Natsuki had thought that the Belfast Local Council would accept his proposal to expand the autonomous area of northern Ireland to six counties, but he obviously underestimated the political wisdom of the Protestants - or the centuries-old political practice of the British who were behind their backs, and the other party proposed that the number of autonomous counties should be carved out, which was the legitimate power of the Irish government, but they did not accept the management of the so-called six-county joint council, at least three counties in the Belfast region must be directly governed by the Irish government and have the status of equal provinces. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Although the Anglo-Irish Agreement set a time limit for the realization of autonomy in Belfast, now that all British troops have been withdrawn and the international situation has stabilized, the Irish government does not mind delaying it for a while. At Natsuki's behest, the government officials in charge of negotiating Belfast's regional autonomy argued with the representatives of the Belfast local council and refused to budge. Under the special control of the Irish government, the people of the three counties of northern Ireland, especially Belfast, have no worries about food and clothing, but can only watch with envy the rest of Ireland on the road to industrialization. In early June, the British government, in conjunction with mainstream newspapers, began to criticize the Irish government for not abiding by the agreement, and mocking them for tyranny and religious persecution. Provoked by this, the Protestants in the north of Ireland staged several protest demonstrations, but seeing little effect, soon went on strike again. At the height of the strike, the Port of Belfast was nearly paralyzed.

The British chose this time to stir up trouble precisely because Ireland will host the third Global Aviation Expo and the first "Freedom Cup" flight competition in mid-June. If the Irish government is still in charge of the Kanter cabinet, it will inevitably be helpless in the face of such a predicament, so Natsuki will reuse the German officials led by Horders, a group of "foreign monks" with rich political experience and management methods, and the determination and courage to do something in Ireland. In view of the international influence and policy strategy, the Irish authorities did not take a forced repressive approach to the protests and strikes in the north, but tolerated all kinds of non-violent acts of the Protestants on the premise of maintaining social order and ensuring the supply of food and water. In addition to this, the Irish Army withdrew its troops from Belfast Harbour and replaced them with armed police units, while the garrisons in the rest of the northern region remained stationary.

The Irish government's measures to overcome rigidity with softness have played a certain role in temporarily stabilizing the situation in the north, and at least it can hold a significant aviation expo in a relatively stable atmosphere -- this is not only an opportunity to show the world the new look of Ireland, but also an opportunity to open up the aviation market and promote economic and trade development, and the Irish government, military and enterprises have made preparations for this for half a year, and have invested more than 20 million marks. Judging from the registration of the aviation expo and air competition, it has become the most famous aviation event in history, and many heads of state are gladly invited to attend, and the German Emperor Wilhelm II will also set foot on Irish soil for the first time.

Nearly 30,000 guests have come to Limerick before the opening of the Aviation Expo, and the construction of the new capital of Ireland is far from complete, but the smooth and wide urban arterial roads, scattered buildings and various styles of sculpture and tower monuments make people feel the novelty and heartfelt admiration, and the ample hotels and good accommodation have shown the metropolitan heritage of Limerick, which has been widely praised by international guests.

Founded in 1909, the Global Aviation Expo is the world's premier aviation event, and the Irish organizers used the title "Little World Expo" for the first time in their publicity. It is not only a display of aviation elites and various aircraft, but everything related to aviation can be registered, so from Chinese kites to German zeppelins are on the list of exhibits, which is also the biggest difference between the third Global Aviation Expo and the previous two editions.

The primary intention of the exhibits brought to the exhibition is still to promote sales, among which the host Ireland, the aviation power Germany, and Italy, which has a booming aviation industry, are among the top three exhibits. Ireland showcased the latest developments in interceptors, dive bombers and torpedo bombers, and used civil aviation as a major theme in the showcase, introducing light multi-role aircraft, luxury private jets and models of future aircraft to demonstrate the technical prowess of the Irish aviation industry in the military and civilian fields. Contrary to the brutality of the Great War era, the Germans showed only a small number of military aircraft, but spared no effort to sell sports aircraft, small passenger and cargo aircraft, long-range transport planes, and the only transoceanic aircraft at present, the Zeppelin hard airship.

