On April 2, the sky was clear, but an invisible cloud hung over Spain.

Port of Malaga, southern Spain.

Swish...... Swish...... Swish......

As soon as the sky dawned, the sound of neat and loud leather boots filled the streets of this harbor city. Curious, people opened their windows and saw groups of marching infantry, with gray steel helmets with domed and ear brims, straight and shiny rifles like a forest, neat and thick gray uniforms, and indifferent faces. With their banners covered with large black crosses, striking black vultures, and striking black, white, and red, people suddenly remembered that they all belonged to that distant and feared country.

At the front of these infantry formations, officers on horseback held their chests high, their eyes looking ahead with extreme indifference.

In the harbor, more than a dozen warships were quietly moored. The gray-painted hull was simple and mighty, the flags fluttered in the wind, the thick barrels protruding from the solid turrets, and the black holes of the guns wordlessly surveyed everything on the docks.

On the ships of various countries docked in the harbor, the captains, sailors and the citizens of Malaga witnessed the strict appearance of the German ** team. For the next few days, such a procession passed through the city every day, followed by rumbling steel chariots, terrifying artillery, and sturdy horses, and the warships came and went as if they had returned to their own harbors, and they came and went as they pleased.

Behind the name of this port, Huo Ran wrote "lease" at this time.

Soon, the regiments that landed in Malaga received a notification from the German army headquarters that they were officially named the "Gibraltar Corps". Captain Ollie? Lieutenant General Kahn, Chief of the General Staff, Colonel von Aham, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Major Rommel. With 22 fighters, 21 attack aircraft, 45 bombers, 6 airships and a number of observation balloons, the Legion Aviation Unit was commanded by Air Force Colonel Paul Brown. Sauken is in charge.

The high-spirited and well-equipped regiment did not immediately leave for Gibraltar, a hundred miles away, and after sending an advance force to join Kleist's marines, Ollie had his men camp a few kilometres north of the port of Malaga, where the equipment for unloading was subsequently transported.

The escort battle cruiser "Goeben" and the other cruisers, the Kankan auxiliary cruisers, and the Kankan destroyers were subsequently ordered by the Admiralty to officially become the "Gibraltar Fleet". Williams, Vice Admiral Sorochin served as commander of the fleet.

Thick rain clouds hung over Berlin.

In a large conference room in the Palace, on the wall behind the master hung a huge strategic map, on which a considerable area on the north and south sides of the Strait of Gibraltar was marked in blue, and the entire Strait of Gibraltar was under the control of this blue area.

"Full control of the Strait of Gibraltar sounds good, although no country will raise a strong objection, but it is clearly not in the interests of all countries, especially our Austro-Hungarian neighbors! They are clearly not happy about the series of operations in which we have built a sizable Mediterranean Fleet, built a strong fortress in Tunisia and attacked the fortress of Gibraltar. Yesterday. I received a letter from Emperor Joseph that he thought that with the naval might of Austria-Hungary it was more than enough to protect the ships and transport lines of the Allied countries in the Mediterranean, and that we in Germany could devote our energies to the British! Chen Tian said in a flat tone, just two days ago, General Roque, the commander of the British army in the fortress of Gibraltar, proposed an armistice, and hoped that the German government would allow him and his soldiers to leave the fortress with dignity and return to the mainland. Despite a few hiccups in between, the Gibraltar plan was a success.

"Your Majesty! As far as I know, Emperor Joseph's ministers were very dissatisfied with the peace talks with the Italians, and they thought that we had limited the benefits to which they were entitled. Right now. There are many voices in the Imperial Palace in Vienna that are not in favor of our country. Emperor Joseph didn't have to worry too much about it. The key lies in their crown princes. Last week, at a private banquet attended by a number of high-ranking Austro-Hungarian generals, he declared that the greatest threat to the future of Austria-Hungary had shifted from the east to the west. This is not a good phenomenon for our country! ”

Speaking was the Reich Foreign Minister Gustav Tremelmann, a staunch supporter of the Reich's policy of expansion. After taking office, in the face of a large number of complicated affairs in the foreign affairs of the empire, this middle-aged man is said to have only slept 2 hours a day, and has lost 10,000 pounds of weight in two months.

