"Extra, extra, Kaiser Wilhelm II was assassinated!"

On January 1, 1915, along with the New Year, news of the assassination of the ruler of the German Empire came to the world, and in New York, Washington, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Birmingham, Rome, the first fresh newspapers of the morning were quickly sold out, and people rushed to read the world-shaking news.

What Wilhelm II's death will bring to the world is something that people in different countries have different predictions and expectations.

"That war maniac with polio is finally dead!" British Prime Minister Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief, but when he saw the gloomy face of George V, he suddenly remembered that King George, Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas were cousins with good personal relations, although their countries met each other in the war, but they did not have the slightest idea of putting each other to death, when the Tsar was shipwrecked, William II and George V had expressed their sorrow for Nicholas II, although at this moment Britain had been beaten by Germany and had no power to fight back, George V did not rejoice in his heart, What's more, whether Wilhelm II died or not, the British Empire became an old man who was dying.

"May the Kaiser's death bring peace to the world!" US President Wilson expressed his expectations at the first time, but he was not really a pacifist, but the speed of Germany's military and political expansion terrified him and most American politicians, and that the vast military empire would never be satisfied with a single Britain, and perhaps in the near future, the whole world would be in the pockets of the Germans.

"Dead?" In the new imperial palace in St. Petersburg, Tsar Aglini was not only surprised, but also thinking more about what kind of impact the Kaiser's death would have on Russian-German relations, after all, Russia at this time was a vassal state to join the Allied powers led by Germany. Five months after the outbreak of the Great War, the internal and external wars have greatly damaged Russia's vitality, coupled with the continuous defeat of Russia's foreign wars in the Nikolai era, although Russia's population and land area are still huge, but the strength of the empire is not as good as before, what Aglini needs to do is not only to consolidate the throne, but also to calm the internal and external image, in this case it is very necessary to continue to maintain close relations with Germany in the eyes of the new tsar.

"What? It's unbelievable! In Vienna, the capital of music, the elderly Emperor Joseph was surprised and surprised, more than 5 months ago, the assassination of the Archduchess Ferdinand and his wife had an immeasurable impact on the country, in addition to the terrible war, Joseph also lost the only heir of the empire, the words "assassination" for the Austro-Hungarian emperor who had stepped into the coffin with one leg was simply synonymous with the devil. The emperor felt that his time was short, and the succession of the empire was what he was most worried about.

"Are the German troops still on the offensive? Let's ask for an armistice! "King Victor of Italy. In a meeting with the Cabinet, Emanuel III lamented that Italy was one of the few countries still under fire at the time of the New Year, and that the Allied forces were still advancing towards Rome, and that on this morning, Germany and Austria committed nearly 400,000 troops to begin a fierce attack on the Bologna Line, and although Italy still had a considerable number of troops, the morale of the officers and soldiers was already very low.

"Who dares to provoke that terrible beast?"

The most important thing for those who are neutral and wait-and-see is who will be responsible for this assassination, although Germany has not yet announced the successor to the throne, but the assassination of the Kaiser will definitely not end easily, the assassination of the crown prince of Austria-Hungary has triggered a world war, and people are uneasy about what the death of the Kaiser will bring.

Admiral Heihachiro Togo, who had just returned to the port of Tahiti and had just returned to the port of Tahiti, who had recently led a fleet to "pass by" the U.S. Navy, was also the first to learn of this shocking news, and Togo was more concerned about the attitude of Germany towards the United States and Japan under the leadership of the new emperor. A few days ago, the Japanese fleet and the American fleet encountered in the eastern Pacific Ocean did not clash, but the Japanese admirals led by Togo deeply felt the strength of another powerful navy in this ocean. In the face of the combined fleet composed of the 1st and 2nd Japanese fleets, the tonnage, firepower, and speed of the main warships of the US Pacific Fleet did not fall behind in the slightest, and in terms of numbers, after the main forces of the Pacific Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet converged, the American warships were almost twice as many as the warships in Togo's hands.

Togo, standing on the bridge of the "Mikasa", silently looked at the Japanese warships in the harbor, although many of these battleships were huge and had many guns, but a considerable number of them were old warships that had participated in the Russo-Japanese naval war, and the first-line warships in the hands of the Japanese Navy at this time were the old warships such as Settsu, Kawachi, Aki, and Satsuma. Compared to the navies of the major powers, the Japanese navy had too few Dreadnought-class battleships, and the Pacific region they intended to control was so vast. On the return of the "farewell" to the American fleet, Togo prophesied: "In the near future, the Imperial Navy is bound to fight with it!" ”

This prophecy was also enshrined as a holy word by the Japanese naval commanders, and just like the stimulation brought by the Qing navy at the beginning, the Japanese navy had a new goal.

At 7 o'clock in the morning of 1 January, the special train that Chen Tian and his entourage were taking slowly stopped at a small station near Caen, France, and not far from this small station there was a military airport, where two "Owl" bombers and a small group of "Hummingbird" fighters were dying. At this time, most of the German soldiers had already learned the news of the emperor's death, and everyone had a heavy sadness written on their faces, and when Chentian appeared, the soldiers' eyes were full of reverence and expectation.

