In October 1886, 107 cadets at the dock at the Kiel Naval Academy lined up in a phalanx on the pier, dressed in naval dresses without rank ribbons. The headmaster, Rear Admiral Reibnitz, also dressed in a ceremonial uniform and with a sword hanging from his waist, looked at the young naval cadets in front of him with a solemn face, and then personally pinned the cadets with the epaulettes of the rank of second lieutenant.

When Reibnitz came to Jochen, he took the epaulette from the adjutant and pinned it on Jochen's shoulder, and then looked at the special cadet and said softly: "Your Highness, your graduation thesis is wonderful, and it also makes all the navy people look forward to it, I hope I can see that day." Jochen replied with his head held high, "The day we all look forward to will come." Reibnitz slapped the brilliant student the chest.

At the end of the ceremony, the guard of honor raised the national flag and the naval flag while the military band sang the national anthem "Long Live the Victor's Crown" and the imperial navy anthem "Our Navy" (Note 1).

When the piece was over, Rector Raibnitz gave a short speech on the pier in his usual style: "In the summer of 1883, the Kiel Naval Academy welcomed another group of young cadets, all of whom came from all over the Reich and came in a variety of identities. You left your hometown, your family, and came to the cradle of the navy, where you studied hard to become a great navyman. At the academy, on the training ship, you spent a thousand days and nights. You have learned a wealth of knowledge, mastered excellent skills, exercised a strong body, and possessed a resilient soul. Regardless of the differences in identity and region, you are tightly united and have a deep friendship. From now on, you have all become excellent naval officers. I'm proud of you, the Academy is proud of you, and the Empire is proud of you. Congratulations, kids, and today, you're graduating! ”

"Hooray!" There was jubilation on the pier, and the students cheered and hugged each other. The whole dock was in chaos, but all the instructors did not try to stop this scene of "military etiquette". These instructors, who had been rigorous, stern and even harsh, now looked at them with smiles, looking at these excellent young soldiers of the Imperial Navy who had been trained by themselves, watching them cheer, they frolicked, and they swayed their youth, passion and vitality to the fullest.

As night slowly fell, the docks finally fell silent, and the taverns in the center of Kiel were crowded with naval cadets who had come to get drunk. This is the last night of naval cadets at the Kiel Naval Academy, and tomorrow they will go to their respective posts. Since the German Navy was still outnumbered and few ships at this time, the people assigned to the warships were overjoyed, while those assigned to the shore bases were sad. Everyone is reluctant to give up, and they don't know when they will be able to get together again after parting. Whether it is a carnival, or a drink to kill sorrows, whether it is looking forward to the future, or talking about parting, in short, in the face of a long night, the naval cadets who have no intention of sleeping have decided to spend this last time together, drunk and resting.

Hipper and Jochen sat in a small corner of the tavern, sipping a light Dortmund beer while rambling on the other. Hippel was assigned to the torpedo boat unit in the North Sea, and Jochen had a nominal staff officer in the Admiralty.

"Franz, it's a bit of a waste to assign you to the torpedo boat unit, but you're the best of our cadets." Jochen said, shaking his head with his glass.

"There's nothing wrong with going to the torpedo boat unit, and when I go to the torpedo boat unit, I can start directly from the actual command post. I guess I can only be a gun captain or something on a large warship. Hipper also picked up the glass and touched it lightly with Jochen, laughing.

"What you said is also reasonable, but I think it's still too wasteful, the Navy will have 6 new cruisers launched one after another to enter service, and it is estimated that talents will be transferred from various units at that time, do you want to go?" Jochen smiled slyly.

"There's no need for that, I think it's better to lay a good foundation and then consider going to the cruiser. I don't want people to say that I was promoted because I was the roommate of the imperial grandson. Hipper flatly refused.

"Haha, it's indeed Hipper's style, come on, do it." Jochen raised his glass, tilted his head, and drank his beer.

"Okay, done." Hipper also drank the beer in his glass in one gulp.

"Franz, since you've decided to make a name for yourself in the torpedo boat unit, I have an idea I hope you can help me try to perfect him over there." Joechen trusted Hipper's abilities and decided to give him the task.

"Oh? Tell me about it. "Hipper is interested.

"Torpedo boats, small ships for coastal defense, I believe are not the best carriers for lightning strike tactics in the future. And I believe that in order to counter the large number of torpedo boats of France and Russia, an evolved version of the torpedo boat that is larger, faster, and more powerful than the torpedo boat, and can sail to the sea, will definitely appear. Then this new ship can be dispatched with the main fleet in the future, and large-scale lightning strike tactics can also be used in ocean-going engagements.

