At night, Cork Harbour is as quiet as a small harbour in the middle of nowhere, rather than Ireland's third largest city and the provisional capital of the Republic of Ireland. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoIn order to recapture the port city from the Commonwealth forces, the German-Irish forces committed dozens of artillery pieces, many buildings and streets still bear bullet marks, thousands of innocent civilians were killed in the relentless fighting, and many fled with their families, only when the situation is completely stable will they consider returning home. It is because of all of this that the once bustling and bustling city of Cork Harbour is what it is today.

In a closed café in the southern part of the port, a kerosene lamp is lit on the table in the far corner, and the faint light reflects several faces with particularly grim expressions.

One of them, with a wide forehead, a high nose and black hair, suppressed his voice: "Everyone has seen the reality of the situation, the Germans turned to United and the Free Army, gave them the best weapons and equipment, and led them to attack Limerick. The German fleet had entered the Shannon River, and the British army in Limerick was like a truck running over a dog, while the bravest Irish soldiers fought the British army in Dublin. Gentlemen, the Germans are not fools, they paid for their guns, and they also sent troops to come, originally hoping that we would contain the British military power, but after the Faroe Islands severely damaged the main British fleet, the Germans had already won the war at sea, so in their eyes, it no longer matters whether we are behind the back to contain the British. They wanted another form of reward, which was to put a member of the German royal family on the throne of Ireland. ”

"Is that Prince Joachim, who is very good at designing warships and fighting naval battles?" Someone at the table asked.

"He was only 24 years old, unbelievably young, and the Germans revered him as the Napoleon of Germany, but he was the youngest son of Wilhelm II, and he certainly had no chance of ascending to the throne in Germany."

There was a hint of praise in the dark-haired man's tone, and someone at the table was very upset about this, trying to accuse him of being bribed by the Germans.

The people sitting around this table were basically young middle-aged people with strong blood, some people were blunt, the black-haired man was not angry, and before he could argue, the man who had been sitting in the corner with a stiff face and no words leaned forward, and his thin, plain face was finally illuminated by the dim oil lamp.

"I don't dare to say anything else, but I have absolute trust in Pierce's character, and he will not betray this country for personal gain."

The dark-haired man nodded at him, "Thank you for your trust, Aemon." ”

The two are of similar age, but their temperaments belong to different types, which has a lot to do with their original professions.

The dark-haired man, Patrick Pearce, was a lawyer before becoming a full-time Irish Volunteer commander, while Eamon Kantor, one of the five elders of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, was a former accountant, a profession that is often associated with "savvy" because finance requires being calculating, as well as life.

However, Kanter is not now in charge of the Republican Brotherhood's finances, and the fundraising and supply of munitions is handled by Tom Clark, the organization's number two.

Having received Kante's character ticket, the black-haired man continued: "To tell you the truth, I met this Prince Joachim three years ago. He was the most talented prince of the German royal family, and his personality and thinking were very different from those of ordinary Germans, and he was very intelligent, very knowledgeable, and very courageous, and he was much better than our pro tempore president, Mr. Mackerney, in any respect, except that he was German. Whether Ireland should be a monarchy or a republic is something to all of you have your own opinions, but I can say responsibly that for the vast majority of the more than four million Irish civilians, as long as they are fed, clothed, and live in equality and freedom, what does it matter whether they shout long live the king or the president? Think about it, does the McElner we know have the ability to govern this country well? ”

Pierce's words clearly hit the nail on the head, and the man at the table was speechless to retort.

"Before I came, I met with Prince Joachim, and Tyler of Solidarity and Hurston of the Free Army were also there, and we talked for a long time about the future of Ireland. Prince Joachim has promised us that as long as the people of Ireland elect him king, he will dedicate the rest of his life to Ireland without reservation. In addition to the aid promised to Ireland by the German Crown, all his personal possessions in Germany were to be exchanged for weapons and supplies, including ownership of a battle fleet, which would be used to bolster Ireland's defence. The prince also promised that he would renounce Protestantism and convert to Catholicism. ”

Hearing this, two people at the table asked at the same time: "What kind of fleet is that?" Is a dreadnought with top-notch performance included? ”

