1914, a year of adventure and harvest.

A worldwide war broke out on this planet, involving more than 800 million people, about 15 million troops fighting on the three continents of Europe, Africa and Asia, and thousands of warships boiling the entire ocean.

Germany's pre-war goal -- defeating France, the number one powerful enemy, on land -- and getting rid of the situation of being attacked on both sides -- had been successfully accomplished, and nearly half of France was now under German control. By the beginning of February 1915, the French had surrendered all aircraft and the required number of guns, ammunition, locomotives, wagons and trucks in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, and handed over to the German Navy 59 battleships of more than 1,000 tons, including 5 armored battleships and 12 light and heavy cruisers. In addition, the French government made a one-time payment of 1 billion francs worth of gold to the German government as the first war reparations, and the transfer of the colonies was also coming to an end.

When the German navy unexpectedly defeated Britain at sea, the world's sea power changed dramatically, and the victory in the naval battle brought Germany not only honor, but also huge benefits. First of all, the British naval blockade of Germany suddenly collapsed, and Germany's overseas trade, which had been forced to stop at the beginning of the war, was restored, and by early 1915 the volume of sea traffic had reached 120 percent of the pre-war level. Second, the British navy's protection of overseas colonies was sharply reduced, the Mediterranean region was no longer controlled by Britain and France, and the German-Turkish forces were able to smoothly invade Africa, and large areas of British and French colonies changed hands. Three-quarters of the continent is now under the control of the German-Turkish coalition, and the rest are neutral colonies such as Portugal and the Netherlands.

1915 was still a year of adventure and harvest.

The Jungke bourgeoisie and the major conglomerates had already smelled the huge benefits of investment and development in the colonies, and after weighing the risks and benefits, they quickly obtained land development permits from the government, and with the military and political power in their hands, they also established a strong stronghold with the assistance of the local garrison, and recruited men and purchased weapons to form a private army of a certain size, and those colonial farms and mines became their private kingdoms.

February 1. The German government issued New Year's Proclamation No. 10 to encourage domestic investors to develop and invest in the newly acquired overseas colonies with a series of tax exemptions and protection policies, such as Egypt (formerly British), Sudan (formerly Anglo-Egyptian), South Africa (formerly British), Senegal (formerly French), Morocco (formerly French in the central and east-west, Spanish protectorates in the north and south), Algeria (formerly French), Libya (formerly Italy), Congo (formerly Belgian), Places like Somalia (formerly British, Italian, French) will become a paradise for adventurers.

The last line of the large announcement reads: "The Emperor ** team will give you the most reliable protection!" ”

Soon, government bulletin boards in cities and villages were filled with ordinary people, including merchants, small factory owners, and workers and peasants. There is a lot of discussion about the content of the announcement. Speculators are ready to move, and there is an opportunity they have been waiting for for a long time. However, most people still have a conservative and wait-and-see attitude, after all, the colonies are still wild lands.

For a time, the topic of colonial development began to prevail in Germany.

Regardless, there were a lot of people who were actively preparing after the announcement, raising money, recruiting helpers, or conducting field surveys. Just a week later, the first explorers set out on a gold rush to Africa.

Berlin, Imperial Palace.

"Your Majesty, according to our rough statistics, in the week since the announcement of the 10th. More than 12,000 groups and individuals have applied to travel to Africa. More than DM 50 million is expected to be invested in local mining, agriculture and industry. General Pascal, the new colonial minister and Chentian's father-in-law, excitedly reported the latest progress of the colonization project with a document in his hand, knowing that this did not include the previous investments of the Rongke nobles and large corporations.

"Oh, that's good!" Tatsuten knew that it would not be easy to get conservative Germans to invest abroad. It takes time for people's perceptions to change, and 80 million marks of private funds may not seem like much, but you must know that the war is not over at this time, and a considerable amount of private funds are still being used for military production. By the time the British were defeated, the number was bound to rise rapidly.

