When Xia Shu went to Luxembourg to "please" for the war, the preparations for the three Marine Brigades to participate in the war were in full swing. The Admiralty issued a call order to various ship companies and private owners, and the owners of the ships who urgently requisitioned ferries, mail ships, cargo ships, large and medium-sized barges and fishing boats suitable for cross-sea navigation were also ordered to be prepared to be called at any time. At the same time, fully armed naval soldiers were in Bremen, Hamburg, William,

Lübeck and other ports swayed over the city. The soldiers said they were not sure about the destination of the battle. The only thing that could be confirmed was that the Marines were going to commit to a major battle. On the beach near Lübeck and Wilhelmshaven, the landing exercises of the navy attracted the attention of many residents, while senior naval officers discussed on various occasions whether the landing fleet was safe across the English Channel, whether the northern coast of France was sand or mud.

On the day Xiashu returned to Kiel from Luxembourg, three marine brigades had already completed assembly at the three ports of Danze, Lubeck and William. The 1st Brigade deployed in Danze was the first to board the train, and the army would carry nearly 10,000 soldiers and their combat equipment to Duran, more than 20 kilometers from Amiens. Using the pre-stored parts, the Hubert Chariot Factory rushed to produce 42 Hubert-13s and 6 Hubert-14s within a week. In addition to the part delivered to the army according to the German emperor's will, 30 Hubert-13s were left to the Marine Force. The Navy formed the 1st tank battalion and allocated it to the 1st Land War Brigade to act as an iron drill for land offensive operations.

Soon, news came from the General Staff of the Army that General Huthier himself agreed to serve as the battlefield commander of the Marine Force. The German Emperor appointed him as the commander of the German First Marine Division, the temporary unit of the three Marine Brigades was named "Middle Division", rather than the "Middle Division" mentioned by the three people when they discussed in person.

At this point, Xia Shu had no time to get involved with Xiao Moltke in the number and organization of the land war forces. He sent a telegram to General Huthier, asking him to go directly to Duran to meet him.

A few hours before leaving Kiel, Xia Shu received a letter from a Swedish diplomat. He thought it was a letter from Swedish prince Gustav. He opened the envelope in kraft paper, and his familiar handwriting made his heart pound.

It's Charlotte!

Although the name in the letter is "desired Prince Joachim" rather than "dear Joheng", the tenderness and sweetness of the couple are not visible between the lines. The wording is like a plain official letter. Xia Shu's hands are trembling slightly, and the frequency of blinking is fast and slow, without any regularity. Her handwriting is like a breeze and a clear spring, which cools down the fanatical mood of blood and fire killing. On this quiet night, Xia Shu remembers her handsome face, her mischievous and raised mouth, and the faint fragrance on her body. In this way, the surging tide of the royal genius, who is respected by thousands of people, has a surging sea of ​​thought in the heart of the royal genius, and it is difficult to calm for a long time.

After reading the letter several times, Natsuki finally figured out the meaning of the letter: Charlotte hoped Natsuki to help find out about her father's news in the battle of Jutland, General Hill participated in the battle as the captain of the battleship "Invincible". The ship sank in the naval battle. Most of the crew, including General Hill, were considered "dead". However, according to a surviving non-commissioned officer of the ship, after the battleship sank, he saw General Hill being rescued by a large German torpedo boat.

The letter was signed on August 22, and half a month has passed so far. Natsuki knew the deep feelings between Charlotte and her father, and could also imagine the torment Charlotte suffered during this period. However, the war was so cruel and ruthless that no one could completely change it.

After reading the letter, Xia Shu didn't need to order people to go to the naval prisoner-of-war camp to find out the situation, because after the naval war, he had already asked the adjutant to read the list of prisoners of war. There were three surnames Hill, one of whom was Charlotte's cousin. Although Xia Shu could not release him, he could at least give him additional preferential treatment. If General Hill was indeed rescued by a large German torpedo boat and was not among the German Navy's prisoners of war, the most reasonable explanation was that the German torpedo boat sank in the later battle. Since there was no news from the British side, there were only two possibilities left: burying himself in the sea or being rescued by the Danes.

During the Battle of Jutland, the battle area of ​​the British and German fleet was no more than 30 nautical miles away from the Denmark coast. The rainstorms that night had a great impact on the search and rescue of the fallen personnel on both sides. In order to avoid unnecessary combat losses, most of the ships of the British and German fleets evacuated the sea area after the battle. After dawn, the German light ships returning here successively rescued some British crew members and salvaged the corpses of some dead people. Danish ships also carried out humanitarian rescue in their own territorial waters and surrounding waters. According to neutral legislation, Denmark must detain these combatants until the end of the war.

