Chapter 9: The Unstable Youth (4)

  Tempered by the baptism of fire in Jutland, one of the twin stars of German naval strategy, Wolfgang Wegener wrote three papers in June to August 1915: "Thoughts on our maritime situation", "Can we improve our position?" and "Naval base policy and fleet".

  At the age of forty, Wegener pointed out after the Battle of Jutland that the Heligoland Bight base had no tactical value, and Germany should use light vessels to attack British transport lines and coastlines. Then, using a fast battleship cruiser squadron as the backbone, it would occupy the Shetland or Orkney Islands in one fell swoop, forever eliminating Britain's chances of blockading German fleets, and finally engaging in a decisive battle with the Grand Fleet in a favorable sea area chosen by Germany.

  Throughout World War I, the High Seas Fleet leadership evaluated Wegener far less than Heidkamp-Sielemann, not only because of the paradoxes that can be seen everywhere in Wegener's papers, but also because his papers were born out of the bloody Battle of Jutland. Needless to say, without Heidkamp-Sielemann's ingenious and meticulous efforts at the "Turning Point Conference" in 1914, there would not have been the strongest voice of the Dreadnought era in 1915, nor Wegener's three highly controversial papers.

  "Delayed Hermes: Heidemarie and Wolfgang Weigand in the Age of Dreadnoughts"

  ****

  Everyone's attention was focused on Wang Haitian, with some looking down on him, others watching with bated breath, and most people eagerly anticipating the strategic genius of Germany, wondering what kind of world he would create with his blocks and whip.

  Putting on a military cap, covering the bandage wrapped around her head, accompanied by Hype and Schell's encouraging eyes, Wang Haitian took a deep breath and walked onto the podium without any pretence.

  In 1897, Tirpitz proposed the concept of "asymmetric warfare", which emphasized the use of new technologies such as aircraft, submarines and mines, but did not rule out the possibility of a decisive battle with heavily armed battleships and perfect cruisers. However, due to the lack of theoretical data support, it was considered too pale and powerless, and was regarded as science fiction by Vernes; In 1914, Tirpitz revised and improved the concept of "asymmetric warfare", but his proactive offensive point of view was in sharp contrast to the Navy's judgment that the British would not participate in the war, so he was beautifully ignored by the decision-makers. After the outbreak of war, the High Seas Fleet adhered to the strategy of long-distance blockade in Scapa Flow, and Tirpitz re-proposed "asymmetric warfare", but because it did not conform to the existing fleet concept, his ideal and pride were once again put aside. The Dogger Bank battle finally brought Tirpitz into the high echelons of the Navy, where he accumulated enough speaking power in the old and dilapidated conference room of the Berlin Naval Headquarters. This was the stage that Tirpitz had long been waiting for, a great opportunity to reverse the fate and complete the self-redemption of the High Seas Fleet!

  With a commanding presence, Wang Haiting stood on the podium, her sharp eyes scanning the room, every gesture precise and calculated. It was just these simple movements that sparked an eerie premonition in the hearts of the naval officers below - perhaps after today, no, from the moment she stepped out of the conference room, the young naval strategic genius would cease to exist, replaced by a brilliant strategist.

  "Gentlemen, battlecruisers or dreadnoughts were never an either-or question! Because we have no other choice!"

  Wang Haiting's first sentence shook the entire audience. Tracing back to this young man's rebellious military career, his views were not a compromise, but a prelude to a stormy future. Mueller and the conservative elders sneered, while the young man clenched his fists unconsciously, his blood boiling with excitement.

  "From 1890 to 1905, Mahan elaborated in his trilogy on sea power what is sea power, the six elements of sea power, the relationship between sea power and land power, the importance of sea power to a nation, and the principles of naval warfare."

  Recalling the rainbow over Scapa Flow in his previous life, and the lost twenty years after the war, Wang Haitian poured out the talent he had accumulated bit by bit over twenty years, standing on the podium of several feet square, speaking freely without falling into clichés.

  "Moreover, Mahan's theory of sea power has six elements that are cumbersome, and overemphasizes land rights and decisive battles on the battlefield. The ocean fleet, as a worshiper and product of the theory of sea power, does not have a corresponding maritime strategy, which is undoubtedly a regrettable thing."

  In 1898, Grand Admiral Tirpitz attempted to build a fleet capable of threatening Britain enough that they would remain neutral in any possible European war based on the "risk theory". However, both Tirpitz and the Kaiser underestimated British ambitions for the seas; the British saw the seas as their own domain. In 1906, with the launch of HMS Dreadnought, the German Navy saw a shortcut to victory by using the superior quality of dreadnoughts to outmaneuver the British fleet. However, when war clouds gathered, the Germans became overly cautious and hoped that the British would attack the High Seas Fleet head-on across the North Sea minefields, leaving the fate of the fleet in the hands of a quick land victory without considering the possibility of a long-range blockade by the British. As time went on, the inferiority of the High Seas Fleet became more apparent, and the quagmire of a prolonged war forced Kaiser Wilhelm to vent his frustrations.

