Chapter 4: Old Foes and New Enemies (Part 2)

  "After further anxious reflection, I have come to the regrettable conclusion that I can no longer continue in collaboration with you. In the interests of the country it is not necessary to probe further, but I do not agree with the Heligoland Bight surprise attack plan and cannot stop it, which apart from being extremely unpleasant for me is also unfair to you. I am immediately going to Scotland so that people will ask no questions."

  Excerpt from Fischer's resignation report

  Fisher had a high reputation at the British Admiralty, and many front-line commanders, middle-ranking officers and technical officers were his followers. Based on distrust of Churchill's command ability, on the eve of World War I, there was a strong call from young people in the British Admiralty for Fisher to return to the Admiralty.

  Fisher's existence was a huge threat to Churchill, the Minister of the Navy. Under pressure, Churchill reluctantly reinstated Fisher, who had been idle at home, but Churchill would never give up his supreme power as Minister of the Navy. As a civilian, he used his authority to constantly suppress and undermine Fisher, counterattacking him in a swift and covert manner. Churchill was certain that the strong-willed Fisher would not compromise with him and would eventually resign in anger.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, on the morning of August 23rd, just as the British fleet was making a massive attack on Heligoland Bay, the British First Lord of the Admiralty and three other Sea Lords received resignation letters from Admiral Fisher.

  The Battle of the Heligoland Bight was undoubtedly a catalyst for the Churchill-Fisher feud, with Churchill pushing for the operation from a political perspective and Fisher, still a professional sailor at heart, refusing to allow the Royal Navy to take unnecessary risks. After a heated argument, Admiral Fisher resigned in isolation from the naval high command.

  The news of Fisher's resignation left the British Navy somewhat unprepared, and the news of the defeat at Heligoland Bight reached the Admiralty, which was already unstable due to the turmoil in the British Navy Department. At this time, Winston Churchill, who had been eager to try for a long time, boldly stood out. He announced at the first time that Britain had achieved a brilliant victory at a great cost in the chaotic battle in the fog, and had smashed the arrogance of the German Navy.

  The inevitable result of Arthur Wilson's persuasion was that on 23 August, John Arbuthnot Fisher, the old admiral who had single-handedly saved the Royal Navy from its years of decline and led the Mediterranean Fleet back to greatness, finally retired after decades of brilliant service.

  The car sped through the rugged countryside of northern Scotland, potholed rural roads, countless windmills and churches, endless grasslands and hills, and flocks of sheep and long Scottish bagpipes flashed by outside the window.

  On the fourth day after Fisher's resignation, David Beatty, who was writing a report on the Battle of Heligoland Bight on board HMS Lion in Scapa Bay, Orkney Islands, suddenly received a telegram signed by Fisher. As one of Churchill's mainstays, he had to jump into a military car heading deep into the Scottish Highlands. Before lunch, David Beatty finally appeared outside a small villa on the north bank of the Spey River in northern Scotland, looking dusty and tired.

  Fischer looked spry after his resignation, wearing a simple farmer's outfit and puffing on a cigarette as he sat comfortably on a rocky outcropping beside a stream near the source of the Spey River, fishing.

  "Field Marshal!" David Beatty emerged from the jeep, adjusted his uniform and saluted.

  "Haha, Betty, I've already quit my job, don't be so formal." Fischer extinguished the cigarette butt and pointed to the empty fish basket with an awkward smile: "Originally wanted to invite you to a fish feast, unfortunately, not skilled enough..."

  "Let me, Field Marshal," said David Beatty, who was itching to try his luck. He took off his white gloves and took the fishing rod from Foch's hands, looked around with a practiced air, found a shady spot to cast his line, and before long had caught a small fish.

  "Who would have thought that David Beatty, known as the most fearless admiral in the Royal Navy, was also an old hand at angling? I thought this sort of thing was only for us older guys." Fisher, whose physique had grown somewhat portly, said with a chuckle as he scooped up the lively little fish into his creel.

  "This is a hobby that was cultivated in 1894 when I had nothing to do." David Beatty found a comfortable position, grasped the fishing rod, and repeatedly pondered the intention of Admiral Fisher coming from afar to chat with him. His mouth didn't stop, and he explained with some melancholy: "It's been many years since I last held a fishing rod, and I didn't expect my skills were still there."

