"Forming an oceanic fleet? This is exactly what I have been looking forward to, Your Highness. Tirpitz, director of the rookie Navy Office, said excitedly: "It can finally be realized." ”

"Yes, the conditions are ripe for its formation, and the Kiel Canal is expected to be operational in 1900, and the Imperial Navy will no longer have to go back and forth to exhaustion. And our old naval program is coming to an end, a new one is about to begin, and the design of the new ship is basically complete. The naval system has also been reorganized, and all the conditions have been met, so it is indeed time to realize the long-cherished wish of the navy, isn't it? Alfred? Jochen asked with a smile on his face.

"Yes, Your Highness, it's time to fulfill our long-cherished wish." Tirpitz was equally smiling.

"Well, then, Alfred, as the head of the Imperial Navy's Office, I would like to hear your opinion on the size, composition, and strategy of the Ocean Fleet." Jochen asked.

"Your Highness, regarding strategy and tactics, you should ask His Excellency Koster, the head of the Naval Commander-in-Chief, instead of me, the director of the Naval Office." Tirpitz joked.

After the reorganization of the Navy General Staff, Jochen was placed in the post of Minister of Personnel of the Navy, although as the former Chief of Staff of the Admiralty, according to the function, Jochen should serve as the new head of the Navy Command, but only 30-year-old Jochen has insufficient qualifications and experience.

However, it is clear that the Naval General Staff is now more professional, and it is not appropriate for Jochen, a staff officer with only office experience, to be in charge of the entire Naval General Headquarters.

As a result, Jochen offered not to serve as the head of the Naval Command, so Muntz asked his successor, Koster, to take the position first. However, it was not appropriate to let the former chief of staff of the Admiralty go to work for Koster or Tirpitz, so Muntztiyyì made Jochen the head of the personnel department, so that Jochen would not have nothing to do, and it could also be regarded as a statement by the Navy to the emperor. The right to appoint and dismiss naval officers is still in the hands of the royal family.

However, as the head of the Navy's Personnel Department, Jochen had the experience of being a chief of staff because of his special status, and he made outstanding contributions to naval construction, and he was preparing to form an ocean fleet, and Jochen had a plan when he was still the chief of staff of the Admiralty. Therefore, the discussion with Tirpitz here is not overstepping. So Jochen called the newly appointed head of the Navy office to ask for his opinion.

"There's nothing wrong with that, the planning and construction of the ocean fleet is your job. The construction of equipment is in the service of strategy,

Of course, the General Headquarters has its own plan, but without the cooperation of the office, the plan cannot be realized, so the opinion of you, the director of the office, is very important. ”

"Then I'll be straightforward, Your Highness, I have done some research on the theory of the risk fleet that you put forward before. If the Naval General Command is ready to implement the theory of the risk fleet into the construction of the Imperial Navy, then the positioning of the Imperial Navy is clear in the first place.

This is a defensive maritime force, all of which are centered on self-protection, and all tasks and construction directions must revolve around this. No matter what kind of strategy and tactics within the Navy must serve this. Therefore, the minimum criterion for the size of the fleet should be based on the fact that even the strongest navy in the world cannot afford the losses that may be faced in an attack on it.

Therefore, the standard of fleet construction of our original navy with France and Russia as imaginary enemies must be changed, and we should focus on the strongest navy in the world, the British Royal Navy.

Of course, we are a defensive naval force, and we are not building a navy on the premise of war with Britain. But the naval forces needed for our maritime strategy and national security strategy must be measured by the British.

As His Excellency Moltke the Elder once said to Bismarck in the Far East: 'The so-called public law of all nations is only the affairs of small nations.' There is only strength among the great powers. Therefore, the current size of our navy is far from sufficient.

And in order to achieve this goal, the main task of the navy is to be able to inflict heavy losses on the enemy in the decisive battle of the fleet, and to achieve this goal, it is necessary to take the capital ships as the core, and in order to implement and realize the scale of the fleet for our own protection, the capital ships that our country wants to have must reach more than half of the capital ships that the British can put into attacking us. Preferably 2:3 or 10:16.

In other words, the new oceanic fleet must have such a scale, and in addition, the Mediterranean fleet also needs to be strengthened, and the pressure on the future construction of our navy will be very high, so resources cannot be too dispersed. The main construction direction should be the capital ship, and then the construction of some other ships that must be built. Tirpitz bluntly set the goal of German naval construction to be the first in the world, as he had done in history.

Tirpitz's advocacy combined with Wilhelm II's hubris led to the root of the Anglo-German confrontation by setting the German Navy's goal on a standard that tried to provoke the British.

