Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 443 The Entanglement of Germany
After seeing off the sad William II, Guan Xuqing sat speechless for a long time. He was thinking about a question, why did he think that the emperor of the German Empire, who was so powerful back then, would come to this field today? William is not a fatuous monarch. In some respects, especially his political and military toughness and ambition even surpassed himself, but in the end, he was conspired by his subordinates to seize power during the most powerful period of the empire. The reason may not be William's carelessness and whim Den Burg's insidious cunning can explain.Now, Guan Xuqing couldn't help being very interested in this Hindenburg.

"My minister knocks on the emperor." Feng Xianghua's voice woke Guan Xuqing from his contemplation.

"Xianghua, you came just in time, I have something to discuss with you."

"Your Majesty, the Kaiser and General Hindenburg must have left. I am busy receiving military officials from various countries, so I am late. I hope the Emperor will forgive me."

Guan Xuqing waved his hand and asked directly, "How much do you know about Hindenburg?"

Feng Xianghua was taken aback for a moment, wondering why the emperor suddenly became interested in him, so he said: "Because I am the commander of both countries' armies, I know this person quite well, why did the emperor suddenly ask him?"

Guan Xuqing told Feng Xianghua exactly what had happened just now without concealing it, and Feng Xianghua was also surprised: "I know that Hindenburg has tolerated the highest commander of the German army, and even sent a congratulatory message, but I don't know that he actually emptied the Kaiser's military power."

"So I want to know more about this person. From my point of view, this person has a certain degree of resourcefulness, but I haven't seen how outstanding his military command ability is, so I feel strange. How can this person How could he reach such a prominent position in such a short period of time?" Guan Xuqing rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully.

Feng Xianghua's eyes lit up: "Your Majesty, it is true that this man is cunning as you said, but he is not yet an excellent commander in terms of military command."

"Oh? What's going on?"

"Just because he has an excellent assistant, and that person is Ludendorff!"

"I've heard of this person a long time ago. Could it be that his command ability is better than Hindenburg's, so why is he always at a disadvantage against Hindenburg?"

"Your Majesty, let me tell you that this matter has to start with the World War." Feng Xianghua began to describe the incident between Hindenburg and Ludendorff in detail.

Hindenburg was in Pomerania when World War broke out.He immediately returned to Hannover, and when he passed through Berlin, he went to the General Staff to ask him to be appointed to command the Fifth Army, but the post of commander of the Fifth Army was already held by the crown prince, so his appointment could not be decided immediately. In early August, there were frequent reports of good news on the German western front, but when the war reached the Marne River, it encountered great difficulties.The poor performance of the Chief of General Staff Prittwitz Jr. and his Chief of Staff Waldsee in this campaign led to their replacement.

Ludendorff was chosen to replace Vadsee as chief of staff of the 8th Army because of his outstanding performance in the early war.Ludendorff is ambitious and sharp, and needs to choose someone who is good at getting along with him as the commander-in-chief so that he can let him go.In this way, Hindenburg, who is easy-going and good at handling things, was selected.

In the early morning of December 12, the touted "a pair of commanders in perfect match" met for the first time at Hannover Station.In the car, Ludendorff reported to Hindenburg the situation of the Eighth Army and some instructions that had been issued.

Hindenburg listened patiently for 15 minutes, said, "I don't have a better idea, so let's do it this way," and went to sleep.Later, he candidly stated that one of his main tasks at that time was to "make the full use of my Chief of Staff's ingenuity, almost superhuman energy, and unrelenting drive, and create the conditions for him if necessary." It can be seen how deep Hindenburg's castle is!
On the afternoon of December 12, Hindenburg and Ludendorff arrived at Marienburg, the headquarters of the Eighth Army.Prior to this, Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman, the staff officer of the 25th Army, had drawn up the details of the plan to encircle and annihilate the French Army Ziz and issued corresponding instructions.The battle started on the 8rd, while Hindenburg and Ludendorff were still traveling. Three days later, Ziz was under heavy siege. On the 8st, the British and French allied forces stationed here were wiped out. This is known as the "Battle of Tannenberg". Two weeks after the Battle of Tannenberg, the German army won the Battle of Masurian Lake and remains here The Russian army was driven out of East Prussia and lost the strategic initiative.However, the German army did not progress smoothly in the Marne River Basin. Due to the defeat of the German army in the first Battle of the Marne River, Little Maoqi was reluctantly dismissed by the Kaiser.In order to counteract its influence, on the night that Moltke was dismissed, the newspaper used a full page to publicize "the victor of Tannenberg". Hindenburg became a well-known "wise commander" overnight. "Hindenburg fever", Berlin took the lead in building the Hindenburg Memorial, many streets and squares were named after Hindenburg, many universities awarded him the title of honorary doctor, and various commodities named after Hindenburg appeared on the market.

