Under the escort of a small fleet, the German Royal Yacht "Victor" entered the "Sunset Harbor" of St. Mary Island in the Corsey Island. This location is located at the northern end of the west side of the English Channel, only 45 kilometers away from the Cornwall Peninsula in southwestern England. In terms of geographical location, it can be said to be "backed by Europa and facing the Atlantic Ocean". During the two wars, the British troops stationed in the Shy Islands, and built air defense alert stations, light ship supply bases and field airports here. In July 1933, the German and Irish coalition landed and seized the archipelago, and then garrisoned here for a long time. According to the signing of the Treaty of New England signed in February 1936, this inconspicuous archipelago officially belonged to the territory of Wales and became the most "remote" territory in the Kingdom of Wales.

As the largest island in the Sylvia Islands, St. Mary Island is nominally owned by Wales and is essentially controlled by the German and Irish troops. The successive completion of large radar stations, military air ports and submarine bases has made it a comprehensive strategic stronghold. The sea and air reconnaissance scope with this starting point covers southwestern England, the Bay of Bristol, the western part of the English Channel and even northwestern France.

Today, there are no ordinary residents in the Island of St. Mary. In addition to the rustic regular houses, there is also a building that combines old Gothic style with modern architectural art and a manor bounded by fences. It was built by the Irish royal family and dedicated to the German crown prince William and Crown Princess Cecilia as a gift for the 30th anniversary of their marriage.

William and his crown prince happily accepted the unique gifts from the Irish royal family. They came to stay for a short stay during the summer vacation. They were very satisfied with the furnishings here. Taking this opportunity, Xia Shu spent several days alone with William in the name of telling about his brotherhood. The focus of what he talked about was the current world pattern.

The Sino-Japanese peace talks failed and the war in the east rose again. Although Natsuki was disappointed, he had expected this. He had always hoped that Western allies could continue to put pressure on Japan through diplomatic and trade channels. Unfortunately, Western allies have always had their own ulterior motives and do their own affairs. The materials that Germany refused to sell were likely to be sold privately. The military technology that Germany and Ireland jointly blocked, the Austro-Hungarian Empire could also play the role of smuggling. Furthermore, as an important strategic decision-maker in Germany, William Xiao’s cognition and ideas were often influenced by ministers. The strategic differences between the German army and naval generals are becoming increasingly deepening. Many naval generals have long realized the potential threat of Japan to Germany’s global strategy, so they felt that supporting China’s resistance to Japanese aggression can curb its over-expanding expansion ambitions. The army generals turned their attention to another direction, that is Eastern Europe.

In the early years, people always thought that Russia, which had lost Belarus and Ukraine, was like a castrated bull. Even though it was strong, it did not have the courage to challenge the allies. However, they ignored the fact that even if Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic coastal countries were excluded, Russia was still a superpower with a population of 160 million and a vast territory of 17 million square kilometers. Moreover, the Soviet revolution brought earth-shaking changes to this country. The armistice agreement signed in 1916 restricted Russia's military service system and military scale, but after the Soviet regime replaced the Tsarist regime, the agreement naturally became a piece of paper.

By implementing the universal compulsory military service system, the Soviet Union's active armed forces remained above 1.5 million for many years. In the months before the outbreak of the war in 1932, the Soviet Army quickly expanded to 82 infantry divisions and more than 200 independent brigades and regiments, with more than 2.2 million troops on the front line, equipped with a large number of modern equipment such as aircraft, artillery, and tanks. Although the Soviet government has always remained neutral during the war, its close ties with the United States-British Alliance made Western allies afraid to be careless. The troops stationed on the Eastern European defense line have never had less than 70 divisions. In addition, there are a considerable number of regular troops and paramilitary security forces deployed in Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia.

Maintaining military forces of this scale is naturally an amazing expense, not to mention that the Eastern European defense line and ancillary facilities need to be continuously renovated and improved. Of course, this is not the most deadly. In the three-year war, the Soviet government, which maintained a neutral position, has done a lot of robbery. The Caucasus conflict from 1932 to 1933 and the Northern Persian war in 1933 were open actions, the Welsh miners' uprising, the Southern Ukrainian riots, countless workers' strikes, demonstrations and Bolshevik movements, all of which are closely related to the macro strategies of the Soviet government.

