To correct a mistake in the previous chapter, December 14 is the birthday of George V's second son, Albert, and the corresponding content has been changed in an irrelevant way. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info apologies!

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On December 16, 1915, the Yavus, with the Ottoman Turkish Navy flag flying on its mast, sailed out of the port of Brest, France. After more than a month of complete overhaul and minor refits, the battleship has been given a new look. On the way to the north, the crew lowered the crescent flag with a large red background, and a green, white and orange tricolor flag was raised......

This battle cruiser, equipped with three triple 283 mm guns, was originally the German Navy's "von der Tann", which was deployed in the Mediterranean Sea at the outbreak of the war, between hiding in the Austro-Hungarian military port and sailing to Ottoman Turkey, the commander of the German Mediterranean squadron, Wilhelm Zuchon, made one of the most important decisions of his life, the adventure of the "von der Tann" pushed the wavering Ottoman Turkish Empire into the camp of the Central Powers, Russia's strategic dilemma, and the stalemate of the Middle East situation, Even the final loss of the Entente on the battlefield had a great deal to do with the impact of this battle cruiser.

Four months earlier, when the London Armistice had just entered into force, a secret agreement had been reached between Germany and Ireland whereby the Ottoman Turks would transfer the "Yavs", also known as the "Von de Tann", to Ireland, and that Germany would transfer an active dreadnought or order a battlecruiser to the Ottoman Turks, thus circumventing the restrictions of the London Armistice. Given the lucrative nature of the deal, the Ottoman Turkish military quickly accepted the Germans' offer, and as early as August 1915 the von der Tann became part of the Irish Navy, although the secret deal was not made public. After that, Germany was anxious to occupy the Middle East, in order to prevent the joint intervention of Japan and Russia, which had not yet withdrawn from the war, so it temporarily requisitioned the "von de Tann", at that time the battle cruisers of the German Imperial Navy gathered in the southern Indian Ocean, which was unprecedented, and later turned out that the worries of the German top brass were completely unnecessary, and the Japanese did not have the idea of confronting the Central Powers at all, and their strategic focus was entirely on Northeast Asia, only thinking of cutting another piece of fat from the frustrated Russians.

After Japan and Russia withdrew from the war, there was no external threat to Germany's control of the Middle East, the fleet was withdrawn one after another, and the tripartite deal around the "von der Tann" continued to be fulfilled. In order to avoid accidents along the way, the battlecruiser still retains the name of the Ottoman Turkish battleship "Yawus", and claims to be going to Europe for major repairs, and the port of Brest, with modern shipbuilding facilities, has become the destination of its voyage. Here, the Irish Navy's secretly sent officers and crews formally took over the ship from Ottoman Turkish officials, and nearly two-thirds of the more than 900 officers and men on board were still German naval personnel wearing Turkish caps, and most of the key positions were still in German hands. After the handover, Turkish officials and sailors returned by boat, and the von der Tann, renamed the Belfast, embarked on a new voyage under the joint control of Irish and German naval personnel, this time to the south-eastern military port of Wexford.

Before the rise of the German Empire, Britain's intelligence network was already spread to all corners of the world, and although the defeat in the war was a great blow to Britain's vitality, the British were still far ahead of the great powers. On the day the Belfast arrived in Wexford, an important piece of information was sent to the British Admiralty in London. At dinner, the contents of this information were condensed into a small piece of paper and presented to George V.

At this moment, Natsuki was sitting two seats away from the British king. The theme of the royal dinner was to see off the official Irish visitors to their home country, and after more than a week of state visits, diplomatic relations between Britain and Ireland looked to be moving in a positive direction, and only those involved knew how turbulent the undercurrents beneath the calm sea were.

Seeing George V's eyes suddenly darken, Natsuki immediately guessed what was written on the note he received. When Ireland and Germany had just reached a secret agreement on the tripartite deal involving the "von der Tann", because the secrecy was relatively well done, the British should not have known the inside information, but when the Turks on one side of the party were involved, the so-called top secret became "absolutely not secret", and the British government quickly lodged a strong protest to the German government through informal channels, and the German government was annoyed by the strategic cooperation between the United States and Britain, and the two sides blamed each other, and in the end it was also over. That is, from that time on, George V knew that sooner or later the "von de Tann" would become a tiger that fueled the anger of the Irish.

