On the first weekend of May 1910, the German royal family held a 28th birthday banquet for Crown Prince Wilhelm at the Berlin Imperial Palace, and more than 500 royal family members, military and political officials, foreign princes, nobles, and officials from various German states were invited to attend. Ten months had passed since the two had eloped from Thetford www.biquge.info and their lives had calmed down since the Royal Guard had been stationed in the Prince's Domain and the Military Intelligence Bureau had taken countermeasures, and British officials had surprisingly remained silent. Despite this, Natsuki never let her guard down, and this time in Berlin, there were still more guards than any other royal dignitary, and the young couple deliberately kept a low profile no matter the occasion.

In this royal land, there is no need to worry about security, and there are many familiar faces around, Natsuki danced a few dances with Charlotte, and talked with the princes and nobles for a long time, and before you knew it, it was late at night. At this moment, the cheerful and melodious music came to an abrupt end, and Kaiser Wilhelm II suddenly stood in the center of the hall with a solemn face, announcing to everyone in a deep tone: King Edward VII has died!

For the Germans, this was not bad news. As the uncle of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Edward VII did not give his nephew and the countries ruled by his nephew enough leniency, but urged his own country to join forces with France and Russia to contain Germany, and he did not think highly of Wilhelm II, and even expressed contempt in some private occasions.

After the death of Edward VII, Crown Prince George will be the undisputed ascension to the British throne.

For many Germans, this is also not a cause for celebration. The British crown prince, who had served in the Royal Navy for a long time, was well aware of the importance of sea power to Britain, so he supported the British Navy to start a shipbuilding race with Germany at all costs.

Even so, Wilhelm II and all the guests bowed their heads in silence, and the banquet ended early.

As a Prussian prince, Natsuki still has his own exclusive room at the Imperial Palace in Berlin. After the banquet ended, they returned to their rooms to rest, and before they could change their clothes, the royal chamberlain came to inform Natsuki, and the emperor invited him to the study.

"I'll be back soon." Natsuki gave Charlotte a gentle kiss on the forehead.

After hearing the news of Edward VII's death, Charlotte, like the other Englishmen present, was depressed and silent, but not as sad as tears and ripples.

After going out, Natsuki asked the attendant, "Was it summoned alone?" ”

The attendant did not reply much, but said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Excellency the Prime Minister are in His Majesty's office. ”

Urged by the invisible atmosphere, the two soon came to the emperor's office. In addition to Crown Prince Wilhelm and the current Imperial Prime Minister von Batemann Holwig, the head of the army, Moltke Jr., the head of the navy, Tirpitz, and the secretary of state for the Foreign Ministry, Kirund, were arguably the core of the Empire's high-level circles.

It should be an honor to be in the same column with them.

Kaiser Wilhelm II, who unbuttoned the first button of his collar, motioned for Natsuki to sit down on the last empty sofa.

"The old times are over." The Emperor said with a sigh of relief, "From now on, we are ushering in a new era, a new era for Germany. ”

Wilhelm II's hatred of Edward VII was well known at the German hierarchy, and he even called the King of England "the Demon King" at a banquet with more than 300 guests, which almost caused an uproar. In fact, Edward VII's preference for French things was as enduring as his mother's preference for German things. When Germany, backed by its growing national strength, formulated an ambitious naval plan, the British suddenly felt like they were on pins and needles, intending to use the strategy of continental equilibrium that they had always pursued to contain Germany, and France was the ideal target to win over, but the old sorrows and new hatreds between Britain and France made it difficult for political diplomats to start. Under these circumstances, Edward paved the way with his charisma - in 1903 he left for Paris, despite the advice that an official state visit would be met with a cold reception. When they arrived, the French people were silent and silent, and some of them shouted "Long live the Boers" and "Long live Fashoda" (the name of the Sultan, located on the left bank of the White Nile, now known as Kodok, where the British and French clashed over the African colonies), but Edward VII did not mind, and continued to nod and smile from the carriage to the crowd. In France, he made four appearances, inspected the army in Vincennes, watched horse races in Longchamp, attended special performances at the Opéra, attended state dinners at the Élysée Palace and luncheons at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He mingled with the audience during the intermission of the theatre and congratulated a famous actress in French in the lounge, giving a warm welcome to a smile on his face. Everywhere he went, he made speeches, spoke modestly, courteously, and wittily. He talks about friendship and admiration for the French, for their "glorious traditions", for their "beautiful city". He confessed that many pleasant memories had deepened his affection for these areas, and that he was "heartily happy" about the visit. His "glad to let go of old suspicions" and his deep belief in the mutual prosperity and interdependence of France and Britain, as well as his confidence that the friendship between the two countries "always reigned in the first place" in his mind, also strengthened his affection. As a result of such efforts, when Edward VII left Paris, the crowd shouted "Long live my king". Within a year, Britain and France signed an entente to put aside their previous grievances and fight together against Germany.

