Politicians do not take vacations. For ordinary soldiers and civilians, joyful celebrations are a holiday where they can get drunk and take a break. Grand celebrations were held in all cities throughout Germany, and ceremonies to remove boundary markers were held at the borders of many states.
People were reveling in the carnival. Each state imported a lot of celebratory fireworks sold by Chinese people. That night, almost all large cities in Germany held fireworks shows. The cold winter night did not extinguish the fire in the hearts of the people.
On a day like this, drinking a glass of warm wine, eating some grilled sausages, ham or something, and then having a good sleep is really the happiest thing in life. However, Xiao Letian did not have such a good life. After all the celebrations ended at nine o'clock in the evening, But he boarded a special train and headed eastward to Switzerland under the protection of heavy troops!
This was a very dangerous trip. Bismarck had advised him not to take risks himself and to let an envoy travel on his behalf. After all, sporadic resistance in France was still continuing at this time.
But Xiao Letian was worried about who he assigned the task to this time. He had to meet that person in person, a key person!
The train departed from Paris and headed eastward to the French border city of Belfort. The area currently traveling along this route was under the control of the Prussian army.
Heading further east from Belfort, you will enter Swiss territory. In Basel, Switzerland, the train will turn around and head southwest, heading straight to the famous city of Geneva on the shores of Lake Leman!
The guest Xiao Letian met secretly was in Geneva!
The wheels rotated at high speed on the rails, making a loud crashing sound. The carriage swayed rhythmically, and the French land outside the window was dark.
All towns and villages are under light control, and only dots of candle light can be seen occasionally. It seems that the Prussian army still has very strict control over the railway line, and those pervasive guerrillas have been suppressed a lot.
The economic damage caused by this war to France was too great. Look at the agriculture in northern France. More than 60% of the farmland is deserted and has no one to take care of it at all.
The population of many villages has even dropped by two-thirds, and it is common for entire villages to be abandoned!
Just as Xiao Letian was deep in thought, a fire suddenly lit up in the distance outside the window, and a few seconds later there was a dull explosion.
The Dragon Guard immediately closed the curtains and blew out the lights, and the carriage fell into darkness!
"There is an explosion...the direction is unknown and the distance to the north is unknown...the situation is unknown...the head of state will change carriages immediately..."
The Dragon Guards were protecting Xiao Letian, Xiang Ying and other officers and began to move. The leader's life safety could not tolerate any drama.
There were two more explosions in the distance, followed by the faint sound of gunfire. After half an hour, the train had completely gone away, and the guarding Prussian army finally lifted the alarm.
"Reporting to the head of state, there should have been a firefight between our garrison and the guerrillas just now, and the target was not our train..."
"Firefight? What's the explosion? Do the guerrillas have artillery? Or is the arsenal being attacked by the enemy? I ask you to immediately raise the security level..." Xiang Ying began to negotiate with the German officers sternly.
The German officer with a solemn face said in panic, "This is already the highest level. All troops along the railway are on the highest alert tonight. We swear to protect the safety of the Führer..."
Xiao Letian waved his hand, "Okay, stop talking. This situation is difficult to avoid. After all, this is French territory. Just go to Switzerland tomorrow..."
"Find all the newspapers I haven't read yet. Have they been translated?"
"Master, it's already half past eleven, please take a rest..." Xiang Ying said in a low voice.
"Look at it for a while. We are going to Geneva tomorrow night. We must make enough preparations!"
Xiao Letian had many translated European newspapers at hand. The Spanish government had counterattacked very fiercely in the past two days. Newspapers across Europe published detailed reports on the assassination of General Prim, and then poured dirty water on the Chinese.
Looking at the nonsense articles above, the corners of Xiao Letian's mouth curled up. Xiang Ying thought that the master was angry, and when he was about to persuade Xiao Letian, he asked him for a drink.
"What a great article! The Spaniards are not fools. They know they cannot just be scolded without retaliating. They finally found a chance to fight back after General Prim was assassinated... Great article, worth a drink!"
"We, the Chinese, are afraid of the army commanded by Juan Prim? Hahaha, Spain can still send an expeditionary force now? All their main battleships combined cannot carry our Zhiyuan..."
"Even if they have battleships, do they still have money now? If you have money, go fight their civil war first!"
"Juan Prim is familiar with the Philippines? He was discovered while conducting a coup in Spain, and then he was exiled for six years. Do you really think he went to Asia to familiarize himself with the terrain?"
"He cannot solve the structural and institutional problems of the Philippine colonial government. How can the governor-general system, which is rotten to the core, still be used as meat and potatoes?"
Xiang Ying poured the master a glass of red wine before going to bed and whispered, "We don't believe it, but the European people don't understand! They think we are assassins, because on the surface, we are the beneficiaries!"
"So master, you'd better release the news as soon as possible! Stop those people's mouths..."
"No rush, no rush...just wait for tomorrow, the big news will be reported the day after tomorrow!"
Just as the train wheels were rolling Xiao Letian straight to Geneva, on the shores of the beautiful Lake Leman, an exquisite noble private villa was being protected by heavily armed soldiers, and a distinguished guest was listening to the sound of the lake late at night. The sound of waves and looking at the stars in the sky.
Amadeo! The second son of the King of Italy, heir to the Savoy dynasty, Duke of Aosta!
This is the Spanish king designated by Juan Prim. At this moment, he has received the support of his allies. Now the young duke is preparing to go to Spain to ascend the throne.
The young king had been paying attention to the Franco-Prussian War. In fact, he was also paying attention to Prussia's attitude. He was afraid that after Prussia's victory, it would continue to ask the Hohenzollern family to inherit the throne. If that was the case, he would not dare to challenge Prussia's decision.
But he didn't expect that after the war broke out, Bismarck no longer cared about the choice of the Spanish throne. It didn't matter at all. At this moment, Amadeo knew that the so-called Spanish throne crisis was actually Bismarck's excuse for going to war.
Amadeo, who felt a little more at ease, began to prepare ships and wanted to go to Spain by sea to ascend the throne. However, he did not expect disaster to fall from the sky, and a war broke out between the Chinese and Spain in the Philippines.
Amadeo, who is weak by nature, knows that Xiao Letian is not easy to mess with. This is a ruthless character who can form an alliance with Prussia. Britain has to give face to it, and France and Tsarist Russia are both defeated.
Why did he start a war with Xiao Letian? Amadio really didn't understand, but soon he received a secret letter from the head of state. Xiao Letian invited him to meet in Geneva, his family's traditional territory, before he ascended the throne.
The Savoy dynasty owned a large amount of land on the south bank of Lake Geneva, which was their family's long-standing fiefdom. It was precisely because the secret meeting was held in front of their home that the Spanish king had the courage to meet Xiao Letian.
