"Brother Tang, you are so good!" Zeng Lu's worship of Tang Dao at this moment is beyond measure, and even the notoriously arrogant Germany is impressed by it, which is exciting to think about. It's one thing not to want to be a second-class citizen for foreigners, and it's another thing to get the affirmation of foreigners. Even in the 21st century, so-called international conferences, large and small, like to invite a few blue-eyed, high-nosed "experts" to decorate the façade.

"The Germans are still giving some face!" Tang Zhidao did not expect that the short apprenticeship experience of the German General Staff would bring him such great convenience, and Ludendorff's praise was more like a jackpot.

"But the Germans dare to compliment the meal!" Zeng Lu said with a smile, when it comes to eating, there is really no comparison with the Chinese people.

The evening party was held in a German tavern in Dongjiaomin Lane, which had been crowded since the outbreak of the European War, and the hostile British, French, and Belgian Chinesemen would certainly not come, and the neutral Dutch, American, Spanish, and other Chinese would rarely come. This time, almost all the young officers of the military attache office of the embassy came, and there were more than a dozen people. Everyone got together and discussed, I don't know why the boss, who has always been serious and rigid, suddenly launched a kind heart to invite everyone out for a drink, of course, the European war is also a topic of great concern to everyone.

"The colonel is coming, the colonel is coming!" As soon as Tolistan's figure appeared, the noisy bar fell silent, but when he saw two young Chinese behind him, he began to whisper again.

"Today I would like to introduce you to a Chinese friend, my Chinese translator, Mr. Tang Zhidao!" As soon as Tolistan entered the door, he smiled and introduced Tang Zhidao to the German officers present, and there was an uproar in the audience, and the colonel, who had always been strict and boring, actually admired a yellow-skinned Chinese so much.

"Mr. Tang Zhidao is an excellent professional soldier who once interned in my country's General Staff!" Tolistan continued, the voice below was much quieter, after all, the General Staff was like a holy place to them.

"During the apprenticeship, Mr. Tang was greatly appreciated by General Ludendorff, then Chief of the General Staff!" As soon as these words came out, there was a quiet down, followed by a thunderous applause, General Ludendorff's prestige was too lethal.

"Brother Tang, why have I never heard you mention it!" For the first time, Zeng Lu felt this kind of heartfelt praise from the Germans.

"It's all in the past, I don't even have to wear a military uniform now, what kind of excellent soldiers are I talking about!" Tang Zhidao said in a low voice that what China needs now is first-class politicians rather than first-class soldiers. His predecessors, Jiang Baili, who was very famous in China, Japan and Germany, was different, and he only hung a nominal presidential palace senate and had nothing to do.

"Come on, come on, Tang Zhidao, you sit next to me!" Tolistan diligently pulled Tang Zhidao to the table inside, and before leaving, he instructed the adjutant Hans to entertain Zeng Lu.

The innkeeper quickly brought a German-style meal and a good Munich beer, and the young officers, who had been hungry for a long time, devoured and drank. Although Tolistan was born into a nobleman, he did not have the so-called aristocratic habits, and he drank very cheerfully, and almost no one refused to come.

After a few beers, the whole scene comes alive. The young officers began to talk in twos and threes, and Tang Zhidao occasionally interjected a few sentences, and the topic of conversation focused on the European war that was in full swing. The young German officers talked loudly, from time to time expressed their faith in the victory of the motherland, expressed their deep regret at not being able to serve their country on the battlefield, and expressed deep condolences for their comrades who died in battle.

When it came to the discussion of the European war, Tang Zhidao did not participate in it, but just listened quietly while drinking German draft beer, although he knew the ins and outs of this war and even the specific details. …,

"Mr. Tang, what do you think of this war!" The tree wants to be quiet and the wind does not stop, and Tolistan asked him to speak by name, I am afraid that there is also a bit of an examination component, as a middle-ranking officer and a senior diplomat, he will naturally not be as simple as the young officers think.

"This is a war like never before!" Tang Zhidao simply said: "I have been paying close attention to it since the day it started. Of course, Tang Zhidao knew what these German soldiers wanted to hear, that is, how to end this war, either defeat and surrender, or win, as for starting a war and compromise, that is a matter for politicians to consider.

"What are your conclusions?" Tolistan was obviously not satisfied with such an answer, and he wanted to know more about how the first-class soldier Ludendorff said would judge the course of the war, and the other young officers were obviously very interested in the outsider's analysis of the war (the so-called nonsensical comments of strategic observers in the newspapers were all about it).

"Germany has lost its chance to win the war!" Tang Zhidao said lightly, this time the serious Germans could no longer sit still, and if Tolistan was not present, many people would have stood up and refuted.

"Tell me why!" Tolistan still smiled and said, as a career diplomat, if you don't have this kind of cultivation, so many years are in vain.

"As I said earlier, this war is unprecedented!" Tang Zhidao said slowly: "This war is not only a fight between the front-line soldiers of the two sides, but also the ultimate contest of overall national strength between the two camps of the Allied and Entente ......."

With the eloquent explanation of the theory of "total warfare" in the Tang Dynasty, the German soldiers present gradually changed from rejection at the beginning, to slow taste, and finally slowly accepted. In particular, when Tang Zhidao "estimated" the population, industrial output, agricultural resources, and mineral exploitation ...... of each country one by one, and analyzed the war potential and mobilization capabilities of several major countries participating in the war one by one on this basis, the entire tavern fell into silence. Tolistan couldn't even believe what his ears were hearing, and many of the things that Tang Zhidao mentioned couldn't he even imagine as a veteran diplomat.