  "What about the Kampf?!" Fischer, a man of mature age and tact, skillfully diverted the not-so-pleasant topic: "1894 was quite eventful, if I recall correctly. That year you were at the shipyard waiting for the repair of the ironclad warship Kampf to be completed, while Captain Jellicoe of the Victoria had just been cleared of charges by a court-martial, and Germany's strategic twin jewels, the three musketeers of Kiel Naval Academy, joined the German Navy that very year."

  David Beatty smiled awkwardly, referring to the 1893 collision of Camperdown and Victoria, in which the latter sank with Admiral Tryon and 357 crew members on board. The collision still haunted him as a terrible nightmare.

  "Betty, what do you think of my old opponent, Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the German Minister of the Navy?" Fischer asked with narrowed eyes, seemingly casual.

  "Although lacking in strategic foresight, he was able to take the impoverished German Navy from nothing to a world-class fleet ranked second only to Britain. His achievements are worthy of our respect." David Beatty's eyes narrowed as he grasped his fishing rod tightly.

  "Yes..." Fischer slightly raised his head to gaze at the azure sky, trying to conceal the endless desolation in the eyes of a defeated old general in front of the young man. Savoring the bitterness of the end of a heroic era alone, Fischer surprisingly felt a sense of sympathy for his arch-nemesis across the North Sea. He sighed: "What a pity, Tirpitz has also resigned."

  Did Tirpitz resign? The old fellow, who had held the office of German Minister of Marine for seventeen years, and was known to be stubborn and hot-tempered, and would not yield an inch, even if it meant putting his good friend Selim on ice for ten years, had actually resigned? This astounding news came from Admiral Fischer's mouth, and made David Beatty's scalp prickle with suspicion, and suddenly the world seemed a bit absurd.

  "Although this matter is unknown even to the higher echelons of the German Navy, the truth of the matter cannot be ignored. Just two days ago, Tirpitz privately telegraphed me..."

  The supplement of Marshal Fischer shattered the fantasy of David Beatty. In August 1914, with Fischer's gloomy departure and Tirpitz's hidden retirement, the High Seas Fleet without Tirpitz's restraint was led by young German naval officers such as Franz von Hipper and Heideck, how far could they go? Would the German Navy adopt asymmetric warfare against Britain? Would the High Seas Fleet change its previous cautiousness and become more aggressive?

  As the frontline commander of the Grand Fleet, David Beatty was getting restless. He sensed that the calm North Sea was on the verge of a dramatic change and he had to make corresponding plans as soon as possible!

  "General, what is the purpose of summoning me?" David-Betty was somewhat anxious, he positioned himself as a professional soldier rather than a lying politician, and this move of "hiding a knife in a smile" was something that David-Betty could never learn. He took a deep breath and bluntly asked the marshal.

  Fischer Marshal fell silent for a moment, lowered his head to gaze at the rippling waters of the Spee River, and hesitated: "Davy-Betty, can I entrust the future of the Navy to you?"

  "What?" David-Betty's fishing rod in his hand trembled slightly, and the small fish that had just bitten the hook escaped alertly, leaving David-Betty with a face full of astonishment.

  "To be honest, I've been fighting Tirpitz for half my life, and in the end, I still lost to him." Admiral Fischer's eyebrows were tightly locked, and he said with a hint of resentment: "I really envy that old guy, his High Seas Fleet has not only first-rate naval tactical commanders like Hipper, but also a strategic genius like Scheer who appears once in a century, while our Grand Fleet only has one David Beatty!"

  "Field Marshal, you can trust General Jellicoe!" Jellicoe was a key member of the "Fisherman's gang", and David Beatty couldn't quite gauge Fisher's intentions, so he had to flatter him insincerely.

