In mid-October 1883, the arduous basic military training was over, and before the cadets had time to relax, the equally arduous basic seafaring training began. And as Jochen once said, the operation of the sail ship is indeed more of a test of the tacit understanding and courage of the soldiers, the complex rigging, the towering mast, the heavy canvas, the cadets are still busy even under the careful guidance of instructors and veteran sailors.

At the end of October, the whole ship was cleaned by order of the principal. This was a tradition in the German Navy: before each voyage, the officer in charge, usually a general, would issue an order to carry out a large-scale cleaning of the entire ship. The deck is busy. The call signs of "whole ship cleaning" and "garbage cleaning" have been used and will continue to be passed down in the future. At this time, as part of daily training, deck cleaning is not done with brushes, but with the traditional use of sand and pumice, and all personnel must kneel on the deck and use sand to clean, sand, and scrub the dirt from the wooden deck (Note 1). At this time, all the students threw themselves into the activity of eliminating the stain with almost fanatical passion, because they knew that they were about to sail away.

Subsequently, aboard the Naval Academy's sail training ship Nioba, Jochen and all 107 cadets of three classes began a two-month voyage training. The voyage was planned to first bypass the Skagerrak Strait and cross the English Channel to make a goodwill visit to the British port of Portsmouth. After entering the Atlantic, head to the port of Lisbon in Portugal to recuperate, then head south, around the Cape of Good Hope, then north, across the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, then to the Austro-Hungarian port of Pula to rest, then across the Mediterranean, through the Strait of Gibraltar, and back to Germany.

During their visit to Wèn in Portsmouth, the young German naval cadets and the equally young cadets of the Portsmouth Naval Academy exchanged friendly views with each other and fully felt the excellent qualities of the British naval cadets. In Portsmouth Harbour, the huge fleet of the British Royal Navy moored at anchor was also the envy of the cadets. Interestingly, it was in Portsmouth that the training ship Nyopa was built, which was started in 1853 and sold to Prussia in 1862, and is now used as a training ship for the German Naval Academy, and can be seen by many as a symbol of naval friendship between Britain and Germany. Jochen, however, looked at the British ships in the harbor and wondered how to send them all to the bottom of the sea.

Leaving Portsmouth and heading to Lisbon, all the participants had a short holiday, where they took turns to go ashore and then visit Lisbon. Jochen and Hipper, on the other hand, went to the bar for two drinks together. However, after leaving Lisbon, it is a long ocean voyage, and the relaxed atmosphere is long gone, and what remains is boring and boring.

The ship made its way south to the equator, where the temperature was frighteningly high, but fortunately the wooden deck was not too hot, and although all the cadets would be naval officers in the future, they were not yet, so it was no joke for soldiers to ask to go barefoot in such a bright sun during their daily duties (Note 2). If it's just a hot temperature, after all, sailing on the sea, there is still some sea breeze, but the cabin is still very humid, and it doesn't take a few minutes to wring a puddle of water after just changing clothes. The heat, humidity, and lingering stench, and the fact that there was no bathhouse on the ship, daily washing had to be carried out on the open deck at any time (Note 3)! The inability to take a bath, combined with the humidity of the sea, and the saltiness, can scrape a layer of salt off your clothes after they are dried!

Ship driving, anchoring at a fixed depth, anti-collision avoidance, loss control, light control, as well as endless learning of geographical coordinates and nautical chart positioning, course speed measurement, navigation beacon and signal flag signal light recognition, meteorology and hydrology and foreign military knowledge, endless exercise training and teaching, if you just learn it, forget it, instructors and old sailors are changing tricks to purge this group of rookies, emergency gatherings at night are commonplace, and various physical training is also commonplace. But occasionally playing pirate games and forcing the students to walk the plank and jump into the sea can not stand it, can not take a bath and a body of seawater, dried is a layer of salt and alkali sticking to the body, well, sweat is also the same virtue, lice do not raise, debts do not worry.

The long voyage made the students, who were still fresh at the beginning, bitter, and their minds were full of land, rest, bathing, vegetables, beer, and women...... Our Jochen is a good boy, and the last one has nothing to do with him. However, Yoheng understands what kind of virtue the old sow Sai Tianxian is when he goes to sea in March, just look at his classmates, this is not yet 3 months.

Since the Nioba went to sea, the ports along the way for replenishment and water were basically British territory, and almost every sea area could see the warships of the Royal Navy flying the rice flag loitering, and almost every area with development value was a British colony. Looking at those old broken ships that can run rampant everywhere with a rice flag, the young naval cadets said that I can fight seven of these things one by one. Of course, this can only be done by yourself, and everyone knows that the German Navy does not have the strength to compete with the British.

It was another hot ghost day, and Jochen was hiding in the shade under a dinghy in a daze, and Hippert came over, then sat down next to him, and asked, "Jochen, what are you thinking about?" After a long exchange, and the boredom and boredom of the voyage at sea, the two men had basically nothing to talk about, and at Jochen's insistence, Hipper no longer used honorifics, but called him by his first name.

