Chapter 1,715 The Grand Duke and Little Maoqi 1

Chapter 1715 The Grand Duke and Little Maoqi 1

This is the third time in the past three months that the Archduke of Baden has come to the German Western Front Base Camp in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. When he looked at the serious expression on the face of the little Moltke who greeted him, the First Grand Duke of the German Empire and an in-law of the Hohenzollern family felt great pressure. The Kaiser's meeting with him was probably around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. But this time, he decided to come early because Xiao Maoqi, the chief of the imperial general staff, wanted to talk to him.

"How is His Majesty's mood lately?" When the aide-de-camp left and only Moltke and the Grand Duke of Baden were left in the large living room, the Grand Duke said with some worry.

"It's very bad." Little Maoqi answered very simply. "We are afraid that we are about to experience the greatest internal conflict between Prussia and Bavaria since the founding of the German Empire."

"Really? It's bigger than the quarrel between Bavaria and Württemberg over the issue of the Kaiser's title?" the Archduke of Baden said with a raised eyebrow.

As the heir to the Baden family, the Archduke is very familiar with the dirty things in history. Just when the North German Alliance led by Prussia won the Battle of Sedan, the German army entered Paris, paraded on the Champs Elysées, and held a military parade at the Palace of Versailles. The coronation was held in the Hall of Mirrors. At that time, Prussia and the Hohenzollern family were very energetic! However, at this time, the younger brothers within the empire were causing trouble for the boss. The two sides argued endlessly over whether the Kaiser's title should be "Emperor of the German Empire or Emperor of Germany." Because in the eyes of the two kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg, the former title means that the Kaiser has absolute leadership over other kingdoms, while the latter is a national concept, expressing that he is the emperor of the German nation.

As a result, Prussia and the other two little brothers started a fierce debate on this issue. The final result was that the Kaiser gave up the title of Emperor of the German Empire and used the latter. And this is not over yet. During the coronation ceremony of the Kaiser, no one of king level came from the remaining three kingdoms. Even if outsiders didn't tell it, everyone, including the Grand Duke of Baden, felt very embarrassed. face.

Of course, all this is just a matter of face, and it will be over when it is over. But this time, I am afraid it is a matter of dignity, and it cannot be simply tolerated.

"The situation is very bad. You should already know the specifics. His Majesty is planning to cut off Bavaria's territory in Poland in the name of establishing a new kingdom. This move caused a strong backlash from Bavaria, and they even handed over the territory to The Austro-Hungarian Empire!”

"You know, the area controlled by Bavaria is not small, at least 40,000 square kilometers. This is at least the territory of a grand duchy. The Kaiser is very angry about this." Xiao Maoqi said.

“We can communicate with the Austro-Hungarian Empire through diplomatic channels and persuade them not to accept territory from Bavaria. After all, we had an agreement before on the division of Russian Poland.

"The Grand Duke of Baden said.

"However, here's the problem. The Austrian Emperor's actions showed his support for Bavaria! His Majesty Fritz did not actively respond to the request of the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Bavarian Army prohibited the Prussian army from entering the area, and exchanged defenses with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It's in progress." Little Maoqi said worriedly.

"Holy shit! What the hell does this mean?!" After hearing the news, Archduke Baden felt a rush of cold air from his tailbone to his forehead. Cold sweat broke down all at once. "How dare Fritz do this? As a kingdom within the German Empire, Bavaria actually colluded with the Austro-Hungarian Empire to fight against the Central Government?! Do Fritz and Ruprecht know what they are doing?"

"So, Mr. Moltke, as the Chief of the German General Staff, do you have any plans?" Archduke Baden looked at the serious Moltke in front of him and asked. As the Hohenzollern royal family's most staunch ally in Germany, Baden The Grand Duke also immediately thought of using the threat of force to solve the problem when necessary.

"War or the threat of force is definitely not an option for us now. Your Excellency the Grand Duke, as the Chief of General Staff of the German Empire, I will never issue an order to use force to seize control of the Polish area on the Bavarian side, absolutely not!" Moltke Said extremely firmly.

"The General Staff can issue an order prohibiting defense changes." The Grand Duke of Baden said.

"Ruprecht is the supreme commander of the entire Eastern and Southern Fronts. All orders from the General Staff should be forwarded to other units through him. Of course, we can indeed give them directly to Mackensen, but now, in Riga General Mackensen, who was supervising the battle in Bay, also believed that this order was inappropriate. So he decided not to execute this order for the time being."

"Your Excellency the Grand Duke, you know very well the cause of the matter. This is a time of war, and the Kaiser's choice, to some extent, allows some insignificant political needs to override the entire military environment. The fierce reaction of the Kingdom of Bavaria makes us feel Surprise, even fear. Even if Ruprecht finally chooses to give in on this issue, if the Bavarian Army does not advance westward next year, we will have nothing to do." Xiao Maoqi said solemnly.

"What do the other generals on the General Staff think?" asked the distraught Archduke Baden.

"Let the trouble be settled." Xiao Maoqi's answer was extremely simple.

"Holy shit, let's settle the matter? Isn't it just giving in? Looking at the current situation, Bavaria is definitely not willing, and your entire German military is not willing to take coercive measures, so the only one who gives in is the Kaiser!" Baden The Grand Duke complained crazily in his heart.

"Including Hindenburg and Ludendorff?" the Archduke of Baden said in disbelief. In fact, in this dimension, Hindenburg and Ludendorff's status is not high. Now one is responsible for military production and the other is responsible for logistics and transportation. They don't have many troops in their hands, and the main generals leading the army are still the same group from the beginning. However, looking at the original group, whether it was Kruger of the Prussian line or the grand dukes and crown princes of other kingdoms, it was obvious that they would not support the Kaiser and Bavaria to break up over this issue.

Needless to say, the latter is essentially closer to Bavaria. As for the former, they really understand the current situation. Let’s not talk about where Prussia can find the power to suppress Bavaria at this time. Simply speaking of the current situation on the Western Front, without the support of Bavaria, it would be really difficult for the German Army to penetrate the defense lines of the British and French coalition forces!

Some of them may be very dissatisfied with Bavaria, but as a soldier, everyone knows that this war cannot be separated from Bavaria!

Here comes the second update~~~! Please subscribe and reward~~~!