Heavyweight military figures such as Hugh Scott, Chief of Staff of the United States Federal Army, Archibald Murray, and Chief of General Staff of the Canadian Army, Grandville Kesen, all appeared at the Irish National Day parade. The outside world was quite surprised. Could it be that Ireland's military power has developed to the point where no major power dares to underestimate it?

The answer to this question is different and wise. When Natsuki first learned that these military tyrants would come to watch the National Day parade, he felt very surprised and curious. His intuition told him that the United States, Britain and the Commonwealth countries might be planning military alliances based on economic and political cooperation. Although isolationism in the United States prevented them from joining hands in the form of a national alliance, smart and experienced politicians can always find ways to avoid it.

If this group of people met in the United States, not to mention the just-initiated intelligence agency in Ireland, it would be difficult for even the Germans to obtain accurate information. Now they have given the allies the opportunity to take advantage of. Xia Shu ordered special measures to install eavesdropping devices in advance at the homes of politicians and generals such as the United States and Britain. Whether they were talking in suites, restaurants, or using telephones or telegrams, the contents would be recorded truthfully by the Irish intelligence agencies.

In this era when technical monitoring methods were rarely seen, people's anti-monitoring awareness was generally weak. After the targets arrived in Ireland one after another, Xia Shu quickly obtained a crucial intelligence: the United States, Britain, and Canada were discussing the so-called Ocean Convention and preparing to include Brazil, Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and other countries in it to form a defensive paramilitary alliance.

Canada is the most powerful Commonwealth country and a loyal follower of the United Kingdom. Its position is unquestionable. Brazil and other American countries are deeply influenced by the United States' economic and political influence. It is not surprising that they are shaking flags and shouting behind Americans. The key is that this convention may tie the United States and Britain tightly on a chariot, greatly increasing the chance of the next world war.

The German Emperor and the Crown Prince did not come to this Irish National Day event, but appointed Prime Minister Bateman and senior generals of the Army and Navy to watch the ceremony. In Xia Shu's eyes, these people were loyal to the country, but they were not as cunning as the British. If they conveyed this information, they would inevitably let them talk on certain occasions because of anger, which made the Americans and the British realize that Ireland was monitoring them, which made Ireland passive in political and diplomatic affairs. Therefore, Xia Shu calmly asked his subordinates to continue to collect intelligence, and after National Day, they went to Berlin to discuss countermeasures with the German Empire.

In the Worry-free Palace in Potsdam, the father and son of the Hohenzollern royal family strolled and talked while walking. When Natsuki talked about the attempt to compose the Ocean Convention by perfecting Britain, the German Emperor sneered: "Ha, a group of idiots who overestimate themselves! They thought they could fight us by uniting together? If France is used as the battlefield, no matter how many troops the United States and Britain sent, it will become our trophy!"

Natsuki was curious: "Why did your Majesty think that the two sides would fight in France?"

William II was not in a hurry to answer this question, but turned his head and looked at Xia Shu with a meaningful look, and said slowly: "Ireland's economic development is too fast. It is likely that in the eyes of British rulers, its direct threat is even greater than that of Germany. In the future, war will begin, and they will concentrate their army forces to defeat Ireland first."

Prince William responded to the words of the German Emperor before the Xia Shu: "Ireland is not the same now as before, and they can't defeat it just like they can defeat it."

This statement sounds like a compliment, but it actually implies jealousy and ironic. With Natsuki's understanding of Crown William, he will know it at once, and then resolve it in an Eastern way: "Without the support of His Majesty and Germany, Ireland may not even be able to achieve one-tenth of the achievements now. Therefore, no matter how fierce the enemy's offensive is, for the overall strategic goal of the Allies, the Irish military and civilians will fight to the death."

It can be seen that the German Emperor was very satisfied with this answer. Then, from this topic, we returned to Xia Shu's previous question: "With the heroic and tenacious fighting spirit of the Irish army, even if Britain mobilized it with all its might, it might not be able to fully occupy Ireland in a few months. However, when the Commonwealth army and even the US team came to reinforce and used warships and submarines to block the maritime route to Ireland, putting Ireland strategically in isolation. Whether Ireland can still support it or not is necessary to defend to the end, we should be very clear. Next, they will find ways to land in France and launch an attack on us. The outcome of the war will be decided again on the land battlefield."

