The first country visited by the new French Prime Minister Paul Dume after taking office was Germany, and different countries have different understandings, the United States, Britain and other countries feel incredible, the French think it is an icebreaker, and the Germans are neither warm nor lukewarm because they do not understand the purpose of the French visit.

The reaction of the German people to the French Prime Minister's trip was not strong, after the First World War, including the former French Prime Minister Clemenceau visited Germany many times for the issue of reparations and borders, but never brought a friendly opportunity to Germany, but continued troubles, after a few years, the French Prime Minister's visit to Germany as a state affair is the first time, more or less contains a trace of positive aspects.

Eric also thought that if you want to develop the economy, you should first have a good surrounding environment, France chokes the Mediterranean Sea in the south of Europe, sings and makes peace with the British, and blocks the English Channel in the west, which also poses a great threat to Germany, so although the people are not optimistic about France, France is the most important bilateral relationship that Germany must face.

Eric knew little about Paul Dume, but he was so distazed by his diplomatic style that he invited Stresemann to the Hansa Felter Palace overnight to discuss the purpose of the French trip.

Eric stated the general situation of the meeting with Dumei and the content of the conversation, Stresemann was silent for a long time, thoughtful, and waited for Eric to take out the snow and add some points, Stresemann said confidently: "Dumei is a practical person, and he can not handle East Asian affairs as freely as Britain in many cases only by virtue of his French status, but this person has done a very good job abroad, which shows that Dumei is not as rigid and mean as his predecessor, and it is obvious that this time he took Germany as the first stop of his visit after taking office, Undoubtedly, with sincerity, Mr. President, I may wish to have a deep discussion with him, but of course, this is only my own opinion and opinion for Mr. President's reference. ”

Eric agreed with Stresemann's sentiments, and a phone call from the hidden front reflected the situation. After hanging up the phone, Eric carefully checked the relevant information sent back by the French hidden front. It is true that as Stresemann estimated, Dume should extend a friendly hand to Germany, but the intelligence and the few judgments at hand do not tell the whole story, and all speculations will have to wait for the next conversation to corroborate.

"Do you think it's possible for him to make any demands on Lorraine and Saar?" Stresemann felt that this possibility was very high, and among the German-French contradictions, the Lorraine and Saar problems were the most serious.

"The question is, what does he want? Important place? Need? Want money? Want to mine? "It's not that Eric didn't think of this question" We might as well think about it first, see what he wants, it's impossible to promise him everything, so what's the point of us occupying this place." ”

"Let the mine workers go on strike temporarily?" Eric and Stresemann looked at each other after thinking for a moment, smiled and said in unison. The two often have this unexpected understanding, which is why Eric sometimes can't do without Stresemann.

"Your Excellency, this is something you can only do yourself," Eric said.

"I'm here to help." Stresemann smiled, knowing very well in his heart that Eric intended to hand over this job of making political achievements and increasing his face to himself, which can also be understood sideways as a plan for his re-election.

Stresemann, who had already gone out, suddenly remembered something again, and turned back and asked, "Dear Mr. President, please make it clear what Mr. Hans Luther should arrange?" ”

"You put this matter aside first, and deal with the previous matter. As for Hans, I don't think it's a bad thing to sharpen it more, it's easy to fight the country, but it's hard to defend the country, and it's useful to have him. Eric does not deny Hans Luther's ability, but although there are many people who can be qualified for the post of chancellor, the key is that it is very difficult to find someone from the Federalist who knows himself as well as Stresemann, which is the most crucial.

With a few soft knocks on the door, Ananta entered. Stresemann noticed that the young and beautiful head of the presidential office seemed to have something important to discuss with the president, so he took his leave and left.

The Pindus Mountains are the last mountain range in the southern Balkans, ending in the Peloponnese and the military and political center of Greece. Since Turkey took the initiative for the first time since the war with Greece, because Germany was behind it, although the Greek army finally stifled the Turkish army's attack, the scope of its own activities has been significantly reduced.

After the annexation of the Yugoslav states and Albania to Germany, Germany and Greece had a direct border of about 100 kilometres. In order not to misunderstand, the Wehrmacht stationed on this border line only in the state of border guards, and the former Albanian border guards were responsible for the border defense in the early stage, with a total of less than 40,000 men, and most of the troops lacked the necessary equipment and supplies. Because there is still a lot of work to be done after the annexation of the countries, the reorganization, training, and deployment of the troops have not yet been put on the agenda. At present, the army here does not even have a few machine guns, although it has a lot of artillery, but it is all Wanguo brand, and there is only one that can fire.

Artillery is not a weapon that every country can afford, especially in Europe in 1921, the requirements for craftsmanship are extremely strict, which takes Germany's Krupp as an example in this regard, the specifications of the shells are shot according to the number, and the specifications of the shells are set according to the wear and tear of the experimental model to ensure that the probability of mute fire is minimized.

