"This battleship Navarino will gallop across the Mediterranean Sea loaded with the friendship of Germany and Greece!" With Konstantin's impassioned speech, Sophie, the princess of the German Empire and the crown princess of the Greek Kingdom, slammed champagne on the bow of the battleship.

The scattered foam was accompanied by the cheers of everyone around them, the colored balls hanging directly above the hull exploded, colorful ribbons of paper fell, and the iron plates hanging on both sides of the bow flipped downward, on which was the name of the ship written in Greek and German, Navarino.

Jochen, who was standing on the viewing platform, smiled and applauded gently, as if he was very satisfied with this lively scene, and turned his head slightly to say something to Crown Prince Konstantin who walked off the rostrum and stood back beside him. It seems that as Crown Prince Constantine said, the friendship between Germany and Greece has endured. However, if they stand by the emperor's side, they will find that the conversation between the two is not as harmonious and friendly as imagined.

"Konstantin, you're putting us in an awkward position." Although his face was full of smiles, the words that came out of Jochen's mouth were implicitly reproachful: "Although it is true that this is a ship of the Greek Navy, it was built in a German shipyard anyway, and our position should be considered more or less." Isn't it embarrassing for us to name the ship Navarino now? ”

Navarino, the name given by the Greeks to their new dreadnought, is clearly aimed at the Gulf of Navarino in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese, where in 1827 the combined fleet of Britain, France, and Russia crushed the Ottoman navy. After this battle, Greece gained its independence, and the Ottomans' vast fleet of dominance in the Mediterranean was wiped out, and not only did its influence in the Mediterranean plummet. And also ceded control of the Black Sea to Russia.

Now the Greek Navy has given the new ship such a name, and the intention to wrestle with the Ottoman Navy at sea is obvious. Of course, this is a warship of the Greek Navy, and whatever name you want to call it is a matter for the Greeks themselves. But Germany, as the builder, is caught in the middle.

Now that the cooperation between the Ottomans and Germany is getting closer and closer, although there is no paper treaty to establish an alliance, there is only a lack of paper between the two countries. Now this one is being built by Germany. The Greek battleships that also had to be equipped with British-made naval guns implied that the three countries would unite to destroy the Ottomans? Whether the Greeks thought so or not is unknown, but Jochen had to consider what kind of impact it would have on German-Austrian relations. Especially if he personally attended the launching ceremony of such a battleship as the German emperor, it would be easier for others to make a fuss.

Although it is just a ship name, it contains too many meanings to blame Jochen for making a fuss. When you reach your own position, you have to think about everything politically. As an emperor, his own will is the will of the empire, and any inappropriate statement of his own may cause trouble for the empire. Historically, in an interview with the British newspaper "Daily Telegraph" in 1908, Wilhelm II said that he liked the British, but the British were suspicious of their good intentions, and then expressed their disappointment. The famous big mouth said a damn nonsense: "You Englishmen are crazy, crazy." Then this sentence was taken out of context and became an insult to the whole of England by the German emperor. For the first time, the British press finally confirmed from the mouth of the German Emperor a fact that had been unproven for a long time, that is, the German Emperor was the most evil enemy of Britain!

Originally thinking that history had been changed by themselves, the Greeks would not be able to name the new ships after the great victory of Helches in the Balkan War in 1913 and the island of Riemonos, which had been captured from the Ottomans, ended up playing a bigger game for themselves. Knowing that the Greeks were going to give the ship such a name, Jochen's first reaction was that he could not participate in the launching ceremony. However, in the case that the Greek crown prince and his sister have to attend the launching ceremony, it is obviously rude not to accompany him, so he can only appear here.

Although people came, they still had to express their dissatisfaction to Konstantin. Konstantin obviously knew that this matter was very embarrassing for his brother-in-law. Moreover, this matter is more or less a little calculated by Jochen, and the matter of calculating the emperor of the German Empire is not handled well, and it is possible that Germany will show Greece a face at that time. Therefore, he immediately laughed on the side: "The decision made by the Navy privately in this matter was not clear to me at the beginning. They didn't inform me until I was going to come to Germany, and it was too late for me to object. ”

"Hmph, it seems that none of those high-ranking people in your navy have any political acumen." Jochen said contemptuously, "I don't know if it's clever or really brainless to do this kind of thing, but they don't want to think about it, the ship has just been launched." It's not finished yet. ”

