The fireplace is warm and the lights are dimly lit. The hot coffee is held in the palm of your hand, giving it a warm atmosphere of winter.

"So far, this war has been going on for seven months. During this period, a large number of workers, citizens, farmers, and even students responded to the imperial government's call to join the army. The consequence of this was the inevitable decline in the material production capacity of the empire. Taking oats as an example, last year's total output was 4.4 billion kilograms, but this year it has dropped directly to less than 3.8 billion kilograms, and we can't achieve 1,800 acres of wheat. Had it not been for the accession of Romania, which provided us with a large supply of valuable food, the empire would have had to implement a ration of grain and oil after this winter. Facing William's puzzled gaze, Qingying slowly said what she was thinking.

Hearing Qingying's words, William's face gradually turned solemn, and he didn't have the relaxed expression he had before. As a monarch who had been in charge of the empire for a quarter of a century, he knew better than almost anyone the disadvantages that Germany had faced in the transition of the war. Although a large number of women began to be brought into the front line of labor in German factories and fields under the impetus of Qingying's advocacy, the phenomenon of manpower shortage continued to appear in Germany as the war dragged on. Looking at the Xiuyi face of the person in front of him, who did not have much melancholy, William's heart suddenly moved, and he said, "Etter, do you have any strategy to solve the problem?" ”

"I don't have a way to completely solve the material production gap. However, we have a ready-made workforce at our disposal. Qingying paused, and then said, "That's the Russian prisoners we captured." ”

Qingying smiled slightly. Said softly: "In the first half a year. In total, we captured more than 1.3 million Russian prisoners. They had been eating all day long the food that the German peasants had worked so hard to grow, and it was time for them to repay the reward. We can let these people farm and raise animals, or we can absorb them into military factories to produce guns and ammunition; As long as they are properly managed, they can only act as pigs and sheep under our gunpoint oppression. Even more advantageous, there were hardly any labor costs associated with the use of these captives as labor; Working 14 hours a day to give three full meals is a condition that only the most benevolent capitalist will offer! Most of them were from regular military backgrounds, and their physiques were completely fine, if they were sent to factories. I think it will be robbed by the profit-seeking capitalists. ”

William snorted, and the face that had just condensed was like ice melting in an instant. The guy in front of him didn't know how much he had planned in his mind, and every time he raised something worth worrying about in front of him, there was almost always a good way to alleviate or solve the problem. In fact, the German government had used prisoners as coolies before this, and the newly renovated railroad in Poland is the masterpiece of the 140,000 Russian prisoners captured in the Battle of Tannenberg; However, systematically using these captives and integrating them into the huge German war plane was a new idea that the young man in front of him was the first to put forward. If this group of people can really be broken apart, and they can be transformed from an unstable source of food consumption into toiling serfs who create a lot of wealth value for Germany, this will be a very profitable harvest from every point of view!

"Other than that. While we drive them to work, we should also re-educate these captives with the same ideology as a spring breeze and rain. Let them realize from the depths of their consciousness that Germany is not only a powerful country with invincible power, but also a good friend of the Russian nation. The Bolsheviks, on the other hand, were their enmity. Qingying said unhurriedly. In his mind, a blueprint for Eastern Europe after the war had been drawn.

At present, although the war lasted only more than half a year, and there was still a considerable gap between the time and conditions for the outbreak of the February Revolution in Russia, the revolutionary party forces in Russia had already become far stronger than in history with their own covert support. Moreover, the main force of the German Army had already moved eastward in advance, and at this moment it was carrying the Austro-Hungarian and Romanian servant armies into Russia, and the Tsar's life was by no means better than the beginning of 1917. Combined with the intelligence information collected by the Qing and British in the ten years of deployment in Russia, the rule of the Romanov dynasty will almost inevitably collapse in the wave of domestic revolution. And what he had to do next was to prevent the growth of the new Soviet Russia.

Historically, the Bolshevik Party's seizure of central power in the October Revolution was by no means the subjugation of the Bolshevik Party in the way many imagined. Belarus and the Baltic states were occupied by Germany, and the Ukrainians and Kazakhs achieved the coveted independence of statehood; Denikin's "Volunteer Army" was entrenched in the North Caucasus on the basis of the newly formed Don republics, and the White Russian regime led by Admiral Kolchak occupied the entire Siberian region east of the Ural Mountains. Coupled with the subsequent occupation of the entire White Sea Rim by the coalition forces of Britain, the United States, and Italy, the only real part of the Red Soviet was the European region with Moscow as the core. After more than four years of fierce war, the Bolsheviks finally established a complete Soviet regime on the corpses of more than 10 million people, all accompanied by brutal destruction and killing.

