As night falls, at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, Germany, the Imperial Council is still underway......

In the palatial chamber, the 67-year-old Kaiser William sat half-leaning and half-leaning in his golden chair encrusted with gems, the 42-year-old Crown Prince Louis sat respectfully on his left-hand side, and on the right hand side was the current Chancellor of the German Empire, Count Heinrich von Niggett, who often called himself "Bismarck II", and then the cabinet ministers of the Reich, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and the Chief of Staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The first topic of the Royal Council was the forced military deployment of the new United Kingdom to Malta and how Germany should respond to this. Obviously, this is not a stand-alone issue, and the trade-offs involve the cause and effect of the incident as well as the overall consideration at the strategic level.

Although the war fought by the three countries of Singapore and Austria lasted only a little more than four weeks, its impact on European countries was not small at all: the price of flour rose by 30 to 40 percent, the price of precious metals rose by an average of 40 percent, the price of medicines rose by 50 percent, and the price of industrial raw materials increased by 20 to 70 percent.

The Germans had a great cause, and this loss did not hurt the national body, and the Italians did not have to take action to teach the Italians a lesson, and it had the effect of killing chickens and monkeys within the Allies camp, which could be said to have picked up a big bargain. However, this war also made the Germans re-understand the strategic position of the Mediterranean - today's German industry is highly dependent on high-quality crude oil produced in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region, because the Mediterranean hinterland was declared a war zone during the war, oil ships traveling between the Middle East and Europe had to detour to the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, not to mention the transportation cost and time cost increased significantly, and 3 oil tankers and 2 cargo ships were lost due to running on the reef, and the German Navy spent a lot of manpower and material resources to rescue the wrecked ship and search for the surviving crew. It was also overwhelmed by some negative public opinion.

Shortly after the armistice was signed, the German Naval Staff submitted a wartime assessment to the Kaiser and the General Staff. This report pointed out that the existing strength of the German Navy is sufficient to cope with the two-ocean operation, and can thwart the challenge jointly issued by the two powers at the same time, but the maintenance and play of the combat effectiveness of the fleet depends to a large extent on the guarantee of logistics supply, and the biggest problem at present is that the main force of the German Navy is scattered and deployed in the mainland, the Azores, and the Persian Gulf, and the center of gravity of this strategic triangle is precisely located in the Mediterranean, which is not directly controlled by the German army!

Taking the opportunity of discussing how to deal with the Malta incident, General Lindemann, who attended the Imperial Council on behalf of the German Navy, pointed out sharply that oil is the source of power for Germany's machine, and if it cannot strengthen Germany's control over the Mediterranean Sea and ensure a high degree of security for the Mediterranean transportation line at any time, then the next step is to establish a series of military bases in the coastal areas of East Africa, South Africa, and West Africa, or to find ways to lay an overland oil pipeline from Basra to Berlin and ensure its safety.

After listening to the explanation of the chief of staff of the Navy, William Jr. recounted slowly: "Malta was originally the spoils of war obtained from the British after the German soldiers fought bloodily on the front line and fought hard to defeat the Entente. In 1933, in order to stabilize the Italians and prevent them from stabbing us in the back, it was handed over to the Italian army to occupy. If Italy's royal power collapsed and the regime collapsed, then there would be good reason to annul the Berlin-Rome Treaty of 1933 and reintegrate Malta into the empire's overseas territory. ”

After the emperor finished speaking, the Prime Minister, Count von Niggett, and the Foreign Minister, Baron von Marchar, all had contemplative expressions, while the soldiers present were all dancing with their eyebrows and grinding their fists.

The Mediterranean, which has witnessed the rise and fall of empires for thousands of years, was ruled by the Macedonians, Romans, Persians, and Turks in their heyday. Although the British Empire, which once dominated the world, did not plunder a large amount of land along the Mediterranean coast, it also gained the right to influence the situation in the Mediterranean by virtue of its occupation of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, as well as the stationing of a fleet with relative superiority in the Mediterranean.

After winning World War I, the German Empire focused its limited efforts on expanding its colonial territories in Asia, Africa and America and competing for world hegemony, so it took the initiative to relinquish control of the Mediterranean, so that the countries bordering the Mediterranean could check and balance each other and contain each other. As far as the international situation of that era is concerned, this move is understandable, but with the changes in the world pattern, the Mediterranean Sea is "out of control" and gradually becomes a weakness and a heart disease for the new world hegemon.

