At this time, the Chief of the General Staff, Count Alfred von Schlieffen, said: "Your Majesty, I have to admit that the tactics of the East China Government are the most creative, the boldest, and the most ingenious tactics I have seen in my more than 50 years of military career. ”

When Wilhelm II heard this, he couldn't help but be a little surprised, he didn't expect Schlieffen to have such a high opinion of the Battle of Vladivostok. Hannibal and Napoleon are two monuments in the history of European warfare, both of whom carried out the tactics of crossing the Alps and attacking Italy, and have always been talked about by later generations of soldiers, so Schlieffen compared the Battle of Vladivostok to it in Europe.

Although Schlieffen did not command a war after serving as chief of the General Staff, this did not prevent him from becoming a great military strategist, just as Clausewitz, who wrote "On War", and Mahan, who wrote "On Sea Power", also had no actual combat experience, and Count Schlieffen's masterpiece was the famous "Schlieffen Plan" in later generations. Although this plan was not fully completed at this time, it was already regarded by the Germans as a nickel gauge that might fight both France and Russia at some point in the future. Schlieffen himself is rightfully regarded by Germany as the greatest tactician of our time.

William II said: "Earl, do you have such a high opinion of the political abolition of East China!"

Schlieffen nodded and said, " Your Majesty, I have conducted a serious study of the tactics of the East China government, six years ago, when they first appeared in front of the world, they also conducted a similar battle, using warships to transport troops to the enemy's rear to launch an attack, that war is almost a miniature version of this battle, which also shows that this time is not the result of the whim or a flash of inspiration of the East China government's soldiers, but a military operation with a theoretical system and planned tactics, and the army that can do this is absolutely worthy of respect, and is also qualified to be our German companions。 ”

Wilhelm II was stunned and immediately caught the unusual wording in Schlieffen's words: "Count, do you mean that you want the East China government to become a partner of Germany?"

Schlieffen nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

Bi Luo frowned, and said: "Earl, the East China government is too far away from Germany, and it lacks common interests and enemies, Germany has become partners with them, and there are not many practical benefits." ”

Schlieffen shook his head and said, "Your Excellency, distance has never been a problem, Britain can form an alliance with Japan, why can't Germany and the East China government? As for the common interests, there may not be for the time being, but we now have a common enemy, that is, Russia." ”

Wilhelm II was stunned at first, his eyes suddenly lit up, his hands on the table, as if he wanted to stand up, but he still calmed down, but his heart was very excited, because he had fully understood what Schlieffen meant, and now Germany and Russia basically have no possibility of reconciliation, so in the future, Germany will inevitably face the unfavorable situation of France and Russia fighting on two fronts, and since the East China government has shown strong military strength, then Germany and the East China government can form an alliance to erect a strong enemy behind Russia, so that Russia is actually caught in a two-front war situation, Germany can face France alone, even if Britain joins in the future, but France in the same direction, Germany did not have to fight on two fronts.

Schlieffen continued: "Your Majesty, since I took over as Chief of the General Staff, I have always been committed to formulating a plan for a two-front war against France and Russia, but no matter how good the plan is, a two-front war will be unfavorable to us after all, so the best way is to resolve the unfavorable situation of a two-front war. For the time being, an alliance with the East China government is the best way to resolve the unfavorable situation of Germany's two-front war. ”

Although Wilhelm II's heart was still excited at this time, because it was his own operational mistake that Germany completely lost the last chance to repair relations with Russia, and now there is another situation to change Germany's strategic dilemma, Wilhelm II is naturally very happy, but he has been the emperor for nearly 20 years, and now he is completely calm, and said: "This is a very interesting suggestion, Earl." Perhaps Albert should be allowed to visit the East China government again, and he has a good relationship with the Chinese. ”

At this time, Bi Luo said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me bluntly, at this time it is best for us not to discuss the matter of alliance with the East China government, because now the East China government is at war with Russia and Japan, and we have already sent a military observation team to the East China government, at this time, if His Royal Highness the Prince visits the East China government to discuss the alliance, it is not appropriate, I suggest that it is not too late to wait until the end of the war." ”

