The bright sunshine reflects the blue sea, which has a unique flavor.

On a sunny day, there was also a quick extra money that was about to arrive, and Colonel Richard was in a particularly good mood.

With years of experience, he had already discovered that there was a problem with the ship in front of him, and tried to chase it, and sure enough, it was revealed.

Ordinary merchant ships will also stay away from the Royal Navy when they see them on the high seas, but no matter how far they go, they will not dump their goods in the sea in order to escape.

Although the Royal Navy has a history of visiting pirates, it is all in the past, and it has converged a lot in recent years.

Even if it's a robbery, it's going to be disguised. When the naval flag is hung, the most it can do is extort a protection fee.

If you have a relationship background, you can also get a discount for climbing relationships. As long as the money is in place, it doesn't hurt if it's smuggling.

The performance of the Fulda is undoubtedly telling them that there are no three hundred taels of silver here, such a foolish is rare, and Colonel Richard will naturally not let it go.

The officer in charge of the flag said excitedly: "Colonel, we met Vittorio Emanuele III, right in front of the warship, he has already identified himself. ”

In order to capture Vittorio Emanuele III, who ran away, the London government was ruthless, and the Royal Navy almost poured out.

It can't be said about capture, after all, a king, John Bull also has to pay attention to international influence, so the task of the Royal Navy is to invite people back.

Hearing the good news, Colonel Richard was overjoyed. You must know that in order to stimulate everyone's enthusiasm, there are heavy rewards in China.

As long as Vittorio Emanuele III can be invited back, not only will there be a generous bonus, but it will also be able to move up one level.

Richard is already a colonel, and if he goes any further, he will cross the threshold of the general. It seems that there is only a thin line of separation, but in fact this is the difference between the abyss.

There are a lot of colonels and officers in the Royal Navy, and there are not one in ten who can really cross the general's threshold. There is no way, this is an era of peace, and it is naturally difficult to be promoted without the bonus of military merit.

"Then what are you waiting for, let them stop the ship at once and ask Vittorio Emanuele III to come over."

The word "please" Colonel Richard bit very hard. No matter how down-and-out the king is, he is also a king, and he must be respected enough.

There is no way, the relationship between the European royal families is very chaotic, there are relatives everywhere when they go out, and the connections of any royal family should not be underestimated.

The young officer's face suddenly turned ugly, and he replied with a headache: "We have sent an invitation, but Vittorio Emanuele III will not agree.

And warned us not to follow, or we will be responsible for any accidents that happen along the way. ”

In the end, he still reacted, and the young officer decisively chose to avoid the important and did not directly say the threatening words of Vittorio Emanuele III.

Colonel Richard was directly dumbfounded, he never expected that Vittorio Emanuele III would be so uncooperative.

It is impossible to threaten to open fire, in case of bad luck to send Vittorio Emanuele III to God, no one will bear this charge.

Glaring at the young officer, Colonel Richard reprimanded: "If he refuses, you won't persuade him!" ”

That's right, it's persuasion, no matter how down, for the vast majority of ordinary people, Vittorio Emanuele III is a big shot.

Seeing the young officer's confused face, Richard continued: "Fool, Vittorio Emanuele III we can't move, can't you find a way to coerce and lure the others on board?"

Command them to speed up and put pressure on them......"

……

Facts have proved that the flag language is still not perfect, at least when it comes to expressing threats, the deterrent effect is not strong enough.

After confirming that the British did not dare to open fire, the people on the Fulda quickly recovered, of course, they were still a little excited.

As soon as Vittorio Emanuele III Chrysostom opened, everyone was a nobleman, provided that the king of Sardinia could successfully restore the country.

Everyone who begs for a living at sea knows that wealth must be sought in danger. Captain Petra also appropriately exaggerated the success rate, telling everyone that the French army was at a disadvantage on the battlefield.

In order to save the defeat of the French, the vile and shameless British government seized Vittorio Emanuele III.

There is nothing wrong with it, it is the vile and shameless British government. Don't look at everyone as British, but there is a difference between Brit and British.

