I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 207:

Chapter 207

Damn it, what the hell is this? Our great nation (La Grande Nation)!

Its all because of those damn Reds Those traitors who are worse than dogs!

In a gloomy secret room, six people spat out curses as they smoked under the dim light.

Like a textbook example of conspirators, they hid in the secret room to avoid the eyes of others.

The bright daylight belonged to the Communists. 

Taking advantage of the darkness, they avoided the suspicious glances and gathered one by one.

They were very dissatisfied with the current situation in France.

How can they just give up the colonies? Do you know how much blood we shed to get them, how much effort we put into developing them?

Those bastards who dance to the tune of the Soviets. Thats what the Communists are

Vietnam or the vast deserts of West Africa, maybe. But Algeria too? Isnt that crossing the line?

The French Communist Party announced that they would abandon the colonies that burdened the national administration and focus on the reconstruction of the mainland.

The Soviet Union fully supported this decision and offered some of the industrial facilities in the Rhineland, which was separated from the former German territory, for France. But to the right-wingers, this was nothing but a losing deal.

S**t, what the hell is this The Brits have so many colonies

The colonies were still a matter of national prestige.

The huge colonies that spanned the world demanded enormous administrative and military costs, and government spending. But paradoxically, there were not a few people who benefited from the system.

The soldiers had an easy promotion due to the inevitable large army, and they could do whatever they wanted in the colonies. 

The businessmen received various benefits and exploited the colonists at a cheap price. 

The people who immigrated from the mainland enjoyed privileges that distinguished them from the local natives.

Of course, this was all at the expense of the mainland taxpayers.

The Communist Party, which took power, understood this fact and suppressed the oppositions complaints and proceeded with the policy of liberating the colonies.

Anywhere but Algeria!

But not a few right-wing figures thought so.

Algeria, which was across the Mediterranean from the French mainland, was huge. 

Excluding the Soviet Union in Europe, Algeria was four times larger than France, the largest country.

During the colonial rule of over a hundred years, the French developed Algeria to a level that was not inferior to the European mainland, at least in the coastal cities. Two million French immigrants lived there, and the place was developed in a European style. It was not Africa, but Europe!

At least the conservative French thought so.

But the Communist Party, which took power, did not think so at all.

Six million local people who were deprived of the rich coastal area, which was once the granary of Rome, by the French immigrants (Pied Noir, black feet. It means the European immigrants who wore shoes) were pushed to the barren Sahara desert.

The Communists, who understood their grievances, decided to also make Algeria independent. T

he Soviets wanted it, and they had no confidence to keep the land by fighting with the Algerians who were gradually increasing their potential force.

If we lose that place too We will no longer be great.

Who was we? 

The great nation of France? Or the generals who commanded tens of thousands of troops?

The people who gathered in the secret room to plot were mostly generals from the former military. The French Resistance admitted honestly that they did not have the ability to organize and command regular troops.

They fought off the German troops with guerrilla warfare or civil uprising, but they had no ability to handle tanks, artillery, or airplanes, at least not these guerrillas.

So they sent many young people to Prussia to study and placed the generals of the former republic army, who were massively reorganized, in the Grand Army.

Can you make a lieutenant who just got commissioned a general?

When asked if it was right to reuse the former militarys Vichy traitors as generals, Maurice Thorez, the secretary-general of the Communist Party who was elected as the prime minister, answered that way.

He was right. If they cut off the entire military for treason to Vichy France, they would have to rebuild the army from scratch. Then, would they have to operate an army without generals or officers for that period?

Marshal Ptain was eventually executed, but most of the soldiers swore allegiance to the newly born republic according to his last will. 

Of course, those who were vicious or actively cooperated with the German army were executed or imprisoned.

But the soldiers were still very dissatisfied.

Damn it, when was I this rank?

My position? My promotion? My soldiers!

They did not know the grace and thought they were reused as necessary talents. They began to be dissatisfied with their treatment.

The number of positions decreased due to the military reduction along with the liberation of the colonies, and even if they were reused, they did not immediately receive the original rank or position. Most of them were demoted by one or two levels, and the treatment was even worse.

Some pro-government figures moving to key positions and high ranks also caused dissatisfaction.

When rumors circulated that the generals would eventually be dismissed as inspectors, the generals finally gathered like this.

No one openly uttered the word coup detat, but they knew it without saying it.

When would be good?

Finally, one person opened his mouth first. He was the only one who did not have the stigma of a Vichy traitor in this place.

