"Thank you for coming, uncle." After Jochen's uncle, King Edward VII of England, traveled from London to Berlin to attend the funeral of his brother-in-law, Terry III, after the funeral, Jochen, who had been busy, finally had time to sit down with his uncle and talk: "My mother was a great support to her at this time. ”

"I am saddened by Frederick's death, Jochen." Edward VII greeted his sister's son with a kind face: "It was very gratifying to hear you say that he left peacefully. But it's you, Joheng, that your face is very bad now, and you should take care of your rest, and don't let your mother be irritated, she doesn't have the spirit to fear you anymore. ”

"Yes, uncle, I'll take care of it." Jochen nodded in acceptance of Edward VII's admonition.

"Your mother is old, Frederick's death has hurt her greatly, now what she needs is to change her mood, don't let her always be immersed in the nostalgia for Frederick, it is not good for her body, I hope she will not stay in Berlin all the time, go out and walk more, and come to London to live for a while." Edward VII said with a little concern.

"Thank you, uncle, I will persuade my mother, it is indeed a good idea to live in London for a while." Jochen nodded. But looking at the person in front of him who was kind and speaking caring words, Jochen felt very unreal.

Is this the same Edward VII who had just visited France to try to forge an Anglo-French entente? Is this the English king who made a secret agreement with France and sold Germany to him? A sense of absurdity rose in Jochen's mind, but was quickly suppressed by reason.

Obviously, this uncle of mine can't just care about himself, no matter what the reason is to bring the heads of state together. But as long as everyone meets, it is impossible not to talk about political issues, if you are really immersed in the so-called family affection, then you are a fool, this uncle of mine has a first-class appeal, if you are not sober, you will be taken into the ditch.

Sure enough. Edward VII said seemingly casually: "Frederick's funeral, Nick didn't come in person?" ”

Jochen was in high spirits and said secretly: Sure enough, is it coming from Russia? Then he nodded: "Russia is now at war, the situation in the Far East is not very smooth, and Niki is the pillar of Russia." He can't get out of it now. This time, he sent a special envoy with a letter of his own handwriting, expressing his deepest apologies and hoping for understanding. ”

Jochen coped carefully, and made his junior posture very well, on the one hand, he didn't want Edward VII to seize the opportunity to play on the topic. On the other hand, it is hoped that the relationship between the two parties will not be emphasized by Guò, so that Edward VII will not be able to test his attitude very directly.

Edward VII smiled when he heard this, and said: "I don't mean anything else, but it's a little strange, Nick is a very polite young man, and now he can't come in person for such an important matter, it seems that the situation in Russia in the Far East is indeed not very good." ”

Don't you know what is happening to the Russians now? Behind the scenes, everyone is celebrating each other, right? Jochen cursed in his heart.

The situation of the Russians is not only not very good, but very bad.

Due to the fact that the machine gun fire of the Arthur fortress was stronger than in history. And this advantage was multiplied by Nogi Noshinori's brainless pig tactics, and the Japanese army paid an extremely high price for it. However, this did not reverse the disadvantage of the siege of the fortress of Arthur and the extreme passivity of the Russians. Therefore, in January 1905, the Japanese army took the 203 heights outside the Port of Arthur, and then set up 280mm howitzers here to bombard Port Arthur, and the Russian defenders surrendered to Nogi Noshinori on February 1, and Nogi Noshinori was also named the Japanese god of war for this battle.

However, the Russian fleet in the harbor did not die from the heavy artillery attack of the Japanese on the 203 heights as in history, and Makarov, who had not recovered from his serious injuries, ordered the Pacific Fleet to break through again when the Japanese launched a fierce attack on the 203 heights.

However, the capital ships of the First Pacific Fleet were all damaged. And it has not been properly repaired. Knowing that it would be difficult to get out with such a fleet, Makarov was determined to break his wrist and lead the battlefleet to drag the Japanese Combined Fleet. And the cruisers and mine-strike ships, which did not receive serious damage in the last battle, took advantage of the speed advantage and dispersed to break through to Vladivostok.

Makarov, who knew that the battlefleet would never return, insisted that the sailors carry him onto the warship and set sail to fight, and in the end all three battleships were sunk. Makarov sank with the ship. Due to the fact that the battleship was not properly repaired, and the casualties of the crew were not replenished, the three Russian battleships did not cause much damage to the Combined Fleet.

