At sunset, Natsuki, dressed in a cavalry officer's outfit, and Charlotte, who was wearing a supple long dress, held hands and walked side by side on the light-colored sandy beach of Wittmund. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

At this time, it was in the stage of staff preparation before the all-army parade, but staff work was a very serious job, and the officers under the command of Crown Prince William were all in full force, so even though the scenery was picturesque, none of them came with their families.

Fortunately, the crown princess also followed William to Wittmund, which saved Charlotte from the trouble of "standing out from the crowd".

Being able to stay with her sweetheart, Charlotte's handsome face was full of sweet happiness, but there was a hesitation in her eyes that were not easy to be read by outsiders. Although the man next to him was not as obsessed with force and war as other German soldiers, and he did not have the violent spirit of bloodthirsty killing, the power of one alone was far from enough to change the status quo of the country, not to mention that his actions not only did not prevent Germany from sharpening its guns and swords, but also continued to play a role in fueling the flames.

"The scenery here is so beautiful, so beautiful that you can let go of all your burdens and integrate into it, and I really want to live like this for the rest of my life." She said softly.

"yes, that's beautiful...... Before I met you, Xia Luo, I often imagined a scene like today, but I didn't know what the person next to me was like. Natsuki turned to look at Charlotte with a warm smile on his face.

"So, you fell in love with me when you first met me?" Charlotte used her clever thinking to deduce the logical conclusion in Natsuki's words.

Natsuki replied calmly: "Well, the first time I saw you, I had a heart-pounding feeling, and I will never forget the feeling of that moment - Columbus's discovery of the New World is nothing more than that!" ”

Charlotte looked at her, a playful smile on her face, "In that case, you should remember what color dress I wore that day?" ”

"Purple." Natsuki replied without thinking.

Charlotte blinked.

Natsuki looked serious: "Purple V-neck long skirt, lily-shaped skirt fold, small curly hairstyle with bangs." At the banquet that night, I was the only one in my eyes. ”

Playfulness turned into shyness and shyness.

Natsuki's eyebrows condensed slightly: "After that, whenever I encounter difficulties, whenever I want to be lazy and slack, I will always think of you." For you, I will try my best so that I am qualified to stand beside you and say to you, I will give you protection for the rest of your life. ”

Charlotte leaned sideways on Natsuki's shoulder, "Jochen, you've done well enough." Now you are like the moon in the sky, admired and admired by countless people, and I am just a very ordinary star, dim in front of you. ”

Natsuki tilted his head slightly, and his cheek lightly rested on Charlotte's forehead: "You are my moon, bright and beautiful, no one can reach you." ”

"But the moon has also made you worry a lot...... Jochen, if one day I'm not with you, please don't have to worry about it anymore and do whatever you want. Promise me, okay? ”

Natsuki's heart trembled, but he didn't change the snuggling posture of the two, he said, "Have you forgotten?" I told you that without you, my life would lose its color and be full of bitterness. ”

"If you lose, you will gain." Charlotte whispered, "I think you will become the most outstanding military commander in this country, a hero in the eyes of millions of people." ”

Natsuki said word by word: "I don't rarely be a hero, and I don't expect to become a famous military general." Xia Luo, I want to give you a stable life for the rest of your life, so I can't sit back and watch this country fall into a terrible abyss of collapse, hatred, and revenge. ”

Charlotte never asked more questions about this complex and esoteric political topic, but she continued today: "But where does your concern come from? The country is so powerful that no one dares to underestimate its power, and it does not have to fear any of its neighbors. I can't understand, Jochen, I can't understand your reasoning. ”

Natsuki closed her eyes lightly, speculating on her inner thoughts and thinking about the skill of answering. Suddenly, he spoke, "Because...... I foresee the unprecedented destructive power of the next war, the brutal and brutal slaughter that will destroy our glory today, Hohenzollern, Romanov, Habsburg...... These dynasties, which have lasted for hundreds or thousands of years, may no longer exist, and long-term peace will become an unattainable luxury......"

