With Hindenburg and Ludendorff in full charge of the High Command, and Kaiser Wilhelm II in Berlin gradually idle, his energies began to shift from fighting on the eastern and western fronts of the Reich to reconciling the contradictions between the High Command and the civilian officials of the Chancellery, and in his own words, he was 'in the middle of two millstones'. Moltke Jr. and Falkingham did not bring an absolute victory to the Empire, but it was the previously inconspicuous Hindenburg that brought surprise and hope to the Empire, and the Russian Army, known as the European steamroller, was defeated one after another under his blows, and the Eastern Front completely occupied Poland, opening up an incomparably vast territory for the Empire.

One morning when the emperor was getting used to his free life, under the leadership of the new Prime Minister Michaelis, Foreign Minister von Ellis. Qulmann has good news.

"Your Majesty, Baron Rutte in China has good news...... "Qulman said cautiously as he looked at the majestic Emperor, "Their army launched an attack on the Russian army in Central Asia the other morning. ”

"Yes, I just heard about it." The emperor was not too happy, "I also heard that in order to extinguish the anger of the British, the Chinese will hand over all the 200,000 Russian troops captured before to Britain and France, which is really a shameless betrayal!" He, the wolf of the Far East, would only play some balancing act, and every time he attacked Russia, he would always do something detrimental to the interests of Germany. I heard that the 200,000 Russian troops are living well, they will be a new force, and once they reach France, they will bring immeasurable casualties on the Western Front! Damn the Chinese! ”

Because it was not far away, the smell of pork in the Emperor's mouth sprayed directly into the faces of Qulman and Michaelis, and after the war, the Empire's livestock production declined very quickly. To compensate for the meat, the imperial government had to slaughter pigs. At the same time, under strict food control, the emperor could only eat pork instead of beef in many cases.

"Your Majesty." The always shrewd Qulman did not want the news that the Supreme Command had reported to the emperor, and his momentum suddenly fell, but he still reluctantly mentioned the first gamble, "The Chinese say that Russia will completely withdraw from the war within this year!" ”

"It can't be!" Although the Russian army was losing and there were mass demonstrations in Petersburg, the emperor was accustomed to this, and his good partner Nikki invested too much in this war and lost too much, especially the Supreme Command's support for the independence of the Kingdom of Poland. It will only keep the Russians alive.

"Yes, Your Majesty, everyone thinks so." "But Young thinks that Russia will definitely go to war, and he is willing to ...... with Baron Rutte for this, and... And His Majesty bets, he said, if Russia does not withdraw from the war this year, then China will always remain neutral. ”

"Is he going to declare war on us?!" Since one side of the bet is always neutral. On the other side, there must be a declaration of war. The Emperor, who had this speculation, stood up suddenly, furious.

The telegram of His Excellency the Baron speculate......d that "in order not to anger the Emperor, Qulmann had to lie," but. Your Majesty, Young's original intention was if Russia really withdrew from the war. Then he concludes that if we choose to attack on the Western Front. It was bound to fail in the winter of 1918, so ......" took a deep breath. Qulmann continued: "Yang believes that once it is determined that China chooses to attack, then China will declare war on China, and in his explanation, this choice will doom China to failure, and by the time the revival army arrives in Europe, the war is basically over, and the Chinese and German armies will not really clash, China will only become a nominal victorious country, and can help our country ...... after the war."

"Germany does not need Chinese mercy!" The emperor was really enraged, it was clear that German victory was in sight after Russia withdrew from the war, but the Chinese regarded Germany as a defeated country and were ready to take advantage of the opportunity, which made the proud emperor unacceptable.

"Your Majesty, perhaps the Chinese's advice should be listened to." Prime Minister Michaelis also said, "Especially, if the situation really develops as Yang judges." Yang wanted to suggest that after Russia withdrew from the war, we should shrink our defensive lines, retire some of our soldiers to strengthen agricultural production, and at the same time build strong fortifications, so that the Allies would suffer heavy casualties due to the attack and finally have to negotiate peace with our country. In his words, this is called keeping to promote peace. ”

"No!" The emperor was angry, he waved his right hand vigorously, and said, "If Russia will withdraw from the war this year, then Germany will win the final victory in the war!" ”

Seeing that the emperor made a statement, Qulman and Michaelis felt uneasy in their hearts. Although the Chinese have other ideas in this suggestion, the idea of promoting peace coincides with theirs, including most of the civilian officials. Of course, they are not exactly the same as the Chinese's suggestion, but think that since Russia will withdraw from the war this year, why not take advantage of the Allied countries' morale to plummet and negotiate peace with Britain, France and the United States.

