Chapter 2 The Sound of Guns in Helgoland Bay (Part 2)

  With His Majesty King William II, Grand Admiral Tirpitz, General Ingwersen, Commander of the High Seas Fleet, Prince Heinrich, Admiral of the Navy, General von Hahnke, Commander of the Kiel Naval Base, Major-General Scheer, Commander of the Second Squadron of Battleships and Rear-Admiral Hipper, Commander of the Battle-Cruiser Squadron, these high-ranking officers were in the foreground, while Captain Kingsmill and Captain Redler became unimportant figures. The stay-at-home did not feel out of place; he lounged about among the group of officers, quietly observing the British warships.

  The Royal Navy and the German High Seas Fleet had a long honeymoon period, but everything changed from 1898: after the Naval Expansion Act of the Reichstag, the German High Seas Fleet expanded rapidly at an exponential rate. From New Guinea, East Africa, the Caroline Islands to Kiautschou Bay; from Nassau-class, K?nig-class to Kaiser-class battleships, the rapid development of the German Navy from scratch and its expansionist aggression made the contradictions between Germany and Britain more intense, with confrontation and repression becoming the theme. In the situation where war was imminent in Europe, there were few opportunities for close observation of the High Seas Fleet, which was also the only enemy - the combat readiness level and combat characteristics of the Grand Fleet.

  "Rader, I never believed in the olive branch hung on the muzzle! The otaku narrowed his eyes and would not let go of any details about King George V, as if those steel monsters were his best lovers."

  "What a pity that gun is in the hands of the British!" Unlike Wang Haitie, Riedel, who came from an intelligence background, was much more professional and wouldn't pay attention to those fancy things. His focus was always on the caliber of the British fleet's guns, the thickness of their armor, optical instruments, wireless telegraphy applications, ship maintenance levels, and the morale of sailors on board.

  "The problem is, we're not ready yet..." The young man looked at the stubborn old guy Tirpitz and complained with a frown: "At the Berlin Military-Political Conference in December 1912, the Emperor foresaw that war might break out soon. The Chief of the General Staff of the Army, von Moltke, demanded that we launch a war as soon as possible, while Tirpitz insisted on delaying it until after the widening of the Kiel Canal was completed. A year and a half has passed, and we have 15 dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, and 22 pre-dreadnoughts, while the British have 21 dreadnoughts, 9 battlecruisers, and 40 pre-dreadnoughts. Our strength is far inferior to that of the British Grand Fleet, and what's even more frightening is that as frontline commanders, we still don't understand the ocean strategy and war plans of the High Seas Fleet: the old guard and the Emperor are trying to solve everything with a quick land war, while the Navy is merely an 'existence fleet' stuck in Wilhelmshaven. The young faction hopes to use torpedoes and mines to wear down the Grand Fleet, waiting for a Trafalgar-style naval battle; the Admiralty has decided to let Admiral Spee's East Asia Squadron launch a powerful raiding war in the vast Pacific and Indian Oceans, but doesn't consider at all the impact of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance on the East Asia Squadron. And what about the Mediterranean Squadron in the Adriatic Sea? What should be done with the small squadron in German East Africa?"

  On December 8, 1912, German Emperor William II convened a military-political conference at the Berlin Palace that would have far-reaching consequences for posterity. In attendance were Grand Admiral Tirpitz, Minister of the Navy August von Heeringen, Chief of the General Staff Helmuth von Moltke, Prussian Minister of War Josias von Heeringen, and Minister of the Military Cabinet Moriz von Lyncker. The diplomatic mediocrity German Emperor William II rarely showed his diplomatic talent in the conference, accurately predicting that the just-ended First Balkan War would have a lingering impact, and a large-scale European war was bound to sprout and spread in that troubled region. Moltke strongly advised the emperor to launch a war as soon as possible, while Tirpitz expressed opposition, believing that the navy had not yet completed its preparations, and the summer of 1914, when the Kiel Canal reopened, would be the best time for war. Although later historical records were vague about this conference, known as the "War Council", it was no big secret among the high-ranking officers of the German Navy and Army at that time.

  The war did not break out before 1914, not because of Tirpitz's dissuasion, but because the risk of provoking a European war was too great. In the face of a roulette game where the future of an entire nation is at stake, anyone would hesitate. Even if the Germans were not afraid of war and supported the empire to break the old order for Germany to gain more living space, it does not mean that the Germans are warmongers!

  "Why not submit the report to the Navy Department?" Xilam has the reputation of being the twin jewels of naval strategy, Raeder and he have a 20-year friendship, Xilam's strategic vision is overestimated. Raeder frowned, dissatisfied: "Xilam, this is a national war, no secrets can be kept!"

  "You think I'm not worried? Knowing that Auden is still in the East Asian Fleet, and my acquaintances Günther Lütjens and Karl D?nitz are both in the treacherous Mediterranean... The love that has fallen apart, the friendship that has been brewed for a long time, the selfless kinship, unknowingly, the apathetic traveler has already rested with this beautiful land of Germany, sharing breath and fate. As half a German, foreseeing Germany's defeat in World War I, how could the soul of the Grand Fleet, broken at Scapa Flow, be hidden? But some things are not something that can be accomplished by him with just passion and blood. The otaku raises a middle finger, saying angrily: 'Can I expect the conservative and shortsighted Naval Ministry to make changes, or for the Emperor's yes-man, Ingenohl, to stand up, or for Tirpitz, who has been stubbornly insisting for half his life, to admit his mistake and yield?'"

  ****

  Tirpitz was introducing Fischer to his colleagues, and the small dock was filled with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, but beneath this peaceful scene was a hidden struggle between the military men of the two countries. This strange phenomenon wasn't that nobody could see through it, but rather that the two marshals who had the power to mediate and ease this awkward situation were also at odds with each other.

