Mid-April 1866

More than a month after the Battle of Fushimi Toba

As the weather warmed, the civil war in the southwest of the Fuso Islands intensified, and the rebels relied on the favorable terrain of the towns and mountains to resist fiercely, and the shogunate army fought a bumpy battle in Choshu.

After suffering a few defeats without accident, he advanced more than 30 kilometers to the southwest and stopped, and there was no further advance.

Port of Osaka

After two days and two nights of sailing, the "Yongtai Mountain" cruise ship departing from Weihaiwei Port in Shenzhou successfully arrived at Osaka Port.

After a brief replenishment of supplies here, the ship departed for Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, an eight-day, eight-night transoceanic voyage that had to be replenished with coal, water, and vegetable grain at the port.

Taking advantage of the convenience of his spare time, Major General Fan Pengju, who had returned from his hometown of Shenzhou Province, was dressed in a white suit and civilian clothes, looking like a dignified official, with a ruddy complexion on his face, and he had obviously spent a happy time in his hometown.

After getting off the cruise ship, he was followed by more than 130 sturdy Fan clan villagers, ranging in age from sixteen or seventeen to their thirties, which were the Fan children entrusted by his neighbors to bring him to North America for development.

Fan Pengju returned to his hometown on this trip, and it was not only more than 130 people who followed him to North America for development, but also more than 410 people on the cruise ship, including men, women and children.

And these more than 130 sturdy Fan disciples, Fan Pengju is ready to take them to experience the bloody and cruel scenes of the war in Fusang Country, and open their eyes more, if they can find three or five cultivable talents, then they will be regarded as picking up treasures.

In recent years, the concept of clan and neighborhoods was strong, and provincial immigrants accounted for a considerable proportion, one person led a few people, and a few people led a large group of people, which was almost the norm for the imperial magnates.

As long as there is a chance to return to Shenzhou Province, it is necessary to bring a large number of neighbors of the same clan to North America, first, it is necessary for the construction of fiefdoms, and it is better to use outsiders than to use the children of their own clan. The second is the Chinese national tradition of nostalgia and warmth.

Even if you fund the construction of the clan ancestral hall, you have to have the help of the clan children!

In the resource-rich land of North America, as long as you work hard, you can live a prosperous life, which is much better than struggling in your hometown of Shenzhou.

Rear Admiral Fan Pengju had just gotten off the boat, and he was caught by several Fusang people who looked hurried, and bowed 90 degrees in unison, and the leader said;

"I'm sorry for your trouble, General, it's really because of the urgent situation on the front line, I have to send an urgent report asking you to come back and preside over the overall situation of suppressing the rebellion, please!"

"I don't see enough horses and carts you brought, these are my entourage, let's arrange to act together in the future." Major General Fan Pengju did not respond to the other party's words, he looked at the only two carriages on the dock, frowned and said.

The leader did not dare to slack off, and bowed again and replied earnestly; "Hi Yi, we didn't prepare well, I'm really sorry for the trouble. I will immediately contact the dock police station to arrange the carriage and horses, please rest assured that it will be arranged soon; ”

"Okay then." Major General Fan Pengju finally nodded, half-turned and said to an older fellow countryman; "Fifth uncle, I'll take a step forward to deal with urgent matters. You take them here for a while, and then someone will arrange it. ”

"Sir, you go on business, you don't need to worry about it here." The fifth uncle responded with a humble expression, and did not support it at all.

This time, the neighbors dragged their families to North America, just to take refuge under the command of Fan Pengju, who was initiated in this life, hoping to find a full bite to eat, and the sons and daughters will be satisfied if they can have a bright day in the future.

All of this depends on his eldest nephew, who is about the same age as him.

Uncle is not worth anything, not to mention that people still have knighthoods, in the future, Fan Pengju will be the master, and the neighbors are counting on eating with mixed rice!

Without this bit of eyesight, it is impossible for the fifth uncle to be pointed out as a leader.

"The fifth uncle...... You'll have to worry about it more. Fan Pengju was not polite, came back to his senses and waved his hand and said;" Lead the way, then let's go first. ”

After saying that, he got into the carriage under the respectful greeting of several Fuso people, and soon left the dock.

Looking at the respectful appearance of the local Fusang people nodding to Fan Peng, the fifth uncle and the children of the Fan family were really eye-opening, it turned out that the old man could also eat in this place called Wa Guo, and he looked highly respected.

This calmed down their originally somewhat frightened and helpless mood when they left their hometown, after all, there were many people on the dock, and they soon became a big talk......

Berlin, Europe

The victory in the Prussian-Danish War in 1864 greatly stimulated the national self-confidence of the German nation, significantly increased the prestige of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire, and became the leader of two inseparable German-speaking countries, attracting the attention of European countries.

