.The second Wednesday after Chen Tian arrived in Qingdao, Christmas in 1929 quietly came. It was windy outside, and the sky was a little gloomy, but it didn't snow. As Germany's military and economic center in the Far East, the squares, streets and buildings next to the road in Qingdao were carefully arranged in accordance with the German habit of celebrating Christmas. They were placed in shops of a certain size and grade. Christmas trees with small lights and gift boxes were seen at the entrance of the hotel. Some even placed a Christmas carriage to attract attention. Even merchants with poor economic conditions would write "Merry Christmas" in German with pictures or large banners.

Because of the lively streets, Chentian's car spent more time than usual when he passed through the city to the Far East Cluster Command. However, looking at the joyful pedestrians outside the car window, looking at the children of different heights, including western and eastern choirs, and listening to the hymns of their children's voices, even the irritable mood will become calm.

"Merry Christmas!"

Just a few dozen meters away from the commander's office to the main combat command room, Chen Tian hurriedly exchanged greetings with the oncoming officers. In Germany, Christmas is a good day for drinking beer, eating roast duck and traveling. Although the soldiers here must continue to work hard in their respective positions due to their responsibilities, everyone's emotions seemed very relaxed, except for one person, that is Chen Tian's first close attendant intelligence officer, Xiaobert von Mackenson, and the nephew of the famous Marshal Mackenson.

"Your Majesty, this is a secret telegram sent from Berlin an hour ago!" As soon as he entered the door, Shobert had an extremely serious expression, which made people know at a glance that he brought bad news.

Chen Tian took a piece of paper from him, with only three paragraphs of text occupying half a page. It roughly means that the Rheinzan Poster published a more inspiring anti-war article in the second edition of today. The article accused the government of spending huge manpower and material resources to fight a battle thousands of miles away, and caused a large number of outstanding German soldiers to die on the distant battlefield. This was neither rational nor responsible, because the Rheinzan Poster had a considerable influence in the central and western Germany, especially in small and medium-sized cities.

This article is very likely to bring more German civilians to the anti-war camp; in addition, the intelligence agencies learned that opposition parties and some civil organizations, such as the Liberal League, who have always held peace and anti-war views, are actively preparing for a demonstration against the war, and their activities are targeting mainly workers from major factories. Although their demonstrations will be arranged on Sundays when most workers rest, such activities will obviously affect the enthusiasm of workers to continue working for the national war machine.

After reading this report, Chen Tian's expression became a little more serious, and he said to Shawbert:

"I understand, you go down first! If you have any instructions, I will call you again!"

"Yes, your majesty!" Shawbert left with the expression he had when he came in.

After thinking alone for three or four minutes, Chen Tian rang the bell on the table and asked the attendant to call Longdested, Manstein and Klester, who had just returned to the headquarters to report his duties.

Five minutes later, the three generals walked into Chentian's office in turn according to the level of the military rank. They were wearing new army uniforms today, and they were all very clean and tidy. However, the color of the Klester's uniform was a little lighter than the other two, and it was not obvious when they were separated. However, when the three of them stood side by side, the difference was still obvious. This is the difference between commanding the front-line troops outside and the generals who stayed indoors most of the time.

"Everyone, please convey your Christmas blessings to your family and subordinates on my behalf, and wish them a Merry Christmas, happiness and health!"

The three of them answered almost in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty. We will convey it on our behalf!"

"Please sit down!" Chen Tian led them to the square sand house on one side of the office. After everyone sat down, he said: "Today I am asking everyone to tell you that the anti-war sentiment in China is gradually rising, and there are more and more calls for us to end the war as soon as possible!"

Among the three, Klester was only surprised. As for Longdested and Manstein, staying in the cluster command allowed them to hear more sounds outside the battlefield, and they did not deliberately conceal this.

Longdested was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, please be honest, the voices against war have existed since the day we started the war with the Japanese. I think these people either have economic or other connections with the Japanese, and are afraid that the war will damage their interests; or they are biased against the government and the military; and there are also some people, I think they are Japanese spies or were bribed by the Japanese early on!"

"Yes, your majesty, I think so too!" Manstein followed, "No matter when, people in the land attempt to maintain peace through non-war means, but history has proved that only by using force can a country be guaranteed and true peace can be achieved!"

