Although Berlin is very cold under the snow, the New Year atmosphere is very strong on the streets and alleys. Celebrations are held in many squares, and the main streets are also decorated with lights, and the national flag of the empire is even more flying in the windows of every household. After celebrating Christmas with the family not long ago, many Berlin citizens chose to take to the streets to celebrate the New Year and pray with others on this night.

In the eyes of the Chinese people, their great monarch and William II, who led Germany to victory and glory, are naturally worthy of respect, so there are many blessings for him. However, these beautiful wishes failed to bless him with peace. People do not know at this time that the dawn of the New Year has nothing to do with him.

Pala...pala...

At 8 pm, when colorful fireworks began to bloom over Berlin, the whole city became more and more active. Citizens walked out of the houses, with beautiful colors on their faces, and children were filled with satisfied smiles. As usual, this year's New Year's Day fireworks performance was also launched by the Imperial Guards. Near Alexander Square, hundreds of Imperial Guards were busy and happy to fire fireworks from the special salute. At this time, they were completely unaware of what was happening in the palace.

The whole city was celebrating New Year's Day, and only the palace was filled with a suffocating sad atmosphere. Queen Augusta Victoria fainted from crying several times because of her sadness. The ladies present either chose to faint completely or kept sobbing quietly. Many nobles and envoys also expressed their condolences to the emperor with tears.

In sharp contrast to these tears are the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guards with resolute expressions around the banquet hall.

Soldiers will not cry easily, let alone for a dead person.

Anyway, this is an extremely strange scene.

The emperor's body was carried onto the sofa on the side of the banquet hall. The queen sat helplessly with the help of several noble ladies. Several nobles with prominent identities were allowed to stand next to the sofa. The doctors stood in a row in a faraway place. As for the other officials and envoys, they were both confused and nervous. No one knew what would happen next. Only a few bolder people dared to whisper in the corner how the assassin assassin assassin was assassinated.

After the soldiers carefully and carefully inspected everyone present, General Graf frowned and paced back and forth. Obviously, such an examination was fruitless. The metal piece on the emperor's neck had been sent for testing, but in his opinion, this was probably useless.

After a long time, Graf looked up at the lounge where the cabinet ministers were. When the door opened, it was time to make a conclusion on how things would develop.

However, the door was always closed.

Graf glanced at the lounge where the army and naval generals were located. Of course, these generals would not be discussing how to hold funerals for the emperor. What they were discussing was probably more about the army, including the two wars that Germany was participating in, the Battle of Britain and the Battle of Italy.

General Graff slowly moved towards the door of the banquet hall, and the fireworks outside were still brilliant. Because the incident happened suddenly, except for the martial law of the palace, Berlin was still the same as usual. What he was worried about now was that the assassin had already escaped from the banquet hall and even slipped out of the palace in the initial chaos. In that case, it would be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

Graf's mind was filled with question marks at this moment, and Rennie, who was outside Prince's bedroom, was not relaxed. Although most of the imperial guards in the palace were transferred to the banquet hall, the guards guarding the prince's bedroom had increased unabated.

In Renney's opinion, infiltrating and assassinating Prince is even more difficult than assassinating the emperor. Although he has not read many books, he also knows that it is not uncommon for a country's monarch or head of state to be assassinated throughout history, but it is a miracle that the same assassin has successively assassin and succeeds.

Chen Tian, ​​who had already boarded the fast cruiser of the Stuttgart, also knew this very well. He knew that he could not hope for a miracle. More importantly, he had to learn more about the situation there before arriving in Berlin. However, Thomas's death greatly affected his "hearing" in a short period of time, although the Bat Legion was still operating normally.

Since Hoffman stayed at the Army Command to control the frontline combat operations, Chen Tian only brought a few senior staff officers and personal guards during this trip. He had made as many arrangements as possible in advance, but this time he returned to Berlin, he still risked the risk of breaking into the tiger's den alone.

Just like the past monarchy in history, success and failure are often one step away.

Chen Tian, ​​wearing a land marshal's uniform, sat calmly in the VIP room of the "Stuttgart". The 7,500-ton medium cruiser was advancing towards the French coast at a high speed of 23 knots under the escort of two standard-class destroyers. After arriving in Cherbourg, France, Chen Tian and his party will take a train to Germany. After dawn, they will fly directly to Berlin. Taking this way back to Berlin, one is that although there is no big problem with carrier-based aircraft and land-based aircraft taking off at night, it is difficult and dangerous to ensure the course and safe landing at night; secondly, he needs to try to grasp the time he returns to Berlin as well as possible. Returning too early will make people feel that he has planned it early, and it is not conducive to controlling the situation too late.

"In 1860, Abraham Lincoln; in 1881, Tsar Alexander II; in 1900, King Humbert of Italy; in 1901, US President William McKinley; in 1903, King Sevilla and Queen; now, December 31, 1914, German Emperor William II!" Looking at the dark sea outside the porthole, Chen Tian said to himself alone, "Everything is always a secret. If you don't want to be the next ruler to be assassinated, in addition to establishing a strong enough guard, you may also pray for the favor of the God of Destiny!"

Fortunately, there were not many British submarines operating in the English Channel at this time, and the German Navy had also cleaned up the mines in this area. Otherwise, a small torpedo or mine would have the possibility of sending the heirs of the empire to the seabed.

At around 9 p.m., Chen Tian finally received the first piece of information from Berlin. At this time, it was nearly two hours before the emperor was assassinated.

During this period, officers entered the banquet hall from time to time and whispered a few words with Graff. Graff's frown never stretched from beginning to end. He looked at his watch over and over again, while Queen Victoria fainted from crying again and again, while the cabinet meeting chaired by Bilo continued.

