Many people believe that the introduction and implementation of the German "Naval Act" was the beginning of Germany's attempt to pile up British provocation over sea power, and the German Naval Act "targeted" Britain can also find a basis in itself.

According to the memorandum attached to the Naval Act of 1900, Tirpitz quoted Wilhelm II as saying: "There is only one way to protect Germany's maritime trade and colonies in the present situation: that Germany must have a strong navy, a strong navy that would put them in danger even in the event of a war with the most powerful naval powers."

To achieve this, it was absolutely unnecessary for the main German fleet to keep up with the size of the fleet of the strongest naval powers, for it would normally be impossible for any one naval power to assemble all their main fleets to attack us. Even if the enemy poured all his warships to overwhelm us with absolute superiority, it would be a great drain on their powerful fleet to defeat us, and although the enemy may be victorious, their position in the world will not be sustained by this fleet.

This passage of Wilhelm II made the imaginary enemy of the German navy to Britain and the construction of the German navy with the aim of fighting Britain into many "insightful people" interpretation. However, despite the fact that the German Navy was not prepared to build its own navy into the first place in the world, it was completely ignored.

And in the construction plan of the German Navy, the German Navy has been seeking nothing more than a 2:3 ratio of numbers that they believe can guarantee safety, and even after the 1908 amendment to the Naval Act submitted by the Anglo-German shipbuilding race was at its climax, the Germans still carried out their naval construction in a step-by-step manner, not at all hysterical like the British.

However, the legitimate behavior of the Germans in building up their navy out of self-preservation mentality became the best target of the greatest political hooligans in human history in the early 20th century to increase their prestige and capital, and his assertion that "the largest military power on the continent is determined to become at least the second largest naval power at the same time is an event of the highest significance in world affairs" even more portrays Germany as an ambitious figure who is not willing to be a military power alone. It has been emphasized on almost every occasion.

But how many people know that the British wanted to completely wipe Germany out of the world before Germany built its navy? On September 11, 1897, two months before Tirpitz submitted his proposal for a naval law, the British newspaper Saturday Review published a chilling and sensational passage using the Anglo-German commercial competition as a starting point:

If Germany were to disappear tomorrow, all the British people in the world would become a little richer. The state quality inspection has been fighting for several years for a city or inheritance. Won't they go to war for £250 million a year in trade? …… The British hit them even harder with the command room of the construction of the German fleet, and their ships would soon sink to the bottom of the sea, or be towed to British ports.

In the face of this kind of egoism and redness based on the naval standard. Naked threats, the Germans had no choice. It was Wilhelm II's determination to expand the fleet to respond to the provocations of the British, and in his own words: "In the face of such egoism, it is useless to do anything but to support the strength of one's own demands." ”

Therefore, the so-called provocation of the German navy against the British did not exist at all, but a robber did not want to see that he could have plundered the victim and began to arm himself, so as to make it difficult for him to attack.

But the reality is that Britain, the biggest rogue state of the early 20th century, is still the world's most powerful naval power. So Jochen felt that what Wilhelm II did was right, but it would be better if we could control our mouth, and we still had to quietly enter the village, and not shoot.

Therefore, Tirpitz, who had already discussed with Jochen and had reached a tacit understanding, never mentioned Britain in his statement in parliament this time, and would never change his tune in the short term. This kind of thing is known to everyone, you know it, I know it, and you just need to know it in your heart.

However, the strength of the German navy at this time was indeed a little weaker. Tirpitz was therefore able to argue that the German navy could not meet the needs of the country today, exactly as Jochen had done: "Honorable parliamentarians. Ladies and gentlemen, the German Navy now has three fleets, which means that our navy must be dispersed into three parts, which is extremely disadvantageous to the already weak Imperial Navy.

Although the construction of the Kiel Canal is nearing completion, the completion of which will greatly ease the pressure on naval forces in the North Sea-Baltic region, it will not solve the problem fundamentally.

Until the end of 1898. Our country has only 4 Saxony-class battleships of the second class, 1 Electoral-class battleship of the second class, 4 Brandenburg-class battleships of the second class, 1 Caesar? The Frederick III class battleships of the second class consisted of a total of 10 capital ships.

Among them, the Saxony-class second-class battleships are already old ships that have been in service for more than 20 years, while other capital ships. Including the remaining 4 Caesars that are still under construction? The Frederick III class were all second-class battleships with small tonnage, small caliber of main guns, and weak armor. Today, when first-class battleships are constantly being built in various countries around the world, our country does not have a ship of the same class!

Regarding the performance of our capital ships, as well as the number and performance of first-class battleships built by other countries in the past 10 years, some documents compiled by our Navy Office are now being placed in front of you. ”

As soon as Tirpitz finished speaking, there was a sound of paper turning in the council hall. Of course, these numbers provided by the Navy Office have been manipulated, and of course they are not fakes, but only to show you the numbers I want to show you.

