April 12, fine.

For all of Europe, this sunny spring day is destined to be busy. Active diplomatic operations are taking place in Berlin, Vienna and Madrid, with airwaves, official documents being delivered, and frequent meetings between diplomats from Germany, Austria and Spain.

Chen Tian got up at 7 a.m. as usual, washed up and had breakfast with Lisa and the two children. After the New Year, both children were a year older, Sasha Jr. was 5 years old, and Andres Jr. was 3 years old. Under Lisa's careful dressing, Sasha has become a beautiful little princess, showing the noble temperament of the royal family in her gestures; Andres began to learn to read, but still played most of the day. The atmosphere at the table seemed natural and harmonious, and everything was so warm for Chentian.

After eating, Tatsuten, accompanied by the guard officer, walked through the garden to his study, and from this time on, his packed day began. Along the way, the guards were reporting to him, although Chen Tian was not the kind of monarch who would do everything himself, but he ruled such a large country after all, and more importantly, with the rapid expansion of the empire, many policy decisions needed his approval.

In this federal empire, foreign power and defence were in the hands of Prussia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (commonly known as "Wilhelmstrasse") and the General Staff of the Kingdom of Prussia were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Staff of the Reich. In this era, the real power of diplomacy and war was in the hands of the Kaiser, and the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff were merely the executors of the plan. The Imperial Parliament, made up of representatives of the states, was only rubber stamps. The four southern German states that retained their armies had no privileges. Once the war began, their army would enter the war without reservation as part of the Imperial Army.

"Your Majesty, this is a report on the results of the Admiralty's blockade and attack on the British mainland in March! From March 1 to March 31, the Imperial Navy inspected a total of 350 merchant ships and 42 cruise ships off the British Isles, detained 22 merchant ships and 3 cruise ships carrying prohibited materials and personnel, seized 18,000 tons of prohibited materials, and detained 145 people. During this period, there was only one skirmish between the Imperial Navy and the British Navy, in which 3 British destroyers were sunk. 103 British sailors were captured, and we lost 1 light cruiser and 28 officers and men. The fleets of Admiral Schell and Prince Heydrich carried out artillery and air strikes on 17 and 14 British targets, respectively, firing 3,020 and 2,890 shells and 270 sorties and 306 sorties......

"The War Office reports that since the end of the war in France, a total of 521,100 front-line combatants have been transferred to the reserves, of which more than 100,000 are from the 4th Army, which is welcomed by the Kingdom of Württemberg, both by the parliament and by the people......"

Speaking of which. Chen Tian suddenly interjected: "How is the situation of the Duke of Württemberg?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the Duke has calmed down a lot lately, and according to your orders, his family has also received the Fort of Antakla. At present, in addition to walking in the garden every day, the tower is reading and writing, and most of the outside world thinks that the duke retired for physical reasons to recuperate, and public opinion does not pay much attention to this! ”

"Excellent! Next month is the new parliamentary election of the Kingdom of Württemberg, and I should take advantage of this opportunity to reorganize the command of the king's ** team! After becoming the new Kaiser, Chentian also inherited the throne of the Kingdom of Württemberg from his uncle, the old Emperor Wilhelm II. After this, the kingdom of Württemberg seemed to be calm. Inside, however, a lot has changed. Within two months. The Duke of Württemberg's sworn friends "disappeared from the world", and other nobles and generals were either given land and promotions, or they were forcefully suppressed. Under this combination of hard and soft means. The Duke of Württemberg, the commander of the royal army, was soon forgotten and eventually placed under house arrest in a castle outside Berlin. For someone who is in the wrong position in politics, this is a pretty good end.

"Yes, Your Majesty! Next month you will not only have to attend the new parliamentary elections in the Kingdom of Württemberg, but you will also have to visit the fortress in Tunis! Here is General Benck's report on the progress of the construction of the Tunisian fortress and the military port: the works are currently progressing well, and next month's live-fire tests will take place as planned......"

"The Ministry of Industry reported that the country's industrial output in the first quarter increased by 300 percent over the same period last year, and that in addition to the military industry and shipbuilding, a large number of orders for production equipment came from newly added colonial areas......"