  In 1898, Tirpitz became the Minister of the German Imperial Navy. At that time, Tirpitz was ambitious and proposed the famous Z Plan. According to Tirpitz's plan, the German Navy would build a batch of battleships in a short period of time, making the main force of the German Navy approach the Royal Navy in number. Tirpitz wielded his big stick, but the British First Sea Lord Fisher was not to be underestimated, and the first Dreadnought and the first battlecruiser were launched one after another.

  The appearance of the Dreadnought rendered all existing battleships, as well as those under construction or on the drawing board, obsolete, and forced Tirpitz into a corner, directly causing his risk theory to go bankrupt. Fischer and Tirpitz also became lifelong sworn enemies from then on.

  "This is Commodore David Beatty, commanding the First Battlecruiser Squadron of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet," Fisher said with a hint of pride.

  "David Beatty, the fastest officer to reach flag rank in the Royal Navy for a hundred years, aide-de-camp to Minister Churchill, youngest commander of a battleship squadron, and rising star of the Grand Fleet. I've heard a lot about him." Tirpitz paid a few compliments that were neither here nor there, implying that the Royal Navy was so lacking in talent that it had to rely on youngsters like Beatty.

  "Betty?" Wang Haitian, buried in the crowd, vaguely heard a familiar name, tiptoed and raised his head to see old friend David Betty, with a delighted expression, said: "Hey, how did this guy come here?"

  "The Royal Navy has only one David Beatty, but you have the three musketeers of Kiel: Bernhard von Arnim's heroism, Heide Sielem's genius, Erich Raeder's all-around talent, and Wolfgang Wegener's vision." Fischer apparently understood Tirpitz's aside, and retorted calmly: "Oh, Your Majesty, has Sielem already returned from the desolate Istanbul?"

  Fischer was clearly ridiculing the German Navy's lack of talent, allowing a group of twenty- or thirty-year-old geniuses to waste their lives, and Fischer even subtly satirized the High Seas Fleet as merely Wilhelm II's plaything.

  Although the German Navy transformed from a dispensable coastal defense force to the world's second-largest navy in a very short period of time, the arrogant British still looked down on the German Navy.

  William II had been insulted at the fleet review commemorating his grandmother Queen Victoria's fifty years on the throne, and it was well known that Emperor William was a complete incompetent in diplomatic matters, with a tongue as undiplomatic as the finest Krupp cannon. The turmoil of world affairs at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries owed much to Kaiser Wilhelm II, and German Foreign Minister Kiderlen deached felt this deeply.

  In 1910, Romanian diplomat and friend of Kiderlen-Waechter, Take Ionescu, recorded a lively and interesting conversation in which he asked Kiderlen what the Germans were after with their extreme armaments. To be the greatest military power on land and sea meant to rule the world, and that was impossible; the Germans would provoke resistance from all over the world.

  Kiderlen's painful reply was: "I wish I could do what you say, but I can't. Everything you just said, I've already said, perhaps not as movingly as you did. I told Tirpitz, and he sat where I'm sitting now, while I sat where you're sitting."

  "How is it?"

  "I couldn't persuade him."

  "Where is the Emperor?"

  "He stood on Tirpitz's side."

  It is impossible to expect the extremely self-abased and suspicious Emperor William to come forward to end this hidden murderous "cold war". In fact, His Majesty the Emperor has already flown into a rage, clutching his white gloves in his left hand as he trembles with impotence. As expected, the reporters present will again be able to sensationalize and exaggerate their reports.

  Tirpitz would have been even less to be hoped for, if it were not for the unfortunate timing, probably Tirpitz would have already thrown his white glove at Lord Fisher, his archenemy of Great Britain, in front of many reporters and loudly challenged him to a duel.

  "Your Majesty, Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, I don't know which of the three Kiel schoolmasters are present, but I am rather eager to renew my acquaintance with them." Seeing that the situation was not favorable, the handsome and elegant Admiral David Beatty stepped forward, quietly moving a few steps ahead, standing unobtrusively between the two admirals who were on the verge of clashing.

  "Huh?" Emperor William, although hot-tempered, was after all a politician. He suppressed his anger, tightened the white gloves on his hands, and turned to look at General von Betti with interest, asking: "Are you acquainted with my young men?"

  The intense smell of gunpowder dissipated instantly, the tense and oppressive atmosphere came to an abrupt end, and most people in the scene let out a sigh of relief. The American journalist who feared that the world would not be chaotic was somewhat disappointed, but who cares?

  "I've been good friends with Sillén and ?hlen for a very long time." Betzon took a deep breath, explaining patiently: "Your Majesty, we all served in the Far East together, participated in the 1900 campaign to relieve Peking, and had the pleasure of visiting the famous Eight Great Alleys of Beijing together."

  "The young men indeed all served in the Far Eastern Fleet, but I forgot about this one..." Emperor William shook his head and self-deprecatingly said a few words, then turned around to ask his generals curiously: "But what is Bada Hutong? A very famous scenic spot in the Far East?"

  “Cough, cough...” Tirpitz, who had once served as the commander of the Far East Fleet and directly commanded the invasion of Qingdao, China, suddenly turned pale with a twitch of his white mustache, covering his mouth in a violent fit of coughing. “Forgive me, Your Majesty... Cough, cough... I apologize for my rudeness...”

  Wilhelm II looked at Tirpitz, who was red in the face and coughing incessantly, with increasing bewilderment. Tirpitz did not answer the emperor's question, but instead gave His Majesty a very lewd expression.

  "Good heavens..." Emperor William was stunned for a moment before reacting, bursting out laughing: "This bunch of unruly rascals!"