I've been sick for the past few days, and I almost hung up yesterday when I went to hang salt water. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info nurse didn't poke the vein and started the infusion, obediently, within half a minute, the person fainted instantly, fainted for about a few seconds, woke up in a cold sweat, uncomfortable, slowly got better, and went home after the injection and fell asleep. It's much better today, it's to make up for yesterday's arrears, and there's another chapter in the evening.

******

After attending the commissioning ceremony of the "Bavaria" in Kiel, Natsuki boarded a cruise ship from Kiel to Danzig, where he happened to travel with Prince Heinrich and his wife. While the Prince and his wife were on holiday in Danzig, Natsuki was commissioned by the Kaiser to inspect the shipbuilding facilities at the Shuoxiao shipyard, a historic shipyard that had been ordered to build the Mackensen-class battlecruiser No. 1, and construction would begin when the design and technical drawings were in place.

In the past, when he ran the Friedrich Royal Shipyard, Xia Shu had a better understanding of the Shuoxiao shipyard, a close neighbor of the same city where cooperation and competition coexisted, and it had previously undertaken the construction of the second ship "Lützov" of the Deflinger class and the second ship of the Bavarian class "Baden", and the successful completion of the construction task showed its strong modern shipbuilding capabilities, but the specifications and technical requirements of the newly finalized Mackensen class were better on the basis of the Derflinger and Bavarian classes. The operator of Shuoxiao Shipyard thought that the original dock could be qualified for the construction of the Mackensen-class with a little improvement, but the naval technical team was cautious about this, and could not resist the emperor's suspicions.

The voyage from Kiel to Danzig was not far, and the exchange between Natsuki and Heinrich was limited to a lunch, but the content and attitude of the two sides were a real conversation. In the early years, Natsuki had little contact with Prince Heinrich, a "cheap uncle", but after joining the German Navy, the two gradually intersected. Natsuki was always grateful for the Prince's recognition and support before his ship design talents were widely recognized, and the Prince's generosity, affinity, and friendship have always been highly respected and actively emulated.

For well-known reasons, Prince Heinrich had long since ceased to hold a key position in the navy, and during the war, although he was appointed commander of the Baltic fleet, he did not have a single capital ship under his command, and the large-scale operations carried out by the German Navy in the Gulf of Riga were also carried out by the commander-in-chief of the fleet, Admiral Schell. After the war, the 54-year-old Prince Heinrich chose to retire and enjoy a leisure life with his family. He was also invited to attend the commissioning ceremony of the "Bavaria" as a member of the royal family.

Since he left the military circles, Prince Heinrich no longer exerts any influence on the country's military strategy issues in any form, but this does not mean that he does not pay attention and do not think. With his age and experience, he actually wanted to do something for the country again, but unfortunately the people's hearts were not ancient, and the complicated factional struggle made the prince decide to stay out of it.

Taking this opportunity, Natsuki once again invited the prince to serve as Ireland's state adviser, and the prince did not hesitate to help Natsuki analyze the situation, provide reference advice, and was even willing to find a beautiful place in Ireland to spend the summer, but he was unwilling to accept the title of adviser and receive the consultant's allowance.

Since the prince is unwilling to be bound in any form, it is naturally inconvenient for Natsuki to force it, so it is also beneficial, at least the two of them can exchange views on various affairs relatively freely.

At present, the most eye-catching thing is the new round of shipbuilding competition between Britain and Germany. Now Britain is no longer working behind closed doors, but using the American shipbuilding industry to make up for the damage to Britain's domestic shipbuilding industry in the last war, and it has also invisibly brought the strategic cooperative relationship between the United States and Britain closer. Germany's local industry benefited from the war, and in the year after the war, its industrial output increased by 75% compared with the pre-war period, and the industrial resources of northern France and most of Poland were incorporated into Germany's strategic system, which gave the German top brass enough confidence and confidence to compete with their opponents. It is too early to predict whether such a costly arms race will result in the collapse of one side and the end of neither side can afford to reach a point that neither side can afford, or whether it will end in the form of war, but one thing is certain that the shipbuilding industry in Europe and the United States will usher in a period of abnormal prosperity in the coming years.

In order to gain the initiative in the new strategic pattern of suppressing Britain and confronting the United States, Germany's top leaders, with unprecedented self-confidence, have drawn up a huge circle of allied forces that encompasses most of Europe, half of Africa, and even the Middle East. The Circle of Influence was like a citadel, with Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Istanbul, ******, Jerusalem, Basra and other cities as pillars, as well as numerous bases and fortresses as external fences, with the long-leased military port of Tórs to the north, Ireland as a staunch ally and long-occupied French Brest to the west, the burgeoning Persian Gulf defense system to the east, and the coastal strongholds of the African colonies to the south, but these existing resources were not enough to satisfy Berlin's decision-makers. In recent times, the Kaiser and his ministers and military generals have set their sights on new targets.

