Chapter 2: Nobles and Commoners (3)

  "So, Major Stenzel, you want me to expel Heidi Westphal?" The fifty-four-year-old headmaster of the Kiel Naval Academy, Ernst von Reiche, looked very old, with white hair and a face etched with age. He patiently listened to Stenzel's complaints, removed his reading glasses, slowly closed the teaching logbook, and raised his head to ask.

  "Principal, it's only been three weeks since the military basic training started, and Heidi-Xi Leim has already damaged five light weapons. He fainted four times during formation training, and his rifle shooting score is appalling. The most frightening thing is that Xi Leim can't even go to sea; he not only fears the ocean but also gets dizzy as soon as he boards a training ship." Major Stenzel stood in front of the principal's desk, gritting his teeth in anger: "Xi Leim lacks perseverance and determination, he's a military moron, he has no sense of being a soldier, and his presence is affecting the normal training of other naval students. He can't even handle relationships with his classmates properly. His roommate, Auden, has asked to switch dormitories multiple times. Principal, I know Xi Leim was personally selected by you, but I think he doesn't meet the standards of the navy, he's not suitable for the navy!"

  "Ah..." Colonel Stengel's voice was dry and hoarse, but Principal Lai remained unmoved. He picked up his coffee cup and took a small sip, humming softly as if in contemplation, sitting silently for a long time like an old monk, until he had exhausted Colonel Stengel's patience before speaking: "Colonel, are you blaming this stubborn and obstinate old man for having that little bit of pitiful self-respect, so you tolerate Heidi-Xi Lai in every way?"

  "Principal, I didn't mean it that way..." Ernst von Reischach, a respected and esteemed Rear Admiral who had served in the Navy for decades, was suddenly flustered when Old Principal Laie handed him a high hat, and Stenzel hastily tried to explain.

  "Major, you already know the result of the Battle of the Yellow Sea in the Far East during the Qing invasion of Japan?" Old Lai asked calmly, waving his hand to let Stenzel calm down.

  September 17, 1894, the Yellow Sea War broke out, and the Beiyang Fleet, which had two of the world's first-class ironclad ships, was defeated. The Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Chaoyong, Yangwei, and Guangjia five warships sank, while the Laiyuan was heavily damaged. Meanwhile, only five Japanese warships, Matsushima, Saien, Akagi, Chiyoda, and Saisen Maru, were injured.

  "How did Heidi Sijelm behave in other subjects apart from military basic training?"

  "Whether it's engineering or astronomy and oceanography, Heidi Sylejman's grades are clearly outstanding." Stenzel wanted to give a negative evaluation, but Heidi Sylejman's performance in these non-military training subjects was indeed stunning, leaving Stenzel unable to find an excuse to discredit her, and finally had to silently acknowledge.

  "Heidi - Xilem and Oden, Herman's contradictions I also have some hearsay, that is just the children's rivalry." Old Lai Xi smiled and gave a new interpretation and definition to the long-standing contradiction between the nobility and commoners within the Navy: "Major, contradictions can make children compete with each other and improve together, but they can also make children hate each other and go astray. As for which direction the contradictions will turn, it depends on your methods, Major."

  "But..." Stenzel wanted to make one last effort, but a knock at the door came from outside. Stenzel knew better and stopped talking, reluctantly getting up to open the door.

  A high-ranking officer wearing a colonel's uniform, boots and holding a military cap walked in with an air of authority, his every move commanding attention. Stenzel's momentary displeasure froze on his face as he hastily clicked his heels together in salute. "Chief of Staff, what brings you here?"

  In 1892, Alfred-von-Tirpitz, who was then Chief of the German Empire's Naval Staff, tipped his cap and returned a military salute, turned around and gave a standard military salute to Ernst-von-Reischach, who was sitting on the sofa.

  Reischach, nine years younger than Tirpitz, was taken aback for a moment until Tirpitz saluted him, and then he remembered to return the salute.

  "Principal, I'm here this time to inspect the new students of these few sessions." The Germans attach great importance to etiquette and hierarchy. In terms of position, Raeder is not as high as Tirpitz, but Tirpitz, although only a colonel, is deeply favored by Emperor Wilhelm and serves as Chief of Naval Staff. However, in terms of military rank, Tirpitz is lower than Raeder, and Tirpitz is also a student from the Kiel Naval Academy, which makes him Raeder's junior. This complicated relationship is difficult to untangle. To avoid awkwardness, Tirpitz decides to directly address Raeder as "Principal".

  "Really?" Principal Lai Xiashao, who had been in the navy for many years, was a seasoned veteran. He heard the unspoken implication and his face lit up with joy, asking with his eyes.

  "The admiral, even if I had the favor of His Majesty and the courage to burn my bridges, that day is not today." Tirpitz understood that Admiral von Reischach had misunderstood him, and he awkwardly explained himself.

  Old Reiher will be a respectable principal, he cares about his students like his own children, he not only pays attention to training results but also more concerned about the future of the cadets. The German Empire Army is invincible, while the Navy has been weakened by policy to this day. The German Navy is just a coastal defense force, although there are several combat-effective Brandenburg-class ironclads and an Augusta-class heavy cruiser, it's far from enough, every year many graduates of the naval academy have no assigned posts, their talents eventually buried in logistics bases and reserve fleets. Old Reiher is deeply grieved by the loss of talent, he tries his best to compress the school's enrollment scale, for the future of his disciples he doesn't hesitate to introduce and promote his students, eagerly waiting for Tirpitz's big naval plan to be implemented.

