Charlie and Pete are trying to escape back to the Dutch-controlled area, they have firm perseverance and faith, and finally escaped, but they spent too much time, at first 3 days to the seaside, then 7 days laterally, 6 days through the hill and 10 days of the river, plus the last 7 days, it seems nothing, but it has been 33 days past, they didn't expect that in the 33 days, all their efforts have come to naught, it should be because the war has begun, Their country no longer has the strength to interfere in the affairs of Asia and the Far East.

The situation in Europe is surging, after the appearance of weapons and transport weapons in the northwest, Germany has made a decision, at this time, Germany is more determined than Germany in history, a year earlier, it was found that Britain has no luxury for Britain after secret war preparations, Britain as early as 1911, or even earlier, was ready to start this war, in this case, unless Germany raised its hand to surrender, otherwise, there is almost no problem with the outbreak of war, no matter what Germany does, will fight.

Will Germany raise its hands and surrender, if Germany is willing to do this, it will not be possible to have so many conflicts between Britain and Germany, it took several generations, and the gradually rising Germany, with enough arrogance, is impossible to raise its hands to, since this is the case, then it can be a war, at least, let the war be started by them, and occupy the advantage in the early stage, which is the unified cognition of the War Department and the Admiralty and even Wilhelm II.

Now the Schlieffen plan, which has always had concerns, perfectly complements the two omissions, what else is there to wait for. It is nothing more than a reason for war, already the Balkans like a powder keg and Austria-Hungary, which covets the Balkans. It's going to give him that reason. It is with this consciousness that Germany is strictly controlled. The military movement began, and the Germans, who were as precise as a machine, were tightly prepared for this qiē, and a large number of troops, under the cover of countless smoke screens, secretly assembled on the Belgian border, while Belgium was still asleep, 7 army groups, 55 German divisions. Almost a million people, already ready for the attack.

The 28 airships, especially the 4 Zeppelin-class ships that were urgently refitted, were also ready to go, and with them, all the bombs of more than one ton were there, and the Liege Fortress was a large permanent fortress, and it was not easy to smash it. Among the orders sent to China, airships occupy the most important part. The Germans agreed to the price of a ship of millions of marks without hesitation, and the old-fashioned Germans were not slow to absorb new tactics. The airship has used practical actions, showing his strength in the air. It is a well-deserved king, in combination with aerial bombs. The airship has this powerful attacking ability, an airship. No less than dozens of cannons, and most importantly, it can keep up with the speed of the rapid march, which is a suitable weapon from heaven for the Schlieffen plan.

Northwest for Germany's requirements, almost immediately agreed, before the aircraft did not invest a lot of money, the Northwest built a total of nearly 120 airships, of course, not all big airships, Jumbo class, only 72 ships, aside from the first 24 ships sent to Germany, the remaining 48 ships, all loaded on the ship, shipped to Germany, at the same time more than 20,000 tons of various bombs, more than one ton is about 2,000, the rest are 500 kg, 200 kg, 100 kg, Even 50 kg, 25 kg, for fortresses, large-caliber aerial bombs are a little better, but for ordinary skirmishers or ordinary storms, positions, small aerial bombs are a little easier, which will make the combat effectiveness of the airship higher.

Although, the price of aerial bombs, compared with the price of battleship shells of the same weight, is 80% higher, but the Germans still have no hesitation, even if it is a battleship, it is impossible to achieve more than 80% of the amount of hits, especially in the case of a long distance, but in the case of a fixed target, the effect of aerial bombs is better, it only takes more than 30 seconds to descend from an altitude of 5000 meters, not everyone can dodge, especially at a reduced altitude, in the case of about 1500 meters, With a flight time of more than ten seconds, the penetration is a little smaller, but the speed is faster, the aiming is easier, and the power is greater.

This is a good income, according to the price of 1,200 US dollars for 1 ton of aerial bombs, 20,000 tons is almost 24 million US dollars, and the Northwest can even get 70% or even more profits, why not do it, the arms business is like this, double the profits, aerial bombs began to be designed in 1911, entered industrial production in 1912, and now, almost 2 years, has formed a considerable scale, you know, the current number of aircraft in the Northwest is tens of thousands, It is enough to mobilize directly from the reserve of aerial bombs, and for the time being, China has not yet come to war, and at the current production rate of the military industry, it can be produced in half a month at most.

