Father of France

Chapter 32 Diverting Conflicts
What kind of talent does the United States consider to be? Scientists like Einstein and Landau, who must be at the very top of the pyramid, are considered talented in the eyes of Americans.

In other words, the United States only believes that scientists who can create an industry on their own and, ideally, change the course of history are the ones it needs.

However, modern society is not like the early Industrial Revolution, where a genius emerged to drive history forward. The American standards for talent were acceptable in the 19th century, but certainly not in the 20th century.

Indeed, the US's Paperclip program, which plundered German talent, including the families of German rocket scientists, ultimately amounted to just over a thousand people.

In other words, Germany, whose military-industrial complex was one of the strongest, if not the most powerful, during World War II, was considered by the United States to have only a few hundred employees who were needed by the US.

Even after these hundreds of people arrived in the United States, they were idle for a long time until the Soviet Union launched its first artificial satellite, at which point the United States promoted these rocket scientists who had come to the United States to higher positions.

The German scientists the United States needed were limited to the field of rocketry. Even Heisenberg, who had led the nuclear industry in Germany, was considered of little value by the Americans because the United States had already successfully developed the atomic bomb, and he remained in postwar Germany.

The plan to plunder German talent would then be much easier. The United States was only interested in rocket experts; other researchers were worthless in the eyes of the Americans.

The US has no interest in these industries, so it won't compete with France for these talents. Therefore, there is little conflict between the US and France in competing for talent.

Conversely, what are Germany's key military-industrial advantages? Aviation technology, which France urgently needs. Although some German aviation talent was taken away by the Americans during the process of acquiring German rocket experts because aerospace is inseparable from aviation, what remained was still what France needed.

In terms of main battle tank technology, by the later stages of the war, German tank manufacturing was no longer comparable to that of the Soviet Union. The United States and Britain did not prioritize their armies, so this should have been the technology that France could most easily achieve its goal with.

Because Germany was unable to catch up with Britain and the United States in the surface fleet in a short period of time, it had to focus on underwater solutions. The Type XXI U-boat was the first true submarine (underwater speed of 17 knots > surface speed). The snorkel technology greatly extended the submerged time, which directly influenced the design of submarines during the Cold War.

Wolter submarine: An experimental hydrogen peroxide propulsion system that paved the way for later exploration of nuclear submarine technology.

France's main colonies were in Africa, which was not far away. As early as the late 19th century, it had already established the theory of green-water navy. As the first country to implement air-submarine-fast naval warfare, France certainly could not lag behind in submarines.

Therefore, in terms of naval development, France needed to acquire German submarine personnel and production technology.

With aviation and submarines, the air-submarine fast route can be established. If there is still a need for a surface fleet, it is not necessary to find a solution from Germany. Isn't there Italy in Europe?

Italy is not a country that the Germans can be too proud of, except for its navy, which is more capable than Germany's surface fleet.

These industries were either areas where Britain and the United States had an advantage, or industries that they looked down upon due to their maritime nature. Leaving them to Germany would be a waste, as Germany was unlikely to restart its defense industry for at least ten years after the war. Only in France could these industries' talents find suitable positions.

"I almost forgot, Germany has stockpiled millions of tons of chemical weapons to supply its killing factories." Koeman was about to conclude the focus on plundering military industrial projects, but then he suddenly remembered Germany's very powerful but unused chemical weapons stockpile. Why not use them on the battlefield? Germany, facing a country without industry, would certainly not hesitate to use chemical weapons, but many European countries have the technology and production capacity for them. If the Germans were to use them, several other countries would immediately retaliate with chemical weapons.

Conversely, Japan used it much more extensively in Asia, where agricultural countries were the main producers, and Japan didn't worry about retaliation.

Perhaps these millions of tons of chemical weapons would have a more important role in Algeria.

While de Gaulle was presiding over the military conference, news of the failure of Operation Market Garden arrived. This operation, which Montgomery had firmly supported, became a training ground for the German army.

The mockery lasted only a short time. The main French generals made a few casual remarks and then moved on to the main topic. As the two most experienced army group commanders in the French army, Tassini and Dracon naturally attended. Neither of them were the type to mock their teammates, and they quickly focused their attention on the French army's mission.

Regarding the failure of Operation Market Garden, Tassini simply commented, "The purpose of the German Siegfried Line was simply to get us around to the Belgian-Dutch line, there's nothing more to say about that."

"My idea is that Germany's defeat is a foregone conclusion, but its fate is not yet determined. We must remember how the British and Americans used various methods to protect the Germans from attack after we finally won the war after World War I."

General Dragon glanced at the surrounding generals, finally settling on General de Gaulle, and said in an attempt to gain support, "My idea is simple: while preserving our strength as much as possible, we must first occupy Valle d'Aosta and the Saar district. We must take these two places."

“Dragon, I don’t need to elaborate on the geographical environment of these two places. What’s the reason?” Tassini still respected this colleague who could raise an army of 400,000 just by relying on Syria.

"I've heard that over 400,000 people have successfully obtained residency rights in Africa during the conscription process?" General Dragon stated his reasoning directly. "Won't these people directly reside in the country? Won't that incite conflict? So, can we shift the conflict elsewhere? If we take over Valle d'Aosta and the Saar region, wouldn't that resolve the conflict?"

“I understand. Then let’s discuss the plan to attack Valle d’Aosta.” Tassini had to admit he was convinced. “However, taking these places, which are full of steep mountains, will not be easy, given the battles between Italy and Austria-Hungary in World War I. Fortunately, we have some French-speaking people in the area that we can utilize.”

Ultimately, with de Gaulle in attendance, it was decided that after two weeks of preparation, the attack on Valle d'Aosta would begin in mid-October.

Aosta Valle d'Austa is not large in area, but mountains make up the majority of its area. The terrain is steep and suitable for mountaineering and skiing. Modern glaciers are distributed in the high mountain areas, and the mountains have been eroded by glaciers to form sharp ridges.

Italy's northern border is almost entirely covered by the Alps. During World War I, the war between Italy and Austria-Hungary was the most tedious, with artillery shelling along both sides of the Alps. Although such battles were boring, they were no less deadly. Shells hitting the granite mountains and the fragments that splattered out gave the soldiers on both sides a taste of what a natural version of cluster bombs was like.

Therefore, faced with such difficulties, Tassini felt that France might have to follow the example of the recent counter-battle, Operation Market Garden, and carry out a small-scale airborne operation to support the French forces in the frontal assault. General Dracon agreed.

After repeated discussions, it was decided to deploy twelve divisions to launch an offensive against Valle d'Aosta in support of the stalemate on the southern front of the European theater.

(End of this chapter)