In the early winter of 1918, when the Irish Navy training ship "Ku-Chulin" sailed into the harbor of Helsinki, people seemed to arrive in the German overseas possessions, and the black, white and red tricolor flags fluttered high on the flagpoles, and if you look closely, you will find that these flags are different from the real German flags, with the Finnish crown and shield of the yellow lion on a red background in the center, which is the Finnish coat of arms that has been used since the 16th century......

The events in Finland date back to the autumn of 1915, when the German-led Allied forces had captured Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine, which had been part of Tsarist Russia, and the advance force had reached northern Estonia and southern Russia. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 At the invitation of the Finns, the Germans sent elite marine divisions and some army units to land in Finland and help the Finnish forces drive out the Russian garrison. After Ireland left the British territory, Lithuania and Latvia broke away from Russian rule, Finland also became an independent and free country. Under the direct influence of Germany, the Finnish People's Assembly elected Friedrich Karl, Prince of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, brother-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II, as king, called Vaino I.

When he was living in Germany, Natsuki didn't have much contact with this cheap uncle and never had an in-depth conversation. The reason why he became a big winner in life was that he married the favorite little princess of the former Kaiser Frederick III and the favorite sister of the current Kaiser Wilhelm II, and he managed to maintain a very close relationship with the Hohenzollern royal family, which was the key reason why he was able to stand out from many qualified people to sit on the Finnish throne.

After the war, not only did the Finnish crown be worn on the head of a German royal noble, but the Lithuanian parliament voted for Wilhelm Karl, a German army general and Duke of Urach of the Kingdom of Württemberg, as king, and the Latvians elected an important branch of the Hohenzollern family, and Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, became king, and the eldest princess of the Bavarian kingdom, Adel Gunde, became the queen of Latvia, and Georgia, which split from Tsarist Russia, also chose Germany as its backer. They invited Prince Heinrich, the younger brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, to be crowned king, but Prince Heinrich declined the invitation for various reasons. Just a few months later, Georgia descended into civil war, with Russian, Ottoman, and German troops entering Georgia, and the chaos continued into 1917. With the mediation of the international community, this Eastern European country with a land area about the size of Ireland and a population of more than 3 million finally quelled the war, and the Bagration dynasty, which once ruled the Caucasus, was restored, making Georgia an independent monarchy again.

Although Georgia did not become a German-ruled country, Germany still directly controls a vast territory in Europe from the Bay of Biscay in the west to the coast of Azov in the east, the governors of Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Southern Estonia, Moldova, and Northern Serbia are appointed by the German royal family, and the commander-in-chief of the occupation forces in northern France is the German Crown Prince Wilhelm, plus Ireland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, these independent countries with strategic relations similar to those of the dependent states, it is no exaggeration to say that after the Holy Roman Empire, Germany is once again in its heyday!

On the snowy docks of Helsinki, Vaino I, dressed in splendid military attire, was greeted by dignitaries and nobles, including Princess Margaret, the youngest sister of Wilhelm II and Joachim's aunt, now Queen of Finland. Ireland and Finland are small and medium-sized countries in Europe, and the time difference between the time of regaining independence is less than half a year, and even if they have no intention of competing with each other, they will unconsciously compare themselves with each other. The young and handsome King of Ireland is the idol of countless young people, and is widely regarded by the outside world as the most talented leader today, and the older and mature King of Finland is six or seven points similar to Kaiser Wilhelm II in appearance and demeanor, with a strong body and full of energy, and a typical German military style. The two queens, one with clear eyebrows and fluttering clothes, like a fairy in the fairy tale in the forest, and the other graceful and elegant, dignified and generous, have the bearing and demeanor of a mother. No matter from which point of view, they have an excellent fit with their respective husbands, like a pair made in heaven. As for the subordinate officials and military attendants who followed the king and his wife, they were all well-dressed and well-mannered, and they were not inferior to their counterparts in the orthodox powers, and if they did not speak, German was the lingua franca that did not need to be coordinated......

