Father of France

Chapter 252 Railway Soldiers

This statistic is not what France wants. The disheartening comments from Commissioner Salle have already surfaced, but Coman remains unfazed, saying, "As some have said, we can control coal and steel, we can promote French-language education, and we can even establish an 'autonomous' government here. But we cannot easily erase centuries of national heritage. This report will be sent to Paris; it will not be made public. It will tell our superiors: we may have Salle for now, but we are far from winning Salle."

"But it's only been two years, and the foundation is already quite good. As time goes by, we will definitely be able to break through the German bloodline. No matter how deep the bloodline is, it can only represent the past."

Koeman has always believed that ethnic groups can be transformed and that there is no ethnic group that cannot be assimilated. He once said that Chinese people are not difficult to assimilate, but how much more difficult is it for white people?

German immigrants to the United States are the second largest group after British immigrants. If you don't count Ireland, German immigrants are actually the largest group. But how many German-speaking immigrants are there in the United States?

Given Germany's cultural heritage, it's almost entirely washed away when people go to the United States; they have absolutely no resistance to it.

The reason why some ethnic groups are difficult to assimilate is usually because the mainstream ethnic group does not want to assimilate them.

The "one drop of blood" principle of Black Americans is actually the standard answer. White Americans have never wanted to assimilate Black people; they have always wanted to isolate Black people from white communities. Otherwise, given the size of the US population, this would have been achievable.

However, European countries do not have this advantage. Their populations are generally only around 40 to 50 million. Looking at the origins of immigrants, the UK has tens of millions of immigrants, which corresponds to over a billion people in South Asia. France has tens of millions of immigrants, which corresponds to hundreds of millions in Africa. Even Germany, which has the largest population base, does not have as many immigrants as Turkey.

Coincidentally, Paris is currently discussing an immigration issue, which has led to the topic of the Palestinian mandate, which is about to end. However, the mandated areas include Palestine and other Italian colonies such as Somalia.

Italy's most important colony was Libya, and the British were surprised to find that they seemed to be having problems with the French side of Libya, which was divided and occupied by France.

Previously, Koeman drew a straight line along the easternmost edge of Tunisia, and deliberately abused force during the war. France did something unethical back then, but... it wasn't just France that did it.

During the North African campaign, the US military was also fighting alongside the French. With their racist tendencies, the US soldiers, who were involved in killing contests and burning lanterns, were a nightmare for the Arabs in western Libya as soon as they were lured by the French.

The bloodshed west of the Coman Line was caused by both the French and the Americans.

During wartime, this was nothing. As a victorious nation, Stalin's truth that the victorious nation is not to be blamed was effective.

However, immediately after the war, France immigrated Christians from the Middle East to France, and now it has become a de facto occupation. Although it is a barren land of less than 200,000 square kilometers, it has become part of the French overseas department.

With two years remaining, the British and French mandate over Libya was set to expire. On the eve of Palestinian independence, the British arrived to find the country completely transformed. There were Orthodox Christians, Maronites, and even settlers from the Axis powers, but none of the original Arabs.

As one of the sources of immigrants, the current President of the French Council of Ministers, Schuman, summoned General Dragon to inquire about the reasons and explained the British discovery.

“It was us and the American army who did it.” General Dragon thought to himself that the British had only just realized it, and now it was too late. “The original intention was to annex that land, to prevent an increase in immigration to the overseas provinces, which would lead to a conflict between the Marlonites and the French immigrants. It seems that it was very successful.”

"General de Gaulle also knows about this?" Schumann asked. Seeing Admiral Dragon's hesitant expression, he already knew the answer and said helplessly, "It seems we can only say that perhaps we should do something, but it's too late."

Schuman now had two choices: relocate the Maronite immigrants and return the land, or remain silent and unresponsive. The second option was clearly easier. What could the British do to France? It was already a fait accompli.

But if the immigrants Malones were to return the land, Schumann would certainly not do that.

When it comes to issues outside of France, the French military's stance is crucial, and General Dracon has little say in the matter.

"General Juan will be returning to Paris in a few days. I'll talk to him and get some information." General Dracon knew that the government's authority was still important, and even if it was just a perfunctory response, he had to give an answer.