When they learned that the Acting Crown Prince would be on his own plane to Berlin, the crew of the "Owl" was so excited that they could hardly speak, and each of them held their chests high and saluted with such sonorous and powerful salutes. Chen Tian chose the "Owl" bomber instead of the civil aircraft for this trip, mainly because the "Owl" was the twin-engine aircraft with the longest range, the highest safety performance, and the best communication equipment in Germany at this time, and its bomb bay could be temporarily converted into a spacious passenger compartment.

Although the facilities in the makeshift cabin were a little rudimentary, Chen Tian was satisfied with the two transmitters, two tables, and a small camp bed, all of which were enough to ensure that he was mentally and physically prepared when he arrived in Berlin.

"Your Highness, we will land in Cologne and refuel on the way, and we are expected to arrive in Berlin in 11 hours!"

The pilot looked very nervous when he spoke, Chen Tian nodded at him silently, he was still very confident in the pilots and planes of the Imperial Air Force. Five minutes later, the fighter was the first to take off, and the bomber where Chen Tian was located also flew off the ground with a roar.

After seeing the group of planes go away, the soldiers on the ground who saw off Chentian began to return to the station under the leadership of the officer.

"Your Highness will be our new Emperor!" A young private with a Mauser rifle on his back followed closely behind his companions.

"Of course! His Highness must have returned to Berlin this time to ascend the throne, and then find out the murderer of the Emperor, I think it must be an assassin sent by the damned British! "It was a bearded corporal who also carried a Mauser rifle on his back.

"Your Highness is so young!" The other private's words were full of pride, and in his opinion, although he had never met Wilhelm II in his life, it would be nice to be able to meet the future emperor.

"This is nothing, His Majesty was only 29 years old when he ascended the throne!" An older sergeant said disapprovingly, the sadness they had when they learned of the emperor's assassination in the morning seemed to have been swept away with the appearance of Chentian.

"What envy! I don't know if the old emperor is better, or the new emperor is better! At first, the private muttered under his breath.

"Ahem...... The second lieutenant who walked in front pretended to cough, and the soldiers closed their mouths in amusement.

"Good emperors, bad emperors, all our emperors!" The lieutenant thought to himself.

In Berlin, the remnants of the previous evening's festivities had not yet been swept away, but within a few hours, the cheerful and relaxed atmosphere had been replaced by a deep sense of sadness and depression, with few pedestrians on the streets, Janissaries with spears on their backs, and armoured vehicles patrolling the streets. In front of the palace gate, thousands of citizens spontaneously came to mourn for the emperor, and scenes of crying can be seen everywhere, while the palace is quiet.

In the chamber of the Imperial Palace, the cabinet ministers and generals who had not closed their eyes all night looked tired, and Wilhelm II usually held the Imperial Council here, but now that things are different, looking at the empty chairs at one end of the conference table, people feel very uncomfortable.

Reich Prime Minister, 66-year-old Bernhardt. Feng. Billo stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, through which he could see the back garden of the palace, which was now covered in a thick layer of snow, and heavily armed Praetorian Guard soldiers patrolled back and forth between the corridors, and a full-scale search of the palace was underway, but as it stands, the tracking down of the Assassins was still clueless, and the biggest problem was that no one had seen how the Assassins had done it, let alone what the Assassins looked like.

In addition to the prime minister, there were also nearly 30 imperial dignitaries sitting in this chamber, such as the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Industry and Agriculture, the Minister of Shipping, the Minister of War, and the Minister of the Navy, and in the meeting that lasted more than three hours, the ministers expressed their opinions on the assassination of the emperor and the right to inherit the throne, and everyone came to a unanimous conclusion on the assassination of the emperor, that is, to find out and severely punish the murderer at all costs, but on the question of who will inherit the throne, the ministers are basically divided into two factions: pro-Prince and support-Chentian.

The pro-Prince ministers believed that in this case, the Emperor's proclamation on December 5 amounted to his last words, which declared that as soon as Prince woke up, he would be reinstated as the German crown prince, and that he would naturally ascend the throne after the emperor's death, and that the Imperial Cabinet and the government would assist him in governing the country regardless of Prince's physical condition.

The faction that supported Chentian was led by Tirpitz, the Minister of the Admiralty, who believed that Prince's ability to de facto and fulfill the powers and duties of the Emperor could not be placed in the hands of such an incapacitated person, and that Chentian's military exploits and abilities were obvious to all, and that he was fully qualified to become the new Emperor of Germany.

In addition to these two factions, there are a number of people who have not expressed their opinions for the time being, including Prime Minister Birch, War Minister Falkenhein, and several other ministers.

On the naval side, all the admirals present at the meeting, including Marshal Ball and Marshal Miller, were very unanimous in saying that the throne should be inherited by the acting crown prince; On the army side, there was some division, because the 1st, 5th, 7th, and 8th armies were busy fighting in England, and the 3rd Army was still fighting in Italy, so the commanders of these five armies did not attend this meeting. Feng. General Billo and Rupresit (Bavaria****), the Duke of Württemberg tended to support Prince, while General Billo favored the acting crown prince, and Rupresit remained silent from beginning to end.

