Father of France

Chapter 84 Germanic Winning Strategies
To all American soldiers: Today, we have lost a great leader and friend…

But we must remember that President Roosevelt's deepest wish was to see us complete our mission and bring peace and freedom to the world. The best way to mourn his passing is to continue moving forward until final victory…

Numerous telegraph operators relayed the news of President Roosevelt's death to various units via telegram, their rapidly moving fingers clicking like a sonata.

The three million American troops across Europe soon received notifications from Allied Command.

At the 12th Infantry Division's temporary camp, it was dinnertime, and the American soldiers were eating heartily, occasionally bursting into laughter.

“Hey, Jackson,” Sergeant Miller climbed into the trench, kicking up dust that stained Jackson’s trousers, “company assembly, important notification from above.”

“Now?” Jackson frowned, his expression somewhat comical as he looked at the food he hadn’t yet swallowed. “We’re launching the attack at four in the morning.”

"Don't ask so many questions, Private." Miller's expression was unusually serious. The company of over a hundred soldiers quickly lined up without a single complaint.

They all knew that when orders came suddenly, it was usually not a good thing. Captain Howard stood on an ammunition box, holding a piece of paper in his hand. The setting sun made the contents of the paper dazzling, but the captain didn't seem to care.

“Soldiers,” Howard’s voice was hoarser than usual, “I just received a proclamation personally signed by General Eisenhower.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping across each young, weary face. "I must inform you that President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away this afternoon in Georgia."

A few gasps of shock came from the group, followed by a deathly silence, as if they had lost their souls upon hearing the news.

Jackson felt as if he had been struck a heavy blow to the chest. President Roosevelt? Dead? The only president he could remember, the one who had been in the White House since he could remember? He thought of the old radio at home, where his father would always tune it to the right channel, and the whole family would sit around listening to the president's "fireside chats."

People in the group began to whisper among themselves. Jackson heard someone behind him ask, "Who is Truman?" No one answered.

For most Americans today, Roosevelt is the only president they remember worthy of respect, and that respect comes from the bottom of their hearts.

But such a great leader fell on the eve of victory, leaving many American soldiers at a loss, their eyes filled with confusion.

Roosevelt was not only their commander-in-chief, but also the spiritual pillar of this war. Now that pillar has fallen, but the war continues.

The news of Roosevelt's death could not be concealed unless Truman did not continue as president, which was clearly impossible.

In Paris, the French capital, the interim government's foreign minister, Georges Pitoure, informed de Gaulle of the US diplomatic announcement confirming the news of President Roosevelt's death.

After hearing the news, de Gaulle remained silent for a long time. He did not know how to face the American president, because their relationship was rather complicated.

For a long time, Roosevelt considered de Gaulle a puppet supported by Britain, an insignificant figure not worth paying attention to. Although his views changed after the liberation of Paris, he did not object to Britain's plan to change the three-way occupation of Germany by Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union into a four-way occupation plan.

Furthermore, Roosevelt stated that his separate meeting with de Gaulle was a way of making up for the fact that France did not participate in the Cairo and Tehran conferences.

However, de Gaulle still believed that Roosevelt was belittling France because the first two conferences were held in third countries, while the Franco-American conference proposed by Roosevelt was held in Algiers, which showed that the United States did not recognize Algeria as French territory at all.

Because of this incident, the American media launched its fiercest attack on de Gaulle, and even many people in France were dissatisfied, believing that he had insulted Roosevelt, the great leader.

De Gaulle remained unmoved and was instead deeply disappointed by the indifference of many French people towards national dignity.

However, he did not expect that Roosevelt would die so soon, and he would never have the chance to reach an understanding with him.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was shocked to learn of Roosevelt's death. After a long pause, he hoarsely ordered, "Summon Foreign Secretary Eden, immediately."

Eden rushed over upon hearing the news, and Churchill spoke first, "We have lost our greatest ally."

Aiden gently closed the door. "Parliament has received the news. The Labour Party has proposed adjourning the parliament in mourning."

“Agreed. Prepare a statement to express Great Britain’s deepest condolences.” Churchill finally turned around, and Eden was shocked to find the Prime Minister so sentimental. “Arrange for me to attend the funeral. I must go in person.”

In Moscow, the Soviet capital, TASS news agency published an obituary: "President of the United States of America, great leader of the anti-fascist war." The major Allied powers expressed their condolences on President Roosevelt's passing and sent their sympathies immediately.
In the Hearts Mountains, Sherman tanks of the 1st French Armored Division rolled through the muddy mountain roads toward the Mittelvik Tunnel. The mountain roads were difficult, but not insurmountable for soldiers.

