What made de Gaulle even more difficult to deal with was his insistence that France was still a world power when just the opposite was true. In Acheson’s and most others’ opinion, France had slipped to being a second-or even a third-rate power. Thus, de Gaulle’s pronouncements about France’s right to a sector of Germany and her right to be at this or that bargaining table, or the right of the Free French Army to cross the Rhine when it had no longer been necessary, were particularly frustrating. Acheson thought him galling and smiled to himself at the pun.
On the other hand, Acheson did feel he understood what Charles de Gaulle was actually up to. He was a patriot and wanted France to lift herself from the ashes of disgrace and defeat. The morale and self-esteem of France were so low as to be virtually nonexistent. If de Gaulle must make an obstreperous fool of himself in order to help the land after which he and his ancestors had been named, then so be it. Somehow, he would breathe life into France.
“Mr. President,” Acheson said, “I had hoped that all those mistakes were in the past and that we could get on to the future.”
De Gaulle grunted. “The past is our history and we must be reminded of it. The Russian made me an offer. Do you wish to hear it?”
“Of course.” The very thought of a Russian proposal to France was frightening. The Soviets wanted France out of the war. What would they offer?
“Not surprisingly, Vyshinsky said that the Soviet forces would win this war and that the Allies would be forced out of Germany. He then said what happened to France after this was up to me. If I wanted France to live as a free and independent country, then I would have to sever relations with Britain and the United States. In particular, Russia would require me to forbid your armies to supply themselves through French ports and via French rail. Air bases would also have to be closed. In effect, France would become a neutral nation, just like Switzerland.”
Acheson was aghast. Such actions would cripple the Allied effort. “Mr. President, I cannot see how France could exist alongside a Germany dominated by Russia. It would be a nightmare of contradictions.”
De Gaulle leaned back, an effect that gave Acheson an uncomfortable view of the inside of the taller man’s nostrils. “Vyshinsky said I had no choice. He said that my country was in a state of revolution as a result of his Communist brothers wanting peace with Russia, and that the French people were sick and tired of war. If I did not acquiesce to his demands, then the Russians would not stop at the French border when they finally defeated the Allies in Germany with their Red Inferno. Instead, they would invade a helpless France and turn her into a satellite of the Soviet Union.” De Gaulle glared at Acheson. “What would you have done had you been confronted with such a proposal?”
Acheson wondered if he was being tested. He dared not scold or patronize the man. Or worse, misjudge him as so many others had. “I presume you told him you understood that France could not be a free country with Russian armies on her border, and that a Soviet victory would result in a de facto occupation of France in any case.”
De Gaulle smiled slightly. “That is what I thought, but it is not what I said to the foolish Russian. I told him he had given France much to think about and that I would respond presently. You are, however, quite right. In either event, a Soviet victory would represent the death of a France that is already very ill. It cannot be permitted to happen. If pressed for an answer, I will tell him to tell Stalin that we will not betray our alliance with Great Britain and America, even if it results in our being invaded and occupied again. I already fought one war from exile, and I will do it forever if I have to.”
Acheson let out his breath. The heavy-handed Russians had insulted de Gaulle and not intimidated him. “We are honored, sir, by your loyalty.”
“Which is to France,” de Gaulle snapped, “not to England or the United States. Vyshinsky was correct when he said I was confronting a revolution. The Communists have risen in France and are trying to take control. Many of them fought the Germans as members of the underground, and they are now fighting the Americans and trying to interrupt the supply efforts that are so essential to the war. Worse, they appear to be coordinating with the Russian air force. Did you not hear of the train that was stopped by Communists near Namur, and then assaulted from the air?”
Acheson had been briefed by military experts who had quizzed both French and American survivors, and it was their belief that the apparent coordination had been an act of fate and not a planned occurrence. De Gaulle, however, obviously thought otherwise.
De Gaulle continued. “I know some do not believe it occurred that way, but I cannot take a chance on that being the truth. If you want your supplies to get through, then they must be guarded by French troops. While Frenchmen might fight Americans, I am reasonably certain they will not fire on their own countrymen. Therefore, I will be taking my divisions from Italy as soon as possible and, if necessary, de Tassigny’s First Free French Army away from your General Devers. They will be retained in France for as long as necessary to quell the Communist revolution.”
Acheson nodded. He understood full well what de Gaulle had just done. First, he would protect the supply lines. Second, he would do it with French troops, which meant they could not be involved in the bloody meat-grinder battles that were commencing and from which the French had largely been spared. It was a trade: French lives for American supplies. The net effect of the trade was to weaken the overall war effort against the Russians. Damn de Gaulle.
On the other hand, blunt Russian diplomacy had failed to make de Gaulle their ally. They had offended the prickly Frenchman. Speaking of pricks, Acheson thought more happily, de Gaulle may be a prick, but he’s still our prick.
• • •
Days before, the near-dawn explosions had awakened Tony from a fitful sleep. For an instant, he thought he was back in his tank and under attack by the Russians. Then he recalled where he was-Ketzin, Germany, and in a Russian work gang. As the explosions drew nearer, he and the others tried to take shelter in a ditch. Not much use, he thought, if something came down close to them, but it was better than nothing.
The drone of airplane engines backgrounded the blasts, and they realized that something nearby was under attack from bombers. Jubilantly, he realized the bombers had to be either American or British. As dim shapes flew overhead, he strained to identify them as they flew on, seemingly impervious to the antiaircraft tracers reaching up for them.
“Wellingtons,” Vaslov whispered. “British.”
Tony didn’t care if they were Mexican. His side was striking back. It was a wonderful feeling and he could see by the looks on the others’ faces that it was shared.
It was not until later in the day that he learned that he would have a price to pay for the bombers’ success.
It was now the third day of their ordeal in the work gang, and Tony’s arms and back ached from the strain of constantly lifting and carrying the dirt and rubble to fill in the road craters created by the Allied bombers. He thought he would collapse, but he would be shot if he did so. He’d seen it happen. His only consolation was that everyone else in the work gang seemed to be in as bad a shape as he. Perhaps, he felt with a twinge of guilt, even in worse shape. After all, he had not spent the last few years on a starvation or minimal diet. On the plus side, it seemed that, with the task nearing completion, the Russians were nowhere near as demanding or as security conscious as they had been.