Chapter 4: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times (I)

  This chapter has a lot of data, I want to introduce the reasons for the rise of the German Navy clearly, so please bear with me.

  The naval officer examination before the graduation of Kiel Naval Academy has ended, and now only two sessions are left: thesis defense and degree conferment. In October 1897, the grand auditorium of the academy was packed with people, Stenzel stood on the stage as the host, while Ernst von Reischach, Müller and other naval instructors sat below to score the students who came up to defend their theses.

  Auden's thesis defense ended, and the applause from the audience was like thunder, lasting for a long time. Lai Xi hesitated for a while before giving him a score of 98.

  "General, how's my student doing?" The old rascal, over fifty years old, squinted his eyes, and a hint of cunning flashed under his old-fashioned glasses as he said with a self-satisfied tone.

  "It's no wonder he's a top talent among the Three Swords of Kiel, his thesis is magnificent and has great scope, he will definitely become an outstanding fleet commander in the future!" General Alfred von Tirpitz seemed to see through Principal Raichstein's intentions and spoke matter-of-factly.

  "You'd better arrange a good position for him!" Old Lai hesitated, not caring about his face at all, and said in a calculating tone: "You are a student of the Kiel Sea School, these are your juniors. Now that you have become the Minister of the Imperial Navy and the head of the Naval Department, as a senior, you should take care of your juniors..."

  Tirpitz smiled, leaning back in his chair with a sly glint in his eye. "Principal," he said cryptically, "I really do envy these recent classes of naval cadets. They're getting to experience the good times, unlike us, who had to struggle for over twenty years in the era of 'waiting for ships' just to barely make it out on top. Just you watch, Congress won't be able to stop me...the day when our navy expands is not far off..."

  Lao Lai was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly became overjoyed, to the point where Principal Lai had to lean down and try his best to pretend as if nothing was wrong, attempting to maintain his dignity in front of the students.

  The 1890s were the most important decade for the rise of the German Navy and the establishment of the High Seas Fleet. During this decade, Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended to the throne with a crazed admiration for Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power upon History, attempting to establish a large fleet. In a speech on January 28, 1896, he first revealed his intention to expand the navy; Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who insisted that the nation should maintain "second-rate maritime power" and "no colonial policy as long as he was minister", resigned after arguing with the young emperor, while the liberal Prime Minister Leo von Caprivi was also ousted for offending the Junker nobles. The new Prime Minister Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst was weak in character and could not stop the rise of the navy, while the new Foreign Minister Bernhard von Bülow had a good personal friendship with Tirpitz and would not be able to stop him either; In 1892, Tirpitz proposed the formation of a battleship fleet, and in 1897 he became the Secretary of State for the Imperial Navy, and the German Navy, which was ranked seventh in the world in 1897, finally saw the dawn of its rise.

  Of course, the rise of the German Navy was inseparable from the support of the industrial and commercial classes and university professors. The Junker nobility was indifferent to the navy, only paying attention to their rural farms, pastures, vineyards and wineries, and even thought that navalism and industry were two sides of the same coin. On the contrary, the emerging industrial and commercial classes, university professors, nationalists, and pan-Germanists cared about current events and worried about the future of Germany. These industrial and commercial classes, university professors, nationalists, and pan-Germanists believed that Germany lacked resources, had a small domestic market, and could not support the rapid development of the German nation by itself. However, when Germans were working hard to create their own industries, their neighbors - Britain, France, and other old imperialist powers - occupied the richest raw material producing areas and the largest commodity sales markets, but they were complacent in their past glory, lying on their laurels, and did not think about making progress. This huge contrast stimulated the German national elite, so they strongly advocated for a strong navy, and implemented a "new policy" externally: Germans needed a powerful navy to use violent means to obtain "land under the sun" from the "dying" imperial powers, "when others get something, we also want to get a little."

