Father of France

Chapter 86 Barton's Insincere Words
Berlin, the capital and Germany's largest city, has seen some elderly people and children flee, but millions of its residents remain. This is because the city houses many factories and government institutions, requiring a large workforce and staff to function properly.

Many citizens of Berlin have now turned to resistance, preparing to fight the Soviet army to the death in the capital. Goebbels organized them into two hundred Volkssturm battalions, which were scattered throughout Berlin awaiting the arrival of the Soviet army.

In the factories or workshops that were still operational, workers worked in shifts around the clock, and even when the Soviet army was at the gates of the city, these workshops were still producing the scarce ammunition.

Allied Supreme Commander Eisenhower telegraphed Zhukov, offering to assist the Soviet army in capturing Berlin, but Zhukov refused. After the refusal, Eisenhower backtracked and ordered the US forces to contain German troops in other directions, preventing these remaining German troops from rushing to Berlin and hindering the Soviet offensive.

As a politician-type general, Eisenhower handled things flawlessly, demonstrating his ability to consider the big picture and doing everything the U.S. military was supposed to do.

In Munich, the capital of Bavaria, General Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army, finally led his troops to loyal Munich.

He wasn't the only one who came to Munich; the headquarters of the French First Army also came. The Germans ultimately chose to surrender when the American troops were at the gates.

Perhaps because they felt there was the least animosity between Germany and the United States, they thought they could receive better treatment? This largest city in southern Germany fell into the hands of the Allies without fierce fighting.

"Father." When he saw Admiral Dragon, Corman greeted him in a low voice. It had nothing to do with estrangement. He had grown up again from being an adult, so it was inevitable that he couldn't act like a real child.

Fortunately, it had been like this since childhood, and Admiral Dragon simply thought it was just his personality; he had long since gotten used to it. Seeing that Coman was safe and sound, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, it's good that you're safe. Shall we go for a walk?"

"Okay." Coman readily agreed. They hadn't spent much time together in the past few years, and the few times they'd been together were mostly during leisurely walks. "What does Father think of General Patton?"

General Dragon thought for a moment and then smiled, “There are really very few generals like him in the U.S. military, but his ideas are rather extreme.”

Koeman immediately understood that General Dragon was saying that the United States had many politician-type generals, and that generals like Patton who charged into battle were truly rare.

"The transition between the military and politics in the United States is too easy. Generals like Patton are actually more reassuring to politicians," Koeman replied with a shrug. "However, he seems to have a great deal of hostility towards the Soviet Union."

Among the American generals during World War II, Patton's fame is almost unparalleled, and he is often commemorated in films and television shows. It's hard to say that there wasn't an unseen hand driving this.

Generals like Patton, who were known for their stubbornness, were actually quite popular with the government, although his death was somewhat mysterious.

Patton perfectly embodied the stereotype of a warmonger, a rarity among US military generals. This included, but was not limited to, most Western generals who believed that Western countries had absolutely no chance of winning a ground war against the Soviet Union.

Patton, however, did not think so, and not only did he not think so, he was also preparing for a full-scale war with the Soviet Union.

He publicly expressed hostility towards the Soviet Union, arbitrarily employed German war criminals after the occupation of Germany, and even compared the Democratic and Republican parties with the National Socialist Party under the trap set by journalists. Politicians need simple generals, but Patton was neither simple nor purely single-minded in this respect.

“The US troops have just arrived in Munich. If Patton were to openly express hostility toward the Soviet Union, Father, it would be best to stay away from this general.”

Koeman felt that if Patton continued to try to implement the British plan of destroying Germany and then the Soviet Union, he would probably be close to death.

“I’m not really familiar with Patton; I just bumped into him on the way to Munich. But if he’s as you say, we should definitely stay away from him,” General Dragon replied sullenly, though his tone still carried a hint of disbelief. “Doesn’t he know the current situation? If there’s going to be a fight, it’ll be the American and Soviet forces battling it out; no other country’s army will be helping us.”

European countries are now mostly ruins, large and small. They don't have time to play war games with Patton alone.
General Dragon wouldn't claim to be particularly politically astute, but he could see this. He simply couldn't believe that someone as politically inept as Patton could command an army group.

Koeman knew it was unbelievable that Patton was such a person, but that's who he was! What could anyone do? However, history eventually corrected this low probability.

After the walk, General Dragon immediately ordered the establishment of checkpoints on the Bavarian-Austrian border to prevent high-ranking German officials from fleeing abroad, and at the same time ordered the French army to begin searching for war criminals.

