"There has never been a warship in this world with such a proud record, and never before has a warship been able to go so far from such adversity! The cruiser Mainz and the officers and men on it have achieved in just a few months even more than the navies of some countries have achieved in a century! His story and the spirit it contains will live on through the ages! ”

In a German newspaper, Ruprecht looked at the photos of the cruiser Mainz that occupied almost four pages, and couldn't help but sigh, this newspaper used almost all the pages to introduce the life of this legendary battleship, starting from the initial part of the line drawing, putting down the keel, the battleship launching, serving, and the photos in the Battle of Toshima and the Battle of the Yellow Sea, and finally the sinking of the Mainz and the disposal of relics. There is also a photo of the crew above.

"Well, that's enough." Ruprecht couldn't help but sigh with emotion, the Mainz is really too long for the Germans, if you take into account the historical limitations, those famous German ships in later generations and the Mainz can not be compared at all, how many things did a 7500-ton warship do in just a few months?

In the Battle of Toshima, Mainz cleanly killed two cruisers of more than 3,000 tons, Naniwa and Akitsushu, and then destroyed Itsukushima and Hashidate in the subsequent Battle of the Yellow Sea. As for the Yoshino? The Germans were inclined to the result of the Mainz anyway, and the British thought it was the result of the Zhiyuan (for reasons that everyone knows). The Americans and the French, on the other hand, believe that three-quarters of the results of this sunken medal belong to Mainz. And in the subsequent battle to break diplomatic relations at sea, the Mainz sent the Matsushima to the bottom of the sea, perfectly completing the killing of the first-class battleship! And the sinking of the Chiyoda made Mainz get six kills! The Mainz is already superb! Beyond godlike killing!

A 7,500-ton battleship sank a 24,000-ton battleship in just a few months! (Splitting three-quarters of Yoshino's tonnage to Mainz) is absolutely unprecedented in terms of tonnage. And if you talk about the tonnage ratio, it is more than 3 times! Not to mention the transport ships and the Japanese Navy and Army that were destroyed in the hands of Mainz!

According to the final incomplete statistics, the total tonnage of the merchant ships destroyed by the Mainz was close to 30,000 tons, and the materials were about 6,000 tons, and the Japanese army officers and soldiers who sank to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish finally broke through the 3,000 mark! The Japanese Navy is even more sad, more than half of the casualties of the Japanese Navy were caused by this battleship, and a rough estimate shows that the number of dead and wounded is more than 2,000.

Anyway, the Mainz has become a symbol! A legendary existence, this is definitely a worthwhile and must be heavily publicized for Germany, which is on the eve of high-speed naval expansion! The Mainz is more than just a ship! He represents the fighting spirit and indomitable spirit of the future German Navy!

"If you can't go to sea to fight, then what's the difference between a battleship and a salted fish!" At another banquet, when asked about Ruprecht's evaluation of the Mainz, Ruprecht said at the end of his evaluation. And this statement, which is quite funny on the Internet for later generations, immediately became a popular phrase in Germany. The basic format is "If you can't XXX, then what's the difference with salted fish?" ”

The final destination of the Mainz was not bad, and all the unloaded relics were divided into three parts and sprinkled on the Battle of Toshima to commemorate the Mainz's first victory. Then there is the Battle of the Yellow Sea, which commemorates the glorious pinnacle of the Mainz's life. Originally, I wanted to scatter some in the place where Songdao was sunk, but no one can remember what it was.

Of course, the most and most meaningful parts were sent back to Germany, and they were divided very finely, and some of them went to the Brom-Foss shipyard, which is the birthplace of the people, as it should be. Some of them were taken back to the headquarters of the Bavarian Design Bureau in Munich, where they were the mother's womb and a must. Some were sent to the Kiel Naval Academy, where Mainz represents a spirit and is bound to be worshipped! Maybe one day it will become a holy thing.

But. But some of them became Prince Wilhelm's personal collection, what happened? What do you have to do with this battleship? In addition to attending a ceremony at the beginning of service, and then having a meal on the battleship. But the person is the prince, so it is logical-!

As a battleship, the Mainz has died without regrets, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the soul of a battleship flew to heaven under the guidance of the Lord and reached the glorious kingdom of God! But what about the people on top of the boat when the ship is gone? The ship is gone, and the people are still alive!

The Beiyang Fleet has been unable to go back, although for various reasons, the Japanese fought this war extremely entangled and extremely difficult, but there is a saying, what is it? Unstoppable! The outcome of the Qing being crushed to death in this war will not change, and it is only a matter of time before the Beiyang Fleet is completely annihilated. And how to arrange the personnel withdrawn from the Kaiyuan has become more realistic.

There is an old Chinese saying that once a success is achieved, the prestige of Mainz is not only written with the blood of the enemy, but also watered with the blood of the officers and men on this ship. For these people, even from the experience of the previous life, Ruprecht also reached out in line with the principle of helping if he could, and the middle and low-ranking officers who wanted to go home were willing to go, and Ruprecht provided money for his own retirement, although Ruprecht was only a prince, to almost the richest prince in the whole world, not to mention, it was no problem to take out 10,000 pounds.

As for the senior officers, Ruprecht really didn't expect Yang Yonglin and others to be able to stick to this point, in history he admired Yang Yonglin only because of his final decision, and the best performance in terms of ability is only to assist the command in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, and after the battleship was injured, he led people to repair the battleship overnight, and the battlefield adaptability and organizational ability are good, but in this plane, Ruprecht feels that this guy is just like hanging! Simply rushing to this performance, Ruprecht thinks that it should be good to pull him to Germany, anyway, until the end of the Qing Dynasty in the future, there will be no large-scale naval battles in Beiyang!

"Well, this result is not bad, the cruiser Mainz has completed its life perfectly, and its final outcome is not to be dismantled, nor to be sunk to the bottom of the sea as an artificial reef in peacetime, he was sunk on the battlefield with brilliant achievements." After Ruprecht put away the newspaper, Tirpitz next to him said respectfully.

"How's it going for you to do what I asked you to do?" Ruprecht then asked.

"Uh, you mean part of the personnel arrangement of the Beiyang Fleet? This one has been dredged. Although they are from the Qing Dynasty, Mr. Yang and others have done a very good job in terms of combat performance and tactics, at least much better than those who have never been on the battlefield. Tirpitz said.

"Also, to tell you the good news, the first German large cruiser will be named Mainz. And the No. 2 scheme of your 10,000-ton cruiser has won the favor of the Admiralty, and there are no problems with the overall design, but some details such as firepower need to be considered again. Tirpitz added.

The second is to offer ~~~~~, ask for collection~~~~, ask for a reward~~~~~~.