With the end of the Battle of the Faroe Islands, Prince Heinrich, who came to comfort the soldiers on behalf of the German royal family, and Frederick the Great, the general flagship of the High Seas Fleet, who temporarily participated in the war, completed their respective missions and were about to embark on their return home. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Before parting, Natsuki boarded the "Frederick the Great" again and drank alone with Prince Heinrich in the office originally set up for the fleet commander. It's just that they didn't drink wine, but the fragrant tea that both of them liked very much. The faint aroma of tea permeated the small cabin, and the bright sunlight poured through the portholes on the oak floor, so that the quiet and harmonious atmosphere made people forget the smoke of artillery fire on the battlefield for a while.

After drinking the first cup of tea, Prince Heinrich suddenly sat upright, looking directly at Natsuki: "There is a sentence that His Majesty the Emperor specially instructed me to bring to your Highness." ”

The tone of the prince's voice changed, and Natsuki put down the cup in his hand, straightened his upper body, and put his knees side by side, indicating that he was listening.

"Your Highness knows the Marshal Bernadotte of France, right?" Prince Heinrich said in an affirmative tone.

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, a French marshal who lived in the Napoleonic era, was not as famous as Wellington or Blucher, but he was more fortunate than the victors of Waterloo. For political reasons, Napoleon arranged for him to become the crown prince of Sweden, and then succeeded to the throne as the king of Sweden. Despite Napoleon's defeat and exile, Bernadotte was saved from the liquidation of the anti-French coalition after the war because he was elected "legitimate crown prince" by the Swedish parliament, and the French blood of the Swedish royal family continues to this day.

Natsuki's expression suddenly became serious.

If Ireland chooses to be imperial after independence, then the king must be a member of the German royal family, which is a secret condition of Germany's support for the independence of the Irish.

Theoretically, Kaiser Wilhelm II can concurrently serve as the king of Ireland, and even follow the example of the British king to become the common monarch of many federal states, but the independence of Ireland is like cutting a large piece of flesh and blood from the back of the British Empire. For the same reason, Crown Prince William was also unfit to be King of Ireland, and he himself made it clear in private that he was not interested in "that wild island". In addition to the Kaiser and the crown prince, the German royal family is left with Wilhelm II's younger brother Prince Heinrich and several other sons of Wilhelm II.

Prince Heinrich, who had traveled the world and established a good reputation in various countries, clearly had an advantage over the princes of Prussia in terms of his ability to rule a country, but the secret treaty between the German royal family and the Irish independence organization was never made public, nor was there any formal discussion at the government level, and it seems that most people, like Crown Prince William, felt that Ireland was just a wild and backward island, and the greatest significance of its independence from Britain was that it shook the foundation of British royal rule and weakened British military and political power, and provided an excellent stepping stone for Germany to strategically hold Britain hostage. If they had chosen to do so, I am afraid that only those unwilling generals and officials would have left Germany for Ireland to assist the new king of German origin.

During the Battle of the Faroe Islands, a large number of escort ships and transport ships of the British Navy were attracted to the northern seas, and the German submarine forces took the opportunity to set off a frenzy of attacks in the Irish waters, resulting in a sharp reduction in the efficiency of the British army's replenishment at sea between Britain and Ireland, and the British Army and the Anzac Corps originally scheduled to be sent to Ireland were still stranded on the west coast of Britain, and the German-Irish coalition launched several offensives one after another, seizing many towns and transportation hubs in central Ireland from the British army. Although the strategic points in the east and north of Ireland were still firmly occupied by the British army, and with the arrival of reinforcements, the forces that hindered Irish independence were still very strong, but in the eyes of the outside world, the Irish people's centuries-old desire for independence was at its closest point to being realized, and as long as Germany continued to maintain military assistance, the British government would eventually accept the reality of Irish independence.

Xia Shu thought for a while and said slowly: "If His Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince do not change their original intentions, I believe that His Royal Highness the Prince is the best candidate to be the king of Ireland, and for the Irish, choosing a monarchy and choosing a member of the German royal family as their king is a safe choice to preserve the fruits of independence." ”

A faint smile appeared on Prince Heinrich's face, which did not look like the joy of being supported, and his calm eyes did not show the desire for power of the contenders, all in all, this reaction of his made Natsuki feel unpredictable.

