Conquering the world from the Kaiser's driver

Of course, Lin Shangzhou knew the most direct, simple and effective method - military exercises.

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Chapter 265 Extra: After Becoming the Minister of Economy

Snapped.

A crisp sound was heard, and the orange-yellow light instantly illuminated the entire room. The portrait of Napoleon hanging on the wall on one side of the room added a bit of color under the light.

The eyes of the French Emperor in the painting seemed to be spiritual. When the lights came on, he was staring at the man who was about to step into the room, the man whose status had undergone a tremendous change today, the man who had jumped from an ordinary member of parliament to the German Minister of Economy - Louis Bonaparte.

When Louis stepped into the room, he seemed to feel the strange gaze from the person in the painting, so he looked up at the portrait of Napoleon on the wall. At this time, the portrait of Napoleon seemed to realize that he was just a lifeless portrait and no longer looked at the man entering the room. Although he still met Louis' eyes because of the angle, there was no life in his eyes.

Looking at the portrait of Napoleon, Louis scratched his head in confusion. He didn't know whether it was a psychological effect or his great ancestor really possessed the portrait and observed his actions. He had had the same feeling many times in the past - he felt like he was being stared at by a portrait after entering the door.

But now that the strange looks had disappeared, Louis didn't think too much about it. He took off his coat and hung it on the hanger, then walked straight to the phonograph on the other side. He skillfully took out a record from the drawer and put it on the phonograph, but after putting the record on, Louis didn't rush to start the phonograph.

He was hesitating.

Ten seconds later, Louis, who had not started the phonograph, came to the sofa next to the balcony with his lips pursed. He looked at the night sky outside the window and sat back on the sofa. After sitting down, he opened his mouth and let out a long breath.

On the small round table next to the sofa was a bottle of his favorite brandy and a matching wine glass. After sitting down, he opened the bottle and poured himself half a glass of brandy, then shook the glass and took a sip.

After drinking half a glass of brandy, Louis began to think about what happened today.

What important things happened today?

The Social Democratic Party became the ruling party? His good friend Lin Shangzhou was appointed by the emperor as prime minister?

These are major events that affect the whole of Germany, and even have a certain impact on the world, but they are not overly important to him.

It was foreseeable that the Social Democratic Party would become the ruling party, and there was no doubt that Lin Shangzhou would become the prime minister. After all, without him, the emperor would not support the Social Democratic Party. For the emperor, Lin Shangzhou was the person she trusted and was closest to the most in the Social Democratic Party. Anyone who knew about this matter would not have any doubts about the emperor's appointment of him as prime minister.

The most important thing for Louis was Lin Shangzhou's appointment of him as Minister of Economy.

Even now, when he thought of Lin Shangzhou appointing him as the Minister of Economy, Louis still felt a little dissatisfied. In the past, they had not discussed the appointment of officials much, but just had a few simple chats. Louis originally thought that based on the past agreement with Lin Shangzhou, he would appoint him as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but what he did not expect was that he was appointed as the Minister of Economy.

However, he also knew that his expectations were only unilateral, and Lin Shangzhou had not made any guarantees to him about appointing him as a diplomatic official, so his dissatisfaction was only temporary.

Louis frowned and poured himself another half glass of brandy. He was not troubled by the trivial dissatisfaction. That little dissatisfaction would not affect anything and would dissipate on its own with time. What troubled him was his current identity - Minister of Economy.

"Minister of Economy... In France, he would be the Minister of Economy..."

Taking a sip of the wine in the glass, Louis looked up at the bright moon and said softly.

In the past, he was just an ordinary member of the Imperial Parliament who would not have any impact on the parliament and the country. At that time, he had the fantasy of returning Alsace Lorraine to France. Although this was impossible in any case, fantasy should always be a little more whimsical.

That was why he made that extremely childish agreement with Lin Shangzhou. Fortunately, the attack only occurred that one time, and not long after that he realized what he had done wrong and made timely corrections.

In the past, he was also a true spiritual Frenchman. He hung an inappropriate map of Germany and France at home, collected insulting German divine comedies, hung portraits of Napoleon, and had unrealistic fantasies... Of course, Louis did not show this tendency in front of people other than Lin Shangzhou, otherwise he would not be drinking here now but spending the rest of his life in prison.

But now everything has changed.

He is no longer an ordinary and insignificant member of parliament, but the Minister of Economics of the German Empire, and most of the SPD's future economic policies will be in his hands.

