Father of France

Chapter 268 Currency Reform
The trench warfare during World War I nearly cost France its life. No country knows better than France how damaging this purely attrition-based form of warfare is to a nation with a smaller population.

Having learned from past mistakes, Koeman, considering Israel's large population, did not hesitate to adopt this model in his wargaming simulations. The French General Staff simulated a one-on-one battle between Israel and Syria in their wargaming simulations, ultimately determining that this was the model with the highest probability of success.

The reason for this belief is that Koeman recalls that during the first Arab-Israeli war, the weapons Israel purchased from Czechoslovakia did not include tanks.

The First Arab-Israeli War was basically a battle between infantry. The Soviet Union sold weapons through Czechoslovakia, mainly German weapons, similar to those sold by Koeman to Hyderabad.

However, Germany's heavy weapons had been largely depleted on the battlefield, tank production lines no longer existed, and the Soviet Union would not sell its tanks to Israel. Therefore, Israel still lacked tanks capable of impacting trench warfare systems.

As for whether the Soviet Union would be so kind as to sell its tanks to Israel, that is absolutely impossible.

The only area where the Soviet Union held a significant advantage in the early Cold War was its tank army, an advantage that lasted until the 1980s. Moscow would never risk its armored technology being leaked by selling tanks to Israel just because of Israel's safety.

Trench warfare was an absolute nightmare for infantry. Both Britain and France proved that flesh and blood alone could not break through trenches.

Israel is even less likely to use its meager population after the extermination of Jews to fill the deep pits left by trench warfare.

This method is certainly only effective temporarily, but Koeman doesn't care. As long as it works temporarily, that's enough. Does he expect it to work in the next Middle East war? There will naturally be a method for the next Middle East war.

At the request of the Syrian military delegation, General Dragon reported to the French government on the difficulties the former colony was now facing: "It is no longer necessary to mention the causes of the war. But the connection between Syria and France still exists objectively. Even if we cannot provide offensive weapons under pressure from the United States, it is reasonable for us to provide some defensive facilities and weapons, considering that many Syrian soldiers have contributed to the cause of French liberation."

"I wonder what kind of defensive weapons the Chief of the General Staff is referring to?" Schumann knew that Syria had only recently gained independence and its ties with the French army had not been severed so quickly. If it really was just defensive weapons, he would agree.

"It's just some radio stations, barbed wire, and landmines. Purely defensive weapons," General Dracon replied solemnly. He knew France's current predicament and absolutely hadn't crossed the line.

These are all things needed for trench warfare. Radios are used for communication between the Syrian mobilized army and volunteers, and landmines and barbed wire are even simpler, essential for trench warfare.

“No problem.” Upon hearing this, Schumann realized it was indeed defensive facilities and weapons. The only lethal weapon was a landmine, and no one would consider a landmine a weapon.

This makes it necessary to maintain friendly relations with the former colonies after their independence, and there is no need to worry about pressure from the United States.

Koeman had a comrade-in-arms who had also returned to Paris on leave—Alain, who served in the French Army in Austria. They hadn't seen each other in a long time and missed each other dearly. The atmosphere was very lively as the group gathered, and Koeman even invited Philippe de Gaulle, so the four of them dined together.

"Come back soon, I'm getting ready to go to America." Ava Gardner whispered with a look of reluctance, "Where will you find a woman like this to keep you company after I'm gone?"

"That makes sense, I'll definitely be back early." Koeman made a fawning promise, bowing and scraping. The late Japanese Prime Minister Abe looked much the same way when he met Trump.

Beer and barbecue became the highlight of the gathering. Koeman frequently raised his glass to Alan, inquiring about his service experience in Austria, and smiles appeared on the faces of the group.

The conversation inevitably turned to current hot topics: the increasingly tense situation in Germany and the four-week ceasefire in the Middle East war. Even as a naval officer, Philippe de Gaulle was very interested.

“Actually, for a country like Israel, artillery is a strategic weapon if the location is right.” Koman took a sip of beer and clicked his tongue. “Unfortunately, the most suitable place to set up artillery positions is the West Bank. If artillery positions were set up there, all Jewish settlements would be within range of fire. The location in Syria is still a bit off.”

Palestine is long from north to south and short from east to west. The eastern border with Jordan is Israel's real weakness, but it has fallen into the hands of a so-called holy family.

