The night is full of stars; Under the bright moonlight, a train engraved with the logo of the Hohenzollern family spews white steam and slowly pulls into the Berlin train station. The whistle blew, the hatch opened, and a slender young man slowly stepped off the platform, then boarded a small car that had been waiting for him for a long time, and sped away.

After half a month, Qingying, who returned to Berlin with many high-rise buildings, and appreciated the gorgeous architecture of Vienna, had no reaction to these old-fashioned and rigid lines. Neon flashes, the evening breeze blows; After a short time, a magnificent and magnificent palace suddenly appeared in the building Chongyu Fuzhong. The horsepower of the cart did not decrease, and after a while, Qingying stood in front of William's familiar study with the lights on. Climbing the stairs, pushing the door in, Qingying was a little surprised to find that the shriveled and thin Schlieffen also appeared in William's room. He was sitting upright, talking to his cheap dad in a low voice, and between the opening and closing of his lips, a slight fierce color quietly appeared on his thin face. Hearing the sound behind him, Schlieffen turned his head slightly, and when he saw the person clearly, a sharp look suddenly bloomed in the cloudy eyes under the one-sided glasses.

Seeing Qingying appear, William's face showed a hint of joy; However, he soon remembered something, and his suddenly bright eyes gradually faded. Qingying didn't feel any surprise at William and Schlieffen's unusual performance, and the reason why they had this reaction was entirely due to a report he had sent back to Berlin a few days ago.

During this trip to Vienna, Qingying's original plan was to solve the language problem within the Austro-Hungarian Army and speed up the process of dreadnoughts in its navy by the way. However, at the time of the meeting with Herzendorff. However, he accidentally discovered a serious problem within the Austro-Hungarian army, which was almost impossible to solve.

In the moment. Even the Viennese knew that it would be difficult for a mobilized army to fight normally because of language problems. Nor could they extend the current Austro-Hungarian Legion's military command system to other minorities, otherwise there was a risk of unrest and division of the country. As a result, the only groups that Austria-Hungary could really recruit in the war were Germans, Hungarians, and a small number of Czechs who were loyal to them, and the total number did not exceed half of their total population, which was even worse than that of the British and Italian armies. And in fact, Austria-Hungary could not even recruit even these people with confidence!

Due to the country's top-heavy ratio of light and heavy industries, as well as the huge disparity between the rich and the poor caused by the severely disproportionate rate of economic development, many poor and low-class people ruled the Habsburg dynasty. There is a grudge that hurts to the marrow. Behind the splendor of Vienna's opulent and drunken scenery are countless homeless poor people living in bridges and sewers, whose poverty and number of people are very different from those of current German society. If these people were to be enlisted in the army and issued with guns, they would undoubtedly be an extremely destabilizing factor, and they could turn into explosive powder kegs at any moment because of their resentment of the status quo, and they would be able to turn into explosive powder kegs and strike a blow against the rule of the Habsburgs. So the actual combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian Army was, at most, a third of what the German General Staff had previously envisaged!

When the news of such a super tragedy came back to China, Emperor Wilhelm and Chief of the General Staff Schlieffen stayed in place on the spot, and they did not recover for a long time. Although Schlieffen had also noted the complex ethnic composition of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. It may have greatly slowed down their ability to fight, but he was immersed in the formulation of his "Cannae-style march" battle plan. I did not delve too much into the situation of Austria-Hungary, let alone expect that the decline in combat effectiveness brought about by the national question would be so drastic. The tragic situation of the Austro-Hungarian Army directly caused them to fall from a very powerful humerus arm to a second-rate scum in Schlieffen's heart, and the chips owned by the Central Powers shrank sharply, and it was difficult to maintain the previous favorable situation in the game between Britain and France.

In the face of the weakness of the Austro-Hungarian Army, the results of Qingying's success in accelerating the process of dreadnoughts in the Austro-Hungarian Navy became bleak. After all, the main battlefield of the German-Austrian alliance was still on land, and no matter how powerful the Austro-Hungarian navy was, it would have to have a favorable impact on Germany's form in the war through a series of indirect effects. What's more, France is not a vegetarian either, although there is a big gap between their overall strength and Germany, but the Gallic chicken said that there is still no problem in cleaning up Austria-Hungary in the Mediterranean; The previous decline of the French Navy was caused by the indiscriminate tossing and turning of Aube and his supporters of the New School, who had misclicked on the technology tree. At present, the decision-making level of the French Navy has returned to the right path of decisive battle of the fleet, relying on their financial and shipbuilding strength, which is far superior to that of Austria-Hungary and the domestic environment of the second navy in the world at that time, there is no pressure at all to build a powerful modern fleet.