With the Entente between England and France, Wilhelm II felt betrayed and mocked, and was furious. On the other hand, he was jealous of the warm welcome that Edward VII received in Paris. The German Emperor, who was fond of boasting and flattery, often visited foreign countries, and was very keen to enter foreign capitals to the cheers of the crowd, but Paris, which he longed for the most, was always out of reach. He traveled to many countries of the world, and in Jerusalem, in order to get him to ride into the city, people even cut down the old city gates. However, Paris, a city full of art, nowhere else could Berlin reach, he was never allowed to enter. He wanted to see the obedience of the Parisians, he wanted to be awarded the French Legion of Honor, which he had twice made known to France, but the invitation never came. He could go to Alsace to give speeches extolling the victory of 1870; He could lead a procession through Metz in Lorraine; But Paris is always so far away......

"The man who is about to ascend to the throne of England, George, my cousin, is a very different man from the late King of England. He is an Englishman who looks down on other countries in his heart and disdains other countries, and in his eyes, everything in Britain is the best. It's not easy for us to deal with him, but at least it's fair. The Kaiser analyzed it with confidence, and then he said to his ministers:

"The Prime Minister's opinion is to temporarily slow down naval build-up in exchange for British neutrality in the event of our conflict with France."

The author of the proposal, Holwig, succeeded Bilow as prime minister only last year. Bülow, who was trusted by the Kaiser, resigned from the post of chancellor precisely because of a fierce conflict with Tirpitz over the issue of naval construction. Bilow's request for the Navy to slow down the pace of construction was originally intended because the German government had serious financial thorns in order to maintain the speed of naval construction, but because Wilhelm II firmly supported naval expansion, Moltke Jr., the chief of the Army General Staff who originally supported Bilow, chose to remain silent at the last moment, causing Bilow to resign in anger. Holwig, then Secretary of State for the Interior, was also involved in the heated confrontation, and he was inclined to support Bilow in his attitude, but unlike Bilow, he had a more cautious personality. When the Emperor threw out this introduction to the topic, he watched very cautiously the reactions of those present, first Tirpitz, Secretary of State for the Navy, then Crown Prince William and Moltke Jr., and finally Natsuki and Kirund, an order that was obviously not based on personal position and status, but on the right to speak on the matter.

I saw Tirpitz say with a cold expression: "Our demand is that once France and Germany go to war, no matter which side is the aggressor, Britain cannot intervene." If the British agree, we can double the replacement time of the capital ships, and the overall size of the Naval Act can be reduced, but without the affirmative assurance of the British, we must maintain the current pace of naval construction until we are as strong as the Anglo-French Entente! ”

Finally, he adds: "The Anglo-French Entente was in fact an offensive alliance. ”

Holwig hurriedly explained: "Keeping Britain neutral is our first strategy, and once it is reached, we will look for opportunities to split their Entente, then the Covenant between France and Russia, and finally to isolate France." However, the problem now is that the British demand that we first reduce the naval shipbuilding program, slow down the construction of capital ships, and then talk about political reconciliation. ”

Tirpitz immediately took over: "If we do this, and no agreement is reached with the British, we will have to bear the pressure of the massive unemployment of the shipyard workers, and at that time, the English will delay at the negotiating table for an additional month, and we will lose more strategically." Having lost the most important weight in negotiations, we can only accept any demands from the British. Your Majesty, we must not fall into such a trap. ”

