The sun is shining brightly, the breeze is green, and the magnificent Charlottenburg Palace is hidden in the greenery of late spring, and there is a little more agility in the solemn sù. Squirrels shuttle, birds chirp happily, and the entire bluestone avenue is occupied as their own territory; When a sedan approached from afar, they swooped away.

Qingying pushed the car door and walked briskly up the steps in front of the palace, passing through the corridors and halls, and the core study of this summer palace was already close in front of him. William, who was dressed in civilian clothes, was standing silently on a huge map of Europe, and when he saw the appearance of the comer, his gray eyes also showed a bit of calm and reassuring look.

"I called you from the front line in such a hurry just to hear your opinion on the current situation." William did not ask a word of concern, but went straight to the subject of this summons; It seems that for quite some time before this, he had been immersed in a dilemma. "The news that has just come back from the Atlantic shows that our fleet has taught the British a hard lesson in the surprise attack, sinking two of their newest battleships; On land, however, the situation has changed unexpectedly against us. The assault force, on which we relied to break through the Anglo-French lines, suffered far more damage than expected during the attack: Helmut (Moltke Jr.) called me and said that the casualties of the assault force were close to the warning line, and that time was urgently needed to expand the squad and restore its strength. You've just returned from the front, so you should know all too well about it, right? William asked.

Qingying nodded when she heard this. The campaign cluster under his command has the strength of 2 heavy assault divisions and 2 light assault regiments; However, during the half-month Battle of Evry, this group of troops still suffered nearly one-third of the damage in the continuous high-intensity fighting, and this is still the experience of later generations. Focus on the results of the optimization and improvement of logistics supply and battlefield support. Although the damage does not seem to be very severe. But here's the point. The current German army does not have the ability to replenish the shortage of qualified soldiers in a timely manner.

At present, although the German Army put forward the concept of infiltration tactics earlier than the historical plane, because the contact time is too short after all, it is inevitable that it is still in the early stage of training and training professional commandos. The vast majority of soldiers, including some who are already assault troops, are still in the process of making the transition from traditional tactics to assault infiltration combat, which obviously will take quite some time. And for a combat unit, the most important thing is to fill the gap of losses in battle with fresh blood in time: if it is not replenished but only drained. Then it won't take long for this blade to completely crack and blunt!

After receiving an affirmative reply, William continued: "According to the Helmut report, it is estimated that it will take at least two months for our army to re-force the assault force before it can launch a large-scale general attack on several fronts. To be honest, this has quite exceeded my previous expectations. Holwig and others argued that the Empire should take advantage of this naval victory to restart the Amsterdam peace talks and conclude an armistice with Britain and France in a treaty that was not too harsh. What's your opinion on this? ”

Hearing William's words, Qingying, who had been by his side for 20 years, suddenly understood the emperor's state of mind. After defeating Russia, he could not wait to become the first monarch of Europe to overtake Napoleon, and for a time stood up to the German military's hard-line strategy; However, as the situation on the battlefield changed. William, who had been on the throne for more than a quarter of a century, had some different considerations from the perspective of his political expertise. In today's world, truth is only within the reach of artillery. But the indiscriminate use of force is by no means the means to obtain the greatest benefits; The cabinet think-tanks, represented by Prime Minister Holwig, proposed that the proposal is also quite cost-effective.

"Your Majesty Caesar, I personally agree with Prime Minister Holwig that peace talks with Britain and France should be reached as much as possible." After pondering for a long time, Qingying's eyes regained clarity and clarity, and then said in a calm tone.

"So far, this European war has been going on for a whole year. More than 350,000 soldiers were killed and nearly 700,000 were wounded and disabled. Ninety percent of the nation's businesses have transitioned to war service, and more than 7 million people of working age have been conscripted: the war, which was originally planned for only three months, has shaken the foundations of the empire in considerable length. The government's internal and external debt situation worsened, and the purchasing power of the mark depreciated by almost 20 percent compared to the pre-war period: it was only because of the constant news of victory on the front lines that popular resentment did not burst out as in Russia. Qingying sorted out her thoughts and told William all her thoughts.

