looking down on the other side; the presence of African troops on the front lines, aside from adding a few achievements for the Viet Minh, served no other purpose. Combat experience didn't necessarily have to be gained in French Indochina; there were plenty of places to do it. They could just wait for news in Bokassa.

“Sir, do you think I’m not brave enough?” Bokassa was very comfortable in the army and thought Koman had a prejudice against him.

He had definitely misunderstood this time; Koeman had absolutely no intention of that. He immediately comforted him, "I just felt that there's a bigger stage where your courage can shine. There will be a greater need for you than here."

Madagascar is about to riot, and that place would be a good fit for Bokassa to make his mark.

Speaking of this colony, as part of the Indian subcontinent that broke off, it seems to have a natural connection with Asia.

The first humans to inhabit Madagascar did not come from the African continent, but rather from the Austronesian people who crossed the Indian Ocean to become the island's inhabitants. To this day, Madagascar's largest ethnic group is still very different from Africans, and Madagascar's trade is mainly conducted with Southeast Asia.

According to the timeline, Madagascar is about to riot, and France will definitely choose to suppress it immediately. Since they choose to suppress it, they will have to mobilize troops from various parts of their current colonies.

Currently, besides the French forces in mainland France and those stationed in Germany, there are only two other places with a large number of French troops: the French Overseas Departments in North Africa and French Indochina. At that time, troops will definitely be drawn from French Indochina.

To prevent Bokassa from overthinking, Koeman even had a meal with him. Over the next few days, he assigned Bokassa a task: to accompany him in receiving weapons shipped from Europe, mainly German weapons from World War II. France was spending a lot of money to remanufacture these weapons, and the results were not guaranteed.

After all, France had experienced a four-year hiatus in weapons manufacturing. In contrast, the vast amount of weapons left behind by Germany was a cost-effective way to arm the Catholics in Vietnam and the Hmong people in Laos.

After learning of the military expansion plans for French Indochina, France collected and sent over German weapons captured during the war.

The weapons transported to Saigon included hundreds of Panzer IV tanks and Panzer IV tank destroyers, 200,000 German-made Mauser rifles, light machine guns, submachine guns, and mortars, as well as ammunition and shells.

Dockworkers at the port were unloading the weapons. Lefèvre came over with the shipping manifest. "This is the first batch of weapons to be shipped, which departed from Marseille thirty days ago. News from home indicates that two more ships are en route, but their arrival times are still uncertain."

“Only we would treasure and keep these German weapons. If it were the Americans and the Soviets, they would have been melted down into scrap metal,” Koeman said with a hint of self-pity. “Notify the National Army to send someone to take them over. Are we supposed to send them over there? Bokassa’s African troops are supervising.”

France preserved its stockpiles of weapons captured from and occupied German territories, unlike the United States and the Soviet Union which disposed of them with considerable wealth. However, this has proven useful now. Although Europe is no longer at war, there are still many places where war rages.

Unlike the United States, which immediately crippled its army after the war and then urgently reorganized it to cope with the outbreak of the Korean War, the US was fortunate that the Korean War broke out not long after World War II, when its national strength was still at its peak. If it were an ordinary country, the losses caused by being caught off guard would not have been recoverable in a short time.

Now that the French army and the Viet Minh forces have gone into direct conflict, and the warmth of Fontainebleau Palace has ended, there's no need to hold back anymore.

The Vietnamese National Army, officially known as the Catholic Armed Forces, which was training around Saigon, arrived at the port immediately after receiving orders, and the soldiers began unloading.

Koeman even considered whether he should invent the shipping container, but after a brief thought, he decisively rejected the idea. The United States is currently the strongest industrial power, and it shouldn't continue to be so.

“The agricultural conditions in South Vietnam are certainly very good, but it’s too difficult to develop industry,” Commann complained to Lefevere, who said that Vietnam was almost entirely dependent on France for weapons and equipment from thousands of miles away.

Fortunately, the US and French forces in the Vietnam War were in similar situations, relying on domestic supplies to support the war effort. This comparison of their circumstances improved Coman's mood somewhat.

While the French army was launching continuous offensives to sweep away the Viet Minh forces in the north, the Catholic armed forces in South Vietnam were rapidly transforming into German-style forces. However, in Koeman's view, they were at best no different from German-armed divisions.

(End of this chapter)