Chapter 3: German West Africa (2)

  As the best naval academy in Germany, the training at Kiel Naval Academy was naturally very rigorous. Just when the naval cadets were about to go crazy from the endless training, a holiday dawn finally arrived.

  Holidays during training periods are hard to come by, and Wang Haitao, who has been corrupted to the bone and has a lazy streak running through his veins, hides in his dormitory, covering his head and sleeping soundly until the sun is high in the sky.

  When Wang Haitian got up, the large school building was already empty. The Germans' pursuit of beer is obsessive and fanatical, Auden and Herman set out early in the morning, vowing to get drunk at a Kiel beer hall; Rettich stole half a day's leisure time, slung his fishing rod over his shoulder and went fishing; Wang Haitian thought for a moment, decided to go home, back to that illegal building in the lower district of Kiel which neither blocked the wind nor kept out the rain.

  A young man borrowed a motorized bicycle and rode through the bustling streets of Kiel. Kiel is one of Germany's largest cities, with many people in the city center and trams passing by from time to time. The world's first mass-produced, 2,000-mark-priced motorized bicycles are also not uncommon here.

  Wang Haitie slowed down the car and made her way through the crowd, looking around cautiously.

  Since Wang Haiting crossed over, troubles have been constant, and the busy and tired otaku has no time to stop and linger in Kiel's 1894 dawn, fortunately it is not too late now.

  "Xī Lài Mǔ..."

  A familiar voice came from the side, Wang Haitie's body trembled, and her heart felt empty. She refused to turn around, straightened up, pedaled hard with her feet, and rushed into the crowd in a flustered manner.

  "Sir, this is a busy district, please don't ride your scooter."

  Wang Haitao's plan to escape by breaking through was foiled, and he was stopped by the conscientious police. Wang Haitao had no choice but to get out of the car, forcing a smile, and said: "It's Mrs. Dick, Miss Catherine..."

  Catherine looked a bit thinner, and her face was slightly pale under the scorching sunlight in Kiel, but this did not diminish her charming and sentimental aura. Verani wore a thin, long dress like a cicada's wing, with an expensive sapphire pendant hanging from her neck, standing on the other side of the street with her hands clasped around her chest, and a cold, sinister glint occasionally flashing in her eyes hidden behind the veil.

  "I want to say that I'm not doing well, but who cares?" Catherine stepped forward, gently stroking the dark and rough face of Wang Haitian, slightly furrowing her brow, sympathetically saying: "How is it, the military school's training is very tough?"

  "Hehe." Wang Haiting didn't respond, leaning against the bicycle, only giving an awkward smile.

  "Heidi, I just want to know if you're not doing well." Catherine sensed Wang Hei Di's perfunctoriness and grabbed her arm, hesitating for a long time until Wang Hei Di subtly showed signs of wanting to break free. She then mustered up the courage to ask: "Us...do we still have a chance?"

  "Catherine, the guy you liked, Heiti-Xilem is dead." Wang Heiti hesitated for a moment and gave his first love an answer that sounded absurd but was actually quite sincere: "Nowadays' Heiti-Xilem already has someone he likes."

  In his past life, there was a girl who devoted herself to him without hesitation, and since he had already given his heart to her, how could he easily take it back? The otaku is a lazy person, and even the easy task of changing his mind is something he doesn't want to consider.

  Wang Haitie left, he jumped onto the car, almost fleeing in disarray. Verani seemed to let out a sigh of relief, she looked at Wang Haitie with a complex expression and took her daughter's hand, saying softly: "Catherine, forget about Salem, Victor is more suitable for you."

  ****

  "After the military exercise in mid-next month, the basic military training will be completed, and the next step is a two-month navigation training. We first practice primary navigation knowledge on a sailing training ship, so that we can quickly familiarize ourselves with the ocean, fleet flag language, sail rigging usage, and ship driving experience. Then we will follow that old Friedrich Karl torpedo training vessel to go on a long voyage to West Africa, through which we acquire basic navigation knowledge, get familiar with the Atlantic water environment, and have an initial impression of foreign ports and foreign navies."

  A small table was brought out and casually placed in the center of the wooden shed. On the table were several fruit platters, which had been sent over by Annie, the youngest daughter of the Shrek family, as well as a few pieces of roasted dark brown sweets and a bottle of slightly upscale pine nut wine.

  Due to the lack of wine cups, the greedy Silas and his son simply used a large bowl instead. Hetty King sat opposite Fransi, Little Annie quietly sat aside, staring at Hetty King's mouth watering, spitting and flying saliva as she held up the bowl filled with pine nut wine, her lovely little eyes twinkling mischievously.

  "The Friedrich Carl is a good ship!"

