Alternating between cold and summer, spring and autumn alternate, the land of Central Europe from winter to summer, a scene full of vitality.

In one of the gardens of Fort Charlotte Palace, Kaiser Wilhelm is resting on a chair, with its verdant foliage coiled to form a natural shade pergola. In the shade next to him, Qingying, who was dressed in a strong suit, stood quietly, and the faint velvet on her lips added a bit of maturity to this delicate face.

"I have just received news from the Far East that the Russian army, which was supposed to retreat from the northeast of the Qing Kingdom, has turned back and reoccupied the Mukden region; Nikolai Shu established the Far Eastern Governorate with Dalian as the center and appointed Alekseev as the governor. Qingying took out a telegram from the folder and put it in front of William, and said, "According to this situation, the Russians plan to stay in the northeast of Qing for a long time, and they have no intention of leaving." ”

William took the white page, and after reading it hastily, a playful smile appeared on his face. He put the message aside, shook his head and laughed, "I knew it would be like this." Cousin Nicky Jr. has always been ambitious, determined to become the first monarch in Russian history to surpass Peter the Great; For the Qing territory that can realize the colonization of Yellow Russia, there is a strong desire that no previous tsar can compare. Three years ago, he finally found a powerful excuse to send troops to the northeast of the Qing Dynasty, and sent troops south to control this area; For this piece of meat that has already been eaten in the mouth, how can it be spit out? ”

Qingying nodded: "Exactly." The Russians are far more greedy and obsessed with the land than any other country in the world; The reason why Nikolai Shu signed the withdrawal agreement with the Qing last year was only because he had not yet assembled a strong enough force in the Far East and was forced to make a temporary compromise under international pressure. After more than a year of frantic material transfers and troop build-ups, Russia's strength in the Far East has increased dramatically, and it almost completely has the capital to solve problems by force; In this case, Nikolai Shu's attitude is naturally tougher than that of years ago. However, the already turbulent situation in the Far East will suddenly become tense, and the forces of Britain, Russia, Qing and Japan will be mixed together, and a war to determine the ownership of the Far East will soon begin. ”

William lay down on the chair with a pleasant look on his face, and said hesitantly: "For the British, the Russian occupation of the northeastern part of the Qing Dynasty is a completely intolerable situation; For the Japanese, Nicky Jr.'s act of reaching directly to the Liaodong Peninsula at his doorstep this time poses a fatal threat to their expansionist ambitions and national security. These two countries, which had colluded with each other since the beginning of the previous year, would certainly take all countermeasures against Russia's move, including war, for the sake of their own interests. This move by Little Nicky has accelerated the course of the war by at least 2 years, praise God, I will soon see a wonderful scene of the Russians shedding blood in the Far East! ”

The German peacock was excited for a while before the smile on his face gradually faded. He turned his head and said to Qingying, "Ettel, in your opinion, if war breaks out in the Far East, what kind of scene will become there?" ”

Qingying pondered for a moment, and then said, "The British will not join the war. Russia, though the weaker link on the European continent, was not a country that Britain could treat at will; Britain was not prepared to wage war against Russia, and Russia's reoccupation of Manchuria would not make Britain immediately draw its sword against it. In addition, although the British navy is now at its peak, their land force is not the army that could fight Napoleon, and the Russians can crush it like an ant with a little finger! From the point of view of profit and loss, Britain will not directly intervene in the war with Russia, they still have to use Japan as a gun in their hands to defend against the Russians, and the Anglo-Japanese alliance treaty is also marked in this way. ”

"The French will not join the war. Although Russia and France declared last year that their alliance would apply to the Far East, it was only a statement made by the Russians to kidnap the French in order to counter the Anglo-Japanese alliance. As far as France is concerned, the original intention of their alliance with Russia was against us, not for the territory of the Far East, so it is unlikely that they will go on any expedition with Russia to the other side of the world. Moreover, there is a statement in the Anglo-Japanese alliance that if Russia gathers a third party to fight against Japan, then Britain will directly join the Japanese war group; As soon as France fulfills its alliance obligations, then they will face a two-sided attack by the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic! If this were the case, then the large colonies of the French would fall without the support of the mainland, which France could not afford; This is the reason why the Gauls retreated in Fashoda five years ago. As a result, the French would not be involved in the war in the Far East, which allowed Britain to stay out of the war under the treaty of the Anglo-Japanese alliance. Qingying briefly analyzed.