Although it was an improvisational ship, it was impossible for the Austrian embassy not to investigate. The Fulda was able to be selected, naturally, because the crew was all Irish.

If the crew had been the most important Englishman in Britain, it would have been a different story.

The distance between the two sides continued to close, and the atmosphere on board the Fulda began to become tense, and Vittorio Emanuele III had to personally step in to calm the people.

Suddenly, several small black dots appeared on the horizon, and the crew of the observatory reported back: "A fleet of ships has been spotted ahead, and it is heading in our direction." ”

Vittorio Emanuele III breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said: "That's the ship that came to meet us, come over immediately." ”

After speaking, he pretended to be calm and entered the cabin.

The middle-aged man accompanying him couldn't help but remind: "Your Majesty, this time the departure route was chosen by ourselves, even the Austrians didn't know the specific route, and no ship was arranged to pick it up!" ”

After so many years in exile, the Italian independence organization has also been beaten by society, and now it no longer trusts anyone.

Even though he was now an ally of Austria, Vittorio Emanuele III did not accept the escape route arranged by the Austrian embassy, but temporarily changed his route and boarded the Fulda.

Vittorio Emanuele III said slowly: "It doesn't matter whether there is anyone to answer or not, as long as someone knows that I am on the Forda."

Now less than a hundred nautical miles from the Netherlands, and with only two British warships chasing after them, they were not capable of destroying everyone in a fleet.

As soon as they get closer, tell them that there is an honorable king on board the Fulda. The British officers who were chasing after us would let us go as long as they were not stupid. ”

Theoretically, the Royal Navy would not dare to kill the king. But there are accidents in everything, and in this vast sea, the loss of a ship is not a big deal.

Vittorio Emanuele III's ascension to the Fulda was a completely temporary decision, known only to a limited number of people.

And these insiders are all in London, once the British are ruthless and kill people, who can prove that the British did it?

There may be clues, but the problem is that someone has to go down to check it, and it can't be an ordinary person.

The people on board the Fulda were all improvised juniors, and their loyalty simply could not stand the test. It was said earlier that the British did not dare to do anything, and that was to boost morale.

……

On 9 October 1890, Vittorio Emanuele III arrived in the Netherlands under the escort of the Royal Navy.

Colonel Richard, who was in pursuit, was still very politically savvy, and decisively made a change at a critical moment, defining this trip as escorting Vittorio Emanuele III.

As for the unpleasantness that happened halfway, it was all a minor problem. Not to mention that Vittorio Emanuele III had not yet succeeded in restoration, and even if he really became the king of Sardinia, he could not afford to offend the British.

The strength is not as good as others, and he has to eat what he doesn't eat, and even shows that he is happy to eat to prove to the outside world that Anglo-Saxon is friendly.

On the Western Front, after half a month of fighting, the anti-French alliance was already at an absolute disadvantage.

Even if it is fighting on its own soil, in the face of the absolute difference in strength, Belgium is still unable to counterattack.

Austrian reinforcements were still on the way, the German Confederation was slow, the Belgian Luxembourg front was already shaky, and even the Rhineland line was in trouble.

The situation on the battlefield became more and more severe, and Leopold II lost his former spirit.

"The situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for us, when will German and Austrian reinforcements arrive?"

Frankly speaking, the performance of the Belgian army this time was still passable. was able to resist the French attack on the battlefield for half a month with inferior troops, and he had already taken the shot.

Foreign Minister Jull replied: "The main Austrian forces arrived in Baden yesterday afternoon, and the vanguard of them has already arrived in the Rhineland region and is expected to enter our country in five days."

The mobilization of the German Confederation was slower, and at present only the western states had completed their military mobilization, and the eastern states were still in progress.

However, the troops mobilized by the western states did not reach the front line at the first time, and we communicated with the German federal government, and they had no way to deal with these states. ”

The lack of unity of command was a chronic problem of the German Confederation, and without these internal problems, they would have joined the club of the Great Powers long ago.

