Moscow, the capital of Lucia, has now been turned into a huge military camp.
All the young and middle-aged men in the city have been recruited as soldiers.
In addition to the original garrison, as well as the newly recruited soldiers gathered around, there are also troops from Germans and other ethnic groups.
More than 800,000 soldiers have gathered in and around Moscow.
Martial law and curfew have been implemented throughout the city, and they have made a gesture of resisting to the death here.
Among the millions of people in the entire city, most of the people who are slightly better informed are worried and thinking about one thing——
How would Ming Dynasty attack Moscow?
Even if we capture it with conventional weapons and means, we will still use the legendary "power of the sun" again to inflict so-called divine punishment.
Can Ming's power be used at any time?
Or is that kind of power limited, or comes at a huge cost, and may have been used up in the early attacks?
Emperor Nicholas of Lucia and the monarchs of Germany and Italy were also speculating and worrying about this issue.
After the war began, the monarchs of the three countries all understood that they would not be able to launch a counterattack quickly.
Therefore, there is no need to continue gathering in Constantinople, the old capital of Rome.
But they did not all return to their capital.
Instead they went to Berlin together.
Remote control of local military affairs was carried out in Berlin via telephone and telegraph.
Vittorio of Italy and Nicholas of Lucia both felt that their capitals were too close to the border.
After the Ming Dynasty occupied the Volga-Urals region, the straight-line distance between the battle line and Moscow was only more than 700 kilometers.
In the middle are the endless Eastern European plains, and there is no natural defense line that can stop the Ming Dynasty's ground troops.
According to the speed at which the Ming Dynasty occupied the DMZ, it might only take a few days to reach it.
There is no depth on the Spaghetti Peninsula, and the northern coastline of Mozhou, hundreds of kilometers away, is completely in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
The Italians were legitimately worried that the Ming Dynasty might launch a cross-sea landing campaign from northern Mexico.
The situation in the next half month was slightly beyond the two people's expectations.
The Ming Dynasty seemed to have no intention of preparing for a landing battle, and its attack speed in eastern Lucia was not very fast.
But only half a month later, Ming's main ground forces finally arrived outside Moscow.
Nikolay soon became convinced that he had made the right choice by not returning to Moscow.
Although he knew that if the emperor did not return to preside over the defensive battle, the soldiers' fighting will would be greatly reduced, Nicholas still did not dare to go back.
When a soldier's will to fight weakens, compared with his own life safety, he can of course choose to give up.
In fact, Nicholas actually had a thought in his mind——
Use Moscow City, which has the strongest defense, to test whether the Ming Dynasty still has divine punishment weapons and whether it can use divine punishment weapons.
Therefore, during the past half month, Nicholas continued to urge the Moscow defenders.
They are required to organize as many armed forces as possible and build as complete defenses as possible at all costs.
Let’s see how the Ming Dynasty plans to attack this huge Thai-Western city.
In the palace where Nicholas lived, Lucia's ministers and staff held imperial meetings every day to discuss the war situation.
But most of the time, everyone is expressionless and has little energy to speak.
Because there is no real hope at all now.
In the past half month, Lucia's senior leaders, headed by Nicholas, have continuously received and proactively confirmed news from the front line.
In addition to the most terrifying divine punishment, they also already have an understanding of the various conventional weapons and equipment used by Ming Dynasty.
A fighter jet that can fly at supersonic speeds and fight at altitudes above 10,000 meters.
A bomber capable of carrying various guided bombs weighing more than two tons.
A new tank cannon that can easily penetrate your own armored fighting vehicles.
And the number of troops far exceeds our own.
They now fully understand that the three so-called Roman Empires of Lucia, Germany, and Italy have no chance of victory.
Even if the Ming Dynasty did not have the so-called divine punishment, it could still rely on its absolutely leading conventional weapons to completely defeat the Roman Three Kingdoms step by step.
It's just that the cost is a little higher, spending more resources and money, and consuming more soldiers.
It also takes more time and may take several years to complete.