The day before the opening of the Aviation Expo, the sky was clear and the breeze was blowing, and the good weather made people look forward to the upcoming aviation event. In the Royal Palace of Limerick, Natsuki held a banquet in the form of a picnic to entertain the heads of the royal family of various countries, and in addition to the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was even more arrogant than the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, there were also nine monarchs including King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy, King Christian X of Denmark, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King Haakon VII of Norway, Crown Prince Karl of Austria-Hungary, Prince Mohammed of Ottoman, Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden and other seven princes, as well as Prime Minister Van der Linden of the Netherlands, Secretary of State of the United States Lansing, French Minister of Aviation Magnon, Portuguese Minister of Industry Rodriguez and dozens of other dignitaries. In protest of Ireland's delay in the autonomy of Belfast, Britain did not send an official representative and cancelled its original exhibition plan, and only a small number of military and political officials and entrepreneurs came to visit in their personal capacity.

In the midst of the refreshing scenery of white cloth and verdant meadows, and the blue sky of the city lined with buildings, one or two planes will occasionally burst in with the sound of a buzz, or in a state of silence, you can see a cloud-like airship slowly drifting by. Just over a year ago, Limerick was just an obscure river port city, and now it is a well-known name in Europe and even the world, such an amazing change, every time I look back, even Natsuki will feel excited, he hopes that this aviation expo held at no expense can become an unforgettable event for every participant in this life, and hopes to take this opportunity to lay a solid foundation for Ireland's position in the international aviation field, and lay a solid foundation for Ireland's economic rise, so when talking with these emperors, princes, dignitaries and celebrities, He changed his humble and low-key posture in the past, and proudly praised the industriousness and wisdom of the Irish people, praised Limerick's unique but neglected geographical location in the northwest corner of Europe, facing the North Atlantic, and even pretended to answer people's questions about Ireland's economic growth in a mysterious way.

The banquet was going on in such a harmonious atmosphere, and suddenly, Natsuki saw the state secretary O-Grady hurrying towards him, he pretended to be calm, but his eyes were full of panic and anxiety.

What kind of unexpected situation made this usually steady man so flustered?

Natsuki's first reaction was that the Protestants in the north, the vast majority of whom sought regional autonomy for the purpose of protecting their own interests, but it could not be ruled out that a small number of radicals or British agents deliberately created chaos and degraded Ireland's reputation, thereby slowing down the pace of Ireland's economic development and military build-up.

O-Grady came to Natsuki, and before he could speak, someone not far away was surprised: "Look, it seems that there is a fire in the city." ”

Everyone followed the prestige, only to see a thick black smoke column rising from the direction of the city of Limerick, this scene is easy to make people who have experienced naval battles think of the explosion of the battleship, usually only a violent explosion or deflagration in a short period of time, such a column of smoke can be produced, but no one has heard the explosion just now.

The palace is about 20 kilometers from the central city of Limerick, and judging from the exact position of the smoke column, Natsuki realizes that it is likely to be the aviation center in the northern part of the city.

O-Grady didn't dare to hesitate for a moment, and took advantage of the opportunity for everyone's attention to turn to the distance, he leaned into Natsuki's ear: "I just received a call from the airport on duty, a zeppelin flying from Hamburg caught fire while mooring, and the airship is estimated to have thirty to forty crew members, and it is currently being rescued with all its might. ”

Before the report was heard, Xia Shu's eyes widened, due to the complicated production process of helium and the high manufacturing cost, hydrogen is still commonly used in Germany's Zeppelins, which means that they have inherent hidden dangers in terms of safety, during the war, there have been military airships wrecked due to fire, but at that time, a battle down, casualties were often tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands, and the loss of only one or two boats, more than ten or twenty crew members did not attract the attention of the outside world. After the end of the war, because the performance of the aircraft could not completely replace the airship, and the mass production of helium required a huge amount of capital investment, the Germans were still building airships using hydrogen, and invested heavily in the field of civil aviation, in addition to actively promoting parachutes, Natsuki had neither the ability nor the way to interfere with these dangerous big guys flying around Europe, and even in order to save time and improve efficiency, he himself often took his own special airship.

The "Hindenburg" airship crash in the old time and space is regarded as the end of the zeppelin, since then, this kind of rampant intercontinental aircraft for more than 20 years quickly withdrew from the field of civil aviation, but the crash occurred in 1928, the cause of the accident is said to be the airship accumulated too much negative charge when passing through the rain clouds, after the two soaked tethered ropes were dropped, the metal frame of the airship was charged because it was grounded, and the casing quickly heated up and burned, which then ignited 7 million cubic feet of hydrogen in the airbag. In less than a minute, the massive airship turned into a ball of fire, with more than a third of its crew martyred......

In the blink of an eye, Natsuki came to his senses, although he was not sure if it was a simple accident or sabotage, the disaster had already happened, and the ten hours before the opening of the air show would have a huge negative impact on this much-anticipated exhibition anyway.

(End of chapter)