When he learned that the first phase of the landing on the Indian Peninsula had been successfully completed, Chen Tian was having morning tea with Admiral Hipper. Hearing the news, both of them gave a pleasant smile.

Such a bold landing plan naturally caught the British and Indian forces off guard, and the Japanese landing in Rangoon had already demonstrated how badly India's coastal port defenses were.

"Then we don't seem to have to rush to the Indian peninsula!" Chen Tian leisurely picked up the coffee cup, "Instead of rushing there to watch the curtain call of the battle, it is better to have a good tour along the way!" Sixteen years ago, when I was on a round-the-world trip aboard the Little Medusa as a special observer, I didn't have much time to get off the ship for sightseeing, and I could often only go around the port of call, and I was almost back on board after buying groceries! ”

"Your Majesty, the captains are looking forward to going to India to bombard the British! I'm afraid they're a little disappointed! Hipper's words were not entirely ridiculous, he brought out three powerful battleships this time, the original intention was to strengthen the firepower of the landing fleet, and after these three battleships entered the Arabian Sea, the only German capital ships in the entire Mediterranean region were the three battle cruisers "Moltke", "Goeben" and "Seydlitz".

"Originally, the war in Europe and the Mediterranean is over, and everyone's spirits don't have to be so tight! Well, let's all go to Cairo the day after tomorrow and see the famous Pyramid of Khufu by the way! ”

Seeing that Admiral Hipper did not object, Chen Tian called his attendant and said, "Send a message to the Governor of Egypt and ask him to prepare for us to visit Cairo and the pyramids!" ”

After the attendant left, Hipper leaned back on the sofa and crossed his fingers on his chest, "Your Majesty, I'm really glad to see you relax like this!" Our country, our army, and you, really need to relax and rest! ”

Chen Tian nodded, "Yes! Otherwise, our poor Chancellor of the Exchequer will never be able to stretch his brows! ”

"Oh, poor Baron Eichel!" Hipper was equally sympathetic to the chancellor of the exchequer, each time Germany took a large-scale military action on land or at sea. He is probably the least happy in the whole country. "To fight a war is to burn money!" This became almost the baron's mantra, but after 1916, Germany carried out several large-scale "money-burning" operations, which also brought huge economic and political benefits to Germany.

"Fortunately, last year's financial income was not bad, otherwise the baron would have really driven us crazy!" Chen Tian looked at the clear sea outside the window, and the words behind him became serious:

"In the next ten years, we may not be able to reduce our military spending! First of all, the size of the army, navy, and air force will only increase, and the army must maintain a considerable number of troops in Britain, France, Austria, and Africa. In the future, it is necessary to send more troops to Asia and the Americas! In order to protect the colonies and merchant shipping routes, the size of the navy will grow by at least a quarter! The Air Force can transfer some of its planes and airships to civilian use, but the cost of developing new aircraft must not be reduced, but should be appropriately increased! In addition to the regular expenses of the three armed forces, the construction of naval and air bases and fortifications in Iceland, Greenland and Guadeloupe was also a considerable expenditure, and after the occupation of the Indian peninsula and Sri Lanka, bases and fortifications were to be built. Therefore, the task of the Ministry of Finance is still quite heavy! ”

"Your Majesty, I support your proposal to transfer the main ships of the Mediterranean Fleet elsewhere! In the Mediterranean, 1-2 battleships and 2-3 battlecruisers were enough to maintain overwhelming superiority over the Spanish, Italian, Greek navies! "What Hipper said was Chentian's proposal to reduce the size of the Mediterranean Fleet at a meeting of senior generals of the base in Tunis a few days ago. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Navy no longer exists. It will also take a long time for the Italians to rebuild a strong local navy, and as for the Greeks, they are currently overwhelmed by the Turkish navy, which is several times more powerful than them. Not to mention going out of the Aegean Sea and towards the Mediterranean.