The ministers seemed to be tired of the long argument before, and now the conference room was quiet, most of them were sipping the hot coffee that the guards had just brought in, and Tirpitz, who was sitting first on the left side of the long conference table, had a tense face, as the patriarch of the empire and the founder of the navy, he really knew too well Prince's personality and ability, but now he had a slight advantage in numbers in favor of Prince, which may have a lot to do with the "personal sphere of influence" that Prince had built for himself for a long time. On the issue of the choice of the throne, the ministers will also consider their future status and development to some extent.

Tirpitz glanced at Falkenhain casually, the current attitude of the War Minister made him quite puzzled, because in Tirpitz's opinion, Chen Tian had helped Falkenhain a lot on the French battlefield, if it wasn't for the 8th Army to break through the French Seine defense line first, maybe Falkenhein would not have ended much better than his predecessor, and after that, the German Army swept through France, and then successfully landed in England, these magnificent achievements made Falkenhain and his War Department prestigeAt this time, in the eyes of the Chinese people, he has become a Hannibal-like hero.

Falkenhain's eyes were fixed on the coffee in front of him, and when the two factions supporting Prince and Gianruj were close in strength, his attitude towards the prime minister became the key to determining the succession to the throne.

But no one knows what he's thinking, and no one knows what the prime minister is doing at the window.

Tirpitz froze, he didn't want to say anything at this time, the empire was still at war, and if both the Admiralty and the War Department supported Chentian, then the Interior Ministers would have to make concessions.

After a long time, Bernhardt. Feng. Billo turned, his eyes falling first on Falkenhein, and the Prime Minister knew equally well that the opinion of the War Office was now the most crucial vote.

Most of the eyes of those present were then focused on the Minister of War, except for Tirpitz and his admirals, who sat and stared ahead, perhaps feeling that they should trust the integrity and honor of the soldiers.

After being in the limelight, Falkenhain slowly raised his head, and he glanced at the Prime Minister and then at Tirpitz.

At this moment, the whole conference hall was eerily quiet.

"I think," said Falkenhein, turning his gaze back to the Prime Minister, "His Majesty's last words make it abundantly clear that since His Highness Prince has woken up, it is up to him to resume his duties as Crown Prince!" ”

The ministers who supported Prince suddenly applauded enthusiastically, Prime Minister Bilow nodded slightly, and Tirpitz's face did not change in the slightest expression, he knew that this was politics, hateful politics.

There is no need for the Prime Minister to announce it at this moment, the results are already obvious.

After a few seconds, Tirpitz stood silently and walked silently to the door, followed by the admirals who were present, standing up in this wordless way to protest the stupidity and selfishness of the cheerers. After Pol, Miller and others left the conference hall one by one, to everyone's surprise, Bavarian **** Rupresit also got up and left without saying a word. Subsequently, an angry Carl. Feng. General Billlow also walked out of the chamber.

If Rainey knew what was going on here, he would have been upset that he didn't have a chance to kill Prince, and more importantly, he didn't expect that a waste-like person would be able to compete with Chentian for the throne.

However, this is politics!

After leaving the conference hall, Tirpitz and the others did not talk to each other, and the group walked briskly with serious expressions, and the pressing momentum made the patrolling soldiers salute one after another. Eventually, the generals boarded the car waiting at the entrance to the palace, and the guards quickly cleared General Graff, and the generals' car quickly drove out of the gloomy palace.

Subsequently, Rupresit and General Bilo also left in the car.

At 11 o'clock in the morning, when Chentian's landline was about to fly over the Franco-Belgian border, German Prime Minister Bernhardt. Feng. Bülow's cabinet passed by a majority the bill to allow Prince to succeed to the throne, while the bill was submitted to Parliament.

When he received this information, Chen Tian's mood suddenly darkened, which was almost the worst he had ever planned for the development of the situation.

At 12 noon, Tirpitz's Admiralty issued an order that all ports on the German mainland should be put on emergency alert, and the personnel on leave should immediately return to the ship for duty, and the warships remaining in the port would be ready to set sail at any time. At the same time, the Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, Field Marshal Bohr, left Berlin by plane for Wilhelmshaven, one of the largest naval bases in Germany and the home fleet.

An hour later, the commander of the East Prussian garrison, General Matthew, issued an order that the troops assembled near Königsberg immediately boarded their vehicles and were ready to go at any moment. The train traveled to Praun, more than 200 kilometres south of Berlin, where after lunch, their next stop was Berlin.

At this time, in the vicinity of Berlin, in addition to the Janissaries, which only the emperor had the right to mobilize, the army stationed 30 infantry regiments of nearly 50,000 men in the barracks outside Berlin, and these troops were basically just returning home to rest and prepare for the New Year's parade scheduled for two days, of which the 2nd, 4th, and 6th armies each had 10 infantry regiments, and they were under the command of the Duke of Württemberg, General Bilow, and Rupresit.