After the Hamburg meeting, Irish officials returned home. Xia Shu visited Brandenburg alone, where he met Oscar, who was about to become the king of Iceland. He was the fifth son of German Emperor William II and his youngest brother. He had been working in the German Army. This German prince was not a talented general, but a social and popular character. He married Alice, the Earl of Basserwitz in 1914. After marriage, he had three sons and one daughter. He was suitable to ascend the Icelandic throne regardless of personal conditions or family conditions.

It is a good idea to rather be a chicken head than a phoenix tail, but the "chicken" is big and small, strong and weak. Iceland is a country with an area of ​​more than 100,000 square kilometers and a population of only 120,000. Not to mention industry, even the living environment is very difficult. Fishery is almost the only economic pillar. So when talking to Oscar alone, Xia Shu felt deep dissatisfaction and frustration from his words. "Cold prison", Oscar described the country he was about to take charge, where the population was so sparse, "only a small team of police can maintain good public order." As for the defense industry, "there is no ability to build a torpedo or a torpedo boat", and "ten months a year are cold winters."

If you go to Iceland with a spirit of hegemony, you will be very disappointed with the conditions there. Reykjavik, the largest city in Iceland, is not as good as some ordinary ports in northern Germany. Due to the few tourists, there are not even high-end hotels in the city, let alone palaces for the new kings to live in. The German government decided to invest at least 500 million marks within ten years to build Reykjavik into a large fortress city. The German royal family will also allocate special funds for Iceland to build a royal palace, but these are things in the future. Now, the largest church in Reykjavik can only accommodate hundreds of people, and the German princes, nobles and military officials who should attend the ritual ceremony far exceed this number. Moreover, Iceland is cold and cold, how many people are willing to brave the cold to such a barren land to attend the ridiculous coronation ceremony?

When Xia Shu took over Ireland, although the country was poor, there were at least four million Irish people of a single ethnic group and millions of Irish immigrants scattered around the world. Therefore, with Germany's powerful economic and military assistance, Ireland achieved remarkable development achievements, with its economic scale increasing dozens of times, and its military power was second only to traditional powers. Even if the Oscar prince's talent was ten times that of the "Hohenzollern genius", every Icelander is a role model for diligence and hard work. Germany did its best to provide Iceland's aid, which led to a hundred times or a thousand times growth in the economy of Iceland. So what can it be?

Putting himself in Oscar's shoes, Natsuki felt that being the king of Iceland would be better than being a powerless prince in the royal fief of Germany. I don't know if the German senior executives consulted Oscar himself when they made this consideration. If Oscar accepted the advice without careful consideration and chose the most challenging throne in the world, he could only blame himself for being too frivolous. As his younger brother, Natsuki could give Oscar comfort, that is, Iceland has the richest natural fishery in Europe, a long-term sustainable industry, and can allow Icelanders to live a life of food and clothing without worries at any time.

Oscars are definitely not the kind of person who is ignorant and waiting to die. Natsuki doesn't need to worry too much about him. Moreover, judging from the trend of historical development, Iceland will be a stable, wealthy and livable place in decades.

In the Royal Palace in Brandenburg, Xia Shu stayed for several days, chatting and playing cards with the German Emperor, and chatting and walking with the queen. Louise, the youngest princess of the royal family, became Mrs. Yinmaiman as she wished, and had given birth to a son and a daughter. Although these two children could not enjoy the rights of the German royal family, they were still loved by the emperor and the queen and uncles, and there was no need to worry about their future life. As Christmas approached, Louise returned to Brandenburg with her children, and Xia Shu was able to reunite with her and recall her happy life together.

Afterwards, Xia Shu went to Coschen in the north of Brandenburg to visit Tirpitz, who had already retired. The founder of the German Navy is now 79 years old. In order to commend his outstanding achievements, the German royal family granted him a manor in his hometown. After retiring, Tirpitz did not completely leave the public eye. He first served as honorary dean at the Royal Naval Academy of Kiel, often published articles in internal naval publications under the pseudonym, and also published personal autobiography and memoirs of war. In the past two years, his physical condition has been worse than before. He has reduced his activities and spent most of his time in the countryside.

Tirpitz was very happy about the arrival of the summer tree. His mental state looked pretty good. His head was completely bald and his signature beard was still lush.