In the current situation, if Ming Dynasty really does not have divine punishment, they can still hold on a little longer and mobilize all their forces to continue fighting.
It is hoped that Ming Dynasty will comprehensively consider the cost of complete conquest and come up with basic conditions for peace talks with itself.
The most extreme thing is just to surrender in the last big city that he still controls, just like Louis XVII.
But if Ming Dynasty has a weapon that is comparable to divine punishment, then its own waiting and persistence will be meaningless, and it may even be more dangerous.
If Daming wants to impose divine punishment on his city, but he doesn't know about it in advance and avoid it, it may lead to his own death.
While a group of people were looking at each other with sad faces, a telegraph operator hurried in.
Then he looked at the people at the scene and sent a telegram directly to Nicholas himself.
Nicholas immediately took it and took a look, and then his eyes widened.
Then Nicholas hesitated for a few seconds, looked at these courtiers who were absolutely loyal to him, and finally decided to make the telegram public here:
"The remaining Ming immigrants in Moscow suddenly became very nervous and asked to leave..."
Most of the immigrants and tourists from the Ming Dynasty have left one after another in the past few years, and now those who are left are extreme speculators.
Most Lucians don't have a good impression of them.
It's just that Emperor Lucia didn't give the order, and the situation in the city wasn't at the point of giving up everything outside, so no one really went to deal with them.
It even gave them a high degree of freedom and allowed them to leave on their own.
Nicholas knew that threatening the Ming Emperor with these people would not have any practical benefits, but might anger the Ming Emperor.
But Nikolai also arranged for intelligence personnel to keep an eye on them.
When the Ming army arrived outside Moscow, they suddenly wanted to leave, who had not wanted to leave during the war.
Nicholas and Lucia's nobles could no longer hold their nerve.
Wittgenstein subconsciously said:
"So they got news from the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty may launch a general attack on Moscow-"
Someone in the crowd added:
"Sooner or later, Ming Dynasty will launch an attack. The key is how Ming Dynasty will attack and whether it will activate divine punishment again..."
Nicholas was silent after hearing this.
At the same time, in the office of German King William, William, Prime Minister Stein, and Chief of Staff Gneisenau were also discussing the current situation.
There is still no danger in the German homeland, and Germany is currently the safest among the three Roman kingdoms.
But William and other senior officials have already felt the extreme danger.
As Ming's army continues to advance, William is under increasing pressure these days.
Stein and Gneisenau were not easy either.
Meeting again today, Gneisenau decided to let go and express his final views:
"Your Majesty, according to the news coming back from the front lines these days, when our troops fought against the Ming Dynasty troops, it was as if the natives of Mozhou were resisting our attack.
“The key is that Ming Dynasty can completely suppress the entire Europe in terms of population, army, financial status, equipment level, etc.
“Even if we achieve partial victory, the outcome of the entire war has already been decided.
"We have absolutely no possibility of victory now, and the current war is completely meaningless.
"What we can do now is to negotiate peace with Ming Dynasty at any cost."
William asked back:
"Even if the Ming Dynasty really doesn't have any more weapons of divine punishment, is it still going to negotiate peace at all costs?"
When Gneisenau heard this, he looked around subconsciously, and then said earnestly:
“For your Majesty’s personal safety and the safety of the entire Hohenzollern family, you should seek peace from the Ming Dynasty at all costs.
"You did not ask for any conditions at all and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty unconditionally. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had no reason to execute you.
“However, if we do not seek peace, or even stop attacking after Ming annexes Lucia, your life may be in danger.
“If we cannot win the war, the situation in the country will collapse quickly.
"Unrest may break out in the country at any time, and the rule of Hohenzollern may be overthrown. You can think of Charles I of England!"
William basically understood this situation in his heart, but he could not accept this reality.
In the past three years, I can say that I have been high-spirited.
Annex Denmark, annex Austria, complete the complete unification of Germany, and conquer all of France and Spain.
On the entire continent, there are now only three countries left: Germany, Lucia, and Italy.
He has now rebuilt the glory of the Holy Roman Empire and even classical Rome.