What Qing Ying planned was to keep Russia's secessive civil war situation alive after the revolution. The more than one million prisoners of war currently in the German barracks were the best source of arms for the realization of his vision. As the war between Germany and Russia subsided, the captives were bound to be repatriated; And most of them are orthodox military backgrounds, and their ability to carry rifles to fight civil wars is absolutely undoubted. If these personnel, who were originally the regular army of Tsarist Russia, could join the White Army to fight, they would inevitably become a great problem for Soviet Russia; As long as the separatist turmoil in Russia does not cease for a single day, this will be a very good situation for Germany!

William's eyebrows were slightly raised, and there was a hint of sharp brilliance in his eyes. Although he does not have the mindset of a time-traveler like Qingying, the experience of so many years of ups and downs in Europe has also given him a glimpse of the clues. He nodded and said, "I have no objection to the strategy of dealing with Russian prisoners of war. Tomorrow morning, you will present this consideration to Otterbaden (Holwig). ”

"There is no greater wisdom than Caesar." Qingying tasted the mellow fragrance in the cup and said softly, "Actually, there is one more thing I want to ask Caesar to accept, and that is the problem of the shortage of raw materials that the empire is currently facing. ”

"Long before the outbreak of the war, we had prepared some supplies for future European conflicts; However, after these seven months of consumption, less than a quarter of the amount is still hoarded in the warehouse. We only have coal and iron ore to be self-sufficient, and all items such as rubber and scarce metals depend on imports; In particular, the consumption of oil is even greater, and our airships, armored combat vehicles, submarine warships, and chemical enterprises all need to be driven by this black viscous liquid. These primary raw materials are in short supply no better than secondary industrial goods, which we cannot obtain through production no matter how much labor we have; Therefore, the empire needed to restore the pre-war maritime trade and obtain these supplies from overseas. Qingying looked up into William's eyes, and for the first time there was a solemn look in his eyes.

William nodded slightly, the expression on his face full of approval. Romania's annual oil production of 1.2 million tons is abundant, but it is still quite insufficient to absorb Germany's 66 million war machine; Even today, with coal as its main energy source, Germany needs more than 3 million tonnes of oil per year to keep afloat. Prior to this, William and his staff and secretaries had developed several strategies for this purpose, but as Qingying said, these strategies were never decisive because raw materials could not be obtained from industrial production.

Now, however, the situation is very different from that of the pre-war period. The strength of the British Grand Fleet had fallen to rock bottom in a night battle, and its control over the North Atlantic had been drastically reduced: German merchant ships were well able to sail north along the Norwegian waterways, enter the North Atlantic via the Danish Channel, and sail straight to the United Lighthouse across the ocean. Even with the threat of British surface warships, the German High Seas Fleet, based on the Isle of Fair and Shetland, was capable of defending a large convoy. What's more, Germany can also directly absorb American merchant ships to take the initiative to pull goods to Wilhelmshaven, Hamburg and other places, and the high remuneration is enough to make these greedy merchants flock to it.

As for this strategy of using economic means to kidnap the United States' attitude towards foreign countries, Qingying had explained it to William many times before the war. Compared to the losses caused by the Americans, it was clear that the Allied camp led by Germany had gained far more than the Allied war planes by isolating them from the Allied war planes. Moreover, Germany can also recoup the costs from the defeated countries, and even sacrifice the interests of these countries to stop the gluttony of the Americans. In the context of the current almost one-sided war in Europe, Qingying has absolute confidence to settle the attitude of this local tyrant.

"Then, let's first contact the Imperial ambassador in Washington to discuss the issuance of bonds in the United States and the procurement of raw materials." William spoke lightly, with a hint of long-cherished hatred and anger in his words, "Britain and France have raised funds in the United States without capital, and have incorporated a large amount of material production capacity into their own war planes out of thin air; Why can't we in Germany follow suit? In the current war situation, it depends on whether the pound franc is reliable or the German mark is strong! (To be continued......)

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