Listening to Natsuki's prophecy like a magic stick, Charlotte's eyes couldn't help but widen. The two stopped in unison, facing each other and looking at each other.

"So, do you think Britain and France will be the victors in the next war?" Charlotte asked.

"No, there will be no victors in Europe, and a terrible stalemate will deplete the wealth and resources of all countries, and people will not only suffer from hunger, but also the loss of their loved ones." Natsuki replied, "There is no way to stop this war from breaking out, but as long as this war is quickly decided, countless lives can still be saved!" ”

In Natsuki's view, the smart and clever Charlotte is the type of person with a strong sense of logic, and she can often grasp the direction of the hidden words from her words, tone and expressions, and this time is no exception. For a long time, she and Natsuki held hands together: "I hope you're right, Yoheng." ”

……

A few days later, as the time for the whole army to exercise approached, trains full of soldiers and artillery could be seen on almost every railway line in Germany. As early as a few decades ago, the Prussian army used the developed railway network in the territory to gather troops and transport military supplies, and they conquered the east and west, defeated Austria and France, and finally marched into Paris with their heads held high, proclaiming the establishment of the Second German Empire at Versailles.

Many of those who personally participated in the war against France or witnessed the advance of the German army are gone, and Germany's military tradition continues unabated. The German soldiers with their unit numbers on their hats and helmets were as elated as if they were on a journey, and no matter how long the journey was, they obeyed orders and were in good order; Residents along the route are accustomed to such military movements, they present flowers and smiles to the troops, and they hope that their troops will soon be on the battlefield......

While soldiers from Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, and other states assembled on both sides of the imaginary front in central and western Germany, at the military ports of Wilhelm, Kiel, Danzig, and Stettin, marines from battleships and cruisers were ordered to assemble ashore, and they were combined with the garrisons drawn from various naval fortresses to form light marines, machine guns, and light artillery companies, all of which were under the unified command of the temporarily established Marine Command. At the same time, the navy's transport ships and civilian ships urgently recruited by the navy's shipping department assembled at the above-mentioned military port, and in a handful of days, the sailors cooperated with the various marine companies to conduct boarding, shipping, and landing combat training. In fact, this was not the first time that German marines had engaged in a large-scale joint assembly operation. Only nine years earlier, the Kaiser had sent 23,000 expeditionary troops, including 1,200 marines, to China after the German minister to China, Klinder, had been shot and killed by the Qing army. However, due to the fact that the marines and garrisons of the various ships and garrisons went their own way on weekdays, the efficiency of the joint training was difficult to be satisfactory for a while, and as the training progressed, the tacit understanding between the two gradually improved......

……

The day before the parade began, Natsuki toured the coastal strip about 40 kilometers from Vitmund as a judging observer, where there are two relatively flat beaches, one with a sandy soft beach and the other near the mouth of the river, a muddy beach. In Natsuki's memories of his previous life, the amphibious landing operations that took place in the 20th century are not to mention a number of treasures, at least the background, process and results of most of the battles can be listed, but what impact do different conditions of beaches and ships of different specifications have on the landing operation, what distance and what configuration should the soldiers establish and consolidate the beachhead after landing, and how can they resist the enemy's strong counterattack, these details are far beyond the cognitive scope of ordinary military fans, and all of them need to be studied and explored by him with a scientific attitude.

After putting the reorganization of the Marine Corps on the agenda, Natsuki began to solve these practical problems, and he set up a research project at the Kiel Naval Academy in the form of an incentive fund, which not only drew on the wisdom of the naval cadets, but also trained and selected command personnel in the field of amphibious landing. Of course, this so-called research on a topic is actually a very extensive tactical study, and it is far from enough to have theoretical analysis and data calculations, and it is inseparable from the test of practice and even actual combat.

Standing on the beach, Natsuki closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the waves and the wind, imagining what would happen here soon after: soldiers wading into the water to land in a mess, hauling equipment ashore in a chaotic manner, losing and damaging equipment is inevitable, and if unlucky, there may even be casualties. Even so, when a brigade-sized enemy unit suddenly appeared in the depth of the battle line, and it was strongly supported by the naval fleet, the defensive side was bound to be greatly affected. Even if they can't force them to withdraw their troops from the front line, they can still contain their reserve forces and reduce the pressure on their own attacking forces, thus proving the value of the presence of marines in large-scale wars and the effect of surprise attacks.

