The clock chimes and ticks, and the bright sunlight illuminates the room. Qing Ying stepped forward, her eyes fixed on the battle plan map hanging on the wall; As the attacking arrows and numbers were accommodated and merged, a battlefield that spanned thousands of miles slowly spread out in his mind.

As the son of the Kaiser, the future successor of the Hohenzollern family and the German Empire, Kiyoying not only received a considerable period of militarized training in the army during this period of physical growth, but also learned all the basic subjects offered by the regular army officer academy under the earnest instruction of senior personnel from the General Staff Headquarters. For Schlieffen's dense and complex battle map, Qingying didn't seem to have the slightest difficulty; After a period of contemplation, he understood the whole content of Schlieffen's whole plan.

It has to be said that this is an extremely detailed and precise operational plan, and the actions of the millions of troops of the four group armies in the war that lasted more than a month were arranged in an orderly manner, and there were no ambiguities or omissions. The spearhead of the attack, the shield of the defense, the line of outflanking...... The frontal battle plan was as magnificent as a blueprint for a battleship, and even the logistical support issues that Qing Ying was most concerned about made extremely accurate predictions based on the mountains, rivers, bridges and roads on the map. After some rough calculations, Qingying was shocked to find that it was so flawless: even Belgium would fight to the death as it did in history, destroying all the country's transportation network; But as long as the strategy of feeding the war by war is implemented in its own country, the problem of insufficient supply of materials for the German army in the most advanced stage is within an acceptable range!

Faced with this situation, Qing Ying's original belief in defending the west and attacking the east was extremely firm. It's starting to shake a little.

No doubt. If France can be solved at the beginning of the war. That's the best thing to do. Because this not only means that Germany will completely get rid of the attrition dilemma of trench warfare with the British and French forces on the Western Front, but also means that the destruction of France will directly prompt Britain and Russia, which are also Entente powers, to give up continuing this war with no hope of victory, so that Germany can win the war at a very small cost and become the absolute hegemon of the European continent in one fell swoop. At present, Qingying is faced with a gambling choice: with the assistance of Comrade Vladimir, the western defense and eastern offensive can ensure a steady and stable posture to ensure a huge profit without losing money, but the time will be close to two years, and the continuous war will have an extremely bad impact on all areas of the entire empire. Schlieffen's plan to attack France was simple and crude, if he could defeat France within a month and a half. Then both in terms of the benefits of signing an armistice treaty, and in terms of the degree of domestic damage caused by a short-term war, is far greater than a long-term war against Russia; The risk, however, was that if France could not be defeated with a single stick, the pressure on the western front would increase dramatically – because the front would then be deep into French territory, and the Germans would have to defend far more territory than they currently have in Alsace! As a result, the Germans would be forced to deploy far more troops on the Western Front than they would have been on the offensive in the west, and the intensity of the attack on Russia would be greatly reduced, which would undoubtedly increase the time required to promote the Russian Revolution through battlefield victory.

"Monsieur Count, if we do not achieve a decisive victory even after the physical exhaustion of our soldiers, such as the French who decided to fight to the end after the fall of Paris, how many troops do we need to deploy on the Western Front to stabilize the war?" Qingying asked.

Shi Lifen glanced at Qingying, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. It seems that the possibility that France would continue to resist after the fall of Paris was never considered. He pondered for a moment, then said, "That's it." The strength of the defense will then depend on the number of French troops we have annihilated in the previous phase of the campaign. If we can capture enough prisoners in previous campaigns, the number of troops needed to stabilize the front will be greatly reduced. After that, as long as we can build a strong enough defense line on the Western Front, then only about one-third of the enemy's forces will be enough to ensure that the front is safe. But I do not think that this will happen in the war that will follow, Your Highness, for when large swaths of France have fallen and their capital has fallen, their will to resist will inevitably crumble and they will send men to ask for peace talks, as they did in 1871. ”

Hearing Shi Lifen's reply, a flash of lightning flashed in Qingying's mind. He suddenly realized that he had neglected a very important point, and that was that the purpose of attacking France was not only to defeat it completely; The weakening of its war potential is also a crucial point.

