Ennis is a small town on the north bank of the lower Shannon River, just 30 kilometres from Limerick Harbour. Shortly after the Battle www.biquge.info of Limerick began, the German-Irish forces moving south from County Galway captured the area with the support of German warships.

Limerick is near the water, and Natsuki can command operations on a battleship, but with the change of military and political strategy, it is necessary for him to move from behind the scenes to the forefront, and continue to win the hearts and minds of the people with the dazzling light of a hundred battles and the leadership temperament of great wisdom and courage. Previously, German officers had always held the rank of deputy or senior adviser in the Allied Command, but this time, Natsuki himself took command as the commander-in-chief of the German-Irish Allied Command, the German Admiral Wilhelm Grienz who commanded the Allied forces on the south bank of the Shannon River was the chief of staff of the Command, the Irish Unity and the Free Irish Army each had a senior officer as deputy commander-in-chief of the Command, and the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Irish Volunteers, who played the main role in the Irish War of Independence, were excluded. The Galway faction and the Cork faction are only close to a public announcement......

"Your Highness, the British have categorically rejected our request to surrender, and their commander, Admiral Royal Admiral Duke Hill, has said that his troops have no tradition of surrendering. Ho...... This stubborn old nobleman had a bad memory, and more than two months ago, several of his companies had been disarmed and saved by us, and these prisoners of war were still held in Germany, and although they had temporarily lost their freedom, at least their lives were not in danger. ”

After listening to the report of his subordinates, Natsuki's reaction was surprisingly calm. Today, there are nearly 20,000 troops on the south side of Limerick from Galway, and about 20,000 troops on the south attacking Limerick from the south under the command of General Grientz. Among the 40,000 allied forces, the German marines accounted for nearly half, and the British troops stationed in Limerick were only about 8,000 people due to the transfer of troops, and the difference in strength between the two sides was huge, and the two coalition forces had formed an encirclement of Limerick, and the German warships had also entered the waters of the lower reaches of the Shannon River, and two first-class armored cruisers arrived at Clare Bay, and the 210 mm main guns on the ships could directly bombard Limerick Harbor, and surrender or retreat had become an inevitable choice for the British army to avoid annihilation.

After a long time, Natsuki spoke: "Duke Hill and I are also old friends, I once thought that we would fight at sea one day, but I didn't expect that the battle between us would start on land. ”

The entanglement between Natsuki and the Hill family was a sensation back then, although it did not appear in the newspaper media, it was known to everyone in high society, and it was also widely circulated among the people, and the German major who was sent to convey the intention of persuasion to Britain to surrender obviously did not ignore the lace news and gossip of the outside world because of his study of military knowledge. Therefore, when he mentioned Duke Hill before, he was a little contemptuous, but the wording was quite decent, otherwise, he would probably be crowned with a contemptuous title like "old fellow".

"Uh...... Have you seen the Duke himself? Natsuki asked.

The Major replied, "Yes, Your Highness. The Duke of Hill, in addition to looking a little tired, should be in normal physical and mental condition. During the conversation, I deliberately reminded him that the fighting could turn Limerick into ruins and endanger his family, and from his answers, his family should have been moved. ”

Natsuki had known about this for a long time. When the German-Irish forces first approached Limerick, the Duke of Hill sent his family to Dublin, which was later attacked, and the sons of the Hill family had to leave the troubled Irish country and return to their home in the east of England. Thetford was sixty or seventy kilometres from the coast, and there was no need to worry about war unless the Germans landed.

"Alright, Major Koch, you're doing well, go get some rest first! Let us give the British two more days, and if they are interested, they will abandon Limerick and withdraw along the Shannon to the north of Ireland. ”

"I hope so, Your Highness." The Major put on his military cap, saluted Natsuki, and turned to leave.

If Limerick's British retreated voluntarily, Natsuki did not intend to attack while they were away from the line. On the one hand, the ultimate goal of Irish independence was to drive out all British troops, and from Natsuki's current position, there was no need to increase the enmity between Ireland and the British, not to mention that the safe withdrawal of British troops from Limerick could serve as a precedent for other British troops to follow in the future. On the other hand, the Irish and British forces were still fighting fiercely in Dublin, and a two-day delay in attacking Limerick was a politically beneficial decision that did not help the overall strategic situation.

Touching the name of the Hill family again, the memory in Natsuki's heart became restless, especially when he was alone. So, he walked out of his office, through the busy atmosphere of the big operations command room, and out of the small theater that had been temporarily requisitioned.

In Ireland, more than half of the population lives in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and other large cities, especially the capital Dublin, the size and prosperity of the urban area is comparable to the metropolis of the European continent, but in addition to these economically and industrially developed cities, almost all towns still maintain a relatively primitive style, such as Ennis, a town with a population of thousands has been considered a relatively prosperous place. A tributary of the Shannon River, the Fergus River, passes through the town and flows into the Shannon River at a distance of several kilometres. Irrigated by the Fergus River, the land around Ennis is fertile, with flat, open farmland everywhere. Although sowing has not yet begun, it can be seen that it is suitable for sowing various crops such as wheat, potatoes and sugar beets, which is a rare treasure in relatively poor Ireland, and the downstream section of the Shannon River is wide and deep, even in the dry season, large ships with a draft of more than eight meters such as the Scharnhorst-class armored cruiser can still pass unimpeded, these unique natural conditions have created the special status of the Shannon River basin in Ireland.