Among the remaining Russian ships scattered to break through, in addition to the cruiser Ascold and 2 mine-striking ships intercepted by the Second Fleet, the other 3 cruisers and 10 mine-striking ships broke through to Vladivostok and joined the Essen fleet, which had basically lost its combat effectiveness at this time.

However, the Japanese Combined Fleet, which did not know the details of the Essen fleet, thought that the Russians might fight again because of the arrival of these three cruisers and 10 mine-striking ships, so they had to continue to let the Russian fleet in Vladivostok on the embankment of the Second Fleet move.

Although it avoided the near-total destruction of the entire Russian Pacific Fleet, the sinking of 7 battleships, 6 and 1 was captured by Germany, already marked the destruction of the Russian First Pacific Fleet.

For such a situation, how can the British not know, how can they not be happy, now Edward VII put on a posture that he does not know much about the situation, and there is a little worry about the younger generation, so that Jochen has to sigh that his uncle is worthy of acting.

However, Jochen still responded quietly: "It is true that the situation of Russia in the Far East is not very optimistic, although Japan is an ally of Britain in the Far East, but this war was provoked by the Japanese first, and as a European country, as a Caucasian country, and as a relative of the Romanov dynasty, we should support Russia." ”

Jochen said lightly, but he gave Edward VII a little embarrassment, and secretly accused that it was precisely because of the connivance and support of Britain that Japan had the courage to act against Russia. As a white European country with ties to the Romanovs, such a move by Britain is tantamount to betrayal.

Of course, such accusations are insignificant, the government is already full of betrayal, not to mention that Russia and Britain are not dealing with each other in the first place, and that bit of kinship is not worth mentioning in front of national interests, but it is not so comfortable when it is put on the table.

Although Edward VII, who heard Jochen's meaning, his face did not change, but the slight raising of his eyebrows still showed that he was not very happy with such a speech, but he still asked quietly: "Then Germany is ready to intervene in this war?" ”

In fact, Edward VII was also a little nervous at this time, for fear of hearing an answer from Jochen's mouth that he did not want to hear, although the German power in the Far East was not strong, but they had the Philippines as a base, with here, the Russian fleet could rest here, the Germans could gather here, and the Japanese navy could not pose a threat here, which was definitely not expected by the British.

And if this situation really arises, then Britain will have to really prepare to fight an alliance war with Japan on the other side of the Eurasian continent.

However, Jochen had no intention of getting involved in the war in the Far East, so he shook his head and said: "No, the Far East is too far away from Germany, and the scale of this war is a little more than we expected, and we know very well that we are not capable enough to intervene in this war after two years of war in the Philippines, so unfortunately, we can give Nich very little support."

And we have limited energy, and there have been some recent developments in Europe that have been a headache for us, so we have to focus all our energy on Europe. ”

"Oh? What has happened recently that Germany has been so cautious? Edward VII knowingly asked, although he was quite confident in the secrecy of the secret agreement with the French, it was clear that the Germans were not so easy to fool, and his nephew clearly meant something.

"The French have been a little restless lately, and that guy from De Cacer seems to be doing something small, which is a headache for us, and we want to have a good external environment and not have a neighbor who sneaks around all day. Germany has always wanted Franco-German relations to stabilize, but the attitude of the French Foreign Minister now makes us feel the need to recalibrate our policy. Jochen said.

Delcasse is the French foreign minister and a representative of revanchism against Germany, and Germany must be the focus of attention on such a guy, but at this time, when he is mentioned, combined with the actions of the British during this time, Edward VII knows very well that his nephew is alluding to the contact between Britain and France to give De Cacer the courage to move.

Of course, these are not the point, the point is that Germany wants to readjust its policy towards France? How to adjust? Political pressure? Deterrence by force? Or, just do it?

Neither was what Edward VII wanted to see, and it was true that Britain would like to see relations between Germany and France deteriorate, but the time was not right, the Russians were fighting the Japanese in the Far East, and the British were not ready to drag themselves into the water for France, which had just become a member of the relationship, and the French themselves were simply not capable of facing the German threat.

Then whether it is playing tricks or moving guns, France will bow to Germany in the end, which is not what the British want to see.

Obviously, his nephew was warning himself that Britain had better not do anything to misunderstand the French, but to make them think that someone was backing them up and doing something irrational.

Thinking of this, Edward VII narrowed his eyes, looked at the young German ruler in front of him, and began to worry about whether it was really a good move to support the French in seizing Morocco. (To be continued)