But since Ming Dynasty entered the war, the situation has taken a turn for the worse.
It has been less than a month, and all the staff officers and ministers already feel that they are going to fail.
Now it’s time to think about how to survive.
The former King William III of Prussia is now King William I of Germany.
A man sat in silence for a long time, but in the end he couldn't make a decision.
William I waved his hand to indicate that the two of them could go back and rest first.
Then he arranged for his personal servant to call his second son, Prince William Friedrich Ludwig.
King William I dismissed all the servants, called his son to him and asked:
"Based on the experience you learned in Ming Dynasty, how should we respond to the current situation in Germany?"
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig, who once studied abroad in Ming Dynasty and worked directly next to Zhu Jingyuan, is already twenty-seven years old this year and has been fully certified.
After hearing about his father's culture, he was silent for a few seconds, and finally explained his views very straightforwardly:
"Father... I think that it is obviously difficult for Germany to protect itself.
“We must find a way to contact Ming Dynasty and try any feasible method of reconciliation.
"If necessary, I can go to the Ming Dynasty and ask for forgiveness from the Ming Emperor on your behalf..."
King William I swallowed his saliva, and then was silent for a second. He did not directly answer whether he agreed with his son's suggestion, but asked a more in-depth question:
"Do you think... what kind of conditions can we get if we go to the Ming Dynasty to ask for surrender now?"
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig had obviously already considered these issues. At this time, he basically asked a rhetorical question without much thought:
“Let’s see what exactly we are referring to, Father.
"Is it our Hohenzollern family, or the Kingdom of Germany and all German people..."
This is obviously to ask King William what the father cares about most.
The things you care about are different, the strategies you choose are obviously different, and the final results should also be different.
King William I asked directly without hesitation.
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig naturally interpreted them one by one:
“If we just think from the perspective of our Hohenzollern family, we should try to cooperate with Ming’s battle plan.
"Continue to use all your strength and fight the Ming army as much as possible until the last moment..."
As soon as the prince spoke, he was immediately interrupted by the king's father:
"What are you talking about? For the sake of the family, do we have to fight hard to the end instead of surrendering as soon as possible?"
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig did not dare to mock his father, but sighed and explained:
"You should remember that His Majesty the Ming Emperor said during the Cape of Good Hope peace talks that he did not want to rule 400 million Thai people.
“Then, when the Ming Emperor traded the Southern Tianzhu area with the British, what he received was an uninhabited wasteland after a large-scale plague.
“The Emperor of Ming Dynasty also said that Ming Dynasty’s colonization was the colonization of the original concept, and what Ming Dynasty wanted was land for Ming Dynasty people to live on.
"So, the Ming Dynasty has now completed comprehensive mobilization and has begun to pay high investment in armed conquest of Taixi.
"You also want to bring tens of millions of Germans to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty will obviously not accept it.
"This is why Ming Dynasty does not respond to any official diplomatic contacts now.
“Only by cooperating with Ming Dynasty and doing things that are in the best interests of Ming Dynasty can we finally get the best possible outcome.
"We may not be able to retain a piece of land in the new Germany of Mozhou and continue to be the king of Germany.
“Of course, the premise is that we have communicated with Emperor Ming and let Ming understand that we know what we are doing.
"Otherwise, Ming Dynasty will only treat us as unrepentant lunatics and eventually eliminate us completely.
"It's just that this is obviously a complete betrayal of the German people..."
King William I was obviously stunned for a second, and he also recognized this statement of betrayal of the German people.
However, King William I did not directly express his opinion on his son's statement, but only pressed him to explain other analysis:
"Then go on, from the perspective of the Kingdom of Germany and all Germans, what should we do?"
Prince William Ludwig organized his thoughts and said as seriously as possible:
“From the perspective of the German Kingdom and its people, we should publicly demonstrate to the public our attitude of complete repentance.
"Publicly declare to break away from the alliance of the Roman Three Kingdoms and declare war on Lucia and Italy.
