Berlin, Germany.

"Old K, I'm older, hahaha!"

Kaiser Wilhelm II's hearty laughter echoed through the palace.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The nobles who accompanied the emperor to play cards all looked adoring.

"Uh-huh, that's good, that's good! One more round! ”

Since the news of the German breakthrough of the Seine line on the Western Front early in the morning, the emperor has been in a very good mood, and now even the hand style of playing cards seems to be particularly smooth.

When everyone was playing, an attendant walked in silently, he went straight to the emperor's ear and whispered a few words, and the smile on the emperor's face suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Although the chamberlain did not have any expression on his face, judging from his actions, the relationship with the emperor was by no means simple, and judging from the emperor's face, what he brought was by no means good news. This kind of thing is very clear to the nobles who have been circling around the emperor for a long time, so without waiting for the emperor to speak, these people all consciously retired.

After the nobles left, Wilhelm II's face was gloomy and frightening.

"Prince is injured and unconscious? How so! ”

The chamberlain replied respectfully: "Back to Your Majesty, according to the report of Shadow No. 1, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince promised to accept the surrender of the besieged British army, and then he personally went to the front line to accept the surrender. At this time, a group of fighters of our army unexpectedly launched an air attack on the British army who was preparing to surrender, resulting in an exchange of fire between the British army and our army. His Royal Highness's personal guards threw him off his horse in order to protect the prince, and the prince was unfortunately injured in the process, and the prince is still unconscious. ”

"Oh God! Ship the prince back to Berlin as soon as possible, and call the best doctors in the country to treat him! Oh, my poor Prince, the queen is probably going to be grief-stricken again! ”

Although the expression on the emperor's face became more and more sad, he still tried to sort out the ins and outs of the whole thing, he tried to use his keen eyes to see if there was something hidden behind this matter, but he didn't come up with anything special for a long time.

"Any report from Shadow 2?"

"Back to Your Majesty, there are no anomalies found on Shadow 2." The chamberlain replied without thinking.

"Hmmm! Quantity 2 and Falkenhain don't have the guts to deliberately hurt Prince, but let Shadow 1 investigate this matter thoroughly, and if I find out that there is any human element in this, I will definitely not let go of that despicable murderer! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" For the emperor's orders, the chamberlain did not have the slightest opinion and opinion, he was like air, the air that conveyed information to the emperor.

About two hours later, the chamberlain appeared to the emperor again, this time with telegrams from Falkenhain and the Prince of East Prussia. In the telegram, the Chief of the General Staff gave a detailed account of the whole incident, attached the results of the temporary interrogation of the pilots who had been responsible, and finally made a special mention of Prince's failure to report the surrender of the British troops to the headquarters of the Western Front in time.

The Prince of East Prussia's report was essentially the same as that of Falkenhein, and he expressed regret and interceded on behalf of the pilots who had committed unintentional wrongdoings.

"Humph! These two people are very much on the same page! ”

Despite the dissatisfaction in his tone, the Emperor thought he knew the two men well. The Prince of East Prussia always had a bunch of quirky things in his head, and he was quite good at tactics, but in the emperor's opinion he had little political ambition, and there were no excessive conflicts and deep hatreds with Prince; As for Falkenhayne, although it can be considered a good calculation, it has been loyal for decades, and since both men have only recently been transferred to the Western Front, the possibility of "joining forces to commit crimes" is small enough to reassure the Emperor, and more importantly, the report of Shadow 1 also confirms the information mentioned in their report.

"My poor Prince, who made such an unforgivable mistake, but who made him my son, and the heir of this empire? Now you have to find a scapegoat, otherwise it will be difficult for the queen and the army to confess! The Emperor muttered to himself as he paced around the room, and the chamberlain stood quietly aside.

"That's right! It's the damned Britons who always seem to be having trouble with the heirs of our empire! Last time it was the London bombing, this time it was the surrender on the banks of the Seine, and they are getting more and more annoying! ”

The Emperor was furious at the thought of the British, and his relatives on the other side of the Channel had not only betrayed him at the beginning of the war, but had they tried to murder his crown prince again and again, and that this had not been the surrender of the British to Prince, and that such a thing would not have happened later, all of which strengthened his desire to put the main responsibility for the incident on the British.