For humanitarian reasons, Denmark could provide the list of detained personnel to both parties, but the German side was worried that Britain would obtain German military intelligence, so it put pressure on the Danish government to prohibit them from providing any information related to the war to the British side. With the strong performance of the German team, it was only a matter of minutes to occupy the Jutland Peninsula and land on the island of Zeland. The weak Danes were unable to stop Germany, the war giant, and had to offend them to separate the detained combatants, provide equal accommodation, diet, and medical conditions, and only count their numbers, without registering their names, military ranks, and post information. The Danish soldiers responsible for guarding them were also prohibited from having any form of communication with these people.

Although the Danes' approach was strange, it was also a helpless move to survive among powerful countries. Their actual position also changed subtly with the changes in the war situation and the amount of influence exerted by both sides of the war. After the two Battles of Flanders, the German government further pressed the Danes to release the detained German naval personnel. The Danish government has not yet agreed, but has acquiesced to Germany to send non-military medical personnel into the country to provide treatment and examination for the detained personnel of the German side. It is easy to obtain information on the list of detained personnel.

After some consideration, Natsuki wrote a reply and asked the Swedish diplomat to deliver the letter to Charlotte through the original channel.

The next morning, Xia Shu set off for France and stayed for a short stay in Lille and Lances, visiting the commanders of the German garrison troops, General Hofrat and General Luscher under Cluke. Hofrat had three infantry regiments and an artillery regiment. His defense zone spanned the border of Fabie and could see the sea more than 30 kilometers north. He had been attacked by small-scale counterattacks by French and Belgian troops many times. The defense was under great pressure and it was impossible to mobilize troops to assist the marine forces. General Luscher was the commander of the 7th Cavalry Brigade of Prussia, responsible for the mobile defense in the area of ​​Lance. The brigade suffered a great loss in the border battle. Now nearly half of the personnel are subsequent reserve personnel.

In the afternoon, Xia Shu arrived in Alas and stayed here for the next day. Alas is the central city in the Atova region of France, only more than 20 kilometers away from Duran, which is adjacent to the front line. General Sigmund and his 32nd Infantry Division were established here. Before coming, Xia Shu learned from the army that the 32nd Infantry Division fought all the way from Belgium to this place. Although he had experienced two tough battles, the combat losses were relatively minor in the 1st Legion, because it was the original team and had been stationed here for more than ten days. He had accumulated energy and had sufficient combat power. It was no wonder that Xiao Maoqi wanted the Marines to replace the defense here and transferred the 32nd Infantry Division to the Marine Front.

General Sigmund's reaction was not as pessimistic as Moltke's little man. He told Xia Shu that in the past week, the French team had attacked his defense zone with three times the strength. The German team relied on temporary field fortifications and used dense firepower composed of cannons and machine guns to easily defeat the French offensive. Therefore, in his opinion, as long as you do sufficient battlefield reconnaissance, stop and dig trenches to resist the French counterattack, it is entirely possible to hit the city of Paris in three to four days. Even if you cannot break into the city of Paris, you can directly threaten the French flanks and force them to give up the offensive launched in the Marne River Basin.

During the meal, Sigmund revealed to Natsuki that although his superiors ordered him to guard the defense zone and not to attack without authorization, he could provide strong logistical assistance to the Marines. As an important supply point for the Cluke Legion, Alas had hoarded a lot of combat supplies and supplies vehicles. Now this supply line is too far from the Marne River, and Cluke's main force has changed to obtain combat supplies from the Sedan-Lance line.

Saying goodbye to the enthusiastic General Sigmund, Xia Shu followed the pace of the Marine Force to Dulang. Shortly after arriving here, he received an important piece of information from the Navy's intelligence department: the British regular troops stationed in Ireland before the war had been transferred to the Isle of Great Britain one after another. At this time, the British troops deployed in Ireland were large, but they were basically second-line troops composed of reserve troops. Due to the British Navy's defeat in the decisive naval battle, the leaders of the Irish independence movement felt that this was a very good opportunity, but how to seek it under such circumstances.

Ireland is independent, and there are differences within them. Many people think that Britain is in a difficult situation. Taking this opportunity to negotiate with the British government can force the British government to make concessions and gain independence and sovereignty by avoiding bloodshed and sacrifice. However, the hardliners represented by the Irish Republican Brotherhood believe that the British government's political and diplomatic methods are so sophisticated and cunning that they will inevitably delay with various means. Therefore, the most direct and effective way is to carry out armed riots with the help of the Germans, expel British troops, and establish a truly independent Irish government and parliament.
Chapter completed!