PS; What kind of fate do you want to see the German Empire in a different World War? To be honest, Xiao Baijun is half a German fan.

King Albert's letter could not change the fate of Belgium, and Wilhelm II's reply would be full of perfunctory sentences, because the German Army was about to enter Belgium at this time, because the Schlieffen Plan, which was presided over by the Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, Count Schlieffen, was about to begin.

Speaking of which, we have to mention a major event that happened in the General Staff of the German Army in 1906. Chief of the General Staff Alfred von Schlieffen, who had high prestige in the Army General Staff, proposed to Kaiser Wilhelm II that Lieutenant General Moltke the Younger take over the post of Chief of the General Staff, because of the need to train a successor and his own age.

From the 19th century to the end of World War II, the world's army was stronger than Germany, and the German General Staff Headquarters, which was the highest command organ of the German Army, especially the German General Staff Headquarters before World War I, was even more talented and talented. Among the previous chiefs of the General Staff of the General Staff Headquarters, the highest achievement was Moltke during the Bismarck period.

The chief of the General Staff, who led the German Army to victory in the Danish War, the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, and the unification of Germany, was revered as a god in the German Army, and Moltke was Moltke's uncle Jr.

It was under this prestige that Moltke Jr. grew up in the German Army, first in the Franco-Prussian War, in the 7th Grenadier Brigade, then at the War College, and in 1880 he joined the General Staff Headquarters, where he rose through the ranks. After Moltke's death, Moltke the Younger became Wilhelm II's deputy, joined the core of the emperor's power, and was promoted to lieutenant general in 1902.

Moltke was a tall and athletic man, with broad shoulders, a kind and dignified manner, and a wide range of interests, so he was greatly favored by the emperor. Wilhelm II believed that the external appearance of a person at court, the so-called "dignified military figure", also played an important role, and he was convinced that the General Staff, headed by a second "Moltke", would make an excellent impression in the world.

Moltke's legacy of great prestige made everyone respect Moltke out of a sense of mystery, and they subconsciously believed that Moltke would lead Germany to victory like his uncle.

Loved by the emperor, highly recommended by Schlieffen, and trusted within the army, it can be said that nothing can stop Moltke Jr. from serving as chief of the general staff. But it was precisely one point that everyone overlooked, that is, Moltke himself was not willing to succeed Schlieffen, he was not even willing to continue to serve in the General Staff Headquarters, preferring to be the head of a certain army.

"Why did my dear Julius (i.e. Julius Caesar, as Wilhelm II used to call Moltke the Younger) stubbornly refuse one of the great honors?" Wilhelm II asked at the time.

"Your Majesty, my uncle and I are different after all, and no one in the Army can reach his level, and neither can I. The post of Chief of the General Staff meant not only honour, but also a challenge and a burden, and I would not have thought I could have reached the same level as Count Schlieffen, let alone my uncle. In addition, my health has not been very good, and I am afraid that I will not be able to bear the heavy and complicated work of the staff headquarters. ”

Moltke Jr.'s decision surprised everyone, and Wilhelm II immediately summoned Schlieffen and other senior generals of the General Staff Headquarters to discuss, and Moltke Jr. was also involved at that time. The persuasion of the people was as ineffective as the emperor's, and Moltke's refusal eventually angered the impatient Wilhelm II, and a huge crack appeared in the icy friendship between the monarch and his courtiers.

In desperation, Wilhelm II could only let Schlieffen continue to serve as chief of the General Staff, and Moltke Jr. got his wish and became the commander of the First Army.

In addition to the reasons that Wilhelm II had articulated, Moltke Jr.'s refusal to be Chief of the General Staff was due to a number of reasons. In the original time and space, Moltke Jr. took over as Chief of the General Staff with the meaning of chasing ducks to the shelves, and Count Schlieffen was old and sick, and Moltke Jr. could only accept this position with great apprehension in the absence of a replacement.

As Schlieffen said, commanders are not appointed, but born. Moltke Jr. felt that he had not been born to be a commander-in-chief, and that he was ashamed of himself in the face of the rich heritage of his great ancestors, which created a complex and sensitive character, and a great sense of self-confidence in the face of Schlieffen's superior and efficient staff headquarters.

