Chapter 9: The Unstable Youth (7)

  "Are you General Xilien, the undefeated Aris of the Navy?!"

  Adler's subordinate was excited, the German soldier's iron-like chest and the second-class Iron Cross medal on his chest heaved up and down.

  "At the outbreak of war, you commanded a submarine fleet to launch a preemptive strike, sinking three British armored cruisers and three destroyers without suffering any casualties; in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, you repelled the British sneak attack at the cost of two light cruisers sunk, but sank five British light cruisers; in the Battle of Dogger Bank, you led three old battleships to raid the British coastline and land combat, facing the ambush of eight British main fleet ships with ease, holding off the enemy to achieve the glorious victory of sinking two new British main battleships and one old main battleship. General, you are a hero of Germany!"

  The achievements listed by the army sergeant were far from the truth, and Heidi Wang was stunned for a moment before realizing that it was just a fabrication of the imperial propaganda machine. Looking at the empty right sleeve of the soldier, Heidi's breathing became somewhat heavy, and she said sincerely: "Sergeant, maybe you are the real hero of Germany!"

  "No, General, this is not a hypocritical compliment!"

  The train rumbled on, the carriage swaying as it crossed the long iron bridge over the Lech River. Against the sparkling reflection of the Lech River, Unteroffizier Adler said with a serious face:

  "The coastal line campaign, we received powerful support from the navy. On November 1st, my 117th Infantry Regiment attacked a highland on the seaside highway, intelligence said that the French would receive support from British heavy artillery, after a day and night of fierce battle, we took down all the highlands with trepidation, not a single shot was fired by the British heavy artillery, it wasn't until later that we found out that the heavy artillery assigned to the French had been ambushed at sea by the submarine fleet under your command. General, the advantageous situation in the North Sea is one you created with your own hands, no matter how high your achievements are estimated, it's not an exaggeration."

  When young people recall the war, every gesture is filled with the pride and confidence unique to the descendants of Frederick the Great, completely unaware of the great physical trauma that the war has brought upon him. Eve was still saying something with an air of superiority, while Little Brandes boldly turned his head and listened greedily to the conversation between soldiers, his eyes full of a kind of longing sentiment.

  After crossing the Lech River, the conductor shouted "Friedberg" to announce that the long train journey was about to end. Looking at the wounded soldiers, Heidi hesitated to say something, but found that any words seemed pale and shallow. A stack of Imperial Marks in her pocket had been soaked with sweat, and after a long hesitation, her rough hands still reluctantly let go. Yes, the glory of the soldiers cannot be measured by money, nor can it tolerate worldly insults!

  Avril pulled Annie down from the train, cheering and jumping, the conductor's urging voice in her ears, the naval officer and the army officer looked at each other without a word, at this time, little Brandeis jumped out and gave the army officer a military salute.

  "You are all heroes of the Germanic people!" The little boy looked up and shouted in his childish voice.

  ****

  The army sergeant encountered on the train was clearly forced into retirement due to injury, and a double ordeal of spirit and flesh awaited that young man. Walking along the country path, Wang Haitian's mood was somewhat heavy, even though the small road was lined with golden wheat, humming Bavarian folk songs, laboring women, and the strong aroma of Bavarian wine.

  "Uncle Silas, where are we going?" asked little Brandais, who was wearing high boots.

  When Wang Haitian returned home, he encountered Little Brandes again. The little boy kept asking when Wang Haitian could become the commander of the Ocean Fleet. After experiencing the brutal Dogger Bank Sea Battle, Wang Haitian had a new understanding of war. Wang Haitian felt that their generation was destined to sacrifice for the sake of the nation's rise and development.

  If this is an unbreakable deadlock, then let the cruel and bloody cycle end in this generation. Faced with Brandeis' ignorance, the romantic King Heidie lost his playful interest, after seeking the consent of Professor Kiel University and new neighbor Old Brandeis, King Heidie took Little Brandeis on a train bound for southwestern Germany.

  The fragrance of the muddy earth, a group of people unknowingly passed by the arched gate with "Leao Winery" written on it and the Baroque-style ancient castle, and came to an old tomb that was somewhat distant in years.

  The tomb stands on a slightly raised small hill, with many emerald green cypresses and wilted chrysanthemums scattered around, and several bottles of fine wine stand under the stone tablet.

  "In 1894 I left the University of Berlin and chose the Naval Academy in Kiel. From the beginning, the naval cadets were unconsciously divided into two groups based on their identity and rank, with the aristocrats and commoners forming separate cliques. The principal tried his best to reconcile the differences but had little success. In early autumn, when it was suitable for sailing, we boarded the torpedo training ship Friedrich Karl and arrived in German West Africa, unfortunately coinciding with the uprising of the northern highlanders of Cameroon."

  Wang Haitie bent down to pick up the fine wine from her luggage, pulling out the cork while bringing back distant memories, as if answering Little Brandeis, yet seemingly talking to herself.

  "So we were involved in a rebellion war deep in Africa, far from the imperial homeland. At that time, our morale was high and we looked down on everything, but when we faced the rebels who came like a tide, the countless spears, and the poisoned arrows, we realized that we had underestimated war and death!"

  Annie and Evie weren't the first to accompany Wang Haiting to pay respects to the deceased, they gently placed flowers with "Ruhe-in-Frieden" written on the ribbon in front of the tombstone, making a gentle cross. Little Brandeis tilted her head, still confused.

