.“ Your Majesty! We've got everything in place, and now is the opportunity we've been waiting for, it's time to decide! ”

The speaker had a confident attitude, although he was wearing the uniform of a major general, his identity was far more than a major general.

He called "Your Majesty" a noble lady in her fifties, who was dressed gracefully and luxuriously, but whose mental outlook did not seem to be worthy of the title at all, for there was only a weak and feeble look emanating from between her brows.

"Your Highness, please don't call me that, I'm just a poor and helpless woman now! I'm not interested in politics, and I don't have the ability to care! The woman whispered, her eyes tingling with horror, and when she turned to look at the young man in her thirties, there was a deep kindness in her eyes.

There were few visitors to this place, but the young man did not have the slightest reaction to the visitors, his eyes were blank and stupid, and the corners of his mouth twitched a few times before he occasionally turned his head to look at his mother. His beard was cleanly shaven, his emaciated face was very white, and he looked younger than his actual age, but this youth was not as handsome as a foil. He was wearing a field marshal-style garment, which appeared to be tailor-made, but lacked any insignia or ornament indicating rank.

"You ......" The major general was a little unable to sit still, and he wanted to persuade something, but the old man who came in with him glanced at him, and he stopped talking.

The old man wore a gray-black military coat on the outside, which was tightly concealed inside, and only occasionally showed a corner of the red collar badge. After a little deliberation, he spoke gently and respectfully:

"Your Majesty, you are willing to enjoy this peace, and as courtiers, we can only wish you from the bottom of our hearts! It's just that I think you should think about your other sons, all of whom are promising young men! ”

"They...... They're okay now! ”

The woman's reaction to these words was very different from before, and her eyes jumped. But then it went down again.

"Your Majesty, look at you, staying in such a place that is almost isolated from the world, and you can't even get news of your son, this kind of life is really sad for those who hear it, and tears for those who hear it!" The more the old man spoke, the more sad he became, and at last he almost squeezed out tears.

"Alas......" the woman sighed softly, and continued to caress her poor child.

"All is fine with the Grand Dukes now, but only temporarily! No one can guarantee that the person won't do anything to them. Everything now may just be what he did for the people of the country, and when everyone forgets about it, I'm afraid it will ......" At the end, the old man sighed deeply.

After a long time, the woman looked up, "Then what do you want me to do, marshal?" ”

As night falls, the streets of the city are filled with people in a hurry, and in this cold weather, there is no greater wish than to have dinner with the family in a warm and cozy room. For most people. They didn't know what was going to happen on this night.

Just when I was getting ready to go home from work. Schinkwitz and his companions were suddenly ordered to assemble urgently, much to their surprise.

"What's going on? Stumped...... Is it war? A young police officer's face was confused, and he had already unloaded his baton and other equipment. Holding a bouquet of brightly colored roses in his right hand, it seems that he is about to go on a date with his lover.

The other police officer, who looked a little older, shook his head very seriously, "No, I haven't seen the newspaper say in the past while that the situation is tense and which country is ready to mobilize!" ”

"Maybe it's a spy spotted, maybe it's some other accident, whatever, just follow the orders from above to assemble!" Sinkwitz said disapprovingly, for a bachelor like him. It doesn't make much sense to get home on time or not.

A few minutes later, the police chief almost ran into the hall where the police had assembled.

"Listen, everyone, this is martial law decreed by the king himself, and now everyone immediately sets out to take duty in their respective streets! Also, the army will be dispatched, and you will unconditionally assist them in keeping the city safe! As for when martial law will be lifted, I will inform you when the time comes! ”

"Martial law?" The faces of the police officers were invariably marked with great consternation, considering that the last martial law in Munich dates back to the time of the assassination of Wilhelm II.

"Director, what the hell is going on? Is there going to be a war? A police officer asked in a loud voice. This is also a question that most people here are very keen to know.

However, what was disappointing was that the director shook his head helplessly, "I don't know about this, in short, let's implement it seriously!" ”

The policemen set off with a sense of suspicion, and soon they saw soldiers with loaded guns on the streets of Munich.