From 1905 onwards, a doctor who was well versed in Eastern and Western medicine appeared in Berlin, and this doctor used his mysterious medical skills to save countless patients, causing a sensation in Berlin and even in the whole of Germany, and Wilhelm II even personally received the doctor and hired him as a royal medical expert.

This doctor had a good impression of the German Army, and his typical Germanic appearance made him trusted by the generals, and Count Schlieffen approached him several times to ask for treatment of his illness, and to great success. Although he still looked pale, thin, and weak as a scholar, Schlieffen himself felt that his body was gradually improving, and his strength had returned to his body.

Schlieffen did not know that his improvement in condition was related to the president of China, who was thousands of miles away, which was one of the measures to change the fate of Germany, and it was also a very important content. The task of the advanced genetic man with great medical knowledge was to eliminate the disease of Count Schlieffen and continue the life of the chief of the general staff - at least five years - this was not an impossible task, and it turned out that the advanced genetic man had done a very good job and successfully changed the course of history.

Schlieffen's healthy body and intact mental state are also important reasons for Moltke's refusal, Schlieffen is a capable strategist, a long war career, fifteen years of experience as chief of the General Staff, superb strategic vision and wisdom, so that his reputation in the staff headquarters is no less than that of Moltke back then. Lu Liang believed that whether the implementation of the Schlieffen Plan was thorough was one of the keys to whether Germany could win the war, so he did his best to promote Schlieffen to live and urge Moltke Jr. not to appear in a position where he should not appear.

Lü Liang succeeded, and the German General Staff Headquarters continued to advance steadily according to the original plan under the leadership of Schlieffen, and with the change of the situation and the progress of science and technology, the plan was also slightly modified.

The basic strategic idea of Schlieffen's plan was the "time difference", and when Schlieffen was an assistant to Moltke Sr. and Wadsey, he conducted an in-depth study of the two powerful enemies of France and Russia.

Although France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War and lost Alsace and Lorraine, which produced iron ore, its army was still in the leading position on the European continent and was the greatest enemy of the unified German Empire on the European continent.

On the other hand, although Russia has a large number of conventional troops, its equipment is backward, and its strategic thinking is still in the era of cold weapons. When Germany's Krupp cannons and Mauser rifles were already well-known all over the world, and the German General Staff Headquarters was focusing on the value of the Maxim heavy machine gun, many Russian soldiers still used wooden sticks tied with sharp knives as their only equipment. When the Chinese army shocked the world with tanks, and the German army carried out modern military changes, equipped with more tanks and armored vehicles, and established two armored armies, the Russian army had not yet set up a special armored unit - like most countries, the tanks were allocated to the grassroots units to serve as firepower points and counterattack forces.

Russia's vast territory, backward railway network, and aging war mobilization mechanism have greatly reduced the speed of Russia's war response, and the threat of China in the Far East has also forced Russia to deploy a large number of elite troops in the Far East, reducing the number of troops in Europe. At the same time, the backward road was also greatly unfavorable to the German army's conquest in the vast Russian lands, and the strategic depth and long supply lines provided by the wide east-west length, the harsh winter environment, and the huge number of gray cattle would make the Russian battlefield a protracted war.

After carefully studying the balance of power between the two sides, Schlieffen came up with a bold idea of taking advantage of Germany's rapid mobilization to defeat France first, and then turn back to concentrate on Russia. Schlieffen judged that Russia's backward military mobilization system required at least six to eight weeks for Russia to complete its military buildup against Germany. During this time, with the dense network of railways built under Moltke's time and the skilful command, Germany was well positioned to quickly complete the military build-up and defeat the French.

During Schlieffen's tenure, there were numerous exercises, sand table exercises, and discussions on the plan, and the plan memorandum was repeatedly revised.

The main target of Schlieffen's plan was, of course, France, which had rusted its strong defensive ramparts in the border area between the two countries after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. In order to defend against the German attack, France started from the Swiss Alps, built fortifications through the Belfort, Erbinar, Tühl and Verdun, leaving only a gap between Erbinar and Türth to pass through the Franco-German border, and deployed dense crossfire on both flanks of the gap, so the focus of Schlieffen's plan was how to bypass the strong and long French defense system and go straight to the interior.

The Dutch lowlands and the Belgian plain were the best passages chosen by Schlieffen, the Franco-Belgian border was sparsely armed, and the Kingdom of Belgium was weak, only the fortresses of Liège and Namur were a little troublesome. (To be continued.) )