“Proactively return the areas of Denmark, France, Switzerland, and Austria that we occupied that have no Germans.
“An open invitation to Ming to deploy people to completely transform our country and culture.
"Everything must be made absolutely public, and the information must be announced to the public of European and Western countries and the Ming Dynasty through any controllable channel."
King William I was a little confused after hearing this:
"Didn't Ming completely refuse to accept our contact?
“Didn’t Ming want to get Taixi’s land, but not Taixi’s people?
"Won't Daming become angry after we do this?"
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig sighed and said:
"It is true that Da Ming may be disappointed, regretful, and maybe a little angry, but there is a high probability that Da Ming will accept this fact.
"According to my understanding of the people of Ming Dynasty, including the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, the ministers of the Nine Ministers and the nobles, most of the people of Ming Dynasty have one common characteristic.
“They especially like the identity of teachers, and they instinctively regard teaching bad people to correct their evil ways as the most important achievement in their lives.
"At the same time, compared to the British... or most Thais, they have a relatively high level of civilization and morality in general.
“This makes it difficult for them to do many bottomless things, such as torturing enemies who have sincerely surrendered to death.
"Based on these two common characteristics, if you are a character who has completely reformed his evil ways and at the same time surrendered to the Ming Dynasty unconditionally.
"Then the Emperor of Ming Dynasty and the ministers of the Nine Qing Dynasty can't find a reason that can convince all the people of Ming Dynasty to impose the most extreme punishment on us.
"It is very possible that we can retain a relatively intact German country and become a vassal state that is highly alerted by the Ming Dynasty."
King William I was a little confused after hearing this, but he recalled his experience of dealing with Ming people and the Ming classics and popular works he had read.
Then I felt that my son's analysis should be basically correct.
Put down the butcher's knife, correct the evil, accept the punishment, and actively invite Ming to discipline.
In terms of the general moral philosophy of the Ming Dynasty, people like myself should be given a chance.
Even the follow-up... will definitely be directly monitored by the Ming Dynasty's military garrison, and the entire country must be comprehensively transformed in accordance with the laws and culture of the Ming Dynasty.
However, there is a high probability that the country itself can be preserved relatively intact.
Even King William I thought of another thing:
“When we become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty and accept the comprehensive transformation of the Ming Dynasty, the existing capital in the country must also be completely liquidated.
"It should be difficult for most nobles to be retained. It is likely that only our Hohenzollern royal family has a chance to continue to exist...
"On the contrary, this is a feasible plan for our Hohenzollern family to stabilize from the current situation that is out of control..."
Prince Ludwig couldn't help but remind him:
“In this case, even if we still exist as the royal family, we will definitely become complete puppets.
“We will definitely lose all control of the country.
"If you want to gain actual power, you can only choose the first option, which is to betray the German people...
"Then try to exchange for an actual fiefdom in Mozhou."
William I sighed softly:
“Sure enough, it’s impossible to have the best of both worlds, but... we haven’t reached the end of our rope yet.
"Let's see how the Ming Dynasty attacks Moscow, and then make a decision after the Battle of Moscow."
Prince William Ludwig couldn't help but frown after hearing this, knowing that his father wanted to see if Daming would use the divine punishment weapon again.
But in the prince's view, the same decision on different events before and after a major event will definitely result in different results and treatment.
Daming repented before using the divine punishment weapon again. It was a relatively spontaneous reform with a little initiative.
The treatment you can get in the end will definitely be slightly better.
After Daming used the divine punishment weapon again, Zaipianpidian said that he would completely repent——
That would definitely be regarded as someone who was frightened and had to express his repentance on the surface.
The final treatment will definitely be worse.
Prince Wilhelm Ludwig only hesitated for a few seconds before feeling that he could no longer have any concerns at this time when the future of his family and ethnic group was being decided.
So he directly made this intention clear to his father.
After hearing this, King William I quickly understood what his son meant and felt that this difference definitely existed.
But there are still some flukes in my heart:
"What if... I mean what if, the Ming Dynasty really doesn't have any weapons of divine punishment..."