The rest of the banquet hall gradually began to feel tired and irritable, but no one dared to vent this emotion. The cold bayonets of the guards and the inherent cold expressions of the German soldiers were deeply afraid.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, only an hour before the New Year's bell rang, the fireworks performance in Berlin City continued, and almost no one outside noticed the unusual atmosphere in the palace. Only the guards and coachmen waiting at the gate of the palace felt a little puzzled. Today's dinner seemed to last for a particularly long time.

Half an hour later, the door to the lounge where the cabinet ministers were located finally opened, but General Graf was very disappointed that only a servant came out. He went to the lounge of the army general and the navy general. After a while, Tirpiz and Falkenhein took two senior generals to the temporary conference room where the cabinet ministers met.

The door closed again, and everyone in the banquet hall had to continue waiting silently. The sad queen's tears seemed to be about to dry out. Outside Prince's bedroom, there was another person waiting silently. However, even when the guards changed their guards, Renny did not find a chance to sneak in. The big guy had to think of ways to attract the guards' attention in his head. However, the bad thing was that the guards were searching the entire palace over and over again. It was already very difficult for him to hide here, let alone sneak out to wait for an opportunity to fan the flames.

When the church bell rang for 12 times, countless people prayed silently with their hands tightly. Even most of the people in the Berlin Palace banquet hall were no exception. However, unlike the people outside praying for peace and peace, these people seemed to be praying that the bad situation here would be resolved soon.

"Happy New Year, Your Highness!"

On the "Stuttgart", the naval officers and soldiers sent their blessings in time. However, Chen Tian was really not in the mood to celebrate the first New Year after the outbreak of the war. He just nodded slightly to the other party, "Happy New Year!"

On the front line of England, the soldiers on both sides of the trench did not greet each other like Christmas. They used countless artillery shells and bullets to celebrate the New Year together. Although the days of fighting had exhausted the officers and soldiers, the German soldiers knew that the other was more tired and weak than themselves. The Hindenburg army was still attacking and advancing. The city under the artillery fire was dead. The place where the German vanguard armored troops celebrated the New Year was the glory of the British Empire for hundreds of years, London!

On January 1, 1915, at 2:35 am, the door to the lounge where the cabinet ministers were located opened again. This time, Prime Minister Bilo, with a tired face, walked out first, followed by Navy Marshal Tirpiz and Army General Falkenhein, and other ministers also walked out of the lounge one after another.

"Everyone, after convening an emergency meeting with the Ministry of Army and the Ministry of Navy, the Imperial Cabinet finally decided to announce—" Bilodoned, and in the expectant eyes, he said in a deep and sad tone: "It is an indisputable fact that the unfortunate assassination of the emperor of our country was an extremely heavy blow to Germany. We feel deeply regret and sad for this!"

After saying that, Bilo lowered his head and looked silent, and there was even more sob in the banquet hall.

Three minutes later, Bilo raised his head and his tone also improved, "For the murderer who assassinated His Majesty, we swear that he must bring him to justice! For the instructors behind this assassination, no matter how powerful they are, Germany will definitely give them the punishment they deserve!"

Bilo paused again, because the other people in the banquet hall were silent, his last two words seemed particularly sonorous and firm.

"punish!"

Whether it is German officials and generals, or foreign envoys, people can't help but guess who will be the punished person in Bilo's mouth, Britain, France, and no matter which country it is, if it is charged with murdering the German emperor, the consequences will be absolutely terrifying. With Germany's current strength and the anger of the whole country, its destructive power is no less than a huge tsunami.

"After discussions by all the cabinet members, we decided to announce the news of His Majesty's death to the world. Now the internal and foreign affairs of the Empire are temporarily responsible for the Cabinet. The Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army is temporarily appointed by General Falkenhein, the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Navy is temporarily appointed by Marshal Tirpiz, and the Imperial Air Force is acting Crown Prince Gianluji William (the Supreme Commander of the German Army is usually the emperor himself). In addition, according to the opinions of the Ministry of Army and the Ministry of Navy." Bilo said and looked at Falkenhein and Tirpiz respectively, both of them were determined, "The war between our country and Britain and Italy will not stop because of this!"

As soon as this statement came out, those who thought that the war would be suspended due to the death of William II were surprised, some were disappointed, and some were glad.

"In addition, according to our country's succession law and the previous appointment of His Majesty the Emperor, if nothing unexpected happens, after completing the legal procedures, His Highness Gianluji William will become the new legal German emperor! We have asked His Highness the acting crown prince to rush back to Berlin, and our great Germany will continue to move forward under his leadership!"

Everyone was not surprised by this. There was only a low voice in the banquet hall. The deceased was still there, so no one was making noise or applauding.

"Slow down!"

The queen, who had been sitting next to the emperor's body, said in a nearly hoarse voice. The volume was not loud, but it surprised most of the people present.

Bilo turned around and, in the surprised eyes of Tirpiz, Falkenhein and others, the queen of the German Empire, and the haggard Victoria stood up with the help of the guards.

"Your Highness?" The Prime Minister of the Empire didn't know what to say at once. You should know that Victoria rarely spoke in public and she had hardly participated in any political discussions. In the eyes of everyone, she basically played the role of a national mother with a good wife and a good mother.

"Mr. Prime Minister, if I remember correctly, what His Majesty announced in this palace 25 days ago is that if Prince had not woken up until his abdication, then Gigi William would become the next legal German emperor; but if Prince William woke before he abdication, then Prince would re-exercise the power of the crown prince!"

The queen's voice seemed very weak, but Biluo and others could hear it clearly every word.
Chapter completed!