"Welcome to Germany, Rear Admiral, I am Friedrich, Chief of Staff of the General Staff of the Royal Navy of the German Empire? Feng? Ingnoll, I am very pleased to have you on the Royal German Navy. On the docks in Wilhelmshaven, Ingnoll greeted a middle-aged man dressed in the uniform of an Argentine rear admiral, saluted and extended his right hand.

"Thank you very much for greeting, Major General." The middle-aged man returned the salute with a smile, then shook Ingnoll's hand and responded: "I'm Onofre, a staff officer of the Argentine Navy?" Bette Bedel, it is an honor to visit Wèn Germany. It was great that we could talk directly, and I was worried about the language, so I brought a German translator with me. ”

"Haha, Rear Admiral Bet Beddle, please rest assured that I will be responsible for receiving you for the rest of your trip, and the navy is an international service, and there are probably no English speakers among the officers of the Imperial Navy." Ingnoll said with a smile, then turned sideways and made a gesture of please.

The orderly who followed Ingnoll immediately ran over, took the salute from Bet Beder's interpreter and attendant, and then put it in the trunk of the car, and then diligently opened the car door for the two generals, and when the two generals got into the car, they sat down on the seat opposite the general with the interpreter, and then the car slowly started and drove away from the dock.

"I've known for a long time that your country's automotive industry is very advanced, and German cars are known for their luxury and comfort, but today it was an eye-opener for me." Bet Beddle looked at the luxurious interior of the car and praised: "Do all the admirals of your country use such vehicles?" ”

"Of course not, Major General Bet Bader, it is because knowing of your arrival, His Excellency Admiral Hoffmann, the commander of the Wilhelmshaven base, lent his special car, which you have used during your time in Wilhelmshaven." Ingnoll replied with a smile.

"It's so embarrassing to take Mr. Admiral's car." Bet Beder was a little surprised, he did not expect the German side to attach such importance to his arrival.

"For your arrival. Your Excellency the Chief of the General Staff attaches great importance to it, so that we can meet your request as much as possible, and His Excellency Hoffman joked at the time, not to lend it to you, even if it is given to you, His Excellency the Chief of the General Staff will not object. Ingnoll said half-jokingly, half-seriously.

I don't know if Bet Bader understood the meaning of Ingnoll's words. Bet Beder smiled and refused: "I don't dare to ask for such a good car, you just gave it to me, and I can't afford its maintenance costs." ”

I don't know how much this car is worth, but there is absolutely no better car in Argentina, and Bet Beder would not dare to accept such a big gift. I did come to Germany this time with a big order in my hand, and bribery is not uncommon in such order cases, but this big gift from the German Navy is too eye-catching and too hot for me to dare to take.

"So Major General Ingnoll, what are our next arrangements?" Press the little ** in your heart. Bet Beder asked.

"We will then go to your lodging in Wilhelmshaven for the next few days, and since you have spent a lot of time at sea, you may rest for an afternoon, and in the evening His Excellency Admiral Hoffmann will invite you to a small reception dinner." Ingnoll said.

"No, Major-General Ingnoll, although it took a long time to cross the Atlantic from Buenos Aires to get here, we were well rested on board, so I would like to go directly to your military port to meet Admiral Hoffmann. Thank you to him and stop by for a visit. Do you think it's okay? Bet Beder asked.

After a slight mutter, Ingnoll nodded: "No problem." Then he motioned to the driver to go to the naval base, and then said to Bet Beder: "Mr. Major General, you don't need to be in such a hurry, our trip to Wilhelmshaven is planned for four days, and there is plenty of time. ”

"Thank you for your kindness. However, since our navy attaches great importance to this negotiation and is in a hurry, it specially sent me to Berlin to set up an office in order to facilitate communication, so I hope that this matter can be completed as much as possible, so that the Chinese side can understand the situation earlier. So if I can, I'd like to keep the trip as short as possible. Bet Beder said.

"If you so request, Mr. Major General, we can make arrangements." Ingnoll thought for a while and said: "Then I think that the visit to the Wilhelmshaven naval base and our warships can be arranged until this afternoon, and we will have a light meal in the canteen in the base at noon. ”

"It couldn't be better." Bet Badel didn't expect Ingnoll to be so cooperative, and immediately expressed his gratitude: "Thank you very much for the trouble." ”

The Wilhelmshaven naval base was far from the civilian port area, and after a long period of driving, the car turned into a path lined with trees on both sides that looked like a woodland, and after seven turns and eight turns, at the end of the path was an inconspicuous gate, and after seeing that it was the car of the commander of the base, the soldiers standing guard immediately raised the barricade at the door to let it go.