"As for the Qing people, the only army they really have combat effectiveness is the new army trained after the Qing-Japanese War, which is only about the size of 2 divisions, and this strength is the existence of war scum for both the Japanese and the Russians. Unless they don't think they're dying fast enough, it's absolutely impossible to join this kind of warband, and at most they can pull out their relatively sharp little thorn and stab it at the dying side a few times when the overall situation is decided. So, if a war breaks out in the Far East, there will be only two belligerents, Russia and Japan. Qingying summed up later.

Hearing Qingying's words, William's eyes showed a look of satisfaction, he looked at the artwork in front of him that took 10 years to create, and continued: "Then what do you think will be the outcome of the war between Japan and Russia?" ”

Qing Ying was silent when he heard this, and after a long while, he shook his head slightly and said, "I don't know what to do with this." Because both sides have the possibility of winning, no one side has an overwhelming advantage over the other. If the battle does not progress to a certain extent, there is no way to see the victory or defeat. He paused for a moment, then spoke again: "In addition, if the Russians have been relying on Manchuria, then the war between Japan and Russia will be ignited in half a year or three seasons at the longest." ”

"Huh? What is this for? William looked puzzled for the first time.

Kiyoying opened his mouth to explain: "Japan's overall strength is far inferior to that of Russia. Whether it is population, soldiers, materials, or taxes, Russia is far from being comparable to Japan, a small country, but because the distant territory spanning 13 time zones has greatly diluted Russia's military strength in the Far East, Japan has a glimmer of opportunity. However, although the Russian Army was unable to deploy a large number of troops in the Far East due to the lack of capacity to transport across Siberia, its naval development was unlimited! All they had to do was build the ship and sail to the Far East, and they could completely crush the fleet of monkeys with four times their Japanese wealth. If it is delayed for a long time, it will only make the gap between Japan and Russia widen; Taking advantage of Russia's failure to complete preparations for war became Japan's only chance to defeat Russia. ”

"Now is the best time for Japan. In the same month, the last two battleships they had ordered in Germany were to be completed, and most of the nine capital ships built by Russia in Europe were still lying on slipways. At present, the Russians have only 8 battleships in the Far East (3 Petropavlovsk, 3×× Perisvet, Retvizan, and Prince) and 3 armored cruisers, and most of them are Russian self-built garbage, which is the period when the strength of Japan and Russia in the Far East is most favorable to Japan. If Japan does not take advantage of this time to start a war, but delays the time until all the nine capital ships of Russia are completed and the eastward transfer is completed, then Japan will no longer have the slightest chance of defeating Russia! Qingying glanced at William, who seemed to have an understanding, and then said, "Therefore, after half a year to nine months after the Japanese sail these two ships back to China and form a combat effectiveness, they will inevitably take advantage of Russia's tearing up of the international environment favorable to Japan to launch a war against Russia." ”

William's eyes flashed, and he said slowly, "Not bad." I thought only of the attitude of England and France in this possible war in the Far East, but I did not expect that it would come so quickly. He glanced at the young man beside him and sighed, "For so many years, I really haven't cultivated you in vain. ”

Qing Ying felt a slight sense in his heart, all of what he had just said was a ready-made experience obtained from later generations, and had nothing to do with his own analysis. He coughed and changed the subject: "This imminent war is not only a great opportunity to weaken Russia, but also an excellent opportunity to sum up the experience of the war. The combat effectiveness of the Japanese Army had been recognized in the Qing-Japanese War of that year, and the Russian Army was a terrifying steamroller that terrified the whole of Europe; If we can have an extremely clear understanding of this imminent modern war and sum up the correct experience, it will be of great help to the building of Germany's army. We should send observers to both armies to observe and record the battlefield from all angles, and then send it back to the two Alfred generals (Schlieffen and Tirpitz were both named Alfred) and the General Staff. At that time, the Qing-Japanese War was almost one-sided, and the main theme of the Boer War was a guerrilla war that lasted for several years. ”

"This matter must be vigorously implemented, and when you go back, contact the General Staff and ask them to prepare for the dispatch of officers and other matters." William paused for a moment, then said, "In addition, you send a private telegram to Little Nicky in my name, saying that I absolutely support his reoccupation of the northeastern part of the Qing Kingdom, and let him rest assured that he will boldly go to the Far East." No matter what, Cousin Willie...... will always be his strongest backup. ”