Schlieffen said: "Your Majesty, I agree with the Prime Minister, at present we are indeed not suitable to put forward an alliance proposal to the East China Government, in addition to the fact that the East China Government is still in a state of war, there is another important reason, that is, after the East China Government won the Battle of Vladivostok, there is no suspense about winning this war, and Germany will be very unfavorable to us to negotiate an alliance with the East China Government at this time." After the end of the war, the East China government will face pressure from Russia and Japan, and Russia has France behind it, and Japan has Britain behind it, so the East China government will be under pressure from Russia, Japan, Britain and France after the war, and at this time only Germany can help the East China government, and then the East China government needs Germany, and then we Germany will occupy a leading position in the negotiations. ”

Bi Luo also nodded and said, "Your Majesty, the advice of the Chief of the General Staff is correct. ”

When Wilhelm II heard this, he was noncommittal, touched his beard, but a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and said: "Prime Minister, Chief of General Staff, I have a message to tell you, which may be of reference value to you." Just the day before yesterday, Britain and France had begun to negotiate an armed intervention in the Far East, and do you think this thousand pieces of news would be beneficial to Germany?"

Schlieffen was stunned for a moment, and said: "If Britain and France enter the war, it is enough to change the current situation, and the East China government will definitely not be able to achieve victory, but I seriously Britain and France do not really send troops to participate in the war, I am afraid that I want to deliberately create a momentum to force the East China government to negotiate with Russia and Japan, and weaken the victory of the East China government, but at this time, we should not go to the East China government to agree on an alliance." ”

Billow said: "No, no, no, no, I think this is an opportunity for Germany, even if Britain and France do not really send troops to participate in the war, but it is still a huge threat to the East China government, so we can take this opportunity to mediate and promote the East China government to negotiate peace talks with Russia and Japan, so that the East China government can be grateful to us and even rely on us, which is of course beneficial to our Germany." But before we can do so, we need to show the necessary goodwill to the East China government to make it feel that Germany is a reliable partner. ”

Shi Lifen thought about it, nodded his head, and said, "It's still the Prime Minister who has thought it through." ”

Wilhelm II said: "Okay, then let's wait patiently for the time being, what surprises will the East China government bring us." ”

―――――――― Divider ――――――――― Dividing Line――――――――

Oval Office, White House, Washington, USA.

"Mr. President, our previous judgment of this war in the Far East was completely wrong, and it provided you with the wrong basis for decision-making, and as Minister of War, I should be fully responsible for this. ”

Roosevelt did not sit in his office chair, but walked around to the front of his desk, half-leaning and half-sitting on his desk, looking very casual, but everyone else sat on the sofa or chair in a regular manner, listening to the speech of General William Howard Taft, Secretary of War.

Roosevelt waved his hand and said: "Howard, this is not your responsibility, it can only be said that the tactics of the overseas Chinese are too clever, I think I am afraid that no one would have expected that the overseas Chinese would use the fleet to attack Vladivostok across a distance of 2,000 kilometers, and I have not made any decisions, and there are no losses, so you don't have to blame yourself, Guan Jian is after the East China government captured Vladivostok, what will be the next direction of this war?"

Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Adner Chaffee said: "After we received this news, we conducted a military chess exercise, and the result was a complete defeat for Russia, and the East China government finally captured Harbin, expelled all Russian forces from Chinese territory, and also occupied part of Russian territory. We believe that it should be about 200,000 square kilometers, including Vladivostok. ”

Roosevelt sighed and said, "Is it true?" That would be Russia's biggest defeat since the Crimean War, and it would be even worse than the Crimean War. ”

Chafei said: "Mr. President, this is just the result of a military chess deduction, there will be a certain amount of error, and it will take several more military chess deductions to get to a more accurate knot." ”

Roosevelt said: "No matter how it is deduced, the total defeat of Russia is inevitable, but it is only the difference between losing 100 yuan and losing 99 yuan." ”

Cha Fei said: "But Russia is not completely without a chance, if at this time, Japan can launch an attack from the Korean Peninsula to Liaodong, so that it can contain the forces of the East China government, win a respite for Russia, and maybe there is a chance to redeem." ”

Roosevelt said, "Will Japan send troops at this time?"

Chaffee said: "I think it is possible that Japan and Russia have reached an agreement, and they have changed from rivals to partners, and if Russia really loses in a comprehensive way, it will not be good news for Japan, so there is a great chance that Japan will come to Russia's aid at this time." ”