"It's just ......," Pascal paused, "at present, 90 percent of the people choose to go to South Africa, and people are not very interested in other colonies, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and other North African colonies are rarely willing to go, and some inland places are even less interested!" In fact, those places are also rich in resources! ”

Chen Tian was not surprised by this situation. After all, South Africa has long been famous for its mineral deposits, and there is easy shipping from South Africa to mainland Germany. As for North Africa, although currently under the control of the German-Turkish coalition, the conditions for sea transport were not ideal, and German ships sailing from North African ports had to return to Europe via the Suez Canal and then detour to the Cape of Good Hope, or cross the Mediterranean to the ports of Austria-Hungary or Turkey, and then transport their goods back to Germany by rail. As a result, the distance between the transportation sites is greatly increased, and the costs and risks are also increased as a result.

"A pamphlet on the geography, history, customs, and resources of our colonies is to be distributed to the people. When they have a deeper understanding of these places, they will naturally go there to invest and develop! In Chentian's view, the victory of the war will bring Germany a considerable amount of materials and benefits, and the production level of the military industry will soon return to the pre-war level, and this is the best time to make overseas investment, otherwise the domestic situation is likely to be oversupplied after the war. In addition to letting the people know more about the colony, Tatsuten knew that he had to unlock a lock to open the door to the Mediterranean. No matter how strong the defenses were, he would not hesitate, nothing could stand in the way of his grand colonization plans.

"It won't be long before all the problems are properly resolved!" Chen Tian's eyes stayed on the small dot on the map, it was too small and too small for the world map, but the geographical location was very important. It is for this place of projectiles that Chentian has prepared the best commanders of the German Army, Navy and Air Force at present.

At this time, not too many people are looking at calm southern Europe.

Madrid, the capital of Spain, is located in an intermountain basin at an altitude of 670 meters, making it one of the highest capitals in Europe. It's beautiful, sunny, fresh and has the highest number of sunny days per year in any European capital. It's a cold day in Madrid in February, but there are already signs of recovery, and after the cold winter, people are looking forward to spring.

To say the most famous building in Madrid. Naturally, the pure white palace of the East cannot be missing. This royal palace is grander than Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom and rivals the Palace of Versailles in France. The palace's marble columns, intricately sculpted roofs, tapestry floors, lavish crystal chandeliers, and a collection of foreign clocks and watches are among the world's most famous treasures. Many of those tapestries were hand-woven in the 15th century with gold and silver threads, and they are very valuable. 1 skilled worker, working 8 hours a day, 1 year to weave 1 square meter, a tapestry about 2 meters long and 15 meters wide. 1 worker needs 20 years of continuous weaving to complete. If you spread the tapestries in the palace on the ground, they are 200 kilometers long, which can be said to be invaluable.

The Palace of the Orient was built at the height of the Kingdom of Spain, which has since witnessed its gradual decline. At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon's army invaded Spain; At the end of the 19th century, the Spanish-American War broke out, which ended in a crushing defeat for Spain, Cuba gained independence, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States and sold the Philippines cheaply ($20 million), while also losing its last overseas colony. Since then, the status of an international power has ceased to exist.

This splendid palace is now owned by Alfonso XIII. A 29-year-old King of Spain who ascended to the throne at birth. Like the Austrian Emperor, Alfonso inherited an empire that had not landed, and his inaction failed to bring any turnaround to Spain. It was only in the previous wars that his policy of neutrality succeeded in saving a weakened Spain from the flames of war.

After the signing of the Peace of Vienna, Alfonso, like most European monarchs, began to rejoice that the fighting had subsided, but only two days later his prime minister brought him bad news.

As soon as he walked into the king's study, Prime Minister Josie couldn't wait to speak: "Your Majesty, something is wrong! I'm afraid the Germans are going to war on our doorstep! ”

Alfonso almost jumped out of his chair in surprise.

"The Germans declared war on us?"

"No...... No! The old Josie gasped for air, and it seemed that he was hurrying from the palace gate to the study.

"That's?"

"Your Majesty, Germany ...... this morning The German Foreign Minister addressed a note to our Ambassador in Berlin, the German Government...... They asked us to lease the port of Malaga in the south. Allow their army to land in Malaga and cross our territory to attack Gibraltar, which the British occupied! In addition, they have to lease our land in the north of Morocco to complete the ...... A north-south attack on Gibraltar! With great difficulty, the Prime Minister conveyed the Germans' intentions, and Alfonso sat back in his chair.

