Father of France

Chapter 65 Establishment of the Children's Rescue Committee

"What if it causes large-scale civilian casualties?" General Tassini wasn't against annexing the Sal region, but... "Although it's not large, the Sal region reportedly has a population of nearly one million."

"At most, they'll airdrop some leaflets during the intervals between airstrikes before the official offensive begins. If you want to save your life, get out of here."

General Dragon addressed General Tassini's concerns, but that was all. "We have shown the utmost goodwill, and we are far more merciful than what the Germans did in France. There will be no more opportunities to annex other countries' territories, at least not for France, and how many of our vast colonies will survive is an unknown."

The Free French movement had barely emerged when de Gaulle announced post-war recognition of the independence of French Syria.

Moreover, the United States, the absolute backbone of the Western Front at the time, had a very bad attitude toward its colonies, especially French colonies. De Gaulle, who had been in exile in London for a long time, was very familiar with this attitude.

President Roosevelt strongly opposed colonialism and advocated for the independence of colonies after World War II. He once told British Prime Minister Churchill, "Indochina should not be returned to France."

However, Churchill knew that the US's claim that French Indochina was a colony was not just about France; Britain was the world's largest colonial empire. So, while the Americans' attitude was nominally about French Indochina, the underlying message was also dissatisfaction with British control of the colonies.

Before and after the Cairo Conference, Roosevelt also told Chiang Kai-shek that French Indochina could be jointly managed by China and the United States.

However, since the person being supported was Chiang Kai-shek, Koeman certainly wasn't worried. Chiang Kai-shek never disappointed in places where he was disappointing. Roosevelt, a powerful president unprecedented in the history of the world's leading superpower, supported Chiang Kai-shek with an unprecedentedly friendly attitude, ultimately proving that Chiang Kai-shek was not capable of being helped.

American generals like Stilwell were incredibly unlucky to be assigned to work with Chiang Kai-shek. Had Chiang Kai-shek not hindered their careers, their military resumes would have been much more illustrious in other battlefields.

"Public sentiment for revenge against Germany is indeed very high." De Gaulle, also a right-wing general, decided to seize an opportunity that might not come again, and finally made the decisive statement: "Resolve all problems in the war before it ends."

"Yes, General de Gaulle." Generals Dragon and Tássini stood tall and proud.

Bang! With a bang, General Duval pushed open the door and entered, saluting the military leaders before him, "General de Gaulle, General Dragon, General Tassini."

"Duval, the weapons and ammunition for the Youth Division haven't been fully distributed yet. Shouldn't you be very busy?" General Dragon asked, feigning surprise, though he already knew the situation.

"That's right. The youth division is indeed preparing to go to the battlefield, but there have been some oversights in the current work."

General Duval, seeing through the situation but not revealing it, continued his role-playing, saying with some hesitation, "It's like this, German illegitimate children and some children born out of wedlock have been exposed because of this national blood bank program. In the process, we discovered that abandoned babies have appeared. No matter what, the children are innocent. They don't have their own judgment and can't make choices like adults. These children are so pitiful."

“Are there more than 100,000 children like this? The country really can’t ignore this.” After hearing the whole story, General Dragon muttered with great sadness, then explained to De Gaulle and Tassini, “My daughter was just born, and I’m feeling a bit sentimental about this. It may be a little untimely, I’m sorry.”

“The children are indeed innocent.” De Gaulle thought of his daughter Anne, and only someone with similar experience could truly understand this pain. “So many lives cannot be lost prematurely.” “It seems we need to address this issue specifically. Although the military is the most capable of carrying out the task, we are about to launch the second Saar offensive, so we can only temporarily assign one department to take care of these children.” General Dragon, of course, did not directly assign the military to take over; France was not a military government.

"Moreover, there is a group of pregnant women suspected of having affairs with Germans. I discussed this at a meeting of the Judicial Purification Committee, and many people agreed to pardon the charges that the pregnant women might face."

General Duval sensed that the atmosphere had reached a certain point and brought up the issue of pregnant women, saying, "If we continue to focus on the issue of illegitimate children in Germany, pregnant women are very vulnerable, and it could lead to the tragedy of two lives being lost at the same time."

Paris was only liberated at the end of August last year, and it has only been half a year since then. It is not surprising that some women who had affairs with Germans have not yet given birth to their children.

Several French military leaders who had just been discussing a devastating attack on the Saar district suddenly showed compassion. General Dracon raised several hypothetical questions, and both de Gaulle and Tassini joined the discussion. They unanimously agreed to pardon the pregnant women accused of having affairs with the Germans.

The Youth Division isn't the Cheka; they can't directly incorporate the custody of these children into the army. The main issue is that Dzerzhinsky already did this. If a precedent has been set, what if Koman follows suit?

He never dared to underestimate the intelligence of any nation; many things were fine in themselves, but problems arose when you connected them together.

It's not a big problem if others like to make associations; the key is not to let de Gaulle think that way. The military will have no difficulty dealing with the Fourth Republic, which has had 22 different governments in 12 years, but dealing with General de Gaulle of the Provisional Government will be very difficult, as he is a national hero.

With the consent of several key ministers and party leaders in the interim government, Deputy Secretary-General to the Chancellor Henri Frey officially announced the establishment of the French Children's Rescue Committee to propose solutions to the current problem of illegitimate children in Germany and to address the large number of abandoned infants that have emerged.

“Children are always innocent.” Coleman sighed as he looked out the window at the bustling streets of the restaurant in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.

This matter is related to him, but the main responsibility lies with Alan. One of the short story templates that Koman gave was a template about a real and fake young master, which is basically a gender-swapped version of a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress.

From a male perspective, stories about women are highly illogical. How many fathers, as heads of families, would blindly favor their adopted sons while violently attacking their biological sons? Such stories are so bizarre they would make the news.

Most men are actually indifferent to children. When men say they like children, they mean they like their own children. They don't like the children of their friends or classmates.

The story of Dorgon's grave being desecrated and his corpse whipped is something no man wants to experience. After being fed excrement by a small group of German spies with limited influence, coupled with the timely outbreak of the cultural invasion case, French men, out of patriotism, refused to be the ones to suffer the consequences.

The emergence of the French Children's Rescue Committee gave these men a reason to escape, and it is believed that a large number of families will soon hand over suspected illegitimate children born to German parents.

“I can almost see the next batch of young officers and soldiers emerging.” Martin’s sudden remark made Alan raise an eyebrow.

(End of this chapter)