Chapter 963: Can it be done this way?

Wilhelmshaven, Germany, on the North Sea coast.

After a quick inspection of the navy accompanied by Admiral Scheer, William II walked into the lounge escorted by guards.

The purpose of his going to the lounge was not to rest, but an unusual meeting was waiting for him.

The aide-de-camp pushed open the door and welcomed William II in, then bowed and went out to close the door from the outside.

The curtains in the lounge were closed, and the sun was shining outside, but the lights were on inside.

Under the light, two men in suits and ties were sitting at the square table in the center of the living room, drinking coffee. When they saw William II coming in, they stood up and bowed, and introduced themselves in fluent German:

"Your Majesty, my name is Claus, and I am here to contact you on behalf of the British government."

"My name is Michael, and I'm here on orders from the U.S. government."

William II looked at the two of them and nodded for them to sit down.

This was a secret negotiation between Germany and Britain and the United States, and even Hindenburg knew nothing about it.

"So." William II did not take off his gloves. He sat on the chair with his sword at his waist and asked coldly, "Can you represent your respective governments?"

"Yes, of course." Klaus nodded: "I assure you, Your Majesty, you can rest assured that we have no need to deceive you."

Michael echoed: "The fact that we can sit here is a guarantee in itself."

This meant that they were risking their lives and William II could execute them at any time.

Claus had met William II several times before. He was previously the British ambassador to Germany, but was expelled after the war broke out.

Seeing that William II was still worried, he said directly:

"We have common interests, Your Majesty."

"We don't want France to be strong, and we don't want Charles to disintegrate our colonies with his so-called 'French spirit'."

"I'm sure you don't want that either."

William II did not answer, but glanced at the two of them coldly, as if thinking about what Klaus said.

This was no small matter. If word got out that some kind of agreement had been reached with Britain and the United States, Hindenburg and Ludendorff would be able to oust him from power in a matter of minutes on the pretext that "the emperor was collaborating with the enemy and selling out his country," and he would be despised by everyone and doomed to failure.

The American ambassador Michael seemed to see William II's worries. He comforted him, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, we will arrange everything reasonably. No one will know that you have formed an alliance with us."

Then he added: "And you don't seem to have any other choice, do you?"

There was a flash of anger in William II's eyes. How dare he speak to the German Emperor in a threatening tone?

But he gritted his teeth and didn't get angry.

Michael was right, he really had no other choice:

Externally, there are threats posed by the powerful army of the Charles.

Internally, Hindenburg and Ludendorff continued to use war to win over the hearts of the people and seize military power, and William II was almost left alone!

After thinking for a while, William II sighed and said, "Tell me, how can we cooperate?"

Klaus and Michael looked at each other, with a hint of pride on their faces.

"It's simple." Klaus turned his gaze to William II: "We need reparations as compensation for Germany starting this war..."

"How much?" asked William II.

He knew that this was inevitable and that a ceasefire would not be possible without sufficient benefits for Britain and the United States.

Klaus stared at William II and whispered a number: "33 billion US dollars."

William II was shocked by the figure. He looked at the two men in disbelief. After confirming that they were not joking, he gritted his teeth and shouted: "You are crazy. Germany's annual GDP is only 8 billion US dollars. We may never pay off this reparations."

(Note: Germany's GDP before the war was about 12.5 billion US dollars. In 1917, due to the impact of the war, the economy deteriorated and fell to 8 billion US dollars. A considerable part of this was the output value of wartime military industry. This part of GDP was the bullets, shells and equipment fired on the battlefield, and had nothing to do with the living environment and income of citizens.)

"Listen to me, Your Majesty," Michael reminded:

"Think of Russia. You may very well defeat it and then get a compensation from Russia."

“There are also resources.”

"For example, oil, coal, iron ore, etc."

William II shook his head:

"But they are not something I can control."

"Even with all that, it was the army that defeated Russia, and you should know that I cannot control the army."

"Hindenburg could not watch this reparations and resources disappear without a trace."

Michael pointed his finger in front of William II and said, "Then, take the army back from Hindenburg!"

William II looked at Michael in confusion. This guy must not know that the army no longer trusted his command.

Klaus smiled:

"We know, Your Majesty."

“But it would be different if we were allies.”

"We will relax the naval blockade of Germany, and the supplies will be in your hands."

Michael added: "We can do it inconspicuously. For example, we can make it look like a merchant ship full of supplies was looted by a German warship."

William II hummed with interest.

It was a good idea. The German navy was still strong, but it was surrounded by British warships and dared not leave the port.

Now if the British warships are willing to cooperate, that’s another matter.

Kraus continued:

"Not only will this give you control of supplies, but it will also increase your reputation because you were the one who commanded the navy to victory."

"In addition, there is room for maneuvers in the direction of the Hindenburg Line."

William II was puzzled: "Hindenburg Line?"

That was the army commanded by Hindenburg, and he had no say in it.

But Klaus said:

"We will storm the Hindenburg Line, Your Majesty."

"Without Saarbrücken, Hindenburg would not have lasted long there."

"When the defense line is about to collapse, if you can turn the tide and command your troops to launch an unexpected counterattack and win..."

William II understood that the British and American troops were cooperating with him to put on a show to restore the power of the army to his hands.

Then, Britain and the United States received compensation, and they gained power and status, and everyone was happy.

But William II smiled bitterly:

"Gentlemen, you seem to have forgotten the most important point: Ciel."

"If he wants, his troops can penetrate deep into Germany and force us to surrender at any time."

“Saarbrücken is not even far from the industrial Ruhr area.”

Kraus' voice was full of confidence:

"It will be fine, Your Majesty. Our troops are in the front, and Ciel's troops are in the middle of our lines."

"We can retreat dozens of kilometers under your heroic attack."

"Then Charles's troops will be alone in the deep."

William II's mouth was half open.

Can it still be done this way?

It seems that Yingmei has reached a desperate point to make Ciel go away!

(End of this chapter)