Based on the above reasons, at the summit of the Allied Powers held in 1935, in addition to reaching a high degree of agreement on the mediation of the Sino-Japanese armistice, representatives of various countries also resonated strongly on eliminating the threat of the Soviet Union. The moderates tended to sign long-term and effective peace treaties with the Soviet Union, and ensure peace in Eastern Europe through conventional measures such as layoffs and reducing military investment. However, the biggest obstacle to this move is that the Soviet government has always insisted on withdrawing troops from Belarus and Ukraine, and no longer interfering in the internal freedom of these two countries. In the past two decades, Germany, which had a large amount of capital investment in Belarus and Ukraine, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not willing to give up its vested interests in these two countries easily, and was worried that the Red Revolution would immediately sweep across Eastern Europe after the withdrawal, and then threaten the security of its own country. Therefore, it could not accept the Soviet Union's demand, and a deadlock that was difficult to break was formed.

Natsuki knew that ******* was by no means the origin of the contradiction. One of the important reasons why William and his army generals were very afraid of the Soviet Union is that it has developed extremely rapidly in recent years. According to data released by the Soviet government, its GDP in 1935 exceeded that of Japan, Austro-Hungary, Italy and other countries, equivalent to 92% of the United States and 64% of Germany. Just 10 years ago, the Soviet Union's industrial output value was less than one-third of Germany. There were less than three thousand tractors in the country, and 99% of the farming was completed by humans and animals.

In just ten years, the Soviet Union's economy showed explosive growth. The advantage of centralization was actually only one of the influencing factors. The global economic crisis was the key driving force for this change. An economic crisis that swept the world in 1927 was a disaster for the West, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Soviet Union. The severe capital and commodity surplus made the West no longer care about the opposition of **********. During the economic crisis, the Soviet Union became one of the largest technology projects, machinery and equipment, scientific and technological personnel and capital absorbers in the world. From 1928 to 1930, 45% of the machinery and equipment exported by the United States was sold to the Soviet Union. From 1929 to 1931, 60% of the total machine exports were sold to the Soviet Union. In 1932, it was as high as 90%; in 1931, the world's machinery

One quarter of the total export of instruments was sold to the Soviet Union, which reached 46% in 1932. In 1931, the Soviet Union received 99 technical assistance projects, involving metallurgy, industrial machinery, automobiles, ships, aircraft manufacturing, etc. In addition, due to the economic crisis, a large number of Western technicians were unemployed, and they accepted the employment of the Soviet Union. In 1929, there were 1,200 foreign experts working in the Soviet Union and nearly 10,000 technicians. In 1932, there were more than 6,000 foreign experts working in the heavy industry sector, and tens of thousands of engineers and technicians moved to the Soviet Union. At the same time, the Soviet Union also sent its own technicians to Western countries to learn advanced technology, which enabled the Soviet Union's scientific and technological strength to achieve a leap forward in a short period of time, and thus used this breakthrough to drive the rapid development of the industrial economy.

Since national interests are the starting point of all strategic decisions, Xia Shu spread a world map in front of William and told him openly that the resources on land are very limited. With the continuous acceleration of industrialization, in the visible future, oil, coal and iron ore will face depletion. At that time, countries can only turn to the ocean with huge resources. Judging from the current power map, Germany occupies most of the land resources, and the Pacific Ocean, the largest treasure house of marine resources in the world, is under the control of Japan and the United States.

As evidence of this inference, Xia Shu came up with a report on the progress of Ireland in the North Sea to explore oil resources. Although the exploration and exploitation of submarine oil is much more difficult than onshore, the development of technology is changing with each passing day. Once a submarine oil field with huge reserves and stable output is drilled in the European waters, its value will far exceed the scope of the industrial economy.

From a technical point of view, it is too early to use the submarine mineral resources on a large scale, but Xia Shu's statement successfully aroused William's greed. On the other hand, the German crown prince participated in the construction of the Eastern European defense line in his early years. He himself always regarded that experience as one of the flauntable qualifications. If he wanted to take the initiative to attack the Soviet Union, he would inevitably give up this solid defense line that had been standing for twenty years, and drove millions of soldiers from allies to penetrate into the heart of Russia, and even cross the Ural Mountains to completely destroy the Soviet Union's industrial belt... Whenever he thought of the painful experience of Napoleon's army, William, who was familiar with European history, would feel extremely difficult!

When Natsuki and William ended their holiday at the Santa Maria Palace, the Battle of Hawaii, which took place thousands of miles away, was basically over. Although the troops participating in the battle were not superior, the US army still regained Oahu with a devastating force. During this period, Ernest Joseph King, who was re-dressed in battle, led the 6th American special fleet with seven combat aircraft carriers as the core, won the victory in the Battle of Niho Island, and defeated the Japanese army's counterattack attempt. After this battle, the
Chapter completed!