  It was under the impetus of the industrial and commercial classes and university professors that the Germans finally became aware of the importance of the sea, and the Germans, who had long existed as a continental power, cautiously took a tentative step towards the sea, Tirpitz's rise to power was the Germans' calling card!

  Studying the rise of the German Navy, the name Tirpitz is unavoidable. In 1895, the famous "Kruger Telegram" stimulated the sensitive nerves of the British, who issued a warning to Germany and searched German ships at will, putting pressure on the emperor. In June 1897, Queen Victoria's 60th anniversary celebration was held in Britain, but Germany only sent an old-fashioned cruiser, which was ridiculed by the British, making Wilhelm feel humiliated and determined to build a fleet that could rival the Royal Navy, so he thought of Tirpitz.

  Alfred von Tirpitz, the son of a minor civil servant from Koschen in Brandenburg, was a born naval talent and politician. Under the Emperor's attention, Tirpitz rose rapidly through the stagnant German Navy with great reform momentum, becoming Chief of the Naval Staff in 1892, Rear Admiral in 1895, Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Squadron from 1896 to 1897, and on June 17, 1897, Tirpitz overthrew his predecessor, Friedrich von Hollmann, in a dishonorable manner to become Secretary of State for the Imperial Navy. The last opponent facing Tirpitz, or the last stumbling block on the road to the rise of the German Navy, was the Progressive Party, Social Democratic Party, Polish people and a few centrists in the Reichstag.

  "Next up, Heidi Silem!"

  The host, Major Stenzel, flipped through the roster, his eyelids twitching involuntarily as he shouted into the loudspeaker.

  Stenzel's sonorous voice resounded in the spacious auditorium, and Ernst von Reischach, the principal who had been secretly rejoicing with his head bowed, slightly raised his head. Alfred von Tirpitz, the new Minister of the Navy, who was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, also showed some slight emotion.

  "Kiel's Three Swordsmen, the genius Heidt-Silem is going to make an appearance......" In a corner of the audience, a new student who had just been admitted to the military academy and was well-informed about the latest news excitedly whispered to his companion.

  "Kiel's Three Swordsman?"

  "You don't even know this, and yet you're a student at our Kiel Naval Academy!" The new student was spouting saliva everywhere, enthusiastically showing off the information he had heard from rumors to his companions: "The so-called 'Three Geniuses of Kiel' refers to Bernhard von Oden, Erich Raeder, and Heidegger's Seylem."

  "Oh?" The companion came over with interest and whispered: "Introduce us..."

  "First of all, let's talk about the great Bernhard von Oden. He has broken our Kiel Military Academy's examination discipline many times, and his military quality is unmatched. In 1894, you know, at the Battle of Yoruba Riverbank, forty-two students from our academy who had only been trained for more than two months defeated a rebel army of over a thousand people. That was a glorious victory that belonged to our Kiel Naval Academy alone. It was because Oden shot and killed the leader of the rebels in the chaos, causing the rebels to lose their commander and become disheartened, that we won the battle.

  Next is the all-around talent Erich Raeder. His military accomplishments rank second among the three heroes. He is well-read and multi-talented, not only fluent in English and French but also skilled in writing, and has a deep understanding of philosophy and psychology.

  Finally, there's the ghostly genius Heidi Seiler, the first of Kiel's Three Swordsmen..."

  "Hold on, I remember now..." The comrade interrupted the new recruit's words roughly, pointing at Stenzel standing on the stage and asked in doubt: "Isn't Heidrich Seilern that naval moron who has been circulating in our military school for a long time, a military incompetent? Stenzel often scolds us saying 'Can you be worse than Seilern?' And this kind of guy can become the first of the Three Swords?"

  "What a basket!" A new student sneered at his companion, taunting: "Instructor Stenzel is just jealous, naked jealousy. Remember when Heidi-Syleim took the entrance exam during the Qing-Japan War in the Far East? Syleim bet on Japan's victory and gave sound reasons, while Stenzel stubbornly believed that China would win. You also know the outcome of the Qing-Japan naval battle. It was because he lost face in front of the students that Stenzel, that hypocritical and ruthless guy, has been slandering Syleim mercilessly."