"Don't worry, the reduced Mediterranean Fleet only needs a squadron-level commander, Admiral, you naturally have a new mission!" Chen Tian said to Hippert with a smile. The courage and talent of this admiral are indeed rare in the German Navy, although the current German Navy is strong, but there are not many generals, Schell is one, Hipperer is one, and the rest are Heinrich, Spee, Benck, these excellent but not enough to be called world-class admirals.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your appreciation!" Hipper, who expressed his gratitude hopefully, was only a year old this year, the prime age of naval commanders. It was already a great honor to be valued by the Kaiser, and it was even more unthinkable for many to be the commander of the main fleet all the time.

"Do a good job, our name will be written into history by future generations!" Chen Tian gently placed the coffee cup on the coffee table, "Inform the whole ship in a moment, let the officers who want to participate in the day trip to Cairo and the pyramids sign up as soon as possible, and then pass the number to our Egyptian governor!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Two days later, the port of Suez.

When the three huge battleships slowly approached the dock, a long car on the dock had been waiting for a long time. In the sound of loud military music. The venerable Kaiser walked off the battleship with a large group of officers with relaxed expressions and brisk movements, and after shaking hands with General Werner, the German governor of Egypt, who had come to greet him, Chen Tian looked back at the happy officers behind him who looked like they were on vacation, and then took the lead in getting into the car that the governor had prepared for himself.

Admiral Hippel watched silently from the bridge of the Elector, and he offered to stay on the ship, partly because he had been to Cairo and the Pyramid of Khufu, and secondly because he felt much more comfortable with the young officers who were not under him. Although the Kaiser's majesty and imposing presence, he was only in his early thirties, which not only gave the young officers a unique affinity, but also made it easier for them to find common ground in language and interests.

Hippert was joined by the captains of three battleships - Rear Admiral Hartmann, 51, Rear Admiral Mark I. Helmut, 53, and Rear Admiral Victor, 59. It was evident that they were very envious of the vitality of the group of young officers below, and at the same time full of hope for the future of the Imperial Navy.

As for those officers who did not have time to sign up for the "Kaiser Tour" because of hesitation, as well as those non-commissioned officers and sailors who were not qualified to sign up because their ranks were too low, they all showed extremely envious expressions at this time.

After driving for 2 hours, Chen Tian and his party entered Cairo. Although he had kept the Egyptian governor as low-key as possible, they were greeted by German expatriates, garrison officers and locals as soon as they entered Cairo Street. Among the shaking black, white and red flags and flowers, the convoy where Chentian was located could only move slowly. For safety reasons, Chentian's car and several cars in front and behind were closed with curtains. Instead, the officers in the back showed their lively side, and the young lieutenants and colonels opened their windows one by one to wave to the crowd outside, and many of them happily accepted each other's flowers and fragrant kisses, as if they were having a party with the locals.

"General, it seems that the people of Cairo are very enthusiastic and have no hostility towards us Germans! Is that so? Chen Tian asked the Egyptian governor beside him.

"Yes, Your Majesty! When we first entered Egypt, they were still a little wary of us. After that, we distributed free food and clothing to the locals by order of the High Command and the Colonial Department, and exempted the British from a series of harsh regulations and taxes, and the Egyptians were very warm and respectful to us! Werner is proud to say that although he did not understand this policy of softness at the beginning, it is indeed much better than the iron policy in the current situation. The Germans opened factories in Egypt with easy access to skilled workers, and the law and order situation in the northern cities of Egypt was excellent, and even in the southern partisan areas, the Egyptian resistance was waning.

Chen Tian told the governor of the place where the soldier was born with satisfaction: "Very good, as long as it continues to be maintained." We're going to rule this place well! ”

As one of the most prosperous cities in North Africa. In addition to the mosques, ancient castles, and towers in Cairo, there is no particularly attractive place in the downtown area, and Chen Tian and his entourage only spent more than 1 hour to tour most of the city, and then went to the Brandenburg Hotel, the largest hotel in the city, for lunch under the arrangement of the governor.

