The smoke of the Battle of Jutland in 1916 had not yet dissipated, and Britain's naval power had left an indelible impression on the Germans. Soon after Adrian stepped down, Hindenburg began to seize power aggressively, and Wilhelm II's insistence did not seem to have helped. Adrian was far away in Hanover, but he also knew that Wilhelm II was now thinking about peace, and hoped that Hindenburg would deal a blow to the Anglo-French forces and ensure that the peace talks could be carried out under the most favorable conditions possible. To his surprise, the unrestricted submarine war lasted less than a month, causing the whole of Europe to be dissatisfied with Germany, and some countries that could have given Germany land transportation lines said that if Germany did not cancel the operation, they would break off diplomatic relations. Kaiser Wilhelm II did not dare to slack off and approached Hindenburg to negotiate the cancellation, but the latter considered this operation to be crucial, and whether the peace talks of the Reich could continue depended on this move.

Churchill, the Minister of the Admiralty, was dismissed from his post for failing to command the attack on the Ottoman Turkish Empire, resulting in heavy casualties among the Imperial officers. Churchill then went to the Western Front, led his soldiers to resist many German attacks and was awarded, and returned to the Admiralty as Secretary of the Navy. At a time when everyone was worried about the unrestricted submarine war launched by Germany this time, Churchill was very happy, and his performance naturally aroused everyone's suspicions. After Churchill's confusion, everyone reacted.

Even before the start of the Unrestricted Submarine War, the British First Sea Lord, John Jellicoe, had already submitted a report to the Secretary of the Admiralty, in which he gave pessimistic examples of the absence of strategic logistics. and warned the British Imperial Government that if its strategy was based on unsecured lines of communication, the outcome of its war would be tragic. Even if measures are taken in their current form, a crushing victory is inevitable. And the current policy is leading directly to a fiasco, and the fate of the subjects of the British Empire is not far off.

Jericho's fame at Jutland was on a par with Churchill, the Lord of the Admiralty, but the two men seemed to have different strategic approaches. The two people, who were originally incompatible, seemed extremely consistent in this report. The British Imperial Government attached great importance to it and began to requisition civilian ships, merchant ships, and renovate weapons and equipment. Minesweepers and frigates were added and renovated, and anti-submarine ships were invested.

The biggest losses in this unrestricted submarine war were the United States and the American capitalists, whose capital was basically diverted to the production of military supplies after they were fully engaged in production and equipment modification. With the start of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare, U.S. exports have fallen sharply, and domestic anti-war voices have become less and less violent. The transport ships ordered by the British in the United States are launched on both sides of the United States and then loaded directly at the port for shipment to the United Kingdom, which is one way, and the other is that the Americans bear the transportation. As anti-war voices intensified, the President of the United States ordered that the American flag should not be flowned, and this tactic was stopped. However, the reduction of transport ships meant a relative decrease in exports, and the money-loving Americans began to hate Germany at this time. Several incidents of deaths and injuries of American citizens have also constantly refreshed the United States' hatred of Germany, but Hindenburg turned a blind eye and continued to engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.

Eric Adrian, after being dismissed, returned with his wife to Augustus Castle outside Hanover, at first accompanied Augustus II to live a life of seclusion in the mountains, and then because he was idle, he began to deal with the administrative affairs of Lower Saxony with Augustus III, and he was responsible for the training of the reserve forces in Lower Saxony and served as commander. He also worked part-time as Chief of the Regional Police of Lower Saxony. Life was not bad, and Augustus III was glad that his wise decision had made it much easier for him. Looking at his son-in-law, he looked down on him at first, but after a few contacts, he was also attracted by his personality charm. On the battlefield, the temperament honed by the former chief of the general staff under one person, easy-going without losing his majesty, extraordinary conversation and knowledge, friendly and able to distinguish good from bad, well-received in life, and in less than three months he mingled with the officials and people of Lower Saxony. Augustus III could already foresee that his retirement would be pleasant and comfortable. And Sylna rarely interfered in the affairs of the Eric Group after following Adrian home.

Sylna said softly while taking care of Adrian's bow tie, "You don't actually need to attend today's party, it's mainly some ordinary friends. ”

Adrian laughed unconsciously when he heard Syla say that all the friends who came today were ordinary friends, since the two got married, Adrian would tell Syla no matter how big or small, even why he was going to attend the meeting today, he didn't plan to hide it, and said directly: "Wife, don't doubt my vision." ”

Sheena had long been accustomed to Adrian's frivolity, and patted Adrian's shoulder a few times before saying: "I'm not questioning your vision, it's just that you didn't attend much of the party before, and every time you ask me to give you a list of attendees, this time the list is not as good as the last time, why are you so concerned?" Sylna raised her doubts, knowing that Adrian participated in every party selectively, and the guests this time were not even middle-level, many of them were opposition parties and democrats.

Adrian knew that Hilna had this question, and immediately said: "It is true that there are many people who are unofficial and unofficial in this visit, but we can't make friends like this, we have to take a long-term view." ”

After hearing this, Sylna asked, "Long-term?" How long-term? ”

Adrian secretly said: "Call me husband, and I'll tell you!" Hey! Adrian said mischievously, "Remember if I taught you." ”

Sylna knew that Adrian was going to break it again, and she didn't care about him and wanted to go out, how could Adrian let her go and grab her and kiss her. It's really that Sylna is dressed so beautifully today, a bareback dress scratches Adri's peace of mind, but when Adrian just got up and down, Sylna said while panting: "Don't! I... I'm pregnant. ”

Well? Pregnant? Adrian first froze, then shouted, "Me! I'm going to be a dad?! ”

This voice alarmed the whole castle, and the first to rush in was Sylna's mother, then her grandfather, and only Augustus III, who was still working in the administrative office, did not hear this exclamation.

Everyone was immersed in this joyful atmosphere, and the haze of Adrian's dismissal was left behind everyone. At this moment, a middle-aged man in his forties quietly came to Adrian's side, touched him, and whispered, "This is a telegram from General Brauchitsch. ”

Although Adrian was removed, his influence is still there, especially the generals in the army who he picked up at the beginning are even more desperate to believe in Adrian. Among the generals in the army, led by Max Hoffmann and Rundstedt, they were always centered on Adrian. This time the telegram was sent by Hoffmann to Brauchitsch to Adrian.

The telegram that Adrian got was an encrypted one, which had not yet been cracked, but there was not much Morse code on it, and Adrian's original grinning mouth first calmed down after seeing this short row of codes, and then there was a burst of laughter: "Call back to tell Hans Kruger that the United States' entry into the war has nothing to do with us, and what we have to do is to continue to infiltrate the intelligence of non-partisan entrepreneurs and several key parties." ”

That's right, Adrian got the telegram that the United States had entered the war, and Hoffmann, who was the commander-in-chief of the Western Front, quickly informed Brauchitsch, who was serving in the Berlin General Staff, that the latter understood Hoffman's intentions and passed the code agreed upon at that time to Adrian.

The entry of the United States into the war finally dashed the German people's hopes for victory in the war again, and this blow was not a physical but a mental blow. Extremely weakened the morale of the Germans, Hindenburg, who had planned to draw up a new offensive plan on the Western Front, immediately handed over the still imprecise battle plan to Hoffmann for execution. A flesh-and-blood fight for life is coming.