"Franz, I'm wondering how the navy should seize sea power. And what price will we pay for seizing sea power? ”

"You want to challenge the Royal Navy?" Hippert immediately heard Jochen's subtext.

"It's not that I want to challenge, it's that Germany has to challenge. Franz, Germany's industrialization and urbanization are developing rapidly, in 1871 China's population was 41.06 million, of which the urban population was about 36%, and there were 8 large cities with more than 100,000 people; Today, our population is 47.24 million, of which 43% are urban, and the number of large cities with more than 100,000 people has increased to 21 (Note 4). The development of urbanization has made a large number of people pour into the city, and people who have left the land will naturally devote themselves to industry, and the rapid development of industry will naturally make China's domestic market saturated, and in order to meet the needs of industrial development of processing raw materials and sales of the market when Germany can not be satisfied, going out is inevitable. However, we will face competitors in the international market, namely the old powers with their vast colonies, France and the United Kingdom. ”

"Then we just have to deal with the French and rob them of their colonies. It's dangerous for you to challenge the minds of the British Royal Navy. Clearly, Hipper's current thinking, like the traditional Germans, was that the British navy was undefeatable. Of course, this is also to blame the German Navy is weak, but this is not a problem, in history in 1884 Germany total tonnage of 160,000 tons, ranked third in the world, although it quickly fell out, but now the situation is obviously better than history, 1883 Navy plan If 2 ironclad ships, 2 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 4 small small cruisers are completed and put into service, the German naval strength will develop rapidly, even if the ranking will fall in the future, it will be slower than in history. This was of great help in strengthening the confidence of the German Navy.

"It would be best if we could deal with the French alone, but it won't be so simple, and what if the Army regains the glory of the Franco-Prussian War? If they can't seize overseas markets, the French will recover as quickly as they do now! The French paid the 5 billion francs reparations for the Franco-Prussian War in 4 years, and the rapid export of French products brought by the low price brought about huge economic benefits allowed the French Army to rebuild and the French Navy, which was almost unaffected, with sufficient military spending. Didn't French President Grevy say this year: 'I deeply feel Bismarck's kindness to France in the 13 years since the Franco-Prussian War.' ’”

"Are you dissatisfied with Chancellor Bismarck?" Hearing such a thing from the future Kaiser, Hipper was really a little frightened.

Of course, Jochen couldn't say that he was dissatisfied with Bismarck, so he had to change his tone: "I can't talk about dissatisfaction, but Prime Minister Bismarck has made various efforts to prevent French revenge, but the recovery of the French is unstoppable, and in the final analysis, the Prime Minister does not understand why France recovered so quickly." Jorchen paused and stopped talking about the sensitive subject.

"In the final analysis, it is an economic issue, and the economic base determines the superstructure. With the economy, it is very convenient to do anything, whether it is to improve the people's living conditions, develop science and technology, or increase military strength, all of which are inseparable from the economy. But we have an unavoidable dilemma in developing the economy, we have no overseas markets! Our industry is growing too fast, and when our goods begin to crowd the British market, the naval pressure from the British will become more and more obvious, because our merchant ships will be detained by the British, and our markets will be plundered by the British. Therefore, having its own navy is a necessary prerequisite for the economic development of Germany, so it is not that I want to challenge the sea power of the British, but that the Reich must challenge the sea power of the British. Franz, do you think the British will kindly sit idly by and allow our ships to sail unhindered on their oceans? The British simply did not realize that their obsession with sea power was in fact nothing more than a condition for economic development, and that the British could not tolerate others touching their sea power, and did not realize that the prerequisite for becoming the strongest was to have unparalleled economic power. And if we want to have this kind of economic ability, it is inevitable that we will collide with the British sea power. ”

"Well, while I think it's still a dangerous idea to challenge the Royal Navy, you do have a point. So how to challenge the sea power of the British, what do you have any ideas? ”

"There's a little bit of it, though it's not mature."

"Oh, tell me about it." Hearing that Jochen actually had a little idea, Hippert became interested.

"The best thing to do, of course, is to build a navy as big as the British, but the navy construction period is too long, and the British won't sit back and relax if we expand the navy, so it's basically impossible. So we can use another way of thinking, I call it the risk fleet idea, where we don't need to build a navy that is equal to the British, but we can build a navy that can cost the British dearly. Then the British will have to consider whether they will be able to face the threat of a country that is also thirsty for sea power after suffering heavy losses with a war with us. Then the British will have to weigh whether they can bear the outcome of a war with us. Of course, this is the best outcome. However, I think that the British, who have become clear that sea power is only a means and not an end, will not choose to live peacefully with us so wisely. The same development of the navy and trying to stifle us is supposed to be done by these people. Then our advantage is that the British have too many colonies, and it is impossible for him to concentrate all his strength to fight us, so we only need a navy that can defeat the British home fleet in a head-on decisive battle, so that our naval resources can be more concentrated and more targeted, and once the home fleet is defeated, the British will find that if they really want to concentrate their naval forces scattered all over the world and try to defeat us again, they will also lose their sea power, And whether we will lose the battle at home is a matter of two questions. And we don't have to think of a decisive battle with the main fleet of the British, the weaker side can use asymmetrical engagements to weaken the British navy. After all, Germany and Britain are so close that it is not difficult for us to take the initiative and make the British exhausted. ”

"Are you talking about the idea that the French Aube proposed last year to attack the lines of communication at sea with light ships and attack the coastline of the other side?" Hipper had heard of this new naval approach of Germany's old enemy.