  This was a kindly and vigorous old naval officer, Captain Tirpitz sighed and comforted him with a bitter smile: "Principal, you should be more aware than I am of how stubborn and conservative those people in the Navy Department are. Even if I want to change, I still lack seniority."

  Tirpitz had not fared well in the Navy Department over the years. The army-born Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and the conservative old men who controlled the Navy Department were oblivious to Germany's small domestic market and scarce resources, stubbornly adhering to the policy of coastal defense, ignoring the feast of partitioning the world by other European powers. At that time, the British had already emerged from the "naval dark age" of ten years, and in 1889, they proposed an ambitious "two-power standard" in the Naval Defense Act, with a large number of new warships such as Victoria-class, Nile-class ironclad ships, Royal Sovereign-class, and Barfleur-class pre-dreadnoughts entering service. The British Navy had already surpassed the sum of other powers' navies; In the second half of the 19th century, due to the turmoil in France, a naval crisis was triggered. In 1872, the newly appointed Minister of the Navy, Admiral Aube, ordered the cancellation of all armored battleship construction plans under the pretext of reform, which severely damaged the French Navy, which had been gradually approaching its peak. Fortunately, in 1889, Jean de Lanessan became the Minister of the Navy, and the French began to get rid of the shackles of the "green water navy" theory of the new naval school, and embarked on the fast track of naval development. The birthplace of "The Influence of Sea Power upon History", the United States, which was isolated in the Americas, also made a late start in the second half of the 19th century. The wealthy Americans developed from a small role that could be ignored on the world's naval map to a formidable white fleet within less than ten years, and in the "small but brilliant" Spanish-American War, they defeated the weak Spain.

  The 1890s were a time of new technologies and theories in navies around the world, with the emergence of the British pre-dreadnought battleships being particularly stunning. This marked the end of the era of simple ironclad warships and the beginning of the pre-dreadnought era for the world's navies. At this time, however, the German Navy was still focused on the ideas of distant blockade warfare and coastal defense warfare, with only one unsuccessful class of armored cruiser, the Brandenburg-class. Tirpitz decided to change this; he believed that cruisers without battleship protection were unsafe, and proposed building a powerful fleet of battleships. The Naval Department rejected Tirpitz's idea, which made him furious; he prepared to resign, but was persuaded to stay by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

  "Maybe I was too hasty..." Principal Lai hesitated, his voice low and apologetic, his turbid eyes filled with a sense of loss that he couldn't conceal. He turned to ask the naval instructor, Stenzel, "Stenzel, are there any promising students in this batch?"

  "Yes, there are a few." Stenzel picked up the training log on his desk and introduced: "In the past few weeks of basic military training, Bernhard von Oden from Bavaria and Erich Redel from Hamburg have shown their outstanding military qualities. Interestingly, they ranked third and first in the college entrance examination respectively."

  "And what about the second name?" Colonel Tirpitz asked with interest.

  "Heidi-Sylem?" At the mention of this name, Stenzel couldn't help but associate him with unflattering words like "good-for-nothing" and "idiot", frowning in complaint: "Over the past few weeks, we've been intensifying our training in formation drills, light arms and marksmanship, basic gunnery, physical education, and shipboard duties. Heidi-Sylem from Kiel has been fairly mediocre in these areas, but in the compulsory subjects of oceanography, astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy at the academy, he's shown remarkable talent. Philosophy instructor Mr. Pirrels-Ferdinand is even shouting about wanting to take him on as his protégé."

  In front of outsiders, Stenzel knew the principle that family shame should not be made public. Given Heidi's poor performance, "mediocre" was already the most polite word Stenzel could think of.

  "In other words..." Tirpitz said with a thoughtful expression, leaving his sentence unfinished.

  "That means Heide-Sielem is not suited for a military career, he should go to university, to the Berlin University laboratory under the crazy scientist! Stenzel was really fed up with that guy who didn't understand the qualities of a soldier. These words were said by Stenzel through gritted teeth. "I heard he got accepted into Berlin University but gave it up due to family reasons, good grief, what a loss for Berlin University and what a tragedy for our Kiel Naval Academy!"

  "How did he then pass the entrance exams for the Shanghai Military Academy, or was it second place?" Heidi-Sylejman asked with great interest, Tirpitz inquired enthusiastically.

  "This year's entrance exam coincided with the outbreak of war in the Far East, so we made 'Speculations on the outcome of the naval battle between Qing and Japan' as an exam question. Cough, almost all candidates thought that the Qing navy would win, only Hermann and Heidi-Syllem from Bavaria believed that Japan would win, among which Heidi-Syllem's answer was the most brilliant..." Stenzel explained with a roll of his eyes.

  "Captain, I'd like to see Silem's test paper." Tirpitz stood up and asked Captain Stenzel. Stenzel nodded, reluctantly turned around and walked towards the filing room. Just as he was about to step out of the door, Tirpitz called out to him and said inexplicably: "Captain, I suggest you be more patient with that child."

  "What?" Stenzel stared blankly.

  "Captain..." Tirpitz and Raeder exchanged a smile, the Chief of Naval Staff turned his head, his eyes deep and said: "Believe me, that kid is a genius."