  "Even you know that John Jellicoe is just a defensive commander, internally he can't get rid of the naval minister who doesn't understand military affairs, externally his long-range blockade can't cope with the complex and changing situation after Tirpitz era." Admiral Fisher's eyes became sharp and piercing as his tone rose, staring at David Beatty's slightly tense face, he said urgently: "But you are different, people say you are a brave but reckless general, only suitable for being a vanguard general, but I know your limit is not there, your strategy is no worse than Heideck-Sillem. In the post-Tirpitz era, with both literary and military talents, you will be an indispensable soul figure of the Grand Fleet, what you lack is just an opportunity, a bigger stage than the First Battlecruiser Squadron, and I can give them to you."

  "Admiral Fisher's voice paused for a moment, then asked loudly: 'David Beatty, can I entrust the future of the Navy to you?'"

  "But I'm a Churchill man!" David Beatty's young and impetuous heart skipped a beat, and he stammered out a reply.

  "Boy, you're wrong. You are David Beatty of the Royal Navy, David Beatty of the British Empire, not Winston Churchill's David Beatty." The 74-year-old old general shook his head and brought out the blocks and plates that had been accumulating in his mind: "I understand my old opponent, Tirpitz will not easily give up the career he founded, unless he has already found a successor and arranged everything for that lucky one. Beatty, I have a premonition that person won't be Reinhard von Scheer, won't be Franz von Hipper, but Heidegger Selim."

  ****

  After the cruel bloodbath, the sweetness of love is always a bit hard to accept. However, Lieutenant Otto Weddigen of the Navy, or the Weddigen family from Rantzau, likes to be unconventional. On August 27th, four days after the Battle of Heligoland Bight, U-9 submarine commander Otto Weddigen held his wedding ceremony at St. William's Church in Wilhelmshaven.

  The Weddigen family has produced many notable figures, including Protestant theologians, scientists, writers and businessmen. The fame of the Weddigens drew a large crowd of people from all walks of life to St. William's Church, including naval colleagues of Weddigen himself, as well as royalty, high-ranking military officers and journalists who had heard about the upcoming wedding between Weddigen and his childhood sweetheart Linda.

  Still the same old plot, lovers standing in front of a priest and a cross, promising to exchange rings and vow to protect each other for all eternity. Otaku has reason to sincerely bless the love between his subordinates Weidi and Linda, and also has every excuse to ridicule the solemn scene.

  In the scorching summer of 1902, the wedding of Catherine, daughter of a wealthy merchant in Kiel, and Victor, son of a high-ranking official in Schleswig, shook the whole city. In the cold winter of 1902, Heidi Wang and Annie, the youngest daughter of the Schreck family, got married in a humble church in the lower district of Kiel. Whether they knew each other or not, whether they loved each other or not, the four young people made vows that year, ignoring their religious beliefs, only to realize later that it was a lifetime of mistaken love. The purest and most innocent love! Ah, the love between the rich and handsome and the short, poor, and ugly!

  The priest pronounced Vedi and Linda husband and wife, the champagne was opened, the band played lively music, cheers and blessings echoed in the grand church, but Wang Haitian felt dizzy, always feeling that this happiness had turned into pressure coming face to face.

  The bouquet tossed by the newcomer, with Cupid's favor, accidentally fell into Lieutenant Lauren's hands. Wang Haitian's despicable subordinate was embarrassed and hastily stuffed the flowers directly into Wang Haitian's hands. The otaku could only be magnanimous, wryly smiling as he raised his hand to show off his wedding ring.

  In fact, Wang Haiting is not a person who doesn't understand romance, this was said to Catherine.

  "Is that all right?" The newcomer pouted and took away the flowers, deciding to throw them again. Catherine hesitated for a moment, but eventually came over, asking in a low voice, and then answered on her own initiative instead of Heidi: "Hey, this question is really too boring, you're doing great, the newspaper is full of your news. Congratulations, Deputy Commander of the First Reconnaissance Fleet, General Heidemarie-Selheim!"

  ****

  Today was not in a good state, 3,800 words from 8 am, then pushed to restart, continued, pushed to restart, finally gritted teeth, it's just like this. In fact, the outline is the outline, actual creation is actual creation, ideal state is always difficult to achieve.

  I recommend a book, "The Stock God's Revelation" by Tang Ren Yu Ye. It's about financial warfare and has strong professionalism, with a writing style that casts a large shadow of the times!