In this day and age, the German nation has not yet been united.

In traditional Northwest Europe, there were many large and large states, all of which spoke the same language, German, but were politically, diplomatically, and militarily independent of each other.

The state of mutual independence facilitated the interference of Britain, France, Russia, Sweden and other European powers in the affairs of the German region.

For a long time, this became the biggest obstacle to the German nation's self-reliance, its integrated development, and its pursuit of regional discourse.

The prospects for German reunification have been discussed by German intellectuals for a long time, but by the middle of the 19th century, the problem was still unsolvable in practice.

A unified and powerful German nation-state will inevitably lead to military intervention by France, triggering deep jealousy in England, as well as a chain reaction of the surrounding Nordic powers Sweden and Tsarist Russia in the east.

The complex situation in Europe affects the whole body.

The greatest obstacle to the unification of the German nation in the Kingdom of Prussia was the German-speaking Austrian Empire.

When two strong fight, one will be injured.

The Talenberg barracks outside Berlin

Located 47 kilometers southeast of Berlin on the banks of the River Spree, this vast military camp is surrounded by a large area of dense forests, with a total of 17 large military barracks scattered over a military area of more than 110 square kilometers.

About 265,000 elite troops gathered here, accounting for about 40% of the 640,000 troops of the entire Prussian Empire, and all of them were the main field corps, implementing fully closed military training.

On the periphery of the road leading to the Talundberg barracks, a large number of Prussian police posts were placed on 24-hour alert, and no one was allowed to pass through without a military warrant.

Internally, armed patrols are dispatched by the military, combined with fixed sentry patrols, to arrest all suspicious persons who appear in military restricted areas.

Given its sensitivity to the military preparations of the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia did everything it could to block information.

The 1st and 2nd Prussian Corps, the 5th and 6th Cuirassier Divisions of the Kingdom of Prussia, as well as part of the 2nd Bavarian Army, were trained in the Tallundberg barracks, and most of them belonged to the traditional Junker military aristocracy.

Talenberg is a city with a population of about 30,000 people, a railway passes through here, has become a supply line to maintain the daily military resources of the army, every day there are 3~4 trains full of supplies arrived, all kinds of materials on the railway station yard piled up into a mountain.

Among the 7 main armies and two heavy cavalry divisions trained in Talunberg, the 2nd Army Corps was the most powerful and powerful;

The Second Army was the main force of the army of the Kingdom of Prussia, with a total of 127,000 men in four armies, namely the Janissaries, the Second Army, the Ninth Army, the Twelfth Army and the Fifth Division of the Royal Cuirassiers.

The commander of the corps was His Royal Highness Prince Frederick Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia, and the commander of the royal guard under his command was Prince Auguste of Württemberg, the commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General James Kahn, and the commander of the Ninth Army, Major General Manstein, all experienced generals from the Tang Empire.

The commander of the Twelfth Army was Duke Albert, Crown Prince of Saxony, who was King Wilhelm's closest confidant.

Through all of the above-mentioned initiatives

King Wilhelm wrested a decisive military command from the traditional German Junker military aristocracy, especially the Second Army, which was firmly controlled by the Prussian royal family, which greatly enhanced the monarch's right to speak.

The commander of the First Army was Prince Frederick Karl, the nephew of King William, known as the "Prince of Blood", a Junker military nobleman with rich combat experience.

And to do all this, it is inseparable from the careful planning of the iron-blooded prime minister Bismarck.

A European-style mansion in Talundberg was brightly lit, and the middle and high-ranking generals from the Second Army were attending a grand reception, which was a common way for His Royal Highness Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Nicholas Karl to get close to his men.

"Cheers, dear generals, you have trained your soldiers very well, and His Majesty would like to express his gratitude to them through me...... Cheers to German unity! His Royal Highness raised his glass.

Standing beside His Royal Highness was his wife, Princess Victoria-Louise, the eldest princess of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of the United Kingdom.

"Cheers, may the glory of victory always shine on Your Highness and the noble princess."

"Cheers, for the unification of Germany."

"Cheers, for victory."

More than 30 generals raised their glasses, their faces revealing a look of ardent expectation, and the unification of the German nation was not only the wish of the Prussian royal family, but also the common wish of all Junker military nobles.

This common goal brought everyone together, including Lieutenant General James Kahn and Major General Manstein in the crowd.

They were also once part of the Junker military aristocracy, with a hot Guglu-Saxon martial spirit in their veins, eager to see a unified and powerful German nation-state rise to prominence, rather than the scattered sands in front of them.

One is prosperous, and one is lost.