"Is war really coming again?" Schinkwitz muttered alone, and he couldn't help but start worrying about his two brothers, one of whom was serving in the Bavarian army, and the other was a First Class Reserve who would be the first to go to war if war broke out.

The grim-faced soldiers did not answer Schinkwitz's questions, and in fact, they did not know the reason for martial law.

The night of November 18, 1915 was destined to be long and chaotic, and the unrest was not only manifested in the martial law of Munich, but also in the splendid palace on the southern outskirts of Stuttgart.

When the sound of neat and dense footsteps came from outside the palace, Colonel Albrecht Leopold, the eldest son of the Duke of Württemberg, Major Albrecht Fortunatus, the second son, and the third son, Captain Albrecht Gregel, were all full of ambition and spirit.

As the heir to the entire family, Leopold was confident and calm, wearing a large gray trench coat over the colonel's uniform, a sword pinned to the left waist, long leather boots were shiny, and even the hair under the military hat was faintly shiny.

At the age of 21 in two months, he is the most burly of the three brothers, and at the same time, he is also the most traditional of the family in the eyes of everyone. During the war, he followed his father's 4th Army against France, and the first Battle of the Seine became the young man's Toulon. Fortunatus led his troops to cross the river as quickly as possible and assault the French in depth, but it was a doomed battle from the start, when the French hidden artillery opened fire one after another, the German attack had to be stopped in the face of huge casualties, and the troops who had crossed the river were forced by the French and retreated. Despite being wounded in the arm, Fotunastu remained on the front lines of the battle. His battalion finally succeeded in covering the mission, and in the end there were less than 100 men left in the starting position. At the end of the battle, Moltke the Younger was disgraced and dismissed from the post of Chief of the General Staff, and some of the relevant generals were punished accordingly, and Fortunastu was rewarded along with the heroes who emerged from the battle—although he was only awarded an Iron Cross, which became the most prestigious medal in the Württemberg family in a century, and the young officer's popularity and family status rose rapidly.

As for Greg, who is not yet 20 years old, he is the most cared for by the elderly, and he has a brave and decisive character. What's even more rare is that he is well-behaved and left and right, so his popularity in the family is no less than his two brothers. It has been asserted that if the heirs of the House of Württemberg had to choose one of their three brothers, it would inevitably lead to a fierce fight.

Regardless of the future, these three people have no choice but to stand on the same front at this time.

After a brief and modest commotion, the surroundings of the palace returned to tranquility. After a while, the sound of calm and loud footsteps sounded in the corridor.

"It's coming!" Fortunatus stood up and looked at the door with his chest straight.

"Hmm!" Leopold was still calm, his left hand clenching the hilt slightly. The eldest son of the family usually kept a low profile, but no one dared to ignore his presence, especially those who had suffered from his inadvertent petty tricks.

"Great!" Greg raised his fist in bliss. The handsome face flushed slightly from excitement.

The people who then pushed the door in didn't disappoint them.

The entrance to the Imperial Palace in Berlin. The Praetorian Guard officer on duty looked anxiously at his watch, and less than five minutes before 6 o'clock, the carriage finally came into view. This made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"His Royal Highness, Your Excellency the Marshal, the matter is settled?" The officer said as he quickly went through the routine.

The people in the carriage did not talk, and their faces seemed even colder than when they came.

Looking at the carriage that was leaving, the officer on duty with a hot face and a cold ass had to smile helplessly, but others didn't notice that there was a kind of weirdness behind this smile. After the carriage disappeared around the corner of the street, the officer walked briskly to the side of the office, and after making sure that there was no unrelated person nearby, he picked up the phone.

"Hey, sir. I'm Hartman! Yes, they just left! Okay, obey! ”

At dinner, the Kaiser's health was still the most discussed topic in the special restaurant "Lützov". He hadn't been seen by the senior officials and generals since the morning, but every two hours a message came from the hospital ship Huber informing him of the Kaiser's state of health. So far, at least, all the news points to the bright side.