"The survivability of this kind of small ship in the decisive battle of the capital ship is very poor, and it is sandwiched between the capital ships of both sides, so it is estimated that it will be difficult to play any role. And don't you don't think that light ships will not be able to take advantage in the face of the main fleet, which is also protected by light ships? "Hippelci arrived.

"Indeed, I have always believed that the decisive battle of the main fleet is the only way to win at sea and gain sea supremacy, but you know, I have never rejected the use of new technology to exchange small fights for high exchange ratios. The decisive battle of the capital ships does not mean that the capital ships of the two sides have been bombarding each other, this new type of ship has a fast speed, and I hope that they can have the ability to shoot a large number of torpedoes at one time, when the other side has lined up the battle line, the position of each ship is basically fixed, and the use of high speed to rush up, a large number of torpedoes at one time, even if the hit rate is extremely low, the other side can suffer a lot, and if the other side avoids the torpedoes, their battle line will also collapse, and then our capital ships can also deal with them more calmly. Do you think, when the other side was happily lined up and ready to entertain us with their naval guns, a group of light ships rushed up and fired hundreds of torpedoes and broke away with one blow, did they hide or not? ”

"Well, that sounds doable, I'll do my best." Hipper was also intrigued by the idea and agreed to it.

"Then count on you, Franz Hippert will not disappoint. A toast, done. ”

"Bang" The two wine glasses slammed together hard, making a dull sound.

Historically, the Japanese used lightning strike tactics to destroy the incoming US fleet layer by layer, although in the end, under the integrated naval and air strikes of the US imperialists, there was no chance to use it. But in the harsh environment of the North Sea of World War I, this tactic was not without merit. Although Jochen himself emphasized that it was basically ineffective for light ships to attack the enemy's main fleet, which was also protected by light ships. But the future High Seas Fleet was not without capital ships, and the lightning tactics were enough to give the Germans a chance to gain an advantage, even if they could only disrupt the opponent's formation. Therefore, with the help of Hipper's ability to perfect this idea, when the time comes, the German light ship force, which focuses on lightning strike capabilities with its own intervention in the future, will definitely be able to give the British a huge surprise. Do you want to learn from the Japanese to create heavy mineships like Kitakami and Oi? Jochen, who was a little drunk, began to drive the train in his brain.

"There are not many of us who can really go to the ship unit, and many of us are estimated to have to spend years on the shore." Hipper was a little melancholy.

"In the end, the Imperial Navy was too weak, in 1884 we were still the third in the world, and after only two years we fell to the fourth in the world, and then it is estimated that the Ottoman Turks will be able to surpass us (Note 2)."

"But after the completion of our 2 ironclad ships, 6 cruisers, and 4 notification ships, it is estimated that there will be some improvements."

"It's useless, let's not mention the British and French for the time being, even the scale of shipbuilding in Tsarist Russia is not comparable to our stingy naval plan. After all, it's not the reason why the old stubborn bunch of the Imperial Parliament don't give money. Jochen said angrily.

"That's why you wrote that paper, didn't you? I guess the council is going to make a fuss again, isn't it? ”

"It's good to make a fuss, Bismarck saw that the standing army of the French exceeded the Reich, and this year forced the parliament to expand the army by 10%, and implemented a seven-year military service period, after being opposed by the parliament, he actually dissolved the parliament, and then co-opted his political allies to reorganize the parliament, and made a fuss to him, it is strange that the imperial navy has military spending."

"So you're writing this paper to make a fuss about the council giving money to the Navy?" After getting along for three years, Hipper naturally knew that this friend was dissatisfied with the old prime minister, so he didn't think it was a pestle for him to call the old prime minister's name, but the imperial grandson could shout like this, and he couldn't be so casual, so he didn't pick up.

"Well, I guess those old guys will have a hearing when the time comes, and I won't go up and slap them in the face when the time comes. When the time comes, you must definitely get these guys out of their pockets! Jochen gritted his teeth.

"Good luck then. We're going our separate ways tomorrow, and we don't know when we'll see each other again. Hopefully, as you say in your paper, the Imperial Navy must become stronger, and it will become stronger. A strong Imperial Navy is the dream of every one of our naval personnel. To our dreams! Franz, who was also a little drunk, excited.

"The strength of the German Navy is an inevitable need for the development of the whole country, so you can rest assured that it will be realized. To our dreams! Jochen raised his glass again, and the two collided.

Then the two of them stood up, toasted to all the classmates in the tavern, and shouted: "To the Imperial Navy!" ”

Everyone stood up and raised their glasses and responded in a loud voice: "To the Imperial Navy!" ”

The whole tavern was jubilant.

Note 1: I have not found out which of the naval anthems of the Second German Reich is, but the military music about the Navy only knows this song "Our Navy", so I used him as the naval anthem

Note 2: In 1884, the Ottoman Turkish Navy ranked fifth in the world with a total naval tonnage of 93,000 tons.