Raeder nodded slowly. As a loyal follower of Tirpitz, he knew all too well the theory of the "risk fleet" proposed by his mentor. For the arrogant, brutal and ferocious old pirate of England, who only followed the bloody law of the jungle, only an iron fist wrapped in steel armor could make it put away its greed and covetousness, and a strong fleet was the ideal deterrent weapon in the hands of Germany. According to Tirpitz's theory, if the German navy was so strong that the British navy would suffer unacceptably heavy losses in the process of destroying it, Britain would have to be forced to abandon its strategy of being an enemy of Germany because of the high risk; In this way, Germany would be able to open a gap in the encirclement of the British, French, and Russian entente, and achieve a reversal of the strategic situation.

Fang Yan sighed and said, "However, unfortunately, because of the same two reasons, the implementation of the risk fleet finally failed. First, although we have made extraordinary achievements in the imperial era, we still have a big gap compared with Britain in the field of shipbuilding industry and technical concepts. It takes an average of 2 and a half years for a British shipyard to complete a dreadnought, compared to 3 and a half years for German shipyards with the exception of Brom-Forss; This disparity resulted in a 29-17 ratio of Dreadnoughts in service between Britain and Germany at the start of the war, and only 60% of our opponents' lineup. In addition, due to a lack of concept and experience, the original eight dreadnoughts we built also adopted a hexagonal turret layout that did more with less effort, and the large cruiser Blucher was completely useless for the battle cruisers. At the time, few could have predicted that the next war would be a life-and-death duel that would last for years, and everyone thought that the war would be over in three to six months; Under these circumstances, the British risk assessment of war with Germany was greatly reduced, and ultimately they chose war. ”

Raeder's eyes flashed, and he said slowly: "The second is the inaction of the High Seas Fleet during the war. On the eve of the outbreak of the Great War, His Majesty the Emperor and all the high-ranking commanders placed all their bets on the Schlieffen plan; The fleet did not have a battle plan in place, nor was it pressured from the top to fight. And with the defeat of our side in the naval battle of Helgoland Bay, which broke out later, His Majesty's confidence in the victory of the navy over the British fell to the bottom; He feared that his valuable warships would be damaged, locking up billions of marks in the harbor. With the exception of the Battle of the Skagerrak Strait, the High Seas Fleet did not make any major contact with the British; This undoubtedly made the British feel no 'risk' of war with us, and the search for peace was naturally impossible. Therefore, it is not so much the British who defeated us, but the destruction of this fleet, which took 20 years of painstaking construction; It takes away not only the efforts of a generation of Germans, but also the heart of countless generations of Germans in the pursuit of the blue water of the ocean. ”

Fang Yan was silent and did not continue to speak. The other party had already taken the second half of his words, and because of his own experience, Raeder's expression was even more detailed than the words he had prepared. And because of this, Fang Yan didn't want to say too much about the destruction of the High Seas Fleet, and with no experience and no belonging, it might be difficult for him to understand the heart-wrenching sorrow in Raeder's heart.

"Jonas, now that you have a complete insight into the cause and effect of the past situation, you should also have a mature insight into the future development of the navy, right?" Raeder looked at the young man in front of him sincerely, and said with a hint of anticipation in his words. Although the thinking of rank and rank had long been ingrained in the heart of this old-school soldier, above this was the search for truth; The rigid and rigorous character of the Germans was most positively reflected at this time, and it was this excellent culture of truth over power that prompted the country to be reborn in the midst of repeated failures, both in the past and in the present!

"It's not a mature opinion, it's just a little bit of my personal opinion." Fang Yan still behaved respectfully and humbly enough, and he never forgot the original intention and key point of this meeting that the person in front of him is an important basis for him to realize his ideals and ambitions in the future. Fang Yan took the glass of water in his hand and moistened his throat, brewing for a moment, and then the clear voice that belonged to him echoed in this room again.

