The establishment of the alliance with Germany was a matter of November onwards.

By mid-November, with the end of the Battle of Flanders in Belgium, the two opposing sides on the Western Front had been stagnant in front of a wide frontal fortified position of 700 kilometers long after three and a half months of fierce fighting between each other. Each side had flanks covered by natural obstacles or neutral territories, all hopes of a quick victory were finally dashed, and the Western Front entered the phase of positional warfare.

On the Eastern Front, in the first month after the start of the war, the German Eighth Army inflicted heavy losses on the Russian Northwestern Front that invaded East Prussia at the Battle of Tannenberg, but Germany's ally Austria-Hungary was defeated by the main Russian army in the Battle of Galicia in the same period, losing about 250,000 troops.

In the ensuing Warsaw-Ivangorod campaign, the Russian army used more than half of its entire forces against Germany and Austria to thwart the German Ninth Army's attack on Warsaw, and advanced from the southwestern front of the front to the Carpathian line in Austria-Hungary.

At the beginning of November, the German base camp was still hesitating: to continue the settlement of the war on the Western Front, or to move the center of operations to the Eastern Front against Russia.

At the same time, the German army on the Eastern Front took the initiative to launch the Battle of Lodz, smashed the strategic plan of the Russian base camp to invade the German interior, and once again advanced the front to the Warsaw-Ivangorod line.

During this period, on November 12, the Ottoman Turkish Empire declared a "holy war" against Britain, France, and Russia, and joined the Allied side to fight.

At the end of November, the command of Army Group and the Austro-Hungarian High Command of the Eastern Front, supported by German Chancellor Batemann-Holweg—mainly by the "heroes of Tannenberg" Hindenburg and Ludendorff, and the Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Konrad, presented to the German High Command a plan for the 15-year war situation, demanding that Russia be destroyed first and the war on the Eastern Front would be ended in order to force Britain and France to make concessions and conclude a peace treaty favorable to Germany and Austria.

On 26 November, the German ambassador to China, Count Åren Iberg, was instructed to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Chen Siguang with secret documents.

The next day, Count Orenibberg met with the Prime Minister and Her Majesty the Empress of China.

On 28 July, Berlin and Beijing respectively set up military liaison offices composed of military attachés from the Chinese and German embassies.

On 30 July, the German Prime Minister met with the Chinese Ambassador to Germany.

The next day, the Kaiser personally met with the Chinese ambassador to Germany.

On 2 December, personnel of the German Military Liaison Office in China were invited to the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the East Asian armed forces, which had been opened as early as early October, to discuss with the staff officers of the headquarters on matters of coordination operations.

At the same time, the Chinese military liaison office in Germany also made direct contact with the German high command.

Cryptographic radio waves travel frequently between the two sides of the globe – Beijing and Berlin – and the distance cannot stop the god of war from thrumming in.

After nearly a week of intense consultations, the strategy of first forcing Russia to withdraw from the war was finally confirmed, and it was stipulated that in the 1915 war, Germany, Austria, and Turkey would use about 110 divisions, and the East Asian coalition forces would use 50 to 60 divisions to attack Russia from the east, west, and south at the same time, and at the same time try to mobilize Bulgaria, Romania, Persia, and other neighboring countries to join the Allied side of the war.

In addition, the ASEAN side did not say a word about the war against Britain and France, and the German side did not ask about it with interest.

By this time, the turbulent year 1914 was about to come to an end.

There are still two weeks before Christmas, and in December in Beijing, the snow is falling, the vast and broken sky, and the lingering clouds of war, this winter is not too cold.

In the past, the Zhongnanhai Courtyard, which was sparkling and green, was helplessly covered with a layer of white at this time.

On the Moon Shadow Pavilion on the west coast of the South China Sea, who is the figure of the person wearing a robe obliquely and looking at the snow by the railing?

"My little princess, the snow is so heavy and still coming out, be careful that it is frozen."

This Moon Shadow Pavilion was originally given by the emperor to Princess Liu Yuchun of Yuelan, and now Yuchun is the only one who can be called a princess.

"Your Majesty, why are you here......

That's right, the person who intimately called the "little princess" just now is the current empress Liu Qianhua.

Although the two were born to half-mothers and did not grow up together, they have not been born for many years, even after their sister was honored as the Ninth Five, the relationship has not cooled.

However, in recent months, due to the marriage problems of the crown prince and the princess, the family has been unhappy, and the sisters have not been alone like this for a long time.

After instructing the female official to serve the stove and hot wine, Yuchun pulled her sister to sit beside her.

"I came just in time, I have something in my heart, and I don't know who to talk to."

"Tell your husband." Qian Hua smiled and nodded the tip of Yuchun's puff nose.

"What, it's not a husband yet......"

In September this year, the princess was officially engaged to the Ryukyu prince Shangchang, and is scheduled to get married in the first month of the Chinese calendar next year.

