"What do you think?" Jochen asked in a deep voice, and Tirpitz couldn't have reported to him without thinking about any way to deal with it: "How is the Navy going to respond?" ”

"Your Majesty, the North Sea is the main battlefield of the Ocean Fleet, and dealing with the threat from the British is the most important thing, and we must make a choice in this situation." Tirpitz said with some difficulty: "And the army's combat plan is to defend the northern front and attack the southern front, so there is almost no need for the navy to cooperate in the Baltic Sea, so my idea is that the main force of the ocean fleet does not undertake the combat mission in the Baltic Sea, and the navy uses small ships and minefields to complete the defense of the Baltic Sea, but it is ......."

"But what?" Jochen's brow furrowed, Tirpitz had already guessed what he thought, but he still had to let him say it himself.

"Your Majesty, the Russian Navy does not have the ability to attack our coastline with all its might, even if the defense line composed of small ships and minefields cannot completely block them, at this time, the Ocean Fleet can be completely annihilated in one fell swoop. But if the Russian Navy only expands their sphere of activity and harasses the coastal areas of our country, it is likely that the Navy will not have enough strength to stop it, so it may cause some losses, unrest and low morale of the people. Tirpitz gritted his teeth and said what he thought, then bowed his head and waited for His Majesty's verdict.

This kind of thinking is tantamount to the Navy itself completely surrendering the initiative in the Baltic Sea, the Navy can do nothing but passive defense, and it is always impossible to cover all aspects of defense, and any flaws may be seized by the enemy, and then cause a defeat.

At this time, the navy must take the blame, so whether it can grit its teeth and ensure that the naval strategy does not change under external pressure must have the support of His Majesty the Emperor. Once the emperor could not bear this defeat. If the Navy must address the threat in the Baltic Sea, then the battle plan for the Royal Navy that has been formulated by the General Staff of the Navy cannot be said to be completely overturned and must be heavily revised, and any revision will be made at the cost of distracting the Navy's energy and strength.

Jochen knew what Tirpitz wanted—his own determination. It was he who asked the Navy to formulate an operational plan for the Royal Navy, so how determined was he to support the Navy's operational plan? What is the price to be paid for this project? Tirpitz wanted an answer from his mouth.

Although the promises made as leaders are often unreliable, such as the mustache saying that there will be no foreign war before 1945, so that the Navy can carry out Plan Z with peace of mind; For example, the campaign promises made by the future US president before he took office have never been fulfilled. For now, though, Tirpitz wanted support from the emperor.

Jochen lowered his head and silently calculated in his heart, Tirpitz was right in analyzing that the Russians were mainly on the defensive, and Jochen remembered that the Russian Navy and the German Navy did not fight head-to-head in World War I. The four Gangut-class battleships were already in service very late, and the Russian Navy cherished the only four dreadnoughts in the Baltic Sea, and the Russian Navy's top brass who were haunted by Tsushima's nightmare were very worried that the strength they had accumulated would be lost again, so the four Gangut-class ships never found a chance to fight the German Navy.

The ex-dreadnought Glorious and the armored cruiser Rurik (second generation) engaged the German Navy in the only few large battles in the entire Baltic Sea.

The German Navy has never found a chance to completely solve the thorn in its back, and in order to assist the army's attack on the Gulf of Riga, 6 former dreadnoughts were dispatched, and the support fleet included 7 dreadnoughts and 3 battle cruisers. If the Russian Navy responds to the battle, it will be a good opportunity to solve the problem in one fell swoop, but the Russian Navy will not dare to attack it directly in the face of such a formidable opponent.

After the German Navy took the Gulf of Riga, the Army's advance did not go smoothly, and the Russian minefields in the Irbe Strait and the Russian coastal defense heavy artillery on Ersel Island have also been plaguing the German Navy's rear road, and the Moltke battlecruiser also ate the torpedo of the British Navy's E-1 submarine that submerged in the Baltic Sea, so the German Navy quietly withdrew after finding that it was not a good choice to stay here.

After the German Navy withdrew and transferred all its heavy forces back to the North Sea. The Baltic Sea became the sea of the Russians, but even in this case the main tasks of the Russian Navy were mine-laying, patrolling, and supporting the army.

Two combat cruises in October 1915 were out south of Gotland. However, in the face of the German Navy, which had long been hiding far away, the Russians did not continue to advance and had no intention of making a big move.

