While agents at IIIb were making waves in Serbia and Austria-Hungary, the economy in Germany was recovering steadily and slowly at its own pace.

Dilapidated houses on the outskirts of the city have been demolished, new construction sites are under intense construction, ordinary people with large jobs and higher wages still have spare money to spend, and factories keep running to supply the goods needed by the market.

In addition, the gold worth more than 60 million marks from the United States gave the German government the confidence to continue to implement the NEP, although 60 million marks is not too much, but it is also a reassuring pill for the entire German economy.

The country has gold, and this news is enough to reassure people, and the most feared thing in times of economic crisis is the loss of trust in the country's economic capabilities, and now the whole of Germany is not too much panic and decadence affected by the economic crisis. Because of this, Caprivi has been in the parliament lately, and even the occasional opponent has been suppressed by the tightly knit interest groups.

The whole of Germany was able to function normally during the special period, and the effect of the strong intervention of the government was obvious, which consciously or unconsciously made Jochen's National Socialist ideas slowly begin to take root in the hearts of the people.

The government has done something, and its actions have been effective, and this can touch the hearts of the people more than any propaganda. Under this subtle influence, the political forces of National Socialism are slowly taking root and germinating, and even causing some changes within the Social Democratic Party that are not yet visible.

Jochen's original proposal is now slowly coming to fruition, but Caprivi told Jochen that due to the increase in the volume of work on the Kiel Canal, the construction period will still be extended, and the construction period is expected to be completed after 1900, even if the construction personnel and construction machinery are greatly increased.

Jochen was helpless about this, but it was better to spend an extra 5 years than 7 years to expand in the future, and the ships of the German Navy did not have to look at the canal to design, and the design was also according to the standards after the canal was opened in the future, and the obstacles to the large size of naval ships were removed.

On 17 May, Jochen was invited to the Royal Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven to attend the launching of the new battleship, codenamed B.

Since the British have already launched 4 Sovereign-class battleships, and the Sovereign will be completed by the end of this month. This class of giant ships with a standard displacement of 14,000 tons opened the prelude to a new era, which was a huge shock to the German Navy.

Because the British Navy began to use the name battleship in 1887, the prestige of the Sovereign-class battleships was also well known to the navies of various countries, and the German Navy followed in the footsteps of the British and renamed the newly built ironclad ships as battleships.

Although it is still the same model as the launching ceremony of the Electoral Emperor that Jochen participated in that year, this time the launching ceremony is more grand and higher-standard. Even though the first ship with the code A was launched last July and named Brandenburg, this did not quench the German Navy's thirst for new ships.

The launching ceremony of the first ship in July last year, Jochen went to Austria-Hungary and did not attend, but this time he was there, so the specifications of the launching ceremony of the Brandenburg-class battleship with the code name B were not lowered, but increased.

Because the construction of the four battleships was progressing very smoothly, Jochen, who had made a "great contribution" to the German Navy, was awarded the rank of rear admiral by Müntz, who was in a good mood as he watched the huge ship in his hand be completed day by day, and Jochen became a general at the age of 24.

Although compared to his British cousin George, who had only the rank of major when he had to leave the army after his eldest brother Victor died of pneumonia in January this year, he had to leave the army as a prince, and Jochen's promotion rate climbed like a rocket. But dictatorship, this age and rank are not unusual, such as the 27-year-old commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District, such as the 23-year-old commander of the 4th Army of the Red 1st Army, well, Jochen said that he was very ordinary.

The launching of the new ship went smoothly, and after being given the name Wools, the giant ship slid into the water to the cheers of everyone. The hull will then be towed to the outfitting dock for outfitting work.

It was under Muntz's introduction that Jochen learned that since returning from being stimulated in England, the German navy's top brass was hungry for ships. Therefore, special supervisors were sent to the major shipyards to squat.

As a result, the Wools was launched three months earlier when the tonnage was larger than in history, and the subsequent outfitting work was estimated to be several months earlier under the inhumane onlookers of the German naval overseers.

And the Krupp company was not spared, and the new ship was waiting for the ship's guns. So under the pressure of having a pair of eyes staring straight at you from behind, it is expected that Krupp will be able to deliver the naval guns at the beginning of next year. Therefore, by the end of next year at the latest, all four ships will be put into service, and the strength of the German Navy will be greatly increased.

Compared to the unfinished battleship, another battleship that had been outfitted on the dock not far away and was in the process of final commissioning attracted Jochen's attention more. The second ship of the first generation of genuine German armoured cruisers, the Victoria Louiser class light cruisers, the Marie Valerie.