"Expected! It was a strange country, perhaps it was music that made them special, love was far more important than the throne, and the rulers neither cared nor united its various peoples, and in their armies Germanic officers were the majority. But the officers often failed to make his words understand the mess of people he had gathered. Chen Tian commented on the unusually large dualistic monarchy in an incomprehensible tone and a slight mockery, and all that interested him was the rich Austria, the Skoda Arsenal comparable to Krupp, and the powerful navy.

After a pause, Chen Tian turned to Bateman on the side, "My dear Prime Minister, from your point of view, what is the situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire?" I mean, the interior, industry and agriculture, the economy and people's livelihood. ”

This old man with a slender melon seed face, gray hair and beard, and a rather sharp gaze is good at internal affairs, and even Chen Tian has a lot of respect for him in this regard. It's just that compared to a political veteran like Bismarck, Bateman is only a high-ranking civil servant - both in ability and temperament. He did not have Bismarck's political skill and domineering.

"Back to Your Majesty, at the overall level of this country, what they have is a terrible civilian and military industry, a terrible government efficiency, a terrible financial system, and it is terrible in every way!" Bateman gave a direct evaluation that the key to the existence of that dual monarchy was not the system, but the role of Emperor Joseph in it. The old emperor was both king of Austria and king of Hungary, Austria had its own government and parliament, and Hungary was the same, and the empire had a common central government, so the efficiency of such an intricate institution can be imagined. In contrast, Germany's polity, while somewhat similar, was much more efficient and efficient than that of Austria-Hungary, and although it was still a long way from true unification (the Führer's Third Reich), it was the best system that was currently possible.

"Bad army!" General Hausen unceremoniously added that the general, who had recently returned to Berlin from Italy, had plenty of say in the Austro-Hungarian army. "The level of organization, morale and equipment of the Austro-Hungarian army is completely inconsistent with their title of great power! Excluding the factors of generals and geography, their combat effectiveness is not even comparable to that of the Russian ** team! ”

On the Apennine Peninsula, the German, Austrian, and Italian armies fought against each other for all to see.

After listening to the speeches of the two, people couldn't help but think about it.

After seeing everyone's thoughts, Chen Tian reminded: "War is not omnipotent! As I said before, Britain will be our last enemy in this war! Half a year of war has already consumed our great financial resources and resources, and our country needs to cultivate. Our new colonies need to be consolidated and developed! ”

At this time, Generalissimo Tirpitz stood up and said in a soothing tone:

"Your Majesty is right, I don't think we can be too tough on Spain and the Strait of Gibraltar! The Spanish government should leave some leeway there, and it should also leave some favor for Emperor Joseph, and we had better not add any more enemies to ourselves until the British are dealt with! ”

Rupresit nodded slightly, and until he left office, he was still the face of the Army.

Chen Tian looked around, and the ministers and generals present seemed to have no objections.

"Hmm. Very good! It should be actively co-opted. If you threaten it, you can't be soft, and if you should use both grace and power, use carrots and sticks! Let the Russians and Turks also join in the administration of the Strait of Gibraltar, and we can form a coalition of troops from the four countries plus Spain to garrison both sides of Gibraltar. Day-to-day affairs are decided by the representatives of the five countries through consultation, and the voting system is sufficient! ”

In this regard, everyone unanimously agreed.

"Your Majesty, with regard to the plan for the construction of a new Gibraltar fortress, the initial budget is 6.2 million marks, will it be allocated by the War Department, or will the War Office and the Admiralty be jointly responsible?"

