On February 12, 1864, the Reichsair Force dispatched one hundred and twenty bombers, protected by one hundred fighters, to bomb the western German city of Cologne. One hundred and twenty bombers, which dropped more than a hundred tons of bombs. Directly turned the small half of the city into ruins in the bombing. And this was just one of the many bombings carried out by the Imperial Air Force.

The Reich's blow to Germany did not stop because of the cold winter of the generals. Although, the army has stopped attacking and switched to defense. However, the Air Force took over the heavy task of striking Germany at this time, and frequently used strategic bombing to make Germany pay a heavy price.

German cities were reduced to rubble by bombing, including Cologne, Essen, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Münster, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Bielefeld. Countless Germans were displaced, giving them a taste of the hardships of war. In the beginning, wars were fought outside the borders of Germany. Although the casualties of the German army and navy were significant. However, this did not hurt most Germans. It was as if the war was still far away from them. But now, they really feel the cruelty of war. Nothing struck them more than the loss of their loved ones in the fighting and the destruction of their homes in the trenches.

Although, in order to protect their own airspace, the Luftwaffe fought back heroically. However, in the era when there was no radar, it was undoubtedly very difficult to successfully realize the early warning of local bombers, as long as it depended on people. This undoubtedly made every time the Luftwaffe fighters arrived, the Reichsair bombing campaign had already been completed. And the bomber escorted the fighter. You can fight with the Luftwaffe fighters to increase your own results.

Because the 'Haidongqing' 2 fighter had an overwhelming advantage over the Luftwaffe's 'Condor' 1 fighter. As a result, the air battle between the two sides was completely one-sided. The Luftwaffe would have to use three or more fighters to be able to exchange one fighter for the Chinese Air Force. Especially when the Reich Air Force placed the bombing targets on the Luftwaffe airfields, the Luftwaffe losses began to skyrocket. A large number of planes were blown up on the airfield before they could take off. This led to a sharp drop in the number of fighters at the disposal of the Luftwaffe. As a result, there were huge holes in their air defense network, and the bombers of the Imperial Air Force could take advantage of these loopholes to continuously bomb the industrial bases of the Germans, so as to weaken Germany's war potential as much as possible.

As the industrial heart of Germany, the Ruhr area undoubtedly became the focus of the Reich Air Force's bombing. In a month's time, the Imperial Air Force flew more than 10,000 sorties and dropped tens of thousands of tons of bombs in this area, directly turning the entire Ruhr area into ruins. Steel production in Germany began to plummet. At the same time, the number of tanks, artillery and aircraft produced in Germany began to decrease. Even though Germany has already found a way to relocate some of its key factories to the east. However, in the case of heavy industry being hit hard. It is no longer possible to recover. At a time when the war potential was greatly weakened, it seemed impossible for the Germans to win the war.

In the fierce air battle, the Luftwaffe's 'Condor' 2 fighter finally regained its disadvantage little by little. In terms of performance, the 'Condor' 2 fighter is no longer much worse than the Imperial Air Force's 'Hai Dongqing' 2 fighter. It's just that the quality of the pilots of the Luftwaffe is still not comparable to that of the Reichsair, so that they are in air combat. Still at a disadvantage.

With the Imperial Air Force also beginning mass production of the more advanced 'Haidongqing' 3 fighter, the Imperial Air Force once again achieved an overwhelming advantage in the performance of the fighter. Although, Germany also began mass production of its own bomber, the 'Junker' bomber. But. They have never been able to reverse the situation. A small number of 'Junkers' bombers, once discovered by the fighters of the Imperial Air Force, often only fell into the target of the Imperial Air Force. In the absence of fighter escort. If you want to strike at the Imperial Air Force with bombers alone, what is the difference between that and looking for death?

Arguably. The large-scale bombing of Germany by the Reich Air Force in the winter was an unprecedented success. German industry was hit hard. This directly led to a great blow to Germany's war potential. At the same time, the cost of the Reichsair force to Germany itself was a serious blow to the morale of the Germans, making their belief in victory in the war even more remote. This also affected the will to fight of the German army, navy and air force, so that in the next battles, their will to fight was no longer so strong.

