Father of France

Chapter 94 Victory Day Uprising

Now that the war is finally over, the question for Britain and France is how much strength they can retain after the war, which will determine their future standing among the nations of the world. If they shrink back to Europe, they're doomed.

Although French colonies were not as good as British ones, their proximity made them easier to intervene in, which could be considered an advantage.

From Algiers to Damascus, major cities in the French colonies were also celebrating the end of the war, as many soldiers from these colonies had enlisted to fight, and the end of the war meant the return of their loved ones, especially in French Syria, where General Dragon had gone to great lengths to recruit soldiers.

In Lebanon, Damascus, and even Palestine and further afield in Iraq, large numbers of Christians believed the call for citizenship and immigration, forming the First French Army to fight in Europe.

These soldiers also carried the expectations of two million Maronite, Orthodox, and Eastern Christians. After the war, they could leave the place surrounded by this community and live a better life. This was a promise made by the French Governor-General of Syria and by Charles de Gaulle himself.

When news of Germany's unconditional surrender arrived, they also fell into a frenzy of celebration. The celebration in French Syria was genuine; the departure of the Christians would create a large number of vacant lands, houses, and all kinds of property.

Therefore, it did not harm the local mainstream belief; in Soviet terms, it greatly alleviated class contradictions.

Christians celebrate their bright future, while the Church of Peace celebrates its future independence. Their purposes differ, but at this moment, they are all sincere. The whole of French Syria is filled with joy, and people of different faiths embrace each other tightly. No such scene has appeared in many years, whether in the past or the future.

At the Governor's Mansion, General Fontaine silently watched the crowd singing and dancing. After a long while, he finally grinned and muttered something to himself.

In Algeria, North Africa, the scene was completely different. A procession of nearly 10,000 people gathered in front of the mosque at Setif train station and marched along Clemenceau, the city's main thoroughfare.

The crowd was diverse: led by Muslim boy scouts, followed by a group of men, and finally, women emitting traditional "yo-yo" cheers. Countless banners waved in the wind: "Free Messali!" "We want equality!" "Independence!"

Meanwhile, the riots quickly spread to other areas, and a bloodthirsty frenzy swept through the Little Cabiria region. Former employees and neighbors joined the riots.

Those who were alone suffered the most: in the mountains south of Boujye and Gijli, several forest rangers and their families were brutally murdered; on the Kerrata Highway connecting Setif and the coast, European residents tried to build fortifications to protect themselves but still could not escape death and injury.

A similar tragedy unfolded in Périgaultville, where Father Navarro was murdered shortly after leading a service. In the coastal region of Capuacus, the mixed municipal administrators acted decisively, mobilizing eligible French citizens and reliable indigenous residents for armed self-defense.

News quickly reached Paris, where large-scale riots broke out in Algeria on Victory Day, resulting in the deaths of many civil servants, company employees, and women.

Mobs of armed rioters stormed European immigrant communities, committing massacres, looting, and destruction. These mobs were well-equipped—with shotguns, military rifles, and sometimes even automatic weapons. A mysterious slogan quickly spread: "The time for jihad has come!"

The four major parties of the provisional government gathered in the city hall. The atmosphere was more somber than ever before. Germany had just surrendered, and bad news came from Africa. People's good mood did not even last a day.

Military leaders Dragon and Tassini were not in Paris, and Georges Pitoure spoke vehemently, saying, "What is there to say? Hesitating for even a minute is disrespectful to the country."

"France must restore its authority in its overseas territories." De Gaulle produced the resolution without much deliberation: "Mobilize the army immediately to restore order in Algeria."

“But the fiscal problems are already huge. Military spending alone has exceeded 200 billion francs, and public spending and reconstruction will require another 200 billion francs,” Mendes, a supporter of austerity theory, raised the fiscal issues.

"Inflation can solve the problem, and of course, prices for necessities can be frozen appropriately," Finance Minister Privin replied. "And we can also think of a way with the Germans. I remember General Dragon once hoped to absorb some German troops into the Foreign Legion to help us control the colonies."

"We must divide our enemies and use all available resources. There are still tens of thousands of Italian prisoners of war in the area. Release them to hold off this wave of uprisings and buy time to mobilize the army."

George Pidul offered his opinion: "Aren't there more than two million families of the First Army in the Middle East? The Maronite faction is definitely more credible."

"That's it. The war is over, and Germany doesn't need so many occupying troops. Let General Tassini lead this operation," de Gaulle said decisively. France would definitely put its military forces in the colonies after the war, but even de Gaulle himself did not expect it to happen so quickly; an uprising broke out on Victory Day.