"Despite the eventual failure of the execution of the Fleet of Risks, Germany, through four years and three months of tenacious persistence, realized the 'risk' mentioned by Field Marshal Tirpitz at the level of national strategy. Because with the collapse of the German Empire and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the whole pattern of the world was once again completely rewritten. ”

Fang Yan sorted out his thoughts and said unhurriedly: "When Britain sat exhausted at the negotiating table in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles in 1919, what awaited it was not the gluttonous feast of the victors, but a bleak wasteland full of holes and devastation. On the other side of the ocean, the new North American power is rising with unstoppable courage and feasting on the forbidden areas that Britain would never allow others to touch. In the Far East, another new industrial country took the place of Russia, and began to infiltrate China with great interest in Britain, as if it had a strong ambition to colonize it. However, in the face of all this, Britain can only sadly find that it no longer has any power to contain the expansion tentacles of these two former allies. ”

Fang Yan paused slightly, his expression showed a bit of resentment and ridicule, and said in a cold voice: "The world war that lasted for four years has greatly weakened the national vitality of Britain: they lost millions of local able-bodied men and a total merchant fleet of more than 8 million tons in the war, and at the same time spent a huge amount of more than 10 billion pounds for the war. After the war, Britain was heavily indebted, exports shrank, and the output of major industrial products did not recover to pre-war levels. However, the United States and Japan, which are far away from the whirlpool of the European war, have feasted on it in those years, especially the United States, whose gross national income is three times that of Britain, whose steel output is five times that of Britain, and whose total tonnage of merchant ships is one-third more than that of Britain. ”

Fang Yan sneered: "In the face of the new round of naval competition set off by the wealthy United States after the war, Britain, which has been as weak as an old man in the last years, finally realizes that the former two-power standard can no longer be maintained. The Treaty on the Limitation of Naval Armaments, signed in Washington in early 1922, was one of the most striking signs of Britain's comprehensive compromise with the major powers in the maritime field: Britain could not help but bitterly allow the United States to gain a supreme position on an equal footing with itself in naval power, gave up sea power in the Pacific region more completely, and opened the Mediterranean, which had once been the most important in the London strategy, to France and Italy. With the destruction of the whole country with more than the fleet, Germany gave Britain the most deserved punishment for the brutal and impulsive waging of war. This can also be said to be another practice of the risk fleet theory: after Britain succeeded in taking out our challenger, it also destroyed its own world hegemony, and this price is undoubtedly unacceptable! ”

"Therefore, as long as there is even a little sanity among the German-hating paranoids and neurotics of England, they can realize the terrible cost of waging war, and this is the deepest lesson we have learned from this greedy and murderous old pirate with the destruction of our own empire. This laid the foundation for the future development of the German Navy in a strategic situation with a clear sky that had never been seen before. Despite the heavy price, the development of the German navy was finally paved with enough wood due to the destruction of the former empire. Speaking of this, Fang Yan's face couldn't help but show deep emotion, this tragedy of the times and geography was destined to be staged during the First World War, and this was a situation that no one could change.

"In other words, Germany, which was defeated in the world war, has instead entered the golden period of naval development?" After a long time, Raeder, who could digest Fang Yan's words just now, couldn't help but ask in amazement.

Fang Yan nodded lightly and said, "At present, as long as we don't go too far within the framework stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles, I don't think Britain will have any objections." To some extent, Britain will even acquiesce and encourage our rearmament: because Europe is now dominated by France, which is obviously not in line with Britain's traditional policy, Germany's military recovery will help to rebalance Europe. We can now build seven more cruisers and eight more battleships, and these orders will be an effective guarantee for Germany to restore its shipbuilding capacity and reshape the functions of the ocean-going fleet. When the size of the fleet approached the limit stipulated in the treaty, the advance and retreat were decided according to the economic strength of Germany. If the situation is not ideal, then we can only choose to continue to endure; After all, a huge fleet without an economic foundation cannot be built, and Britain's current compromise with the United States on the naval issue is precisely because its own national strength is far from being able to support the naval competition with the other side. ”

Fang Yan paused, a look of expectation appeared in his expression, and said: "And if God favors Germany to return to the peak of the imperial era, then we will work with the army to tear apart the evil Treaty of Versailles and begin to take Germany's heroic steps towards the blue ocean!" Due to the establishment of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of Austria-Hungary, Germany's strategic situation on land has improved significantly compared with the imperial period, and we are fully able to invest more funds in the navy, so that the Iron Cross battle flag will surely be hunted and fluttered on the seas of the future! ”