Berlin. Inside the Palace of Thornssi.

Wilhelm Frederick Ludwig, who had taken over as King of Prussia at the beginning of the year, was summoning his War Ministers, General Albrecht von Rohn, and Dauphin Wilhelm, as well as Ambassador to Russia Otto von Bismarck, to discuss a matter of great importance concerning the future and fate of Prussia.

The king first said to the crown prince William: "Among the four of us, only you have dealt with the emperor of the Chinese Empire a few times, and you are also familiar with the situation of the Chinese Empire, you tell us why this Eastern Empire can develop like this in such a short time, just like this intelligence said, the world's largest power, Britain's 100,000 troops were wiped out, and they also occupied India, how did they do it to be stronger than the army power Tsarist Russia?" ”

Hearing the king say this, the Minister of War Ron and the resolute-faced Ambassador to Russia Bismarck looked at Crown Prince Wilhelm and were very concerned.

"Father, you have never been to the East, you can't imagine the richness and power of the East, and the biggest thing is the thriving change and development of that country. Now everyone may know that the territory of the Chinese Empire is so vast that it is comparable to Tsarist Russia, but one thing you don't notice is that most of the prosperous eastern countries are fertile soil that has been developed for thousands of years, and the land is fertile, which is much stronger than the sparsely populated wasteland of Tsarist Russia. The population of this Eastern Empire is more than 400 million, which is 6 times that of Tsarist Russia, and if you calculate in terms of wealth, it is 5 to 8 times that of Tsarist Russia. As a result, he was able to develop a powerful military force in a short period of time, with not only an army of more than a million people, but also a powerful navy of nearly 100,000 people. Prince William spoke eloquently, and when it came to this empire in the East, he had a natural closeness, as if he was happy to see the strength of his friend: "Father, this is a country with great potential. And their emperor is a great hero. Therefore, I dare to conclude that Britain will not be able to gain any advantage by continuing to fight against it in this way, and may even go into decline and completely lose their status as the world's number one power. If the French Empire did not intervene, relying solely on British military power to go on an expedition to the East, it would surely fail again, and the Chinese Empire would rise by stepping on Britain. ”

Hearing that the crown prince spoke so highly of the eastern country, and compared it with the Tsarist Russia, which he was most familiar with, and belittled the Tsarist Russia, which he had always befriended, as worthless, Bismarck was a little unhappy, and replied unhappily: "The crown prince is so elevating the Chinese Empire, and I still don't believe it." A backward Eastern country, even if it has a strong monarch, can not grow to a level stronger than Tsarist Russia in a few years.

From the information seen in the newspapers, it is inferred that the British army in Calcutta was itself weakened by the rebels, and because there was no logistical supply, it was defeated by the Chinese Empire. The army of Tsarist Russia, or the army of our Kingdom of Prussia, can also wipe out the British army that has no intention of fighting.

This does not mean that the Chinese Empire has become a military power, as the crown prince said. And this time Britain is preparing to go on a large-scale expedition, but if it does its best to fight a war of revenge, the Chinese Empire is likely to be defeated, and even destroyed by Britain in retaliation. ”

Prince William was even more upset, and retorted with a sneer: "Mr. Bismarck, you may not have paid attention to the real details, right? The information in the newspapers is not accurate. In fact, the 80,000 troops in the Indian city of Calcutta, where the British army was stationed, were very strong, and the 200,000 local rebels could not take advantage of it at all. But alas, the army of the Chinese Empire was stronger.

Before the British could engage the eastern army in the city of Calcutta, they were directly bombarded by tens of thousands of shells from the opposing fleet, and the city of Calcutta was completely blown into ruins with dense artillery fire covering more than two-thirds of the entire city. From here alone, the British lost more than a quarter of their soldiers! Then, 20,000 elites led by the British commander-in-chief had a fierce encounter with the 10,000 soldiers of the Chinese Empire in the field, Mr. Bismarck, pay attention, it was the 10,000 infantry of the Chinese Empire and the 20,000 elite infantry of the British Army, what was the result? The 20,000 British troops were fought head-on by the 10,000 Eastern Army, with thousands of casualties, while the Eastern Army suffered only a few hundred casualties, and then was flanked by the 10,000 infantry of another Chinese Empire, and the 20,000 British troops were routed on the spot, and even the British army commander could not escape. This is the real course of the war, the most real details.

These students, who were taught and trained by our Prussian officers, were not only taught by our military skills and bravery, but more importantly by their weapons, advanced weapons! The key to their victory was the crushing superiority of weapons over the British. ”

Speaking of this, Prince William glanced at the king and continued: "We Prussia have a lot of eyeliner in the Chinese Imperial Army, and the information from them on the battlefield is the most true. The Mauser rifles equipped with the infantry of the Chinese Empire were much more sophisticated than the Enfield rifles of the British, and they were not of a grade in terms of range or accuracy. In particular, the best firing range is more than a third of the most advanced rifles in Europe. Moreover, this Mauser rifle seems to be a rear-loading rifled rifle, and they use custom-made metal-shelled bullets that can quickly reload ammunition and shoot without lying on the ground without getting up, and the British army suffers from this. The artillery of the Imperial Chinese Fleet is their latest Krupp cannon, and like the Mauser rifle, it is far beyond the European artillery in terms of range, accuracy, firing frequency and power.

Speaking of which, I, Prussia, really made a mistake, and it's really a pity! Whether it was the Mauser brothers who developed the Mauser rifle or Mr. Krupp, who made the Krupp cannon, they were originally the people of my Prussian kingdom. I was invited to the East by the emperor of the Chinese Empire, and with the support of a large amount of funds, I have today's achievements! If our Kingdom of Prussia had discovered their talents earlier and reused them, perhaps today's Mauser rifles and Krupp cannons would have been the weapons and equipment of our Kingdom of Prussia. ”

After hearing this, Bismarck's face was extremely rich. He was a little embarrassed, but more of a look of disbelief. He believed the words of the crown prince, and it was precisely because he believed his words that he began to think that it would be terrible for the eastern countries to defeat the British army by relying on their weapon superiority in such a dignified manner! Moreover, the crown prince also said just now that the fleet artillery of the Chinese Empire is also very powerful, and if it is based on this line of thinking, it will be really difficult for Britain to send troops to recover India and defeat the Chinese Empire.

Bismarck froze there, and War Minister Ron hurriedly relieved the siege and said: "Your Majesty, judging from the rise of the Chinese Empire, it is precisely because of their military reform that they can fight and even defeat Britain head-on. Therefore, we in Prussia must also accelerate the pace of military reform and strengthen ourselves in order to realize Your Majesty's ambition and unify the entire German Confederation! ”

The king nodded, and said in a deep voice, "Not bad! That's why I've brought you here! Judging by the military achievements of this eastern country, if we in Prussia want to realize the great task of the unification of Germany, we must continue to carry out military reforms! That's what inspired me! ”

War Chancellor Ron was worried, he knew the King's mind best.

The King of Prussia, who was still Prince Regent, asked the Parliament of the Kingdom of Prussia to agree to allocate 10 million thalers, increase the peacetime strength from 140,000 to 217,000, extend the active period, and abolish the National Reserve.