Seeing that Wilhelm II frowned, Holwig hurriedly said: "Of course, we cannot accept the unreasonable demands of the British side, but to break the current deadlock, we should still show appropriate sincerity to gain the trust of the British side." ”

"Of course we have enough sincerity, but the British have never trusted the country, and this is due to national character." Tirpitz calmly retorted, "Since last year, they have increased the rate of construction of capital ships to four per year, and four more ships have been built that year, and although this practice has maintained their fleet advantage, it will not be a few years before the pressure on the treasury will make it difficult for them to sleep." Politicians, of course, know this, so they do everything they can to slow us down and relieve their pressure. In this regard, they should be more eager than we are to sign a binding naval agreement. In this contest, whoever holds the initiative will determine the final proportion of the number of capital ships, and only if our navy is sufficient to restrain the British home fleet, we can gain real respect from the British. ”

Tirpitz's analysis was well-founded, and there was no need to be aggressive, and Holwig had already fallen behind. At this time, the Kaiser interrupted their argument, and he turned to Natsuki: "What do our naval geniuses think about this?" ”

Natsuki was still thinking that if Britain and Germany could reach an understanding, Germany's strategic environment would be greatly improved. Even if the German army still had to face both French and Russian attacks, without the British naval blockade and political influence, the chances of victory for the German army would still be greatly enhanced. When Germany took control of the situation on the European continent, it would be much easier to compete with Britain for sea power. However, Holwig was not Bismarck after all, he had ideas and ambitions, but he did not have the prestige and skill of Bismarck.

"Suppose I were His Royal Highness George, who was about to become King of England......" Natsuki looked at the crowd, everyone was interested in the hypothesis, and of course, Tirpitz and Holwig were especially concerned about what the Prussian prince was about to say.

"A political rapprochement with Germany would mean abandoning the current Entente allies, France and Russia, an option that I would not consider unless Germany offered very favourable terms."

Natsuki's words avoided the sensitive focus of whether the pace of naval construction would slow down, and sounded ambiguous, but in fact he was still supporting Tirpitz. After all, judging from the original historical trajectory, the British still regarded Germany, an emerging European industrial power, as the number one competitor and the greatest threat to national security.

Wilhelm II opened his mouth, and it was clear that he had summoned the royal genius of the naval field not to analyze political issues, but to analyze the current situation from the point of view of naval technology and tactics, and to find a way to solve the problem.

Natsuki was not without speculation about the emperor's intentions, but after talking with Prince Heinrich, he had a new understanding of the country's strategic choices. In the thirties of the 20 th century, the appeasement of the British and French leaders could not but be said to be an initiative to seek peace and understanding, but in the face of real careerists, the appeasement policy became a foolish move to deceive themselves, and Britain and France missed the best opportunity for arms building, so they were completely defeated at the beginning of World War II.

"In fact, no agreement can bring about lasting peace, the conflict of interests of countries is an irreconcilable contradiction, even if we agree with Britain on the number of capital ships, even if we respect each other and compromise with each other, can we resolve international disputes in the Balkans? Can Morocco's existing problems be solved? Realistic interests are placed here, and problems cannot be solved by relying solely on political negotiations, and strength is the truth of this world. ”

"Your Highness is right, strength is the truth!" Tirpitz shouted in response.

"I feel that instead of pinning our hopes of victory on the neutrality of the British, it is better to concentrate on arming ourselves and breaking the encirclement of the enemy with our hard fists and sharp swords."

After Crown Prince William spoke, the conversation had turned completely to one side. Although the melancholy Moltke never said anything, Kaiser Wilhelm II said in high spirits: "We don't need to bow to anyone!" ”

In a room far away from the Emperor's office, Charlotte Hill stood quietly in front of the window, unable to guess what her sweetheart was talking about to the Kaiser, but with the death of Edward VII and the arrival of a new monarch in England, it was inevitable that some adjustments would be made to its national strategy, and the situation and pattern of Europe would change accordingly. Who can predict whether the days to come will be peaceful and prosperous and sunny, or whether the flames of war and clouds will cover the sun?

(End of chapter)