After a few moments, the Duke of Dolotia of Bavaria, the current Chief of Staff of the Army, said: "At lunch, I tested the tone of Colonel Hills, and the Irish diplomat revealed that the real purpose of the occupation of Malta was to ensure that the Italians paid the war reparations as agreed. Other than that, they don't mean anything else. ”

Geographically, the Mediterranean Sea is roughly divided into east and west with the island of Malta as the midpoint, and the island of Malta guards the narrow passage between the eastern Mediterranean and the Mediterranean, so it is fitting to call it the "heart of the Mediterranean".

After pondering for a moment, the Emperor spoke: "We may assume that the Irish occupied Malta in order to ensure that after the overthrow of the Italian crown and the present government, the successor would pay a large war reparations in accordance with the armistice that would bankrupt the country twice. After the Italians had paid the reparations or had officially promised that they would pay the reparations, the Irish would withdraw their troops from Malta. If the purpose of the Irish is so simple, why can't we occupy Malta on our behalf? ”

The question caught the audience off guard, so much so that for the next two or three minutes, the room was so quiet that you could almost hear people breathing.

Then the Prime Minister, Count von Niggett, finally spoke: "There is no logical problem with this, my Honourable Majesty, the problem is that if we do so, we will be endorsing the Italians." ”

"As long as Malta is in our hands, it doesn't really matter whether the Italians are fulfilling the contract or not." The Emperor waved his hand and said, "If the Italians pay off the war reparations, then we will exchange the former reason for the occupation of Malta." If the Italians do not pay war reparations, we don't even need to use the former reason. ”

The Prime Minister respectfully asked: "If the Italians refuse to pay off this war reparation, will we bear the share that the new United Kingdom deserves?" ”

The emperor laughed disdainfully: "What a joke! The Italians lost the war and deserved to bear the reparations, so how could it be possible for us to pay on our behalf? ”

The prime minister pursed his lips without losing his manners, and the implication was that the contradiction in asking the emperor to brush up these few words.

William Jr. is old, but not confused. Seeing the Prime Minister's expression, he put away his smile and thought for a moment with a frown: "Even if the Italians would rather give up Malta than pay off their war reparations, we can force them to compromise by other means, or with other suitable things, can't we?" ”

"Of course, this is not a problem, but it is contrary to our original principle of not directly intervening in the war." Count von Niggt reminded.

"But the war is over." Kaiser William the Younger argued, "We have always been in direct coordination of the armistice and the aftermath of the war. ”

Since the Emperor had said so, and the generals present were clearly inclined to reoccupy Malta, Bismarck II wisely chose to remain silent.

"Louie!" William the Younger instructed his heir to the throne, "You will fly to Ireland to-morrow to greet His Majesty King Joachim I on my behalf, and convey my opinion: in order to avoid unnecessary clashes and casualties, it is proposed that the League of Nations be arranged to mediate the Maltese question, and that the German ** team occupy Malta in the name of the League of Nations peacekeeping force." No matter how the situation changes in the future, we have determined that the armistice agreement is valid and actively urge Italy to comply with the relevant provisions of the agreement. In the event that the Government of Italy is unable to pay reparations, we support the New United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary in obtaining some form of in-kind compensation from Italy. ”

"Yes, Your Father." Crown Prince Louis replied in a loud voice.

"We will re-establish a peaceful order in the Mediterranean through our control of Malta." William Jr. then said this, but did not specify whether it should be relayed to the helm of the new United Kingdom.

"Malta is just a strategic fulcrum for controlling the Mediterranean." William Jr. turned his gaze to the crowd and said, in his usual tone: "In order to gain absolute control of the Mediterranean, and thus to ensure the stability of Germany's global strategy, we should seek control of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal through political, diplomatic, and military means." As a result of the military defeat, Italy's international standing has declined dramatically, and its influence and control in its traditional spheres of influence have been severely weakened, which is an opportune time for us to re-engage in North and Northeast Africa. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any good insights and suggestions, just let me know! ”

Born in the Bavarian royal family, the Duke of Dolotia, is the youngest in the audience except for Crown Prince Louis, he temporarily emerged during World War II, and then with outstanding talent, good prestige and outstanding temperament, quickly became a dazzling star in the German world, and in 1948 was promoted to chief of the German General Staff, becoming another member of the Bavarian royal family with great military achievements after Ruprecht. At this time, he spoke in a timely manner:

"With the current state of the world, we can regain control of the Mediterranean without a massive military build-up. As long as we skillfully and fully use the weapon of the League of Nations peacekeepers, and hire the Irish army to fight for us if necessary, we will not even need to make too many adjustments to the existing military deployment, and there will not be too many casualties. ”