Late at night on August 2, Berlin, Prime Minister's residence. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The three main military and political heads of the Second German Reich, Reich Chancellor Batemann-Holweg, Chief of the Army General Staff, Moltke Jr., and Secretary of State for the Navy Tirpitz, discussed the wording of the declaration of war against France, as they had discussed the issue of declaring war on Russia the night before.

"I don't know why I have to make these declarations of war." Tirpitz complained over and over again, "These things always have an aggressive taste, and without them, the army can still attack, can't they?" ”

Bateman explained over and over again: "A declaration of war on France was necessary, because war was the most appropriate reason for the German army to pass through Belgium." ”

"But," said Tirpitz, "Prince Lichnowski wrote very clearly in the telegram that the British Cabinet had made it clear that Belgian neutrality was guaranteed by Great Britain, and that Britain was prepared to honour it by all means." Although the German fleet is ready for battle, the current British navy is much stronger than ours. If this war is confined to Germany, Austria, France, Russia, and Serbia, we have a great chance of winning, and the situation on the European continent is stabilized, we can concentrate on developing our navy, and when the next war comes, we will come back to clean up the British. ”

Because of the previous farce, Moltke Jr. had a very bad impression of the ambassador to England, and he unceremoniously mocked: "Our prince is so nervous that he must have been unable to sleep for many nights." Poorly rested, there must be chaos in his head, and in this situation, I have doubts about whether he can accurately understand the position of the British. In fact, there is no need for Gray or anyone else to warn us of what action Britain is going to take, for its entry into the war is inevitable - it fears German hegemony and, in order to carry out its policy of maintaining the balance of power, it will do everything in its power to halt the growth of German power. ”

Moltke Jr.'s statement left Tirpitz speechless, and the pessimistic nature of the Army Chief of Staff made him not like wishful thinking like others. He went on to say: "The more English come, the better, and we will let them learn the strength of the German army." ”

Tirpitz said slowly: "My suggestion is not to cancel the passage through Belgium, but only to postpone it so that the French will be the first to enter this neutral country, lest the aggressor's hat be put on our own heads." ”

"With or without these hats, enemies are enemies, friends are friends, it makes little difference for a short-term war." Moltke Jr. argued, "Taking a step back, if we adjust the mobilization schedule now, it will inevitably cause catastrophic consequences, and our transport machinery must not be hindered, otherwise it would be better to raise our hands and surrender to the enemy!" ”

"What, then, is this declaration of war worth? The hostilities of the French today have made war a reality, and it stands to reason that they are the aggressors. Tirpitz was referring to the hostilities by referring to the French bombing of the Nuremberg area, and it is strange that the head of the navy, like most Germans, was kept in the valley.

Prime Minister Bateman's attention was preoccupied with the draft declaration of war on France and did not delve into the issue, while Moltke Jr. consciously or unconsciously avoided the topic. After careful discussion and consultation, the military and political leaders finally determined the full text of the declaration of war, and after the Kaiser reviewed and signed it, he sent a secret telegram to the German ambassador to France overnight, ordering him to submit the declaration of war to the French government at 6 a.m. on August 3, announcing that the two countries would enter a state of war from 18:45 on the same day.

Early morning August 3, Berlin, Germany.

On the north bank of the River of Spree stands an old-fashioned clock tower-like building, originally a dull brownish-grey that looks like a forgotten guard, lonely over the surrounding wheat fields. In the winter of 1913, the largest and smoothest piece of the wheat field, together with several low-rise buildings around it, became the campus of the Berlin Aviation School, and the clock tower was painted in red and white stripes. When the weather is clear, the pilot can see this eye-catching buoy from a distance of more than ten kilometers.

Dark clouds are pressing, heavy rain is coming, strong winds are rolling up gusts of sand, in such weather, the huge body of the Zeppelin can only honestly stay in the tailor-made huge warehouse, the plane, this heavier-than-air aircraft, although not inconspicuous on weekdays, but has the courage and ability to challenge nature. On the well-trimmed and compacted runway, a biplane about four or five times the size of an ordinary airplane swayed from side to side, this is the Junkers-20 long-range transport aircraft that Hubert Aeronautics is proud of, and its endurance is not comparable to that of the Zeppelin, but it has far exceeded the vast majority of aircraft of its time. By the end of July, a total of 17 twin-engine aircraft had been produced with minor modifications for bombing, five for maritime reconnaissance and domestic transport by the German Navy, three for transport by the German Army, and nine for Deutsche Air Transport, a strong competitor to the German Air Transport Company, founded by Count Zeppelin.

