"Send the 2nd Marine Division to the Philippines? Your Majesty, if you just defend Palawan Island and Subic Harbor, you don't need such a huge military force. At present, Spain's troops in the Philippines are only more than 20,000 troops, so will sending a division to the Philippines arouse the alarm of the Spaniards? Caprivi was suspicious of Frederick III's magnanimity.

Never before had Germany sent so many troops overseas at one time. Caprivi's plan was for Germany to slowly increase its presence in the Philippines without provoking a backlash from the Spaniards.

The longer the Spaniards and the Filipinos fought, the better, not only to consume the strength of both sides, but also to allow Germany to calmly increase its troops under less pressure, and when the Spaniards reacted, the Germans already had enough troops in the Philippines, and then they could wait for a suitable opportunity to seize the whole of the Philippines.

But now a division is going up all at once, so that the Germans in the Philippines are basically about the same strength as the Spaniards, which obviously makes the Spaniards nervous.

"What if the Spaniards were alert? Is it possible that we can still take the initiative to attack, but we can't? In that case, we have an excuse to rob by force, and in addition to a few protests, do they still have the strength to send more troops to the Philippines? Frederick III said disappreciatively.

"Actually, I think it's too little to send only one division." Jochen said on the side, not caring about the bitter face of Caprivi next to him: "Now the Americans are also ready to move, they have coveted Cuba for more than 40 years, and now there is such a good opportunity, I don't believe that the Americans can really hold back their ambitions and do nothing."

Therefore, once the situation in Cuba deteriorates and the United States intervenes, the Spaniards will definitely give priority to keeping Cuba, and then we will exert a little pressure. It's not entirely impossible for the Spaniards to transfer the whole of the Philippines to us.

Then then we will have to fight those Filipino monkeys head-on, so I think it is difficult for a single division to control the situation in the entire Philippines at the first time, and if those Filipino monkeys cause us trouble, it is estimated that we will continue to increase troops in the future. ”

"Your Highness thinks the Americans will soon attack Cuba?"

"Your Excellency, Spain is still known as a European power. But we all know that he, like the Qing state in the Far East, only needs a war to tear off his face. The riots in Cuba and the Philippines have consumed too much of their energy and resources.

The Americans, of course, knew this, so if they didn't do it right away, it would be too late for the Spaniards to recover. And now that the whole of Europe is focused on Crete, the sooner the United States does not want to see the whole of Europe targeting them, the sooner it strikes, the better. Jochen knew what the Americans were thinking, and in half a year the famous warship would make a "goodwill" visit to Havana.

May 1896. The Greeks on the island of Crete revolted in order to free themselves from Ottoman Turkey and join the Greek kingdom. In November, the Turks sent troops to suppress it. In February 1897, Greece sent troops to Crete to support the rebels.

Then the two countries declared war on April 5, the Greco-Turkish War broke out, and Britain, Germany, Russia, France, and Italy declared Crete to be autonomous "under the protection of Europe" in order to ensure the security of the Mediterranean.

This attracted the attention of Europe, not only making the Germans' preoccupation of the Spaniards in the Philippines less important, but also emboldening the Americans to take the risk of provoking the nerves of the Europeans.

After all, no matter how weak Spain is. It was also an old European empire, although the glory of the empire is gone. However, if the nouveau riche of the United States moves casually, it is also possible to attract the opposition of the whole of Europe.

"It would be great if the Americans were really willing to help us, after all, it would be better for us not to have a bad reputation as colonies of forcible European countries, and if the Spaniards were willing to 'transfer' the Philippines to us, we could give the Spaniards a decent price." Frederick III said lightly.

"Father, except for the Army. I think the Far East Fleet also needs to be strengthened, the Americans also have enough interest in the Philippines, and the strength of the Asian detachment of the Americans is not comparable to that of the Spanish Far East Fleet. In the event of a war between the United States and Spain, I believe that the Americans will attack the Spanish Far East Fleet, and most likely the Philippines. Therefore, we need to give the Far Eastern Fleet enough power to deter the Americans. "Yoheng built yì to.

In fact, at this time, Tirpitz had enough power in his hands to deal with George? The Asian detachment in the hands of Dewey.

The Asian detachment with the new protective cruisers Olympia and Baltimore, the older protective cruisers Riley and Boston, and the gunboats Conrad and Haiyan was far superior to the Spanish Far East Fleet, but it was still not enough in front of the German Far East Fleet.

