"His Majesty Edward VII has visited France." Mashal's face was heavy: "The deep meaning in this ......"

"The deep meaning is that my uncle extended an olive branch to the French, even if the French do not welcome him now." Jochen interrupted Mashal unconcernedly, and Jochen was mentally prepared for the arrival of this day.

Although the German navy has not developed as rapidly as it has historically been, and its foreign policy has not been as tough as it has been, Jochen himself has been able to keep his mouth shut. However, the annexation of Austria, the occupation of the Philippines, the huge increase in land area, the population growth exceeded 70 million, and the industrial capacity of Germany, which is more than the historical one, will face this day, and to be honest, I can make Edward VII's trip to Paris two years late I already have enough sense of accomplishment.

In April 1905, when the weather in Europe warmed slightly, Edward VII crossed the English Channel and arrived in Paris, the romantic capital of his long-awaited life.

The arrival of Edward VII was "warmly" welcomed by the French people, and on the road where His Majesty's motorvoy passed, countless Parisian citizens spontaneously gathered on both sides of the road, waving signs in their hands to "greet" the arrival of His Majesty the King of England.

"Bring the British back!" "Long live the Boers!" "Long live Kruger! "Remember the people who died in the concentration camps? British?! Countless slogans highlight the "hospitality" of the French.

In the face of the "welcome" of the French, Edward VII showed good self-cultivation and impeccable etiquette, was able to smile at the French in any public place, and praised Paris and France in every public speech. Such a move could not have left the Germans indifferent.

"Your Highness, you mean that the British are ready to make concessions to the French in some places?" After all, Marchar has been working with Jochen for so many years, and although he does not agree with Jochen's statement that the Anglo-German contradiction will gradually replace the Anglo-French contradiction in the future, he still has a good understanding of Jochen's arguments and arguments.

"Concessions? No, no, no, how can the temper of the British give in? I think it's more appropriate to swap. Jochen shook his head: "The weakness of the British makes it impossible for them to maintain glorious isolation, and the French are insecure as the Russians' strategic focus is on the Far East, and each side will take what it needs." ”

"Such an exchange will naturally involve the exchange of interests." Marchar said in a deep voice that the facts are in front of us, and the British have really proposed reconciliation to their century-old enemies.

"This is natural, the exchange of interests between the two sides, but both sides cannot just have what the other wants, so it is conceivable to reach some shady agreements and sacrifice the interests of some people to achieve the goal. I think that this person who was sacrificed was either us, or the Russians, or our two countries together. Jochen spoke calmly about a harsh reality.

Marcal did not answer, and after a moment of silence spoke: "Your Highness, you are right, in any case, the proximity of Britain and France will threaten the interests of our country, and we cannot make concessions on the matter of interests. ”

"Yes, behind the benefits of the development of the empire there is a huge community of interests, and our people are extremely sensitive to the foreign affairs of the imperial government. The desire for marks and dignity, we cannot make concessions and cannot make concessions. Jochen nodded: "If that uncle of mine can leave Paris with flowers and applause, then we will have more pressure in the future, Adolf, and you will have to deal with more trouble in the future." ”

"If His Majesty Edward VII's trip to Paris is indeed successful, then, as Your Highness you say, we will have to be more careful about dealing with possible agreements between England and France that are detrimental to our interests." Mashal had a solemn face, and sincerely hoped that Edward VII's hot face would stick to the cold ass of the French, but in the end it failed.

But his hopes were destined to fail, and Edward VII's politeness, proximity, and kindness in France made him slowly change the attitude of the French, and the cold reception and hostility slowly subsided, and Edward VII, with his superb social skills, finally won the support of the romantic French.

More importantly, in the secret talks that followed, Britain and France reached a compromise on the colonial issue and signed the "Siam Declaration" and the "Moroccan Agreement", which not only resolved the contradictions between the British and French governments, but also moved Britain and France from the extreme of saber-rattling to the other extreme, and the Anglo-French Entente began to take shape, with Germany being the most direct victim.