"The Ministry of Agriculture reported that the number of people engaged in agricultural production this year has decreased by 20 percent compared to last year. However, this number is now increasing and is expected to return to pre-war levels by the end of this year. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has begun to include crop production in the African colonies in statistics and management......"

"The Minister of Colonial Affairs reported that the murder of two native Egyptians had been identified in the area where the German missionaries had taken place in Egypt three days earlier. The Minister of Affairs wants to use this incident to severely punish the Egyptians, and the parliament agrees! ”

"Hmm...... Appropriate punishment is necessary, but not too harsh, after all, Egypt has just been stripped from British rule! I think there are quite a few British spies lurking there, and they must be waiting for an opportunity to create chaos! So be it. Tell the Minister of Affairs and the Governor of Egypt to use a good rein, but not too tightly! ”

"Yes!"

At the door of the study, Chen Tian saw Marshal Pol from a distance. The Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Navy is currently in charge of naval affairs in the Mediterranean, which is in fact the expansion of the Imperial Navy in the Mediterranean.

"My marshal, why did you come early in the morning?"

"Good morning Your Majesty! It's about Gibraltar! ”

Compared to Tirpitz, Bol is much more humble in front of Chentian.

On this particular morning, nothing will come as a surprise to Tatsuten.

"Is it the Austro-Hungarian fleet?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! The 2nd Fleet of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, which had left the port the morning before yesterday, already had news that our alert submarines had spotted them east of the Strait of Gibraltar in the morning, and they were moving quickly to the west! ”

"Humph! They finally couldn't sit still! But...... I guess it was Carl's idea! Chen Tian said disdainfully, "If it was Emperor Joseph Sr., the Austro-Hungarian fleet would not have made such a provocative move!" That's an old man who loves peace, isn't it? ”

To this joke, Pol replied with a serious face: "Yes! According to our information, Emperor Joseph has been staying in his villa on the outskirts of Vienna since last month, and it is said that the day-to-day affairs of the empire are taken care of by Crown Prince Karl! ”

"And he chose Count Belhidald and General Condra as his deputies!" Chen Tian added a little carelessly.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

It seems that Marshal Boer was also well aware that in the presence of Wilhelm II and the new emperor, there was no room for showing off his own intelligence.

"Karl at this time sent a fleet to the vicinity of the Strait of Gibraltar. Obviously intended to put a little pressure on us politically! It's a pity that this young man is in a bit of a hurry! My marshal, what do you say? ”

"Your Majesty, as you said, Vienna is a little impatient in this matter, after all, in this matter our country has very active reasons! It would be politically or militarily unwise for the Austro-Hungarian fleet to sail to Gibraltar at this time! Although the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Fleet had 10 battleships. But with the exception of the leading 1 'Combined Forces' class, the others are some old-fashioned battleships and battleships that have just been received from the Italians, and the combat effectiveness of such a fleet does not dare to compliment! "When it comes to naval matters, Pol is definitely the best expert.

"'Combined Forces'......" Chen Tian felt both familiar and unfamiliar with this term, in another world, it was perhaps the only thing worth showing off in the Austro-Hungarian Navy - the first battleship equipped with triple turrets, its main guns were four triple 45 times the diameter of 305 mm naval guns, and the firepower and range were better than those of German warships of the same class. To date, Austria-Hungary has built 3 battleships of this class. They are "United Forces", "Tegtov" and "St. ? Istvan", and another ("Prinz Eugen") was scheduled to be commissioned in the second half of 1915.

Seeing that Chen Tian was a little stunned, Pol whispered: "Your Majesty, according to the information we have. There are also 2 seaplane carriers currently in this fleet of the Austro-Hungarian Navy! ”

Chen Tian still looked thoughtful, he thought that on the latest battleship in the empire, the Bavarian class under construction, the main gun used was still a twin turret, and in the long run, the arrangement of the triple assembly would always replace the twin assembly.

"Your Majesty?" Pol up the volume.

