"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness the Prince, an urgent telegram from Hipper!" Just as Ruprecht and the Kaiser were preparing to have dinner with the Austro-Hungarian delegates, Tirpitz's arrival surprised everyone.

"General House is the representative of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and we have nothing to hide from our allies." Looking at the Admiralt, who was about to speak, Wilhelm II said displeasedly.

"Your Majesty, Colonel Hipper's fleet encountered the French Navy when it landed near Cabinda, and an exchange of fire ensued."

With a snap, the glass in the Kaiser's hand was slammed onto the table. Crimson wine spilled on the table. "These abominable Frenchmen! How dare they come! What was the outcome of the battle? ”

"Under the command of Colonel Hipper, the Marquis Bismarck and the Hamburg succeeded in destroying the French battleship Charlemagne, the 1st class cruiser Lane Ryder, and the 2nd class cruiser Descartes. The losses of our fleet are not large, and as long as we can get ammunition replenishment, we will soon be able to regain combat effectiveness. Tirpitz replied.

"Sss It's a bit of a big deal! Although the Kaiser hated the French very much, he didn't expect that the German navy's attack this time was too sharp! originally thought that at most, it would be enough for both sides to fire two cannons, but who knew that Hippert actually killed the three French battleships cleanly! It also includes the future flagship of the French Atlantic Fleet, the Charlemagne!

"Prince Ruprecht, I suddenly find that the battleship is too powerful and sometimes quite annoying." The Kaiser looked at the prince next to him with some embarrassment.

"Hipper is not a reckless man, and the victor is not to blame, Tirpitz, tell me the whole story in detail." The prince said calmly, as if he were not talking about an event that caused enough uproar, but about how tonight's dinner would be.

It took Tirpitz about half an hour to finally explain the whole thing, and in any case it was made possible by various unexpected conditions. The French strayed into a minefield, then they were bombed, then the highly nervous French miscalculated, and then the two sides fought, and the French lost in minutes.

"Major General House, I'm sorry, we need to talk about it tomorrow, but we still hope that you will keep this secret, because this matter is too big." After receiving the Kaiser's signal, Ruprecht said to the Austro-Hungarian naval representative, Rear Admiral Haus. The latter had not yet recovered from the shocking news, but then he expressed his willingness to comply with the German government's arrangement.

"Let Kalipme and Schlieffen come here at once. And the Marquis Bismarck, I need to hear his opinion. Tirpitz, you can go out for a while. A moment later, the Kaiser ordered.

"This matter is beyond our original plan, we are only planning to target Portugal, and we are not ready for war with France, and when this incident breaks out, it will be difficult for us to ride the tiger! And how are you going to solve this problem? The Kaiser said with great dissatisfaction.

"We weren't prepared, the French weren't ready, and the French were fighting for the Portuguese and us? It's impossible. The most important thing is that we won the war, and easily inflicted heavy damage on the French fleet! This makes the French even more suspicious. As long as we don't do anything drastic, the French won't take action anytime soon. The prince said.

"I've gambled almost everything I have for this operation, and I hope to get this way through, whether it's a glorious victory or a defeat, and I hope that until the last minute, you'll always have my back." The prince said with a bow.

"Do we need to do something to prepare? For example, the army side transferred some troops to the border? In the face of the request of his good friend and most powerful assistant, the Kaiser could not make a decision to change the general at this time. On the one hand, the situation did not allow it, and on the other hand, after Bismarck's success, he could not find anyone who could lead the overall situation for a while.

"The army does not need to make much preparation, the terrain of the Alsace-Lorraine region is not conducive to attacking the fortifications, and we can defend with very few troops. On the northern route, we don't have much of a border with France, with Belgium and the Netherlands in between. The French did not dare to cross these two countries to attack ours. And even if we fight, we are not afraid. The prince paused.

"There are two things we need to do right now, first, to send a signal to France through a third country that the two sides are willing to talk about certain issues. I think the French should also know that it was an accident, and the result of this accident is a disgrace to France, and they will not speak out about it. ”

"Second, if France has the support of other countries, then we must be prepared for deterrence, on the one hand, we must inform Austria-Hungary of this matter, and obtain their diplomatic support, and at the same time, the Guild fleet must be ready for battle, the French will not take more than a week to deal with this matter, I hope that the entire fleet can be ready for war within 5 days!"

"You're going to war with the French?" Wilhelm II said in surprise.

"No, our first target is Portugal, we need to drive our fleet outside Lisbon, like the British in 1891, and force the other side to submit with naval guns!" The prince said resolutely!

"Our main opponent is France, as long as France submits, Portugal has no chance to resist!" Wilhelm II said with some puzzlement.

"No, we have to be sure of one thing now, and that is that the conflict between us and France is completely accidental and can be resolved through negotiations, and that the root of this matter lies in the war between Germany and Portugal, and if we can force Portugal to admit defeat as soon as possible, then all problems will be solved. This is fundamental, and if we solve this, we will have an advantage in the potential. ”

"On the other hand, if we do everything against France, then it will cause the intervention of Britain and Russia, who can allow a small country to be bullied, but will never allow the fundamentals of Europe to be shaken! As soon as our fleet reaches the sea off Lisbon, Portugal will succumb in three days! And France has no reason to confront us, after all, it was an accident! No one would go to war with a great power over a misunderstanding. The prince said firmly.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Your Excellency the Prime Minister of the Reich and Chief of the General Staff of the Army has arrived, and the Marquis Bismarck will be back in half an hour." The sound of a bulletin outside the door temporarily stopped the conversation between the two sides.

"Let's go meet them first and hear their opinions." The Kaiser said.

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