Territory north of the Loire River is undoubtedly the best place in France. Almost all of France's major industries are concentrated in this area. The vast area in the south is dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry.
After losing the vast territory north of the Loire River, France was completely reduced from an industrial power to a third-rate agricultural country. Such a change is undoubtedly unacceptable to ministers. What's more, Paris is also included in the territory ceded to the Germany people.
"Your Excellency the President, Your Excellency the Prime Minister. Can we still talk to the Germany people and cede less territory to the Germany people?" Chancellor of the Exchequer Alexander? Liebert asked.
President Poincaré and Prime Minister René Viviani both shook their heads.
"Germany people are very strict in their words. They must territory north of the Loire River. There is no room for bargaining." President Poincaré said. President Poincaré's words revealed a deep sense of helplessness. As the president of France, facing such a situation, he can do nothing, which cannot but be said to be a tragedy!
"Then we have no other choice, either agree to the Germany people's conditions and cede half of the territory to them. Or we have to resist to the end. Of course, the result is nothing more than being completely destroyed by Germany." Alexander Ribot continued.
There is no doubt that neither of these results is what French government wants. If they could, they wouldn't choose either. But, alas, they have to choose one.
"If we resist, can we persist?" President Poincaré asked.
"Your Excellency, if we continue to resist, our homeland will soon fall. We may only have to live in exile in overseas colonies. And the Germany people have the most powerful navy in the world. Therefore, even in exile in overseas colonies, it is not safe. The Germany people will continue to attack us. Therefore, in overseas colonies, we can only hold on for one or two years at most." Alexander? Millerand said.
President Poincaré nodded, but said nothing more.
"The fourth requirement, Germany people require that our army's strength be controlled below 100,000 people. It must not be equipped with artillery with a caliber above 100 mm, and must not own tanks and armored vehicles. The navy must not build warships with a displacement of more than 5,000 tons, and cannot own submarines and aircraft. The police and Chinese troops must also admit defeat and control it below 100,000 people." President Poincaré continued.
"There is no doubt that the Germany people said this to limit our military strength and thereby weaken our threat to them." Prime Minister Rene Viviani said.
Although, the Germany people tried to weaken France's military power in this way, which made the French government ministers very angry. But they knew there was nothing they could do about it. Who allowed them to be defeated in the war?
"The last condition is that French requires that before French government fulfills the above conditions, German military will send a force of 100,000 people to France to ensure that we fulfill those conditions." President Poincaré continued.
This last condition did not cause dissatisfaction among everyone. After all, if you can agree to the previous humiliating conditions, then the fifth condition will be nothing at all.
"Everyone, let's talk about whether we agree to Germany's conditions!" President Poincaré said.
Next, the ministers of French government began to express their opinions. Some people expressed their opinion that the conditions of Germany people are acceptable. Although Germany people's conditions are very harsh. However, if half of the country can be saved, French can continue to exist. The most important thing is that they can continue to hold power in the country.
Others expressed opposition. Especially those in the military believe that if France agrees to Germany people's conditions, it would be better to fight to the end and fight to the end. Even if you can't hold on at home, you can still go to overseas colonies and you can continue to hold on. Although the Germany people are powerful, it will undoubtedly be very difficult and take a lot of time to clear them out step by step. In this case, if you persist until the end, maybe a miracle will happen.
However, one thing in the threat of Germany people is that if France continues to persist, they will kill in France to gain wealth, suppress resistance, and kill the whole of France into rivers of blood. This is a threat to many people. They don't want Germany people to raise their butcher knives and massacre in France. In that case, they don't know how many people French will die at the hands of Germany people.
A fierce quarrel ensued, with neither group able to convince the other. Even President Poincaré and Prime Minister Rene Viviani are caught in a dilemma.
Time passed little by little in the quarrel.
German government only gave French government three days to think about it. Once the three days have passed, German military will continue to attack.
On the morning of May 27, German government officially announced that the negotiations had broken down due to French government's delay in giving a reply. At the same time, German military, which had stopped attacking, once again launched a large-scale attack on southern France.
German military 2nd Army Corps, 3rd Army Corps, 5th Army Corps, 6th Army Corps and 7th Army Corps, millions of elite troops, launch an attack with all their strength.
Although, during these three days, the French army repaired some defenses in the hope of being able to withstand German offensive. However, the result was counterproductive. Under the fierce attack of German military, these French defenses only lasted for half a day before being breached.
A large number of French troops began to collapse, and countless French soldiers raised their hands directly to German military and surrendered to German military in order to survive.
The war has reached this point, they are completely desperate and have no confidence to continue fighting. Under such circumstances, the French army was even more vulnerable.
German military launched the attack again, and it was overwhelming. The French army simply could not resist, which also put great pressure on French government.
They seem to have seen that if they reject Germany's conditions, German military will really spread throughout France very quickly. This is undoubtedly difficult for French government to accept.
Under the threat of force from German military, more and more French Cabinet Minister people have gradually changed their attitudes. After all, living in exile is not as comfortable as staying in France! Even if half of the territory is lost, isn't there still half of the territory for them to continue to dominate?