Although he was very embarrassed in front of the German emperor for what he had done to the navy, Konstantin immediately defended his own navy after hearing Jochen's words: "Although this incident makes Germany's position very embarrassing, in the final analysis, it is only the name of a battleship, and I don't think it will have any adverse effect on the relationship between Germany and the Ottomans." ”

At present, the Ottoman navy, army, and air force are dependent on Germany for training and equipment, as well as economic cooperation between the two countries. It is impossible for Ottoman and Germany to turn their faces on this little thing, at most a few words of protest, and then Germany will come forward to appease and it will be over. But if Germany wants to teach Greece a lesson in this matter, then Greece will lose more than it gains, and his brother-in-law's sentence "it has not yet been delivered" makes Konstantin frightened.

"I sincerely apologize for the Navy's imprudent actions this time. But the Ottoman navy gained Hayreddin? The Barbarossa dreadnought and Abdul? Not to mention the fact that the navies of the Balkan Peninsula are powerless to compete with it, even the Russian Black Sea Fleet is very jealous, and the pressure on China's maritime defense has greatly increased. The Navy hoped that the warship would be able to cope with pressure from the Ottoman side, so it had high hopes for it. I hope you will be forgiven for the minor troubles caused by ill-consideration in this case. I hope that this will not affect the relations between Germany and Greece, as well as the relations between you and me. I also hope that the German side will continue to devote itself to the construction of this warship, so that she can join our navy as soon as possible. Konstantin said.

The German side tore up the contract and detained the battleship, such a useless thing as Constantine believed that his brother-in-law could not do it, after all, this move really damaged the credibility of the German shipbuilding industry. But if His Majesty the Emperor hinted at slowing down the shipyard and delaying the outfitting work for a year and a half, the Greek Navy would have been crying.

Abdur, who was reborn at the hands of the Germans? The Kadir has been transformed from a hulk that was a luxury to be completed to a cutting-edge dreadnought with a modern vibe. 4 283 mm 45 times the diameter naval guns and 250 mm 10 mm inclined main armor belt, as well as the installation of steam turbines brought about a speed of 20 knots, made the Greek Navy the strongest at this time. The armored cruiser Evlov simply could not match it.

In Abdul? After the completion and delivery of the Kadir, it became the heart of the Greek Navy, and the Ottoman Navy became the dominant power in the Aegean Sea with this battleship alone, and the attitude of the Ottomans on the Balkan issue began to harden day by day. If the Ottomans were somewhat restrained by the fact that they had to deal with the much more powerful Russian Black Sea Fleet. And what about the delivery of Hayredin not long ago? The Barbarossa gave the Ottomans complete free hand. Therefore, in any case, it is necessary to get the Navarino into the Navy as soon as possible.

"I said that after the uprising broke out in the Dčić Mountains before, why didn't you make any movement, it turned out to be because of this." As Konstantin said, the naming of a ship brings only minor troubles, and he has already made it clear that Konstantin has given Konstantin a warning not to play the trick on Germany's head. So he no longer dwelled on this issue but asked about the situation in the Balkans: "I know that the Serbs will be a little unable to sit still after the uprising in the Dečić mountains has spread to the Kosovo region, and I originally thought that they would take this opportunity to attack the Ottomans. ”

The uprising that broke out in the Dčić Mountains in 1912 would soon spread to the whole of Albania, and Albania's demand for independence became the trigger for the First Balkan War. Historically, the uprising in the Dečić Mountains was an opportunity for the Ottoman Empire to dissolve parliament, reshuffle power, and internal unrest. However, now the power within the Ottoman Empire has long been reshuffled under the intervention of Germany, so when the uprising broke out, Jochen instructed the German military advisers in the Ottoman to exert influence on the Ottoman regime, mobilize troops into Albania as quickly as possible to suppress the uprising, and at the same time be prepared to guard against Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria to attack.

Who would have expected that although the Serbian side was ready to move, the Greek side did not move at all, and seeing that the Ottoman Army reacted so quickly, Bulgaria did not respond to the Serbian side. The Serbs, who weighed their strength and seemed unable to stand alone with the Ottomans, finally died down. Now it seems that the reason why the first Balkan war did not start was again due to Greece. (To be continued.) )

PS: PS: There was a serious mistake in the last chapter, the Spee's fleet was killed in the Battle of Falkland, and my hand slipped and it became Norfolk, although there are only two words different→_→, but this is directly a difference of thousands of nautical miles.