The two officers who walked down the ladder were both young, wearing short-brimmed military hats with white tops and black edges, dark blue double-breasted short-buttoned military uniforms, white straight-legged military trousers, and white short-top leather shoes. The man in front, tall and handsome, with a not too thick mustache, adds a mature masculine air to him, which is the "genius" of the Hohenzollern family once in a century - Prince Joachim, who became the director of German naval shipbuilding at the age of 20 and was promoted to captain at the age of 24.

As usual, Prince Joachim, with a calm and unassuming expression, shook hands with the cadets who had come to greet him, and then strode to the Mercedes sedan, followed by his adjutant, Lieutenant Günter Ruetyans, a year older. When the two of them calmly sat in the back seat, the driver, also wearing a navy uniform, drove forward. The new sedan, which was put into production in 1913, had a sleek and distinguished appearance, easy to operate, comfortable to ride, and powerful power, which was already in short supply in the German market, but the imminent war must have affected its normal production. At this time, the German army mainly relied on trains and horse-drawn carriages for logistical transportation, and the proportion of automobile transportation in the overall was very low, and the absolute number was much more than that of Russia and Austria.

Germany's general mobilization order was issued a little later than Russia's, but its efficiency was unquestionable. In just one day, along the way, you can see a group of reserve troops marching towards the railway station and other transportation hubs, most of them have not been distributed, but only carry a uniform style of luggage, and any queue in the march can only hear footsteps, nervous, worried, excited, longing, everyone follows the rules and abides by their duties, this is the German army!

Once in the city, the car drove along the main road, the road ahead was clean and tidy, the buildings on both sides were magnificent, and the other side of the city could be seen when you looked at the fork streets: quaint and rugged stone roads, old and low houses, beggars, vagabonds, and ragged children, all of which were alive in the great imperial capital.

In the palace district of Germany, Natsuki saw many familiar but long-lost faces through the car window, and as the war approached, the princes and nobles of various German states flocked to the city, many of whom were princes and princes who had held military positions. They were anxious to know how many opponents the battle might have, and whether it would last as short as one might think - whatever the outcome, and that the cloudy Europe would soon be clear.

The Berlin Palace, the old royal palace of Prussia, is one of the most magnificent of the Berlin royal complexes. The car sent Natsuki and his lieutenant to the main entrance steps of the Berlin Palace, just got out of the car, Natsuki raised his eyes and saw Crown Prince Wilhelm standing with Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, and Ruprecht, Prince of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the three of them are not the same age, figure and military rank, their biggest common point at this time is that they are about to lead the army, the 32-year-old Crown Prince Wilhelm commands the 5th Army, the 49-year-old Duke of Württemberg commands the 4th Army, and the 45-year-old Bavarian Crown Prince commands the 6th Army. In the Schlieffen plan, the three corps were dependent on each other, deployed on the central axis of the "revolving gate" and on both sides, their offensive tasks were not as urgent as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd corps, the 4th corps only needed to advance gently, the 5th corps captured the French fortresses of Longwei and Montmedy with the main force, and the 6th corps was tasked with firmly pinning the French troops in front of them, but their play also determined the fate of the entire Western Front and even the entire war.

"Your Highnesses, how are you doing?" Natsuki walked straight up to them, and instead of the traditional etiquette of the royal family, he replaced them with military salutes.

Crown Prince William probably thought that Natsuki was asking about the current situation, so he replied with regret: "Unfortunately, one of our allies did slip away at a critical moment. ”

The day after Germany declared war on Russia, the King of Italy officially informed Germany and Austria-Hungary that since the war had been triggered by the declaration of war by Germany and Austria, Italy would not assume responsibility for participating in the war according to the Triple Alliance Agreement, but would maintain "neutrality in good faith".

Seeing the letter from the King of Italy, Kaiser Wilhelm II was very angry and denounced Italy as an "unchaste woman". Of course, he should have remembered that during a summer vacation in the North Sea for ten days, his youngest son, Joachim, had deduced that the Italians would flee and that the "worst-case scenario" would become a reality, and that the rest of the warnings should be carefully considered as long as he remained sober and less superstitious.