The Chinese hope that Germany will choose to defend only because they hope that the war will last longer. It is said that the merchant fleet of China and Japan has dominated the Atlantic, and the monthly shipping income is more than a billion marks, and every day the war lasts, the Chinese have tens of millions of marks more in their pockets.

"Your Majesty," said Michaelis, after a brief silence, "if Russia withdraws from the war and the High Command chooses to attack, then once the offensive fails, we will no longer have any strength to defend, and what awaits Germany will be nothing but the humiliation of defeat and a terrible indemnity." We cannot press the country and the people into a battle plan that even the generals who command him may not be sure of, as we did three years ago. Judging from previous experience, the attacking side in a war is always at a disadvantage, once we attack, then the British and French troops can consume all our strength with very few losses, and we must not attack, only defend! ”

After the prime minister finished speaking, Qulman also said: "Your Majesty, the meaning of the Chinese is very clear, after Russia withdraws from the war, if we choose to defend, then we can end the war with dignity through peace talks." The Chinese want us to do that, and Yang promises that China will always remain neutral, but if we choose to attack, it will consume too much force. The end result will only be a complete loss of the war, in the face of this situation. The Chinese do not mind declaring war on us, because without a large-scale war with our army. China can be the nominal victor, that's what Yang wants, and that's his advice to us. ”

"We don't need a single Chinese to point fingers at our war." Although the emperor reluctantly listened to the words of the two important ministers, there was still a lot of anger in his heart.

"However, Your Majesty, the advice given to us by the Chinese in the past has been very useful." Beginning with Bateman, the Imperial Council discussed more and more Chinese advice, and it became more and more important. After Bateman was forced to resign, he looked back at the previous suggestions. In particular, the proposal to ban submarine attacks on cruise ships made Imperial Prime Minister Michaelis more and more in his heart agree with the views of the Chinese.

The emperor was silent, and Querman said again: "Your Majesty, should the Chinese's suggestion be reported to the Supreme Command?" ”

"Well, I'll give this advice to the High Command." The Emperor finally nodded, and then left the conference room.

The German High Command was not in Berlin, but in the small city of Preles in Central Europe, where Upper Silesia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Oder River and the Sudetenland Mountains stretch across the region and are beautiful, but the High Command chose it not because of its beautiful scenery, but because the Austro-Hungarian High Command is near the nearby city of Teschen. During the war, the two commands exchanged views as quickly as possible, although for various reasons the two commands did not merge into one. But such a close distance is enough for both sides to coordinate all kinds of accidents.

Sitting in his office, General Ludendorff watched the telegram from Berlin delivered by the correspondent. He couldn't help but put down his pen and became solemn. With past experience. The advice of the Chinese brought a lot of benefits to Germany, but this time it was really puzzling to predict the situation of the war a year later.

"Is the marshal out there?" Every morning, Supreme Commander Hindenburg would consult with Ludendorff, the de facto head of the High Command, about the changes in the situation and the strategy of coping, after which he would go out into the field for more than an hour, and now that the morning meeting had passed, the marshal should be in the field as usual.

"Yes, General." Captain Baron Ippenburg, the general officer, replied, "Is it necessary to get the marshal back?" ”

"No, you don't." Ludendorff was stunned for a moment, and gently put the telegram down. In his heart, he was not surprised that Russia withdrew from the war, because under his operation, a group of Russian revolutionaries had already passed through the war zone and returned home with tens of millions of rubles. Take the Russian civil strife in 1905 as an example, even if Russia does not withdraw from the war, it will completely lose its offensive ability because of the revolution and civil strife, so the first gamble is not good to bet, Chinese intelligence agencies have long contacted these Russian revolutionaries, but I don't know why the Chinese did not send them to Russia to make trouble.

In the opinion of the great old Marshal Moltke, there were two kinds of staff officers, one was 'lazy and smart' and the other was 'stupid and industrious', and it was clear that Ludendorff belonged to the former. The real judgment of the Chinese is that after Russia withdraws from the war, Germany's only hope is peace rather than victory -- if Germany chooses to make peace, then China remains neutral, and if Germany chooses to attack and pursue victory, then the Chinese, who believe that Germany has no hope of victory, will declare war on Germany in order to become the nominal victorious power, and they conclude that when they arrive at the battlefield, the war is nearing the end and Germany is about to lose.

Although the judgment of the Chinese is arbitrary, Ludendorff, who is in charge of the entire Supreme Command, knows that after the last 'cranberry winter', anti-war sentiment in Germany is accumulating, and if the food supply situation still does not improve, then what happens in Petersburg now, what will happen in Berlin next year.

