The moonlight poured obliquely like water, illuminating the room.

"In other words, no matter how much Nicky Jr. hates the Japanese, Russia will shift its strategic focus back to Europe after signing an armistice treaty with Japan?" After a while, William spoke with some bitterness.

Qingying snorted and said, "To be precise, this is Russia's inevitable choice after being on the defensive in the Far East. Although the two-headed eagle of Russia will not give up its needs for the Far East, they can only reinstate and accumulate strength in that land to rebuild their strategic advantage over Japan; And in this period of accumulation, which is destined to be quite long, the Black Sea and Balkan regions, close to the center of Russia's power, will inevitably become the top priority of their foreign strategy. Therefore, it will be difficult for our strategy to bring disaster to the east, and at most the Russians will have to invest more money in order to restore their military strength in the Far East; And this is undoubtedly only a very small part of the strength of the entire Russian Bear. ”

"At present, an understanding has been reached between Britain and France, and the spearhead is directly aimed at our Germany. It can be predicted that in the event of a war between us and France, Britain will most likely side with France, and will even go shirtless and send an expeditionary force across the Channel to aid the French. And based on the Franco-Russian alliance, Russia will also become our great enemy in the future war against France. The German Empire was faced with the potential for direct war with the three great powers of Britain, France, and Russia, while Austria-Hungary and Italy were unreliable, and our security situation was extremely serious. Qingying glanced at William and Schlieffen with solemn faces, but the words changed abruptly and smiled. But. But we can pass through two paths of peace or war. to break the cage that has sealed us. ”

William's eyes lit up, and his gray pupils looked directly at the young man in front of him, but he saw that the pleasing face that had not changed in the slightest in several years was full of confidence that everything was under control. Seeing this scene, William couldn't help but feel a little distracted, since when has his second son been imperceptibly influencing and changing his decision-making?

"The path of peace you are talking about is probably the fleet of risks derived from the theory of the existential fleet. As long as we can continue to unswervingly push forward with the construction of the High Seas Fleet. With our economic and industrial strength surpassing that of the United Kingdom, we will be able to create a navy with an overall strength close to 80% of that of the Royal Navy, making it difficult for them to be overwhelmed in every way. In this way, we will be able to win their friendship with the sword in our hands; As long as Britain did not want their navy, which was crisscrossing the world, to become a third-rate existence even worse than Austria-Hungary, it would not take this great risk to become an enemy of our Germany. William came back to his senses and said to Qingying in a calm tone.

Qingying nodded and said, "Not bad." The Anglo-German alliance is not only the fundamental guarantee for maintaining peace in Europe, but also the only way to resolve the contradictions between Germany and France. The two most powerful nations in Europe will unite to form a powerful force that sweeps everything; Under the absolute coercion of this force, which is enough to deal a devastating blow to them, France and Russia will have no possibility of resistance, but can only choose to bow to Germany and Britain. However, Britain has refused to face up to the cold fact that the rise of Germany has changed the world order that London has dominated for more than two centuries. He is extremely hostile to China, Germany, an emerging power, and refuses to obediently give up the vested interests that he has grabbed in his hands. For this case. Germany could only forge a earth-shattering halberd belonging to the Sea Emperor Poseidon, and then it lay directly in their throats! We must let every master of Downing Street and the little Anglo-Saxon robbers under his command know that cooperating with our Germany can ensure the continuation of their status as an empire in the world, and that being an enemy of our Germany will inevitably completely destroy their glory that has been shining for more than 300 years. ”

Hearing this, Schlieffen's two gray-white long eyebrows couldn't help but wrinkle slightly, as if he felt ten thousand dissatisfied with Germany, a land power country with a glorious history, that it had to rely on sea power to obtain peace. His lips twitched, and he said, "What about the road of war, and what means should the empire use to break through the iron cage that surrounds us?" ”

"In terms of national strategy, the German Empire was caught in a potential encirclement of Britain, France, and Russia, and the situation could not be described as dire; On land, however, we are faced with an extremely favorable situation. In the face of Schlieffen's inquiry, Qingying smiled slightly and expressed her thoughts to this genius veteran who had served in the Prussian army for more than half a century.

