Father of France

Chapter 21 Intricate Interpersonal Relationships

This is Europe, not some other place. The United States can't do whatever it wants; the Soviet Union is still around.

The destruction of productivity caused by the war has led to the existence of pro-Soviet parties in various European countries. The Italian Communist Party and the French Communist Party are just the two strongest, which does not mean that the pro-Soviet forces in other countries are weak.

In this situation, with hundreds of millions of potential Soviet supporters across Europe, the US military simply overturned the table.

If it were that easy, the United States wouldn't have had a chance. After World War I, Britain not only had a stronger will than the United States, but also took action, yet it still failed.

If Patton's assumptions were true, Eisenhower, after just a moment's thought, couldn't even imagine what Europe would become.

Europe is a special case, and the US military cannot act recklessly there. Various units have also carried out work to restrain their soldiers.

Eisenhower heard that American soldiers in the Pacific theater would cut off the heads of fallen Japanese soldiers and make them into skull souvenirs, which they would then mail to their girlfriends back home to show off their manliness.

In the war zone in North Africa, some units reported that individual soldiers were holding killing contests to see who could shoot more local Arabs, but such things would be absolutely forbidden in Europe.

At first, Eisenhower felt that Patton was a risky subordinate, which was usually tolerable, but in this matter, Patton's actions were simply disgusting.

"General Eisenhower, General de Gaulle is calling from Paris. Rome has now been captured, and the role of the French army in Italy can be reduced somewhat."

The staff officer who entered, oblivious to the strange atmosphere between Eisenhower and Patton, reported with a telegram: "Regarding the breakthrough of the Gothic Line, the French believe that the attack should begin from the Franco-Italian border, targeting the flanks and rear of the Gothic Line. At the same time, they are diverting troops from the French First Army and preparing for an invasion of mainland Germany."

"Another function is to mobilize the First Army of France to deter the hardliners of the French Communist Party," General Eisenhower concluded with a smile. "At this moment, the French Communist Party does not seem to have made a clear statement, so it is quite normal for de Gaulle to make such a decision."

Before the Normandy landings, the Allies had already breached the Gustave Line and liberated Rome. The deployment of three Allied armies on the Italian peninsula was indeed somewhat crowded. Now that Paris had been liberated, it was only natural for France to want its troops to withdraw from Italy and strengthen its forces on the western front.

Eisenhower's guess was not wrong at all. As a politician-type general, he was not as flamboyant as MacArthur and Mountbatten of Britain, but he had just as many skills. He was far superior to Patton, the war maniac, and guessed de Gaulle's purpose from a single telegram.

"The only saving grace is that Admiral Dragon can somewhat balance out my conflict with those British bastards," Eisenhower said, rubbing his forehead and trying to console himself.

It wasn't that Eisenhower and General Dragon had a particularly good relationship; it was mainly because the commander of the French First Army was easy to communicate with, and after Eisenhower came to Europe, the British general who cooperated with him for a long time was Montgomery.

In Eisenhower's eyes, this British general who had fought alongside him since the North African and Italian campaigns was truly intolerable.

From the time he faced Rommel in North Africa, Eisenhower began to cooperate with the British forces led by Montgomery. Montgomery had deep doubts about the combat effectiveness of the American forces and repeatedly insisted on his own opinions on strategic planning.

Eisenhower's coordination of the warring nations was described by Montgomery as indecisive.

Montgomery also looked down on Eisenhower, and recently even proposed that he himself become Supreme Allied Commander, ousting Eisenhower. Their tense relationship began in North Africa, continued through Italy, and is now on the Western Front. With such a British general cooperating with Eisenhower, General Dracon, commander of the French First Army, didn't need to do much; simply cooperating with the Americans was enough to win Eisenhower's favor.

In fact, the Gothic Line did not need so many troops. In Eisenhower's view, the importance of the Italian front was secondary to the offensive in France. The fact that most of the French First Army, which had achieved good results in coordinated operations with the US military, came to the Western Front was beneficial to defeating Germany as soon as possible.

This is how multinational coalition operations work; there are many factors to consider, including not only battlefield factors but also factors outside the battlefield.

In Paris, the French capital, Corman did handle a case today, mainly because due to the moral decline during the war, many cases, especially rape, would go unreported even if they occurred.

However, the Judicial Purification Committee is currently investigating the collection of evidence by corrupt officials, and due to the impact of this major event, the police force is relatively small, which led to him encountering someone reporting a crime when he arrived at the Paris police station.

Since there was nothing else to do today, Koman didn't mind pretending to be a righteous official. The person who reported the case was reportedly an officer of the Allied forces, in other words, a soldier from another country.

He initially thought she was American, though he was also puzzled that with America's current logistical support, they wouldn't need to do such a terrible thing as not getting paid. But after hearing the woman's account, he realized things weren't so simple.

“He’s an officer from the British Indian Regiment.” Coleman listened to the description of the other party’s characteristics, and although he still needed to provide evidence, his tone was quite certain.

It was indeed something Indians were capable of doing. At that time, before the invasion of German territory, a considerable number of foreign soldiers had indeed poured into France, including soldiers from British India, the jewel of the British Empire.

Britain's population was larger than France's, but not by much. Of the more than five million British troops, British India accounted for more than 50 percent.

Seeing the fleeting hatred in the woman's eyes, Koman wasn't making malicious assumptions; he figured that if it had been an American soldier, the outcome might have been different.

“Since you know his name and unit, leave your work unit. We’ll notify you when we catch him so you can come and identify him.” Koman originally wanted to say “claim”, but then realized it was inappropriate and changed the word.

This wasn't originally his job, but since he'd run into it, he had to stand up for his country's citizens. Even if the criminal was an American soldier, Koman wouldn't ignore it. At worst, he'd break the man's leg and let him get a work injury during World War II; the man might even thank him.

But if it's an Indian, they can further establish their image as protectors of French women, and the punishment can be more severe. Anyone can adapt their approach based on the situation.

After making the promise, Coman returned to the Judicial Purification Committee with the files provided by the police station. Alan appeared again, looking travel-worn. "Is this the poster you're looking for? It's really not easy. Who would look for a poster from an enemy country from more than ten years ago?"

Alain pulled out a German propaganda poster from 1932. The poster depicted a group of black people dressed in French formal attire watching white people in a zoo, implying that a hundred years later, France would have become a black country due to the low birth rate of white people, and white people would only be seen in zoos.

　Once everything is done, I'll go pick up the test results.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)