William frowned slightly, and said, "Indeed, the vitality of the empire has indeed been reduced to a certain extent because of this war. But Ette, you should not only know your own situation, but also pay attention to the situation of your enemies. The French lost more than a fifth of their territory in the war, and the army suffered almost 70% more casualties than we did; The main fleet of the British was defeated by us by nearly sixty percent, and the casualties of the army personnel also exceeded 700,000. In terms of the loss of national strength, their situation is far more severe than ours by several times. ”

"Your Majesty Caesar, the situation in England and France is not the same as in Germany. For the French, if they accept the peace agreement we have proposed, they will be voluntarily plunging into a hell of destruction: for the future of the country and the nation, the vengeful blood that has been brewing in the bodies of all French people for more than forty years since the Franco-Prussian War will surely prompt them to fight to the death until the last soldier. Although the British have no historical grudge against us, they also have the persistence and accumulation that have been cultivated in the course of hundreds of years of world domination: they are categorically unable to accept the huge gap from the empire on which the sun never sets to the second-rate countries in the corner of Europe, which suddenly falls from heaven to hell. If our conditions are too harsh, they would also prefer to continue the war. ”

Qing Ying looked directly at Wilhelm's gaze, which had become a little solemn, and said slowly: "Today's Germany does not have this kind of strong national sentiment that arises at the moment when the country is in danger. The population would not want to see an endless war, which would lead to a meat grinder's death, scarcity, and even starvation. More importantly, this ongoing war is not the way to maximize the interests of the Empire. ”

The table clock is swinging, and the birds are crying. In the open study, Wilhelm's face gradually turned solemn, and his eyes were only fixed on the shadow of the two European powers on the map to the west of Germany. In fact, he had already considered that Britain and France would continue to resist after the negotiations had broken down; However, he paid more attention to when the other party would reach a critical point and succumb to his might, but he rarely thought about the other party's ignorance of the current affairs and fought to the last breath. This kind of analysis of the situation from the realm of government and public consciousness is not William's forte, but the youth in front of him has sophistication and sensitivity that is very inconsistent with his age and experience!

"If we had always adhered to the original armistice, it would be difficult to imagine a government in England and France that would have taken the initiative to sign this treaty with the Reich before the whole country was completely destroyed. The Russian Bolsheviks were an absolute exception, and only those who had been suppressed in the gutter for many years had a desire for power that ordinary people could not have imagined, and would sacrifice a single bit for it. Qingying paused, and then said, "And if you want to completely defeat Britain and France, it will not be an easy and comfortable thing." The current infiltration tactics of our army are more like a Pyrrhian victory, and this delay and high consumption will eat away at the essence of the empire little by little. Although the Austrians would help us, they were no match for the British and French armies, and were not at all suitable for fighting on the Western Front, which was densely fortified with trenches. In a way, the Allied help we received in the war against Britain and France was more scarce than in the previous war against Russia. Therefore, a qiē can only be done by Germany. ”

William's lips moved, and he still spoke with some reluctance: "But if you let them go like this, it is hard to guarantee that they will not become the great enemy of our Germany on the Western Front again in a few years." Last time, we just didn't do it hard enough, and it was only then that the French were rejuvenated and developed to a point where we could not defeat them in a year. The shipbuilding industry of the British is twice as large as ours, and we would not have been able to achieve what we are today without the historic opportunity of dreadnoughts and some design successes! The consequences of letting them go means that our hard-won maritime rights and interests will be in danger of being lost. ”

Qingying smiled slightly and said, "With Caesar's wisdom and wisdom, how could he not foresee the situation after the signing of the armistice agreement?" Even if we do not punish the French with extreme cruelty, they will no longer be able to compete with Germany for the next 50 years. In the last war, the nascent German Empire was, after all, a teenager who had not been deeply involved in the world; The old prime minister, who was not accomplished in the economic field, only cut off the branches and leaves of the French tree, but did not hurt its trunk and roots. This time, the growing Germany will not give them any chance to turn the tables again. We could have avoided the territorial claims of France, or even the staggering amount of 130 billion francs, in the case of reparations, and only their rich overseas colonies. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the monthly ticket support of the book friend Xiaoshen and Lone Star Sky Blood and Tears, and the reward of zhouyu1976~~~ Anyway, yesterday's subscription fell to the bottom, and the author's heart was cold