On the Dublin front, the German-Irish forces began a new offensive after a brief pause. Pen~Fun~Pavilion www.biquge.info ground artillery concentrated on bombarding several areas of more important tactical positions, and then the fire of field guns and heavy howitzers gradually extended back, and German warships cruising in the sea near Dublin also joined the shelling.

This time, the Allied soldiers did not meet strong resistance before advancing a hundred meters to the British fortifications, but then, machine gun and artillery fire intertwined, forming a sea of smoke and fire, a terrible sight that cannot be described in words, the infantry fell one after another, and in some sections the corpses were piled up. The bloody slaughter was horrific as the defenders machine-gunned down from the bunkers and ruins, but the Irish soldiers and their German allies did not flinch, and they crawled over the bodies of their fallen comrades one by one, with only one thought in mind: to defeat the British!

The British positions in the city were very cleverly arranged, and many of the firing points were evaded by the attackers' artillery fire. More than a month ago, they used this method to defeat the Irish Volunteers, who had a large advantage in strength at that time, but this time they did not succeed, the biggest difference between the two is that the German troops have a strong ability to attack fortifications. By noon, the three German assault arrows had penetrated deep into the city of Dublin, and the blue sea was in sight.

In the smoke-filled streets, a white flag was raised and a ceasefire was being negotiated.

Twenty-five minutes later, Duke Hill arrived at the Allied front command as a negotiator for the British side, where he saw a familiar face.

Hearing that Duke Hill was coming, Natsuki did not deliberately change out of the military uniform that was soiled because of the inspection on the front line of the battle, but simply washed his face, combed his hair neatly, wore the Grand Cross, which symbolized the highest military honor of the German Empire, on his collar, and waited quietly for the appearance of the deceased with a cup of fragrant hot tea.

"We meet again, Your Excellency the Duke." Natsuki held out his hand politely.

Duke Hill, who was in a strong fighting spirit but could not hide his physical and mental strength, did not have the slightest surprise, he shook hands with the other party politely, and then said in a cold tone that lacked emotion: "In Lower Andros Hill, Admiral Royal Navy, entrusted by Sir James Grierson, commander of the British and Irish 1st Army, to request an armistice from you. ”

Natsuki invited Duke Hill to take a seat, but the stubborn Englishman stood there without squinting.

The two armies faced each other, the victory and defeat had been divided, although Xia Shu was not domineering, but he also did not mean to please the other party, he said calmly: "Okay, honorable duke, with the current situation, there is only one possibility for a truce, that is, you disarm and surrender." ”

Despite the reluctance of the Duke of Hill, the ironclad reality is in front of him, there is no hope for foreign aid, no domestic aid is available, and if the Commonwealth army continues to resist stubbornly, it will definitely end up in the tragic end of the total annihilation. He said slowly: "Sir Grierson has entrusted me to convey to you, as the commander of the coalition forces, that he admires the fighting spirit of the Irish and German coalition forces very much, and regrets that he was unable to lead his troops to victory, and that his only mission now is to keep these British soldiers who have fought dutifully alive to answer their families, and I believe that with the character of His Highness, we will be able to save the lives of every British soldier after we lay down our arms, and ensure that they will be repatriated to England as prisoners of war after the war." ”

Xia Shu considered it carefully and promised: "As long as you lay down your arms unconditionally, I guarantee the safety of each of you and guarantee that you will be treated fairly as prisoners of war in accordance with the Hague Convention." ”

Duke Hill breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank God. ”

Natsuki once again gestured to invite the other party to take a seat, but Duke Hill did not refuse again, he picked up the teacup and poured the brewed hot tea into his mouth in three or two sips.

"The Duke's troops left Limerick and went all the way to Dublin?" This is a question that Natsuki is actually asking knowingly. The troops under the command of Duke Hill were considered to be relatively effective in the British army stationed in Ireland at first, and later reorganized and supplemented several times to become the 2nd British Irish Army, but the strength and equipment never reached the level of the expeditionary force sent to the Western Front. After the evacuation from Limerick, the unit arrived in Dublin, where several of the more fully formed regiments were sent to the Cork front, while the rest remained in Dublin to this day.

As the general of the defeated army, the Duke of Hill had no intention of discussing this disgraceful past, he let out a "hmm", stared at the teacup for two minutes of silence, and then raised his head to face Natsuki: "I heard that His Royal Highness is determined to give up his membership in the German royal family and accept the election of the Provisional Government of Ireland as king?" ”

Natsuki noticed that the duke's address to himself was quietly changed from "Your Excellency" to "Your Highness", which meant that the official status of the two sides had changed, but he did not respond with the same "um" because of this.