However, Jochen did not want to really fight the Americans, but although the German Far East Fleet had superior warship performance, it did not have a numerical advantage, so it was difficult to guarantee that the Americans would not lose their minds and shoot at Tirpitz in order to achieve their goals.

Therefore, it is important to ensure absolute superiority in strength, which can completely dispel the unrealistic delusions of the Americans.

"Your Highness, the two cruisers in Alfred's hands are already the latest cruisers in the Navy, are you planning to send the two Erin-class to the Far East as well? So that we will have no worthy cruisers on our own soil. Muntz asked.

"Isn't the new heavy cruiser we are building now ready to be completed early next year at the earliest? Let the shipyard catch up with the construction deadline, and it should be able to complete the training and join the combat sequence in the middle of the year, and then it will be able to fill the vacancy of the Erin class? We can't send the Brandenburgers to the Far East, can we? Jochen asked rhetorically.

It is okay for battleships to go to the Far East, but long-term stationing overseas is still too luxurious for Germany, which now has a small number of capital ships, and Muntz can only say that Jochen's mention is more suitable.

Schlieffen, who had not spoken on the side, saw that there was no longer any disagreement with the Philippines in increasing troops, so he said: "If sending an additional division to the Philippines is not enough, I think we can transfer a standing division from the army and go to the Philippines after it is replenished." The Marines could be the first to leave, and the Army could be replenished to stagger the time, so that our transportation pressure would be less.

In addition, while we wait for the opportunity, we can also find out the situation of the remaining forces in the Philippines first, and once Spain hands over the Philippines to us, we can act immediately and strike a thunderous blow to defeat the most threatening resistance forces, which will be more beneficial for us to control the whole Philippines in the future. ”

"Then let's do it, send a division each to the Marine Corps and the Army, and strengthen the Far Eastern Fleet. In addition, we should keep an eye out for movements on the other side of the Atlantic, and we need to be prepared. Frederick III made a decision.

Since the emperor has decided so, then everyone else has said that they will do their best to fulfill the emperor's will.

"Leo, in a few weeks I will go to England to attend the celebration of the 60th anniversary of my mother-in-law's accession to the throne, although the Greco-Turkish war has greatly reduced the pressure on our actions, but we still have to reach a consensus with the British, otherwise there will be many constraints on our next plan, so how to negotiate with the British, you will have to work hard."

"This is my duty, Your Majesty. But to be honest, it's not a pleasure to deal with that Lord Marquis again, and I still like to deal with Lord Gladstone. Caprivi said with some resignation.

"Haha, it's true that you have to be very careful when dealing with that old fox, otherwise you will suffer. It's up to you, Leo. Frederick III said with a smile.

At the end of June 1895, the Marquess of Salisbury became Prime Minister of Great Britain again, and this thoughtful colonial expansionist could not fool the Germans into not wanting to seize the Philippines and give the old fox the opportunity to make some unreasonable demands on himself.

"Your Majesty's trip is also very hard, we must try our best to add points in the minds of the British people, so that all sectors of British society are full of good feelings towards Germany, so that our negotiations can be smoother, and His Excellency the Marquis is quite concerned about public opinion." Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor looked relaxed, Caprivi also laughed easily.

"Well, the old fox is the third time he has been prime minister, and he doesn't dare to go against the weather vane of the whole of Britain. Jochen, take Reinhardt to his maternal great-grandmother, who will love the child. Frederick III commanded with a smile.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's ascension to the colonies of Great Britain, Ireland and the Overseas Territories, and the 23rd anniversary of the Empress of India, the Royal Navy decided to hold a grand celebration.

Although it was held once on the 50th anniversary of the accession to the throne and once on the Queen's 70th birthday, this celebration was not only celebrated by the British, but also had a strong sense of showing off and deterrence.

Since 1889, when the Royal Navy officially began to implement the two-power standard, the Royal Navy has been more powerful than ever. However, since there was no war to show such a fleet, the British decided to intimidate their old rivals with a grand parade, and at the same time take the opportunity to increase the ties between Britain mainland and the members of the Commonwealth.

So the British government sent out invitations early on. As the queen's son-in-law, Frederick III naturally received an invitation early. At the beginning of June 1897, Frederick III and his family sailed to London on the royal yacht Hohenzollern (II) under the escort of the Brandenburg, the flagship of the German Navy's Atlantic Fleet. (To be continued......)