Leopold II asked suspiciously: "A few days ago, didn't George I say that he would go to the front line to supervise the battle, why is there no movement?" ”

War is both a risk and an opportunity, and George I, who finally ascended to the throne of the emperor, will not give up easily.

In fact, George I's throne was unstable, and in addition to Austria's eyesight, more importantly, his personal monarchical prestige was too low.

This is a problem left over from history, and the German Confederation is a product of a special period, an empire imposed on the German people by European countries such as Britain, France, and Russia.

Naturally, the forcible empire is not satisfactory to everyone, especially for nationalists, and this empire is a disgrace.

Against this backdrop, the small states below will naturally not buy the central government's account.

In order to weaken the authority of the central government and protect its own power, some people even deliberately promote the Hannover traitorous theory.

The newspapers openly proclaimed that the Gotha crown was a reward from the Great Powers for their obstruction of the unification of the German regions.

There was no way, Hanover was limited in strength, unable to subdue this group of small states, and the people did not support the central government, and the German Confederation was in a weak position from the beginning of its establishment.

In order to change this passive situation, two generations of German federal emperors made many efforts, such as: efforts to develop the economy, open up colonies, and merge a series of measures such as the Kingdom of Prussia.

The results are remarkable, and the results can be said to be average. After all, these things cannot satisfy the appetite of nationalists.

In a sense, this war against France was George I's last chance. As long as they have established enough prestige in the war, they will have the strength to fight after the war.

"Your Majesty, the internal problems of the German Confederation are too troublesome. George I wanted to gain prestige in the war, and the support of the Kingdom of Prussia was indispensable.

The problem was that after the lessons of the two Russo-Prussian wars, the Prussian government had gradually become more conservative and unwilling to continue the adventure.

Because of the political changes, the Prussian government is no longer prepared to fulfill the terms they had agreed to.

George I was trying to convince the Prussian government, and from the current situation, there was a good chance that it would fail.

The main thing was that the Austrians would not give him this opportunity, and as soon as the Vienna government intervened, all the efforts made by George I were in vain. ”

Foreign Secretary Jules explained that Leopold II wanted to cry without tears. Whether the German region is unified or not has nothing to do with Belgium.

Whether it is the integrated German Confederation or the unified HRE Empire, for Belgium it is the difference between an elephant and a baby elephant.

Elephants can't be provoked, and baby elephants can't be provoked either, anyway, they are all people with their tails between them, and the final result is the same.

After pondering for a moment, Leopold II said fiercely: "Urge the Viennese government again, and tell them that if there are no more reinforcements, we will surrender...... It's over. ”

Fortunately, Leopold II reacted in time, otherwise he would have made a joke about threatening his allies with "surrender".

……

Although reinforcements did not arrive, the officer corps had already reached the front line one step ahead.

In order to win the final victory, Franz sent Archduke Albrecht directly to the Western Front.

This is also a helpless move, it is not that Austria has no generals, the key is that the Western Front battlefield needs joint command.

There is no doubt that the command of the coalition forces fell into the hands of Austria. Even if the two countries want to fight, they have no confidence.

It is easy to get command, but it is not easy to command a multinational coalition. If you don't have a person of enough weight to be the manager, you can't hold it down.

Archduke Albrecht, who was the loudest speaker in the Austrian army, became the best candidate.

The coalition army was not formed, but the coalition command was born ahead of schedule, and Archduke Albrecht began to perform his duties ahead of schedule.

The situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for the coalition forces, and the Ardennes Forest is about to fail. Putting down the information in his hand, Archduke Albrecht was also a little unable to sit still.

It seems that the current war has little to do with Austria, and it is not the Austrians who die anyway, and no matter how heavy the losses are, it is the business of the allies.

But in reality, that's not the case. Both Belgium and the German Confederation were important forces against France, and now that they had suffered heavy losses, Austria itself would have to resist the heavy task of counterattacking France in the future.

In particular, they still control strategic locations, and once they fall into the hands of the French army, if they want to recapture it, they will inevitably pay a greater price later.