"To sum up, although the Allied Powers led by your country currently occupy certain advantages on the three fronts of the east, west and south, especially on the eastern front, they occupy a large area of Russian territory, but if your navy cannot break the blockade of the British, with the huge gap in national strength between the two camps, your country will not be able to win this war!" In the end, Tang Zhidao briefly concluded.

"Then you mean that Germany may not lose this war?" A curly-haired guy was keenly aware of the wording used by Tang Zhidao.

"Captain Martin, do you think the people of your country are willing to hold on forever? Do you think that some countries will remain neutral forever? Tang Zhidao asked rhetorically after taking a sip of beer.

Does that mean that Germany's involvement in the war was itself a mistake? Was Germany doomed from the start? A tall, thin guy said indignantly.

"It's hard to say, I'm basing my analysis on the current confrontation between the two camps. At least at the beginning of the war, your country still had a chance to win the war, and there were many uncertainties at that time to make up for the lack of overall national strength! Tang Zhidao spread his hands and said helplessly: "However, your country's strategic decision-making mistakes have lost a fleeting victory!" ”

"Be detailed!" Tolistan, who had just recovered from the shock of the general war, said anxiously on the sidelines that Germany's mistakes in the early days of the war were obvious, as evidenced by the dismissal of Moltke Jr., the chief of the General Staff.

"Your country's national strength ranks among the top three in the world, and your country's army is well-trained and well-equipped, and it is not too much to say that it is the first in the world!" Tang Zhidao paused and glanced at the audience, and the German officers all smiled kindly. …,

"However, because of your country's strategic location and foreign policy, your country faces a huge risk in the war!" Tang Zhidao said this, looked at a few officers around him and asked, "Can you tell me what this risk is?" ”

"Fight on two fronts!" An officer with glasses said without thinking.

"Major Benn is right, as long as you spread out the map, you will find that your country is in the middle of the three great powers of Britain, France and Russia, especially France and Russia, which are second only to your country in the army!" Tang Zhidao took Major Benne's words and said: "Any far-sighted politician will try to prevent these neighbors from forming an alliance against him, and it is unfortunate that the efforts of your diplomats have not prevented this from happening!" ”

"Well said!" Tolistan agrees that the ease of diplomacy of the Bismarck era was completely lost when the paranoid Wilhelm II came to power.

"The clever staff officers of your country's General Staff have long been aware of this huge risk, and have drawn up a fairly complete and detailed battle plan for this purpose, and I don't know the details of this plan!" Tang Zhidao smiled and said: "But it can be roughly inferred from the performance of your country in the early days of the war: that is, attacking from the west and defending from the east, taking advantage of the slow mobilization characteristics of Russia, a giant with feet of clay who is strong in the outside world, to defeat France first, and then turn back and concentrate on confronting Russia." Tang Zhidao drank another large glass of beer before saying slowly: "In the end, it's a time difference!" ”

"When it comes to the Western Front, it is ......," Tang Daodao basically said in accordance with the idea of the "Schlieffen Plan".

"According to what you said, there is no problem with the plan itself of the General Staff!" Major Benn asked once more as he stepped forward.

"There should be no problem with the general idea, but the problem is big when it comes to the details!" After waving his hand and motioning for Major Benn to sit down, Tang Zhidao continued: "The biggest problem is that the left flank of the Eastern Front and the Western Front has too many troops, and the right flank of the Western Front has too few troops. ”

"There are still more troops on the Eastern Front? Probably the whole of East Prussia will fall! An officer from East Prussia shouted with great dissatisfaction.

"I remember Frederick the Great saying that it is better to sacrifice a province than to disperse his forces in the search for victory." Tang Zhidao said disapprerovingly: "The lack of troops on the right wing of the Western Front directly led to the shortening of the advance line that rotated with Metz as the pivot, so that your troops drove to the east of Paris and were unable to encircle it. ”

"So our country can only swallow the bitter fruit of defeat? Is there really no hope of salvation? Tolistan said solemnly, and the whole tavern was a little depressed because of his solemnity.

"It's hard to say!" Looking at the lonely expressions of the German officers, Tang Zhidao said again: "The only chance is to assemble the maximum number of troops that may be gathered to ...... east."

"Completely defeat the Russians?" The German soldiers present said in surprise that it seemed that the German army did this in 1915, killing and wounding 1.7 million Russian soldiers, but Russia was still not completely defeated.

"It should be the disintegration of the Russians!" Tang Zhidao added: "Completely defeat the Russians by external forces alone, the Poles can't do it, the Swedes can't do it, Napoleon can't do it, and your country can't do it either!" Hitler, who later occupied all of Western Europe, failed to do the same.

"Disintegration?" Tolistan said suspiciously.

"Remember the eleventh year of the Russo-Japanese War?" Tang Zhidao did not explain in detail, but only guided: "At that time, Russia was several times stronger than Japan, and in the end it still lost that war!" ”

"The harder your country strikes at the Russian army on the front line, the more likely it is to disintegrate Russia!" Tang Zhidao continued to emphasize.

"I kind of get it!" Tolistan said after a long silence.

………………

This night, Tang Zhidao was drunk again! This night was full of excitement! All the German officers present that night had insomnia! That night, Tolistan compiled a report of thousands of words based on Tang Dao's open narrative, and it was also his first official report since he became a military attache at the Chinese Embassy!