  An old sailor, Freesi, who had been retired from the navy for many years but still considered himself a German naval officer, burst out laughing when he saw Wang Haitian's deep black uniform and shouted that he wanted to raise his glass and have a midnight conversation, asking his son to report on his experiences at the naval academy.

  Wang Haitie indulged in his own preferences, exhausting his eloquence to the point of hoarseness, erasing all the ugly incidents that had occurred at the Kiel naval base, and calmly taking credit for Bernhard von Oden's achievements as his own. Just when Wang Haitie was getting tongue-tied, Freesi's fiery temper suddenly erupted unexpectedly.

  Wang Haitie was at a loss, and it took her a long time to understand that Old Navy Fr?ulein had served on the Friedrich Carl before, when the Friedrich Carl was not yet converted into a torpedo training ship, but a sailing central battery ironclad with a full load displacement of 7,000 tons, equipped with 16 x 210mm guns, and followed Fr?ulein, Kahn and others to participate in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, and was stationed in the crisis-ridden Jade Bay during the war.

  Freeci is very much like his father in the previous life, good face, hard mouth and soft heart. For fathers who are obviously spoiled by their sons but still wear a strict fatherly appearance, Wang Haitian has rich experience of struggle. He quietly shifted the topic away, and after several cups of pine nut wine, Old Haijun's discomfort was thrown into the marshes of Danzig.

  The grizzled old salt dropped his disguise, drunk as a lord. He spun out the salty yarns and tales of the sailors' private lore, the off-color jokes that never got old, and the memories of sea battles that now seemed like so much chicken feed, pouring them out like a burst dam to Maude and little Annie. Little Annie's face turned bright red, and she ran off in a huff.

  "In those days, when we were at war with the Danes, they had many excellent warships, while we only had a few old and dilapidated vessels. At that time, Karr was just a gunner on a wooden three-masted frigate, and I was in charge of a 57mm main cannon. The two groups met on the desolate sea, and the Danes opened fire first. We fought back, and the cannons roared, filling the air with smoke, making the sea seem like boiling water, with the noise unceasing. The Danes were strong, and their attack was well-organized. Before long, we had taken several near-misses, and water columns and shell fragments flew across the deck. I only felt my legs go numb, and then I fainted. When I came to, there was a bloody thigh lying in front of me. At first, I thought it was my own leg, and I grabbed Karr's hand, begging him to reattach it for me. Later, I found out that it belonged to some poor devil from our allied Austrian Navy. An Austrian torpedo boat near us had been hit, with blood, brains, and limbs flying everywhere. A severed leg flew in front of me, making me worry unnecessarily. Ah, having a crippled leg is still better than having no leg at all..."

  Fresnel's account of this naval battle is not mentioned in any history book, and even in the German history textbooks it is only a brief sentence: The Prussian-Austrian coalition fleet lost to Denmark in the contest for control of the sea and had to withdraw from the Eider River, fortunately the army made up for the disadvantage at sea. As Fresnel recalled this insignificant small-scale naval battle in the world's naval warfare history with narrowed eyes, his expression was very gentle and calm, as if he were retelling someone else's story.

  History has always been full of deception. As later generations, we can only see the cold, processed numbers, but will not think about the pain and vicissitudes behind those meaningless data. After finishing the German high school history textbook, Wang Haitian was shocked, he felt ashamed, ashamed of his ignorance. Others may ignore these unnamed heroes, but he is Freesi's son, he has no right or qualification to ignore them. Wang Haitian picked up a large bowl, and said seriously: "Freesi, you are a hero!"

  Fresy swayed back and forth, holding up the large bowl with both arms and shouting: "It's not just me, the glory belongs to every soldier who participated in the Imperial Unification War!"

  ****

  Freddie, drunk and dizzy, fell asleep. Wang Haitie cleaned up the small table, estimated the time when the dockworkers would return home from work, grabbed those packs of slightly better cigarettes bought with his student allowance, and hurriedly walked towards the dock.

  Braun has become a mid-level leader in the dockworkers' union and joined the Social Democratic Party, the largest party in the German parliament. Braun, who has read many progressive books, is no longer the old rascal who hangs out at the docks all year round, but a positive, mature, stable and responsible person. This transformation, which is almost like taking medicine, makes Wang Haitian's mouth open for half a day.

  It's okay, Bronte's feelings for Wang Haitian haven't changed much, and she patiently asks about his recent situation with her arm around his shoulder.

  "Westphal, I know the rules of the army, soldiers don't get involved in politics, so I won't keep you for dinner either." Blunt handed out those packs of cigarettes to the poor dockworkers, sent him onto the land leading to the Naval Academy, patted his motorcycle and said crisply: "Westphal, do well in the Navy, the living space of the German nation still needs to be opened up by you!"

  Wang Haitian took a step back, glanced at the frenzied Bronte who was shouting about pan-Germanic nationalism, and muttered to himself: "State... socialism?"