France's gold

  A voice came from inside the room: "Come in, Gote." Zhou Tianlei pushed open the door and walked in.

  "Congratulations, you have achieved a great victory in the Battle of Narvik. You will soon be promoted to captain and your subordinates will each be promoted one rank as well. They should now be trying on their new uniforms, and I've placed your captain's uniform on that sofa over there for you to wear when you meet the Führer later. Originally, I was going to present you with your new uniforms when you returned to Wilhelmshaven, but you should know that due to our propaganda needs, the British have already discovered your existence. So it is necessary for us to keep your movements secret for a while, these British are not to be underestimated after all. They've actually started gathering intelligence on you so quickly."

  He walked to a large globe and pointed at Norway, saying to Zhou Tianlei: "Now that we have occupied Norway and forced the British fleet to surrender, we still haven't won against the British Navy. The British fleet has established a large base in Iceland and can still effectively blockade us in the Norwegian fjords. Of course, I'm talking about surface ships, not submarines. Our submarines are currently based in Wilhelmshaven, which is too far from the Atlantic and can't respond quickly enough. After consulting with the Führer, he agreed to build submarine pens on the French coast after we capture France. Also, due to the excellent performance of your new-type submarine in Norway this time, the Führer has agreed to build 8 new-type submarines. At first, I was puzzled by your training of those crew members who didn't have experience with new-type submarines. Now I understand your intention - if you hadn't trained them in a timely manner, it would take much longer for the combat effectiveness of this new-type submarine force to form."

  Zhou Tianlei thought: "Isn't the French cave depot you mentioned later the famous Lorient Wolf's Lair? Your command center will also be in an ancient castle. Of course, there are several wolf lairs in France, but the most famous one is Lorient." Zhou Tianlei recalled his previous conversation with D?nitz about aircraft carriers: "So what do we do with the 'Furious' aircraft carrier captured in Norway? Do we send it for major repairs and then join the German Navy?"

  D?nitz said: "Going for a big repair is not the problem, but we don't have planes and pilots now. Those G?rings won't give them to us either. And our budget isn't enough either. It's also unlikely that we can train naval pilots ourselves."

  Zhou Tianlei suddenly remembered that during World War II, the Bank of France had transferred over 2,000 tons of gold from its vaults to naval vessels and moved them out of France. The Germans searched for a long time but couldn't find them. Coincidentally, his computer had an article about this event as a case study of naval warfare, so he could go back and check where the gold went.

  He asked D?nitz, "If we win the French campaign, the gold of the Bank of France will certainly be moved away by the French. Suppose we intercept it, won't our tight funds problem be solved?" "That's also a way, but how can you intercept so much gold? If that's the case, the French will definitely be very careful with us." "I have a way, I'll submit a detailed battle plan when I get back. If there is gold, we can also train our own air force, right?"

  At this time the door was knocked, and the officer outside said: "General, the Fuehrer's conference will soon be over." Doenitz said to Zhou Tianlei: "You go back and write a good plan as soon as possible. The Western Front campaign is about to start. Hurry up and put on your new uniform, the Fuehrer wants to award you."

  Zhou Tianlei and his subordinates were sent out after having lunch with Hitler. Zhou Tianlei touched the Oak Leaf Knight's Cross hanging on his neck, thinking to himself that he had changed history again, as historically Prien didn't receive it until the end of the year.

  After Zhou Tianlei returned to his residence, he quickly checked the computer-stored information about the transfer of French gold reserves. He thought: "Hmph, the French are not good either, they and the British burned down Yuanmingyuan, participated in the Eight-Nation Alliance, and did many bad things on China's seas, also wanting to occupy our Yunnan and Guangxi. The Louvre has many of China's precious cultural relics. I'll come and take your gold now. I already know where you store all that gold, it won't be hard to grab it." In the report, he also mentioned further modifying his submarine to adapt to future needs, and suggested training a large number of personnel who can skillfully operate new-type submarines, gradually phasing out old-style U-boats, etc.

  Since the results of the British fleet's battles in Norway were reported by newspapers and radio to all parts of the world, the performance of the British fleet immediately became a laughing stock among many nations. At the same time, it also led to increased attention from many countries towards the German Navy.

  Japan was the first to react, and in addition to congratulating Germany as an Axis ally, the Japanese Combined Fleet also asked its diplomatic missions in Germany to gather intelligence on German U-boats by all possible means, whether through official or intelligence channels.

