.“ On the occasion of April Fool's Day, we wish the people of the world a happy day, especially the French and Americans! At the joint meeting of the Imperial Army and Navy on March 29, Chentian's opening remarks made the usually serious German generals laugh heartily.

"Today is three days before the offensive is launched, are all the preparations on the front line ready?" Chentian said and turned his attention to Ludendorff, the lieutenant general who was now the head of combat operations in the European part of the German General Staff, Hoffmann was in charge of German military operations in the Americas, Hindenburg was in charge of the overall situation of the army, and Bilow was in charge of the internal affairs of the War Department.

Ludendorff got up from his seat and faced Chentian's side, "Back to Your Majesty, ninety-nine percent of the preparations have been completed, now we are just waiting for the government to declare war on France!" ”

Forcing France to surrender in 1914 did not achieve 100 percent of the German government's pre-war goals, because after the war the French government was able to retain most of the cities, industrial and agricultural facilities in the southern region, with 300,000 square kilometers of land and a population of more than 30 million, although the armistice limited them to 60,000 regular troops, France's war potential was not completely eliminated.

According to the information available to the German High Command, by 1916 the French government in the south had ostensibly not violated the armistice of 1914, but privately organized the fugitives, prisoners, and retired soldiers from the war through the Army Reserve Management Department, and established more than 500 civilian security battalions, with an actual force of nearly 300,000 troops. In addition, despite the loss of many machines after the war, after many years of restoration and clandestine construction, most of the arsenals in the south of France have regained the capacity to produce light weapons and ammunition, as well as a small number of heavy artillery and armored vehicles. While the majority of the population in the south of France has not yet emerged from the shadow of defeat, France's revival plans are ambitious.

Chen Tian had a document stolen by German spies from the French War Department in the south, which showed the fact that the French government had heavily funded guerrillas in the German-occupied areas in the north, lurked a large number of spies, and bribed puppet government officers. The aim is to coordinate the frontal battlefield operations in the event of an ambush and loss of territory. Although no specific timetable for the French was obtained, the German High Command believed that the French were determined to regain lost ground and re-compete with the Germans by 1930.

However, at the end of 1914, Chen Tian was only a German prince and commander of the army, and with the main German army exhausted and Kaiser Wilhelm II was interested in reaping the fruits of the war against France, he could not occupy most of France's cities and industries before the peace talks in a blitzkrieg as the Third Reich fought against France in history. With the signing of the peace treaty, the French kept their last hope, but the Germans laid a hidden danger for the future.

In order to eliminate this hidden danger. At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Chen Tian began to look for a second plan to fight against France. Now, with the Austro-Hungarian Empire finally dissolved, the Russians powerless to interfere in European affairs, the Americans busy suppressing bandits, and the Japanese reaping a lot of gains in Southeast Asia, Tatsuten has finally waited for the right moment.

Chen Tian said angrily: "In my name, issue a scraping order, warning the commanders of all front-line departments not to underestimate the enemy, and to establish meritorious deeds or lose their reputation in this battle!" ”

"Yes!" Those who are about to set out are all gearing up, and those who fail to receive the order have to sit aside and envy.

After issuing the Western Front Combat Instruction, Chen Tian turned the topic to the American continent.

"The U.S. Expeditionary Force launched a large-scale encirclement operation last week. Unfortunately, they still come back in vain! But. According to a secret telegram from our liaison in Mexico, the Zapatista Peasant Army, although they have not lost many troops, will soon be running out of ammunition! Marshal Pol. When will our submarine convoy arrive in Mexico? ”

Bohr seemed to have anticipated the Kaiser's question, and he gave the answer without thinking:

"Your Majesty, they have entered the Gulf of Mexico, from tomorrow, when will the peasant army take the port, and when will they enter the port to replenish!"

"Well, I'll get the Intelligence Department to contact our locals! Let's hope this batch of ammunition will help them survive this most difficult time! Chen Tian said sympathetically.

On March 31, 1916, while the 320,000 elite troops of the German Army deployed on the French Armistice Line were making final preparations, in the distant Gulf of Mexico, a crumpled submarine surfaced in the night.

At this time, the sea is full of warm winds. The surroundings were so calm that only the sound of sea water and phoenixes was there, and the crew who had been suffocating under the water for a long time walked up to the deck one by one to breathe in the fresh air and stretch their waists by the way. The Gulf of Mexico is usually safe at night, but a few of the crew on guard removed the tarpaulin from the bow cannon, and the machine gun in the stern was ready to fire.

