Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Wandering Kaiser
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It seems that the discussion is very heated when the high-ranking people express their opinions in the "bar-la-la-la", but there is only one core, and that is to fight for the last chance to drive all the Entente countries into the sea, except for the French army.
The General Staff Headquarters still firmly believed that as long as the main forces of Britain, the United States, and the Middle Army lost their foothold on the European continent, the weakened France had no other way out but to surrender. They even drew up a peace treaty that they considered merciful, wanting only some parts of northern France, not the destruction of France.
If you don't know the social situation in Germany itself, you can see so many big people swearing that a new round of attacks will inevitably turn the tide of the war greatly, and it really seems that as long as the next battle is won, the Second Reich will finally win the war.
[Even if France really surrendered and got the United States and China joined the Entente and Britain, they wouldn't be so resigned, right? 】
It wasn't that no one mentioned it, but his voice was quickly drowned out by other voices.
Next, someone mentioned the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which made Li Qi, who was distracted, focus his mind a little.
"Yes, the Chinese military has shown extraordinary resilience, but all they have is tenacity." Paul. Feng. Hindenburg shook his trademark beard and said, "In addition to tenacity, their tactics are backward and they can't even skillfully apply new weapons, aren't they?" ”
"But compared to the Allied armies, they were indeed able to withstand heavy casualties and hold their ground." Erich. Feng. Fa Kinghan's face was grim: "In fact, we were blocked, blocked by the Chinese army that we have always looked down on, and not once, twice, but all five times in a row!" ”
Kaiser Wilhelm II, who once published the Huang~|Misfortune theory, was in a very bad mental state, and muttered in a low voice: "We used to have a good relationship with them, but ......"
The Second German Reich and China...... No! It was the Manchu Qing, and the relations between the two countries in the era of Bismarck and Li Hongzhang were indeed very good, and the two sides cooperated happily on the trade of warships more than once, but unfortunately, with Wilhelm II coming to power, the Manchus also wanted to continue to order warships from the Second Empire, which was rejected by Wilhelm II. That's because Wilhelm II also wanted to build a strong high sea fleet on his own, believing that there was no extra dockyard, and the price offered by the Manchus was too low.
"At that time, a few thousand Western troops could enter the capital of the Manchus and force their emperor and empress dowager to flee......" Wilhelm II said in a tone full of puzzlement: "How is it that in the past few years, the Chinese army has changed?" ”
At present, the Entente countries have not suffered from the loss of France's war potential, but because of the accession of the United States, the world's largest industrial country, and China, the world's most populous country, the Entente has become "stronger" than ever.
Think about it, the United States can use its industrial strength to provide military industry for all the Allied countries, and China's huge population can provide a large number of soldiers for the Entente countries, not to mention the Second German Reich alone, even if it is an alliance between China and the United States alone, some people speculate that the "perfect combination" of the two countries can challenge the whole world.
"Your Majesty, before they were enslaved and ruled by a small number of people who were not of their own nationality, and as slaves, they would not sincerely fight for their slave owners." August. Feng. Mackensen lowered his voice: "We also encountered this situation on the Eastern Front. So our war on the Eastern Front went very well. Now China is no longer in the hands of the Manchu Qing, and the Chinese who have awakened their national consciousness by the Entente have used the lifting of unequal treaties as bait, and although they are poorly trained and have backward tactics, they are fighting with the conviction of courage and sacrifice. ”
August. Feng. A conqueror of Serbia and Romania, Mackensen was one of Kaiser Wilhelm II's most successful army commanders on the Eastern Front. In terms of combat performance, he even surpassed Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who had been strongly propagandized by the Imperial Propaganda Department. Therefore, it was only natural that what he said was listened to by Kaiser Wilhelm II.
"Yes, national faith! This is a terrible will, and we rise because of this......" Kaiser Wilhelm II glanced at Erich who was speaking. Feng. Falkingham then said, "Now we are facing collapse because of this." ”
August. Feng. Mackensen didn't know how to answer, so he could only remain silent.
Kaiser Wilhelm II was also silent, and after a while, said: "I hope that, as they say, one attack will decide the final victory in the war." ”
August. Feng. Mackensen remained silent, but his face turned bad.
The slogan "One attack determines victory" is Paul. Feng. Hindenburg shouted. He was with Erich. Feng. Ludendorff had been assuring Kaiser Wilhelm II that if the decisive battle would achieve the desired goal, not only would the situation of the war be changed, but the Second Reich would be able to get everything from France after the surrender of France, and then improve the people's livelihood at home.
Similar words Paul. Feng. Hindenburg and Erich. Feng. Ludendorff had said more than once, and in fact before the collapse of Tsarist Russia on the Eastern Front, they had said that they would be able to get the resources they wanted from Russia, but neither the Provisional Government nor the Soviet power would benefit from the rhetoric.
Wasn't the "Spring Offend" that took place on February 18, 1918, launched because of that?
The so-called "Spring Offensive" was caused by the fact that Trotsky, as the chief representative of the peace talks, disagreed with Lenin and refused to give up Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus and other areas occupied by the Germans. Trotsky also spoke openly about restoring his army, which gave the Second Reich an excuse to start a new round of war.
That is, in less than half a month, the nascent Soviet Republic was powerless in the face of the German attack. The cities of Devinsk, Porotsk, Orsha, Minsk, and Pskov fell one after another, and the German troops approached Petrograd, and the Soviets were in danger of annihilation.
Even after the signing of a treaty that was very harsh for the Soviet Republic, the Second German Reich still did not receive the food it wanted and urgently needed.
To be honest, Kaiser Wilhelm II was no longer so trusting of the "imperial duo". No! Perhaps it should be said that Kaiser Wilhelm II does not trust anyone so much now, he feels that it is because he trusts some people too easily, which will lead to the war being won all the time, but the situation at home is getting worse and worse!