Koeman has always been skeptical of Jordan's true role in the various Middle East wars. Perhaps the Jordanian royal family itself is not problematic, but the backward political system of the country objectively protected Israel's weakest and most indefensible long eastern front. As long as Jordan does not participate in the Middle East wars, Israel, despite its small population, still has ways to deal with the limited contact area on its northern and southern borders.

If Jordan were in the hands of a republican government similar to Arab nationalism, given Jordan's position, Israel would certainly not be able to afford to be complacent.

“You’ve been saying this for a while,” Martin chuckled, referring to Koeman’s earlier remarks. “In the case of a long war, it certainly is.” Koeman admitted to his previous comments, especially recalling several wars of the 21st century.

The weapons provided by NATO countries to destroy Russia have not been very effective in high-intensity conflicts.

This perfectly embodies the saying "I'm invincible as long as I don't go to the battlefield." The Leopard 2 also has a flying turret, and the Patriot was also mentioned. Apart from cheap drones, artillery is indeed the most reliable weapon.

Syria and Israel are actually quite well-suited for artillery warfare. If Syria could acquire a large number of rocket launchers with a range of 50-60 kilometers, it would be enough to inflict mutual damage on Israel. Haven't you seen how Hamas rockets have made things difficult for Israel?

"But to be honest, from what I've seen in Austria, Jews seem to be very sympathetic," Alan said, referring to his conversations with American soldiers and local Austrians.

"What are the Austrians pretending to be so good for now, acting like they didn't persecute the Jews? Now that they've been defeated, they're cutting ties with their Austrian leader?" Koeman commented disdainfully. The US might be willing to do that, but for the Austrians to say it like that, isn't that just crocodile tears?

However, at the time of the first Middle East war, Jews did indeed receive widespread sympathy in various countries, even when major powers were engaged in fierce fighting, they expressed sympathy for Israel.

This is the attitude of the international community, except for Arab countries.

However, this only applied to the First Arab-Israeli War; after that, Israel ceased to receive sympathy.

For most of the Cold War, Israel was the official villain, sitting at the same table with white South Africa and Chiang Kai-shek's fraudulent island, and were known as the world's three great orphans, a country hated by everyone and dogs, and was long-term blockaded. Even European countries kept their distance from Israel.

As for Third World countries, the Non-Aligned Movement comprises many Asian, African, and Latin American countries, with Muslim countries and those with close ties to the Arab world making up a large proportion. Therefore, the movement generally holds a pro-Arab, anti-Israel stance, viewing Israel as an outpost of Western imperialism.

France has long been a supporter of Israel. In the early days, Israel's main air force aircraft were French-made. However, clearly due to the situation in Syria, France cannot be like the France of another world; even if it doesn't support Syria, it won't support Israel.

After the end of the Middle East war, Corman considered leading France to explore oil in Syria, even though he had the White Tiger oil field to supply France's oil needs.

However, the output of the White Tiger oil field was insufficient to cover the shortfall. France's oil deficit was still around five million tons. At this time, the trade agreement signed with the Soviet Union had not yet ended, but it would eventually end.

While Syria is not a typical oil-producing country and cannot be compared to the Arab states around the Persian Gulf, it should not be difficult for it to meet France's needs. After this war ends, France can obtain Syrian oil extraction licenses through military aid and other means.

As for Algeria's oil and gas resources, it's best not to touch them until the anti-French forces are definitively dealt with. The US isn't necessarily a better option either.

As for Israel, a country with absolutely nothing, France is better off staying away from it.

During the ceasefire, the warring nations did not let their guard down. At least Israel and Syria did not. Israel, having received US dollars, ordered 50,000 Mauser rifles and MG34 general-purpose machine guns from Czechoslovakia. These weapons are being transported to Israel by air and sea.

As for Syria, they received a batch of ammunition. Isn't that a coincidence? Syria's infantry weapons are also Mausers. Apart from a batch of bullets, France didn't really give Syria any more offensive weapons, just a whole ship full of landmines and radios distributed to battalion and company level units.

As for other Arab countries, Britain has indeed not given up its desire for a world empire, and despite pressure from the United States, it has replenished the weapons consumed by the coalition forces in Jordan and Iraq, as well as the aircraft used by the air force.

With Britain leading the way, France's actions appeared remarkably calm and restrained, successfully addressing the US's concerns about escalating the situation.

It's laughable that the US would say something like "escalating the situation." The railway to West Berlin is becoming increasingly congested. Don't the Americans know who is really escalating the situation?
On June 18, the United States announced the issuance of the German mark to replace the Reichsmark previously in circulation in Germany, in the merged Western occupied territories.

(End of this chapter)