After a long time, the King of Spain muttered, "This is how the French invaded our country!" ”

Prime Minister Josie was silent, a history that will be etched by Spaniards. More than 100 years ago, under the pretext of attacking Portugal, Napoleon sent his army to occupy Spain and put his brother on the throne of Spain, and the Spanish people rose up and dealt a heavy blow to the French. However, this also came at a terrible cost to Spain, as the Latin American colonies took the opportunity to become independent, and Spain lost most of its overseas colonies during this period.

"The Germans are stronger now than the French in the Napoleonic era!" Alfonso closed his eyes in pain, he did not want to be another Fernando VII (King of Spain, stripped of his throne in 1808 and subsequently enthroned by Napoleon's brother Joseph in the name of José I).

"Your Majesty, with the present situation, we can only try to persuade the Germans to withdraw this demand!" After calming down, Josie seemed to have thought of a new solution.

"The French have surrendered, and the British themselves cannot be saved, so what do we use to persuade the Germans to change their minds? Austrian? Russian? Alfonso shook his head bitterly, the Germans had now become the masters of Europe, just like Napoleon.

Josie took a step forward, "No, Your Majesty! Gibraltar! ”

"Gibraltar?" Alfonso opened his eyes suddenly, looking at his prime minister in confusion and expectation.

"As long as the Germans get Gibraltar, they have no reason to go through our country!" Old Josie apparently saw the root of the problem, with Gibraltar, the Germans also controlled the keys to the Mediterranean, otherwise from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, the German surface ships would have to make a detour through the Suez Canal.

"Your Majesty, the British are now unable to protect their homeland, and this is also the best time for us to take back Gibraltar!"

Since the British seized Gibraltar using the War of the Spanish Succession, Spain has never given up the demand to recover Gibraltar, but the British Empire has become more and more powerful, and after entering the 20th century, it has dominated the world with steel warships, and the Spaniards can only endure silently.

"Gibraltar has been in British hands since 1704, and it is now well fortified, with forts, barracks, military ports and airfields, and all the capital ships of the British Mediterranean Fleet are concentrated there, except for a garrison of tens of thousands of men! The British could not easily give up such an important place, and it would not be easy to forcibly occupy it without sufficient troops and heavy artillery! Thinking of the current Spanish army and navy, Alfonso seemed quite helpless, which could no longer be compared with the Spanish army in its heyday.

"Your Majesty, the current Britain is no longer the Britain it used to be! Your Majesty can send someone to the Secretary of State for War and the Secretary of the Admiralty, and they will tell us about the current military strength of the British in Gibraltar, and I think that the strength of the British army is not as strong as I thought! It is up to our team to capture it, and then cooperate with the Germans or sign an alliance, so that the Germans can be avoided from invasion and Gibraltar can be recovered, killing two birds with one stone! "The Prime Minister's offer is very tempting, and the young king seems to be looking forward to a bright future.

Half an hour later, the Spanish Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Marshal Paolo Navarro, and the Minister of the Navy and Commander of the Naval Fleet, Marshal Giorge Cabilas, came to meet Alfonso XIII and told their king that the British currently had four infantry regiments of about 7,000 men stationed in Gibraltar, less than 10 planes on the military airfield, two armored cruisers, five destroyers and more than 10 small ships moored in the military port, and the fortress of Gibraltar had hundreds of cannons, including those deployed on the top of the hill. Large-caliber mortars and heavy howitzers with a range that can cover the strait, about two-thirds of these cannons are facing the sea, and the rest are on guard in inland directions.

"The Navy cannot attack from the front!" Marshal Kabilas concluded that his ships were no match for strong fortresses and heavy fortress guns.

"The army lacks heavy artillery and ammunition, and the casualties of taking Mount Gibraltar will probably be very large, but if Your Majesty is determined to attack, my soldiers will never hesitate!" Marshal Navarro affirmed the possibility of attacking from land, but the Spanish army lacked advanced aircraft and artillery.

"That's ...... We can temporarily dismantle the naval guns to support the army, and at the same time ask the Germans for a batch of artillery and ammunition, and we can make this strait open to them forever after we occupy the mountains of Gibraltar! Alfonso had a sudden idea, and the proposal was quickly agreed to by the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Army and Navy, completely forgetting that Spain would henceforth lose the protection of neutrality.