"No, Franz, this French idea doesn't work at all, and I'm not going to be so stupid."

"Oh? It didn't work, because the British protested against the French's idea of warfare. "Hippelci arrived.

"Franz, this theory is just beautiful to look at. His theory has three holes:

First, his theoretical support is the results of Russian torpedo boats against Turkish warships in the 1877 Turkish-Russian War, but he ignores that the warships of the Ottoman Turks are not protected by light ships, and the attack effect of light ships is limited, and if the other side also has a large number of light ships to protect them, then the Russians have no chance.

Second, the ability of light ships to sail far is extremely limited, and it is simply impossible for Aube to expect these small ships to sail to the ocean to break through the enemy's complete fleet blockade. And in the absence of overseas supplies, in the face of the enemy's complete pursuing force, there is no choice but to flee. Therefore, the possibility of a successful attack is slim.

Thirdly, Obei's assumption is that his enemy does not build the same type of ships against his light fleet, so as to give himself a technological advantage, do you think it is possible, when the other side has a strong main fleet on the one hand, and on the other hand begins to build light ships, what is his advantage?

This boring assumption is based on the contrast between the idiocy of the enemy and the purely technical level. It ignores that any war is a confrontation of the entire military system, and the more complete the system, the stronger the confrontation capability. The navy, a complex system of technical arms, is the embodiment of the country's economic strength and military strength system.

Therefore, the so-called new theory proposed by Aube is something that can be ignored at all. ”

"And what do you mean by asymmetry?" Hipper was a little confused.

"The attack of the light fleet constantly mobilizes the enemy's main fleet to move, and when exhausted and the overall formation is scattered, the main fleet concentrates local superiority to engage it. Or after the main fleet engages it, the overall formation of the opposing fleet will inevitably be destroyed and scattered, and then the light fleet will be used to carry out a sneak attack. Obe is not wrong with only one thing, and that is the development of new technologies, the emergence of new technologies that allow more and more equipment to threaten capital ships. But it is undoubtedly stupid to rely solely on one or two new technologies to confront the entire naval system of the British, but when our system is more perfect than the British, and our technology is more advanced than the British, even if our main fleet is less than that of the British, we can bridge this gap through guò system confrontation. ”

And when Jochen came back from his excitement, he suddenly found himself surrounded by classmates, including instructors and old sailors, hiding under the dinghy, which obscured the entire upper view, and he was immersed in his own train of thought, and Hippert was also immersed in Jochen's ideas, so that the two did not notice the movement around them. Jochen suddenly regretted a little, Hipper naturally has nothing to do with it, the commander of the reconnaissance detachment who can fight to the death with David Betty in the future will naturally not be afraid of the British, but these cadet instructors in front of him, who can guarantee that if they accidentally leak their ideas, they will not cause a great turmoil in the entire empire?

But soon, Jochen knew he was too careful. The young students were flushed, their eyes were excited, and their expressions of excitement were overflowing. By the way, this is the navy, a young, energetic, hard-working, and energetic navy. There is no navy man who does not want to be able to cross the seas, and there is no navy man who is not eager to challenge sea power. In front of them are the seeds of the Imperial German Navy, the backbone of the future navy, and the big scene depicted by Jochen fascinates them.

And the instructors and veteran sailors were equally excited, the shame of the weakness of the German Navy was too profound, and the slow construction of the Navy made many people waste time, but there was no light in sight. And now, the prospect of naval development depicted by the imperial grandson made them realize the inevitability of a strong German navy. They don't have to worry about the cadets they have worked so hard to educate are wasting their talents on logistics bases and reserve fleets.

Jochen knew that the seeds he had planted today would one day blossom as the German Navy grew. And when that day comes, the sea power of Britain will tremble!

Note 1: This tradition has been passed down from the era of sailboats and has been maintained this way for a long time. See picture source: Full ship clean-up dasRein Schiff Manoever

Note 2: It is also a tradition handed down from the era of sailboats, when the weather is good, officers and non-commissioned officers can wear shoes, but soldiers must go barefoot. See picture source: Sailors on daily duty

Note 3: For a long time, there were no bathhouses on ships, and even in the pre-dreadnought era, there were no bathhouses for sailors. See photo: Washed sailors

Note 4: The number jù here is calculated by the average value, in 1900 the total population of Germany was 56 million, the urban population accounted for 54%, and there were 41 cities with more than 100,000 people, and I here calculated the number jù in 1883 according to the average growth rate

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