The prime minister's words changed everything that Louis had to face, and also made him a little distressed. In the past, he was able to master the law because his identity was not important at all, but now it is no longer possible. The identity of the Minister of Economy prevents him from mastering the law with peace of mind as before.

Because that would be a betrayal of the trust that Lin Shangzhou and the Social Democratic Party had in him, and would also be a betrayal of the people who had pushed the Social Democratic Party to power.

Thinking of this, Louis poured himself a glass of brandy, and then drank it all in one gulp to comfort the distress in his heart.

After finishing a glass of wine, Louis closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, thinking about the past.

As a native of Alsace-Lorraine, he knew the situation in this province very well. There were many Francophiles like him and even real French people in this land, but now they are collectively called "Germans".

The education he received since childhood was also "French patriotic education", and the reason for this was the surname "Bonaparte". But whenever he asked his father and grandfather whether he was the nephew of the great French emperor and the descendant of the not-so-great French emperor Napoleon III, his grandfather and father always hesitated and could not answer.

Louis didn't care too much in the past, and now he couldn't be sure whether he was a member of the Napoleon family. Was his family's surname Napoleon just to flatter himself? Or was his grandfather ashamed to say the name of Napoleon III's illegitimate son?

But now these things are no longer important because he has become an important official in Germany.

After closing his eyes and meditating for a few minutes, Louis opened his eyes and stood up to face the portrait of Napoleon on the other wall.

He looked into the eyes of Napoleon in the portrait, at the French emperor whom he admired so much. His mind was filled with thoughts. After more than ten seconds, Louis sighed and walked slowly towards the portrait of Napoleon.

"Do your job well..."

As the voice said this, Louis stopped in front of the portrait. He stretched out his hand to hold the frame, and said sadly to Napoleon who was so close to him: "When I chose to go into politics, it was destined to happen now..."

After saying this, he took down Napoleon's portrait. Napoleon's expression did not change at all when the portrait was taken down.

Louis looked at the portrait in his hand with a complicated expression. After standing there for a while, he turned around and prepared to put the portrait in the utility room. At this moment, cheerful singing suddenly came to his ears.

"Ah! ?a ira, ?a ira, ?a ira!"

Hearing the singing, Louis suddenly turned his head to look at the phonograph. For some reason, it suddenly started up even though it should have been silent.

"Le peuple en ce jour sans cesse répète,"

Louis was very confused, he didn't understand why the phonograph started by itself, and he was very familiar with the song it played. The cheerful tone and melody made his mood gradually improve. Looking down at the portrait of Napoleon, Louis' mouth curled up to reveal a faint smile.

"Ah, everything will be fine, everything will be fine, everything will be fine..."

He hummed the cheerful tune played by the phonograph and walked slowly towards the utility room. After putting the portrait in the utility room, Louis returned to the living room, took out a bottle of brandy from the cupboard, poured himself a glass of wine, and then sat comfortably on the sofa. As the song played, he raised his head and looked at the ceiling above his head.

He soon realized that something was missing from his side.

"Should I find a girlfriend?"

In the following time until bedtime, Louis Bonaparte drank and imagined what his future lover would look like.

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Chapter 266 A Suitable Solution

Military exercises.

This was one of the simplest, most direct and most effective ways that Lin Shangzhou could think of to change the opinions of the German military top brass. The other way was war.

After learning lessons from the war, the German generals will naturally change their ideas and attitudes. However, Lin Shangzhou knows that it is almost impossible to wake up the German generals with war now, because according to the setting of kx, Germany will not have any war to fight until Black Monday in 36, and the earliest war will not occur until after Black Monday.

Thinking of this, Lin Shangzhou suddenly felt a sense of boredom. What does a tightrope player want to do? Isn't it just war? The focus of tightrope is war, and now he has to face a long period of farming for several years. It is normal to feel a little disappointed.

Lin Shangzhou also realized that this was not a game. If necessary, he was not unable to fight a battle with the Commune, but doing so would reduce the Kaiser's favorability towards him, would erode the people's trust in the SPD, would cause opinions about him within the SPD, and would make the German Social Democratic Party notorious in the world.

(This kind of thinking is not okay...)

Realizing that there was something wrong with his thinking, he immediately threw away the idea in his mind. Games are games, and reality is reality. Although the casualties he would see in the future would only be numbers on paper, games were purely numbers, while reality represented the fragmentation of countless families.

Lin Shangzhou is not afraid of fighting, but if the war is started because he wants to fight, then forget it.

Therefore, the only feasible method now is military exercises.

