On the evening of July 20, 1935, in the "Forest Palace" in the southeastern suburbs of Limerick, the capital of Ireland, in the "Forest Palace" with lush vegetation and scattered buildings, Natsuki and several of his ministers took a walk after dinner while discussing the merger of Ireland and Wales to form the United Kingdom. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Although Ireland and Britain are old enemies, when they heard the news, everyone's faces did not show joy, but a sense of relief. George V still retained the titles of King of England and Emperor of India until his death, but except for the head of Canada, the rest of the titles have been lost in name. In the 25 years that he wore the crown, the British Empire went from its peak to weakness and eventually fell apart, and the huge wealth accumulated over the generations was exhausted by two wars after 19 years......

After thinking for a moment, Natsuki instructed the attendant officer: "Don't send official messages of condolence, don't make official comments." If there is a memorial service for the people of Wales, the Governing Authority should take a tacit stance and, even if there is a suspicion of overreach, try to be as lenient as possible. ”

The attendant replied respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty! ”

When the attendants left, Natsuki turned to several ministers and said, "Maybe...... The time has come for this war to end. The United States is so big, how many troops would it take to forcibly occupy it, and how much financial resources would it cost? ”

The current Prime Minister of Ireland, Pierce, met and became close comrades-in-arms with Natsuki during the Irish War of Independence, and he immediately replied: "From this point of view, we should make preparations in advance for the re-conversion of heavy industry, shipbuilding, aircraft and other enterprises from military to civilian use." ”

Xia Shu nodded and said, "Not only that, but the drilling and exploitation of offshore oil fields should also be accelerated." The Persian Gulf, the land of right and wrong, will not be peaceful for long. ”

For Xia Shu's precautions, several important ministers expressed their admiration. The national strategy is to be one step ahead, step by step, the Kingdom of Ireland in the summer of 1933 with extraordinary determination into this war, not only with the help of Germany's strong support to ensure the domestic economic, military, political stability, sharpening the sword, but also in the field of military manufacturing and trade to break through the existing barriers, industrial and scientific and technological strength jumped to a new level, and by the end of 1933, the Allied camp won the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Azores, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Ottomans, Spain and other countries joined the war group in order to get a piece of the pie, and Ireland had already begun to adjust its role - from the beginning of 1934 to the summer of 1935, the size of the Irish army was reduced by 34 percent, military spending fell by 11 percent, and a large number of aircraft, ships, chariots, artillery, guns, and ammunition were sold to the allies and neutral countries intending to strengthen their own military power, and in this year and a half, Ireland's foreign arms sales totaled more than 55 billion marks, equivalent to more than double the Irish gross national product in 1932The country's annual income has doubled year after year, the construction and development of the basic field has greatly exceeded the plan, and the whole country is a thriving scene!

Ireland's growing economy, industry, and technology have strengthened its international position, and to this day it remains an important member of the Allied camp, with nearly 300,000 troops stationed abroad in a country of less than 360,000 active troops, more than half of whom are on the Atlantic front. It is worth mentioning that the Irish Navy provided 5 combat carriers, 11 auxiliary carriers, 5 heavy cruisers, 8 light cruisers, 39 destroyers and nearly 500 combat aircraft for the Allied forces, while the Irish Air Force provided 2,200 combat aircraft and more than 6,000 pilots. Based on a comprehensive assessment of the size of the troops, the level of equipment, and the quality of the soldiers, the contribution of the Irish army to the Allied camp is still higher than that of Italy and Austria-Hungary......

The news of George V's death did not stop Natsuki and his party's walk, and they walked slowly along the gravel path, discussing the topics they had prepared in advance with a calm mind, and of course, finally returning to this momentous event.

"As soon as George V died, whether or not that Edward **** would continue to struggle uselessly, three or five years later, the merger of Ireland and Wales would be a logical one, and people's memories of the Kingdom of Great Britain would fade over time, and in the end they could only look for traces of its existence in buildings and books." Pierce makes inferences in a Natsuki-esque tone.

Natsuki neither affirms nor denies this, but puts forward a general opinion from a philosophical point of view: "For a country, three or five years is only a short moment, and we should adapt to the situation without deliberately doing it." ”

Taking two steps forward, Natsuki added, "As for my cousin Edward, he is a smart man, and he has a group of politically experienced staff, if nothing else, they will use this opportunity to win peace in their favor." ”

Everyone agreed.