Jochen scoffed at such rhetoric, saying that the fleet was not an expensive toy for the emperor to satisfy his vanity, but a tool to serve the interests of the country and obtain a better security environment. It is not something that can be created by two people, a "second emperor" and an "evil military stick", it must be a huge project that can only be completed by the entire country and the whole society out of demand.

In the eyes of some people, if Germany wants to ensure its own security, it should simply not build a navy, but wholeheartedly bow down at the feet of the world's strongest men, prove its harmlessness to an enemy armed to the teeth, and thus ask the strong to show their mercy and reward their peace.

Fuck off, maintain a 2:3 ratio of strength to ensure Germany's safety? How is this enough in Jochen's opinion? Only by beating the British down completely could Germany be safe.

Of course, it is purely brain-pumping to want to compete with the British in the number of former dreadnoughts, but Jochen did not refute Tirpitz, but put forward some suggestions for the original orthodox concept of "capital ship core", after all, the future ship building plan of the Imperial Navy will go through the hands of Tirpitz, if he fully opposes the research and construction of other ships, then it will undoubtedly lead to bad consequences and problems in the cooperation between the two of them.

"We need a strong enough main fleet, I agree. But Alfred, the advent of new technological weapons can often play a role in surprise, and of course I don't mean to be like the French and just delve into the sideways.

I think though. We must be more sensitive and inclusive of new equipment, new technologies and new ideas. Being too conservative and too cautious is not necessarily a good habit for a navy that relies entirely on technical equipment to form its combat effectiveness. ”

"Of course, Your Highness, pay more attention to new technologies, which will be one of the important tasks of the Navy Office in the future." Tirpitz assured.

"That's right. Your Highness, I've heard that you're planning to build a civilian naval propaganda agency, right? It's called the Naval League? Tirpitz asked.

"Yes, this organization will often deal with your naval office in the future, Alfred, you need to pay more attention." Jochen said with a smile.

"Then I have an idea, in order to cooperate with the work of the Naval League, I wonder if it is possible to build a new department under the Navy Office, after all, the Naval League is only a civilian organization even if it is closely connected with the military. We need an official body to promote the Navy through more formal channels.

For example, establish communication channels with journalists in the press, build journalists in the news media into authorities with detailed naval knowledge, and then show them the charm of the navy to the outside world. And it can be used as a window for the Navy to deliver messages outward. Create a good image of the Navy.

It will cooperate with the civilian naval alliance to achieve the promotion of the navy. Tirpitz said.

As soon as Tirpitz said it, Jochen realized that he had missed something, just thinking of promoting the Navy among the people, but he didn't expect that the Navy itself could also advertise itself, and that there was such a public relations agency, which could allow the Navy to promote its own platform through the public media.

Historically, both government-run and non-governmental naval propaganda organizations were run by Tirpitz, who had a considerable understanding and knowledge of public psychology and mass communication, but Jochen forgot about the official ones. Only half of Tirpitz's ideas were copied, and now they have been re-filled by the original creators.

"Not a bad idea. Lord Muntz will be happy, have you figured out what to call this department? ”

"Naval Public Relations Division." Tirpitz said.

"Then you have to do your best to set up this department, which is of great significance to whether our naval shipbuilding plan next year can be approved by the parliament. The first task of your new department is to get the councillors done. "Those who can work hard, and of course Jochen will not let go of any opportunity to add weight to his ship-building plan.

"It shouldn't be difficult, make diagrams and texts, and use the number jù to convince the councillors that this can be done relatively quickly. But I don't think it's intuitive enough to just get through what is on paper. I think that inviting these parliamentarians, their families and friends, to visit our naval bases, to board Imperial warships, and even to sail under the escort of warships should make them feel good about the Navy. ”

Tirpitz is also a person who is good at catering to the preferences of others and knows how to figure out people's hearts. These tips are completely easy to come by.

"Good idea, it's really fitting for you to be the head of this naval office." Jochen complimented.

"Your Highness has praised me, I'm just doing my best." Tirpitz modestly paused.

"Alfred, I believe in your abilities." Jochen complimented.

"Your Highness, in addition to forming the Ocean Fleet, what is the second important job?" Smiling and accepting Jochen's compliment, Tirpitz asked his second question.

"Of course, it's the next naval shipbuilding plan, with the ocean fleet, but how can we do it without warships?" Jochen said, standing up and walking behind his desk, pulling out a bag of papers from a drawer, then walking back to the couch and handing it to Tirpitz.

"Look, Alfred, I'm going to let you do it next."

With some doubts, he opened the bag and pulled out the paper inside, the content on it made Tirpitz's pupils dilated: "Your Highness, this ......"

"Alfred, this is my plan." (To be continued......)