"I don't think there's any need for us to be too nervous." A neutral voice echoed through the room, and the speaker was clearly confident: "It would be pointless even if the British and the French made any secret agreement, because the British army could not help the French in anything, and we still had absolute superiority over the French." ”

The Anglo-French rapprochement was a huge shock to Germany, which meant that France would be supported by Great Britain, and both in foreign trade, foreign affairs and even naval strength would be under great pressure from the two countries joining forces, but there were also people who did not care about this, that is, the Army General Staff.

And the composure of the Army General Staff is justified, "As of last year, the total population of the empire has reached 70 million, of which nearly one-fifth are young adults of appropriate age, according to our current army structure, if a war breaks out, we can gather more than 1 million troops in a week, this number will exceed 2 million in a month, and if we enter full mobilization, this number will be even larger."

France, on the other hand, has a population of only 38 million, and even if their army is mobilized as fast as ours, we still have an overwhelming advantage in strength after the outbreak of war, and the French have no ability to stop our army.

So what if the British intervene? The worst outcome would be that the British would send 10 expeditionary forces to assist the French in the war, which would not be an opponent of the Imperial army at all! Schlieffen said confidently: "As long as we defeat France once and for all, will the British still want to continue fighting with his poor army?" ”

"Your Excellency, I know that you have been formulating and refining your battle plan against France, but the entry of the British will complicate the situation, if it is just our war with the French, I believe that the Imperial army will undoubtedly win, but if we add the British, the survival of the Royal Navy will cut off our sea transport lines, and the French will be able to get a steady supply through the British, which is very bad for us." Mashal said worriedly.

"Rest assured, Your Excellency, a protracted war is not conducive to the development of the Empire, so my plan will not allow the war to last too long." Schlieffen said to Mashal with a smile.

Schlieffen relied on the fact that he spent 13 years of painstaking efforts and painstaking efforts to formulate a war plan against France, which was huge, perfect, precise, and meticulous, and almost took into account the things that should be taken into account, and Germany's current national strength and military strength made Schlieffen full of confidence in the implementation of this plan.

Schlieffen Plan, a battle plan named after its creator in the future, was an offensive plan that was so meticulous that it was almost perfect, and Schlieffen himself was called a genius strategist, and he and his plan were passed down to future generations and talked about.

Schlieffen, who was able to specify such a well-thought-out and accurate plan, could not have been without strategic sensitivity, and like most German strategists, Schlieffen was not necessarily aware of the enormous damage that a protracted war would inflict on the Reich's political economy, but it was clear that a protracted war would be detrimental to the Reich.

Moltke the Elder's speech in 1890 made it clear that no one could have predicted how long the war would last if it broke out in the future, but it was certain that the longer it lasted, the more it would be a disaster.

It was impossible for Schlieffen not to turn a blind eye to Moltke's words, and he could also foresee that France was, after all, a powerful power, and with a defense system that had been in operation for many years, even if the offensive was weak, the defense was still more than enough.

And the French government will not risk its own downfall and negotiate peace before it has achieved a decent step, then as long as the French do not surrender, the war will continue, and with the national strength of France, it is obvious that this war will not end in a moment and a half, and the longer it drags on, the more uncertainties there will be, especially when the General Staff of the Army has always been uneasy about Russia.

Therefore, if you want to win, you can only win quickly, and you must make every effort to "checkmate" the French at the beginning, so as to ensure that the war is ended before there is an emergency, as long as the French can be solved quickly, then other problems will not be a problem, whether it is to turn back and clean up the Russians, or to confront the British across the sea, it is not a threat to Germany, which has guaranteed security to the west.

Therefore, the accession of the British is irrelevant in Schlieffen's opinion, as long as they can win quickly, the British will not be able to turn over any big waves.

Then in Schlieffen's plan, Germany is not ready to fight positional warfare, nor is it ready to keep reserves, and at the beginning of the war, it is necessary to completely destroy the French will to fight as quickly as possible, so that they can give up resistance, which is also the reason why Schlieffen's plan requires the fastest speed to go straight to Paris.

In Schlieffen's view, as long as Paris was captured, it would mean the complete defeat of France, and the French people's will to war would dissipate, and eventually give up continuing the war. R1152