The Rise of the Empire

　　 "Let me go! Let the future Secretary of State of the Navy come to greet me! This is simply...too..." Ruprecht was flattered! When the attendant reported that Tirpitz would visit him tomorrow, our prince Ruprecht was not calm! Father of the High Seas Fleet! Countless objects of German worship on the Internet in the future! Came to Munich to visit me in person? I have such a big face!

"His Royal Highness, the other party is just a colonel, nothing more." Earl Schelling, who had been helping the prince to deal with all kinds of clutter before the trip, said with some dissatisfaction. In his eyes, his little master's behavior was demeaning, but Just a colonel, as for? Even if the commander of the navy comes, he must still pay due respect to the Bavarian royal family!

　　 "This....... That's right!" The prince reacted, history has changed, and he still compares with history! "Tell the waiter to put the model of the Munich armored cruiser we prepared in the most conspicuous position in the living room so that he can see it as soon as he enters the door!"

One day later, under the guidance of the attendants in the early spring sunshine, when the current colonel and future marshal walked into the prince’s living room, a model of a silver-white battleship more than 1 meter long appeared Right now! This 1:100 model attracted all the attention of the navy captain in an instant. If it weren't for the attendant next to him to remind him that the prince was here, he might even have been focusing on this battleship!

"What a beautiful battleship! I have never seen a record that is more beautiful than him. The 11-inch main gun, the densely packed secondary gun group, and the slender hull of the simple appearance, this is really a perfect ship. The record! Even the first-class cruisers of the British Empire may not have this excellent record!"

　　 The future minister of the Navy did not hesitate to praise this warship with the most beautiful words! Although he got the rough data very early, the dry data on paper is not as shocking as a large-scale model! Judging from the reaction of the Secretary of the Navy alone, His Royal Highness felt that this large-scale model was worth it! With Tirpitz's eloquence and ability, Ruprecht believed that he had no problem persuading the bureaucrats of the Navy Department!

　　 After the simple politeness, the final topic of the two sides still shifted to this battleship model. After all, the primary purpose of the two is to sell the ship! Naturally, some questions need to be clarified! Excluding those that need subscribing rules and black box operations, the prince thinks he must at least make it clear about the purpose, performance, advantages, and comparisons of this warship with foreign warships at the same time. of! The prince watched the whole process of the creation of the Garibaldi Church by a certain pit king! Finally, I have to admit that someone’s argument is very convincing!

　　 His Royal Highness wanted to say so, but Tirpitz didn't think so! Before the translator speaks. Tirpitz asked a question, and turned the subject directly away! "His Royal Highness, why did the Bavarian Design Bureau design a cruiser instead of a battleship?"

　　The naval authorities have not finalized the specific direction of the next step of the army expansion. Ruprecht only pressed the cruiser side based on the information he had at hand and his own judgment. After all, even in history, the German shipbuilding work before 1895 was still chaotic. In 1896, when the Germans started construction of the Kaiser-class battleship, they also started construction of 6 cruisers in one go! Five of them are the Victoria Louis cruiser with more than 6,000 tons, and the other is the Bismarck armored cruiser with nearly 10,000 tons! The 4 Brandenburg-class battleships are designed to balance the new Russian battleships in the Baltic Sea. Since this plane is still an ally of Russia and Germany, this balance is not needed. Coupled with budget issues, the possibility of building cruisers will naturally be much greater. !

"So what can we build without a cruiser? Nearly ten thousand tons of battleships? Is it useful? Russia is our ally, the pressure on the Baltic Sea is not great, France is our enemy, but we can easily use the army. Overwhelming France, Britain and us have a good relationship, and there will be no war or conflict in the short term. Our biggest problem is the rights and interests of overseas colonies, especially the conflict between the Pacific and the United States! As well as the possible conflict with France in the ocean, In this case, what do you not build a cruiser? Build a group of battleships to stop in the harbor?" The prince said a little funny!

"But any powerful navy must have a powerful battleship formation at its core! Because battleships are the decisive force at sea! Honestly, I am not satisfied with the idea of ​​the Admiralty. This kind of cruiser-based military expansion plan is not Not in line with the future maritime interests of the empire! The cruiser is at best a means of showing the military presence, and the battleship formation is a decisive deterrent!” Tirpitz obviously has his own point of view and can become the father of the High Seas Fleet. People, he has his own set of theories, and today he wants to convince the prince in front of him!

　　 "Hehe, have you set the tone so early?" the prince said in his heart. Regarding Tirpitz’s shipbuilding policy, the prince originally thought that it would be formally formed after 1894, because in June 1894, Tirpitz pointed out in the "Memorandum No. 9" that "a powerful combat station stationed in the country" The fleet is far more awe-inspiring to the powers of the world than a fleet of cruisers that are often scattered around the world!"