  "Asshole!" His companion glanced at Stenzel and muttered a dirty oath. "Forget Stenzel, go on..."

  "It was also the Battle of Yola River Delta, and it was thanks to Heidi-Xilem's vigilance that they discovered the sneak attack plan of the Funi people in advance, which led to the glorious victory at Yola River Delta. Xilem's contribution cannot be overstated. Moreover, although Xilem is the worst in terms of military quality among the Three Swordsmen, he is a strategic genius. He has an astonishing foresight on the development of weapons and equipment, changes in the world's naval map, fleet battles, and geographical theories. His several strategic reports have even been praised by our newly appointed Navy Minister Tirpitz." As soon as King Heidi stepped onto the stage, the chattering new students quickly straightened their bodies and sat up straight, saying: "I wonder what unexpected surprise this genius will bring us this time."

  Wang Haitie hastily walked onto the stage, with sparse applause from below.

  In 1894, he arrived alone at the Kiel Naval Academy with his luggage, first met with teasing and hostility from Oden, and later counterattacked by Stenzel. After attending the opening ceremony of the military school, he came out of the grand hall with a gloomy face, feeling terrible.

  On May 13, 1895, Wang Haitie and other naval cadets completed their probationary officer training and were awarded the rank of acting ensign in the school's auditorium. Raeder was assigned to the old ironclad Friedrich der Grosse for a trial period, while Oden went to the gunnery training ship Carola for a trial period, and Wang Haitie went to the light cruiser Wacht for a trial period. Life is like a banquet that has been dispersed, a chess game without a player, the naval cadets carrying their luggage, holding their dispatch orders, scattering in all directions in an instant. At that time, the house boy had already shaken off the title of "naval fool" and "military idiot", and had become friends with Oden, and Stenzel was no longer his instructor, but the emotions of parting still could not be let go.

  In June 1895, he joined the cruiser SMS Wacht for service. The light cruiser was designed to serve in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, with a displacement of over 1,400 tons, equipped with three 105mm guns and three 350mm torpedo tubes, which made him marvel at its bold design. He served on the light cruiser Wacht for two years, systematically studying command, gunnery, mines, and torpedoes, and wrote several papers that caused a sensation and received letters from Wolfgang Wegener of the Prussian Naval Academy.

  In October 1897, Wang Haitian returned to the Kiel Military Academy once again, back to the dilapidated grand auditorium, this time to attend his graduation thesis defense. As he looked back on the bittersweet memories of the past few years, the otaku couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia and the passing of time.

  Nineteen-year-old Wang Haiting cleared her throat, tossed the draft of her paper to one side, ignored the gasps from the audience below, and confidently declared: "Guten Tag, my thesis is titled 'On Asymmetric Warfare in the Era of Battleships'!"

  Note

  1. Militarism and industry are two sides of the same coin: The Industrial Revolution drew large numbers of peasants into cities, arousing the hatred of Junker landlords.

  "The Navy and Reaction Do Not Stand on Two Legs": Friedrich's aphorism of 1898.

  3. "Kruger Telegram": In 1895, a large gold mine was discovered in the Boer gathering area, which attracted the attention of the British and led to their attempt to overthrow the Boer government. As the Boers were descendants of the Dutch and to some extent also white people, their fate aroused sympathy from European society. In the same year, the "Kruger Telegram" appeared, which claimed that Germany guaranteed the independence of the Boers, causing fear and hostility among the British, who issued a warning to Germany.

  In 1897, when Admiral Friedrich von Hollmann was unable to prevent the Reichstag from reducing naval expenditures, Tirpitz seized on this and forced Hollmann's resignation.

  That is a quote from Erich Brandenburg, a member of the National Liberal Party and historian.

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