Of course, what is more important is that those British officers and soldiers have all been hung up, and there is no proof to say anything now, not to mention that the British have played a very important role in this matter.

"We would like to announce to the nations of the world that the British army has resumed fire after agreeing to surrender, resulting in the tragic wounding of our crown prince when he surrenders! But don't reveal the specific injury of Prince for the time being, let's just say that his injury will take a while to recuperate! As for the pilots who caused the accident, it would be nice to have them tried by a military court in accordance with the regulations of wartime! Order Falkenhain to speed up the offensive on the French battlefield on the Western Front, and I will give him another month, and if he cannot completely sweep France, the position of chief of the general staff will be given to someone more capable! Also, let Tirpitz and the Navy intensify their raids and blockades on the British mainland, and at the same time speed up preparations for landing in the UK, and I will see my soldiers land on the British Isles in one and a half months! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty! The Chief of the General Staff also sent a telegram asking who would command the 5th Army during the prince's treatment! The chamberlain reminded him.

The Emperor thought for a moment, "Uh...... By the way, didn't General Hindenburg mention several times that he wanted to serve his country again? Let him temporarily command the 5th Army! Anyway, he is also old, and it will not cause any damage to Prince's command of the 5th Army! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The next morning, as soon as the German government broke the news that Crown Prince had been wounded on the battlefield, almost the whole world was in an uproar, and the German army and people were even more excited, and they expressed great indignation at the British army's behavior of agreeing to surrender and then re-opening fire, and millions of people even took to the streets to chant anti-British slogans, and the whole of Germany once again set off an anti-British upsurge after the London bombing.

The British Government reacted quickly, saying that the British army would never do such a thing that would insult the national honor, and that the British Government would actively and thoroughly investigate the matter, and at the same time expressed deep regret and regret over the injury of the German crown prince.

The French government also issued a statement shortly after, saying that no French troops were involved in the matter, and wishing Prince a speedy recovery.

Paris, France.

"Pity the hearts of parents all over the world!"

In the face of everything the Kaiser had done and the latest order to the Western Front, Chen Tian couldn't help but sigh. In his opinion, Wilhelm II may not be a very famous monarch, but the heart of his son is not inferior to anyone.

"Guaranteeing the absolute heir status of the crown prince is also a very effective way to maintain the stability of this country!"

Although Falkenhain's words were very reasonable, they were like a thorn in Chentian's heart. As the second in line to the throne, if something misfortune happens to the crown prince, he will ascend to the throne of the crown prince, but the emperor's current actions are undoubtedly announcing that Prince is the only heir to the throne in his mind.

"His Majesty the Emperor is only 55 years old this year, and now is the prime of life, and it seems a little disrespectful to talk about who will inherit the throne! Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, let's talk about the pilots and the deadline given to us by His Majesty the Emperor to defeat France! Chen Tian reluctantly changed the topic, in history, the Kaiser died of illness at the age of 82, if he automatically abdicated from the throne, I am afraid there will be a long, long time.

Falkenhein nodded, like most German generals, he wasn't the kind of person who liked to get involved in politics.

"The unintentional mistake indirectly caused the imperial crown prince to be injured, and judging from the current situation, I am afraid that they will face prison!"

Chen Tian had to smile bitterly in his heart, was the poor Red Baron going to lose the opportunity to dominate the European sky?

"Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, there is no other solution?"

Falkenhayne looked helpless, "This matter has been handed over to the military court for investigation and trial, and His Majesty the Emperor's eyes are still on this matter!" Are those pilots so important to you? ”

"Yes! I'm sure the guy I know is going to be a flying genius. I can't bear to bury his talent in prison life! Chen Tian felt that compared to Dönitz and the others, Manfred's fate always seemed to be full of disasters, did he have to be burned to appear in the phoenix?