General Juan, Commander-in-Chief of the French forces in Algeria, would return to Paris in a few days to report on French operations in the region and the progress of major projects, such as the Mediterranean Railway. The two would then meet with Schumann to resolve this issue. Back at the General Staff, General Dragon saw Saar's opinion poll. The data showed that less than half clearly favored the French path, while more than half, despite being grateful for the economic recovery brought by France, still couldn't emotionally sever their national ties to Germany. The remaining minority were simply confused.

"More optimistic than I imagined." General Dragon's reaction to the survey results was no different from that of Koeman. He was clearly an optimistic soldier, believing that there was still room for improvement after only two years.

It's not far off. Even if things stay the same in the future, as long as we use our brains in the voting process, annexing Thrall won't be too difficult.

Even a military man like General Dragon could come up with ways to change variables and influence the outcome. There's no way around it; France holds referendums far too frequently, much more frequently than the UK and the US.

The opinion poll was completed, and the conclusion that the advantage was in my hands was reached. However, Koman did not leave Thrall. He could not afford to lose out by coming here. Most importantly, Gudron Himmler was now an adult, and he had a lot to say to the little dragon riders.

Gudron Himmler frowned slightly, his hand gripping the curtains, staring intently at the door, suppressing his voice as he endured the jeers coming from behind.

They maintained this posture for a while, and with two faint groans from the front and back, the two quickly cleaned up the battlefield. As expected, they were the strong Germanic dragoons that Bismarck had described. Although they had just endured the initial collision, they were not slow at all and had already finished dressing.

"You've achieved your goal, aren't you happy?" Gudrun Himmler clearly had no lingering fondness for his first experience. "Don't you feel a little smug thinking about being the first one?"

“I wasn’t particularly proud of it.” Coman hid the murder weapon. “If it were the only one, I would be proud of it for the rest of my life.”

Before the little dragon rider could say anything more, Koman took her fingers and gently kissed them. The two remained silent, simply nestled together, a posture that truly opened Gudron Himmler's heart. "Do you know the consequences of being exposed for having an affair with the daughter of a high-ranking official of a defeated nation?"

“I know, I’ll try to keep it a secret,” Koman said nonchalantly. “I just want to live according to my own ideas. No one else, whether it’s some deep government or a citizen of the world, should mess with me. I’ll also try my best to reach a level that they wouldn’t dare to mess with.”

“You’re quite confident.” Gudrun Himmler rolled her eyes at Coman. She was indeed quite familiar with terms like deep government and world citizen.

It should be noted that this term was already widely known among Germans before, especially after Goebbels took control of German propaganda.

To put it nicely, being a global citizen means transcending national, ethnic, and regional boundaries, identifying oneself as belonging to the entire human community, and paying attention to global issues. But this concept can only be truly achieved by a very small number of people who transcend the boundaries of a single country.

As for the deep government, it refers to the existence of a hidden, real power group behind the elected government, who secretly manipulate national policies to serve their own interests. During Goebbels' time, this essentially referred to the Jews.

"You're crazy to risk being discovered by them for a woman," Gudrun Himmler whispered, lifting his head to kiss Koman.

Koman was almost in a state of enlightenment, his mind beginning to regain its rationality, but the little dragon rider's actions caused him to suddenly reverse the course of history.

With a sense of satisfaction at being young, Corman left the Saar district and returned to Paris. At the same time, General Juan, the French commander-in-chief in Algeria, also returned to mainland France.

When Koeman returned to Paris, he learned about the matter while having dinner with Admiral Dracon. His eyes lit up with a mischievous glint in his eye. "There's a concept that would be perfect for the current Mediterranean Railway."

"What concept?" Admiral Dragon's expression said it all. How come you always have these sudden, brilliant ideas?

"Restore the concept of the railway regiment from 1899 and establish railway troops through the Mediterranean railway project."

Koeman mentioned a branch of the military that once existed in France but was soon abolished, saying, "The Mediterranean Railway project is longer than any railway construction project in mainland France before, so it is reasonable to revive the concept of the Railway Corps, and it can also attract Hackis and expand our supporters."

(End of this chapter)