The surrender of the French allowed both Germany and Italy to draw enough troops to throw themselves into other areas. Among them, Germany mainly deployed troops to support the Eastern Front, while Italy did the same, and the main transfer of troops was in the direction of the Indian Ocean.

However, in addition to this, Germany and Italy also communicated with the Spaniards, asking them to open their borders and let Germany and Italy send troops to attack Gibraltar.

Of course, Germany and Italy used a little trick to do this. Let him think that if he did not agree, Germany and Italy would attack him, and if he agreed, then Gibraltar could be returned to Spain after the war.

After some struggle, the Spaniards agreed to the German and Italian requests for transit. More than 80,000 German-Italian troops then entered Spain and drove all the way to Algeciras, outside Gibraltar. At this time, the German-Italian army did not have many troops, but it carried a large number of artillery. Even the Great Berta was transferred by Germany with three guns, which shows the importance that Germany and Italy attach to Gibraltar.

Gibraltar was the throat of the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic, and only by taking it could the Combined Fleet enter the Atlantic to intercept British ships.

Soon, in the third month after the surrender of France, the Battle of Gibraltar broke out, and in the month of fighting, the German 3 Great Betas played a crucial role in naming the batteries in the fortress of Gibraltar one by one. It was precisely because of this that the German and Italian armies conquered Gibraltar with only 23,000 losses.

At the time of the capture of Gibraltar, Germany and Austria also launched the Battle of Warsaw, in which 630,000 German and Austrian armies fought against 670,000 Russian troops around Warsaw and its surroundings.

After more than three months of fighting, the Germans and Austrians were victorious, and the Russians, after losing 390,000 men, had to evacuate Warsaw.

And this battle also made Russia feel the pressure, you must know that before it was usually Russia attacking Germany and Austria to defend, but now it has become a German and Austrian attack, and Russia is defending.

The German officers and soldiers who had been trained on the Western Front were still a little uncomfortable with the firepower density of the Eastern Front. The main thing is that it is too low, which makes the German troops on the Western Front, who are accustomed to raindrops of firepower, indeed a little uncomfortable.

After seizing Gibraltar and opening the way to the Atlantic, the Combined Fleet entered the Atlantic Ocean in July 1915 and shelled Plymouth on the eastern side of the English Channel.

Although the bombardment was not large, it frightened the British, because it meant that the Italian-Austrian Combined Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet could flank the British mainland. This put the British Home Fleet in a dilemma.

Britain had a call to transfer the Allied ships that had retreated to India to the mainland, but this caused Japan to refuse. For Japan, after seizing the German-Italian colonies in Southeast Asia, there was a chorus of cheers in Japan. But when France surrendered, it left Japan in questionable doubts about joining the Entente camp.

At this time, the Japanese side was even more reluctant to let their warships go to the British mainland. In view of the fact that the British captured the French warships in the fleet, the Japanese were very wary of this, so that their crews generally disembarked in batches, for fear of seizing their own warships.

Similarly, in North America, the United States, after the surrender of France, was more resistant to joining the war.

The United States is even more unmoved by the British courtship, and even the British and Russian bonds on the New York Stock Exchange are being sold. As for the procurement of Britain and Russia, it is necessary to pay in advance, all of which is caused by the surrender of France and the disadvantage of the Entente countries on the battlefield.

For this reason, the Russians approached the British and proposed a very end to the war, which made London feel even more uncertain about the victory of the war.

Because this is the United Kingdom, it is also heavily indebted, from the United States owes itself 400 million pounds to the United States 900 million pounds in debt. In addition, in this war, British military spending amounted to more than 2 billion pounds per year. Among them, this year, 1.47 billion pounds were spent in half a year, which made a lot of British wealth consumed by the war, and also led to complaints among the British people.

For this reason, London, as a politician, also has concerns, but at this time the concerns are only concerns, because Britain itself has not yet been attacked, because Britain can still hold on. Because of the vast colonies, it can also provide Britain with all kinds of supplies and soldiers.

But with the Italian-Austrian fleet ready to enter the Atlantic, and lacking enough warships, the British navy was now overwhelmed. For this reason, the British Navy was forced to make a plan to have a decisive battle with the High Seas Fleet in the North Sea, and if it won, it is better to say, if it loses, then the British Empire really has no hope of turning the tables.

The British made great preparations for this, using war patrols to bombard Schleswig in the early morning, which infuriated the Germans despite the casualties it caused. The Germans sent war patrols in pursuit, while the other ships of the High Seas Fleet pressed the formation.

In the face of the deceived High Seas Fleet, the rest of the Home Fleet deployed in the southern part of the North Sea in an attempt to encircle and annihilate the German battle patrol formation. However, Admiral Speer, the commander of the battle patrol formation, was very alert and avoided the encirclement of the home fleet, and at the same time called the commander of the high seas fleet, Scheer, and the news that the enemy was dispatching the whole army.

Faced with the news of the appearance of the British home fleet in the southern part of the North Sea, Schell immediately felt that this was an opportunity. In the previous Battle of Dogger Sandbank, he had learned the performance of the British warships. Now he still has three 380-mm guns in his hands in the Bavarian class, and he can't give up anything.

