Chapter 612 Is This Still Neutral?

Queen Wilhelmina meets the German ambassador in the reception room.

The reception room was simple yet slightly luxurious with a hint of royal elegance. There were several European-style sofas and a coffee table in the middle with small flags of the Netherlands and Germany temporarily planted on them to represent the friendship between the two countries. The room was filled with the scent of tulips, with a hint of the French perfume used by the Queen hidden in it.

Unlike usual, German Ambassador Stephen also brought with him the embassy military attaché Colonel Mark.

(Note: The military attaché of the embassy is a special diplomat. He is the diplomatic representative of the country's armed forces and also the military assistant of the ambassador)

The two men strode up to Queen Wilhelmina, saluted and obtained permission. The ambassador sat opposite the queen, and the military attaché stood beside the ambassador, holding his head high and chest out like a guard.

The Queen glanced at Colonel Mark. She knew what the Germans meant: if the diplomatic approach doesn't work, then use force. This was a psychological suggestion and also a deterrent.

The Queen remained calm. She smiled and said, "Long time no see, Stephen. You came just in time. I was just about to talk to you about imports. We are planning to expand the import of oil and arms from the United States, as well as other materials."

The Netherlands is a neutral country and can import supplies from other countries without being restricted by Britain, including oil and arms, which are also one of the main sources of supplies for Germany.

The Queen was hinting to the German ambassador that if the negotiations failed, Germany would lose all the benefits it had gained from the Netherlands, so he should not act rashly.

How could Stephen not understand the hidden meaning in the words?

If it was something else, Stephen would be more than happy to get the Queen's promise, and other things would be put aside for the time being.

But now, more than 200,000 German troops were surrounded tightly and there was no time to lose. This was not something that could be suppressed by just a few supplies.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Stephen showed some helplessness: "We are very grateful for your understanding and help to our country, but the war has spread to the Dutch border. We hope that your country can show humanitarian spirit and open the border to allow refugees to enter."

"Refugees?" The Queen looked at Stephen with a meaningful look.

"Yes." Stephen leaned forward and added, "I guarantee they are not armed. They don't even have military uniforms. They are just refugees."

The Queen hesitated.

This is a way to give the Netherlands a way out. As long as the Queen pretends not to know and nods in agreement, it will be fine. This excuse can also be used against Britain and France:

"We are innocent, we don't know, we are also deceived!"

But the Queen knew in her heart that Britain and France would not be fooled so easily.

The queen gently picked up the coffee and took a sip, her voice filled with helplessness: "I hope you can understand our situation, Stephen. We don't want to be dragged into this war, at any time."

As a queen, she couldn’t say, “We have to consider what Britain and France think.”

This is a loss of sovereignty and humiliation of the country, it is surrendering to foreign forces, and it is allowing other countries to interfere in internal affairs.

"I understand, sire," Stephen replied, "but I think that is the only way for Holland to remain neutral, don't you?"

This was a warning to the Queen that if the Netherlands did not agree to the plan, Germany would have to take action.

Before the Queen could answer, Mark, who was standing next to Stephen, added: "Your Majesty, we all respect the neutrality of the Netherlands, and I believe that Britain and France do the same."

This is a reminder to the Queen that Britain and France will not act rashly because they are worried that the Netherlands will completely side with Germany.

The Queen smiled.

Not a single word they said had anything to do with war, yet every word was filled with gunpowder.

After weighing the two options, if the Netherlands had any sense, it should have reluctantly agreed to Germany's decision to allow the entry of "refugees".

After some consideration, the queen sighed in her heart. She seemed to have no other choice.

As the saying goes, "a weak country has no diplomacy." The Netherlands, which is surrounded by Germany on land, seems to have no choice but to take the risk of accepting German "refugees."

As for Britain and France, we can only hope that they will not completely turn against the Netherlands because of this incident.

Just as the queen was about to agree, the secretary came in and whispered something to the queen. The queen's face changed drastically after hearing it, and she stood up and said to the two of them, "I'm very sorry, I need to leave for a while, and I also need time to think about it. Please wait a moment."

"Of course." The two stood up and watched the queen leave.

Then Mark felt that something was wrong again. He frowned and said to Stephen: “Your Excellency Ambassador, the secretary came in and said something before the Queen left. This means…”

Stephen nodded. “That means she doesn’t need time to think about it, but she’s going to meet someone. I guess it’s the British or French ambassador.”

Mark suddenly realized: "They also guessed that we wanted to go through the Netherlands."

"Of course." Stephen replied: "Since Charles has formulated a siege plan to penetrate Hasselt, he will certainly guess this."

"But you..." Colonel Mark asked doubtfully, "Why didn't you stop the Queen just now?"

"We can't stop it." Stephen crossed his legs leisurely, "There's no need to stop it either. In the end, the Queen has only this one choice."

Colonel Mark thought about it and felt that it was true. The threat from Germany was imminent, but the threat from Britain and France was far away and might not even exist.

From this perspective, the Netherlands can only solve its immediate problems and then consider its long-term concerns. At worst, it can agree to provide the Allies with more supplies to suppress the anger of Britain and France.

At this time, a signalman hurried in and reported to Stephen: "Your Excellency the Ambassador, Charles' First Armored Army crossed Hasselt and arrived at the Dutch border. At the same time, the British main fleet assembled in the North Sea."

(Note: The North Sea was named by the Dutch, meaning "the sea in the north", located in the northwest of the European continent, which is different from the "North Sea" in my country)

"What?" Stephen jumped up from the sofa in surprise.

He understood that Charles had not only thought about it, he had also made full preparations for it.

Now, for the Netherlands, once it agrees to Germany's conditions, what it will face is not a distant threat, but a real, immediate, huge threat from both sea and land.

At sea, it is the world's most powerful Royal Navy.

On land, the First Armored Army, commanded by Charles, might only take a few days to reach the capital and a dozen days to conquer the entire Netherlands.

(Note: The Netherlands is 300 kilometers long from north to south.)

In this case, will Germany's threats still work?

Sure enough, when the Queen met with the French ambassador in another reception room, the French ambassador said to the Queen directly:

"Your Majesty, we respect the neutrality of the Netherlands and we hope that the Netherlands can continue to maintain its neutrality."

"Since the Netherlands is neutral, we have reason to demand that Britain and France should enjoy the same rights as the Netherlands gave to Germany."

The queen was stunned on the spot.

This means that if the Netherlands accepts German "refugees", it must also accept British and French "refugees".

Is this still neutral?

Isn't the Netherlands a battlefield?!

(End of this chapter)