Flying to Berlin again after two days, Natsuki's intention was not to remind Wilhelm II to beware of the "minefield" in person. In the briefcase carried by the adjutant Lieutenant Lütjans, there was a plan for the operation of the High Seas Fleet to take the initiative, although the day before yesterday and Tirpitz persuaded the Kaiser, because the operation needed the full support of the coastal defense fleet, Fort Wilhelm, and naval aviation, and the supporters of the "Naval Existence Theory" were secretly obstructing in every possible way, Natsuki had to carry out the upper route to the end, as long as Wilhelm II signed a clear directive on the plan, it was equivalent to getting a sword of Shangfang, at least until the end of this operation, It will be invincible.

The Duke of Württemberg sneered unceremoniously: "Cowardly Italians, who can't even fight the natives of North Africa, how dare they intervene in this real battle of great powers?" ”

"Its neutrality allowed the French to draw several divisions from the southern frontier to support the front, while allowing Austria to retain a minimum of defences on the southwestern frontier." Xia Shu's nonchalant tone made these three important generals with royal status a little embarrassed: they were not unaware of this, but they didn't want to mention it, so as not to shake the morale of the army before the battle was fought.

Crown Prince William was the first to put away his embarrassment, and he affectionately hugged Natsuki's shoulder: "Hey, genius, since the navy didn't make a big move at the beginning of the war, why don't you accompany me to see the real land war?" ”

Of course, Natsuki understood what he meant, it was not a bad thing to help the army with advice, but he was not a genius after all, he could take care of multiple heads, war was not better than war games or military exercises, and he could turn the situation around with sharp teeth, and he had to go all out.

"At a convenient time, I will definitely go to His Highness's commander to see, but there are still some very important things to do." Natsuki winked at him, pretending to be mysterious.

Crown Prince William whispered without changing his face: "Hey...... You don't really want our fleet to fight the British Navy, do you? ”

In order to keep the secrecy as much as possible, Natsuki said: "If the British don't get involved in the war, how can we be enemies with them?" ”

Crown Prince William no longer asked, "Shall you go to my place for a drink tonight?" Although most of the people who came were army generals, it would be beneficial to talk to them more. ”

Natsuki declined the crown prince's invitation, and there were still many links to be arranged for the fleet to be confirmed, and as soon as he got the Kaiser's signature, he returned to Kiel. At this time, all the railway lines in Germany were in the service of general mobilization, but fortunately there were special planes with long-range flight capabilities, so that this kind of journey across most of Germany would not be delayed in precious time.

Due to the thunderbolt of war, the Kaiser's office became almost a popular attraction, and there were long queues of people waiting outside the door to receive him. This time, Wilhelm II did not let Natsuki wait for a long time, but after the meeting, he did not give Natsuki the opportunity to report in detail because of his tired and anxious mentality - just like a gambler's difficult choice before the opening of the market, he fell into great hesitation, and then suddenly made up his mind and made a personal comment on the battle plan brought by Natsuki: all departments of the army and navy must fully cooperate with this action, and there must be no fear of difficulties and disobedience...... Emperor William.

On the way back from the palace to the school, a newsboy was handing out trumpets to passers-by and passing vehicles (they were often used to carry urgent news, were not included in the normal numbering of newspapers and periodicals, and were mostly given away for free). The air before the rain was extremely dull, Natsuki pulled the curtain of the car without closing the window, and a reckless newsboy obviously did not see the prince's honor, and he directly stuffed the number outside. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand still stirred people's nerves, and the people in the car were startled by the sudden insertion of the piece of paper.

"French planes dropped bombs on the railway near Nuremberg, and French patrols have crossed our border" Outside the window, the newsboys had already announced the main content of the extraordinary, and the passers-by who got it did not stop to read it carefully, and many people looked up at the sky, as if they were worried that the French planes would suddenly appear in Berlin and drop bombs.

In fact, until the time of the official declaration of war, neither French planes had been sent to bomb Germany, nor had French patrols crossed the German-French border, a ploy used by politicians to provoke popular indignation - it had been before, was carried out now, and will continue to be in the future.

Shortly after Natsuki and his new lieutenant left Berlin, a heavy rain poured down and washed the old and vibrant imperial capital away, but the violent atmosphere of war would permeate the city for a long time, and only peace could dispel it.

(End of chapter)