"Does Your Highness think the Irish people will support the Germans as their king?" The prince's tone was not discernible with obvious tendencies.

Natsuki replied unhurriedly: "Before the German army landed in Ireland, the majority of the Irish people certainly did not want to be ruled by the Germans, but seeing the German soldiers fighting side by side with them, bleeding and even giving their lives for the independence of Ireland, many people's minds will definitely change." Moreover, Ireland's already very weak industry, after the devastation of the war, the new independent regime may not be able to build even a single artillery cannon or a shell, and they are far more dependent on German aid than before, even if the German army in Ireland does not deliberately show force, they should understand their real situation. ”

The Prince nodded: "Yes, from the moment our troops landed on the shores of Ireland, the fate of the Irish was tightly tied to us. We helped them achieve independence, helped them resist British blockades and threats after independence, and even helped them rise from a small weak country to a regional power, all at a cost. ”

Natsuki picked up the teacup with both hands, and between them was a rather delicate blue and white porcelain tea set.

"Uh...... Let's get down to business! His Majesty the Emperor instructed me to bring a message to His Highness. Prince Heinrich straightened his chest, and Natsuki had not yet drunk the tea, so he had to put the teacup down again.

"With the illustrious merits accumulated by His Highness, the best reward that Germany can give is a new stage on which all His Highness's talents can be displayed."

After speaking, the prince held the tea bowl in one hand and the tea lid in the other, and took a sip, a blow, and a sip.

Natsuki blinked repeatedly, trying to read more of the meaning behind this sentence from the prince's expression. Calm, means that Kaiser Wilhelm II has made up his mind about this matter, and it is unlikely that something will happen; Calm, indicating that he felt that the throne of the King of Ireland should be safe and secure, at least not to lose his life easily.

With Natsuki's current position in the German Navy, there is still room for efforts to become a naval marshal and head of the navy, and after the German Navy defeats the British Navy, there is still a long way to go before it truly becomes a maritime hegemon, and the United States and Japan are both strong opponents in the struggle for sea power. On the other hand, the Grand Cross has become the highest honor award for the German royal family and government, and the Hubert industrial empire with the Friedrich shipyard as the core has also satisfied Natsuki's desire for business and wealth. Ireland's poor family background and development potential are not too bad, which is undoubtedly an ideal choice for farming.

If reality is a strategy game, then at this time, Natsuki will not hesitate to choose YES, but reality is not a game after all, and everything is not put on the table above board. Having lived in the royal court for more than a decade, Natsuki has seen and heard about how terrible power struggles can be, and books have taught him countless military strategies, which in turn has led him to develop his own command style, but he has only learned one thing about politics, and that is to keep a cool head and keen insight in all situations.

Despite his good impression of Prince Heinrich, Natsuki had to say against his will: "For me, the stage of the German Navy is big enough. ”

The prince didn't show the slightest surprise at Natsuki's answer, he seemed to see through Natsuki's superficial humility and saw the restlessness in his bones.

"Your Highness is the jewel of the German Navy, the greatest capital of the German Navy in the competition for the seas. Without such an unborn military genius as His Highness, it would have been extremely difficult to defeat the British Navy head-on with the sheer strength of the German Navy, which should be recognized by the whole world. With His Royal Highness here, the German Navy will not only be able to guarantee the world's first position in the future, but also maintain obvious technological superiority over the naval powers, and His Royal Highness's departure will be an irreparable loss to the German Navy. ”

After Prince Heinrich said this, he was not in a hurry to seek Natsuki's approval, and he breathed a sigh of relief, as if regretting that he did not have such military talent. After a while, he leveled his gaze, looked at Natsuki's young face with respect, and said with great emotion: "With the scale and achievements of the Friedrichsyard today, it is enough to show that His Highness has extraordinary business acumen and management ability, and as far as I know, His Highness has already made contact with the Irish anti-government organizations and persuaded His Majesty the Emperor to secretly allocate funds to support the independence movement of the Irish people when everyone thought that the Anglo-German relations would not lead to war, which proves His Highness's extraordinary foresight." Based on all of the above, we feel that the stage of the German Navy does not allow His Highness to display all his talents, or to put it another way, if it is necessary to select a member of the royal family to govern Ireland, no one is more competent than His Highness. We believe that once His Highness becomes King of Ireland, Britain will not have the energy to confront the German Empire for the next hundred years. ”

(End of chapter)