Therefore, in general, the likelihood of a major move by the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea is low, and now the German Army is not at all ready to attack from the northern front, and such a combat operation as the landing in the Gulf of Riga, which requires naval support, has not been thought about at all. Therefore, the main forces of the German Navy did not care about the defense tasks of the Baltic Sea, and it stands to reason that there was no problem at all.

But this is only an extrapolation based on historical circumstances. What will actually happen to Jochen simply cannot be asserted. Who knew that the current Russians, at the instigation of the British, would be more proactive in distracting the German Navy and relieving the pressure on the British Royal Navy.

The German Navy, which is now stronger than in history, and will act more actively and resolutely in the future, has put pressure on the British, and the British will definitely come up with more means to deal with this situation than in history, with the Russians as a new force. Not taking advantage of it is not at all British style.

Looking at Tirpitz, who was still standing in front of him with a stern face, Jochen knew he had to give the Navy a clear opinion.

"Will the Navy be able to ensure that the Russian Navy will not be able to cover the landing of their land forces on the shores of our country?" Jochen asked in a deep voice.

"Please rest assured that the Navy will never allow a Russian soldier to step into our land from the sea." Tirpitz immediately assured loudly.

"War always has to be sacrificed." Jochen lowered his head and said in a deep voice, "Just do what you want." The low voice and slow pace of speech showed how difficult it was for Jochen to make such a decision.

However, after more than 40 years of life, Jochen knows very well that his fate has been tightly tied to the empire. If you don't want your fate to collapse with the empire, then you always have to make some trade-offs.

There can be no victory without sacrifice, and any good leader must understand this, as did Churchill, who allowed Nazi Germany to blow up Coventry, and Stalin, who sent millions of young people to the front as cannon fodder only to drag the enemy offensive, and Jochen also understood this.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tirpitz immediately replied that the Emperor's words meant that even if the Baltic coast was in danger of being harassed by the Russian fleet, the Navy's battle plan to persist in the North Sea against the Royal Navy would not change.

Such a decision was very difficult for the monarch to make up his mind. Since His Majesty the Emperor had made such a determination, it was necessary to make such a sacrifice worthwhile, and the navy could not afford to fail, and Tirpitz was equally upset.

Despite this decision, Jochen apparently did not want the Russians to move too easily in the Baltic Sea: "The narrow waters near the Gulf of Finland, the shallow water depth, and the complex hydrological conditions are not conducive to the activities of large warships, but since we are not ready to take the initiative to attack here, it is better to seal this place completely." If we can't get in, then the Russians don't come out at all. ”

"Your Majesty, do you mean to turn the vicinity of the Gulf of Finland into a minefield entirely?" Tirpitz was also quick to react, and in an instant he understood what Jochen meant.

"That's right, since the Russians are so fond of laying mines, then we will help them, and once the war starts, I will make sure that the navy lays at least 10,000 mines near the Gulf of Finland and traps the Russians in it." Jochen said in a deep voice.

The Russians themselves laid mines, and the Germans also went to lay mines, and it is believed that for a long time the Gulf of Finland will definitely be covered with mines as if it were polluted, and if the Russians want to come out, they will have to carry out a long and dangerous mine-clearing operation, which will greatly delay the opportunity for the Russians to take the initiative.

This was the solution that Nazi Germany came up with after summing up the experience of World War I, in view of its own insufficient naval power in the Baltic Sea, although the Nazi Imperial Navy in World War II was never sufficient in other places.

The Germans, who were no less enthusiastic about laying mines than the Soviets, laid 21,000 mines near the Gulf of Finland in the six months of the war, and this mine tactic did achieve certain results, and the two battleships of the Soviet Navy in the Baltic Sea were injured by mines when they retreated from Tallinn to Kronstadt, and in this dangerous situation, in order to avoid unnecessary damage, the large ships of the Soviet Navy during the entire World War II were basically shrunk in the base, and there were few active attacks.

"This should not be difficult, the Navy has deployed a large number of torpedo boats in the Baltic Sea region, it is completely feasible for torpedo boats to enter the vicinity of the Gulf of Finland at night to lay mines, and the Navy's light cruisers and destroyers can also undertake minelaying tasks, and there is no problem in deploying 20,000 mines near the Gulf of Finland within 2 months after the start of the war, and we can completely block the route for the Russians to come out." Tirpitz was confident about this: "If the Russians were to carry out a minesweeping operation, we would be able to determine their likely course of action, which would also make it easier for the submarine to ambush and further expand the results of the battle." ”

"Do the best you can, and although sometimes you have to accept sacrifices, it is best if there are no sacrifices." Jochen nodded.

"Yes! 陛xià! (To be continued......)