General Dracon immediately assigned several divisions under his command to General Tassini. Both were military commanders serving in the French army and should help each other.

The situation in the French-occupied Austria was becoming increasingly chaotic, especially with the growing pressure to intercept Germans. The pressure wasn't so great if it were just interception; the main issue was interrogation, which was very time-consuming. Moreover, the problems seemed to originate not only from the north, as the French-occupied territory bordered Yugoslavia, where there appeared to be a marginalized group from World War II.

“There are hundreds of thousands of Yugoslavs on the Austrian border.” Alan had also heard the news and had to interrupt Koeman, who seemed to be in love. “The brother forces on the Yugoslav border are on high alert. We don’t know what the purpose of this group is. There are a large number of armed men among them.”

"Oh, them." Koeman immediately recognized them as remnants of the Axis powers, being hunted down by Tito.

Koeman simply counted on his fingers: Algeria had 1.2 million French immigrants, about 2 million Christians from various parts of the Middle East, an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 pro-French Muslims, 100,000 Italian prisoners of war and immigrants, and less than 200,000 exiled French collaborators.

So there are four million non-Algerians. If we look for ways to get more from French immigrants in various parts of Africa, plus this group of Yugoslavs, we can make up five million Christians and European immigrants.

"What do you think if these people immigrated to Algeria?" Koeman asked Alan in return. Although most of Algeria is desert, it could still house twenty or thirty million people.

"Algeria? I almost forgot. Something happened in Algeria. The First and Second Armies are both mobilizing troops to suppress it." Alan looked annoyed. How could he have forgotten about it? "It happened just yesterday. I don't know if the suppression was successful yet."

Koeman was, after all, an optimist. He didn't see it as a bad thing, and lowered his voice, saying, "Japan hasn't surrendered yet, so we have at least a few months to do whatever we want. Once the world war is over, things won't be so easy."

Before Japan surrendered, the world war would not end so quickly. During this time, the French army could use all means to suppress the Algerian uprising. Moreover, this uprising had already attacked ordinary European immigrants, so the French army had a legitimate reason to act.

The uprising against France in Algeria did not distinguish between colonizers from the very beginning; anyone who was European was considered a colonizer.

Moreover, they never concealed their hostility towards lone European immigrants. In truth, this method of resistance wasn't particularly forceful; who doesn't know how to bully the weak?
But it is different from the other world, because in this world France has an additional group: French colonies and Middle Eastern Christians, and this force has formed an army group.

The First French Army may not have been an invincible force, after all, the main battlefield was in Italy, and after the liberation of France, the Western Front was mostly comprised of second-rate German troops.

However, against these anti-colonial armed forces that are clearly still in a scattered and disorganized state, they are an absolutely invincible force.

Algeria is not a colony in the administrative divisions of France, but an overseas department. Given this administrative division, it is not considered a breach of promise to immigrate Christians from the Middle East to Algeria.

"Ask Father if he has any thoughts on the uprising in Algeria." Koeman was sometimes a little embarrassed to always rely on his father for power, especially since he also had his own work to do at this time.

The meaning of this sentence is simple: Koeman is embarrassed, but Alan can ask around for him. If he doesn't have any ideas, Alan can help relay a few suggestions.

After Alan left, Gudron Himmler, who was not far away, gracefully arrived wearing a floral dress. He asked with a smile on his face but in a very cold tone, "It seems you've run into trouble."

"There's been an uprising in the overseas provinces. Aren't you happy to hear that?" Koeman had no intention of hiding it. It wasn't exactly a secret. He even hoped it would escalate further, bringing all the anti-French forces out at once, so that France could annihilate them all.

This is much cheaper than getting bogged down in a protracted guerrilla war. Thinking of this, Koeman said in a teasing tone, "Actually, we also got some spoils from Germany, which might be useful in dealing with this."

"What is that?" Gudrun Himmler was completely confused, having no idea what Koeman was talking about in such a mysterious way.

"Can you keep it a secret?" Koeman asked Gudrun Himmler. Gudrun Himmler nodded with great curiosity, and then Koeman muttered to himself, "I can too."

This infuriated Gudrun Himmler, who said, enunciating each word clearly, "Aren't you afraid of going to the battlefield?"

"What's so scary about a bunch of guerrillas?" Koman thought to himself. "I'm afraid of 404, otherwise I would have gone there long ago."

(End of this chapter)