  "We have been on this fiercely competitive road of naval armament for too long, so that everyone has forgotten the original intention and the truth of the matter. Germany was never a maritime nation, but only a seagull that had just learned to fly across the ocean."

  The army's strong desire, and the inevitability of a final war with Britain, gave the High Seas Fleet the task of being a medium-sized naval power, using a guerrilla warfare approach to blockade and weaken Britain's resources as much as possible, tying down the British main fleet on a global scale, then weakening its home fleet through several decisive sea battles, breaking the British blockade, destroying Britain's wartime economy, and thereby continuously gaining resources, thus winning the final victory.

  Since the naval arms race, there seems to be a misconception that the number of main battleships determines sea power and that having a fleet is enough to symbolize sea power. In fact, as the first-rate maritime power, the British Empire has numerous docks and countless sailors, while our navy cannot compare with it in terms of investment scale or resources obtained, so it is unrealistic and inappropriate to try to strangle the British with numerical superiority. Sea power does not lie in whether one has a powerful fleet, but rather whether this fleet can control and utilize the ocean.

  In my opinion, the three major elements that determine sea power in the era of hot weapons are: geography, resources and strategy and tactics. Geography restricts the acquisition of resources and the use of strategy and tactics; The application of strategy and tactics weakens or strengthens geographical factors, affecting the acquisition of resources, among which resources obviously occupy a dominant position.

  From the perspective of three elements, Germany is in a naturally unfavorable geographical position. From the Shetland Islands to Scapa Flow, and from Great Britain to the narrow English Channel, the UK can almost effortlessly create an impenetrable blockade line, cutting off our transportation lines. However, the High Seas Fleet is not without opportunities: the British Isles are surrounded by the sea on all sides, and the shortage of domestic resources and the characteristics of a colonial power require the world's first Royal Navy to be present globally, ensuring that the colonies can continuously supply blood to the mainland.

  If Britain is considered a man in his prime, then the shipping lanes leading to Britain are like arteries. If the blood supply through these arteries cannot keep up with consumption, even the strongest person will die from excessive bleeding. Therefore, for Germany to win this naval showdown, it must achieve three things: First, force Britain to accelerate its consumption of resources; second, use some means to stop as much as possible the flow of supplies from British colonies to the motherland; third, it must force Britain to lose or lack the ability to blockade Germany and allow supplies to reach German territory.

  The situation has not yet collapsed, the excellent performance of the overseas raiding fleet has kept the Allied escort forces on their toes, and shipping in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific has been severely affected; The victory at Coronel and the advance of Spee's squadron have made the South Atlantic a hornet's nest, forcing the British to detach three battlecruisers from the Grand Fleet to go south; After the Battle of Cape Sarych, the Russian Black Sea Fleet had lost its ability to restrain Goeben, and the French fleet and Agincourt were tied up in the Aegean.

  As for the North Sea, the victories of the Heligoland Bight and Dogger Bank battles gave us control over the southern part of the sea. If we could capture and re-create at a relatively small cost the British battlecruiser squadron that served as the vanguard of the Grand Fleet, then there would be a major gap in the British blockade and anti-submarine system. The Grand Fleet in Scapa Flow would lose its reconnaissance capabilities and be unable to detect the movements of our High Seas Fleet. At least we could partially break through the British blockade, gain more resources from the North Sea, and use our relatively superior battlecruiser forces and U-boat fleet to threaten the shipping lanes to Britain, cutting off Britain's lifeline. The slow British battleship squadron and weak armored cruiser squadron would be unable to effectively stop our actions!

  Wang Hai-ti combined some of his past experiences, incorporating the Teutonic-Obé and Raoul-Castex naval concepts, Clausewitz's politico-military theories and Mahan's classical sea power ideas, even including Jan-Bloch's economic-military theories. After combining twenty years of service experience and Germany's specific national conditions, he painstakingly revised and perfected the concept of "asymmetric warfare", which is by no means a replica of 1897!

  The destruction of the enemy's resources and economy as the ultimate strategic goal, this is absolutely a naked rebellion against Mahan's sea power theory. In the eyes of conservative officials in the Navy Department, the prospects are uncertain, but compared to the vague risk theory and the bankrupt existence fleet concept, asymmetric warfare is undoubtedly the best choice for the ocean-going fleet.

  The conference room was silent, the German nation may be the most unreasonable nation in the world, but at the same time it is also the nation that thinks the most. The stalemate of the army on the French battlefield and the navy's desire for victory, for being the best, made the naval officers seriously consider Wang Haitian's point of view. Perhaps they do not agree with him now, perhaps they have not thought it through, but the honest German people cannot help but admit that Wang Haitian's point of view is the most reasonable strategic and tactical theory since the creation of the High Seas Fleet.

  "So, Colonel, what's your opinion?"

  Boer had a hunch that the young man was right. Although he didn't have the charisma of a superior, it couldn't interfere with his judgment.