Defense Minister Walter? Brauchitsch drove with Field Marshal Rundstedt to the Hansafelt Palace and asked to see Eric? President Adrian. Aynata arranged for them to rest in the reception hall of the presidential palace and told them that the president had a very special guest today and asked them to wait for the time being.

What does the outside world say about Eric? President Adrian's long-term deification has caused many countries to want to know what secrets of Germany's development are, and as a result, Germany has constantly welcomed and sent Germany in and out, making it appear that it has close contacts with the international community. In fact, Eric knew that most of them were acting according to the ideology of the Americans, and many times they were just listening to the tone of German politics. France does not seem to need appeasement of Germany, because Germany has been occupying the industrial areas of Lorraine and the Ruhr, which has discredited French President Poincaré among the people, and at the same time, Eric sent troops to recover the armed areas of Africa west of the Rhine and refused to fulfill the obligations of Lorraine, which greatly aroused the great indignation of the French people, so the "Lorraine Affair" occurred. In fact, the outside world does not know that Eric also wants to try to ease relations with France, not to mention that the CIA has also repeatedly confirmed that there is no shortage of voices in France who are willing to reconcile with the German Confederation and actively support Germany's new economic reforms. Soon, with the covert encouragement and urging of all sides of the government, Poincaré finally bypassed Britain, the United States and other countries and sent special envoys to carry out this careful ice-breaking trip.

In fact, French President Poincaré is not a fool, after the "Berlin Peace Treaty", the international community unanimously talked about Britain's appeasement policy towards Germany like God's warm hand saving Germany, but no country dared to come forward to expose Britain's compromise (appeasement has not yet) policy in fact had other plans, in addition to doubting France's hegemonic thinking and containing it, there was also a covert maritime cooperation with the German Navy in the North Pacific.

Eric is usually not willing to spend time on red tape such as receiving foreign guests, in addition to analyzing the purpose of foreign guests' visits and explaining how to deal with them, it is generally to let Prime Minister Stresemann go to socialize, and this time the president personally received it, which must be of great significance.

Aynata whispered close to Brauchitsch's ear and said, "The special envoy of the President of France and his entourage, accompanied by Minister Miller. ”

Brauchitsch suddenly realized: "Oh, it's been two days since I came, and yesterday I visited the slums of Berlin. I guess His Excellency the President is likely to completely recalibrate his foreign policy, otherwise he would not have received him personally, which would be very face-saving. ”

It took about two hours for President Eric to walk out of the red carpet in the East Hall with the French presidential envoy, followed by dozens of accompanying officials from Germany and France. Both sides were like old acquaintances, and they talked and laughed freely, which proved that the talks went very relaxed and pleasant. Brauchitsch and Rundstedt hurriedly stood and watched, and then the Mercedes drove slowly up to the welcome desk, and the guards stepped forward to open the door...... President Eric stood still until the French presidential envoy got into the car, waved his hand, and then silently escorted the motorcade out of the presidential palace.

Eric looked back and saw Brauchitsch and Rundstedt, and knew that they must have been waiting in the parlor for a long time, and hurriedly beckoned them to his study. Talking in the study is like a code word, which only the officials who usually have the closest contact with the president understand, and it is also one of the highest forms of Eric's secret rank, and it is not a place where everyone can enter as soon as he wants. Eric felt that the two military commanders asked to see at the same time, and the matter must not be trivial.

It turned out that under the influence of President Eric, Major General Guderian once again drew drawings of a new land combat tank to the Army Weapons Agency, the overall design of which had basic similarities with the German Type III tank, which had successfully entered the international market, but was very different in terms of weapons, and belonged to a large-caliber gun that formed a high and low match with the existing German Type III tank. This medium tank, jointly developed by national weapons experts, is likely to pose a greater threat to the armored forces of France and Britain. From the point of view of design purpose, this tank weighing 24 tons, with a maximum speed of 35 kilometers per hour, and equipped with a high-caliber single-barreled gun, can fire high-penetration armor-piercing shells, which can effectively destroy enemy heavy tanks and cover the continuous killing of enemy infantry by German Type III tanks in tank battles.

Eric took this tank very seriously, and was especially interested in armor-piercing shells. In the Battle of the Somme, if the German army had considered armor-piercing first, the outcome of the battlefield could have been rewritten. The trio continued to carefully study every detail on the drawings, and in some places they were optimized again, and finally Eric made a final decision, because the new tank was an improved version of the German Type III tank, so it was tentatively named the Type IIIA tank, and it was decided to start construction in Dresden immediately.