At this time, Berlin was already besieged by the Soviet army, but not all German high-ranking officials were willing to live and die with the Führer. A large number of high-ranking members of the Nazi Party had left Berlin, like headless flies, hoping to escape the encirclement set up by millions of enemy troops within the country.

The Young Division was undoubtedly the most professional unit in the French army, setting up checkpoints directly on major roads in Bavaria, but its main focus was on the Austrian front.

Martin, holding a piece of porcelain, excitedly approached Koeman at his temporary apartment in Munich. "You mentioned before that you understand Eastern culture. Are these porcelain pieces worth taking? They were brought from a museum." "If I understand them, would I be able to appraise them?" Koeman was speechless for a moment, but still replied, "But since they're museum loot... spoils of war, they must be quite valuable. We should keep them. This incident reminds me that I should take a trip to the East sometime."

"What have you set your sights on this time?" Martin quickly put away the porcelain and asked in return. He knew Coman well; nothing was more important than profit.

"Nothing, I just remembered that the 2nd Infantry Division is still over there," Coman replied, changing the subject. "Those are our comrades-in-arms. I wonder if they will be ostracized if they follow the British Indian Regiment."

As she spoke, Coman tried to squeeze out a tear, but ultimately failed.

The French First Army in Europe did not have a Second Infantry Division because the Second Infantry Division was located in Asia.

Martin believed Koeman's excuse and stopped asking questions, which relieved him. Going to the East had nothing to do with the Second Infantry Division, even though he had temporarily stored a sum of gold in India.

However, the gold can be brought back along with the gold. The reason for going to French Indochina is to remotely control an operation that is in line with French style.

Handicrafts are generally the lowest-profit industries, but France, and perhaps Italy, were able to achieve high profits through handicrafts, transforming them into luxury goods industries. To have such an environment is a stroke of luck.

In fact, many industries in this great Eastern country are suitable for the luxury goods industry, such as porcelain and embroidery.

France also has porcelain-making technology, but at this point in time, it should not have surpassed that of the great Eastern country. That said, European porcelain-making technology did indeed surpass that of the great Eastern country for a period of time from the 1960s to the 21st century.

As a long-established imperialist power, during the Cold War, when its united front value was so high, many industries did indeed surpass their places of origin. Koman remembers that it wasn't until the 21st century that the great Eastern power used industrialized porcelain production to catch up with the technological gap.

Koman didn't want mass-produced tiles, which would suffice with industrial production lines; what he needed was porcelain made in the artisanal realm.

I wonder if there are any master craftsmen with superb skills in Jingdezhen during this era. If there are, then offer them favorable terms. After all, there will be a War of Liberation after the War of Resistance against Japan. Offering generous terms during a time of war and chaos is a good deed. Given the current situation in the Republic of China, Coman can achieve his goal simply by making empty promises.

The same applies to embroidery. These things, associated with luxury goods, are very suitable for France and have almost become a pillar industry of France in the 21st century.

When France began setting up an interception network on the German-Austrian border, the Vienna offensive had just ended, with 130,000 German troops taken prisoner. It was at this time that General Patton extended an invitation to General Dragon.

During this time, Coman had been following General Dracon. After the confrontation with the Soviet army some time ago, he found that it was easier to achieve his goals by getting as close as possible to the supreme commander. At this time, the supreme commander of the French army in southern Germany was, of course, his general father.

"The Vienna offensive has just ended, and Ike just called to implement the four-nation occupation plan."

General Patton's expression honestly revealed his reluctance to accept the plan. However, Eisenhower held a higher rank, which is why he invited the highest-ranking French commander in South Germany to inform him of the matter: "Austria and Germany have committed the same crimes and should therefore be punished in the same way as Germany. Austria and Germany have close ties, and partitioning and occupying Austria will prevent Germany from using Austrian resources to make a comeback."

Koeman could tell from Patton's expression how insincere those words were; Patton was definitely dissatisfied with the four-nation occupation plan.

However, circumstances dictated that Patton could not represent the United States and could only propose a four-nation occupation plan. According to the plan, the Soviet-occupied areas would be Lower Austria and eastern Burgenland, including important industrial regions.

American-occupied territories: Upper Austria, Salzburg. British-occupied territories: Styria, Carinthia.

French-occupied territories: Tyrol and Vorarlberg.

Koeman glanced at the French-occupied territory and knew it was right on the Italian border, which would be very advantageous for intercepting the escape of high-ranking German officials. He nodded to General Dragon, saying that the plan was excellent.

"Since there are no problems, our two armies will enter Austria together. The British troops are still on their way, and we will temporarily maintain the occupied territories together," General Patton decided after seeing that the French had no objections.

(End of this chapter)