In the middle of the night, Walvis Bay is quiet and peaceful, and in the deep night, the calm sea brings gusts of sea breeze, and although it is January, the sea breeze here is still comfortable and soft.

This was the most tranquil time in Walvis Bay, and the military port, which should have been sleeping, was now full of hustle and bustle, and a group of German sailors carrying large seamen's bags quickly boarded the deck of the Lufthansa after being inspected by the gendarmerie.

Trucks coming and going, lifting booms and thick fresh water pipes are constantly replenishing the Lufthansa with supplies and burning coal, and in this busyness, the whole scene is also solemn.

This tense atmosphere made the German Navy, which had never encountered a similar situation, seem very uncomfortable, and although good training allowed everyone to do their job in an orderly manner, the anxiety in the heart could not be dissipated. And the sailors on the Hansea, especially those who had never seen a big scene, were full of apprehension and uneasiness at the same time as excitement, and the two emotions were mixed together, making them tremble.

Naturally, the officers above could not have said much to them, they only told them that on the coast of East Africa, the ships of the Empire were detained by the British, and the lives and safety of the people of the Empire were threatened, and they themselves were the only ships that were able to rush to the scene quickly. What is the situation now, I don't know; How many enemies there are, I don't know; I don't know if I can get support. But it is enough to know that there are worthy compatriots who need to go to the rescue themselves.

Although the officers received a telegram from Berlin demanding that there be no armed conflict as much as possible, the German warships were forbidden to fire the first shot, lest the conflict escalate and the Herzog would be plagued by fish in the pond. But no one knew what would happen then, so every officer and soldier on the Lufthansa asked to leave a suicide note before sailing, which made the atmosphere in the harbor even more gloomy.

The officers and men of the Lufthansa had prepared for the worst. His own warship was the best heavy cruiser in Germany and one of the best armored cruisers in Europe, and even if it could face the fleet of the British Navy, it must not let the reputation of the warship be damaged.

In the thick of the night, the Hansa whistle sounded, and the whistle tore through the silence of the night. Then slowly left the dock and disappeared into the night.

The voyage from Walvis Bay to Maputo Bay is more than 2,500 nautical miles, which is also a huge test for the Lufthansa, even if the Lufthansa is non-stop, it will take 5 days to run at a speed of 21 knots, not to mention that the power system of the Lufthansa cannot withstand it at all.

As a result, the Lufthansa could only maintain a speed of 16 knots to reach Maputo Bay, which was far higher than her maximum endurance of 12 knots, but it would still take more than 6 days to arrive, and no one knew what bad things would happen in 6 days. Therefore, the anxiety that filled the whole battleship also made the officers and men of the German Navy feel that the battleship under their feet was not fast enough for the first time.

At this time, Berlin was also full of anxiety, and Marchar, who had not slept all night, worked extremely efficiently to make all the newspapers throughout Germany publish the news of the seizure of the German cruise ship the next day, and the list of all the passengers on the cruise ship was published in a whole page.

The whole of Germany was in a state of great anger and fear, and the German people, who had already been sympathetic to the Boers because the government had not reacted to the British invasion of the Transvaal, took to the streets and began to accuse the government of inaction, claiming that the German government's goodwill towards Britain had been thrown to the ground and trampled on by the damned Londoners.

Some radical German citizens even rallied in front of the British embassy to protest, and the German government had to send police to protect the British embassy.

Anglo-German people-to-people relations, which had been relatively harmonious, cooled down after the start of the Boer War. And this time the incident can be regarded as completely arousing the antipathy of the German people towards the British.

German newspapers, which had made little mention of the Boer War under government restrictions, began to report on the Boer War in great detail, albeit at the insistence of Mashal and Jochen. The German government still strictly censors the content of the report, and any report of excessive attacks on the British government is banned, but anti-British sentiment in Germany is still high.

At the behest of Machar, Billo drafted a sternly worded diplomatic note in which he expressed his strongest protest against the banditry of the British Royal Navy and demanded an explanation and a public apology from the British government.