An effective military exercise may not necessarily change the views of senior German generals all at once, but it will definitely have an impact on them, and it will also be much easier to change the theory of war in the future.

From a timing perspective, Lin Shangzhou believes that the sooner this exercise is held, the better. The research and development of military concepts and military equipment are interrelated. The sooner the military concept is changed, the sooner the focus of Germany's armaments can be changed.

Albert quietly looked at Lin Shangzhou who was lost in thought. Before asking this question, Albert already had the corresponding answer in his mind. He wanted to see how the young prime minister would answer him.

Lin Shangzhou's thinking did not last too long. After a few seconds, he looked up and said to Albert: "Mr. Albert, I think a military exercise can have an impact on the thinking of the military leaders. Of course, I don't think that an exercise can make the military leaders recognize our ideas, but I believe it will definitely have an impact on them."

"Oh?"

Albert raised his eyebrows. The answer "military exercise" was within his range of answers and was his favorite. The correct answer made him like Lin Shangzhou even more, so he immediately changed the subject and asked sharply like a teacher asking a student:

"So who do you think should be on both sides of the military exercise, Fritz?"

"Both sides of the military exercise..."

Hearing Albert's question, Lin Shangzhou lowered his eyebrows and thought for a second before answering: "Because the purpose of the military exercise is to prove to the military leaders that tanks, as an armored force, should be used more for offensive breakthroughs rather than defensive defenses, so the defenders of this military exercise are naturally the people on the side of the military leaders, and the attackers..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually became quieter. Seeing that Lin Shangzhou stopped talking, Albert deliberately asked, "Then what? Who should be the attacker?"

"The attacker..."

Lin Shangzhou hesitated, not knowing how to answer. His brain was working rapidly, trying to think of a suitable attacker, but no matter how hard he thought, he could not think of a suitable attacker.

Because of the purpose of the exercise, the attacking side's armored forces must focus on breakthroughs, while the German army's current mainstream thinking is defense. They will definitely be able to find generals who focus on breakthroughs, but it is not certain whether the other side is willing to help Lin Shangzhou.

The term of office of the chancellor is only five years, while the term of office of the general and marshal is for life. The German veterans are at the age of being strong and healthy. It is obviously irrational for the lower-level officers to offend them for the sake of the chancellor.

Moreover, it takes time for the troops to apply new theories, and it also takes time to train a group of troops to apply new theories. More importantly, there is the issue of equipment.

From Albert's answer, we can infer that the mobility of Germany's main tanks at this stage is not very high, and what tanks need for breakthroughs is mobility. Armor and artillery may not be so outstanding, but mobility must be able to soar, otherwise the tank's biggest advantage will be lost.

In this case, he needs to ask German tank developers to modify or manufacture a batch of new medium and light tanks. This is the thing that Lin Shangzhou is least worried about. However, this also takes time to complete.

The time cannot be delayed too long. The exercise must be conducted before 36 at the latest. There are a lot of things waiting for him to do in 36. If the exercise is conducted in 37 or 38, it will be too late. The Third International and Moscow have begun to increase their troops, so they only start to adjust their armaments... It is a bit too late.

The most difficult problem to solve is the selection of the attacking general. He himself has almost no prestige in the army, and Lin Shangzhou himself is well aware of this.

Go directly to Guderian and others?

An idea popped up in his mind: he could look for them, but he was not sure whether they would listen to him after he found them. This was the most important point.

(I can’t just go into battle on my own, can I?)

As Lin Shangzhou was thinking, a very bizarre idea popped up in his mind. He was shocked when the idea came up, but after thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem so unreasonable.

It was he who proposed the exercise. As a challenger to the conservative German generals, he had to take the initiative to do something. It would be inappropriate to throw everything to the generals he found. At the very least, he himself had to appear in the attacking side's base camp on the exercise field and act as a commander or something like that.

Thinking of this, Lin Shangzhou's heart gradually became hot. Sitting in the command center and commanding the army to control the battle situation was very attractive to him. Of course, he knew his own weight, so the so-called "commander" was just a false title. He just wanted to show the military how much he valued this exercise.

He will hand over all specific matters on the training ground to the corresponding officers. He is not Jiang Guangtou, and he will not do any micro-management.

Lin Shangzhou raised his head and looked at Albert and said, "First of all, I am the most important commander on the attacking side. After all, I will be the one who proposes the exercise to the military. How can I not pay attention to it? As for the other officers, I will find a way to deal with it myself."