On April 3, when Stresemann was receiving the new French Prime Minister Dume as a state guest, when talking about the labor strikes in Lorraine and Saarland, the staff of the Prime Minister's Office walked in and whispered a few words in Stresemann's ear.

The look of the staff made Du Mei very puzzled, and seeing Stresemann's anxious appearance, he guessed that something must be wrong. At this time, Defense Minister Brauchitsch pushed the door in and said: "Your Excellency Prime Minister Dume, I am very sorry to disturb you. The sudden exchange of fire between the Greek border guards and the defenders of our Albanian state must now ask Prime Minister Stresemann to immediately send a note to the embassies of the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Greece in Germany, and to urgently discuss with Mr. President! ”

"Your Excellency the Honorable Prime Minister Dume, no matter how much Germany has a holiday with your country, it is all in the past, and it would be too inauthentic for you to stumble us behind our backs." Stresemann was stunned for a moment, and his eyes stared at Prime Minister Dume suspiciously, as if he suspected that Dume's visit was a delaying tactic, and that it was clearly a state visit, but in fact he was secretly supporting Greece to occupy the Albanian region in order to weaken Germany's power and territorial integrity.

"Why did the Prime Minister look at me like this, I just learned about it, but I can guarantee that this is definitely not what France meant, I swear to God Almighty!" It was no coincidence that while he was trying to resolve the long-standing contradictions between Germany and France, Italy began to make trouble without squeaking, and he guessed that Italy might have instigated Greece.

"Italy?" Du Mei then thought of this country, wishing that Germany would be as chaotic as possible. Then he vetoed his speculation, what are you kidding, Italy has just been ceded by Germany and asked for peace, France is negotiating a solution with Germany, and Italy will not start a war again as long as it is not a pig's brain.

"It can't be that Vinizelos sends an army as soon as his brain is hot, right?" Stresemann was really depressed, Germany and Greece were not at war, and Greece's behavior was the same as not declaring war.

Dume made an incomprehensible move, and was also very puzzled by this behavior of Greece.

"Mr. Minister, why are people calling me and asking me what I am doing? The soldiers are coming! Stresemann then lost his temper at Brauchitsch, obviously dissatisfied with the fact that at the end of his term of office, there was an attack on Germany by other countries for no reason, and he fought as much as he wanted, so that he would lose face and make Germany lose face.

Brauchitsch did not refute either, but motioned for him to come up with a plan, because the war would increase military spending.

"Tell me, how bad is it?" Stresemann motioned for Brauchitsch to sit down and talk.

"The guess of the United Front Work Department is that if we don't send troops quickly, it is very possible to lose the whole of Yugoslavia." Brauchitsch's data also comes from the United Front Work Department, which has management power, not command power, and uses the United Front Work Department as the supreme command during the war. In peacetime, the Ministry of Defense conducts administrative work, so the Minister of Defense looks great, but once the power is divided, nothing will work.

"Preparations for war must be shortened, and there must be military supplies, and you can now simplify all procedures." Stresemann spoke very briefly, but pointed out the big topics, which involved the efficiency of the Wehrmacht's mobilization, the way of reinforcement, the timing of the dispatch of troops, the coordination of railways, and so on.

"The non-aggression pact between the two countries has just been signed with the Soviet Union, and the United Front Work Department means that the garrison in the east can be deployed, and 9 divisions are enough. Two days to Zagreb. Brauchitsch replied succinctly.

"Two days to Zagreb?" Stresemann then scoffed: "Are you kidding me? ”

"No, there is no national railway to these places, it is a hassle to be transferred, from Vienna you have to walk to Ljubljana and then to Split via Zagreb." Brauchitsch then added: "It's not always possible to fly like Mr. President, you just have to find a temporary apron wherever you want." ”

"You dare to think that you want your soldiers to take the presidential plane." Stresemann was furious when he mentioned military spending, and he also airlifted troops in front of him, which was simply a lot of money.

Not to mention airlift, just mobilizing the army requires a lot of money, and Greece is not a rich country, and in the end, it has to share the money with the participating countries, and it must be bloodless. Therefore, Germany never considered the plan to attack Greece proper, because the gains outweighed the losses.

War is not something that can be fought, only fools will do things that are not beneficial, and Germany fighting Greece is simply something that fools can do.

It's just that now it's a forced attack, and it's no longer about economic issues, but about striving to get the greatest benefits at the lowest cost and win back face.

"You go and talk to Hoffman." After speaking, Streismann turned around and asked, "Does Mr. President know about this?" ”

"There is no need for me to report this kind of major event, Mr. President must have known about the innocent attack on the German border by Greece." Brauchitsch quietly reminded Stresemann: "There is also a Federal Intelligence Service in the Hanseatic Palace. ”