British Prime Minister Salisbury, who got the note, was taken aback. Also feeling annoyed, he immediately called the First Admiralty George? Goshen and First Sea Secretary Frederick? Richards, slapping his head and covering his face, was a bitter criticism: "God, look what is happening now!" Our ship detained the German ship, and then the Germans protested against us. And ask us to apologize!

Don't you think we're in a bad enough situation? We've had to set aside some of our forces in Africa to deal with the damned French, and now you want us to split some of our forces to the Namibian border to watch out for the Germans? We've gone bad enough in that damn place!

And there was also the Portuguese Governor on that ship, and today the protest of the Portuguese is also on my table! Even more troublesome were the Gallics and Yankees, who were afraid of chaos in the world, who actually expressed their condolences and support to Germany. This is clearly an attempt to pull the Germans into the water and get us in trouble with them! ”

In the face of the Prime Minister's wrath, Frederick? Richards replied without humility or arrogance: "Your Excellency, the Royal Navy's mission is to blockade the coast of East Africa and prevent any support for the Boers from entering the Transvaal, and our boys are merely fulfilling their own mission. ”

"So what did they find on the ships of the Germans?" Salisbury said angrily.

"There is obviously nothing unusual on the two German cruise ships that were released, and as for the one that was detained, I'm sorry, Your Excellency, because of the lack of means of communication, we don't know the specific situation now, but since it was detained, we believe that there must be some reason.

And it is clear that our interception, boarding, and detention will not stop the Germans from doing so because we will release them later, and as long as our blockade of the East African coast is not suspended, the interception and inspection of any suspicious vessel will not cease.

We cannot give the Boers any chance of outside support just because some people are protesting. Frederick said.

Salisbury was silent, he made so much sense that I couldn't argue with it. After a while, he looked up and said to Frederick, "You are right, Frederick, we cannot let go of any relaxation on our present primary target, the Boers, because of any outside influence. ”

Frederick responded, "I can understand your pressure, Your Excellency, the situation of the Empire is indeed difficult right now, but I believe that as we have more and more troops in Africa, we will get better." ”

"Thanks, Frederick."

"So, Your Excellency, do we now need to respond to the note from the Germans and ask our fleet to let the Germans go?" George? Goshen asked.

"Release? No, we can't let it go until we find out what really happened, and if there is really something wrong with that ship, it should be us who ask the Germans for an explanation! Send a telegram to the nearest port and ask them to report back to the port where they have clarified the situation. Salisbury ordered.

"What if there is no problem with that ship? Do we need to apologize to the Germans? George asked cautiously.

"Apologize? No, if there is no problem, we will let it go, and then tell the Germans that this is just a misunderstanding, and the British government regrets it. But a public apology is out of the question.

Frederick was right that as long as our blockade on the coast of East Africa does not end, this is still possible, and if we apologize to the Germans, then other countries also demand an apology, how will the Reich Government respond? Salisbury, who had calmed down, once again revealed the hegemonic ideas of the British at this moment.

This is just a misunderstanding, we regret it, but we resolutely do not apologize, how does this response feel so similar to a historical event on July 23, 1993? Ahem, it seems that there is another mention of something that was done to die.

"So what if the Germans react aggressively to our reply, and even threaten our actions in Africa, as Your Excellency fears?"

"Then we don't mind having the fleet of the Royal Navy on the doorstep of the Germans, and the Royal Navy is our most reliable support at all times." Frederick said proudly

"So let's do it." Salisbury

Such a tough attitude and blunt answer of the British once again caused an uproar in Germany, knowing that there was no means to get in touch directly with the ships at sea at this time, and the British could only contact the ports of East Africa by telegram in Guò, and then send the port to the Jianchuan District to contact the Sitis, and then bring the news back, and then send it back by telegram.

It took days to go back and forth, and this kind of investigation was seen by the already angry Germans as an excuse to stall for time and refuse to admit mistakes, which also led to a resurgence of anti-British sentiment in Germany.

This time, Machar also had to admit that the emergency dispatch of the navy was valuable, and it seemed impossible to solve the problem through simple diplomatic means.

At this time, the Lufthansa was rushing to Maputo Bay under the stars, and after a full 6-day voyage, the sea area where the incident occurred was close at hand. (To be continued......)