For example, the main gun of the Brandenburg class is only 260 mm, while the main gun of the American Indiana class has 13 inches, which is 330 mm, but the number will never let you see the rate of fire, penetration, dispersion and other things that really represent performance; Or maybe the Brandenburg class had a main armor belt of only 300 mm, while the Indiana class had an armor belt up to 457 mm thick. Of course, the armor of the Brandenburg class uses excellent Krupp armor, and has an armor belt height of up to 4.6 meters.

It's a contrast that makes you feel, my God! The warships of the German Navy are not even as good as that damned American upstart! This little trick is actually the best game that this American outburst will play in the future. The most classic one is that during the Cold War, the US Navy claimed that it had less than 600 combat ships, while its rival had more than 1,000 ships of various types.

My God, the Red Empire is going to take over the oceans! In fact, this is a play on words, and the Americans are "combat ships". And the Soviets are "all kinds of ships", and miscellaneous auxiliary ships are also counted for you, are you afraid?!

And now Tirpitz is playing the same trick, but it is clear that it is enough to fool the lawmakers who don't know how to do it, and those who know a little bit are considered insiders. They are all happy to see the expansion of the navy, so they all pretend that they don't know anything.

After reading the article in front of him, the Social Democratic MP asked: "Is the navy's current predicament also caused by the navy itself?" For example, design and build such a second-class battleship, or sell your own capital ship to the outside world, etc. ”

Tirpitz unceremoniously shot back: "Our navy was a coastal defense force 10 years ago, and we don't have a lot of money, but we have to maintain our coastline while taking care of the empire's few overseas colonies!" So we can't build a powerful first-class warship like those naval powers do and at the same time guarantee a sufficient number of them!

Therefore, lowering the standard and building a more powerful second-class battleship became our only option. And the sale of warships is also due to the rapid development of the empire overseas, and we have to need more and stronger cruisers to protect our overseas rights and interests.

However, during the period of financial constraints in the navy, we had to sell older capital ships to build newer cruisers to meet the demand!

This is not the result of the Navy's decision-making mistakes. Rather, it is a sacrifice made by the Navy in order to cooperate with the economic development of the Empire! And now, with the Empire's economic strength and industrial base, the Navy needs to make up for the time wasted, and the Empire can support it! ”

Some oppose it, and some support it, but the bourgeois parliamentarians, who are united around industrial giants such as Krupp or Hamburg-America, express their understanding of the current state of the navy: "We are aware of the current situation and the predicament of the navy, and I think that the navy needs to be supported in the face of increasingly heavy and difficult tasks. What are the plans of the Navy now? I think that the current economic situation of the empire should not be a problem to increase the military spending of the navy appropriately. ”

"Thank you for your support of the Navy, but as I said earlier, what the Navy needs is not some military spending. Approval was given for the construction of a number of ships. What the Navy needs is a policy that can last forever, a law. It does not change by a change in the minds of those in power. Tirpitz responded.

"Tell me about the Navy's plans." Frederick III, who was seated at the head of the council hall, spoke.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Tirpitz owed a debt to the emperor, recalling the dumbness he felt when he first saw the plan that the crown prince handed him, and he felt a little happy in his heart, wondering how many people would be as shocked as he was when he told the plan.

Settle down. Tirpitz slowly spoke: "In the future, the empire will maintain four fleets after the opening of the Kiel Canal, namely the Ocean Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet, the African Fleet, and the Far East Fleet.

The Ocean Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet will serve as the local forces to protect our country, while the African Fleet and the Far East Fleet will serve as overseas forces to safeguard our maritime rights and interests.

The size of the Ocean Fleet will consist of 2 battleship sub-flotillas and 1 cruiser sub-fleet, while the Mediterranean Fleet will consist of 1 battleship sub-flotilla and 1 cruiser sub-fleet. The African Fleet and the Far Eastern Fleet each had one cruiser subfleet.

Each fleet had 1 battleship as the flagship, each battleship subfleet had 8 battleships and 1 reserve battleship, and each cruiser subfleet had 2 heavy cruisers, 8 light cruisers and 1 reserve heavy cruiser, 2 reserve light cruisers.

In addition, 1 small garrison fleet will be retained on the Baltic side, including 4 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers and 4 light cruisers.

The program had a duration of 10 years and was to build a powerful navy of 33 battleships, 14 heavy cruisers and 36 light cruisers by 1909!

And all old ships that have been in service for more than 20 years need to build new replacement ships to ensure that the strength of the Imperial Navy is sufficient to meet the increasingly urgent security needs of the Empire's development!

Such a huge plan cannot be realized with a temporary allocation from the government, and a law must be used to ensure the long-term implementation of the plan! (To be continued......)

PS: The last bullet of the chapter name of the joke: It took three chapters to tell sù about your plan, and the joke ends here.