Kaiser Wilhelm I, after a winter, looked much older. Now sixty-seven years old, he looks like an old man on the verge of death. The face was full of wrinkles and age spots that had crawled all over the face, as if time was running out. If Long Yufei knew that William I had become like this, he would probably be surprised. This emperor in history is known for his longevity. He lived to be ninety-one years old. But in this time and space, it is clear that William I will not live that long. The great crisis that Germany faced in the course of the war had exhausted his mental strength.

Germany's military and political affairs have now been entrusted to Crown Prince Wilhelm. However, in the face of such a crisis, Crown Prince Wilhelm was still helpless, and could only watch Germany sink little by little. How long Germany will be able to hold out, no one knows. Perhaps, when the Chinese* army captures Berlin, it will be the time of complete defeat for Germany.

The Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, Count Moltke, had already begun to develop a plan for the defense of the homeland. Germany's current forces have almost all shrunk back to their homeland. As for those allies, the Germans can't even take care of themselves now, where is the time to take care of them?

And this has led to the fact that those members of the Holy Alliance have other careful thoughts one by one. After all, seeing that the war was about to be defeated, if I didn't think of a way, I was afraid that I would sink into the sea with the broken German ship. What kind of alliance obligations and the like, after all, you can't eat as food, and protect your own interests first, that's the most important thing.

The first to react were the Russians on the Eastern Front. In last year's war, the Russians lost more than three million troops. Moreover, the lost armies were all elite troops. Although the remaining troops still numbered as three million, they were already old, weak, sick and disabled. If the fight continues, Russia's strength will probably die. At that time, whether the Russian nation can continue to exist will be a question mark. Especially when the Imperial Air Force began to bomb Germany on a large scale, which cost Germany a great price. The confidence of the Russians was also completely shaken. They are not willing to continue fighting, and if they continue to fight, Russia will be completely destroyed.

Tsar Alexander II convened an emergency meeting in Tsarskoye Village, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, to consult the ministers of military affairs.

"Your Majesty, there is no doubt that we have lost this war, and there is no possibility of a turnaround. Germany is now being bombed by the Chinese Air Force, and countless cities have been reduced to rubble. Germany's heavy industry has already suffered a devastating blow. Therefore, it is impossible for Germany to continue the war, or to win it. Russia has already paid a heavy price for this war. For this, we lost not only millions of troops, but also Moscow. If this continues, Russia will really be finished. Therefore, we must find a way to end the war, and we cannot continue to fight. Zhukovsky suggested.

"Yes, Your Majesty. If this war continues, there will only be one result, and Russia will be completely destroyed. The whole country will be destroyed. Even, even the Russian nation will be ruined. So, we can't fight anymore, it's time to find a way to end this war. Foreign Minister Count Niechel Rodie also said.

Alexander II did not answer immediately, a trace of pain flashed in his eyes. He looked at Duke Gorchakov and Marshal Wittgenstein, hoping to hear what the military thought.

"Your Majesty, the army does not have the courage to continue fighting. In last year's war, we lost most of our strength. Now the remaining army is either an old man who is nearly half a hundred years old, or a child who has not yet reached adulthood. If they were to go to war, it would be no different from sending them to death. Duke Gorchakov said.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We don't have the slightest chance of winning. The military, agreed to stop the war. Marshal Wittgenstein also said.

Alexander II closed his eyes in pain, he knew that this time it was really over.

"So, if we ask the Chinese for peace, how much will we pay to end the war?" Alexander II asked.

"Your Majesty, no matter how great the price is, as long as we can keep Russia, we still have hope. Once Russia is destroyed, we will have no hope left. Zhukovsky persuaded.

"Well, Count Nesherrody, you, as the envoy of Russia, go and negotiate with the Chinese. I have only one request, and that is to preserve Russia's interests as much as possible. Alexander II said. (To be continued......)

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