"Germany's strong land enemies are France and Russia. Before that, the East-West alliance of these two countries did overwhelm us a little, but now the situation has changed radically. Russia, the most threatening link in the Franco-Russian alliance, was defeated in the war against Japan; Their losses were not only due to the casualties of the 500,000 troops, the sinking of the 350,000-ton fleet, and the war cost of nearly 700 million pounds, but also to the exposure of the low combat effectiveness of the Russian army and the shaking of the foundations of the Romanov dynasty. The poverty of life, the humiliation of enslavement, and the brutal suppression of revolutionary revolt by the government all combined to form a thunderous volcano in Russia that could erupt at any moment. This would greatly reduce Russia's ability to resist external shocks, making it a vase porcelain that would shatter at the slightest touch. ”

Qingying sorted out her thoughts and said in slightly relaxed words: "At present, our situation on the Eastern Front is already obvious. This behemoth, which once terrified all of Europe, was, in fact, just as useless as our Austro-Hungarian allies, as best illustrated by their poor performance in the war with the Japanese. At this level of the Russian Army, it is simply impossible to be an opponent of our Germany; Once the war starts, we can knock it out with just one fist! On land, another constraint on our side, France, run by the prime minister of the tiger (Clemenceau, nicknamed the Tiger of France), is also in a very difficult situation. Their total population is only 38 million, and their mobilization force is already much inferior to that of our German Empire; And their military strength has become extremely weak under the toss of romantic reforms in these years, and they are not able to compete with us at all. ”

Thus, even if the Austro-Hungarian reinforcement could play a limited role, Germany still had the absolute initiative on the European continent by virtue of its own outstanding strength. If we start training our reserve army now, and stockpiling all kinds of supplies to prepare for war, then in four to five years we will have an unprecedented advantage over France and Russia on land, because this is when we are ready for a war, and France and Russia have not even finished their army! At that time, the Reich would have been perfectly in a position to wage a preventive war, as advocated by the General Staff, to inflict a complete bloodletting on our potential enemy, and to buy Germany another 30 years of peace. Qingying said confidently.

A look of surprise flashed in Schlieffen's eyes, and then he smiled and nodded. As the chief of the general staff of the most powerful army in Europe, he is actually extremely inclined to use military means to solve problems; Qing Ying's proposal for the last way to break the cage by force undoubtedly coincided with the urgent need in his heart. He suddenly felt that the young man in front of him, who had a great attitude of opposition and obstruction to his "Canny-style march" combat plan, and who had made him lose face in the offensive and defensive exercises through obscene tactics, could become so cute!

"What Your Highness said is very true. A bloodletting preventive war against France was a benchmark national policy already established in the time of Kaiser Wilhelm, but it was not implemented for various reasons; Today, with the strength of the empire and the defeat of Russia, these factors have completely melted away like ice and snow under the scorching sun. Schlieffen directly extended the "potential enemy" in Qingying's words to France, which made the latter's face stiffen; A smile appeared on his thin face, and he said leisurely, "Compared with the war in five years that His Highness said, I am more inclined to draw my sword against the French this year; For although we were not prepared for war, France was clearly worse prepared than we were. There is another advantage to France at this time, that is, Russia must be powerless to interfere with our military operations in the West! ”

Speaking of this, Schlieffen was already full of red light, and said excitedly: "After more than half a year of hard work, I have made the most detailed revision of the battle plan of the Low Countries to ensure that it is implemented smoothly. As soon as we press the mobilization war button, the million-strong army of the Reich will rush through the north of France like the rushing Rhine River, wipe out all the resistance in front of us, and take all of Paris into your pocket! ”

Qing Ying raised her eyebrows, her thin lips opened, and she almost blurted out a question; However, when he saw the stubborn look on Schlieffen's old face, the words that came to his lips were swallowed back into his stomach alive. For the veteran coach, Schlieffen's plan, which had been in the making for 15 years, was undoubtedly the masterpiece of all his efforts, and he could repeatedly point out the flaws in it, but he could not again and again object to it. Anyway, this guy is already in his old age, and he will resign and retire in a short time; After Moltke Jr. succeeded him as chief of the General Staff, he had a way to get the guy with the motto "Don't be too bold" to change course and aim the spearhead of the attack at the east.

Will peaceful competition force Britain to compromise, or will it be a direct and violent solution to the war?

Facing two pairs of expectant eyes, William was silent for a long time, and then spoke slowly in a voice that could only be heard by the three of them. The night wind blew up, completely druffling out his deep voice. (To be continued......)

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