Before the outbreak of the First World War, the armies of all countries in the world did not realize how far-reaching the defense system composed of machine guns, trenches, and barbed wire would bring about to the war, and active offensive has always been the only way to win in the combat regulations of the armies of various countries. It was only later, after the belligerents had repeatedly bled in front of each other's defensive positions, that they learned to build trenches and wait for work in this bloody lesson. If Germany can seize the brief opportunity that France will not defend at the beginning of the war, implement the Schlieffen plan to directly swallow Belgium, and do everything possible to seize French territory and annihilate the French army; Then, even if France could not be completely conquered, its war potential would inevitably fall sharply due to the loss of land and resources and the loss of a large number of troops, and it would not pose any threat to Germany again. At that time, Germany would have no problem transferring its almost undamaged main forces to the Eastern Front to meet the Russians.

Although this will lead to the dilemma of fighting on two fronts and bogging down in the quagmire of a protracted war, Germany on this side will obviously have more room to deal with this because of the national strength of one and the greater increase in the combat effectiveness of the army. More importantly, the Qing and Britain could use their influence to get Germany to attack Russia with all its might after the end of the war against France, without having to entangle too much with the Anglo-French forces on the Western Front as in history.

Historically, because the top of the German General Staff was deeply influenced by Schlieffen's plans, they always sought to achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front; Under the guidance of this idea, the main army of the German army was engaged in the operation of the British and French forces throughout 1916. The consequences of this were obvious: Verdun did not become the place where the last drop of French blood was shed, but it greatly depleted the strength of the German army; The entire offensive suffered heavy casualties and was fruitless, and it became an important turning point on the entire Western Front. In 1915, Russia, which had been defeated by Germany, also gained a precious respite, regrouped a large amount of war materials and gray livestock, and a Brusilov offensive caused Austria-Hungary to lose as many as 1.5 million troops, and nearly collapsed the empire. If Germany's strategic center of gravity could always be maintained on the Eastern Front, the results it would achieve would certainly be far greater than the bottomless pit of enormous attrition on the Western Front.

As his thoughts continued, Qing Ying felt more and more that this variant of "defending the west and attacking the east" with a bloodletting attack on France first was superior to the strategy he had originally envisioned. The strengthened German Army will have a high probability of achieving something beyond history, taking Paris in one fell swoop and forcing France to surrender; And even if it is difficult to settle the battle on the Western Front, the rapid advance of the German army in the early stage of the war will have a great impact on France and the world in material and psychological terms. The bloody fact that a world-class army power has been subjected to all sorts of indiscriminate interference on the battlefield by another great power will undoubtedly cause the support of France in the financial, economic, overseas colonies, and other fields to decay exponentially, and this does not contradict Germany's attack on Russia!

As soon as he thought of this, Qing Ying exhaled a long breath, and his star-like eyes finally revealed a clear and determined expression. He nodded slowly and said softly: "An adventure with a low investment, but it can have an extremely high success rate and such a huge return, in the face of this almost perfect plan, I have no other objections." Forgive me, Mr. Earl, for my questioning of your proposal, for I still need to learn more from your battle-hardened Excellency. ”

Schlieffen smiled slightly and said, "Your Highness is serious, and I have to thank Your Highness for speaking of it." If it weren't for your doubts about the details of this project, I wouldn't have deepened it so much that I noticed a lot of mistakes that I didn't notice before, and revised them, and finally made this work today. Besides, if it weren't for your godlike discernment and keen insight into the power of defensive warfare, how could I have the confidence I have in the Left and the Eastern Front, which had taken great risks? There are also those lovely new toys developed by His Highness, and their mass production and equipment have greatly enhanced the boys' chances of survival and victory on the battlefield; The battlefield firepower suppression that the Imperial Army currently possesses is something we could not have imagined before! ”

Speaking of this, Schlieffen suddenly sighed faintly; The look on that thin face was complicated, sad, gratified, generous...... All kinds of expressions flashed across his face, like a flowing dream. He glanced at the battle map on the wall, bowed to William with a look of surprise, and said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, the plan to destroy France has been completed, and I can finally leave my post without regrets." ”

William was stunned when he heard this, and then a touch of reluctance surged into his face. Qingying next to her was also solemn, and it was difficult to speak for a long time. Although there are many controversies about Schlieffen's plan in later generations, it is undeniable that Schlieffen himself was undoubtedly a genius tactician who formulated this plan. His retirement was the end of an era for the German Army!

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, Alfred can only assist you here; The future of the German Army depends on little Helmut walking with you. (To be continued......)