The tides rise and fall, and the sun rises and disappears. As time flows, on the No. 1 platform of William Royal Shipyard, the steel bones of the new warship are expanding and extending at a discernible speed of the naked eye, and it will eventually form a complete ship skeleton. According to the engineers, this progress is unprecedentedly rapid. If this continues, the goal of reducing costs and shortening cycles is completely possible.

The shipbuilding engineers were full of confidence and longing, while Xia Shu had to endure the double tempering of body and psychology. The days of accompanying the wheelchair continued, and although there was new news in Charlotte, the situation seemed not optimistic: she left Elizabeth Women's College because she was not physically ill or had a sense of school disgust, but was restricted by the family will. She even stayed in Hill Manor in Thetford all summer without leaving.

If the heart loses freedom, no matter how peaceful and beautiful the scenery is, it will be like a prison. Xia Shu Duo hopes that she can appear next to Charlotte immediately. As long as she looks sure, she will elope with her desperately.

Even in fairy tales, good wishes have to be realized after many twists and turns. However, without good-minded fairies and elves in the real world, no matter how big the difficulties are, they can only be overcome by themselves. Given that most of their business intelligence officers are bold, meticulous, flexible civilians, and have hardly received formal spy training, it would be great to be able to collect these information about Charlotte. To achieve the next step of planning, Xia Shu decided to use the power of a professional organization to take the attention of Frederick the Great and his successors, the intelligence agency has become

For an important part of the German decision-making body, they not only established a telegraph and book inspection system, which sets the stage for the audition of information, but also established secret intelligence stations abroad, further expanding and fixing the scope of foreign intelligence hunting, and also establishing counterintelligence and pseudo-intelligence departments, and fully refine the division of responsibilities. At the beginning of the 20th century, except for the intelligence networks spread throughout the world in the British Empire, the German intelligence department should be superior to other powerful countries in Europe.

Back in Berlin, Xia Shu first met with Major Von Lilles, the intelligence chief of the Navy General Staff, and had a long talk with him. Considering that the intelligence power of the German Navy was still very weak and the experience of foreign spies was still very limited, Xia Shu then met with Von Insdel, the head of the Military Intelligence Bureau of the General Staff of the Army General Staff. The veteran intelligence official agreed to Xia Shu's request. In addition to using two spies stationed in the UK and had no clear tasks, he also selected a team of novices who had just passed the graduation exam from the intelligence training school to cooperate with the operation.

With the help of the military intelligence department, Xia Shu's worries suddenly eased a lot. On the night when he met Von Insdel, after dinner of the Empire's No. 1 family, Crown Prince William took the initiative to push Xia Shu for a walk. Without anyone else present, the topic quickly talked about Xia Shu's "borrow" spy personnel.

"Among the intelligence personnel we sent to Britain, the best-capable ones have lurked. The temporary dispatch may be exposed, so Pat's arrangements do not mean to be disrespectful to you. Anyone who is close to me knows that your business is mine, and there is no doubt about it."

The crown prince's thin and pointed face was as friendly as usual. Although he knew that he was not a broad-minded, mature and steady person, after getting along with him for many years, Xia Shu had no disgust for him, but he often reminded himself not to be so forgetful because of the crown prince's show of kindness. Neither a king nor a person with the qualifications of a king would tolerate someone else sleeping soundly beside the bed.

"This was my private matter, and now I want to use national resources. I am very ashamed." Xia Shu first blamed himself, and then thanked Crown William for his assistance. In fact, when he decided to meet with Von Insdel, he expected this happening. Before the navy gained real maritime hegemony, Germany's foundation was still in the mainland. As the legal heir of the empire, Crown William has spared no effort to expand his prestige and influence in the army, and his military rank and position have also been promoted at a speed that far exceeds his personal ability. In recent years, he has first served as the commander of the Royal Guard Infantry Regiment with the rank of colonel, and then transferred to the General Staff of the Army to participate in planning military exercises of various sizes, and accumulate valuable experience for commanding the combat of large corps in the future.

Crown Prince William smiled and patted Xia Shu on the shoulder, saying no more words of comfort.

"A family of dukes with outstanding military achievements should be respected enough even if they stand in the position of our competitors. If we marry such a family ten or twenty years ago, we will definitely receive blessings from the people of both countries. But now the situation is extraordinary. Britain and Germany have become direct competitors in trade, colonial, political and even military. The British generally have prejudice against us. Naturally, our people will not have a good impression of Britain as they used to treat their cousins... Cough... Let's put it simply, you can maintain a secret lover relationship with a British woman for a long time, but if it is marriage, I suggest you consider it carefully. After all, this is related to your bright future. Do you understand?"