Now this tiger has finally appeared in front of the British, becoming a thorn in their side and a thorn in their flesh. After the joint overhaul of German and Estonian naval engineers and technicians, coupled with the upgrading of optical, fire control, and communication equipment, its combat effectiveness is enough to crush any British warship in service. The strategic threat posed by this German-made battlecruiser was more than twice as great as that of the "Gneisenau", which excelled in military exchanges!

At the end of the dinner, George V's words and deeds did not appear to be obviously abnormal, but the whole person's mood seemed relatively low, and similar symptoms could be seen in the British Admiralty Earl Aureli, the commander of the Home Fleet, Sir Robeck, and the other British attendees, including Crown Prince Edward and Prime Minister Bonner Law, were chatting and laughing with the Irish officials who were about to say goodbye, as if they did not realize what was happening.

With the dessert on the table, the dinner and even the visit of Xia Shu and his party to the UK are coming to an end. Natsuki cleared his throat and got up and said, "Everyone, everyone! I am filled with gratitude on this wonderful night. This official visit to the UK has yielded a lot of gains and feelings. There are many things that make Britain the greatest country in recent centuries to learn and think about. I, Joachim Franz Hubert of the House of Hohenzollern, swear by the sacred honour of my family that I will dedicate my life unreservedly to the Kingdom of Ireland, to the security and stability of this country, and to the tranquility and happiness of four million Irish people! ”

Having said that, the British present were all terrified, they were afraid that this unfathomable Hohenzollern genius would make their hearts unbearable to say next, and they were even more afraid that this candidate for the throne of Ireland, who had a brilliant talent in the military, political and industrial fields, would make life difficult for the British in the future. The Irish, along with the officials who had dual German-Irish citizenship and had chosen to serve Ireland, were at this time filled with admiration, and they were sincerely proud to have such a wise and brilliant leader, and therefore full of confidence in the future.

After a slight pause, Natsuki's tone changed: "Britain is a brotherly country of Ireland, and every move and every statement may have a decisive impact on the situation in Ireland. I hope that Your Majesty and you will understand that all Irish people long for freedom, tranquility and peace, we want the understanding and help of our friends, and we never want any more wars and killings, but if our sovereignty is not fully respected, even if we lose everything precious, we must fight to the end, this is the dignity of Ireland and the will of Ireland. ”

"That's right!" George V rose to his feet, scanning the audience with a cold gaze, and then confronting Natsuki as if he were a heads-up.

"Ireland was originally part of the British family, and its departure was deeply sad for me as the King of England, but I chose to respect, to respect the will of all Irish people, to respect the independence and sovereignty of this country, and for this I disappointed many of my people, but I agreed that it was worth it. But Your Highness, Candidate for the Throne of Ireland, I hope you understand that what you are doing now is pushing the relationship between the two countries to a dangerous brink of war! ”

As soon as these words came out, the audience was stunned, and then there was a deathly silence.

It turned out that George V's previous cold and depressed performance was accumulating anger, and Natsuki sneered in his heart. Christmas was a little more than a week away, and the more the British wanted to have the first Christmas after the war, the more he had to force concessions at this time.

"Your Majesty is so angry because Ireland has deployed more than four hundred planes and more than three thousand artillery pieces near Belfast, because the ships of the Irish Navy are roaming around the Straits like schools of piranhas, or because Ireland has developed large aerial bombs that can destroy any strong fortress? Oh, I see, I know why Your Majesty is so angry, because we named a newly commissioned battleship 'Belfast'? ”

Natsuki dared to be so unscrupulous on the territory of the British, which was probably something that most people present did not expect, and even some cowards were shocked by the fait accompli in front of them.

Could it be that the war between Britain and Ireland came so soon?

Everything that Natsuki mentions, George V should have received from his intelligence agencies, either detailed or sketchy, some unconfirmed, some already assumed to be true, can now be seen as a naked threat from the mouth of a candidate for the Irish throne.

In a fit of rage, it was not impossible for George V to declare war on Ireland on the spot.

Then it was Natsuki who spoke, and he said in a hearty voice: "We want to live in peace with Britain, because we respect Britain as such a great country, and no matter how hard Ireland develops, even if it is another century, it will still be inferior to Britain." Ireland is like such a table knife, it looks quite sharp, and it is easy to cut meat, how can it not win a real sword, but who dares to underestimate its power? ”

In the palatial dining room of Buckingham Palace, everyone held their breath and watched in silence as the candidate for the throne of Ireland brandished a silver dining knife, and no one dared to act rashly - not to mention that it was just a dining knife, and in the hands of someone with a heart, it was enough to murder the imminent ...... King of England!

(End of chapter)