Originally, William's mood was quite happy because of the recent start of construction of new German battleships, but after receiving this report sent back by Qingying, he was immediately depressed and disgusted as if he had found a dead fly in the delicious soup that he had drunk half-drunk. When he saw his second son, who had been away from Berlin for half a month, appeared in front of him again, his face was still a look of unreasonableness; After a while, Fang reluctantly waved his hand to the initiator in front of him, and let him sit next to Schlieffen.

"This visit to Vienna, though you had spent the previous week sightseeing with Sanya, had greatly tarnished the image and reputation of my Hohenzollern family; However, for the sake of your excessive discovery of the ills of the Austro-Hungarian Army, we will not pursue them for the time being. In Qingying's protesting gaze, William snorted lightly, and his words were full of unchangeable arbitrariness. Speaking of this, the expression on William's face gradually turned solemn, and he said slowly, "However, it is really a coincidence that you came today. Just ten minutes earlier, the Count had reported to me a piece of news that was not favourable to Germany. ”

"According to the information sent back by our ambassador to St. Petersburg, Russia has accepted the mediation of the US government and announced a temporary ceasefire in Manchuria for negotiations with Japan. The Japanese side also responded to the mediation of the US side with an unexpectedly positive attitude, saying that it was willing to settle the current dispute between Japan and Russia in the Far East by peaceful means. On the surface, they all seem to have completed their gorgeous transformation from bloodthirsty demons to benevolent angels overnight. If it weren't for the fact that I knew little Nicky and the yellow-skinned monkeys, I would have almost thought they would have held hands and sang the praises. William said lightly, but there was a hint of mockery and loss in his eyes.

"What, the war between Japan and Russia has just subsided? When I left for Vienna half a month ago, weren't they all still preparing for the Third Battle of Mukden? Qingying was stunned for a moment by this sudden news, and then asked in a tone full of disbelief.

Indeed, the two sides had already amassed more than 1 million troops in Manchuria, and the world was waiting with bated breath for a new lightning and thunderous battle. However, the dramatic turn of a week ago changed all that. Schliefen, who was sitting next to Qingying, spoke softly, the light in his eyes flowing, and then in Qingying's inquiry, he used his unique hoarse voice to tell him the ins and outs of the matter.

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A week earlier, a riot had erupted in Russia that had spread throughout Europe, and a mighty wave of serfs, servants, laborers, and commoners of all trades had almost overthrown the Tsar's rule. Countless self-reliant regimes, large and small, spread to every city and town in Russia, a large number of capitalists and tsarist officials were executed by the people, scenes of robbery, arson, bloodbathing and killing appeared in Russia anytime and anywhere, and the entire Russian giant was almost completely paralyzed. Even St. Petersburg was met with a bloody clash between the army and the population, and the Tsar dispatched a cavalry brigade of the Guards to finally quell the rebellion. In the face of such a dire situation, it was no longer possible for Russia to continue their war in the Far East, and the only way out was an armistice with Japan. Otherwise, the Tsar would face great danger of the crown falling to the ground.

Hearing Schlieffen's explanation, Qingying nodded slowly. From the moment the Tsar, after a meeting with William on the island of Björk, decided to continue the war, he realized that the surging revolutionary tide in Russia would sooner or later force himself, Nicholas, who intended to solve all problems by violent means, to the armistice negotiating table between Japan and Russia. What he did not expect, however, was that the insurrection that had prompted the armistice in Russia to be the same as in history had come much earlier than he had planned; Before the tragic deaths and huge costs of the battle began, the Russian war machine collapsed in a matter of moments like a rock troll that had suddenly lost its core. As soon as she thought of this, Qingying was dissatisfied and regretted; This long-brewing battle ended hastily, which was tantamount to retaining a rather strong amount of strength for Russia, and the situation that Germany most wanted to see was tantamount to Russia exhausting the last drop of blood and the last ruble on the battlefield in the Far East!

"What about the Japanese side? In the face of such a God-given opportunity, how could they give up the opportunity to take advantage of the fire and rob and use victory on the battlefield to increase the bargaining chips in their hands? After a moment of silence, Qingying asked again. (To be continued......)