"I used to think you were just a potential threat to the Royal Navy, but later in Limerick I realised that your threat was more than that, and unfortunately things have turned out beyond the worst of expectations, and now you can be called the number one criminal who divides Britain."

Hearing Duke Hill's disrespectful words, the German officer who knew English next to him immediately glared at him, but Natsuki laughed when he heard it, so he stared at him silently.

"No one has the ability to divide Britain, and the real culprit is actually the Creator you have just thanked." Natsuki said.

Duke Hill was stunned for a moment, then stared at Natsuki coldly.

Natsuki asked unhurriedly: "If it was Germany that was defeated, would you let it continue to maintain the unity it was before the war?" ”

Duke Hill didn't answer, but the answer was obvious.

Natsuki explained: "Since a war breaks out, the defeated side will inevitably be sanctioned by the victor, and this war is not deliberately provoked by anyone, but the inevitable result of the long-term conflict of interests of various countries, which is an inevitable historical law of human development." So in the final analysis, it can be said that it is God's arrangement. ”

"But if it weren't for the actions of His Highness, Britain would not have been easily defeated, and the Irish would not have had any hope of success in armed independence." Duke Hill said hatefully.

Natsuki smiled and said the second half of the hidden sentence for Duke Hill: "If I had known that there would be such a situation today, Your Excellency, you would definitely kill me with your own hands at the dinner party in Limerick, wouldn't you?" ”

Duke Hill smiled self-deprecatingly, neither confirming nor denying it, after all, who could have such amazing foresight?

Natsuki drank his tea elegantly and said indifferently: "This war is about to end, and there will be no more deaths, which is a fortunate thing. Also, we will become closer neighbors, Lord Duke. ”

At first hearing this, Duke Hill's face was full of anger, but then it changed to a "I look good with you" expression. After the heavy blow of this war, Britain's economic, military and diplomatic prestige are much less than before, but the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, even if Ireland is always supported by the Germans, with the diplomatic intelligence of the German government, it is still easy for Britain to suppress Ireland.

Natsuki saw Duke Hill's inner thoughts, but on such an occasion, he didn't need to stimulate the other party at all, turning the two families into a deep grudge, and helping Duke Hill's eldest son get out of trouble last time had already made a good start in a positive direction.

"If there is no problem, I think His Excellency the Duke may sign this armistice on behalf of Sir Grierson, and the two armies will have a formal ceasefire with immediate effect, each of them will help the wounded and dispose of the remains of the dead. At 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, coalition forces will officially take over the Dublin city. How is it? ”

Duke Hill receives the text of the armistice from Natsuki's lieutenant. In the more than 130 years since the American Revolution, British generals have signed numerous armistice agreements, but none of them have been signed without victory. The Duke of Hill unfortunately became the "first man" for more than a century, but it is foreseeable that as Britain declines, armistice agreements ending in surrender will appear again and again in future wars in which British troops are involved.

In Dublin, more than 90,000 British Commonwealth soldiers who had not been evacuated surrendered to the German-Irish forces, half of whom were from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and more than 40 percent had lost their combat effectiveness by wounds at the time of surrender. In the eyes of the outside world, the elite German army was the main force of the coalition in the attack on Dublin, and the British Commonwealth army chose to give up in the hopelessness of holding on, and everyone from the commander to the ordinary soldiers had done their best - with this self-comforting mentality, the British strata had new expectations for the second round of armistice talks. At the mouth of the Thames, representatives of Great Britain and its Commonwealth met with representatives from Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Ottoman Turkey and Bulgaria for two weeks. The reason why it took so much longer than the French armistice negotiations was precisely because of the intricate colonial interests of the British Empire around the world.

On 25 May 1915, when the Commonwealth and the Allied powers had agreed on the main terms of the armistice, a ceremony of great significance was held in the hastily renovated Holy Trinity Church in Dublin, in which the Archbishop of Ireland, appointed by the Roman Catholic Church, declared the restoration of Ireland as a sacred independent kingdom and confirmed the candidacy of Joachim, Prince of Prussia, a member of the German royal family, as a candidate for the Irish throne. Immediately afterwards, the Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland convened to formally elect Prince Joachim of Prussia as the candidate for the throne of Ireland, and announced that he would be crowned the new King of Ireland - the first Irish ruler of non-English descent in 1169, as long as the candidate for the throne could lead the Irish army to expel all English troops from the island of Ireland and prove his ability to defend the independence and sovereignty of Ireland.

(End of chapter)