The moon is full and people are reunited. I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

*******

After a one-week visit to Denmark, Natsuki and his group set off to return home. By this time, the number of European countries that established formal diplomatic relations with Ireland had increased to 22. Except for a few insignificant small southern European countries, only Britain was reluctant to establish diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Ireland. With the grudge between Britain and Love, the British would not easily recognize the legal status of the Kingdom of Ireland without the provisions of the London Armistice Treaty.

Before regaining the Belfast region and putting on the Irish crown justifiably, Xia Shu had no intention of reaching a real reconciliation with Britain, but since becoming a candidate for the throne of Ireland, he never slammed Britain in diplomatic occasions, nor did he tirelessly emphasize that Ireland has unquestionable sovereignty over the Belfast region. Behind this, there is an orderly military and diplomatic preparation. After more than two months of training, the Irish Navy, Army and Air Force has been completely renewed, and seven military academies for different levels have begun to operate. All officers and more than two-thirds of the non-commissioned officers are undergoing primary training in batches. After screening, the soldiers are young and strong men who stay in the active forces. After strict formal training, they can use their weapons correctly and know the most basic tactics. The combat capabilities have made great progress compared to the period of the War of Independence.

Returning to Ireland with fruitful diplomatic results, Xia Shu was satisfied to see that the army was underway in an orderly manner. The officers and soldiers always maintained high fighting spirit, ready to try, and many people hated not to attack the Belfast region immediately. At present, although the three most elite infantry regiments of the Irish Army were sent to Eastern Europe to participate in the war, the remaining regular troops still had more than 60,000. With the second-line reserve troops, it was not difficult to assemble 10,000 troops, and the British garrison troops left in the Belfast region were only about 10,000. At first glance, the Irish army only had the courage to fight to the death and defeated this in one go.

A local war should not be difficult, but in the past two months, the UK is also actively preparing for military preparations. While recruiting civilians in the local area, they transported labor and construction materials from the local area, and built a large number of fortifications in the Belfast area. The northeast corner of Ireland has become a military zone with fortresses and trenches. In addition, intelligence shows that the British garrison has reserved a large amount of military supplies. Even if the Irish army uses the navy and air force to block the waterway, the British team that defends by relying on their reserves can rely on reserves to support independently for a long time. No one can predict what changes the international situation will happen at that time.

Any war has the element of adventure, and Natsuki is never afraid of it, but his usual style is to make as full preparations as possible before taking risks. The grasp of the timing is the greatest advantage that distinguishes him from ordinary military commanders. In his opinion, the British army's defensive system in Belfast was first established, and the defenders were on high alert. At this time, the chances of winning were not high. Even if Germany was dragged into the water with alliance terms, it would inevitably fall into a passive end. Such a situation would be very unfavorable to the new Irish Kingdom.

To fight, you must be sure to win independently by the Irish army. Standing at this starting point, Xia Shu thought of the strategy of building a plank road openly and crossing Chen Cang secretly. He sent a diplomatic mission to the UK in the name of peacefully resolving the sovereignty issue of Belfast. The negotiations lasted for several days, and the two sides did not reach any consensus. Despite this, this diplomatic contact itself was regarded by the outside world as a strong signal of the two countries' pursuit of peaceful coexistence.

After the first round of negotiations was completely broken, two weeks later, Ireland took the initiative to propose a new round of negotiations. After the British government agreed, Ireland submitted a list of negotiators. When it received this list, the British could not believe their eyes. The name of the candidate for the Irish throne, Joachim Franz Hubert, was listed!

After urgent consultation at the imperial meeting, King George V of England set the principle of coming and not rejecting everyone, and made clear restrictions on the scope of activities of the Irish negotiating delegation in the UK. On this basis, the police and the army must strengthen their vigilance to ensure the safety of candidates for the Irish throne during the UK.

George V regarded this as a challenge to the authority and demeanor of the British Empire. He decided to face the challenge, but some senior officials of the British government and the army did not think so. They were worried that the so-called Hohenzollern genius, known for their cunning, would have other plans and would not be inconvenient to violate the king's intentions. So he added a statement to the diplomatic reply to the Kingdom of Ireland, saying that a few people with extreme thoughts and behaviors in Britain might be detrimental to candidates for the Irish throne. Although the British government will provide all-round security protection, if an accident occurs beyond its reach, the British government refuses to bear the main responsibility, and will not allow any country to take advantage of the situation and turn the British Isles into the next Balkans.