Pierce replied: "It is said that the cost of the German dreadnought has reached more than 2 million pounds, I don't know how much personal property this Prince Joachim has, whether the German government will transfer the capital ships of the Navy to Ireland, but it is almost certain that the German Navy has defeated the British Navy in a row, and most of the combat operations were planned by Prince Joachim, so he himself is a naval weapon that the British are very afraid of!" ”

Someone at the table asked: "But these are only verbal promises, not binding, and when he becomes king of Ireland, can we still remove him from the throne because he has not fulfilled his promises?" ”

Pierce shrugged his shoulders and said, "All I can say is that he has the whole idea and the ability to put it into practice so that we can still see hope, and what can the man sitting on the interim presidential throne give us?" Remember, at the outset he was very much in favor of our armed independence, and he had always envisioned a self-governing Irish state under the rule of the King of England, and if the Republic of Ireland could no longer be sustained by economic or defence problems, would he have reverted to this old path? Under the rule of the King of England, even if we could get rid of the political treatment of second-class citizens, we would not want to enjoy economic equality with the British Island. Rather than let the British continue to rule Ireland, I would rather choose a capable German to be King of Ireland. ”

A man in a leather jacket and armed belt squeezed words through his teeth: "But we have declared the Republic of Ireland, and with an interim constitution and a provisional president, the whole world knows the news, what should we do next?" Storm the president's office and take out McElner? ”

There was silence.

"If we do nothing, the Irish Volunteers in the South will be alone for the rest of the rest without a mark, a bullet, or a loaf of bread, while smaller paramilitaries like Solidarity, the Free Army, and the National Army will expand rapidly. Think about it, just four months ago, we only had more than 10,000 soldiers, and now? With the support of the Germans, these otherwise inconspicuous local armed forces will soon be able to replace us, and the Republican Brotherhood and the Volunteer Army will be squeezed out of the Irish political scene. Pierce said as he turned his gaze to Emon Kanter, the highest-ranking person at the secret meeting. In fact, he was the only minister present, the Home Secretary of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Ireland, except that in the present situation Home affairs must give way to defence, foreign affairs and finances.

Because of the nature of their work, accountants know better than most people in the business about the current state of the business, and when they are powerless to change the reality, smart accountants usually don't stay in a hopeless business for long.

Kanter asked slowly, "What does the ambitious German prince want us to do?" ”

"He could have used the Irish forces that had taken refuge in him to provoke a civil war, but he didn't do it because he had emotionally considered himself a member of Ireland," Pierce said. I don't think we need to take Mackerner's life, just take him and his supporters into custody, and then declare the Republic of Ireland down, form the Kingdom of Ireland according to the will of the people, and elect a new king. What do you think? ”

People began to whisper, and after a short exchange, the man who held the rank in the Irish Volunteer Army was the first to say: "Macelnay's insistence on attacking Dublin despite our opposition has caused our soldiers to shed blood under the British fire, and it seems that not only Dublin cannot be defeated, but the British army may also counterattack the south of Ireland, and now only by ousting Macelner from power can the German army return to the south of Ireland and help us stabilize the situation." ”

A man in a plain suit followed up with a suggestion: "Until then, I think it is necessary for us to negotiate terms with the Germans, as soon as we carry out an armed coup d'état, detain Mackerney, and declare the fall of the Irish Republic, they will immediately impose a naval blockade of Dublin, and send 10,000 soldiers to join the battle, and we may reverse the victory in the battle of Dublin." ”

Kante also set his sights on Pierce: "Once something happens, we have no way out, and some things are better settled by agreement. ”

The black-haired Pierce replied, "We have taken this into account, so Prince Joachim has sent his envoy plenipotentiary, who can sign the necessary written agreements with us on his behalf." In addition, Prince Joachim told me that the submarine forces of the German Navy were rushing to the waters of Dublin, and that they would spare no effort to support the Irish army in capturing Dublin as soon as Mackerney fell. ”

"We?" Kanter keenly grasped the hints in Pierce's words, but instead of arousing his strong resentment, he had a sense of powerlessness to be a fait accompli and adapt to the situation. In his heart, like Mackerney and others, he wanted to establish a truly free and democratic Irish state. Although thousands of Irish people have shed their blood and sacrificed for this goal, the current situation in Ireland is far from having the conditions to fully realize this dream, and can only realize a part, the most important and crucial part, conditionally and selectively.

(End of chapter)