So in the middle of the North Sea, a decisive naval battle broke out.

This time, the British sent a total of 167 warships of various types to the home fleet, including 23 battleships and 7 battle cruisers. The German High Seas Fleet also sent 110 warships of various types, including 18 battleships and 6 battle cruisers in the North Sea.

The naval battle lasted from 3 p.m. on August 17 to just over 8 p.m. In this naval battle of more than 5 hours, Germany sank 11 battleships, 4 battlecruisers, and 58 other warships of the British home fleet at the cost of sinking 7 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, and 39 other battleships, and won the naval battle.

The defeat in this naval battle made other countries even more optimistic about Britain, Russia and Japan to form the Entente camp.

And after the defeat in this naval battle, Britain was even more disappointed in this war. Although the defeat of the war has caused many problems, if the war continues, the problems will become more serious, and the lesser of two evils can only be done in this way. For this reason, even Churchill, a die-hard representative, told his friends privately that it was too difficult to win the war now.

For this reason, after consulting with Russia and Japan, Britain submitted a request for peace talks on December 9, 1915 to form an alliance camp with Germany, Italy and Austria. This is a humiliation for Britain's hegemony for more than 200 years, but in the face of such a situation, unless the United States is willing to join the Entente, then there is no way.

In the face of the peace talks proposed by the Entente led by Britain and Russia, the Allies were naturally very willing.

At this time, the side of the alliance camp was not having a good time, and more than two years of war had plunged all countries into starvation. The limits of people's tolerance are not far away, and even Italy has entered a food shortage this year.

No way, although Italy has hoarded a lot of food before, but when your allies are in a food shortage, do you need a little support, even if it is for you, you can't pull out a dime, right?

Therefore, today A borrows some and tomorrow B exchanges some for C the day after tomorrow, otherwise the card is tight, and the stored grain has already been eaten, and it can wait until now.

Since everyone is interested in peace talks, let's sit down and talk slowly. And before the peace talks, the dissolution of the exchange of fire between the two sides became a prerequisite for the alliance camp.

Of course, the Entente led by Britain knew why, and in order to ensure that the peace talks could proceed, they could only agree. Subsequently, a large number of orders from the alliance camp came to all over the world, and the food, meat, raw materials and other materials were transported back by the ships of the alliance camp.

As for the location of the peace talks, the alliance side chose Munich. The previous place of negotiation with France was also in Munich, and now it is in Munich, which is really a good place for all the countries of the alliance.

Then the world-shaking negotiations between the Alliance and the Entente began. As for the condition of disarming the Entente camp, the Allied camp did not mention it, because it was not a defeat for the two countries, but a situation where both sides could not fight.

So after months of negotiations, the two sides reluctantly reached an agreement that was agreed upon by all parties.

First of all, the Entente needs to withdraw from the territorial colonies of the Allied faction, and the facilities must not be destroyed. If it is damaged, then it must be compensated.

For this, the defeated Entente camp also agreed, this is the traditional rule. Once this problem has been solved, the next step is to talk about the conditions

Britain, for its part, must withdraw all military installations and personnel in Egypt, and the Kingdom of Egypt will pay for the purchase of these facilities at a real price. This was all about making Egypt independent, and the Ottomans were not happy about it. However, under the persuasion of Germany, Italy, Austria, Britain and Russia, the Ottomans recognized the reality.

The Suez Canal, the most important in Egypt, and the Sinai Peninsula were transformed into international condominiums, jointly managed by Germany, Italy, Austria and Turkey, and the defense of the area was entrusted to Italy. It was also an acknowledgment of Italian power in the Mediterranean. In addition, the British islands and military installations in the Mediterranean were all taken over by the Germans, Italy and Austria (Ottomans).

This was the condition for Britain, because Britain still had strength, so it could only occupy the captured territories, and there was not even an indemnity, only 100 million pounds (paid in ten years) in the name of food for the prisoners.

On the Russian side, the Russians needed to deliver Poland, Western Ukraine, East Moldavia, and Georgia to Germany, Austria-Hungary, Romania, and the Ottoman countries. As for the reparations, 500 million rubles is the limit that Russia can accept (paid in ten years), and the Russians are at a great loss.

Japan, on its part, withdrew from the German and Italian colonies and paid an indemnity of 200 million yen (to be paid in ten years). In addition, at Carlo's request, Japan also withdrew from the Taiwan (bay) occupied by him.

It can be said that the losses of the Entente camp are not large, and the strength is still there. And the alliance camp has already accepted it when it is good, and has no idea of fighting with it to the death.

Of course, in addition to France, in addition to ceding Savoy, Nice, Corsica, and Tunisia to Italy, France also needs to pay an indemnity of 12 billion francs to the League camp (paid in ten years). This amount was mainly paid to Germany in exchange for German support for Italy's claim to territory, and of course Germany got Poland, and Italy had to support Germany.

In addition, there are a series of conditions such as prisoner exchange, intelligence, and supervision, which although these conditions seem inconspicuous, they are still very important to all countries.

When Carlo saw the terms of the peace talks, he only said that this was a truce clause of a maximum of twenty years.

Next he needs to think about what Italy will do in the next war.

(End of chapter)