One day was the Canal of the King William (later, on the New Day, King William II learned about the news on his yacht "Hohenzollern". When he learned about the death of his friend and hunting companion Francis Ferdinand, his face turned pale and he quietly returned to his special cabin - there were waves that were shaking the whole world.

The sympathetic telecommunications come from all over the world: President Woodrow Wilson sent a telegram saying "the sincere comfort of the American government and the people, and my deep sympathy"; King George V of Britain declared that his court would mourn for seven days; in order not to be surpassed by others, Tsar Nicholas mourned for 12 days. Due to the time difference, the minister of the Greater China Empire in Austria sent a telegram to the old emperor Joseph. The telegram was very ordinary, but the minister's attitude was very firm - "This is not an ordinary murder, this is a naked provocation to a great power." The sincere condolences and blessings were followed by an ill-intentioned mentality. Although the old emperor did not listen much, when Lin Guangyu in the capital knew that the fuse would be ignited and it would blow the whole world to pieces!

During the time of fate, the major powers are busy, while Sarajevo is calm. Of course, the base camp at the foot of the West Mountain is also uneasy. If the emperor was facing a great enemy a few months ago, his extremely solemn preview made people a little skeptical, and even thought that he was catching wind and shadow, then the occurrence of the Sarajevo incident has already launched this plan - the three feet of ice is not cold for a day, and the implementation of the "ice" plan cannot be achieved in one day.

As the mouthpiece of official public opinion, the Imperial Daily did not resort to much introspection to the distant European political situation. They reported in succession that the National Defense Force was about to begin. According to the combat plan formulated by the General Staff Headquarters, all troops need to be mobilized before July 1 and must all go to designated locations before. This will be the largest military exercise of the National Defense Force in the last three years. Not only will it review the results of the national defense construction site, but it will also conduct a high-intensity confrontation between the Imperial Guard and the New Army.

This news is not much news for well-informed powers - they have known this news since the beginning of this year. The military mobilization hidden behind the huge, complex and numerous preparation plans is unaware of it, not to mention that they are unaware of it. Even the chief officers of the troops involved in the overall plan are not aware of it - except for the Iron Triangle of the Imperial Guards, no unit knew the real purpose of Xia Cao.

The Texas Arsenal was running full production day and night, and all the arms supply items were accelerated. Similarly, in order to cover up, the artillery of the Jiangnan Factory and the guns of the Hanyang Factory did not grow simultaneously - you, Japanese, are you most concerned about using the country of the country, you can judge for yourself, what exactly we want to do.

In the futures market in London, various September futures peace agreements have begun to rise quietly. Although the amplitude is not large, Zhang Jiayu, the plenipotent representative of the Bank of Communications and Imperial Bank and the Royal Fund operating representative, has firmly sat on the Diaoyutai. He has already ambushed the swap peace agreement of up to 800 British dollars, calculated based on 10 times of leverage. For every point increase in forward contracts, the Empire's fiscal revenue is 800,000 pounds - are you still afraid that you will not make any money?

The seemingly calm Vienna Palace has actually become a whirlpool of contradictions, and things are gradually moving towards the abyss. Although the old emperor was very sad about the death of the crown prince, he had not yet made up his mind to punish Serbia by force. Although Serbia is weak, it is by no means an easy country, and there is also a behemoth of Russia standing behind it. However, the Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold vonlhidold and General Franz Conrad von Hetsendorf believed that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had seized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to destroy Serbia. Together with Conrad, they tried their best to instigate the old emperor to launch a war against Serbia.

Although the emperor was old, he was not confused. He was very hesitant in the face of the ministers of the two factions with different opinions. In order to take care of each other's emotions, he could only agree to convene a meeting of the imperial front. The results of the meeting of the imperial front were also mixed. The pro-war faction and the pro-peace faction could not gain an advantage that could overwhelm the opponent, and in the end he could only reach a consistent compromise between them - what the Germans said.

"Does the Germans need to say that they must have taken Austro-Hungarian life and put themselves in." Although the trusted and important officials were extremely surprised by Lin Guangyu's remarks that he was not optimistic about Germany, the emperor's last words made even more

Taunted: "Do you want Germany to win? When did I plan to pay it back after I borrowed a lot?"

The emperor actually made the idea of ​​stubborn debt? This was a situation that everyone could not expect. Even Zaize, who was famous for his boldness, was completely unprepared. He stuttered and asked: "Emperor, even if Germany loses, the victorious country will not let go of this debt easily... It's like the Russo-Japanese War, Japan won, we..."

"Idiot! Germany is over, and the money is worthless. Will you be able to get waste?"

"The Emperor is wise." Although there is 99% disbelief, everyone has been shocked by the emperor's usual accurate fables - this is really a blessing for the empire.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, listen, what that old guy Joseph said..." William II said proudly, "...If Austria takes action against Serbia, can we rely on Germany?"

"Your Majesty, how should I reply?"

"Yes! Why can't!" William II rubbed his hands excitedly and pondered his words, "Even if the situation develops to the extreme of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's war with Russia, we still guarantee that Germany will always stand on the side of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for its loyalty as an ally." William himself divided war and peace into good war and bad peace. If peace was obtained at the expense of Germany's allies, he would rather not. In a word, he would rather have a good war than a bad peace!

When the old emperor received William's blank check in a state of uneasiness, his sense of peace suddenly disappeared - he could no longer convince the militants who were determined to fight. He murmured to himself: "Now we cannot look back, there will be a terrible war."

General Conrad, the Chief of Staff, received the answers and support he wanted. Foreign Minister Bercidord, as the most determined pro-war faction, presided over the formulation of strategies - in order to cover up the purpose of concealing the army and gain time for the mobilization of the army and seize all favorable conditions to shape the "peaceful image" of his country, the two decided to submit an ultimatum to Serbia first, with the wording harsh and the offer price high - so high that it could not be accepted! After several rounds of negotiations and mediation, at 6 pm on July 23, Baron Giser, the Minister of Austria-Hungarian to Serbia, also submitted an ultimatum to the Serbian authorities, with a reply within 48 hours. The harsh wording and harsh conditions were unprecedented. Accepting this condition was almost equivalent to the destruction of the country, and refusing would inevitably mean war.

William II was still playing on his yacht. After reading the text of the ultimatum, he joked with his adjutant, Admiral Von Miller, in a pretended to be relaxed tone: "This is a lively note, isn't it? I guess the Serbs wouldn't accept it, we might as well ask them to accept it... Haha, this is impossible!"

The situation took a sharp turn and the atmosphere became more and more tense. After receiving the news of the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum, steel futures in the London futures market responded immediately and suddenly rose 15%.

"A contract of £400,000."

"But, sir, this ultimatum Serbia will not accept."

"I know they won't accept it."

"Then why do you want to close your position?" Although a settlement of 400,000 pounds can bring the net profit of .E., others still think there is still room for growth. "In just a few days, the profit will increase."

"There is only one way, jog slowly, otherwise it will make people pay too much attention." Zhang Jiayu smiled slightly, but his heart was rumbling - the National Defense Forces' full-scale division commission had obtained the staffing fee.

Although Serbia made great concessions, the final deadline stated at 6 pm on July 25 still cannot satisfy the Austrians - they do not know that except for the demise of the country, the Serbs will never satisfy the Austrians...

Under Zhang Jiayu's operation, another 800,000 pounds of profit was transferred to the accounts of the two banks in a quick and effective manner, and included in the Ministry of Finance's secret temporary budget - the temporary military expenditure in the first two stages of the acting stipulated by the Ice Plan.
Chapter completed!