According to the report of the Imperial Grain Bureau, last year's potato output fell from 54 million tons to 25 million tons, rye from 10 million to 8 million tons, and wheat, the staple food, fell even more sharply, from 4.3 million tons before the war to 2.9 million tons, and the total amount of wheat decreased by 4.2 million tons with the inability to import. Although in the political office von. According to Colonel Baltenwefer's propaganda, the massive reduction in grain production was caused by a 'natural disaster' - it was so cold last winter that it affected the yield of crops, but the real reason for the reduction in agricultural production was that of the 5,440,000 people who had been working in the countryside, two million had left the countryside and went to war;

At the same time, a million horses that had been used for agricultural production were requisitioned because of the needs of the army, which caused the loss of more than a quarter of the animal power in the countryside; Although the amount of ammonium fertilizer on fertilizer has increased, the production of phosphate fertilizer, phosphoric acid, has decreased from 630,000 tons to 320,000 tons, and organic fertilizer has decreased significantly due to the reduction of labor. The overall fertilizer supply is declining sharply;

In the end, the most important thing is that because of the introduction of rationing, the peasants, or rather, the peasants. It was supposed to make the Junkers landlords lose their enthusiasm for farming, although the Germans captured more than a million prisoners of war. But the Junkers did not want their farms to lose money, so they drastically reduced the area under cultivation: potatoes were reduced by almost 1.5 million hectares, or a quarter of the total area; Rye and oats declined by 3.5 million hectares, or three-tenths of the area under cultivation before the war; Wheat also fell by three-tenths.

It is understandable that production is reduced by a lack of manpower, animal power and fertilizer; However, with more than one million prisoners of war and a large number of non-service populations such as women, children and the elderly in rural areas, it is incomprehensible that the area under cultivation will be reduced by one third. Thinking of this, Ludendorff had to envy China for being able to establish peasant associations all over the country, and the orders of the General Staff of the Baath Army could reach every village through the peasant association system, and even if there was a loss of labor, animal power, and fertilizer, the area of rural cultivation would not be reduced as much as Germany is now. The Supreme High Command may be able to learn from the regulatory experience of the Chinese General Staff. After all, the Chinese aristocracy and landlords had been completely abandoned by the government, and in Germany, the establishment of peasant associations that went deep into the villages like in China would inevitably be opposed by the nobles and Junker landlords.

It was precisely because of the difference in land ownership between China and Germany that the Chinese suggested a narrowing of the defensive line and recuperation would not bring real victory to Germany, unless the emperor could forcefully demand that the nobles and Junker landlords of all ranks give up their personal interests and operate at a loss, or as China did. By forcing the government to buy the land at a discounted price and distributing the land to the peasants, the agricultural production was strengthened and the grain production increased, so that Germany could hold out for one to two more years. Eventually, it will be achieved to promote peace, but is this possible?

In addition to the inherent historical issues. After the death of Emperor Joseph last year, the ally Austro-Hungarian succeeded Emperor Karl because of the murder of Duke Ferdinand. Therefore there was no political experience at all, at the instigation of Empress Zeta. He was passing through the Empress's relatives, Sixtus who served in the Belgian army. Feng. The Prince of Parma mediated, hoping to negotiate with the French government in order to quickly withdraw from the war. If a quick victory could not be achieved, then Austria-Hungary, which could no longer endure it, would withdraw from the war alone or civil strife would break out, and Germany would still be destroyed.

In a flash of light, the 'lazy and smart' Ludendorff soon understood what to expect by following the advice of the Chinese. While rejecting the advice of the Chinese, he felt that the Chinese would make this decision because they could not understand Germany and did not understand Germany's allies, but it was gratifying that the Chinese, like him, subconsciously believed that Britain and France, and even the United States, did not have the sincerity of peace talks, and even if Germany withdrew from France, abandoned Belgium, and even handed over Alsace Lorraine to France, it would still be impossible to get a decent peace.

The French would never give up the opportunity to destroy Germany, and England wanted to bring Germany down once and for all, so that Germany could no longer be a threat to her world hegemony. This understanding is much stronger than that of Bateman, the resigned Chancellor of the Reich, and the visionaries within the government and in Congress. Germany's original sin was not because Germany was not benevolent or democratic enough, but because Germany was a mortal threat to these countries, and the only result could be the destruction of Germany.