In October, the Imperial Diet passed the "Bill on the Admission of the Ryukyus into the Inner Domain", accepting the petition of the current Ryukyu King to change the Ryukyus from an outer domain to an internal domain.

"It's coming, it's not a few days...... Everything has been arranged for you. ”

"But...... I heard that there is a war coming up? Are you sure? Yuchun's beautiful big eyes overflowed with unconcealed worry.

Qianhua stroked the hair locks in her sister's ear: "You don't have to worry about national affairs, wait to be your bride with peace of mind, you can't get married when you fight." ”

"But my brother and Shang Chang both said that if there is a war, they will have to go to the front line......"

Qianhua smiled: "Fool, even if I agree, the Queen Mother will not follow - don't worry, they can't go anywhere, they all have to tie this marriage honestly." ”

Yuchun is still not at ease: "What about after getting married?" After getting married, they insist on going to the front line, so what should they do? ”

Qianhua narrowed her eyes: "Then it depends on the ability of Her Royal Highness the princess and you." ”

Yuchun suddenly blushed to the root of his ears: "What...... Sister Huang is really ......"

While speaking, the female official brought a hand stove and hot wine, and the two sisters drank a cup of each other, Yuchun felt even more irritable, and untied the collar slightly, revealing a pink neck like a lotus root.

"My sister's skin is so nice - did the colt say that?" Qianhua changed his words.

Yuchun smacked his tongue: "That guy, his mouth is stupid, he has to teach him." ”

"Fool, I think he deliberately pretended to be stupid, waiting for you to teach ......"

"It's not, my sister is talking nonsense......"

The two quarreled for a while, and Yuchun suddenly lowered his eyes and his expression became gloomy.

Qianhua hurriedly asked: "It's so good, why are you unhappy again?" ”

"It's nothing, I thought about my brother......"

"What, watching Ping'er being taken away by other women, can't you be reluctant?"

"What, we are twin brothers and sisters, how can we ......" Yuchun pursed his lips and hugged the hand stove in his arms.

"I think that although my brother got his wish, if the queen mother is still like that after getting married, the life of the concubine will not be easy, the queen mother is too stubborn......"

——In October of that year, the Imperial Household Agency announced that the crown prince Liu Ping would accept Zhu Xin, the daughter of the late Earl Zhu Tao (posthumously), as the concubine, and was scheduled to get married in the first month of next year.

Qianhua smiled: "It turns out that I was worried about your sister-in-law, it's really rare, okay, let's help the concubine together when the time comes?" Good no good? ”

"However, if we all go to help the concubine, the queen mother is too pitiful......"

"When you can't do it both ways, just do what you think is right in your heart, momentary confusion is a common thing, just don't lose yourself at critical moments, besides, you still have the emperor behind you."

"En......" Yuchun nodded vigorously, but his eyes were still like lost lambs.

"Your Majesty, it's time." The female officer, Ye Jingying, reminded gently in Qianhua's ear.

Yuchun smiled and said: "The emperor is busy, although I don't understand national affairs, but I know that being the emperor is very tiring, I hope my brother will not be so tired in the future." ”

Qianhua's fingers seemed to be reluctant to give up the lock of youthful hair: "Thinking about your brother for everything, don't worry, by the time he becomes the emperor, it should be much easier......"

When Liu Ping was emperor...... What will it look like?

Can the throne of the Liu family really be passed on?

Before returning to the inner conference hall of Xinhua Palace, Qian Hua had already spent enough time in the space telescope that pointed to the deep universe of "the future".

The theme of this Imperial Council was to determine the time for the start of the war.

“…… The German-Austrian bloc has confirmed that it will launch a full-scale offensive against Russia in February next year, will our troops wait until then to march on Russia? Liu Bailiang, the chief of the General Staff, who has been busy dealing with the German military liaison office in China these days, was the first to throw out the topic.

Wang Zhi, Chief of Staff and Minister of the Army, flashed his eagle eye: "Siberia in winter is not suitable for large corps to fight, but around Lake Baikal and in the south of Central Asia, we can still make a difference." ”

It turns out that the winter in Siberia is bitter and cold, but the climate of Lake Baikal, which has the highest depth and water storage capacity in the world, is different from that around the same latitude due to the regulation of huge water bodies and the influence of geothermal anomalies. Due to the abundant sunlight and the ability of the Baikal water body to absorb solar radiation, the temperature difference between day and night in the lake area is small, and the seasonal temperature difference is also small during the year, the winter is warm and the summer is cool, and the coldest month, the hottest month, the freezing period, and the ice melting period are all one month later than the surrounding map. In winter, in Siberia, where the average temperature is minus 30 degrees Celsius, Lake Baikal becomes a relative temperature point, and the average temperature of the coldest months in the northern, central and southern parts of the lake is minus 3.1 degrees Celsius, minus 1.6 degrees Celsius and 0.7 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The average winter temperature in southern Central Asia is only around zero degrees Celsius, and the Baikal region, which has an abundant source of water vapor, is far from arid, with very little snowfall in winter, which does not hinder combat operations.