"Then you have to believe in our court-martial! The guilty will never escape punishment, and the innocent will not be wronged! Falkenhayin said lightly that he was more concerned about the emperor's order to "destroy France within a month, and land in England within a month and a half."

"Although we successfully broke through the French defense line on the Seine this time, Xia Fei still withdrew to the south of France with nearly half of the French army! The task ahead of us is daunting! ”

The two returned to the front of the map, and after losing the Seine barrier, the land of France was waiting to be occupied by the Germans, and the only thing to worry about was the remaining French army.

Chen Tian felt that it was a pity, if Moltke Jr. had seriously implemented the "Schlieffen" plan from the beginning and eliminated the main force of the French army on the border, the war might have ended. Now, millions of German troops had to fight deep into the heart of France. Regardless of whether the French understand the essence of Lao Mao's guerrilla warfare, "the enemy advances and retreats, the enemy is stationed and disturbs us, the enemy is tired and we fight, and the enemy retreats and pursues", their underground resistance organizations and guerrillas are always a headache. For anti-guerrilla warfare, Chen Tian doesn't seem to have too many good ways, if he is like the devils back then, he has a "cage" policy of "railways as pillars, highways as networks, and strongholds as locks", and then every once in a while to "clean up the countryside", Chen Tian feels that he has really become a "devil".

"Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, do you think it will take until the French will surrender, will a certain city fall, will the casualties reach a certain limit, or will they fight to the last man in a city?"

Falkenhein stared at the big map of France with a straight face, where is the end point, the west coast of France? Lyons? Or Marseille in the far south? He didn't seem so sure, either.

"That's for the French! Maybe when they can't hold it anymore, they'll surrender! ”

"I think we should follow Xia Fei's rout to the south of France without stopping, and never give the French a chance to breathe! The French are so insidious, just when we are all busy with the affairs of the prince, he actually abandoned the besieged army, and fled from the battlefield with the rout, it seems that he intends to build a new line of defense in the rear, and we will never let them turn the Loire into a second Seine. ”

Thinking of forcibly crossing the river, Chen Tian felt a little distressed about the hundreds of trucks, and before getting new trucks to replenish them, many soldiers had to walk again, and many logistics materials were also transported by horse-drawn carriages. If the Loire were to be stormed again, he wouldn't have so many trucks to squander, and it wasn't a good place to play with smoke bombs, but the good news was that the French had lost most of their artillery on the Seine line, and it would not be possible to gather so many guns in a short time, so it would be difficult for them to repeat the same trick.

"Hmmm! The new commander of the 5th Army will arrive here in two days, when we will convene another all-military meeting to plan the next steps of the armies. In these two days, all departments should seize the time to clean up the battlefield and rest! ”

Falkenhein was a little dazed, the situation on the battlefield in France was very good after breaking through the Seine line of defense, but now he could not be happy, "destroying France in January" seemed to be an unpleasant mantra.

"General Hindenburg ......"

The new commander who succeeded Prince was also Tatsutian's childhood teacher. When Hindenburg came to Königsberg Cadet Military Academy to teach them, he was still an energetic middle-aged man, and now he is 67 years old, and according to the original history, he should have 20 years to live. If I hadn't worked so hard in the future, I might have been able to live longer.

Before Hindenburg arrived on the Western Front, the Third Battle of the Seine had been completely over, and the results were quickly counted, the German army suffered 73,000 casualties and lost 9 aircraft, 17 tanks, 28 armored vehicles, 451 trucks, and 389 motorcycles, and won a great victory of killing and wounding 160,000 French troops and capturing 270,000 prisoners, destroying and capturing 3,800 French artillery, and 9,422 British soldiers were all killed, so that there were no more British Army combatants on the French mainland.

In addition, about 400,000 French troops, led by Chauffeur, successfully retreated to the southwestern Orleans region, behind which was the Loire River.

The trial of the pilots by the military tribunal was also concluded, with the squadron leader who gave the order to attack sentenced to three years of hard labor, the pilot who participated in the attack serving six months, and Baron Friedman sentenced to one week's imprisonment because he did not shoot at the British because he found the white flag and stopped the other fighters from continuing the attack in the first place.