When talking about the timeliness, the retired Marshal still has clear ideas and foresight. He believes that the future world pattern will be determined in the next war, and it is likely to be a cruel war that will affect the world, with a tragic degree and casualties far exceed the previous war.

After some discussion, Tirpitz suddenly asked seriously: "Have you ever thought that everything must be cause and effect? ​​In the past decade, Ireland has made great progress with the power of Germany. One day, war broke out, and it may use countless casualties to repay its debts."

After a moment of consideration, Natsuki replied steadily: "Thinking. Since I am a member of this big family and enjoying the protection of the family, I must bear the corresponding responsibilities."

Tirpitz nodded with a serious expression: "Then your Majesty should prepare for this war that may destroy everything in advance."

Although he was not worried that Tirpitz would leak what he said, Natsuki did not elaborate on various war preparations he had been engaged in public or secretly, because in his opinion, Tirpitz's cleverness lies in his strategic vision, his extraordinary courage and iron fist. Except for the last decade of his career, he had never lost to any competitor. Without aristocratic title and prominent background, he gradually grew from the military academy of the Royal Naval Academy of Kiel to the head of the Imperial Navy, and developed the German Navy from a coastal defense force of the same level as Denmark to a first-class ocean-class fleet. For the German emperor, only he had obtained the prefix of the title "forever", which shows how brilliant his peak period was.

In the early years, Xia Shu had a little hope that when the next war came, Ireland would remain limited neutral at a specific stage to avoid devastating damage to industrial facilities centered on Limerick. However, after the conflict in the Azores, he completely gave up this unrealistic fantasy and focused on the preparations for war. If the situation at the outbreak of the war was beneficial to the allies, Germany relied on the Azores to restrain the US Navy, concentrated its superior forces to defeat the British local fleet, and landed in Britain across the English Channel, then Ireland would have a chance to avoid the destruction of the war and save the previous decade.

Most of the achievements of painstakingly developing the economy. If the United States seized the Azores and the German Navy failed to destroy the British fleet, the first springboard for the United States and Britain in Europe is likely to be Ireland. At that time, the German-Iraq coalition deployed in Ireland will face several times its own US and British troops. The 70,000 square kilometers of Ireland is a battlefield without strategic depth, and defeat means the destruction of the kingdom. Therefore, the war preparations for the Natsuki and Ireland are based on the worst plan as an illusion, and to find ways to win a land battle where the enemy is strong and we are weak, defeat the strong enemy's attempt to occupy Ireland, and create opportunities for the Allies' counterattack.

Before leaving, Xia Shu asked Tirpitz meaningfully: "If the US and British troops besiege Ireland, will the Marshal think Ireland will be in danger of destruction?"

Tirpitz hesitated for a moment and looked at Natsuki with confidence: "People will probably see an unimaginable military miracle, a more amazing miracle than the High Seas Fleet defeating the British Navy in 1914."

Natsuki shook hands with him gratefully, but Tirpitz gave him a big hug.

Ten days later, the New Year of 1928 came as scheduled. The first major international event was that the Oscars in Germany ascended the throne of Iceland. Most Europeans are not unfamiliar with Iceland, but outside Europe, many people's first reaction to knowing this news was to find the location of this country on the globe. In fact, the temperature in Iceland is not as cold as its name sounds. Influenced by the Mexican warm current, its winter temperature is around zero degrees, but the weather is changing, and there are often storms or thick sea fog, which affects traffic and people's normal lives.

The capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, is located southwest of the sea, surrounded by mountains to the north and east. The natural landscape is magnificent and the geothermal resources are abundant. Unfortunately, in this era when tourism is not yet developed, few people will travel thousands of miles to Iceland for vacation. This time, the VIPs invited to attend the coronation ceremony of the King of Iceland were fortunate to encounter the slightly clear and good weather in winter, and thus witness the beautiful scenery of Reykjavik.

After the king ascended the throne, Iceland quickly signed a military alliance agreement with Germany, thus becoming a new member of the Allied camp. Iceland established its own police and army, but the defense here was mainly left to the German team. In addition to funding the expansion of Reykjavik port facilities and the construction of coastal defense fortresses, the German government will also build a large military-civilian dual-purpose airport here.
Chapter completed!