Klester nodded slightly from the side, but said nothing.

"Both of you are right, but the situation is a little different this time!" Chen Tian said, "We only fought against the French for 4 months, and only nine months with the British. Then we spent 1 month conquering the Austro-Hungarian Empire, four months defeating the United States, and splitting Russia for only three months. But this time, from last autumn to this winter, more than a year has passed, and we have not even set foot on the enemy's land!"

The three generals in front of him thought for a while, and Longdested said: "After all, the Japanese have built an unprecedented huge defense circle, and we can only suppress them through step-by-step advancement. If the Far East Expeditionary Force had not persisted on Kuye Island for a winter, perhaps we would still be fighting hard with our opponents in Hawaii and the Philippines!"

Like Chen Tian, ​​Manstein considered a purely time issue:

"Including the Pakatan Pak-Austria War that won in less than four months and the Franco-Prussian War that lasted only one month, we have indeed fought for a long time! Although our Germany is unprecedentedly powerful now, the patience of the people is not infinite!"

Klester was still ready to remain silent, but Chen Tian asked him directly: "Does General Klester have no opinion?"

Klester coughed awkwardly and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, a war can last for a hundred years or only fight for one month. It depends on the strength, strategy and actual situation of the battlefield. I think our current strategy is very good. As long as we continue like this, it will be difficult for the Japanese to find a chance to turn the tables!"

"Well. That's true!" Chen Tian commented on the three of them in a vague way.

After a moment, Yulongsteid asked:

"I dare to ask your Majesty, how specific is the current domestic anti-war situation?"

Chen Tian shook his head, "Although there will be no crisis, more and more anti-war supporters force us to take action, otherwise, these citizens may be exploited by our enemies, and in serious cases it will even affect the direction of the entire battle situation!"

Longdested and Manstein exchanged glances with each other. Then, Longdested asked cautiously:

"Did Your Majesty mean to end this war in a non-war way?"

Chen Tian looked at Longdested, then turned his attention to Manstein, and finally Kleister, "Tell me, are you tired of this war?"

Without any hesitation, Longdested stood up, and then Manstein and Klester also stood up.

"No, Your Majesty. I am a soldier. A German soldier. I have never been tired of war. Instead, I have completed every war and every battle as a challenge in my life. As long as the motherland needs it, I can fight from now until I can't even hold a gun.

Your Majesty, everything about me is absolute by the will of you and the country!”

"Your Majesty, everything we have is absolute by the will of you and the country!" Manstein and Kleis said in unquestionably, their tone filled with unquestionable firmness.

"Generals, I am proud of you!" Chen Tian stood up calmly. This result was long as he expected. Moreover, he was indeed proud of his subordinates who were brave, loyal and qualities, because it was really difficult to find a better warrior than them in this world.

"We spent such a great price to fight from West Asia to East Asia. From the Central Pacific to the Western Pacific, we can accept the prayers of the French because they have no fighting spirit and we can accept the prayers of the Americans because they have no courage. However, the enemy in front of us is a cruel hungry wolf. Although some harm can temporarily suppress its ambition, it will make it even more cruel from the bottom of our hearts! Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, we will never take the path of diplomatic negotiation to end this war! I firmly believe that to eliminate the threat from this enemy to us, we must completely defeat them and never have the chance to make a comeback!"

In front of these passionate words, the three generals looked firm and their chests were straight, as if Chen Tian ordered them to go to the front line immediately. However, there was a small question in their hearts: What should we do if the domestic anti-war calls are being called? Is Your Majesty just trying to confirm his loyalty?

No, of course not. Before summoning them in, Chen Tian had already come up with a very good countermeasure.

"Once an economic crisis occurs in the country, launching a foreign war to attract the attention of the people is a common method used by all countries, and this has been proven very effective in history. The principle is the same. It is not difficult to shut up the anti-war forces in China. One way is to deteriorate the image of our enemy, such as using the enemy's hands to create vicious incidents to anger the people, but this often seems contrary to humanity. The second way is to enhance the image of the army in the minds of the people!"

"Improving the image of the army?" Longdested and others seemed a little surprised. The German army has won countless victories. Isn't this good enough in the minds of the Chinese people?
Chapter completed!