Located in southern Ireland, Munster Province has a mountainous terrain. It has mountains and ravines and ravines. It is full of rivers and lakes. Although it has fresh and beautiful natural scenery, it has been in a state of inconvenience of transportation and scarcity of materials for a long time. The inland area and the coastal port seem to be two worlds.

On the second day of the coup in Cork Harbour, motor vehicles that were rare in the past appeared on the winding mountain roads in the north of Cork County. The roar of motorcycles and car engines resounded throughout the valley. Four-wheel trucks painted in yellow and green camouflage were staggering. Soldiers wearing ear-cut helmets and field gray military uniforms sat in rows of soldiers with Mauser rifles or put Madson light machine guns in front of them. All their leather equipment was made of natural light brown leather, and tight sleeping blankets were wrapped around the side of a square cowhide backpack. A black standard lunch box was hung on the backpack, and a kettle, engineer shovel and bayonet were hung on the backbelt. Their outfit was remembered by the world as the German team swept across Europe, and was destined to occupy a prominent place in the military history albums of later generations.

The roads here are rugged and difficult to walk, but they are a shortcut to the ports in southern Ireland and the bustling metropolis in the east. For three days hiking and one day riding, the motor vehicles travel slightly slower on the mountain road than horses. However, as long as there is no mechanical failure and no man-hinderment, it only takes one day to cross mountains and ridges to reach the coastal area.

Wherever the mountain road passes, the fields are dotted with villages, some of which are only seven or eight houses, and some of which are clustered with dozens of residents. In a village near the mountain pass, a middle-aged man riding a dark horse and wearing a windbreaker stood on his horse and said loudly: "If they want to overthrow the Republic of Ireland, we must not let them succeed. We must stop them from passing here!"

There were 20 or 30 people gathered here. At first glance, there were almost no one under fifty years old, and many of them were thin old men. They had a variety of weapons, ranging from ancient flintlock muskets to modern Mauser rifles. The leader was a 60-year-old man with fluffy hair, wearing an old faded double-breasted military uniform without a logo. He raised his head and said:

"But sir, they have hundreds of people, well-equipped and well-trained, with machine guns, cannons, and planes, and we only have seventeen rifles, most of which are single shots. Let us fight against the German team, and we want rabbits to block the horse's footsteps!"

Someone in the crowd said maliciously: "The bullets in our hands are aided by the Germans. It is really awkward to use bullets sent by the Germans to hit the Germans! Isn't it?"

The middle-aged man riding a horse was very dissatisfied with such remarks. He shouted loudly: "Don't be fooled by the little benefits given to you by the Germans. They are not born philanthropists. All aid is for reward. Are you willing to become slaves to the Germans just after you leave the British rule?"

This harsh rhetorical question immediately overwhelmed everyone's doubts. The Irish people's character is like the land under their feet, barren, hard, proudly facing the wind, unwilling to surrender.

The leading old man said helplessly: "Well, sir, we will do our best to stop these Germans, may God be with us!"

Watching these soldiers who are not considered soldiers leave, the middle-aged man riding on the horse sighed. The south is the base camp for the Irish Brotherhood to make his fortune. The best young men have joined the Irish Volunteer Army. All the old, weak, sick and disabled people stay in their hometown. It is unrealistic to expect them to block the German team's advance. But the incident in Cork Port can only be hidden for a while, and it will spread all over the place soon. At that time, people are in panic. Who will still work for a declining and frustrated regime?

For ordinary people, as long as Ireland’s independence and freedom can be guaranteed, there is actually no essential difference between whether to implement a monarchy or a republic.

He put away his surging feelings in his heart, and the middle-aged man rode forward and rushed to the next village with the order issued by the interim president of the Republic.

Soon, the German convoy appeared on the road ahead of the mountain pass. Several young men riding horses rushed from behind and crossed the convoy to explore the way in front. A young man looked sharp-eyed and found a team ambushing the roadside. He rushed over alone.

"Don't fire, it seems like we are our own people. I should have seen him somewhere..." the leading old man said to his guerrillas.

The young man riding a horse shouted loudly in Irish from afar: "Hey, hello, I am Odia of the 17th Regiment of the Irish Volunteer Army. Don't shoot yourself!"

The leader old man leaned up and waved at him: "Hey, Odia, I'm Dunn of Hoxson, you can get closer to talk."

The young man came forward, and the elderly guerrillas consciously raised their guns to avoid accidental injuries due to shaking hands.

When the young man was still more than ten meters away from the ambush position, the leading old man shouted: "Stop, don't come!"