Of course, Jochen was attracted not because the ship was named after his wife, but because it was different from the shape of previous German cruisers. The forward-leaning bow, the large bridge, and the cylindrical mast combined with the bridge all give this ship a beautiful shape that is different from this era.

A 2-meter rangefinder is installed at the top of the mast, and a simple shooting command room is set up in a real way. Of course, this shooting command room cannot be compared with the future shooting command room with a variety of functions such as ranging, observation, and correction, and now this thing can play a ranging role at most, but setting up a shooting command room at the highest point of the whole ship is conducive to long-distance artillery battles.

In order to conduct salvo tests, the gun models of the whole ship were unified, and a fire control room and fire control officer were set up. Similarly, there is no advanced fire control console and other equipment in the future, and the salvo of the whole ship is not completed by the fire control officer pressing the salvo button. The fire control room is a simple calculation of the number of jù transmitted from the firing command room and then transmitted to each gun position, and then the fire control officer controls the electric bell, and each gun position listens to the electric bell and fires the gun together (Note 1).

Looking at this warship with a fairly modern shape, it can be said that it is the result of the first stage of Jochen's continuous theoretical indoctrination and climbing the scientific tree of the German Navy.

"Your Highness, the Marie Valerie is expected to undergo sea trials in another week, and the Victoria Louiser, built at the Kilgermania shipyard, is now undergoing training and is expected to join the Navy by the end of the year." Seeing Jochen's attention to the cruiser, Muntz said.

"The construction period is 5 months shorter than expected, and it seems that you are really pressing the shipyard very tight." Jochen smiled.

"There is no way to do it, everyone is in a hurry, the German Navy has fallen to the 5th place in the world, even Italy is in front of us, not to mention them, even the seat under my ass is not stable."

"You can be your Lord of the Admirals in peace, I don't want to find some old stubborn to trouble me. At least until innovative and visionary young people grow up, no one can touch your seat under the ass. ”

"It seems that His Highness has chosen someone in his heart, and I won't ask more, Your Highness can rest assured, as long as I am in this position, the technological innovation of the German Navy will definitely not stop." Muntz patted his chest and promised.

"What are the plans of the Navy after the completion of the 4 Brandenburg-class ships?" Jochen asked.

"It is also about experimenting, drilling, groping, and then designing the next level of battleships based on experience. On the cruiser's side, we are ready to increase the tonnage even further and equip it with new 210 mm naval guns. ”

"The shipyard is estimated to be idle, and it will take at least 1-2 years to start construction of new ships."

"Your Highness don't worry, because the new navigation standards of the canal have come out, the standards for navigable ships have risen, and each shipyard must improve its own construction capacity. The original slipway is no longer sufficient to meet the demand, and the new slipway must be at least 20,000 tons or more. So the acquisition of land and the construction of slipways were enough for them to keep busy for a while. By the time they're done, we'll have a new order on our side. ”

"Since the shipyard is going to be expanded, then you'd better go to Caprivi and let the government take the lead. It is not easy to buy land to expand the factory area, and the government is just carrying out the demolition and resettlement work, so that the two sides can coordinate it, so that it is easy to do things. And if there are any difficulties in the shipyard, you can also mention them and see if they can be solved through negotiation.

Here, for example, the foundation of the Royal Shipyard is not very good, and the technical difficulty of the slipway construction is not small, which not only increases the difficulty of construction, but also increases the construction cost. Or the Volkeng shipyard in Stettin, the location is too remote, the traffic is also very inconvenient, and the outlet channel is not very wide, which is also not good for a large shipyard like Volkeng. ”

These problems have plagued Germany throughout history, and after the launch of the British Intrepid, Germany did not have enough large slipways, except for the restrictions of the Kiel Canal, and finally the German government had to build a new shipyard in Hamburg.

The Rhineland, the first German dreadnought in the Nassau class, was the first to be completed at the earliest, and was also very large due to the location of the Volkeng shipyard and the inaccessibility of the shipyard and the slow transportation of materials.

It is better to solve problems early than later, and even if you spend a little more money now, it will be cost-effective to spend more time than in the future.

"Aren't you going to take a look at the ship?" Seeing that Jochen was about to leave, Muntz asked.

"Forget it this time, I'll come back next time when the Argentines come to visit."

"With Your Highness accompanied, then the Argentines still have to pay honestly?"

"After that, you navy can find more people to visit, and I will accompany them one by one."

"Hahahaha......" The two laughed.

At the end of his trip to Wilhelmshaven, Jochen hurried back to Berlin, where he would soon experience great joy.

Note 1: In the era when there was no salvo button, it was common to listen to the electric bell for a salvo, and dreadnoughts before World War I also used this method to fire a salvo in large numbers.