In early winter of 1918, when the Irish naval training ship "Kuchulin" sailed into the harbor of Helsinki, people seemed to have arrived at the overseas territory of Germany. The black, white and red flags fluttered high on the flagpole. If you carefully identify them, you will find that these flags are different from the real German flag. In their center, there is a Finnish crown shield pattern with a red-bottomed yellow lion, which is the Finnish national emblem that has been used since the 16th century to the present...

The incident in Finland dates back to the fall of 1915. At that time, the coalition forces of the Allied Powers led by Germany had already captured Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine, which were originally Tsarist Russia. Advance troops arrived in northern Estonia and southern Russia. At the invitation of the Finns, the German army sent elite marine divisions and some army units to land in Finland, helping the Finnish armed forces to drive away the Russian garrison. After Ireland left the British territory, Lithuania and Latvia successively broke away from Russian rule, Finland also became an independent and free country. Under the direct influence of Germany, the Finnish People's Parliament elected the brother-in-law of German Emperor William II, Prince Friedrich Karl, Prince of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, as king, and called Vaino I.

When he was living in Germany, Natsuki had little contact with this cheap uncle and had never had in-depth conversations. In his impression, this royal member who was in charge of military positions in the Hesse army always had a serious face. He didn't seem to like to go in and out of public places and did not seem to have made any special achievements in the army. The luckiest thing about him was that he married the little princess whom the former German Emperor Frederick III's favorite little princess, the current German Emperor William II's favorite sister, and he successfully maintained a very close relationship with the Hohenzollern royal family. This was the key reason why he was able to stand out from among many people who meet the conditions and sit on the Finnish throne.

After the war, not only did the Finnish crown be worn on the head of a German royal noble, Lithuanian parliament voted to elect German Army General, William Kar, Duke of Ulah of the Kingdom of Württemberg, was the king, the Latvians elected an important branch of the Hohenzollern family, William of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen as king, and Princess of the Bavarian Kingdom, Adelgonde became the queen of Latvia. Georgia, which was split from Tsarist Russia, also chose Germany as the backer. They invited German Emperor William II's younger brother Heinrich

The prince was crowned as king, but for various reasons, Prince Heinrich refused the invitation. Just a few months later, Georgia fell into a civil war, and Russia, Ottoman and German teams entered Georgia one after another, and the chaos continued until 1917. Under the mediation of the international community, this Eastern European country with a land area of ​​about Ireland and a population of more than 3 million finally calmed down the war. The restoration of the Baglationi dynasty, which once ruled the Caucasus, made Georgia an independent monarchy again.

Although Georgia failed to become a German-ruled country, Germany still directly controls the vast land in Europe starting from the Bay of Biscay in the west and ending at the coast of Azov in the east. The governors of Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Southern Estonia, Moldova, and Northern Serbia were appointed by the German royal family, and the commander-in-chief of the occupying army in northern France was the German crown prince William. In addition, these strategic relationships such as Ireland, Finland, Lithuania, and Latvia are independent countries with vassal states. It is no exaggeration to say that after the Holy Roman Empire, Germany once again ushered in its heyday!

On the Helsinki Pier, where snowflakes are falling, Vaino I, dressed in gorgeous military uniforms, leads all the politicians and nobles to welcome each other warmly. William II's youngest sister, Princess Margaret, Joachim's aunt, is now the queen of Finland. Ireland and Finland are both small and medium-sized countries in Europe, and the time for regaining independence is less than half a year. Even if they are unwilling to fight for strength, the two sides will unconsciously compare each other. The two monarchs who shook hands and greeted each other were over twenty years apart, and their appearance and temperament belonged to completely different types. The young and handsome Irish king is an idol worshipped by countless young people, and is generally regarded by the outside world as the most talented leader today, the older and mature Finnish king.

In terms of appearance and expression, they are sixty-seventh-seventh-slightly similar to German Emperor William II. They are strong and energetic, and have a typical German style. The two queens, one with beautiful eyes and fluttering clothes, are like the fairy in the forest in a fairy tale, and the other with elegant, dignified and generous demeanor and style of motherly manners. From any perspective, they have an excellent fit with their respective husbands, like a natural and earthly pair. As for the subordinate officials and soldiers who follow the king and his wife, they are dressed up straight, upright and straight, and are not inferior to their peers in orthodox powers. Moreover, if these people don’t speak, German is a common term that requires no coordination...