  Every year in late November, the Reorl Winery, founded by Oden himself, is visited by many people. Old classmates who have not been seen for years, scattered all over the world, dusty old principal Lai Xie, cold-faced and kind-hearted instructor Stengel, sorrowful Leidel, and wailing Oden.

  The fragrance of the fine wine wafted through the air, Wang Haiting grasped the wine bottle and sat on the grass, her bandaged forehead gently resting against the stone tablet, saying in a low voice:

  "Leo von Schermann, my old classmate, perhaps you still look down on me, but the world is just so wonderful, Director Reiche has grown old and his leg disease makes it almost impossible for him to leave Kiel; Stenzel succeeded as the principal of the Kiel Naval Academy, busy beyond recognition; your best friend Bernhard von Oden is still at sea in danger, about to encounter three British Invincible-class battlecruisers; and there's also Markolf, this honest kid who has risen through the ranks in the Second Squadron, General Mauve can't do without him. In 1914, the year of war, only I have time to come to Bavaria, to this quiet Leo winery to reminisce with you..."

  "In the swaying youth years, R?dell told me that commoners have no background, no power, and are despised by the nobility, so they must succeed, and should succeed. Auden also said that Junker nobles have a tradition of hundreds of years, with the blood of Teutonic Knights flowing in their veins, adhering to the ancient oath of loyalty to the king, promising to guard this rich land of Germany for generations, believing in iron-blooded invincibility. In the Dogger Bank Sea Battle, Alexander Edmann, the commoner captain of the Blücher, fought until the last moment, proving the persistence of commoners with his sinking ship. Magnus von Levetzow, the Junker noble captain of the Moltke, fought alongside me and fulfilled the ancient oath to Germany that had been passed down from our ancestors. Sherman, I remember Commander Dida's eulogy for you as the first sacrifice among the 94th batch of naval students, but you will not be the last. Old classmate, a sea battle even larger and more brutal than Dogger Bank is brewing, and you are definitely not the last to die; if our generation is doomed to be abandoned by God, let hatred and bloodshed end with us!"

  Little Brandeis stood not far away, somewhat mysterious and incomprehensible, things that needed to be fermented with age and measured with gunfire gradually understood.

  ****

  In late November 1914, a steel fleet from afar approached Cook Bay at the southern tip of South America.

  After carefully comparing the cryptograms and secret sea charts, Admiral Spee's fleet finally found the Navy's secret supply point in the vast ocean - a 3,000-ton coal ship. Amidst the cheers of the sailors, the East Asian squadron, consisting of the heavy armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and the light cruisers Nürnberg, Leipzig, and Dresden, slowly approached.

  Wang Haiting criticized the Navy Department for lacking a long-term strategic plan for overseas strike fleets at the naval intelligence briefing and analysis meeting held in July. The stagnant Navy Department finally made some slight changes based on Wang Haiting's suggestions - increasing supply points on the ocean.

  For this, the Navy Department dispersed all merchant ships that were stranded in Allied ports as supply points for the raiding fleet across the ocean, ensuring that there was a fixed supply ship in every sea area. History took a turn here, and the Eastern Swan Emden faced more than 60 Allied warships surrounding and intercepting it, still showing off its swan dance steps in the Indian Ocean; Karlsruhe light cruiser, Wilhelm Prince, and Traflgar Angle auxiliary cruisers continued to make waves under the protection of secret supply points. The Atlantic was the only one that didn't succeed - Elizabeth light cruiser and Etter-Friedrich Prince auxiliary cruiser were blocked by Japanese fleets, with little success.

  After the Battle of Coronel, the British hastily organised a relief squadron consisting of the battlecruisers New Zealand and Australia. However, before the arrival of the British relief force, the southern Pacific and South Atlantic were clearly German domains; during this period, Spee's squadron repeatedly intercepted Allied merchant ships, sinking more than twenty steamers of all sizes totalling over 90,000 tons, almost cutting off the shipping lanes in the southern Pacific.

  Coal replenishment was laborious, but this obviously did not affect the mood of Maximilian von Spee. The old count came to the cabin of his reliable subordinate, Otto Lüdecke, with a pipe in his mouth, only to find the captain's quarters empty.

  "Commander, Captain Odens has gone to the stern deck..."

  The Earl, in high spirits, nodded his thanks to the sailor and headed towards the quarterdeck. The small paper flowers filled the air, and Shupe clearly saw the most tender side of Colonel Auden, who believed in iron blood.

  "Colonel, what's wrong?" Shi Pei Zhong asked with concern.

  "I wonder if the East Asian fleet will make a big splash after entering the Atlantic!" Auden said with a good cover of his sadness, throwing all the small paper flowers in his hand into the sea.

  Note

  "This paragraph comes from Chapter 2, Section 2 of the first part, "Nobles and Commoners (II)". For some reason, this chapter has been locked, and can only be accessed through the table of contents. If you're interested, go ahead and click on it; if not, no big deal, it won't affect anything."

  PS: 300,000 words, finally got 2,000 collections. This bumpy road was originally intended to write more, but recently it's hard to get into the spirit, and updating is too difficult. The passion has faded, maybe this is a hurdle that writers must overcome.

  ;