This deduction idea is quite similar to the World War II model in the old time and space. What surprised Natsuki was that this statement was spoken from the stubborn and arrogant German Emperor William II. Could it be that the German Navy planned to adopt a shrinking defensive strategy from the beginning in the next war, so the allies should be strategically in extreme situations?

"Our Navy..."

As soon as Xia Shu spoke up for refuting, she was interrupted by William II.

"I know what you want to say. As long as our fleet can control the East Atlantic waters, the troops of American countries will not easily land in Europe. The assumption just now is just a possible situation. We are full of confidence in the construction of the German navy, but recently naval experts have come to a very pessimistic conclusion: in ten years, the overall size of the US and British navies will be twice as large as the German navy. In that case, rather than letting our navy venture into a decisive battle, it is better to preserve the naval power in the early stages of the war, restrain and strike the enemy through land warfare, and use attack ships and submarines to hunt their transport ships, forcing them to disperse the combat ships, and wait until they are exhausted to annex or severely damage their main fleet."

Not to mention the effectiveness of the British reorganization of their arms, with the economic and industrial power of the United States, as long as they are given enough stimulation, the United States can quickly build a fleet twice or even three times that of the German Navy with just one country. This is the answer given by history. To defeat the United States, unless it is a quick victory, it is extremely difficult to fight by naval battles. On the contrary, the chance of winning a decisive victory on land is much higher.

After thinking about it for a while, Natsuki gradually understood the intention of the German Emperor's words. At this time, Crown William sang and said, "If we want this premise to stay in the hypothetical stage, we either increase our investment in shipbuilding recklessly or seize the initiative strategically. Yoheng, you often say that aircraft is a magical force to change the future naval warfare model. If we set up airports on the route of American countries to Europe, deploy a large number of combat aircraft, and then let our fleet cooperate in combat, will the chances of winning the naval battle be increased a lot?"

After all, I was indeed back to the strategic pawn of the Azores. Before coming, Natsuki had seriously considered that to fight the threat of the Ocean Convention and occupying the Azores could indeed occupy a large strategic initiative. However, the biggest problem at the moment is the position of the United States. If the occupation of Azores is forced to make the Americans feel the real threat, it is very likely to stimulate the United States and Britain to form a real military alliance, and prompt the United States to enter the track of war early, transforming its terrifying industrial capabilities into a terrifying military power.

Natsuki bluntly expressed his concerns, but the German Emperor and the Crown Prince were not surprised. Obviously, these contents had been repeatedly discussed at internal meetings of senior German officials.

The three stopped by the fountain pool, and then William II said: "We have a new plan, to be precise, a war plan. The British will definitely attack Ireland once the war begins, and the Americans' primary target is definitely the Azores. Our plan is to capture Azores before the United States and Britain, and then quickly build airports and build fortifications. If the speed is fast enough, we can attack the US and British fleets in Azores. In that case, the German main fleet stationed in French ports will not have to return to their local bases."

The subsequent words of the Crown Prince William expressed the true intention of the father and son: "If we occupy Azore, the enemy will definitely find ways to take it away, so we need the most elite troops to station these islands. As we all know, the German team is suitable for fighting on flat land, and in this regard, the Irish army is more reliable than any ally country's troops. If we fail to occupy Azore first, either the Irish army equipped with short rifles and submachine guns will be captured by the Irish army with fleet support, or as His Majesty said before, a comprehensive contraction defense strategy at sea."

This is obviously to let the Irish army be cannon fodder uh!

From the perspective of the German royal family, this move is nothing wrong, but from the standpoint of the Irish king, this plan is simply cold-blooded and ruthless!

Hesitating for a moment on different positions, Natsuki said: "If other factors are not taken into account, this plan itself is feasible, but I don't think the cunning British will give us the opportunity to seize the Azores. To be honest, if they had stationed troops in Azores a few months before the outbreak of the war, and established their airports and fortifications, even if Ireland dispatched 100,000 troops and Germany dispatched its main fleet, the chances of winning Azores would be less than 20%!"

William II narrowed his eyes, and the Crown Prince William suddenly changed his name to Xia Shu and asked in a cold and hard respect: "What does Your Majesty mean?"

Natsuki raised his lips slightly: "It is undeniable that the Azores will be the strategic location of the next war, but in my opinion, it is not the only key to taking the initiative."

Although this confident expression made Prince William feel a little unhappy, he still followed the idea and guessed: "Except Azore... is it Britain?"
Chapter completed!