In the next few days, the development of events really fulfilled Natsuki's prediction. On the continent, monarchs have not publicly expressed their regret over the death of George V, but most have expressed their regret in private, while in England, Scotland and Wales, at least millions of people have mourned the death of the former king in various ways. In Scotland, where there are relatively few mourners, and there are no large-scale gatherings to mourn, and the government is more tolerant, the situation is generally stable, while in England under the monarchy, there are many mourners, and rallies are held in front of the royal residences in London, Windsor, Shabock and other places, in order to prevent the restorationists from taking advantage of the opportunity, the English security department has taken prudent control measures, which has led to clashes between the military and police and the people, and the authorities have arrested thousands of suspicious persons suspected of incitement, The situation in many places was tense for a while, and at this time, the "British ****" Edward delivered the famous speech at the funeral of George V, announcing the renunciation of the British throne that no longer has practical significance, and on behalf of the Commonwealth countries to the Allies issued a peace initiative, and according to the top secret documents of the German government, Edward had secretly reached an agreement with the German high-level on armistice and other matters before delivering this speech, and he will continue to retain the title of head of Canada after the war, and lead the Windsor family to live here permanently, Former British government-in-exile officials became Canadian citizens of their own free will or returned to Britain as civilians.

The German government immediately responded by accepting Edward's peace proposal, and the Supreme Military Council of the Allies declared a unilateral ceasefire on the Canadian front, and the British Commonwealth forces declared a ceasefire a little later, and the two sides immediately began formal armistice negotiations.

For the Americans who were in a hesitation, the betrayal of the allies was not a bad thing, the Allied troops that landed on the Florida Peninsula did not advance as MacArthur expected, but marched step by step, steadily and steadily, MacArthur's army could not find a good opportunity to counterattack, and the US Navy lost its troops in the two Battle of the Great Bahama and was unable to reverse the situation of the Florida campaign from the sea. It is better to seek a truce as soon as possible. After the total ceasefire on the Canadian front, the Americans quickly showed their pragmatic and utilitarian side, and they lobbied the German top level through well-known European aristocrats and businessmen, perhaps with heavy promises or bribes, to fill the appetite of the German royal family and military and political officials for the direct occupation of American territory and the corresponding benefits. This cost is a drop in the bucket compared with a country's independence and the practical benefits derived from it, considering that the gross national product of the United States before the war reached $56 billion, more than the four countries of Soviet Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Japan combined, and at the exchange rate at that time, the German Empire, which ruled most of Europe, colonized half of Africa, and dominated the oil exploration of the Middle East, was only $65 billion -- Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Ottomans, The reason why Spain and other countries will actively join the war group when the overall situation is decided is to get a share of the spoils of this big cake, even if it is only a few percent of the total, it is quite a staggering benefit for them.

After paving the way for nobles and celebrities and wealthy businessmen, the US negotiating delegation secretly came to Germany without a formal armistice, and the US government's attitude of admitting defeat and seriously touting the skills greatly satisfied the vanity of the Hohenzollern leaders, and with the approval of the Kaiser and the crown prince, German officials began in-depth negotiations with the US representatives on the terms of the armistice. During this period, the military operations of the Allied forces on the Florida front did not stop, but the commanders of the three fronts, the land, sea and air forces, all German generals, received secret orders from the German General Staff, quietly slowed down the pace of the offensive, and once again strengthened the field fortifications and deployed defenses in depth in case the American army suddenly launched a counterattack.

The root cause of war is the struggle for interests, and this truth has not changed since ancient times. At the negotiating table, the Americans ceded their vested interests to the greatest extent possible, not only recognizing Germany's jurisdiction over Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, allowing the Germans to legitimize the economic colonization of Mexico, but also sharing the navigation of the Panama Canal and the power to garrison troops with it, and even agreeing to pay huge war reparations, permanently restricting the scale of armaments and military spending, and so on, in exchange for the Allies not stationing troops on the US mainland and not "adding plug-ins" to the US political, economic, and judicial system.

The American representatives agreed so happily that the cautious German officials decided to weigh it carefully, but within a few days an expected but ill-timed event brought about an armistice—the Japanese expeditionary fleet appeared off San Francisco, and American submarines and long-range reconnaissance planes discovered the Japanese landing and supply fleet a little further off the east coast, and the leaders of the Hohenzollerns, of course, were reluctant to cut a large piece of their victory to the overly ambitious ally, at their urgingIt took only 20 hours for the representatives of both sides to finalize all the details of the armistice agreement, and then the US government spent 12 hours studying the terms of the armistice, and in the early morning of August 6, when the shells of the Japanese fleet fell on the American fort outside the port of San Francisco, the US government decided to accept the terms of the armistice, and the high command of the US and Allied forces announced a ceasefire at the same time, and under the pressure and inducement of Germany, all the Allied countries participating in the war negotiated the terms of the armistice with the US side in the next three days, until August 10, The Allied countries signed a formal armistice treaty with the United States in Berlin, and the bell of the end of the war rang in many parts of Europe at the same time, but for the Americans, the problem was only half solved, and they had to deal with major problems from the direction of the Pacific.

(End of chapter)