Driving into the base, to Betbedel's surprise, it was not as crowded as expected, but rather very empty, with dense woods and large grassy areas separating the low buildings, and if it weren't for the sailors marching on the roadside, it would look more like a sanatorium than a military stronghold.

"It's very different from what I imagined, and I imagined that the German naval base should be more dense, tall and dense, but that doesn't seem to be the case now." Bet Beder asked, a little confused.

"The Wilhelmshaven Naval Base is one of the most important home ports of our Navy's oceanic fleet, where most of the capital ships of our Navy are concentrated. Most of the sailors of our navy live on the shore when they are in port, so a large area is needed to arrange living and leisure facilities. Ingnoll explained with some pride.

"Therefore, in consideration of the need for a large area, as well as the consideration of secrecy, at the end of the last century, when we vigorously promoted the construction of urban infrastructure, we moved the general port forward here, and replanned the area around it, and all the surrounding civilian buildings were removed, and the entire navy was covered with vegetation, and there was no commanding height nearby that could overlook the military port.

Because there are no civil buildings nearby, it is relatively remote. Therefore, in order to provide better living conditions and living environment for the officers and men, the construction here is not too compact, and the larger space is also convenient for adding more facilities that can make the life and entertainment of the officers and men in the port area more convenient in the future. ”

Ingnoll is justifiably proud that Wilhelmshaven is one of the largest and best in Germany in terms of land area and the construction of its onshore facilities. For Wilhelmshaven, the most important port for the German navy facing the North Sea, Jochen did more than half a star.

Wilhelmshaven, which was able to build a European 3A-class deep-water wharf in later generations, has excellent geographical conditions, and the Yade Bay Channel, which originally affected the fleet's dispatch at low tide, has been dredging and digging for many years, consuming a lot of money every year.

In 2012, before the Jochen crossing, Wilhelmshaven was built as a 3A-level deep-water terminal, which was the most ideal container hub for Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Russia, and now Wilhelmshaven is also developing in this direction.

Obviously, Ingnoll's introduction surprised Bet Beddle. He also went to the Portsmouth and Plymouth military ports of the British Royal Navy, but it is obvious that the British military ports, which are the maritime hegemons, are not as large and beautiful as the Germans. Bet Beddle thought.

As the car drove through the buildings and woodland, it suddenly became clear that the most important facilities of the Wilhelmshaven naval base were in front of Bette Beder. Stretching outward, straight into the middle of the sea, there are huge ships docked on the edge of the dock.

4 German-class battleships that made waves all over the world and made everyone talk about them quietly moored here. And as the name dreadnought became more and more known. The British, named a quasi-dreadnought, also had two Braunschweig-class battleships in port.

These six battleships were almost half of the main force of the German Navy's oceanic fleet, and it was difficult to find a luxury lineup comparable to them in the world. Although there were a few other small and medium-sized ships in the harbor, they were far from being as catchy as these six battleships as Bette Beder.

"It's spectacular." Bet Beder sighed as he looked out the window.

"This is the home port of the second battleship squadron of the Ocean Fleet, the three Braunschweig-class ships went to sea for training a few days ago, so they are not in the port now, the Silesia, which was completed in May, and the Schleswig-Holstein, which was completed just a few days ago, are now training in the Baltic Sea, and they will also be assigned here to join the second battleship squadron in the future. Then the fleet here will be even more spectacular. Ingnoll said proudly.

"It is every navy's lifelong dream to be able to command such a fleet." Bet Beder thought in her mind.

In Buenos Aires, Bett Bader also saw the majestic posture of two super armored cruiser formations led by German Rear Admiral Spee, and such super warships can only be regarded as second-class capital ships in the German Navy, which made Bet Bader full of expectations for how majestic the first-class capital ships of the German Navy were.

The Germans did not disappoint him, this is the top naval power in Europe and even in the whole world, seeing such a fleet. What else is there to hesitate about?

Although he was full of praise after seeing the two Scharnhorst-class ships led by Rear Admiral Spee, he thought that Germany might be very good in the field of cruisers, but it was still inferior to the British in the field of battleships.

Rather than having the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contact the major British and American shipyards to solicit design proposals, it is better to choose to accept the Germans' proposals. Bet Bader secretly made up his mind to make every effort to broker a deal between his country and Germany. (To be continued......)