If you look at the world map, you can see that the land flying the rice flag is spread all over all continents except Antarctica, occupying nearly a quarter of the world's landmass. For this once empire on which the sun never sets, the best option for Germany today is to reach a rapprochement with it, rather than continue to be its enemy.

If Germany persists in its relenting refusal to inflict severe punishment on British world power, then the British will fight to the death for their own glory and future; And this is definitely not something that Germany is happy to see. With the current strength of the British Army, it is almost impossible for Germany to follow the story of the Duke of Normandy and conquer it with a cross-sea landing - although Germany can be outnumbered on the Western Front, the force projected by a cross-sea landing is not at all comparable to a regular decisive land battle. The overlord operation in the other plane is the result of a year of painstaking preparation by the United States, an open country, and has no reference value at all; The current Germany does not have the kind of perverted industry of the United States in 1944, nor does it have a World War II air force that can suppress the ground enough, and even the preparation time is far behind!

And in the naval field, it was difficult for the German fleet to completely suffocate the British. Due to its geographical location, the High Seas Fleet had to overcome adverse weather, fuel shortages, mechanical failures, and the threat of mines and submarines on its way across the northern seas of Scotland. After returning from the sortie, the German warships had to carry out comprehensive and complete maintenance of the expedition, which was bound to take a considerable amount of time. The German fleet was never able to stay on the ocean for a long time. Their cluster breakdown deep into the North Atlantic could only leave Britain in a weakened state of excessive blood loss. But in order to completely cut off the British Isles from the outside world. It is still beyond the reach of God's preference for the British.

Take a step back. Even if France were willing to temporarily lease the northern base in Brittany to Germany, so that the German navy could successfully complete the suffocation of the British island, then the British government could still go into exile in Canada and rely on the federal colonies to continue the resistance. At that time, Germany's maritime trade, which had radiated to the world after the war, would also be in a situation of fire because of Britain's overseas bases all over the world, and would not be able to play its original benefits. And if you want to make a clear picture of the overseas power of this old empire that has expanded in the world for nearly 400 years, it will not only be protracted. Moreover, the consumption was extremely high, which was completely contrary to the main theme of the smooth digestion of the fruits of victory in Germany after the war.

By contrast, it would have been much more advantageous for Germany to settle with Britain with a treaty that was not too harsh. In fact, this line of thinking is exactly the same as the previous "leniency" against France: both are boiling frogs in warm water, slowly draining the core foundation of the other side to maintain its status as a great power within the framework of peaceful development.

Hearing Qing Ying's thoughts in an orderly manner, William's gaze became calm again. For Germany's world strategy, Britain undoubtedly occupies a greater weight than its long-cherished rival France; It choked Germany's access from the North Sea to the outside world, and its own national power was far from that of France. According to William's previous thoughts, he wanted to give his distant cousin a big bloodletting once and for all. weaken it to the point where it can no longer be an enemy of Germany; But the young man in front of him still advocated not punishing the other party severely. Although for the sake of trade-offs between pay and gain. The strategy proposed by the person in front of him is indeed to have the best value for money; But in this way, a powerful country on the verge of defeat was relieved and continued to sleep soundly next to his couch, William still felt a little difficult to accept this situation!

Seeing that William's gaze was a little uncertain, Qingying immediately added: "Of course, the British must also pay the price for their stupid and criminal acts in the war. Wealthy colonies such as Egypt and South Africa, as well as key overseas bases such as Singapore and Kuwait, the British had to make full deliveries to us. Like the punishment we inflicted on the French, this is a tactic that will fundamentally weaken the other side's national power. ”

"But what about the sea power, shall we just let the British recover from the present situation?" William looked at Qingying's eyes, and there was still a hint of worry and apprehension in his words, "Although the current active capital ships of the British are only slightly more than half of ours, there are seventeen or eighteen cutting-edge capital ships lying on the slipway; Once they have a respite of two or three years, their fleet will inevitably swell back into a situation that we can hardly handle. At that time, the door to the outside world, which we have so hard opened, will be closed again because of the restoration of the strength of the British Navy, which we absolutely cannot accept! The armistice had to impose strict limits on the British navy, otherwise the Empire would rather continue the war. ”