"Hey, Mr. Dunn, what are you doing?" the young man asked with a calm expression.

"What are you doing?" the leader old man asked.

"Train our allies to Cork Port," replied the youth, "they have conquered Limerick and now free up their hands to solve new problems."

"The news we have is that the Germans are ready to occupy Cork and replace the British as the new ruler of Ireland." The leader old man replied bluntly.

The young man riding a horse laughed: "Do you believe it?"

The leading old man frowned: "What do you don't believe it?"

"In Ireland, the British team has more than 100,000 people, and the Ireland has hundreds of thousands of armed forces, while the German team has only 20,000 to 30,000 people. Do you think the Germans may occupy Ireland?"

The guerrillas around him were shaken, but the leader of the old man was not easily convinced. He calmly said: "That might be possible. As long as they control our government and the top leaders of the army and mobilize our army to drive away the British, will the control of Ireland be in their hands?"

The young man riding a horse smiled and said, "Mr. Dunn, you seem to make sense. I have to admit that you are a person with a very rich imagination. Let me tell you the truth. McElner was able to become president, not the result of the voluntary vote of the MPs. He was a brave party leader, but he did not have enough ability to lead a country. He mobilized the army to attack Ireland stubbornly, but suffered a great defeat. We lost more than 100,000 people on the front line! This shows that McElner and his ministers could not lead a country well. We decided to oust him and let the parliament decide whether to continue to adopt a republican system, or establish a new kingdom, and select a person with sufficient ability to be the king."

The trucks ahead stopped outside the range of the rifle. German soldiers got out of the car, trained to form scattered soldiers, and then squatted in place and waited for orders.

The leader was over fifty years old. Although he lived in a remote village, he was not an inexperienced person. He asked in surprise: "What are you saying is true? We lost more than 100,000 people in Dublin?"

"This is just a more conservative estimate." said the young man riding a horse with a sad face. "The situation may be worse than we thought."

"I heard that the Germans did not participate in this battle. They deliberately asked our people to die!" Someone behind the leader's old man questioned loudly.

"I said that it was McElne who insisted on launching an attack. From the military, it was obvious that he should take down Limerick first, severely attack the confidence of the British, and then concentrate his troops to surround Dublin. This fatal mistake fully exposed McElne's ignorance."

The leader's old man hesitated for a moment and asked, "Who are you going to choose as the king?"

The young man riding a horse did not shy away: "In this world, there is only one who defeated the British four times in a row, that is, Prince Joachim of Germany. We will elect him as a candidate for the throne of Ireland. As long as he is willing to give up his position as the German royal family and swear to become a loyal member of the Irish Kingdom, we will let him ascend to the throne of Ireland, lead this country to expel the British team and regain his life."

"Aren't we going to accept the rule of the Germans in the end?" The leading old man stared at the young man riding a horse with his straight eyes.

"We just choose a capable and prestigious German to be our king, which is different from accepting the rule of the Germans!" The young man on the horse turned his head and looked at the convoy that had been parked for several minutes. "Listen to me, Mr. Dunn, you and your people must make a decision immediately! We do not ask you to follow us, but do not go against us. No one wants to see unnecessary bleeding. You just need to open your eyes and see if what I said is true or false. I can assure you that no one can defile the independence and freedom of Ireland. If we push the throne is a bastard who sells Irish interests, no matter how high the title and reward he gives us, we will push him off the throne."

The leading old man said slowly: "Okay! Odia, many of our sons have fought side by side with the Germans on the battlefield. No matter what their purpose is, the Germans have indeed provided great help to Ireland. Moreover, after winning this war, the Germans can definitely cut large areas of abundant land and large colonies from Britain and France. Ireland can provide them with several harbors, is there anything else that interests them?"

"Yes, there is no need to worry about these." The young man riding the horse responded.

"But then again, each of us is happy about the founding of the Republic of Ireland, and feels that we have finally had an independent country. Whoever becomes president and who becomes king actually has nothing to do with us civilians. We just want to drive the British away and let the whole Ireland be bathed in the sunshine of independence and freedom. We never want to see the Irish and the Irish fighting each other for power, so... if possible, I hope you can solve your so-called political problems by non-force."

Looking at the old man in the lead, the young man riding a horse thought for a moment and replied: "As far as I know, the troops supporting Prince Joachim ascend to the Irish throne have completely occupied the Port of Cork, and support McElne is returning from the Dublin front. These German soldiers are rushing to end the dispute as soon as possible."
Chapter completed!