"Huh? Oh! Indeed, it was a complex fleet! ”

Chen Tian came back to his senses at this time, and he suddenly realized that he had invested a lot of energy in the army's armored weapons and neglected the navy a little, and now he should really talk to the battleship designers when he has time.

"Your Majesty, please give us a limit for action!"

Chen Tian nodded, this should be what Pol wanted to get early in the morning.

"Tell Admiral Sheppel. You should exercise restraint when meeting each other, but you should not let your guard down either! Once the other party makes a bad move, allow them to use force! ”

"Can you fire first?" Pol asked cautiously.

"Yes, if the Admiral feels the need to strike first!" Chentian gave the earth is a positive answer.

Pol took a deep breath, "Got it! ”

"We should trust the Admiral, he is a calm man!" Chen Tian stood up from his position, "But the other party may not be!" ”

Scheer saluted and walked away quickly.

Chen Tian turned around and walked to the window, looking at the bright spring light outside the window, his mood became a little complicated. He didn't want this to turn into another war, but he had a bad feeling that some people with evil intentions were about to move.

After Berlin's decision, the top-secret telegram soon arrived at the Himpel fleet, which was stationed in the port of Gibraltar.

In the harbor, German flags and battle flags fly high.

Since leaving Wilhelmshaven on 10 February, Admiral Sheppel's fleet has not fired a single shot, except for gun salutes and shooting drills. Deterred by the heavy artillery of the German army, the British troops and artillery guarding the harbor surrendered without resistance, so the flag of St. George was lowered by the time the Shipper fleet sailed into the fortified and heavy artillery protected port. Hundreds of cannons and more than two dozen warships became trophies of the German navy, but Hipper and his officers and men had little sense of accomplishment.

After a quiet night, the German sailors were ready to go with their battleship.

At 10.30 a.m., patrol planes spotted the Austro-Hungarian fleet approaching Gibraltar more than 30 nautical miles to the east. Ten minutes later, two seaplanes painted with the Austro-Hungarian Navy logo flew into the port of Gibraltar, while the Germans guarding the port sent three land-based aircraft and two seaplanes, and the Austro-Hungarian planes left after circling several times without any kind of clash between the two sides.

At 10:45, the signal flag was raised from the flagship of the fleet, the Elector. The battle cruisers "Moltke", "Seydlitz", the battleships "Elector", "Oldenburg", "Prince William", "Hindenburg", as well as 4 cruisers, 5 destroyers and 2 seaplane carriers left the port in turn.

At 11:20 a.m., the main force of the Shepar fleet assembled outside the harbor and then headed east at a speed of 10 knots.

At the same time, the German Gibraltar fleet, headed by the "Goeben" and anchored in the port of Malaga, began to stand guard in the port.

The Mediterranean sea is calm in spring, and the warm sea breeze makes you want to doze off. The guards offered a cup of hot coffee at the right time, but Admiral Shepar didn't look tired. Their patrol planes kept sending information about the position of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, but the admiral and his staff officers did not have the slightest ease. Although the Kaiser gave them ample authority to respond, the greater the authority, the greater the pressure, and in a sense, the command room of the "Elector" determined the future of Germany and Austria.

"10 battleships, of which 4 dreadnoughts, 6 ex-dreadnoughts, 3 large cruisers, 9 light cruisers, destroyers or large torpedo boats, 7 supply ships."

Admiral Sheppel had such a data in front of him, and he obviously wanted to see more, but there was only so much that his patrol pilots could identify, after all, his fleet was not coming for the Austro-Hungarian fleet in the first place. The information provided by the Admiralty was also incomplete, and the command room of Sheppel now only knew that the flagship of the fleet was the Combined Forces-class "Tegtov", and the commander of the fleet was Admiral Leopold.

"General, the other side has a numerical advantage! Shall we ask the Admiralty to send the 'Goburn' to the aid of us? "It was the chief of staff of the fleet, Rear Admiral Ruud, who made the proposal.

Shepar was silent.

From time to time, one or two Austro-Hungarian planes flew in from the distant sea, circled a few times and then quickly left.

It took a moment before the admiral turned his gaze to the distant sea.

"Send a signal, all ships are ready for battle, but no one is allowed to open fire without my order!"