Germany, Berlin, Imperial Council.

Today's participants included the Crown Prince, the Prince of East Prussia, War Minister Falkenhein, Chief of the General Staff Moltke Jr., Deputy Chief of the General Staff Waldzer, and Army Generals Kluke, Bülow, Hausen, Mawitz, and others.

"All of you here are the pillars of the Imperial Army!" The emperor's first words made the atmosphere of the scene very solemn.

"We have always tried to win the reverence of the German nation and the German spirit on the whole planet, which it deserves, but so far it has not been given! There is only one way to achieve this, and that is to show our strength to gain the respect of all. We sing the praises of 'blood and steel', we sing the praises of 'shining armor', and we use the 'fists of iron armor' to gain territory in the sun! ”

When the Kaiser said this, the generals in the audience applauded desperately, and some even began to chant slogans of iron and blood, and it took a while for the emperor to signal everyone to be quiet.

"The French, defeated by us in 1870, humiliated on their own soil, continue to expand their territory all over the world. It's so unfair that the people of the world who worship art still bow down at the feet of Paris! The soul, strength, energy, industriousness and national character of our Germans are outstanding, and we are the leader of the European alliance, and the great cause of Sedang will be accomplished! ”

The whole hall finally boiled, and the generals shouted, "France must be reduced to dust, so that it can no longer go beyond us," and "it must be dealt a devastating blow so that it will never cease to be a great power." "Lian Chentian has a feeling of blood boiling, this is indeed a nation that never admits defeat.

After the Emperor's speech, Moltke the Younger, Chief of the General Staff, began to announce the newly revised Schlieffen Plan.

"In the event of a war between the Empire and France, we will mobilize 2 million troops and wage war against France on the Western Front and Russia on the Eastern Front at the same time. On the Western Front, we would commit 35 corps of about 1.5 million troops to attack France, while on the Eastern Front, 4 corps of the East Prussian Corps of 200,000 men would defend against the Russians. On the Western Front, the left flank planned to devote 300,000 men in eight corps to defend the positions in Alsace and Lorraine areas south of Metz; 400,000 men in 11 corps were arranged in the middle to attack France through Luxembourg and the Ardennes Mountains; On the right flank, 16 corps of 800,000 men were arranged to take advantage of the Belgian offensive to smash the fortresses of Liège and Namur, cross the Maas River into the wilderness, and reach the remote straight road. On the Eastern Front, the East Prussian Army was to defend the eastern border against the Russians until most of the army could be transferred to meet the second-placed enemy. ”

Tall, burly, and balding, Moltke Jr. was the nephew of Moltke Sr., a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War. This man was always sad and melancholy, and was called "the pathetic Caesar." Relying on his uncle's protection, he rose through the ranks, first as Schlieffen's assistant and then as Schlieffen's successor. Moltke did not have the courage to concentrate on one battle, Schlieffen was "bold, bold", but he was "not too bold". He feared that his left flank on the Western Front was weak enough to resist the French offensive, and that the remaining forces defending East Prussia were too weak to defend against the Germans. Schlieffen's plan was preserved, but in order to be sure, Moltke Jr. had to cut Schlieffen's legacy every year, borrowing troops from the right wing to strengthen the left flank. Chen Tian was extremely dissatisfied with this, especially when Moltke Jr. planned to transfer 4 corps from the right flank to strengthen the Eastern Front last time, Chen Tian even had a big fight with him, which forced Moltke Jr. not to withdraw troops from the poor right flank. However, this time he actually canceled the invasion of the Netherlands, which would force the two armies on the right flank through the narrow fortified area of Liège.

"Your Majesty!" When Chen Tian stood up, the generals present frowned, and they were about to start arguing again! They all wondered why the Prince of East Prussia always had such and such opinions about the Schlieffen plan revised by the Chief of the General Staff.

The emperor also made a headache, but still waved his hand to signal Chentian to express his opinion.

Little Moltke on the side was even more eager to try, ready to jump up at any time to refute Chentian.

"I oppose the cancellation of the details of the Schlieffen plan by the Chief of the General Staff to bypass the Dutch attack on Brussels, so that the Belgians are likely to use the fortress of Liège to hold back our main forces, and at the same time shrink their army to defend Brussels with all their might, so that we must divide our forces to attack Brussels again after the capture of the next day!"