The Irish cabinet ministers who were not used to seeing the world were frightened by the British statements. They persuaded Natsuki to cancel the itinerary. Even if they wanted to visit Britain, they would at least have to wait until the relationship between the two countries was stable. Natsuki was unmoved and in turn comforted the ministers that if he died unfortunately in Britain, the entire Britain would be buried with him. At that time, the Irish army would not fight bloody battles. The German team would naturally use heavy artillery to siege the British defense line in Belfast.

The Irish cabinet ministers made concessions in skepticism, and when they learned that Natsuki was about to go to Britain, the German royal family and government were also quite surprised. After all, the war caused by the assassination of Grand Duke Ferdinand has not yet been extinguished. In the event of a similar accident, Germany had to go to war against Britain again. However, between support and opposition, the attitude of the German generals played a leading role. They believed that the British had cunningly exploited the loopholes in the London Armistice Treaty and obtained the conditions for quickly restoring military strength through cooperation with the United States. The United States' industrial power is so strong that according to the current situation, in a few years, Britain will regain a main fleet that is not inferior to Germany. If the United States and Japan are directly supported, Germany will have to face a worse war situation than in the summer of 1914. The best and most direct way is to attack Britain immediately and completely defeat the country so that it cannot turn over.

The support and guarantee of the German government further strengthened Xia Shu's determination to go to the UK. This trip seemed to be full of crisis, but it was not as bad as people imagined. The main reason why the British people were indignant about Ireland's independence was that Britain had split due to external forces, and the dignity and prestige of the country were greatly damaged. They did not have much resistance to Ireland's independence. You should know that Ireland's position in the British political territory is simply close to the local area.

The colony, the Irish famine in the mid-19th century, is the best proof, and it is completely acceptable to throw away a piece of vegetable field and preserve the British island. On the other hand, Britain suffered consecutive defeats to Germany at sea, and the situation of land warfare was basically the same. Europeans feared the strong, and the British gentlemen living in Britain were no exception. Therefore, when the British and civilians learned that a strong man who had dominated the major actions of the German navy came to the British island, most of them should have been full of surprise and curiosity.

Xia Shu was never the kind of reckless person who acted recklessly, and showed the engineer's meticulous thoughts in many things. When he set foot on the land of Britain again, more than two weeks had passed since the first anniversary of the Battle of Jutland, so he did not rush to meet with British officials, but went to the military cemetery in the Harbor of Plymouth to present flowers to the fallen people of the Battle of Jutland. There were no onlookers at the scene, and there would be no killers. Even the invited reporters realized how important news materials they had received after Xia Shu appeared. The report with photos appeared in the Times, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Daily Mail and several local newspapers in the UK on the next day. Until then, most British people knew that the rumored candidates for the Irish throne who were about to visit Britain had arrived.

Staying at the flagship of Plymouth Harbor, Xia Shu did not travel easily except for holding diplomatic talks with British official representatives. Instead, she stayed in a heavily guarded hotel. Uninvited people would not want to enter easily. However, he would receive at least two groups of reporters every day. In mainstream newspapers with serious style, he praised the performance of the British Navy in the war, attributed the victory of the German Navy to extremely rigorous training and uncontrollable luck, and also put forward beautiful hopes for the prospect of peaceful coexistence between Ireland and Britain. In newspapers that took a popular route, Xia Shu evaluated the opponent's perspective.

The gains and losses of the British fleet in several important naval battles, this unprecedented real-life description immediately aroused great curiosity among the British people. The Daily Mail even sold out for several consecutive days. In order to attract public attention, Xia Shu sent an invitation to General Jelico, the former commander of the British Fleet, through the Daily Mail, hoping to have a face-to-face exchange with him. This invitation immediately caused a sensation in the UK, because the dialogue between the two is likely to unravel the ultimate truth of the successive defeats of the British Fleet. However, Jelico, who has been removed from the position of commander of the British Fleet, did not respond at all.
Chapter completed!