"Gentlemen, what should we do now?" Alfonso XIII looked at his ministers. Now, he just feels a very headache. He didn't want to agree to such harsh conditions from the Germany people, but he was worried that a war would break out if he rejected the Germany people's conditions. In that case, Spain is doomed.
"Your Majesty, there are only two ways before us now. Either agree to the conditions of the Germany people, cede Gibraltar and Balearic Islands to them, and at the same time compensate them with one billion Mark's losses. Or reject the conditions of Germany, and then mobilize immediately to fight to the death with Germany. Otherwise, there is no other way!" Count Romanones said! Other ministers can pretend to be stupid, but he is Prime Minister, and he cannot pretend to be stupid.
Alfonso XIII couldn't help but frown. Neither of these two paths was what he wanted to choose.
"If we mobilize, can we scare Germany people?" Alfonso XIII asked. If Germany could give up these harsh conditions after seeing Spain's determination to fight at all costs, this would be a good thing for Spain. However, Alfonso XIII knows that this may be very difficult. Because the strength gap between the two sides is really too big.
"Your Majesty, even if we mobilize, I'm afraid we won't be able to mobilize the Germany people. With our strength, we can only mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops in a short period of time. The Germany people only need to send 100,000 people to defeat us. Therefore, it is almost impossible to fight to the death with the Germany people." Minister of War said.
His meaning is very obvious. If you want to fight to the death of the fish and break the net, the final result may be that the fish is dead, but the net is not broken.
Inside the Royal Hall, there was a sudden silence, as if you could hear a pin drop clearly.
"So, we only have people like Germany to give in? Accept their conditions in humiliation?" Alfonso XIII was very helpless. He was originally a very good-looking person. In this case, he might not even be able to hold his head up in front of the Monarchs all over the world.
Everyone was silent again, no one knew what to do.
"Preto, can you ask United States to help us? This is what they promised at the beginning." Alfonso XIII said. As long as Americans can intercede for Spain, make Germany's conditions not so harsh, and make Spain's face a little more tolerable, he will have no requirements for it.
Preto shook his head. "Your Majesty, Americans claimed that Germany people did not give them face at all. Therefore, they are probably powerless in this matter. After all, the relationship between United States and Germany is also very bad. The two sides are even hostile."
"Your Majesty, there is no way around this. Perhaps, from the beginning, it was a mistake for us to accept the Gibraltar returned by the Britain people. This is clearly a trap, dug for us by a Britain person. Trap. Even Americans is involved. They want us to start a war with the Germany people and use us to consume the strength of the Germany people. Such intentions are really sinister!" Count Romanones said.
Alfonso XIII's face suddenly became very ugly, and he knew that he had fallen into a trap. He even wanted to slap himself hard. Why was he so stupid?
At the same time, Alfonso XIII glared at Preto fiercely. He believed that this guy must have played a bad role in this.
Preto saw Alfonso XIII's eyes and was immediately frightened. He knew that he had to keep his tail between his legs, otherwise, he might be in bad luck. The angry Alfonso XIII might even eat his heart.
"Tell Americans that if they don't come forward to help us, then we will tell Germany people everything. Let Germany people know that they are causing trouble behind all this!" Alfonso XIII said. He seems to think this is a very good way to divert conflicts. In this case, maybe Germany will be able to deal with them lightly.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this has no effect. The Germany people's intelligence department is pervasive. They must know that Britain and Germany people are behind this. But, Germany The people have no way to deal with Britain and Americans, so they took out their anger on us. "Count Romanones's words once again shattered Alfonso XIII's delusions. This made Alfonso XIII almost desperate.
"Damn! Then what should we do? Do we really have to agree to the Germany people's request? Give them Gibraltar, and forget it. However, the compensation of one billion Mark and Balearic Islands cannot be given to them!" Alfonso XIII said.
"Let German Ambassador talk to the Germany people again. We are willing to cede Gibraltar to them. In addition, we will compensate them 100 million Mark. This is the bottom line for Kingdom of Spain!" Alfonso XIII said.
At this point, he was still unwilling to fully accept the conditions proposed by the German Empire, thinking that he could lower the conditions as much as possible and strive for certain benefits for Kingdom of Spain.
However, Alfonso XIII's behavior is obviously unacceptable. Under the leadership of Oscar, German Empire has become the most powerful country in the world. Moreover, it is now at its peak. Alfonso XIII's behavior will only bring more trouble to themselves.
When the two-day deadline given by German Foreign Minister came and Spain people were unable to accept all the conditions offered by Germany, Germany Foreign Minister Wachth immediately announced that the negotiations had broken down.
This is definitely not good news for Spain people. When the news spread back to Spain's country, Alfonso XIII was even more angry and frightened at the same time. He is really afraid that the Germany people will keep their word and expand the scale of the war against Spain. In that case, Spain is doomed.
After Oscar learned that Spain still had not agreed to his request, he knew that Spain had not given up yet and was still lucky. What Germany has to do now is to put further pressure on Spain people until they can no longer bear it. By that time, Spain people will naturally agree to Germany's request.
Oscar issued an order to the War Ministry, asking German Army 1st Army Corps stationed at northern France to quickly move to the south of France and drive to the north of the Pyrenees Mountains, making a posture of crossing Pyrenees Mountains and attacking Spain.