"The Azores are a natural transit point for the Atlantic route, from which ships can be monitored or attacked across the Atlantic, while Madeira has always been a strategic base for controlling West Africa and monitoring the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Cape Verde Islands are guarding the route between the Cape of Good Hope and Europe...... "Prince Heinrich said in a gentle tone. Conversely, if the islands fall into enemy hands, they can be used as staging posts for attack and containment that are equally effective. ”

Portugal, once a maritime empire, is sinking like the sun is sinking, but not as completely as Spain. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it still controlled colonies dozens of times the size of the mainland, from Macau and the East Indies in Asia to Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé-Principe, Cape Verde, Angola, and Mozambique in Africa. This neutral country has been emotionally inclined towards the British since the Napoleonic Wars. During the war, they did the British a great favor by allowing British troops to pass through Mozambique, allowing the British navy to use Madeira, and using Portuguese ships to help Britain deliver supplies. Ordinary Portuguese people also showed affection for the war situation in Britain, for the refugees from England, and for the survivors of German attack ships and submarines.

Thinking of this, Natsuki sighed: "The British lost the war, the Portuguese have changed their close stance towards it, Germany should take this opportunity to improve relations with Portugal, through economic aid, military cooperation, gradually close the distance between Berlin and Lisbon, and strive to include Portugal in the camp of the Allied States, even if Portugal is unwilling to give up neutrality, at least find a way to make it conditionally allow Germany to use its ports and bases in the Atlantic." ”

Tasting the clouds and mist of Lushan made by Xia Shu himself, the prince's brows stretched, as if he was reminiscing about the oriental culture contained in this cup of tea. However, returning to the topic just now, his expression was a little heavy: "Your Majesty can see through the problem at a glance, but the German cabinet can't see it with its eyes open. They actually felt that it was more direct and effective to force Portugal to compromise through military and diplomatic pressure. After the outbreak of the last major war, the British government had asked Portugal to use the base in the Azores, especially after the 'Blucher' entered the Atlantic, the British even promised Portugal a generous reward in order to lease the port of Horta on the island of Faial, but Lisbon still did not agree. Perhaps the Azores are more important to Portugal than Madeira, Cape Verde, or even any of the mainland provinces. ”

Natsuki nodded and said: "If the Portuguese government is forced to lease the military bases in the Azores, Cape Verde and Madeira to Germany through force or diplomatic coercion, it will only make the Portuguese more disgusted and disgusted with Germany, and if Germany violates Portugal's neutrality, in addition to losing the support of public opinion in various countries, it also means that Britain and the United States may take advantage of this to take some unexpected measures against us." ”

"For example, to send troops to occupy the Azores?" The prince sighed helplessly, "That will be the beginning of the next war." ”

Prince Heinrich's concerns represent the mentality of a considerable number of Europeans in this era, who have been deeply shocked by the momentum of development in the United States over the past half century, whether they have seen it with their own eyes or heard it. Just imagine, with the achievements of several hundred years of industrial development in European countries, in the end only a fraction or a dozen of the industrial scale of the United States, and then consider the tens of millions of tons of steel production and the huge population base of the United States, people will inevitably be afraid of this colossal monster on the other side of the ocean.

From a historical perspective, Natsuki was more calm than his contemporaries, and he knew how far-reaching isolationism had on the United States, and that the United States could only get involved in a war if it was in confidence or deeply stimulated, so it was unlikely that the United States and Britain would join forces to send troops to the Azores. Natsuki was referring to the unexpected moves, mainly in terms of politics and diplomacy, after all, judging from the several encounters before and after the last World War, the British top brass played political tricks with a degree that Kaiser Wilhelm II and his ministers' staff could not catch up with on horseback.

Taking all things into consideration, Natsuki held the same view as Prince Heinrich, that is, Germany should not suppress Portugal by force, after all, a neutral Portugal is more beneficial than a Portugal that has chosen a camp. During the last Great War, Portugal seemed to be an incredible oasis of peace and prosperity for refugees from the belligerents: there was no military rule; Until the war took place, ration cards were not used; Shops are stocked with food and luxury goods for those who can afford to indulge in; The hotels were filled with wealthy refugees who spent time there until they could book a ticket to the United States. It is also a hiding place for spies from various belligerent countries, and is one of the busiest financial black markets in the world, where speculators make the most of the free trading of gold and foreign currencies in pursuit of huge profits. For the belligerents, neutral Portugal was also a platform for wartime trade and diplomatic mediation.

(End of chapter)