As for whether this tank is aimed at Britain or France, a consensus must be formed within the military that the military-industrial development of the German Confederation is not aimed at specific countries, especially neighboring France. To this end, Eric spoke his own thoughts: "Gentlemen, don't you understand why I say that? In this way, if the French visit was also a compromise with Germany, then the interests of the British were aimed at maritime supremacy, while the interests of the French were on the European continent, and although the two countries were ideologically different, they also had various similarities. The interests of these two countries cannot be openly expressed in policy, or even accepted by the masses, but at a critical moment in the historical process, their positive side will arise. Listen, gentlemen, the radicalization of public opinion, the compromisers have to evolve into a secret war, which is likely to directly lead to the emergence of contradictions between the great powers. I tell you, in the field of diplomacy, this change of order is worse than the worst of foreign policy. Therefore, we must also adapt to the changes of the times, do not take the initiative to set hostile targets, and do not deliberately avoid hostile targets, because the world is changing, and there will be no eternal enemies and no eternal friends. ”

Brauchitsch and Rundstedt did not understand what the president meant: "Your Excellency, do you mean that from now on we are going to look at the French as friends?" ”

Eric smiled and said, "You're right, at least for now. The USSR was not our friend, but we were also quietly engaged in economic cooperation with the USSR, grossly violating the Berlin Peace Treaty, and who knows if the French and British did this? In the final analysis, this is all forced by interests. When we do business with the Soviets, the British and French intelligence agencies must know everything about it, but they just don't want to completely tear their faces apart. In the past, the French always blamed the British for their appeasement of Germany, but now that they have come, is this not a compromise? Therefore, it makes sense that our weapons cannot be directly targeted at a specific country. ”

Brauchitsch asked suspiciously: "Your Excellency, according to your analysis, is it necessary for the German Coalition to be ready for war at any time?" ”

Eric knew that he had opened the words he had said a few days ago: "Your Excellency, there is nothing wrong with being ready to fight at any time, but it does not mean that there will be war at all times, and I asked the Wehrmacht to be ready for war at any time because I want the United States, Britain, France and other countries to think that we are vulnerable, and it is better not to touch such a fragile country, otherwise it will ...... You can guess the result. ”

Rundstedt was not interested in politics, and while Eric and Brauchitsch were talking, he was preoccupied with the latest tank design. Eric smiled and said: "Marshal Rundstedt is very good, the wind does not blow, the thunder does not move, the whole mind is on the construction of the army, it is very commendable, of course, you are also very good Brauchitsch." ”

While the three of them were talking, Chancellor Stresemann came over: "Your Excellency the President, may I come in?" ”

Eric said, "Oh, great, my Excellency, I thought you were busy with politics, so I didn't bother you. In this case, you have worked with Foreign Minister Mr. Miller to draft a "Joint Proclamation on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Germany and France", carefully study it with the Special Envoy of the President of France, make some changes that are acceptable to both sides, and then choose a suitable time for the national broadcast. ”

"Your Excellency the President, the draft proclamation has been prepared, and I would like to let Mr. President look at it when discussing it with France, and if there are no different opinions, we can proceed to the procedure of joint consultation with the French envoy." After that, he put the original manuscript of the "announcement" on Eric's copy.

Eric was very happy and said: "Very well, Your Excellency Prime Minister Tremeselmann, I will review it soon, and I hope the French will be as serious as we are." ”

Hearing Eric's comments on the French representative, Stresemann found that the president seemed to be a little less convinced of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and France, so he asked: "Your Excellency, can you tell us what you think at this time, there is no one else here, we are all willing to listen to it." ”

Eric actually wanted them to know the real purpose of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and France, so he said: "Now, the world economy is very sluggish, the situation in the United States is also very bad, the global cake has been eaten almost by the great powers, and the rest is some scum that fell on the ground, if the French blindly quarrel with Germany, then they will have fewer friends on the European continent, as we all know, Germany has a great positive impact on its neighbors with high and new technology, and France's eyesight is not bad, of course, it is not willing to be lonely." Moreover, the British side has always adopted a policy of appeasement towards Germany, and will more or less beat France, the French are not stupid, and they also know how to unite those who should be united. We're just catching up with the time now. In this way, you will first handle the affairs of the two countries, and the rest of the articles will be done by the state."

Stresemann's thoughts did not differ much from the president's, so he went on to tell the president a very surprising message: "Poland is now at a standoff with the Soviet Union, and it seems that there is a possibility of the two countries fighting each other, and if Mr. President is willing to receive Polish guests, I will let them come to the presidential palace tomorrow."