After surveying the sea around him with his telescope, Major Max put down his telescope and took a good breath of the salty air on the surface of the sea. As a veteran captain with 4 years of experience, Max was not on a normal combat mission this time. In fact, since he took over the new submarine with his men in July last year, he knew that the feeling of sinking a target with a torpedo would be more and more distant from him.

The reason is simple, this UUV-type submarine is an ocean-going supply submarine with a displacement of 1800 tons. With the exception of the 77mm gun in the bow and the machine gun in the stern, there were only three torpedo tubes and six torpedoes on board, and the combat effectiveness was only equivalent to that of an early experimental combat submarine. Under normal circumstances, a UDV with a full load of 160 tons of supplies can sail 18,000 nautical miles, with a maximum speed of 16 knots on the surface and 5 knots underwater.

Under Max's command, a submarine convoy of three UUV-type supply submarines departed from the British port of Pascalflo on February 28 and entered the Gulf of Mexico after a 30-day voyage.

Now they are on standby less than 40 nautical miles off the coast of Mexico.

In order to avoid detection by the U.S. fleet, Max's submarine formation has only received radio signals since entering the Gulf of Mexico. Their final task was to sneak through the American fleet's cordon and deliver the 2,000 rifles, 100 light machine guns, 500 boxes of ammunition, 100 boxes of grenades, and 50 boxes of mines on board the submarine to the Zapatista Peasant Army. Since the ports along the Mexican coast are currently in the hands of the Mexican government and U.S. forces, the key to this task is that the peasant army must capture a predetermined port before transporting the weapons and ammunition on the boats.

Max looked at his luminous watch, it was 11:07 p.m., and he had not yet received a contact telegram from the receiver.

Under the faint starlight, the sea surface seems so still.

Soon after, an American patrol ship appeared in this sea area, Max unhurriedly ordered the submarine to dive and maintain the periscope depth, before dawn, this situation appeared on two other occasions, but there was no danger, it seems that the Americans rely on their maritime superiority in the Gulf of Mexico to have no fear, if Mexico has a submarine, these US ** ships may not be like this lights on the sea swagger.

At 6 a.m., the German submarine transport squadron finally received a coded telegram from the Peasant Army, which, of course, was sent by the German liaison officer who had previously been stationed at the Zapata command. After learning the location of the joint, Max searched for a while on the nautical chart, and finally found the small and inconspicuous port. After choosing the best route, he ordered the signal corps to signal the lights to the other two submarines in the formation.

At dawn, three submarines quietly dived into the water and headed in the direction of the Mexican coast.

April 1, 1916, April Fool's Day.

Every year on this morning, there are many funny, funny and even laughable things happening all over Europe and the United States, and this year is no exception. In addition to students playing tricks on teachers and family and friends, even governments have begun to play tricks on each other.

When the German diplomat presented the declaration of war to the French government in retreat to the south, a French official happily patted the German on the shoulder, calling the humor startling and creative.

When General Pershing, who led the invasion of Mexico, received a report from his men that the Zapatista Peasant Army and the Villa Peasant Army were jointly attacking a small port called Pesca on the Gulf Coast, he not only did not get angry, but only asked his men to send a telegram to inform the Navy Department, and held a small celebration party for the Mexicans themselves to run into the guns of the American ** ship.

Germany and Japan jointly submitted a formal diplomatic document to the United States, demanding that the United States immediately withdraw its troops from Mexico, otherwise Germany and Japan would send troops to protect their nationals in Mexico. As President Marshall's aides nervously presented him with the paperwork, he smiled and reminded the poor aide that it was April Fool's Day.

However, April Fool's Day does not necessarily mean that truth cannot be told. After 12 noon, those are true fools, those are false fools, everything is obvious.

In France, with Guderian's 1st Panzer Army and Fleming's 2nd Panzer Army as the vanguard, followed by the 1st, 3rd and 6th armies, more than 300,000 German troops rushed through the German-French armistice line and invaded southern France four hours after the declaration of war. In the face of the bombardment of thousands of heavy artillery, the overwhelming air raids of airships and planes, and the flood of German armored troops, the weak French defense line was in a hurry, and the regular army, which had only 60,000 men, quickly retreated.

As for General Pershing, he soon found out that the attack on Pesca by the Mexican peasant army was just a cover! What Zapata and Villa really want to attack is Tuspan, which is nearly 150 nautical miles away. Although the US Navy has absolute superiority in front of the Mexicans, it is impossible to block the ports of all the large and small harbors on the east and west sides of Mexico, and at best it only deploys patrol cordons along the coast, and this loose cordon is by no means flawless.

Just after noon, T. Marshall's aides reported to him again that the German-Japanese government's announcement in the morning was not a joke, and that if Mexico continued as it was, the two countries would send ships and marines to Mexico to protect the diaspora.