The victory at Tannenberg earned Hindenburg the rank of field marshal, and he commanded the entire army at the Battle of the Marne.For this "genius commander" who suddenly turned around, people who know the inside story will certainly not buy his account.Ludendorff, who thought he had excellent military skills and strategies, once wrote in his diary indignantly: "Will a truly capable person also happen to be a marshal?"

After Hindenburg was transferred to the high command, Ludendorff once said to a person who visited the battlefield in a sarcastic tone: "This is where the field marshal slept before the battle, and here is the place where the field marshal slept after the battle. To be honest, This is also the place where the field marshal slept during the battle." This classic comment later became a joke among the German army.Of course, it also planted the seeds of Hindenburg's dissatisfaction with Ludendorff.

Later, Hindenburg's prestige in the German army grew day by day, and he became the highest officer of the German High Command, with Ludendorff as the chief of staff.Nominally, Hindenburg commanded the whole army, but in fact Ludendorff commanded instead of him. Of course, this all depends on Ludendorff's excellent commanding ability.

As their status rose, the conflict between the two began to deepen. Hindenburg became more and more jealous of Ludendorff's military talents, and expressed extreme indignation at Ludendorff's contempt for him from time to time, but Ludendorff certainly did not. would be willing to kowtow at the hands of a military incompetent officer.

Feng Xianghua said: "Actually, the reason why Hindenburg was able to win the Battle of Tannenberg was mainly due to Ludendorff's excellent commanding skills. But because Hindenburg was the highest commander on the front line, all the halos were naturally set. on the head of Hindenburg. Therefore, even if Hindenburg has seized the German military power now, his power is not stable due to the existence of Ludendorff. But both of them are like a beam and a weight. Don't open anyone."

"So, in your opinion, how should we treat the Kaiser's request to seize power?" Guan Xuqing asked.

"Your Majesty, I think that although there is already a rift between Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the strength of the German army is increasing day by day. We can't use our troops to Germany for a refugee William II."

"Okay, I also have the same intention. For the current plan, it is better to wait and see what happens."

"Emperor Shengming."

While the monarch and his ministers were talking, Wu Tingfang, Minister of Foreign Affairs, walked in, and said as soon as he entered the door: "Your Majesty, I have something important to announce to you."

"What's the matter? Tell me."

"I just received the news that Queen Victoria of England has passed away."

"Ah?" Guan Xuqing immediately changed his color, "Is this news accurate?"

"It's true."

Feng Xianghua said happily: "Your Majesty, Victoria is a god in the eyes of the British people. Now that she passes away, the national power of the United Kingdom will definitely drop sharply. This is great news for us."

Guan Xuqing didn't express any opinion, but a fiery light flashed in his eyes inadvertently!

One day ago, on the beautiful Isle of Wight in England, the 81-year-old Queen Victoria stood in front of the huge glass windows of the palace, looking at the blue water in the distance, recalling her turbulent life and dreaming a lot.This is a beautiful and secluded island located in the south of the UK, close to the north shore of the English Channel, separated from the British Isle by the Solent Strait in a diamond shape, where she can forget about any troubles of time and devote herself to loving her late husband Al In the deep thoughts of Prince Burt.

Victoria, who was nearly 18 years old, inherited the throne of the British Empire and opened a new era for Britain.That was the year she married her cousin Albert, and they had nine children.The relationship between the two has become stronger since they got married, but in 1861, Prince Albert died in the queen's middle age. At this time, it was the heyday of the British Empire. It has established absolute prestige.However, the death of her husband made Victoria unhappy. She had left London for a long time to live in seclusion. Even in public, she did not wear a crown, but always wore a widow's attire.Due to Victoria's long-term seclusion, the prime minister was unable to consult the queen for everything, so the power of the prime minister gradually increased, which made the British constitutional monarchy more perfect.

After Queen Victoria lived in isolation for a long time, she became active again. In 1897, the grand celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne greatly improved the prestige of the Queen and the royal family.

By this year, Queen Victoria was in very poor health, but she still insisted on coming to the Isle of Wight because it was her and her late husband Albert's favorite place.Many years ago, on this island, they were surrounded by lovely young daughters.They talk about love, they enjoy the family happiness in the world.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Victoria's lips. She called the royal steward Nantes in a feeble voice, and said to him, "Give me a piece of paper and a pen."

(End of this chapter)