Xia Shu lowered her head and did not go to see Prince William, but said, "Well, your tone just now is exactly the same as that of the queen. Did she ask you to persuade me?"

"No, this is my own feeling." William replied quickly.

"I have my own plans and considerations." Xia Shu smiled indifferently, "When it comes to it, I really admire Grand Duke Franz Ferdinand. He would rather give up the inheritance of his children than protect his love and marriage. What an open-minded mind should this be? Fortunately, I don't have to bear the heavy responsibility of Grand Duke. Even if I intermarry with the common people, in this era of increasingly enlightened thinking, it will not cause disastrous consequences!"

"John..." William hesitated for a moment, then looked at Natsuki with a determined look: "I cannot tolerate anyone regarding you as an unreliable character because of any problem. If you insist on this love that is not accepted by the world, I, Friedrich William, will send my sincere blessings without hesitation and do my best to keep you from slander and harm."

Xia Shu raised his head in surprise. He knew how heavy this was. Brotherly love should not be said of him, but in the ruling class where power is as common as a family, blood relationships are often as thin as paper in the face of interests. Xia Shu tactfully gave loyal words. Crown William smiled with satisfaction, and he said, "To avoid you being uneasy, do you do me a favor, how about you?"

The crown prince of a country needs his little prince to help? Xia Shu quickly thought in his mind that William gave him a stadium when he was wedding, and in recent years he has given him top-notch cars, luxury yachts and new aircraft to celebrate his birthday. He couldn't think of anything else that the crown prince could use and he could provide.

Seeing Xia Shu wonderingly, William continued to maintain his satisfied smile. He turned around in the spot, his smile gradually faded, but his expression showed dissatisfaction: "The army-level combat exercise will be held next month, and the staff will be led by me. Some people want to see me make a fool of themselves, but I must not let them succeed."

It turned out that the crown prince was also worried, Xia Shu thought. This "someone" should refer to those veteran army generals, and the Chief of Staff, Moltke, who is deeply trusted by the German Emperor, may also be among them. However, he is neither an army officer nor has he tried to command the land war. He is basically a layman. What can he do? William is simply a desperate attempt to seek medical treatment. Even if the staff of the General Staff cannot use all their strength due to restrictions, he should go to the lower troops to search for powerful officers. How could he think of asking for his own help?

Regarding Xia Shu's doubts, William quickly answered: "The previous legion exercises were based on Schliffen's combat plan. All routes and schedules had accurate plans. This time, I was asked to prepare a battle that was not within the plan. There was not much time left, and they expected that with my existing manpower, even if I could complete the plan, it would definitely be full of loopholes. At that time, their statement would be fulfilled. With my existing experience, I was not enough to be competent for the command of the large corps."

...I think only the old-fashioned Germans don’t give the crown prince face so much. If it were in other countries, it would be too late to flatter and flatter!

Xia Shu just muttered in her heart, but comforted her: "Some people can barely pass the ability to command large corps to fight through decades of accumulation, while others are innate commanders. Of course, those people in front will have unwilling ideas, and you don't have to worry too much. Over time, they will eventually be impressed by your talent."

William nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "I definitely won't care about people with mediocre qualifications, but this exercise is inevitable, and my father will also come to watch it in person. I can't let them see the joke. Joheng, I know you have a wide range of interests. You have carefully studied the military books in the Royal Library, whether it is naval or land war, right?"

Natsuki can't deny this.

"Although you have never received formal army courses, I believe that with your military talent, you will be able to come up with exquisite tactics that will make those old guys stunned. My professional staff and I will turn the tactics you formulated into a detailed combat plan. If you and I join forces, we will definitely be able to perform a wonderful performance!" William became more and more excited as he spoke, and he showed a slight madness under the moonlight.

Once huge ambitions are suppressed, they will seek opportunities to release them desperately...

After thinking for a while, Xia Shu had indeed not received formal education from the army, but his attention to the technology and strategic and tactical ideas of land warfare in this era has not stopped. In terms of the quality of the soldiers, the German army was better than other powerful countries, but this advantage was not enough to offset the strategic defects of the two-line combat operations and the gap in the overall strength of the two sides. Taking this opportunity to broaden the horizons of the German commander should be of great benefit to the war that is not far away. So he said with confidence: "Although I am not 100% sure, as long as it is your order from the Crown Prince, I will do my best."
Chapter completed!