The "Fortress ......" Chentian had hoped to follow the example of the British in rebuilding a strong, modern fortress on the Mount of Gibraltar and stationing a sizable fleet in the port of Gibraltar, but now the situation has changed when the German marines are attacked by the British due to a mutiny in the Spanish army. The German government exerted pressure on the Spanish government, and the Spanish government was forced to make concessions on a number of issues in the Strait of Gibraltar, which was the main reason for the Imperial Council of Chentian.

"It is still necessary to build a fortress, after all, warships and planes are not guaranteed to sail in any weather conditions! However......" Chen Tian looked at Rupresit, and then at Tirpitz, "I know that the budget of the War Department and the Navy Department is quite tight at present, and the War Department needs to prepare a large amount of materials for the 'sinking island' operation plan, and also allocate a considerable amount of funds for the compensation of the casualties and officers, and the Navy has already exceeded the budget in building and repairing warships!" So. Just allocate 5 million marks from the first instalment of the French government, and then I personally contribute 1.2 million marks, and now this is all I can do! ”

"Your Majesty......" The ministers seemed to think it was inappropriate.

In fact, during the war, Chen Tian's arsenals, oil refineries and shipyards continued to be at full capacity, and the profits from these industries had already made him a lot of money, and according to incomplete statistics, he was already the richest emperor in Europe when he ascended the throne. What's more, after ascending to the throne, pure wealth no longer means much to him. He waved his hand generously, "No more talk!" I just hope that you can do more for the country! ”

"Yes!" Most of the crowd looked in reverence.

At this imperial meeting, attended by a large number of cabinet ministers and army and navy generals, Germany's next strategy was decided, and the ministers and generals were largely given their new tasks.

In the afternoon of the same day, a joint operational meeting of the army and navy was held under the chairmanship of Chentian. Army generals reported on the preparations for the "Sunken Island" operation plan. The so-called "sinking islands" is not to sink the British Isles, but to eliminate the political influence of this island country that once dominated the world, and the plan is divided into two aspects: psychological warfare and actual warfare.

"Our men have begun to spread the word widely in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as planned, and after many years, there are really not many Jacobite supporters now! But with this name, we can at least greatly disturb the hearts of the British people! We are preparing to hold a Jacobite rally in London at the end of this month, two weeks later, to demand that James II's descendant, the rightful heir to the British throne, be the new King of England! Ruppresit's assistant, Major General Hoult of the Army General Staff, delivered the latest report.

"The deployment of the landing armies has been completed, we still need 10-15 days to make final preparations, and when the ammunition and supplies are ready, we can launch a general offensive! Now, with a great advantage in numbers, equipment, and morale, and with the assistance of heavy artillery, armoured forces, and naval air forces, the British front will soon collapse! As for myself, I will be in the UK in person in early May! Rupresit, who has been distracted in recent days by British affairs, has not forgotten his present duties, and as "the rightful heir to the British throne," he will soon step down as Minister of War and Chief of the Army Staff. After consulting with Ruprechit and Ruprechit's father, King Ludwig III of Bavaria, Chentian decided to make Rupresit the new ruler of England after the defeat of England, namely "King Robert I of England" and "King Robert IV of Scotland". Maria? Luigpold. As for the new Minister of War and Chief of the Army General Staff, the top brass was inclined to choose between Hindenburg, Hausen and Bilow. General Bilo, who is currently a staunch supporter of Tatsuten's coup d'état, is the most likely candidate to become Minister of War, and the Chief of the General Staff is chosen from among the remaining two.

"There is no longer a complete city in the east and south of England, east and north of Scotland!" Imperial Admiral and Chief of the Naval Staff Pol proudly said that after cooperating with the army to capture Plymouth, the Scheer fleet successively shelled the remaining port cities in southern England, while the Heydrich fleet went north along the coastline of eastern England, bombarding dozens of coastal cities of all sizes along the way, and the only remaining 20 or so batteries were also uprooted one by one. After that, the German Admiralty and the War Office also released rumors that the German ** team would carry out a large-scale landing operation in Scotland.

"Excellent! Our 'sunken island' operation is scheduled for ...... Conducted on the first day of May! Chen Tian finally made a decision.