……

Autumn is gone, and winter is coming. The 300-kilometer-long front was similar in topography, topography and distance to the German-French and German-Derbyan border areas, and was actually far away from the relatively sensitive border areas.

The earth-shattering roar of Krupp's siege mortars kicked off the exercise, all kinds of large-caliber heavy howitzers and cannons opened fire one after another, and the concrete buildings built in the pattern of French and Belgian fortresses were destroyed by the fierce storm of heavy artillery in the blink of an eye, and the defensive positions were also covered by the accurate and dense fire of field artillery. The artillery units, which the Prussian army had always attached importance to and had repeatedly played a decisive role, remained the strength of this army.

Encouraged by the sound of artillery, thousands of infantry formed a line of skirmishers, which were like gray waves, flooding the fields and hills in waves, and rushing to the enemy positions with bravery without fear of casualties. A large number of small-caliber rapid-fire guns and Maxim/MG08 heavy machine guns equipped with front-line troops provided fire support from the side, clearing the way for the infantry to attack.

On the flanks of the battle line, Prussian lancers, armed with pikes and cavalry rifles on their backs, rushed to the enemy's positions at a gallop, not only as mobile combat units on the battlefield, but also as the vanguard of forced assaults. Under the cover of light field artillery, they dared to attack any enemy position, and once they broke through the opponent's defensive line, they would drive straight in, attack the enemy's headquarters, artillery positions and baggage units, and disrupt the enemy's combat system.

In the rear of the battle line, medical detachments, offensive reserves, and front-line baggage vehicles calmly advanced to the front line under the sound of artillery, and commanders and staff officers at all levels closely followed and coordinated the offensive on the front line using modern means of communication. In the sky, airplanes, airships and observation balloons painted with black and white iron cross logos initially form a three-dimensional battlefield mode......

During the exercise, the blue troops that had taken the offensive from west to east threw their main forces into the right flank, and the elite Prussian regiment adopted the new tactic of "key assault, forcible penetration, and division and outflanking", sweeping the northern coastal area like a sickle, and the hearty offensive won Schlieffen himself high praise. At the critical stage, more than 4,000 marines suddenly landed behind the red front, decisively broke through the red side's supply lines, and established a circular defensive position in the landing area, successfully repelled the red side's continuous counterattack, assisted the blue side's army units to complete the outflanking of the enemy, and then went straight to the location of the red side headquarters together. Although Kaiser Wilhelm II and the senior generals of the army, who had come to observe the parade, had been informed of the "course of the campaign" in advance, they were still curious about this surprise attack, and they studied and judged the reports of the observers of the parade in detail, and the results were equally satisfactory.

Crown Prince Wilhelm became a great winner of fame and fortune for his outstanding performance in the parade, and the emperor naturally conferred on him the rank of army general, making him the first member of the imperial family to hold such a high-ranking position in the army in the history of the German Empire. Taking advantage of the opportunity of this exercise, Natsuki proposed to the Kaiser a plan for the training of marine troops, that is, to form 10 marine battalions with the existing marines and some garrison troops of the fortress, each battalion is composed of three lightly armed companies and one heavy armed company, and in addition to the navy's unique boarding, sailing, and landing training, they will also receive army-standard combat training. Since the initial plan was based on the existing manpower, the Kaiser, after consulting Moltke Jr. and Tirpitz respectively, approved the training plan and agreed that the Navy would allocate 4 million marks in the military budget for the following year.

The all-army parade in the autumn of 1909 once again allowed people to witness the strength and strength of the German army, and in the midst of praise, the German military top brass became more determined to settle international disputes by force. As a result, the terrible aggressiveness and aggressiveness of the German army during the exercise caused a lot of concern among many people, both natural pessimists and anti-war pacifists, and only one of them was full of fear in the vortex of contradictions......

(End of chapter)