After two days of hunting, Natsuki returned to the quaint and magnificent Windsor Castle, and according to the agreed itinerary, he would also spend two days in England to participate in some activities of the British nobles. Before the outbreak www.biquge.info of the Great War, Britain was at the peak of its incomparably strong power, and its political and diplomatic influence surpassed that of Europe, and the British royal family became the leader of the entire European royal family. Although the outcome of the war had plummeted Britain's prestige, the influence of the British royal family in the traditional sphere had not diminished to the point of being replaced by Hohenzollern or Habsburg. The British royal family's current hospitality to the candidates for the Irish throne is undoubtedly a recognition of his rule over Ireland, which may seem insignificant to ordinary people, but it is a conspicuous bellwether for the European upper class.

Later in the evening, Buchringen, a German intelligence officer working for Ireland, brought Natsuki news about the German-Japanese armistice treaty. This matter has little to do with the current Ireland, but if it is information related to Xia Shu's safety, a delay in arriving may cause a lot of bad consequences. Before Natsuki became a candidate for the Irish throne and officially left the German Navy, the German Navy's intelligence work had progressed rapidly under his promotion, and the German High Seas Fleet had won successive battles, and had benefited to a large extent from the results of the British intelligence front. Even if there is no wake-up call today, Natsuki will definitely increase his investment in the Irish intelligence service in the next step.

However, a lot of work is done from scratch, not to mention the need for funds everywhere, reliable things must be done by reliable people, and the demand for all kinds of professionals is by no means in place by hiring with high salaries. In Natsuki's eyes, Buchringen, a senior who also graduated from the Kiel Naval Academy, has the intelligence to become a powerful intelligence officer and is willing to work for himself, but he is still an orthodox German in his bones, and he will not only not do anything that harms Germany's interests, but may also make counter-actions, which makes Natsuki only control this person within a very limited scope.

Buchringen brought a detailed inside look at the armistice treaty, including the main terms agreed by the parties. It is likely that the British have obtained this information through their intelligence channels, and the previous British Prime Minister Bona Law deliberately pretended to only know the surface, thinking that he was trying to get some words from Natsuki, and besides, there was no need for them to take out the information they had painstakingly obtained and share it with such a friend and foe.

The most important content of the German-Japanese armistice treaty to be signed is that Japan will return all the German colonial territories occupied during the war to Germany, and the two sides will delineate their respective spheres of influence in the Asia-Pacific region, and Japan's military expansion will be limited to East Asia, Northeast Asia, and the Central Pacific and North Pacific regions. This was a favorable condition that Japan and Britain had never received during their honeymoon period in the conclusion of a military alliance.

In addition to the German-Japanese armistice, Buchringen also gave Natsuki a brief verbal report on the events that had occurred in various European countries in the past two days. The most interesting is still the situation in Eastern Europe, after the German army paid a large price to capture the Gulf of Riga, the Russian front continued to retreat, it is rumored that the Russian government has proposed to the Tsar to cede Lithuania and Ukraine in exchange for the Allied armistice, but the army commander Grand Duke Nicholas firmly opposed, he believes that the Allied army led by Germany is not stronger than the French-led coalition army more than a hundred years ago, as long as the war drags on until winter, the enemy army entering the Russian territory will suffer a crushing defeat in 1812, At that time, Russia not only did not need to cede an inch of land, but would also be able to counterattack into Germany and Austria in one fell swoop, forcing the Allies to cede land and pay reparations. Since the British government was secretly supporting the main war faction in Russia and hoping to use the Eastern European front to deplete Germany's strength, the melancholy Nicholas II continued to remain silent, and it seems that the war between Russia and the Central Powers will continue in the near future.

The Russian military and civilians are in dire straits, and with the continuous advance of the Eastern European front, most Europeans have felt that they are getting farther and farther away from the war, especially in Germany, the first batch of soldiers of the army has returned to their hometowns with full honors, the domestic social order has basically returned to the pre-war state, the major military industrial enterprises and factories specializing in scrap iron recycling are busy, driving the unemployment rate to remain at a low level, and the industrial and financial giants have sent delegations or inspection delegations to follow the military and political personnel to receive the new colonies. With the successive arrival of good news, all walks of life in Germany are full of positive and optimistic sentiments, and the prestige of Wilhelm II and the Hohenzollern royal family is also rising.

In this context, the Imperial Navy Father Tirpitz returned to a prominent position, and the Grand Navy program he led will be implemented in the form of the Fourth Naval Expansion Act, although the content of the plan is still in the brewing stage, and all kinds of speculations are already flying, some close to reality, some are outrageously exaggerated, but in any case, it is imperative that Germany should start a new round of naval expansion in response to the military cooperation between the United States and Britain, so that the reparation ships received from Britain are even less likely to be reused.