　　 Since this time, Tirpitz has been a determined main fleet enthusiast! In the subsequent history of the construction of the German High Seas Fleet, battleships invested far more funds than cruisers or battlecruisers! And the final result? The huge high seas fleet had a deadly collision with its opponent...

"You have to choose at least one opponent for any strategy? Who are you going to awe? Britain? Or France? Or Russia?" The prince suddenly felt that Tirpitz's plan itself was blind and provocative, symbolizing The meaning is greater than the actual meaning.

　　 The prince was very uncomfortable by this statement, and Tirpitz also had a feeling of dazedness. After all, the prince was really reasonable. You said that it shocked France? The German army can do it, the navy is not necessary. Shocking Russia? Now that the two sides are allies, it doesn't seem to be necessary. Shocking Britain? Leaving aside the relationship between the two sides, even if you start working half a dozen battleships, the British are still afraid of you? Just kidding! As for the United States? It seems that when everyone confronted each other, they used cruisers to confront each other. The German battleships did not seem to be the front line of confrontation! Generally speaking, this kind of confrontation is sudden, the battleship has not passed, the matter is over, and overseas bases have to question the battleship's maintenance capabilities!

"The development of the navy does not happen overnight! It is a long process. We need to adopt a plan to make the expansion of the navy a normal state, instead of as it is now, every shipbuilding needs to be discussed and voted by the parliament! As long as there is enough time, we are enough to build a huge fleet that can attract all the powers of the world! It will become the cornerstone of the expansion of the empire!" Tirpitz said.

　　 "Navy Act! The minister really did not make it in a day, how long did this buddy think about it!" The prince praised the minister of the navy for his thoughtful consideration, not to say how clever his ideas are, but for his foresight! But buddy, you are too early to use your strength now, and when the Dreadnought comes out, the things you build will depreciate seriously! Even if you are a storm ship, don't start violent now, I am losing my money to plug the empire! Ruprecht was moved by his actions!

"Actually, you have set the British fleet as your goal! You want to build a fleet that can make Britain fearful, threaten by sea power, and force Britain to yield with a powerful force! Your goal is to make the British concession, not even The courage to defeat the British fleet! You don't! Some people don't!" The prince turned! The acrimony in the language made the future admiral feel very uncomfortable! The other person seems to be able to understand everything they think! And see through his own weakness!

　　 That’s right, Tirpitz never thought about seriously what would happen once the war started? They have always believed that once a war begins, the British will implement a near-shore blockade, and then the Germans will use mines, lightning strikes and battleships to gradually consume their opponents until the opponent is weak to a certain extent, and then concentrate on defeating the opponent in one fell swoop! But they never seriously thought about what to do if the British did not come! When Tirpitz asked his subordinates before the outbreak of War 1, the other party's answer was that they didn't know! In the end, the imposing fleet doesn't even have a complete strategic and tactical system. In the end, the battleship formation, which was built without great efforts, squatted in the harbor day by day, and at first Hipper’s fast fleet attacked repeatedly. This has to be said to be a very ironic thing!

"It is impossible for the British to concentrate their fleet on the mainland. If that happens, they will lose control of the sea! We even unite with the Russians and French to form a European fleet to overwhelm their opponents, and the British cannot resist. The German fleet is the core maritime power!" Tirpitz was a little uncertain in his words!

"Then tell me, how do you coordinate the relationship between France and Germany? The Russians? Their goal is in the Far East and they rely on France economically. How do you let Russia join us against Britain at sea? Your vision is completely established. On a diplomatic basis that is almost impossible to achieve! The final result is very likely to be Germany and Austria-Hungary against Britain, France or other countries. From the perspective of naval battles, we have no chance of winning! The speed of your warships can be Is it faster than Britain and their allies? Don't tell me about the Austro-Hungarian Empire! The Hungarians are not interested in naval expansion!" the prince continued.

"Everything must consider the worst case. If the British are not afraid of your deterrence, but intensify the contradiction between the two sides, then tell me how the German High Seas Fleet will face the Royal Navy concentrated in its homeland? At the same time, if the British are fighting against each other , Will France take advantage of the situation to launch a war of revenge?" Ruprecht continued to ask.

　　In fact, until the outbreak of World War I, Kaiser Wilhelm never planned to rely on the navy to win this war. Germany's final bet is to be able to quickly push down France, and then use its powerful navy as a deterrent to force Britain to make concessions. The German emperor’s request for the German fleet was simple: to suppress the Russians in the Baltic Sea while ensuring safety at his doorstep. From this perspective, the gap between the German emperor and the Anglo-German navy is quite clear. The huge high seas fleet is indeed not designed to overwhelm the opponent on the battlefield, because it is not overwhelming at all!

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