In the summer of 1931, the situation in Germany became increasingly turbulent. Socially, there are more than 5 million unemployed, a third of all workers, the middle class is bankrupt, and the peasants are unable to repay their mortgages. High up in the temple, the parliament was paralyzed, and the government was powerless to do anything about the terrible scene before it.

After 12 years of difficult attempts, Germany's path to democracy has proven unsuitable for the country: a multitude of political parties has caused a disastrous split in the Reichstag (10 in 1930 with more than 1 million votes) that are pitted against each other in favor of the economic and social interests they represent. There is simply no way to form a lasting majority in Congress to support a stable government capable of dealing with the major crises facing the country at the beginning of the 30s. Parliamentary government became what the Germans called the "cattle trade": political parties bargained for special interests for the masses they represented, while national interests were set aside. Unable to obtain a majority, the day-to-day operations of the government depended entirely on the president signing emergency decrees, and Hindenburg was now 85 years old, and his clear-headed moments were becoming less and less.

The German people, feeling the heavy suffering inflicted on them and deeply disappointed with the republican government, poured all their faith in the future into the National Socialist Party, which had risen like a comet in recent years, and its leader, Hitler. At this time, the National Socialist Party had already gone one step further than in the same period last year, becoming the largest party in the Reichstag, and Hitler had officially stepped into the threshold of Berlin's power center, stirring waves in the dirty waters of politics. In the past, those unattainable political dignitaries now have to face up to this "Bohemian corporal"; He has already won the approval of the army and the big industrialists, and his gain of power is almost unstoppable.

This summer. Hitler met President Hindenburg for the first time. Although the old marshal did not have the slightest affection for this extremist demagogue, saying that Hitler could only be a post minister at best, the National Socialist Party had become a climate and many things were no longer in his hands. What's more, Hindenburg's son Oskar is also a fanatical believer in the National Socialist Party. Under his subtle influence, the old marshal, who held great real power in his hands, also unconsciously quietly changed his attitude towards Hitler and the National Socialist Party.

During this time, Fang Yan's life was quite peaceful, the only disturbance was a summons from Raeder, who warned him not to follow in the footsteps of the three officers of the Ulm garrison last year and promote Nazism in the navy. To this day, the top brass of the Navy has already signed the letter from Fang Yan's letter box titled "Adolf? Hitler's letters, as well as the strong support of the Brom family for the National Socialist Party, judged that he had an unusual relationship with the leaders of the National Socialist Party. Fang Yan also responded solemnly to Raeder's serious admonition; He had no respect or fanaticism for Hitler's set. Naturally, it is impossible to go against the principles of an officer to do such a stupid thing.

At the same time, the restoration of the strength of the Navy is proceeding in a step-by-step manner. Thanks to Raeder's public relations efforts, the Navy received another 120 million marks of a shipbuilding budget for the construction of a new Deutsche Pocket Cruiser and a light aircraft carrier. At this point, the upper limit of the size of the German navy stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles has been filled by the new replacement ships that have been built in the past five years: the share of six capital ships is made up of three Deutsche class and three light aircraft carriers, six cruisers are of the Königsberg class, and 12 destroyers are six of the Raptor class and six of the Beast class. The actual total tonnage of these warships reached 134,000 tons. More than a quarter of the total amount provided for in the treaty. And in the minds of all Germans, this is far from being satisfied. The high seas fleet, which was once prosperous, should never exist only in their illusory imagination and reminiscences!

As time passed, the top brass of the Navy, led by Raeder, even changed their attitude and openly declared that they would like to see Hitler rise to power. For no other reason, the scale of naval construction had reached the limit allowed by the treaty, and Hitler declared that "the Treaty of Versailles would be torn up anyway." It will undoubtedly allow the Navy to see the dawn of hope that it can continue to build on a large scale. Compared with the Weimar Republican government, which regarded peace as eternal and walked on thin ice at all times, it is clear which of the two was more attractive to the military. You must know that all the ships currently built by the Navy are wearing shackles and performing difficult dances; No matter how much you play the overweight game, a 10,000-ton ship cannot compete with the enemy's 30,000-ton regular capital ship, and a destroyer of less than 1,000 tons cannot go deep into the ocean to launch a breakthrough attack. The German Navy is now in full fledgling. If we want to really achieve something, only by breaking through the restrictions of the peace treaty can we have a few chances of winning.