At this time, Finland had a land area of ​​360,000 square kilometers and a population of about 3.5 million. Although it was vast and sparsely populated, its industrial foundation was better than Ireland during its independence. It had emerging industries such as textiles, papermaking, matches, rubber, margarine, sugar, cement and plywood, and had currency independent of the Russian ruble, as well as modern transportation and communication facilities. In addition, the Finnish people fought an indomitable struggle to maintain their autonomy, resisted Russianization and resist the rule and oppression of the Tsar. As early as 1

In 905, the Finns forced the Tsar to restore Finland's autonomy through a national general political strike, abolished all Russianization laws, and abolished the four-level parliament. Citizens, including women, obtained equal and universal right to vote. Judging from these factors, Vaino I took over a country with relatively ideal conditions. Since his ascension to the throne, the political and social situation in Finland has been stable. People or political parties have never had embarrassing problems with their kings, let alone the extremely bad situation of assassination of the monarch.

In order to allow Ireland to play a role in restraining Britain, the German royal family and government gave Ireland considerable support. Finland borders Russia, with its borders being only a few dozen kilometers away from the Russian capital St. Petersburg. The Gulf of Finland is the only way to enter and exit St. Petersburg by sea, and it is also the only stationed place of the Russian Baltic Fleet after the war. Today, Finland has become a frontier position for the Allies to monitor and suppress Russia, so Finland has obtained support from Germany

It is no less aid than Ireland. The former dreadnought "Alsace" that Xia Shu once served has become the flagship of the Finnish Navy. The Finnish fleet also joined the former dreadnought "Mecklenburg", cruiser "Konisburg" and 6 German-made large torpedo boats and 3 submarines. Another 11 British compensation ships were handed over by the German government to Finland, which enabled the Finnish Navy to achieve a leap from nothing to something overnight, from weak to strong.

In order to enable these ships to exert their combat effectiveness, the German Navy sent more than 3,000 volunteers to join the Finnish Navy. Under the temptation of the Kingdom of Finland and high salary, many people later directly joined Finnish nationality and became the backbone of the Finnish army. Just like the situation in Ireland, these were naturally recognized by the German government and military. Although they led to the loss of outstanding troops of the German Navy, they greatly enhanced Germany's influence and control over these new independent countries, and the two-part balance still benefited a lot.

During the war, Vaino I did not go to the front line to participate in the war and lacked military command experience, but this did not prevent him from turning Finland into a military power in the Nordic region. He had many German generals who had joined Finnish nationality and obtained the title of nobles, including Max Hoffmann, who was talented and had made great contributions to the Eastern Front battlefield, and William Schchemitt, who had outstanding performance in the Second Battle of Flanders and the Battle of the Faroe Islands. In addition, Finland also established a compulsory military service system in imitation of Germany and quickly established a highly modern army with the support of Germany. On paper, the Finnish army was stronger than the Irish army, and from the historical Soviet-Finnish War, Finnish soldiers had admirable fighting spirit and resilience.

As the Gulf of Finland is about to be frozen, Xia Shu visited Finland only for three days in Helsinki. Under the arrangement of Finland, he visited the city monuments and visited the barracks and inspected the troops. The King of Finland had high hopes for the army he had formed himself. The military quality and mental outlook of the Finnish soldiers were indeed commendable. However, Finland's economy is mainly agriculture and forestry and light industry, and the military production and shipbuilding industry are relatively weak. Although the Royal Arsenal established with the assistance of Germany manufactures guns, cannons and ammunition, the output is small, and most of the metal raw materials rely on imports. The shipyard can only carry out routine maintenance of active ships and lacks technical modification.

The ability to install and overhaul greatly restricts Finland's military potential and self-sustaining ability during wartime. Russia lost a large amount of land and population in the last war, but the industrial facilities centered on St. Petersburg were not substantially damaged. The strong Russian team was still one of the most daunting opponents of this era. The losses of the Russian navy were far less heavy than the Russo-Japanese War. From the end of the war to 1917, the successive service of four Gangut-class dreadnoughts caused a qualitative change in the Russian Baltic fleet. Apart from the main German fleet, only the cold winter freezing could prevent them from sailing out of the Gulf of Finland...
Chapter completed!