For airships and bombs, the German side is very concerned, the staff headquarters even asks about the shipping schedule every day, from the northwest to Basra, it takes more than half a month, Basra to Berlin is a little faster, after all, the speed of the train of 120 kilometers is much faster than the ship, from Basra to Berlin is still a straight line, at most a little more than a month, you can arrive, although it may not be able to catch up with the battle of Belgium at the front, when France, it will be able to catch up, when the time comes, a one-time thousand tons of transportation, The amount of one-time 1,000-ton aerial bombs is incredibly powerful for the fortification, and the distance between Germany and France is too close, and it is even possible to build supply points in the rear, and then support the bombing of airships, or in the front, so that the density is a little more dense and very flexible.

Germany Chen soldiers Belgium, in this era, they did not expect Belgium to give in, the northwest reminder is very timely, no sovereign country, will directly give up their sovereignty, let the armies of other countries pass guò, not to mention the Liege fortress, only by smashing this iron shell, Belgium will completely let go of resistance, the initiative is also in the hands of Germany, the army assault, annihilation of most of the living forces, and then use airships and bombs to smash the fortress of Liège, a few days to solve Belgium, which is faster than the Schlieffen plan, more direct, with less uncertainty.

When Germany was arming its troops, Austria-Hungary was also looking for opportunities, close to Sarajevo, Serbia, and recently began to be heavily guarded, after Serbian independence, constantly agitated the Slavs of Austria-Hungary to become independent and create their own independent state, and some movements rose one after another.

Austria-Hungary is a multi-ethnic unitary state, the control of the local is not strong, but for the independence of the Slavs, it is not soft, for the Balkans coveting is also undisguised, before Serbia and Greece were surrounded, Austria-Hungary almost invaded Serbia, only because of the threat of Britain and France, plus Germany behind them retreated, they retreated, but now, the German side directly issued a lifting of the ban, Support for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's actions in Serbia, but a plausible excuse was needed.

The excuse was not easy to find, and the Austro-Hungarian army concentrated in Serbia immediately began to mobilize, constantly approaching the Serbian border, and the attack on the freedom fighters on the Sarajevo side became more and more powerful, constantly capturing some progressive youth, including some Serbs.

This is like stabbing a hornet's nest, Serbia immediately protested, and pulled the banner of Britain and France, and some radical organizations even threatened to give Austria-Hungary a good look.

It has to be said that the Serbian people moved quickly, almost on the third day of the Austro-Hungarian mobilization of troops to prepare for military exercises, on October 28, 1913, a death squad of four young people directly attacked the car of the commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian Front, attacked with pistols and bombs, and General Potilek of Austria-Hungary was wounded.

In fact, Potilek had been prepared for a long time, and the intelligence department had already given him a build, and he was not in the car at the time, just his car, but such an attack gave Austria-Hungary a chance, and Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia strongly, otherwise it would be war.

The main demands were quite harsh: 1. to seize any publication that aroused hatred and contempt for the Austro-Hungarian royal family; 2. Immediately ban the national self-defense organizations and other organizations that engage in anti-Austrian-Hungarian propaganda; 3. Immediately remove from educational groups and teaching methods any teaching content that would or might incite anti-Austro-Hungarian propaganda; 4. Dismissal of officials in the military or administrative departments accused of anti-Austro-Hungarian propaganda, the list of which is provided by the Austro-Hungarian Government; 5. Accept cooperation with the relevant departments of the Austro-Hungarian government to suppress in Serbia activities aimed at subverting the territorial integrity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; 6. To take legal action with the assistance and direction of the relevant authorities designated by the Austrian Government to punish the Sylvian persons who planned or carried out the assassination of October 28 in Austria-Hungary; 7. Immediately arrest the two named masterminds revealed by the preliminary investigation by Austria-Hungary; 8. Maintain cooperation and take effective measures to curb arms smuggling within its borders; Explain to Austria-Hungary the remarks of high-ranking Serbian officials who are hostile to it, inside or outside Serbia, take the above measures immediately, and inform Austria-Hungary.

Serbia almost agreed to such an ultimatum, except for paragraphs 5 and 6, but paragraphs 5 and 6 need to be negotiated. This justified diplomatic reason was rejected by Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany, and was worried that there was no way to declare war, this ultimatum was just a smokescreen, and 36 hours after the ultimatum arrived, that is, on November 1, despite Serbia's initiative to seek reconciliation and negotiate diplomatic demands, Austria-Hungary directly declared war on Serbia, and at the first time, the three border armies crossed the border of the two countries and launched an attack on Serbia. (To be continued......)