"Lieutenant Colonel Hersman! The German army is not trying to abdicate its responsibilities, this is impossible......" Field Marshal Hindenburg looked very haggard with a gloomy face and bloodshot eyes. "But the situation is very bad now, the Western Front is experiencing great difficulties, the situation in Austria-Hungary is unstable, and Bulgaria is likely to withdraw from the war next month!"

The Western Front could not be won, the ******** in Austria-Hungary was becoming increasingly intensified, and Bulgaria, which was already fighting soy sauce on the side of the Allies, wanted to withdraw from the war. The situation is already clear, and it is very detrimental to Germany to procrastinate. Therefore, both the Grand General Staff and Kaiser Wilhelm II hoped that political reforms could be used to achieve the understanding of the Entente and at the same time resolve the crisis at home.

“…… So, what we have to do now is to create a condition in which peace talks can take place. Field Marshal Hindenburg leaned back in his chair, his face solemn as never before. However, the army will not disintegrate, nor will it abdicate its responsibilities. What happened after the February Revolution in Russia will never be repeated in Germany! ”

The marshal's tone was categorical, but in his capacity he explained to Hirschmann, a lieutenant colonel, that he was probably already telling the problem - he was not trying to convince Hersman, but to convince himself. Because there has been so much chaos in European history caused by the hasty implementation of political reforms. Political reform is a thing that is hard to brake once it starts, and there have been too many similar incidents in Europe!

Therefore, Field Marshal Hindenburg and Wilhelm II did not want to start reforms immediately. They just want to loosen up the repressive rule a little. Unleash some political F, loosen the control of public opinion, and make a show to the Entente.

"Marshal, this is a proposal for the joint construction of a factory and an experimental center by Fokker and BMW in Riga. Hersmann knew he couldn't prevent the fall of the Second Reich - but without the collapse of the Second Reich, how could the Third Reich rise? What he just said was just doing his best.

"Let's put it here for now." Field Marshal Hindenburg glanced at the thick stack of files that Hersmann had sent. The project for the construction of factories and experimental centers was very complex, not only in terms of relocating equipment, personnel, and spare parts in stock, but also in finding a factory in Riga to reopen and a large amount of infrastructure.

"Major, it's time to activate the second plan of the Courland Plan." Field Marshal Hindenburg sighed as he spoke, "If Germany is really going to suffer misfortune, then we must at least keep the United Duchy of the Baltic...... This is the only gain we have in this war, and we have paid too much for it! ”

A brown file bag was taken out of his drawer by Field Marshal Hindenburg and placed in front of Hersmann. It should be the second plan of the "Courland Plan" and the order to activate it.

Like most of the plans drawn up by the Great General Staff, the Courland Plan consisted of a number of plans. The second of these plans is the establishment of Ogali. Grand Duchess Nikolaevna as the monarch of the United Duchy of the Baltic - which meant the abandonment of the Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Franz IV became the first plan of the Grand Duke!

If the second plan doesn't work again, then the third plan can only be adopted...... That is, to abandon the Autonomous State of Estonia and let the Autonomous State of Courland join the Polish Confederation. When it really comes to this point, the situation is very unfavorable. After all, the Courland Autonomous State does not have the sovereignty of an independent state, and the Poles are not a good people. In addition, the separation from Estonia meant that the Baltic German landowners would lose much of their land, and Estonia's resources such as oil shale, phosphate rock, and limestone would not be available to the Kurland Germans.

The first difficulty in the implementation of the second plan, in Hindenburg's view, was whether it would lead to a war with the Bolsheviks.

Bringing Archduchess Olga to power should be easier for the Entente side to accept. After all, Nicholas II was the rightful monarch of the Baltic region - and if the Allies wanted to use the tsar to unite the divided White Guards, they would have to recognize the tsar as the rightful monarch of the Russian Empire. According to Stasi's report, the three leaders of the White Guards in Russia, Kolchak, Denikin and Semyonov, were royalists, and it was difficult for them to cooperate with the Social Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks, and only the tsar could lead them.

So if Archduchess Olga took the status of the monarch of the United Duchy of the Baltic from the Tsar, the Entente could only pinch their noses and admit it. Moreover, the Entente had no reason to treat the countries ruled by the Romanov dynasty as if they were defeated. This made the United Principality of the Baltic the best breakthrough for Germany to break through the Treaty of Versailles.

However, the fact that the United Principalities of the Baltic had the Tsar's daughter as monarch meant that they were hostile to the Bolsheviks! In this case, there will certainly be some problems with the cooperation between Germany and Soviet Russia. It will even lead to a war with Soviet Russia!

"Lieutenant Colonel, there won't be any problems on the Russian side, right?" Field Marshal Hindenburg asked with some uncertainty.

"Your Excellency," Hesman pondered, "as long as we keep the United Duchy of Baltic neutral in the future, and give it some self-defense. There should be no problems until Soviet Russia defeats foreign intervention and Poland. It's just that in order to repair relations between the two countries in the future, I'm afraid that the grand duke will have to be asked to step down. ”

Hersmann, of course, had already calculated that the defeat of the Entente intervention by Soviet Russia and the White Guards at home would have been 1920, and as for the Soviet-Polish war, the Soviet Union seemed to have been defeated. By that time, the Anglo-French intervention in the affairs of the Soviet Union and the Baltic should have almost exhausted, and the Baltic would "make a revolution" again, overthrow Olga's rule, and change the signboard of the republic. It should be possible to repair relations with the Soviet Union.

"It would be better to sign a secret treaty to guarantee the independence and inviolability of the Baltic after the war." Field Marshal Hindenburg stroked his white beard, and then added, "A treaty may not be reliable, but it is better than nothing." “

This was an order to Hersman. Hersman didn't answer immediately, but thought for a while before nodding slowly. "Your Excellency, I will do my best. However, concessions on other fronts may be needed to ensure the signing of secret treaties. ”

"Anything else?"

"It may have something to do with the Bolsheviks exporting the revolution to the Balkans." "Russian intelligence indicates that the Bolsheviks are preparing for the creation of the Third International with the aim of exporting their revolution," Hersman said. ”

"Humph!" Hindenburg snorted coldly, "Still want to export?" How to be virtuous with the tsar at that time? ”

"But it's good for us, too." Hersmann remembers that after the First World War there was a short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic in Central Europe, which was probably supported by the Third International. "Austria-Hungary is likely to be unsustainable, and if one or two more Soviet states emerge on the land of Austria-Hungary, believing that the Entente will regard the Bolsheviks as the number one threat, then the pressure on our Germany will be greatly reduced."

Hindenburg touched the gray hair on his head, smiled wryly and said: "I have a feeling of playing with fire, the Bolsheviks set this fire ourselves, and now there are signs of burning more and more, I don't know if it will burn ourselves in the future?" He paused, nodding a little reluctantly. Well, go talk to Lenin, it's a way out, right? Perhaps we can take advantage of the revolutionary situation to save Germany. ”