Peace talks were possible only when the enemy's corpses were piled up higher than the Alps, and there were only two ways to achieve this result: one was to attack, to occupy Paris and encircle and annihilate the main forces of the Entente before the American army arrived; Another way is to follow the advice of the Chinese and use fortifications and anti-tank tactics to promote peace. Judging from the current situation and tactics, the latter method is optimal, but Germany cannot bear it, and neither can Germany's allies.

"I want to see General Grener." Ludendorff, who knew what he was going to do, said to the lieutenant. However, the moment the adjutant went out, he changed his mind again, "I think you should help me get Major Nikolai first." ”

"Yes, General." The adjutant did not know that Ludendorff had changed his mind several times, and after answering, he went.

In response to the war, the intelligence services of various countries were expanded, and within the High Command, the intelligence service was always headed by Major Nikolai, who had about 100 intelligence officers under his command and had a spy network covering almost the entire world.

"General." Walter. Major Nikolai soon appeared in Ludendorff's office.

"You may be seated, Walter." Ludendorff was not polite to the major and began his work in a blunt but efficient Prussian style. "According to reliable intelligence, China will declare war on us next year," he said. ”

"It can't be!" Major Nikolai was taken aback. During the war, the intelligence services of Germany and China cooperated several times. As a result of the immeasurable victory of the German army, such a friend suddenly became an enemy, both emotionally and logically, the major could not accept. "Their new intelligence officer was ...... with me yesterday"

"Major!" Ludendorff was suddenly a little sad, Major Nikolai was completely a strict Prussian officer, but he was now not calm because of the position of the Chinese, which is not what should happen to an intelligence chief. "There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. The Chinese need a war in Europe so that he can recover the lands that had previously been annexed by Russia. And to receive super-profits from the war, but ......"

Ludendorff said that there was a sudden short circuit at this point, and China believed that Germany's initiative to attack would inevitably fail, so it wanted to become a nominal victorious power, not really an enemy of Germany. He understood this very well, but he could not tell Major Nikolai about this judgment of the Chinese, because he was also subconsciously convinced of it. At the beginning of the war, Paris was not taken and the Anglo-French forces were defeated, so after four years of war, the exhausted German army could transfer troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front. Can you really win a complete sexual victory?

General Ludendorff, who has always been accurate and quick in his expression, hesitated this time. After a while, he said: "You don't need to know the reason, you just need to know that one day next year, China will become our enemy." And that can't be changed. He then glanced at Major Nikolai and asked, "Major, do you understand?" ”

"Yes. Sir! Hearing what the general said, the major replied solemnly.

"From now on. Gather all the information related to the Baath Army's invasion of Europe, and spy on or judge their war strategy. Intensify infiltration into the Chinese government and the Baath Army. Ludendorff ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Major Nikolai replied solemnly, taking advantage of the fact that Ludendorff did not give other orders, he said: "Sir, because of the differences in race and language, the intelligence department may not be able to complete this task, and the most important thing is that China's domestic counterintelligence agency is very strong, and the intelligence personnel of various countries can only use the diplomatic attache as a cover to inquire about some information that is not true or false, and the intelligence department is not sure if it wants to really understand the internal plans of the revival army. ”

"It's an order!" Ludendorff repeated.

"Yes, sir!" Major Nikolai replied again.

"Duke William also needs to send someone to keep an eye on him. There is still communication between him and China, and he has to find a way to understand what he and the Chinese are talking about. "In addition, from now on, we must keep an eye on the production and design of the tanks of the British and French, this is the information we need most, and they will use this weapon to break through the trenches." ”

"Understood, sir." Nikolai had previously paid attention to the intelligence of the Entente's tanks, "both the British and the French were improving their tanks, but, apparently, even if they were improved, they were unsuccessful." And although the Chinese sold them several new tanks, they were all pirated, which was not at all the same as China's current tanks. ”

"How do you know?" Ludendorff asked. Because of China's guidance, his concept slowly began to change from the uselessness of the tank to the victory of the tank, and urging the war bureau to speed up the design and production of the tank, as well as paying attention to the intelligence of British and French tanks, is the concrete embodiment of this change.

"Because at the request of Mr. Rutte, both genuine and pirated Chinese tanks were sold to us." Major Nikolai said, "The Chinese have only one demand, that is, after the production of our combat vehicles, they cannot be the same as the Chinese combat vehicles in service, and they are worried about the condemnation of the Entente." ”

"When will the car be delivered to Germany?" China is the first country to use combat vehicles, and being able to get the second-generation prototype of China is very important for the German tank that will be put into trial production soon.

"The merchant ships have already departed, and I want to see them next month." Major Nikolai said that at this point, he still did not think that China would become an enemy of Germany. (To be continued......)