In front of the theater is a miniature small square, with blue-gray stone bricks, black-painted street lamps, and quaint drinking fountains, full of traces of time. As the sun sets, the sky roars with pleasant roars, light Junkers 3-C seaplanes take off and land on the Fergus River, motorcyclists keep bringing pilots back to headquarters with information they have detected from the air, and patrols with loaded guns turn the calm town into a solemn military zone.

Natsuki dug into his pockets and realized that he had forgotten to bring a cigarette, and he left Lütjans in charge of liaison with the Expeditionary Fleet's flagship, the Elector, and followed him to Ennis, another lieutenant who was dedicated to marine affairs, Second Lieutenant Gosselman.

Not every adjutant can always figure out the commander's thoughts, Natsuki turned his head to look at Gosselman, who didn't smoke much, and asked directly, "Is there any smoke, second lieutenant?" ”

The young Kiel Naval Academy graduate actually pulled out a silver cigarette case from his briefcase, only to see him clumsily open the cigarette case and hand it to Natsuki.

Natsuki was satisfied and took out one from the cigarette case full of cigarettes, although it was not a particularly expensive high-quality item, but it did not make Natsuki feel embarrassed.

The second lieutenant pulled matches out of his briefcase like a robot cat, and this time he didn't look clumsy anymore and helped Natsuki light a cigarette without any problems.

Natsuki took a puff and nodded at Ensign Gosserman, "Thank you!" ”

The second lieutenant hurriedly replied: "You don't have to be polite. ”

"I'm not married yet! Do you have a sweetheart? As soon as the words came out, Xia Shu suddenly wondered how he could pick such a question.

"Yes, Your Highness, I am not married, but I already have a girl I like. If it goes well, I'll propose to her when this battle is over. The lieutenant spoke quickly, as if he had memorized it, without thinking.

"Oh, congratulations in advance." Xia Shu said slowly, "Marriage is a matter of two people, and it is also a matter of two families, and it is not easy to find someone who will accompany you for life." Cherish it! ”

The second lieutenant obviously did not expect that the invincible "Hohenzollern genius" on the battlefield would say such a great truth of life to himself, so he had to reply clumsily: "Yes, Your Highness, it is very rare, and I will cherish it seriously." ”

Natsuki smoked silently and stopped talking. When he was almost done with his cigarette, Colonel Jon Wittman, a cadre of the 2nd Marine Brigade, drove into the small square from the corner in a windy open-top car. Seeing Natsuki standing in front of the theater, he hurriedly signaled the driver to stop in advance, and strode over as soon as he got out of the car.

"Your Highness, I have good news for you, that our troops have captured a British reconnaissance squad north of Limerick in the afternoon, and according to their confessions, the British troops in the city are preparing to retreat, and they have heard from other British officers that the British troops in Ireland are going to retreat to the eastern part of Ireland, with Dublin and Belfast, the nearest to the British Isles, as their last defensive strongholds."

Natsuki said to him calmly, "In the afternoon, the British commander in Limerick refused our persuasion to surrender. ”

"Hah! Then they are indeed determined to retreat along the Shannon River, with their gunboats in the middle and upstream, and by boat they can retreat all the way to Mugarin, which is very close to Dublin, and really want to defend the last two strongholds......" Colonel Wittman said as he thought, and then habitually took out his cigarette case, took out a cigarette, and tapped it lightly on the surface of the river a dozen times.

"Is that okay?" Although Natsuki had been smoking before, the colonel politely asked the other party before lighting it for himself.

Natsuki replied to him, "Feel free, please."

Lighting a cigarette, the Colonel rubbed his forehead with his thumb and asked cautiously, "Are we really just allowing the Irish army to suffer defeat in Dublin?" ”

Of course, Natsuki could not tell his soldiers with great fanfare that the reason why the German army was brought back from all over the place was to make those who did not respect him the king of Ireland suffer, and their regime was weakened by the shock of defeat, and finally collapsed and overthrown by those who supported him.

There are some things that can only be understood but not spoken.

Colonel Wittman may not be unable to figure out Natsuki's intentions, but from a purely military point of view, letting the Irish independence armed forces, which have grown up with great difficulty, sink in a battle will inevitably be detrimental to future combat operations, not to mention that those Irish soldiers who fought for their ideals and beliefs did not make mistakes, and only those who were in power who were lustful for power and did not know what to do should be punished.

"The withdrawal of our troops is a warning to them that the time is not yet ripe to attack Dublin, but are they willing to heed our advice? They feel that they are the masters of this country, and no one is qualified to ask them to do this and that, but they want us to do this and that, is there such a cheap thing in the world? Natsuki hatefully threw out a series of rhetorical questions, which immediately left Colonel Weitman speechless.

(End of chapter)