"How about we ask to visit Your Majesty after dinner?" A broad, fat, and fat-looking officer who looked to be about fifty years of age suggested to his companion while listlessly cutting sausages on a plate, and to do it as usual. A few sausages on that plate weren't enough to stuff between his teeth, but today things looked different, and he kept cutting the sausages, but he didn't have the appetite to eat even a small slice of them. Three or four out of ten of the high-ranking officials present were in the same situation, and of course, these people were not just worried about the emperor, seasickness was the most fundamental reason. Unfortunately, the voyage has only just begun.

A person with a pointed chin next to him also looks like a similar age, and he is also dressed as a government official, and his appetite is not very good. He stopped the knife and fork in his hand and shook his head pessimistically, "Forget it, Your Majesty's attendant has made it very clear in the morning, Your Majesty needs absolute silence!" ”

The fat man who made the suggestion was a little frustrated, as if he had just lost an opportunity to make a fortune, but he could only vent his frustration on those poor sausages, horizontally and vertically, and those who did not know the situation thought he was cutting the meat sauce.

"You say, will Your Majesty ......" spoke to a man with a slightly rounder face, who had not spoken before but had quietly listened to the speakers, and he only said the first half of the sentence in a low and subtle voice, but judging from his expression, the second half of the sentence was definitely not a good speculation.

The sharp-chin man immediately rejected his speculation, "That can't be!" Everyone in this fleet is heavily vetted and there is no way to mix in with a single saboteur. Besides, how many of us contracted the cold last night? ”

"That's right!" The fat man echoed casually, "I caught a cold last night, and today I am not only seasick but also have diarrhea, and by the time I get off the boat, I will definitely lose twenty or thirty pounds!" Alas! ”

"That's not necessarily a bad thing for you!" The pointed chin said lukewarmly.

Roundface said no more, but his ears didn't stop working, and at this point he seemed to be interested in the conversation of a group of admirals not far away.

Compared to the officials, the senior admirals of the Navy seem to have good appetites.

"Your Majesty doesn't want to see idle people!" A forty-year-old major general wiped his mouth, "Marshal, we should not be among them!" ”

Sitting outside the two seats was Field Marshal Bohr, the number two man in the current German Admiralty. After the Emperor moved the hospital ship "Huber", only Bohr was on the hospital ship here.

It's a pity that Pol's words disappointed the major general, who was very promising in terms of his age.

"It is the doctor's intention to let His Majesty be alone, I think it is to avoid being infected by outsiders!"

"What about this naval meeting......" cautiously asked another rear admiral, who was nearly sixty years old from the outside, and retirement was not far off, so there was basically no room for improvement.

"Yes, Marshal, didn't Your Majesty say before that we would be summoned to discuss the issue of a meeting during the voyage?" The young major general was again active.

"Oh, I know, but I'll talk about that later! After all, His Majesty's body is important! Pol said impatiently, he quickly put down his knife and fork, said "sorry", and left alone without looking back.

The generals looked at each other, and it seemed that the marshal was not in a good mood.

"Let's not ask about His Majesty!" The old major general cautiously proposed, although his age limited his further promotion, but a person with almost no background could be promoted to the current level, and his insight into dealing with people would naturally not be too weak.

Everyone responded, "Yes, let's be patient!" Anyway, it's still a long time before the destination! ”

Meanwhile, on the hospital ship Huber, Lisa was sitting at a small square table eating alone, while the Emperor's attendant, Jonalet, stood respectfully aside.

"Your Majesty should have arrived at his destination by now!"

As she spoke, Lisa lightly and gracefully picked up a few vegetable leaves, put them in her mouth, and chewed them gently.

"Normally, it should have been there an hour ago!" Without thinking, Jonalet replied, "Your Majesty, don't worry, everything is under our control!" Just for the sake of secrecy, His Majesty will not send a telegram to contact us again until the matter is over! ”

"Oh!" Lisa answered, and then continued to deal with the vegetable salad in front of her.