Just by the name, you know that this is a hotel owned by a German. Before Chen Tian got off the car, he saw two long lines of welcome standing at the entrance of the hotel, the male waiter stood in a row, the waitress stood in a row, and a chubby guy in a black suit stood on the outermost side with the sun, it seemed that he was the owner here.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, welcome to the Hotel! Your arrival really makes the hotel shine, please inside! The fat man bowed his head respectfully and saluted Chentian, speaking fluent aristocratic German.

"Are you from Brandenburg?" Chen Tian glanced up at the row of large letters written in German on the top of the hotel, "Brandenburg Grand Hotel".

"Yes, Your Majesty! The contemptible man is indeed a Brandenburger! The fat man still bowed his head, "The ancestor is the general of the Guards of Emperor Wilhelm I." Started in business from my father's generation! ”

"Well, that's good!" With that, Chen Tian walked towards the door of the hotel, surrounded by attendants and guards. Before he walked through the door, he heard a constant whistle coming from behind, and it seemed that the young officers were a little excited when they saw the waitress in knee-length skirts. Chen Tian naturally did not criticize what young people often did, and his attention quickly turned to the splendid hotel hall and the extremely sumptuous dishes.

Look at the wonderful frescoes, exquisite mahogany tables and chairs, elegant crystal chandeliers, and exquisite porcelain from the Orient, and then look at the lobster, abalone, vidfish, oysters, steaks, and pastries on the table. The materials are undoubtedly top-notch, and each dish is appetizing in both shape and color.

In front of this large table of dazzling delicacies, Chen Tian only said one word:

"Crime!"

Thrift is a virtue, extravagance is a crime! This is the principle that every German follows, and thrift, along with punctuality, diligence, loyalty, and honesty, has become the universal understanding of Germans. Frederick the Great endowed Prussia with a thrifty character, and through his almost stingy frugality, he amassed enormous wealth and built up a large army, which eventually became a powerful weapon for Prussia to build a great foundation.

While extravagance was prevalent in the European royal family, generations of Prussian rulers lived a puritanical frugality almost masochistically in order to save valuable military and government spending. During the reign of Friedrich II's father, Wilhelm I (who later had the same name as the Emperor of the same name), Prussia's diplomatic envoys were "famous" in Europe for their shabby and filthy manners, and the prominent members of the royal family, whether they were princes and princesses, princesses, or even the king himself, ate poorly prepared and had simple meals, almost to the point of not having enough to eat. Because of the frugality that it had reached the point of being stingy, people called William I "the beggar king" behind his back.

His successor, Friedrich II, was even more tenacious and hard-working, and he worked diligently with extraordinary energy, sleeping only four hours a day. You have to take care of everything yourself. He also called on the people to be thrifty and lead by example, and absolutely forbade the extravagance of the court. He himself usually wore only a soldier's uniform, and only had one dress in his life. After Friedrich's death, Napoleon defeated the Prussian army in Jena and came to Friedrich's tomb in Potsdam. Napoleon pointed to the tombstone with five horses and said to his generals: "If he were still alive, we would not be standing here today".

In Chentian's view, although today's German Empire has dominated Europe, but the fashion of frugality can never be lost, the reason why the great Roman Empire once dominated the world, is because of thrift and the establishment of the country, but when it fell into luxury and waste, the empire began to decline and perish.

As the ruler of the German Empire and the Gigi Industrial Empire, Chentian's Gonglu Palace was not as luxurious as this hotel, even if it was a banquet for ministers and generals or foreign envoys, he could not see such sumptuous dishes on his table.

When the accompanying naval officers walked into the hall, they were all stunned by the decoration here, and they were suddenly silent when they were still at the door, and many even had the illusion of entering the Dream Palace.

In the time of a quarter of a pillar of incense, Chen Tian made a decision again, it has been 1 year since the end of the war, and more than 3 months have passed since the blitzkrieg against Austria, and a series of military operations in the empire have come to an end for the time being, and now is the time to remind the people to be frugal and refuse luxury.

"Call that fat man!" Chen Tian's tone was full of majestic anger, since he wanted to give the people a wake-up call, then the best way was to find someone to kill.