  The United States was also shocked, and apart from the White House spokesperson issuing a statement expressing close concern over the recent conflicts between Britain and Germany in Norway, the US intelligence agencies also began to take active action, trying to steal German submarine intelligence through various means. As one of the signatory countries of the Soviet-German Ten-Year Non-Aggression Pact, the Soviet Union sent a congratulatory message: "Congratulations to our great ally, the German Navy, for heavily defeating the evil imperialist colonial power - the British Navy in Norway! The great Soviet people will continue to support the German people as always. We firmly believe that the flower of Sino-German cooperation will bear more fruit." At the same time, they requested Germany to allow their experts to visit and inspect German shipyards and submarines as before.

  In Country C, JJS said after learning the news: "Nang Xipi, this group of detestable Germans, I said why they didn't want to sell us their U-boats before. It turns out that their combat strength is so powerful. CC, go check if our naval officers who were sent to study in Germany know a German named Gott Prien." In Red Capital YA, MZD said: "EL, we recently received news that the German Navy defeated the British Navy in Norway and captured several British warships." ZEL said with a worried expression: "Germany has achieved such great victories. They just occupied Poland, now it seems they will take action against Western European countries. Their ally Japan has always envied Germany's achievements, they have never been willing to be inferior to others. Especially their German allies. So they will make some big moves." MZD also frowned and said: "EL, what you said makes sense. We need to send a telegram to each base to warn them of the Japanese military's large-scale actions. You take a look, where do you think the Japanese military will take action now?"

  (The story branches into two parts, previously I mentioned that Rommel and Zhou Tianlei became good friends, Zhou Tianlei told him about the upcoming Battle of El Alamein he would face and warned him to be careful)

  The German western campaign unfolded as scheduled, with the German army using paratroopers to lead the charge on May 10th, followed by armored units advancing at lightning speed, capturing Holland and Belgium, and opening up northern France to the German army. Subsequently, several German armored groups crossed the Franco-Belgian border. The French army had not expected the Germans to attack from the north, still fantasizing that the German army would suffer heavy losses on the Maginot Line, and even if they broke through the Maginot Line, the waiting French army could easily eliminate them. (Hehe, during World War I, the main force of Germany didn't come from the Maginot Line either, but from the Franco-Belgian border, the French really are forgetful, it's only been 20 years and they've already forgotten the lesson, naively thinking that the Germans would still play trench warfare with them)

  After the main force of the German army broke into France from the Belgian border, the Kleist armoured group quickly captured the French coastal city of Abbeville, cutting off the connection between the British Expeditionary Force and the First Army Group of France with the inland troops in France. The British Expeditionary Force and the First Army Group of France found that their situation was very unfavorable to them at this time, and they were about to fall into the encirclement of the German army. At this moment, the British military put forward a plan, preparing to use this plan to restore contact with the inland troops in France and reorganize the second line of defense to block the German army's aggressive attack. This is the famous Battle of Arras in history.

  Romel led the 7th Panzer Division to Arras on May 20, and in his plan, the division's route of advance for tomorrow was from south to north through Arras, continuing deep into the Anglo-French army, cutting off their defensive line.

  On May 21, his 7th Panzer Division and the cooperating units of the SS 'Totenkopf' division made contact, advancing jointly on Arras. Rommel led the 25th Tank Regiment marching at the head of the 7th Panzer Division's column. At this moment he suddenly let out a big sneeze, startling the divisional staff officer next to him, who thought something was wrong with the division commander and was about to rush over. Just then Rommel suddenly looked up and asked, "What region are our troops in now?" (Your old man's sneeze is my brother Zhou Tianlei thinking of you, I am now at the Naval Command Center, anxiously looking at the French map, you should have arrived in Arras by now, did you take what I said to you that day as a matter? Can you defeat the British in time? The fate of Germany is largely in your hands now, and whether my plan can succeed with relatively small losses also depends on you.)

  Romel suddenly remembered what his good friend Zhou Tianlei had told him at a restaurant in Berlin, "The British will appear in Arras. The 88 high cannon can deal with the never-before-seen British tanks, but the 37 anti-tank cannon is not enough." To be honest, he still trusted his naval friend more, ever since hearing about his great achievements in the Battle of Norway. First, they defeated a British destroyer squadron, and then captured the British battleship "War" and aircraft carrier "Furious". He was so excited at that time, as if he had commanded the battle himself. His friend was now glorious, but he had not yet established such honors. However, his friend had predicted like a prophet that the British would appear in Arras. If he could defeat them, it would be a great achievement. But before the war, intelligence did not show any signs of British troops gathering in the area. Yet, his friend's expression at the time didn't seem to be joking. In any case, being cautious was never a big mistake. "Report, our army is advancing in the Arras region."