After hearing what Lin Shangzhou said, Albert's expression became strange, and then he laughed and clapped his hands and said, "Good, good, good! You kid~"

The sudden laughter startled Bode who was in a daze. Ever since Lin Shangzhou and Albert started talking about the Prime Minister's personal bodyguard, he had been lost in imagination about the future. Although he was a friend of Lin Shangzhou, Bode knew that there were certain words that he could not listen to. And because the Prime Minister would occasionally give him some tricks, he could not accurately distinguish what he could know and what he could not know. Therefore, he would choose to be in a daze whenever he could confirm that he was completely safe and there was no danger.

Instead of listening to the prime minister talking to others, it is better to think about other things.

Albert laughed happily, which made Lin Shangzhou a little at a loss. What happened to the former prime minister?

"Fritts, if I'm not mistaken, you haven't received any systematic military training, right?"

Hearing Albert's question, Lin Shangzhou nodded nervously. He didn't know what Albert was thinking. Was he supporting him? Or against him? Or was he just having fun?

After his guess was confirmed, Albert's smile grew wider. He seemed to be talking to himself, "Haha... a young man who has never even attended a military academy is the commander. If we win the exercise, I don't know how exciting the expressions on those old guys' faces will be. Hahahaha!"

Bode, who was standing by, was stunned when he heard this. Military exercise? What military exercise? From these words, he deduced that the military exercise seemed to be carried out by the young prime minister beside him. After deducing this, he was even more confused. Lin Shangzhou was going to be the commander? !

Bode suppressed his shock and looked at Lin Shangzhou calmly. He couldn't understand why they were here to learn about the development of the armored forces. Why did they end up talking about military exercises? And the prime minister was the commander?

Oh my God, Your Majesty, please come and take care of your Prime Minister!

Ten seconds later, the smile on Albert's face gradually disappeared, but it was only the laughter that disappeared. He still had a satisfied smile on his face. He looked at Lin Shangzhou with satisfied eyes, his face was kind, and then he said: "Don't worry too much about the attacking officers in the military exercise. I will help you. Although I have left the army for several years, I still have some influence. Moreover, I also know and briefly trained some officers who have the same ideas as me. They should be able to help you."

Albert's words made Lin Shangzhou's pupils tremble. What he needed now was Albert's help, and he got Albert's help by accident.

"Then I would like to thank you, Mr. Albert. Thank you so much!"

Without saying a word, Lin Shangzhou sincerely expressed his gratitude to Albert. Albert just smiled faintly in response. He was very satisfied with the young man in front of him. He chose to help Lin Shangzhou not only because a commander who had not received systematic military training would be a slap in the face of the military top brass if he won the exercise, but more importantly, Lin Shangzhou's answer was something he had not expected.

He thought about asking Lin Shangzhou to find someone from the army, or to ask Volbeck or himself for help, but he didn't expect this guy to directly propose to go into battle himself. Of course, Albert knew that even if Lin Shangzhou went there in person, he would not really command the battle but would leave things to his officers. However, this attitude already satisfied him. He liked people who would do things personally.

Bode, who was standing by, could no longer suppress his shock. He stared at the prime minister and the former prime minister in front of him with wide eyes in disbelief. He was just stunned for a while. How could things develop to this point? !

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Chapter 267: The Development of the German Mobile Forces (Part )

The atmosphere in the room became cheerful as Lin Shangzhou and Albert reached a consensus. The cheerful atmosphere made the shocked Bode seem out of place. He quickly noticed this and calmed himself down before the smile on Albert's face disappeared.

Bode, whose emotions had stabilized a little, looked at Lin Shangzhou and Albert out of the corner of his eyes, but if you look closely, you can find that his expression is a little like a clam but not a clam.

(After leaving Mr. Albert, I'd better give Mr. Hipper some advice...)

Bode didn't know why Lin Shangzhou suddenly wanted to command a military exercise. He only knew that the prime minister next to him had not received any systematic military education. He believed that Lin Shangzhou had his own ideas, but as a soldier, he also knew that military exercises were no joke.

With this thought in mind, Bode retracted his gaze and planned in his mind how to persuade Lin Shangzhou next.

Lin Shangzhou, who was sitting on the sofa, felt his excitement fade away quickly as the smile on Albert's face disappeared. Games are games, reality is reality, and he knows his own weight. Now that the excitement in his heart has passed, all that is left in his heart is pressure.

Looking at Albert's calm face, Lin Shangzhou secretly clenched his fists. Now that the matter has been finalized, it will do him no good to go back on his word. He doesn't want to lose Albert's support so quickly.

(There is still time, so cram for the exam during this period~)