It was surprising that he appeared in this place, but he was the most fiercely burning person for revenge against the Communist regime.

When would be good? Our troops are ready at any time.

General Leclerc

Philippe Leclerc. He was once a member of the Free France under de Gaulle, but the Free France became a handful of stragglers as they fled to Britain and Canada.

The Communist Resistance, who liberated Paris by themselves, did not recognize the Free France as an equal anti-Nazi movement. 

They forced them to enter the country individually and de Gaulle was forced to semi-retire, excluded from political activities.

Of course, the Free France officers who had no Vichy treason record and had combat experience as a small unit commander, even though they were, received good positions in the new French army.

They were the ones who burned the most hostile to the Communists.

We! How hard we fought!

The Vichy traitors had taken care of themselves for the sake of power. But the Free France had no choice but to face the Communists restraint. While yesterdays comrades fought for power, the opportunists moved between the two groups, looking for their share.

The airborne troops are also ready.

We can mobilize two foreign legion regiments.

One armored brigade should be possible.

As they each put forward the size of the troops they could mobilize, Leclerc opened his mouth again as the leader.

Good. Then we

As if he had been waiting, Leclerc stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and spat out his saliva. On the map he had taken out from under the table, the main targets were already marked.

The Communist bastards will be helpless if we cut off their mortgage, the centralization. If we take Paris and declare that we will realize the ideal of the great France, we will receive the national support.

Good.

He took out a fountain pen and wrote down on the map.

The 2nd Cavalry Division of Paris, the 1st Foreign Airborne Regiment of Algiers And the 14th and 18th Airborne Regiments. This should be enough

As he had experienced, the Resistance bastards had very little understanding of regular warfare. Tanks, artillery, fighter jets, and other arms were areas they had never encountered.

They would use an armored division to block the main roads leading to Paris, and deploy airborne troops through the airport to capture the prime ministers residence. In addition, some of the national gendarmerie veterans would join them and arrest the Communist high-ranking officials who could be the center of resistance.

The public opinion in the provinces was more favorable to the right-wing than Paris, which the Communists had liberated themselves. 

In addition, the Pied Noirs who had lived in Algeria for nearly a hundred years and received the repatriation order would support the military coup.

The generals had calculated everything in their own way. 

Although the Communists and the Socialists had received support, the colonial issue was too sensitive for the French.

There would surely be some who would resist, but they would declare martial law and arrest them all, considering the current situation as a colonial war that continued to be a state of emergency.

Also, Britain, which was troubled by the colonial issue, would support Frances return to the grandeur of the colonial empire. As it was, Portugal, a member of the former Axis powers, cooperated with them in the Asian colonies such as India, Hong Kong, and Macao, and the African colonies, so the possibility of cooperation was very high.

The United States and the Soviet Union might not like the Communists, but this was not a matter of domestic affairs. Neither country could intervene in the regime change and political instability within.

When the rough outline of the operation plan was decided, the generals stood up, led by Leclerc.

Long live France! Long live the great France! Long live the Grand Army!

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Leclerc looked at them with bloodshot eyes and a satisfied smile. Look, they were opportunists, but werent they the ones who loved the great French nation?

They were better than the Kremlins daughter who sold the country and the colonies to the Soviets.

***

Yes! Yes, thats right. Yes, of course. Yes, yes.

The man with a thin mustache bowed his head over the phone. He turned off the light in his office where no one was and looked around nervously, lowering his voice.

Yes! Thats right. The boss is Leclerc, the one from the Free France Yes, hes the current cavalry division commander. Hes practically leading the meeting

[I see. Ill keep that in mind.]

Thank you! Thank you. One more thing, Im absolutely not dissatisfied with the current regime, but just burning with loyalty to the nation and the government

The voice on the phone just said briefly that he understood and hung up with a bang. The man with a mustache, who had a generals rank on his uniform, sighed and rubbed his chest.

Stupid bastards, do they think that will work

He knew well.

Once an opportunist, always an opportunist. He knew the ecology of opportunists better because he himself had betrayed Vichy and Germany.

Even if it wasnt him, someone would surely push them. He had to push them as quickly as possible before that to survive.

Promotion? Advancement? 

If he wanted that, he could overthrow the government and form a new one, but why take the hard way when he could push the traitors who had dangerous dreams?

Of course, he could split some of the troops and deploy them in case of victory, but his self-preservation was his top priority. 

Thats how he survived the war.