During the war, the British Royal Navy's rich foundation was smashed by the German Navy, and at the time of the armistice, only seven large ships built in the 20th century survived, including the battlecruiser "Tiger" and the "Collingwood" dreadnought, which were withdrawn from the Battle of the Faroe Islands. According to the provisions of the London Armistice Treaty, the British ships less than ten years old were all divided up by the Allied countries as trophies, and Germany grabbed more than 40 ships, including the "Tiger", and the original plan was to repair and transform the ships with complete hull structure and supplement them to the combat sequence of the German Navy. There was no need for the German Navy to spend a lot of effort on repairing and adapting British ships that had weak defenses, and even super-powerful warships such as the Tiger could be used directly as target ships. Even if Natsuki, who has the provisional right to rule as the heir to the Irish throne, covets these ships, due to the express provisions of the London Armistice Treaty, Germany cannot directly or indirectly transfer to Ireland the capital warships of more than 15,000 tons, including ships that are out of service but are eligible for re-service, and there is no way to take them into its arms, but the treaty does not restrict Ireland from obtaining parts and components for these ships.

During his previous visit to Germany, Natsuki made a request to the Kaiser and the top brass of the Navy, hoping to obtain the large-caliber naval guns on the British ships and the ammunition stored on the ships, which were nominally used to strengthen Ireland's coastal defenses, but in fact there was a deeper intention, that is, to make a strategic reserve for the capture of Belfast's strong defensive line. According to the calculation of the kinetic energy of the shell, a high-explosive shell fired by a 12-inch naval gun with a diameter of 50 times is equivalent to 150 ordinary shells fired by a 3-inch field gun, if the rate of fire is taken into account, the deterrent power of a 12-inch naval gun on the battlefield is at least as good as 30 3-inch field guns, and the large-caliber shell can destroy the fortress fortifications that the field artillery is powerless, and can cause a huge psychological shock to the defenders, and the tactical and even strategic value is self-evident.

It is a well-known truth that the caliber of the artillery is more powerful, but the relationship between them in terms of cost and technical requirements is the way to look at it from insiders. A 50 times the diameter of the 12-inch naval gun barrel alone has more than 50 tons, the manufacture of such artillery needs to be equipped with a lot of large and super-large equipment, and the metal smelting and forging process has very high requirements, people have to pour metal raw materials into ingots, and then forging forming, cutting and milling and finally carved out rifling, the middle must be repeatedly annealed, each process must be carried out very detailed inspection, to ensure that there is no crack inside and outside the barrel.

The manufacture of the barrel and body is time-consuming and laborious, and the ammunition of large-caliber guns also has extremely high requirements for technical conditions and process levels. With Ireland's poor and white industrial base, even with the full support of Germany, it is absolutely impossible to forcibly climb the scientific and technological tree in a copying way, and to reach the first-class level in a certain field of military technology, without three years and five years, and the acquisition of spot is a practical and affordable way.

Sending Buchringen away, Natsuki pushed open the window, lit a cigarette in the bright moonlight and crisp breeze, and quietly pondered all kinds of intricate questions. It is true that the vacant Irish throne is the greatest motivation for his current struggle, but the dispute in the Belfast area cannot be resolved by a military operation at any cost, and whether he can handle the relations before, during and after is not only a key test of his ability to be the king of Ireland, but also determines the future direction of the new kingdom of Ireland.

As soon as the cigarette was finished, there was a gentle knock on the door, Natsuki looked at his watch, it seemed that there should be no visitors at this point, and with a little caution, he walked to the side of the door: "Who is outside?" ”

A light voice followed from outside: "It's me, Alexandra Alice Marie, Your Highness." ”

Natsuki opened the door, and there was only an 18-year-old girl outside the door.

Seeing the other party's smoky eyes and spring heart, wearing a light gauze skirt, Xia Shu sighed in his heart: Okay, the pearl of King George V, Her Royal Highness Princess Mary, what about your country's hatred? What about your ladylike reserve?

But after thinking about it, I felt that it was excusable. Putting aside her personal charm, if the eldest British princess and the heir to the Irish throne are together, in terms of royal blood, Britain and Ireland are still one family, and there is still a theory that the two countries share one lord in the future, even if this complex royal ethics drama does not become a reality, the British at least find a reason to talk about masturbation. Moreover, with this level of kinship, the will of the Irish ruling class to unite with Germany against Britain will not be at least as strong as it is now, and the political and diplomatic level will increase the possibilities.

(End of chapter)