At this time, Finland had a land area of 360,000 square kilometers and a population of about 3.5 million. Despite its sparse size, the industrial base at independence was superior to that of the geographically better located Ireland, with new industries such as textiles, paper, matches, rubber, margarine, sugar, cement, and plywood, a currency independent of the Russian ruble, modern transportation and communication facilities, and the indomitable struggle of the Finnish people to maintain their autonomy, resist Russification, and resist the rule and oppression of the Tsar. As early as 1905, the Finns forced the Tsar to restore Finland's autonomy through a nationwide general political strike, to abolish all Russification decrees, to abolish the four-estate parliament, and to obtain equal and universal suffrage for citizens, including women. For these reasons, Vaino I inherited a country with relatively ideal conditions, and since his accession to the throne, the political and social situation in Finland has been stable, and the people or political parties have never faced an embarrassing problem for their own king, let alone an extremely bad situation such as assassinating a monarch.

In order to let Ireland play a role in containing Britain, the German royal family and government gave Ireland considerable support, and Finland borders Russia, its border is only dozens of kilometers away from the Russian capital St. Petersburg, the Gulf of Finland is the only way to enter and exit St. Petersburg by sea, and it is also the only post-war garrison of the Russian Baltic Fleet. The former dreadnought "Alsace", which Natsuki once served, has become the flagship of the Finnish Navy, and the Finnish fleet also includes the former dreadnought "Mecklenburg", the cruiser "Königsberg", as well as 6 German-made large torpedo boats and 3 submarines, and 11 British reparation ships were transferred to Finland by the German government, making the Finnish Navy realize the leap from scratch and from weak to strong overnight.

In order to make these ships more effective, the German Navy sent more than 3,000 volunteers to join the Finnish Navy, and many of them later became Finnish citizens and became the backbone of the Finnish army. As was the case in Ireland, these were naturally recognized by the German government and military, and although they led to the loss of good personnel in the German navy, they greatly increased German influence and control over these newly independent states, and the trade-off was still more beneficial.

During the war, Vaino I did not personally participate in the front lines and lacked experience in military command, but this did not hinder his ambition to turn Finland into a military power in Northern Europe. He commanded a number of German generals who became Finnish nationals and received titles of nobility, including Max Hoffmann, who was a brilliant and distinguished player on the Eastern Front, and Wilhelm Schemitt, who was the commander of the German capital ship Oldenburg and distinguished himself in the Second Battle of Flanders and the Battle of the Faroe Islands. In addition to this, Finland followed the example of Germany in establishing a system of compulsory military service, and with German support, it quickly built a highly modern army. On paper, the Finnish army was stronger than the Irish army, and the Finnish soldiers had an admirable fighting spirit and tenacity in the history of the Soviet-Finnish war.

Due to the imminent closure of the Gulf of Finland, Natsuki only stayed in Helsinki for three days during his visit to Finland, where he visited the city's monuments, barracks, and inspected troops under the arrangement of the Finnish side. The King of Finland has high hopes for the army he has personally formed, and the military quality and mental outlook of the Finnish soldiers are indeed commendable, but the economy of Finland is dominated by agriculture, forestry and light industry, and the military production and shipbuilding industry are relatively weak. This greatly constrained Finland's military potential and its ability to sustain itself in wartime. Russia lost a lot of land and population in the last war, but the industrial facilities centered on St. Petersburg were not substantially damaged, the fierce Russian army was still one of the most formidable opponents of this era, and the losses of the Russian navy were far less heavy than those of the Russo-Japanese War, from the end of the war to 1917, the successive commissioning of four Gangut-class dreadnoughts made a qualitative change in the Russian Baltic Fleet, except for the main German fleet, only the cold winter freeze could prevent them from sailing out of the Gulf of Finland... …

Taking advantage of this visit, Natsuki has been soliciting business for the Irish shipbuilding industry all the way, and Finland is no exception. The combat performance of "Alsace" and "Mecklenburg" has long been unable to keep up with the development of the times, and for the desperate gamble of Jutland, they underwent a modernization modification before the war, and the technical potential has been basically tapped, and there is no point in refutating it again. Based on his understanding of the geographical conditions of the Gulf of Finland, the German Admiral Wilhelm Schemitt, who commanded the Finnish Navy, proposed a more realistic strategy - to defend the territorial waters with torpedoes, mines, and fortress guns, or to blockade the Gulf of Finland with the support of the German Navy. The two sides hit it off, with Finland exchanging high-quality timber and copper ore for new Irish torpedo boats and airplanes, and Ireland sent experts to assist Finland in building torpedo factories and large coastal defense forts.

(End of chapter)