In August, the No. 2 ship of the Deutsche Pocket Cruiser, which had begun construction in 1929, was launched at the Germania shipyard, which had been annexed by Rudolph. The ship was named "Admiral Scheer" in honor of the successful challenge to the commander of the British Grand Fleet's High Seas Fleet, Admiral Sher, in the Battle of Jutland. At this time, the outfitting project of the first ship, the Deutschland, was nearing completion, and it was expected to be completed and delivered to the troops by the end of this year. Compared to the construction time in history, the speed of this plane is undoubtedly much faster. With the financial support of Rudolph, the merged shipyard not only did not sink as a result, but was much better off than the same period in history with the retention of a large number of core technical personnel. They now have no shortage of production capacity, the only thing they lack is political permission to build ships.

The cold wind of early winter was howling, and the face was so cold that it felt painful, but Raeder and a group of admirals were extremely excited: after 40 months of construction, the German Navy's first post-war capital ship, the Deutschland, was finally completed. Although its exterior size does not seem to be very large, and it is only the level of an ordinary treaty heavy patrol under the effect of the reverse protrusion, the two imposing quadruple 283mm main turrets in the front and rear undoubtedly proudly show the world their brilliance and difference. It fired a 400kg projectile at a speed of 725m/s, destroying British and American light and heavy cruisers like slaughtering pigs and dogs; And the 128-mm secondary guns, which have as many as 12 guns on a single side, also discourage any destroyer that tries to strike them with lightning!

In nautical tests, the Deutsche Dermanstein's power crew easily climbed to a rated power of 80,000 horsepower, and the ship's speed reached 30.18 knots. In the subsequent 8-hour strong pressure ventilation test, the ship's power unit operated stably at 92,000 horsepower, and the measured rapid speed was as high as 31.5 knots. Such high speed, combined with the protection of the core compartment immune to 203 mm shells, allowed it to firmly gain the reputation of a battle cruiser, despite its standard displacement of only 12,600 tons. And its seafaring performance, which was born out of the Königsberg class, is undoubtedly better than its predecessors, which have a tonnage of 5,000 tons; The high-performance cruising turbine provides it with an excellent range of 12,000 nautical miles / 15 knots, even in the North Atlantic.

"We can no longer endure the oppression of the Treaty of Versailles!" The top brass of the German Navy, who learned of the results of the sea trials, were surprised and excited, and had a strong desire not to be satisfied with the status quo. With multiple openings in all fields, the self-built warship has achieved appalling horror performance; If the tonnage of a single ship can be unlimited, what will happen to the warships that will be built? In this case, they can't wait to break through the shackles of all evils that bind them, and Hitler is the source of their hope!

At the end of January 1932, Hitler ran in Germany's new presidential election and faced Hindenburg head-on. With Rudolf's support, the National Socialist Party staged a propaganda campaign unprecedented in German history: they put 1 million large-color posters on the walls of cities large and small, distributed 8 million pamphlets and 12 million special editions of the party newspaper, and held 3,000 congresses in a single day. In addition, for the first time in the German elections, the National Socialist Party made full use of films and records, which were broadcast on trucks mounted on loudspeakers and horns.

In the March election results, Hitler was defeated in the face of the demigodized old field marshal, but he received 14.6 million votes, a full double as many as in the Reichstag election a year and a half ago. After that, Hitler engaged in a fierce political struggle with the top of the government, and with his fox-like cunning, he gradually gained the upper hand in the center of this treacherous storm. The two prime ministers Bruning and Papen stepped down one after another, and the defense minister Groner, who was hostile to the National Socialist Party and the stormtroopers, also resigned.

Half a year later, the Schlegel government was no longer able to sustain itself. After Hindenburg also lost trust in him, Schlegel, who had deceived countless people, could only resign in disgrace, and the post of chancellor was once again vacant. After a series of political deals, Hitler was finally recognized by various powers and nominated by Hindenburg as the new chancellor. The history of Germany and the world as a whole has thus entered a very different era. (To be continued.) )

PS: Today, a book friend mentioned the problem that the battleship picture is too small, which is because the starting background only allows me to upload pictures smaller than 900×600 pixels, so I have to compress it. I'll ask the editor about the situation later