Reincarnated: Vive La France
Chapter 91: "Bit of a dreamer. So was Churchill"

Chapter 91: "Bit of a dreamer. So was Churchill"

January 14th, 1935.

Whitehall, London

Rain drizzled over the dark roofs of Westminster.

Inside a briefing room beneath the Foreign Office, members of British Intelligence and select observers from the War Office were gathering in haste.

The chairs were mismatched, the lighting uneven, and the documents on the central table still warm from the presses of the Cipher Bureau.

"Close the door," said one of the senior men. "No minutes. No stenographer."

The room quieted as Commander Douglas Farrow of MI6 placed a thin folder before him.

"We’ve received a curious trail of reports from Paris," Farrow began. "French Army reform, specifically. A name has surfaced multiple times..Major Étienne Moreau."

A few heads tilted at the unfamiliar name.

"He’s been mentioned in association with France’s recent committee hearings on defense budget reform. Connected to General Beauchamp. From Yugoslavia to his famous speech from the palace to accompanying Laval to Rome earlier this month."

A colonel from the War Office interjected. "A military escort?"

Farrow shook his head. "Not officially. But our contacts in Rome suggest he was more than just a bodyguard. He influenced the tone of the diplomatic language. Pushed for deeper cooperation on African fronts. And now, he’s reportedly promoting a mobile unit prototype. Armored and mechanized. Something very unlike the French."

A long pause.

"Is this... confirmed?" asked another officer.

Farrow nodded once. "Our man at the French Embassy intercepted minutes from a closed session. Moreau spoke before their defense committee. Alongside another familiar name Commandant Charles de Gaulle."

A few eyebrows rose.

"De Gaulle’s always been considered a bit of a nuisance," someone muttered. "Bit of a dreamer."

"So was Churchill," another said dryly.

That earned a chuckle.

Then silence.

Winston Churchill, though out of government, was far from inactive.

His modest office near Parliament was cluttered with books, cables, maps, and unopened letters.

A fire crackled in the hearth, and a half-drunk glass of brandy sat beside a heavily marked intelligence memo.

He held the French report in one hand, spectacles perched on his nose.

A cigarette hung from his lips, barely touched.

"Moreau," he said aloud, tasting the name. "De Gaulle I know. This one’s new."

Across from him sat Desmond Morton, a former intelligence officer and his unofficial channel into the world of secrets.

Morton sipped tea, frowning slightly.

"I thought you should see this. The French are doing something unusual. Quietly, but it’s happening."

Churchill leaned back. "And our people?"

Morton sighed. "Split. Some want to dismiss it call it posturing. Others think we should watch it carefully. You can guess where the Foreign Office lands."

"Still drinking the peace champagne," Churchill muttered.

He tapped the file.

"If even one French officer is thinking about movement while we’re still arguing about aircraft orders, we’re going to be left behind."

Morton hesitated. "There’s more. Rome noticed Moreau. Berlin too. We intercepted a courier message from Germany Hitler read his file personally."

That got Churchill’s attention.

"Did he?"

"Called him dangerous. Or brilliant. Possibly both."

Churchill took a long drag of his cigarette and exhaled through his nose.

"Well then," he said softly, "sooner or later, we’ll have to make up our mind which side we’re on. The side that watches history... or the side that shapes it."

Back in Whitehall, the debate raged on.

"He’s one officer," argued a Foreign Office delegate. "The French are unreliable. You’ve seen their politics. Every week a new government, every minister looking over his shoulder."

"And yet," said Colonel Harding from the General Staff, "they’ve approved the pilot unit. Our reports say Moreau framed it as a response to gaps in static defense."

"So did Fuller. So did Liddell Hart," muttered another. "We shelved them both."

A senior intelligence advisor quiet until now finally spoke.

"Gentlemen, we’re missing the larger point. For the first time since the Armistice, France is letting a military innovator into policy discussions. That’s the signal."

Farrow added, "And if Berlin is tracking him already, we cannot afford to ignore this. We must assume the Germans are watching France closely not for what it is, but for what it could become."

Silence.

Then someone asked, "Do we know anything about this Moreau himself? Is he political?"

"No known affiliations," said Farrow. "Decorated in Verdun. Relatively quiet until late last year. But he’s developing connections quickly. Even Laval has written favorably about him."

"That," said Colonel Harding, "is something."

As the sky darkened over London, Churchill met briefly with Lord Halifax then a key voice in the Conservative Party and, at the time, not yet Foreign Secretary but rising.

"I hear you’ve been reading French reports," Halifax said as they took their seats in the Reform Club library.

"Reading, yes. Thinking, more so," Churchill replied.

"I’m trying to decide whether this Moreau is an outlier or the start of something unpleasantly competent."

"France’s government is too brittle," Halifax said. "They won’t sustain reform. Even if Moreau and de Gaulle are right, they’ll be buried in committee."

Churchill swirled the brandy in his glass. "Possibly. But Germany is watching. And Germany does not watch things for amusement."

Halifax was quiet.

"If the French manage to field even a small mobile force," Churchill continued, "and we’re still trimming the RAF’s budget and pretending tanks are for parades, we will have no counterweight left on the continent."

Halifax frowned. "And what would you propose we do?"

"Speak," Churchill said, "and listen. Closely. I want to know where Moreau trains. What regiment he commands. Who supports him. If Berlin thinks he matters, then he does."

January 15th, 1935. British Intelligence Memo (Top Secret)

Subject: Major Étienne Moreau

Status: Active

Affiliation: French Army, Ministry of Defense

Notes:

Yugoslavia (1934)

Famous speech (1934)

Present in Rome (Jan 1935) accompanying Laval.

Participated in Paris defense committee hearings.

Advocates maneuver doctrine; supports integrated air-ground operations.

Linked to Commandant Charles de Gaulle and General Beauchamp.

Seen favorably by Pierre Laval (PM).

Recommended Actions:

Monitor communications from French General Staff.

Track training activity of pilot division if formed.

Notify War Office if reassigned or promoted.

Cross-reference with German intercepts re: Moreau.

Additional Note: Winston Churchill has requested direct updates on subject’s movement and public positions.

Filed by: Cmdr. Douglas Farrow

Distributed: Restricted – Level IV