"Your Royal Highness, do you think those Belgian sheep really dare to stand up to our mighty German army? Even if they dare to resist, we can wipe them out in a very short time! ”

"Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, do not underestimate the determination of a people to resist, we must extinguish their hope as quickly as possible, that is, to attack them on both sides of the Derby border and the Dutch-Bibi border!" Chen Tian stood up and retorted Moltke's words-for-tat.

"Your Royal Highness! Don't forget that the army that attacked Belgium had 34 divisions, and Belgium had only 6 divisions in total, and we could trample them to death with our feet! Moltke was already a little agitated, and he began to slap the table and speak louder.

"Yes! The invasion of Holland would give our enemies one more excuse to attack us, and besides, I think the Belgians will obediently give way to us! The Emperor jumped out and declared Chentian's objection null and void.

Oh, my God! This group of people is so confident, to the point of conceit! Chen Tian sat back in his chair depressed, he didn't want to see many German soldiers with no war experience have died in Belgium in vain before they set foot on French soil. The stubborn resistance of Belgium was the result of the unwavering belief of the King and the people in defending neutrality, as well as the commitment of Britain and France to them.

"Your Majesty, there is one more ......" Moltke glanced at Chentian, and still couldn't help but propose to the emperor to send 1-2 corps from the right flank of the Western Front to strengthen the Eastern Front.

"Against!" Seeing that this guy had to inch in, Chen Tian jumped up again.

"Your Royal Highness, are you really sure that you can resist an attack twice or even three times as many as you with 200,000 troops?" Moltke was afraid that Chentian would delay this plan.

"Of course! You should believe in the strength of me and the East Prussian Corps, which has excellent aircraft units, as well as thousands of veterans who are currently the only ones in Germany with real combat experience! "Sometimes Chen Tian really wants to send snipers to kill this cowardly fellow, but it is unreasonable for a prince to kill the chief of the general staff of his own country due to differences of opinion.

"Will those toys be able to stop the crazy Cossack cavalry? Combat experience? Soon after the start of the war, we will have a large number of excellent soldiers with real combat experience! Moltke looked disdainful.

"You...... The actual combat experience is all exchanged for the blood and lives of the soldiers! ”

"Alright, stop arguing! One is the prince, the other is the chief of the General Staff, and the two of them have to quarrel non-stop every time, what is it like? The emperor couldn't stand the quarrel between the two of them, and angrily took the case.

The whole world finally fell silent. After a while, the Emperor sat down and told Chentian in a soothing tone that his objection was invalid again.

"Gigi, the words of the Chief of the General Staff are also reasonable, your corps is indeed weaker, and we need absolute security on the Eastern Front!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! However, I do not want to draw troops from the troops of the Western Front, and I propose to form an armored force of 50,000 men in the East Prussian Corps, which will greatly increase the combat effectiveness of the troops of the Eastern Front. In addition, I propose that in half a year, the Chief of the General Staff lead 500,000 troops to conduct exercises with my East Prussian Corps, and if he can win, I will agree with him to mobilize troops from the Western Front to strengthen the defense of the Eastern Front. ”

"Okay, the drill is the exercise, I don't believe that my 500,000 troops will lose to your 250,000 troops!" Before the emperor could speak, Moltke was in a hurry to take on Chentian's challenge, and the continuous quarrels had already made him hold his breath.

"Alright! I agree with what armored units were allocated for the creation of the East Prussian Corps! "Although the emperor did not know exactly what the power of the armored forces was, it would not hurt to add 50,000 regular troops, and more importantly, the quarrel could finally be quelled.

50,000 armored troops, hum! Let's see how I get rid of you! Chen Tian looked at little Moltke proudly.

One week later, when the emperor saw Chentian's report on the plan for the formation of armored troops, he was really shocked, because the cost of forming an armored unit was almost five times that of the same number of infantry, and the amount of daily expenses was even greater. However, he finally knew the truth that a gentleman is difficult to chase after a horse, so he had to criticize it head-on.

The 50,000 Rapid Armored Forces cost the War Department millions of marks, and the War Secretary Falkenhein was distressed, but when he saw the enormous power of this force half a year later, he knew that it was worth the money.

The happiest of all was Chentian, whose tractor factory was converted to the production of tanks and armored vehicles, and at the same time began to recruit a large number of young people who knew how to drive in East Prussia.