"What did they say on the radio?" Koeman had a habit of listening to enemy radio, but he didn't understand German, so he always carried a translator with him during marches.

"President Roosevelt is dead, and the news is being broadcast in Berlin." Translator Hans said as he listened to the broadcast, "This is a miracle of the Brandenburg royal family! Just like the death of the Russian empress during the reign of Frederick the Great saved Prussia. The Jewish conspiracies are in a panic, and this news is a blow to the morale of the cowards on the Western Front."

"You Germans are really..." Koeman stopped midway through his sentence, feeling a bit bored. He had said a couple of days ago that the Germans were obsessed with the idea of ​​World War III.

Even at this point, they're still thinking about the death of a certain politician to reverse the extremely unfavorable situation.

If Koeman were to say, the responsibility still lies with the Russians, for doing such a world-famous foolish thing, giving the Germans the dream of waiting for a windfall.

The most ridiculous thing is that decades later, the Germans actually got their wish again, and encountered a map-headed man who was only focused on being small and timid, and actually unified the country again. How can you explain this?

Germany has already suffered a crushing defeat. Even the death of a politician has become a source of inspiration for the entire nation. Indeed, Germanic political philosophy, aside from being unable to overcome Indian Mahayana political philosophy, remains terrifying in other areas.

The American political system ensures that even if Roosevelt were to die, it would not affect the national strategy of completely defeating Germany. Until the goal of defeating Germany is achieved, everything else must take a backseat.

Finally, the Antioch Pirates reached their destination, the steel gates of the Mittelvik Tunnel seemingly dividing space into two worlds.

"Open it up." General Axel, commander of the 1st Armored Division, originally wanted to say to just blast it open with tank guns.

But then he realized this was a production base accumulating cutting-edge technology, and changed the order he was about to give. French soldiers swarmed in and opened the locked tunnel doors.

A putrid smell wafted from the gate, and the soldiers nearby instantly turned pale; it must be the smell of corpses.

The tunnel reeked of engine oil and decay. As the French soldiers ventured deeper, beams of flashlight illuminated a gruesome scene: unfinished V-2 rocket bodies on an assembly line, Junkers turbojet engines from Messermit jet fighters, and, of course, corpses.

Undoubtedly, the gains were substantial. Although jet fighters were first used in Germany, Germany was unable to fully realize their potential by the end of the war. Germany lacked key metals such as tungsten and chromium, resulting in extremely short engine lifespans.

Furthermore, jet engines consume far more fuel than piston engines, using three times as much, and Germany had no fuel available.

The Soviet MiG, the American Sabre, and the British Meteor all drew on the experience of German jet fighters to varying degrees, but the French did not get anything out of it.

Things are different now. After such a long period of effort, France will soon join the ranks of major aviation powers, and the time saved alone is immeasurable.

"Pull out the jet engine first," Coman said after hearing the report, without going in, as he waited at the tunnel entrance.

Between aviation and aerospace, which is more pressing for France right now? It's definitely the aviation industry.

The aerospace industry was something the US explicitly wanted to acquire under Project Paperclip. Even if France were to obtain the missile bodies of German rockets first, the US military might eventually come knocking on its door demanding their return.

There is a high probability that France will not be able to retain its aerospace industry. Another point is that Corman believes that the aviation industry is more important to France than the aerospace industry at present.

Although aerospace and aviation are often discussed together, Koeman has his own considerations regarding the difficulty of development. If launching satellites is simply the end goal, the aerospace industry is not difficult. The difficulty lies in setting lunar landing as the end goal for the development of the aerospace industry.

If France had only focused its space program on launching satellites, it wouldn't have needed to plunder Germany's rocket technology. Even if the Americans had executed the paperclip program thoroughly, many space talents would still have remained in Europe.

France could use the pretext of European solidarity to establish a European Space Agency and recruit these space professionals.

The aviation industry is more direct, as it is directly related to the development of fighter jets. It is not as easy to make grand promises like the aerospace industry and then use talent from other countries to serve it.

The interior of the Mittelvik Tunnel had transformed from its previous decay and silence, as if it had returned to the bustling activity of its construction period. Since the V-2 rocket body was also a new thing for France, General Axel did not act rashly, but instead pulled out the jet engine first.

Just then, a major rushed back to report, "The guard unit reports that an unfamiliar force is approaching."

(End of this chapter)