Chapter 209: The Bear of the End? (xiii)

At the end of the meeting, the crowd dispersed, leaving only Kaiser Wilhelm II and Chancellor Holweg in the room.

As the fifth appointed prime minister since Wilhelm II's accession to the throne – and the longest-serving prime minister, Holweg never had the full trust of the emperor, and the ill-witted William preferred to spend his days with his servant officers rather than with civilian politicians, including Holwig.

However, since the beginning of the war, William has found that he cannot do without Halweg - the soldiers he trusted and relied on, and now he is looking forward to the wise leadership of the emperor and supreme commander, while William, who is ambitious and talented, is helpless against all kinds of unexpected problems, except to let capable officers at all levels do their own thing, he can only turn to the "old bureaucrats" whom he hated before.

"What do you think of Hindenburg instead of Falkingham?"

Wilhelm II's cold question startled Holwig: "How can Your Majesty have such thoughts?" ”

"What's the problem?" The emperor's face was unhappy.

"Field Marshal Hindenburg's prestige, combined with the ambitious staff officers behind him, was not a big problem in the first place, but when combined with the power of the oligarchy of industrial capital, it was far from a simple transfer...... With all due respect, if Hindenburg comes to power, it is likely to bring about a military dictatorship that is above the Diet, the government, and even His Majesty. ”

Wilhelm II pinched his shiny, high-raised beard and squinted and smiled: "Above me? This is really a joke, how can my soldiers have such disobedience? I'm sure Hindenburg wouldn't do that. ”

Halwig's eyes were cold: "Marshal Hindenburg may not be that kind of person...... In fact, he did not need to do anything, he just sat in that seat and naturally there would be a large group of people who, under his banner, would do whatever it took to achieve their common goal - this is by no means alarmist, and the Ministry of the Interior has enough evidence that this alliance of military strongmen and industrial oligarchy really exists. ”

The emperor still disagreed: "So, what does this alliance want to do?" Overthrow me? What's in it for them? ”

"Power, the power to dispose of everything. Just give them that power—perhaps without any name or title—just acquiesce in any action that goes beyond the scope of their authority—and your Majesty should be safe and sound. ”

William lowered his head and thought for a moment, then twisted his beard and said, "If they can win the war, I am willing to give them this power." ”

Halweg smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty...... Once the power is gone, it may never be regained, these soldiers regard the war as their life, and they do not know how to understand politics and foreign affairs, and they dominate Germany, and they are afraid that they will have to drain the blood of the Germans before they stop. ”

Wilhelm raised his head proudly: "If you can't win a just peace, then even if you shed your blood, you can only fight to the end, this is God's destiny for Germany, not to be diverted by the will of the individual." ”

"The question is, who defines 'justice' here...... Soldiers often fight for every inch of land, and they refuse to compromise, and asking them to give up the land they bought for the blood of the soldiers is like bleeding from them. Your Majesty, you must insist on political control over the military, and you must not let the military reverse cào indulge in politics, and I ask you to consider carefully about the appointment of Marshal Hindenburg. ”

The Emperor nodded and said, "I'll think about it...... As long as there is no land ceded and no reparations are made, anything can be said, and I am only worried that the French will hold on to Alsace Lorraine - do you think the French will abandon their attempts at Alsace Lorraine? ”

"Exchanging Indochina for Alsace-Lorraine is not bad business. If you want Alsace-Lorraine, you can only defeat us, but if you want to defeat us, everyone will have to shed blood, and what will be lost at that time is probably the entire French colonial empire. Halwig patiently explained, knowing and understanding the Emperor's IQ.

William frowned and said, "Then we have to make them understand that if they want to defeat us, they must shed their blood." ”

"Falkingham's counteroffensive will show them that we have not lost the strength and determination to attack on the Western Front, and a resounding slap in the face will help them reassess the cost of victory and the conditions of peace." Halwig, who has always been at odds with the military, admires Falkingham.

The emperor shook his head slightly and said, "If Britain and France still have expectations for Russia, I am afraid that this level of counteroffensive will not have much effect. I think Ludendorff has a point, but I can't help but care about Falkingham's worries, it's really a dilemma. ”

"It would be good to let them perform their duties, the chief of staff should consider the overall situation, and the chief of staff of the Eastern Front will only have the victory or defeat of the Eastern Front in his eyes, and the overall situation is higher than the local situation, which is a matter of course. Besides, if the transferred reserves are really tight on the Eastern Front, they can still be transferred back. Not to mention the Romanian 20 divisions, those anti-political exiles who are about to infiltrate Russia, the destructive power is probably no less than that of 15 German divisions, as long as the Chinese do not relax, there is still a chance to solve Russia within the year. ”

The Prime Minister's self-confidence apparently failed to impress His Majesty the Emperor, and William inexplicably moved: "The problem must be solved before autumn, and if Russia is not withdrawn from the war this summer, we will never be able to defeat Russia, and then we may face the blackmail of Britain and France...... Although I am ready to accept some sacrifices, if the dignity and decency of Germany are at stake, I will not give in, never! ”

……

At the Berlin railway station, on the train to Warsaw, Ludendorff shook the hand of Colonel Hoffmann, the operational staff officer of the Eastern Front High Command.

"How's it going?"

Colonel Hoffman was the first to speak, and behind the two great heroes of the Battle of Tannenberg, it was actually this not-so-good-looking staff officer who really gave advice—and he was also one of the few experts on Russian issues in the staff headquarters.

Ludendorff looked depressed: "Your Majesty and Holweg are facing him, I can't do anything." ”

Hoffman winked and smiled, "Trust me, he'll be finished soon." ”

Ludendorff's eyes lit up: "Got results?" ”

"...... talking here"

Hoffmann pulled Ludendorff into the box and closed the compartment tightly, then approached Ludendorff and said in a low voice as low as possible: "It's all negotiated, Krupp will use all resources to support us, it is not a problem to overthrow Falkingham, trample the parliament and the government under their feet, and even overthrow the emperor, they will pay." As long as their military orders and profit margins are guaranteed, they will support us to fight the war as long as we want. ”

"It sounded like we were doing something to the devil and laughed.

Ignoring Ludendorff's interruption, Hoffman continued to himself: "They don't care who we fight with, Britain and France, China are all the same, the key is that who we can get war resources more easily with, we should be on that side." ”

"What do you think? Will it be easier for us to be with China? Ludendorff asked, narrowing his eyes.

Hoffman said, "They have a lot of resources, but they can't easily get to us, especially after the Battle of the Straits. On the contrary, if the Entente wished, they could quickly supply us with all the resources we needed by sea. ”

Ludendorff tilted his head back: "So, the answer is obvious?" ”

"But can we defeat China? I mean, even if the whole world of Western civilization unites......"

"Since there is no time limit, why not try it?" Ludendorff's eyes were full of anticipation.

……