Qingying nodded and said, "The British Navy naturally needs to put on a restraining collar. However, we do not need to overstimulate the sensitive nerves of the British in this area. Because it is not the number of shipyards that determines the strength of the fleet, but the economy of wealth owned by the state. ”

"Now that we have defeated Russia, France will lose its ability to contend with us after the armistice; Germany, which has seen an unprecedented improvement in the situation on land, will inevitably be able to devote more resources to the construction of its navy to maintain the world empire. The empire's economy surpassed that of Britain seven years ago, and its advantage over Britain will be further expanded in the future; The British will never be able to regain the lost Poseidon's halberd from the Germans if we want to. Qingying smiled slightly, with a hint of lightness in her words, "And in view of Germany's inherent geographical disadvantage on the sea, we also have a strategy to solve this problem today." ”

Hearing Qingying's last words, William's face suddenly showed a look of consternation. He looked at the young man in front of him fixedly, and the disbelief in his eyes could no longer be concealed: "Ettel, do you have any ideas again?" ”

Qing Ying slowly walked to the huge map on the wall and said, "Half a century ago, when we were still in Prussia, we united Austria to launch a war against Denmark and put the province of Schleswig-Holstein under the rule of the kingdom; Today, it is time for Denmark, isolated in Jutland, to be completely integrated into the historic territory of the German Empire. In Europe today, no power can restrain Berlin's will, and if we make a request to annex Denmark to the Empire, they have no other way but to comply. ”

Looking at the protruding peninsula deep into the North Sea where the other party's slender fingers rested, William's brows couldn't help but frown slightly. As the young man in front of him said, it is easy for Germany to find trouble with Denmark, its former enemy; All the forces that held Germany back were either collapsed or could not be defended by themselves, and the annexation of the small country of Denmark was as simple as drinking water. However, the Jutland Peninsula, where Denmark is located, is still in the North Sea, and the German occupation of this area is only to advance its base 200 kilometers northward: the German fleet still needs to bypass the northern tip of Scotland to sail out of the North Sea, and the British Navy still occupies the absolute advantage of either attacking the enemy fleet head-on or cutting off the enemy's transportation lines! He immediately speaks bluntly about the limited significance of this strategy.

"Your Majesty Caesar, what does Denmark have about this part of the country? Their possession of Northern Iceland is the core of our ability to break the British blockade in the North Sea. Qingying's face smiled even more, and the position of his hand suddenly shifted to the core of the North Atlantic, which borders Greenland.

"In the next 10 years, our first priority is to build a huge naval base in Iceland like Wilhelhelmshaven. No matter how large the fleet, it can be moored, maintained, repaired, and replenished here. Defensively, it should have the same solidity as Gibraltar. Looking at the boreal island in the northwest of England on the map, Qingying's eyes couldn't help but show a hint of expectation, "Compared to Fair Island, which we are temporarily relying on as a supply station, Iceland has incomparable advantages: it is nearly 1,000 kilometers away from the north of Scotland, and there is enough space to buffer the direct threat of the British fleet to us; Its location in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is a lethal threat to Britain's maritime shipping lines. If we can use this as a base, we can jump out of the pond of the North Sea into the ocean in one fell swoop, and choke Britain's lifeline by the throat, and reverse the geostrategic disadvantage against Britain in one fell swoop! At that time, even if the British wanted to seek revenge on us, they would be powerless, so that the empire would be able to dominate Europe calmly. ”

William let out a long exhale, a relieved smile finally appearing at the corner of his mouth. Although the North Atlantic transport route from Iceland to Britain was no closer than from Wilhelmshaven, the German Navy, which was already in the North Atlantic, no longer had to worry about the concentrated attacks of mines and submarines when entering and leaving the North Sea. This qualitative change of jumping out of the encirclement and leaping into the new world is the most critical point in this. As long as the seaworthiness and endurance of the warships are improved, the German Navy will no longer be limited and constrained by the pond of the North Sea, and this is undoubtedly of decisive significance for Germany's strategy towards Britain!

"In that case, you will be fully responsible for the peace talks with Britain and France." William turned his head to stare at Qingying's eyes, and there was a soft look in his eyes, "The future world belongs to you young people. As the next monarch of the Hohenzollern dynasty, you should be fully involved in these matters. (To be continued......)

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