The Rise of the Empire

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, an urgent telegram from Hipper!" Just as Ruprecht and the Kaiser were preparing to have dinner with representatives from Austria-Hungary, Tirpitz's arrival surprised everyone. \u003c/p\u003e"General House is the representative of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. We have nothing to hide from our allies." Looking at the Minister of the Navy who hesitated to speak, William II said displeased. \u003c/p\u003e"Your Majesty, Colonel Hipper's fleet encountered the French Navy when it landed near Cabinda, and then there was an exchange of fire between the two sides..."\u003c/p\u003e The wine glass was thrown heavily on the table. The bright red wine spilled all over the table. "These hateful Frenchmen! How dare they come! What was the result of the battle?"\u003c/p\u003e"Under the command of Colonel Hipper, the Marquis Bismarck and Hamburg successfully destroyed the French battleships Charlemagne, The first-class cruiser Ryan Ryder and the second-class cruiser Descartes. Our fleet has not lost much, as long as we can get ammunition replenishment, we can quickly restore combat effectiveness." Tirpitz replied. \u003c/p\u003e"Hiss..." This matter is a bit big! Although the Kaiser hated the French very much, he did not expect that the German navy's attack was too sharp this time! At first, I thought that the two sides fired two cannons at most. Who knew that Hipper actually killed the three French warships cleanly and neatly! It also includes the future flagship of the French Atlantic Fleet - Charlemagne! \u003c/p\u003e"Prince Ruprecht, I suddenly find that the battleship is too powerful and sometimes it is a very annoying thing..." The Kaiser looked at the prince next to him with some embarrassment. \u003c/p\u003e"Hippel is not a reckless person, the winner should not be blamed, Tirpitz, tell the whole process of this matter in detail." The prince said calmly, as if talking about Not an incident enough to cause an uproar, but how about dinner tonight. \u003c/p\u003e It took Tirpitz about half an hour to finally explain the whole thing clearly. In short, this thing was facilitated by various unexpected conditions. The French strayed into the minefield, was bombed, and then the highly nervous French made a misjudgment, and then the two sides played against each other, and the French lost in minutes... \u003c/p\u003e"Major General House, I'm very sorry. We need to talk about related matters tomorrow, but we still hope that you can keep this secret, because this matter is too related." After receiving the Kaiser's hint, Lu Precht said to Rear Admiral House, the representative of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. And the latter has not yet recovered from the shocking news... But then, he expressed his willingness to follow the arrangements of the German government. \u003c/p\u003e "Let Kalipme and Schlieffen come here immediately. And Marquis Bismarck, I need to hear his opinion. Tirpitz, you can go out for a while." After a while, the Kaiser ordered. \u003c/p\u003e "This matter is beyond our original plan. We only intend to target Portugal, but we are not ready to go to war with France. After this incident broke out, let us ride a tiger! And how do you plan to solve this problem ?” The Kaiser said very dissatisfied. \u003c/p\u003e"We are not prepared, and the French are not ready, and the French will fight us for the Portuguese? This is impossible. The most important thing is that we won the battle, and it was easy and heavy The French fleet! This makes the French even more wary. As long as we don't make any drastic moves, the French will not take any action in a short time." The prince said. \u003c/p\u003e"For this operation, I almost bet everything on me. I hope that I can finish this road, whether the result is a brilliant victory or an abyss of failure,

I hope you will support me until the last moment. "The prince leaned forward and said.\u003c/p\u003e"Do we need to make some preparations? For example, the Army transferred some troops to the border? "In the face of the request of his good friend and most capable assistant, the Kaiser couldn't make a temporary decision to change generals at this time. On the one hand, the situation did not allow it, and on the other hand, after Bismarck's successive appointments, He couldn't find anyone who could lead the overall situation for a while.\u003c/p\u003e"The army doesn't need to make too many preparations. The terrain of the Alsace-Lorraine area is not conducive to attacking fortifications, and we can defend with a small force. On the northern line, we don't have many borders with France, separated by Belgium and the Netherlands. The French dare not attack us across these two countries. And even if we fight, we are not afraid. The prince paused and continued.\u003c/p\u003e "We need to do two things now. First, send a signal to France through a third country, expressing that the two sides are willing to talk about certain issues. I think the French should also know that this was an accident, and the result of this accident made France lose face, and they will not speak up about it. "\u003c/p\u003e "Second, if France has the support of other countries, then we have to prepare for deterrence. On the one hand, we have to inform the Austro-Hungarian Empire of this matter and obtain their diplomatic support At the same time, the guild fleet must be ready for battle. The French will not take more than a week to deal with this matter. I hope that the entire fleet will be ready for battle within 5 days! "\u003c/p\u003e "You want to go to war with the French?" "William II said in surprise.\u003c/p\u003e"No, our first goal is Portugal. We need to drive the fleet outside Lisbon like the British did in 1891, and use naval guns to force the opponent to submit! "The prince said resolutely!\u003c/p\u003e"Our main opponent is France. As long as France surrenders, Portugal has no chance to resist! "William II said with some puzzlement.\u003c/p\u003e"No, we have to confirm one thing now, that is, the conflict between us and France was completely accidental and can be resolved through negotiations, and the root cause of this matter is It lies in the war between Germany and Portugal. If we can force Portugal to admit defeat as soon as possible, then all problems will be solved. This is fundamental, and if we solve this problem, we will have an advantage in terms of momentum. "\u003c/p\u003e "Conversely, if we target France, it will cause the intervention of Britain and Russia. They can allow a small country to be bullied, but they will never allow the fundamentals of Europe to be shaken!" As long as our fleet reaches the waters off Lisbon, Portugal will surrender within three days! And France has no reason to confront us, after all, this is an accident! No one would go to war with a big country over a misunderstanding. "The prince said very firmly.\u003c/p\u003e"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, the Prime Minister of the Empire and the Chief of the Army General Staff have arrived, and the Marquis Bismarck will return in half an hour. "The announcement outside the door temporarily terminated the conversation between the two parties.\u003c/p\u003e "Let's go see them first and listen to their opinions. "The Kaiser said. \u003c/p\u003eThanks to the book friends Kaixiongjun\u003c/a\u003e~~~, and the book friends Xiao 3, jhonnyridden, hotbed, invincible Garfield, layer does not want to leave\u003c/a\u003e for their support~~~! The third one is here~~~! Please subscribe and support~~~!\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e