Saturday, August 1, 1914, Berlin. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The bustling streets were crowded with people, and thousands of people gathered in front of the palace. The Germans, officials, soldiers, policemen, traders, and a large number of workers, appeared nervous and anxious. Because of historical feuds, in the minds of most Germans, there is nothing more threatening than the barbaric, brutal Slavic nomads. The night before, the Kaiser had delivered a speech on the balcony of the Imperial Palace in which Germany was in danger of war, telling the people that "we have been forced to take up arms."

However, the last glimmer of hope remains in await a Russian reply. After all, this is a conflict between Austria and Serbia, and while people sympathize with the unfortunate Archduke Ferdinand, the war itself is extremely cruel, and those who go to war will face the constant threat of death, and many will die in a foreign land.

At noon, the deadline for Germany's ultimatum to Russia expired, and Russia did not reply.

Within an hour, a telegram was sent to the German ambassador in St. Petersburg, ordering him to declare war at 5 p.m. that day.

At 5 o'clock, the Kaiser issued a general mobilization order, and a day earlier, the advance troops had secretly left for the battle position.

Under the sunset, an official appeared at the gate of the palace and read the mobilization order to the crowd in a subdued tone.

Before the last note fell, the crowd in front of the palace fell silent.

Immediately afterwards, the people began to sing the national anthem respectfully, and the atmosphere warmed up with the melody. After the national anthem was sung, many people were already excited, and they dispersed in a hurry, rushing to vent their anger on those suspected of being Russian spies.

Soon, vehicles full of officers sped down the streets under the linden, waving handkerchiefs and shouting "Mobilize!" ”

As soon as the mobilization order was given in Germany, the huge machine for recruiting, equipping and transporting 2 million men was fully automatic. The reservists are assembled at designated military stations, received uniforms, equipment and weapons, organized first into companies and then into battalions, and then are sent to assembly points in neighbouring countries according to predetermined railway schedules, together with cavalry, motorized soldiers, artillerymen, medical units, cooking cars, repair cars and mail cars. There, they were organized into divisions, which were then organized into corps, and from the corps, they formed corps, ready to go on the march. To transport a corps in a monoton, officers need 170 train cars, 965 infantry cars, 2,960 cavalry cars, and 1,915 artillery and supply cars, a total of 6,010 cars, each forming 140 trains, and at the same time the same number of trains are needed to transport the corps' military supplies...... From the moment the mobilization order was given, everything was running according to the time set out in the predetermined schedule, which was set very carefully, and even specified how many pairs of train wheels would pass and what bridges - this was the amazing thing about the German military staff system!

The German troops marched to the Western Front in a calm and orderly manner in accordance with the detailed steps of the Schlieffen Plan and the content of their military maneuvers year after year, and the draft documents declaring war on France and issuing an ultimatum to Belgium were also placed in front of Wilhelm II's desk. However, a telegram from England shook the indecisive German monarch once again.

The telegram was sent by Lichnowski, the ambassador to London, who reported to the Kaiser a new British proposal, which Lichnowski understood, to say that "if Germany does not attack France, Britain will remain neutral and guarantee that France will remain neutral as well".

This ambassador, in Germany, is an English-speaking person, imitating the manners, pastimes, and clothing of the British, and doing everything possible to become the model of the English gentleman. He was a sincere pro-British not only in his demeanor, but also in his inner world. The greatest tragedy for this ambassador is the war between the country that gave birth to me and the country I love, so he seized every opportunity to prevent the two countries from fighting each other. So, when Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, called him that morning during a break in a cabinet meeting, Lichnowski, out of his own urgency, understood Gray's words as British advice. In fact, Gray was always succinct and vague, and he was saying nothing more than that if Germany promised to remain neutral against France and Russia, that is, not to wage war against either country, and to wait for the outcome of the efforts of the parties to settle the Serbian affair, Britain would promise to keep France neutral.

Lichnowski's misunderstanding made Kaiser Wilhelm II think he had found a way to avoid fighting on two fronts, and he recalled Moltke Jr. from his way to the front, read a telegram from Lichnowsky Jr., and triumphantly said: "Now we can fight only Russia." Let's just march eastward with all our troops! ”

Little Moltke was taken aback. Turning the 180-degree turn of a million-strong army deployed on the Western Front to the Eastern Front at a critical moment required a greater iron perseverance far beyond Moltke's reach. A phantom came to his mind: the whole deployment collapsed, and there was chaos. Here are the munitions, there are the soldiers, in the middle are the lost ammunition, there are no officers in the company, there are no staff officers in the divisional headquarters, the trains that have been precisely arranged will become disorganized, and the most well-planned military operation ever planned will be absurdly destroyed......

In fact, Moltke's concerns are exaggerated. Although the German General Staff had been working on a plan for the first attack on France since 1905, it had in its archives a plan for all trains to attack Russia from the east, which was revised annually until 1913. However, if the reverse movement of the German army is carried out halfway, or if it is difficult to deploy most of the army to the Eastern Front, then the German army will indeed fall into an extremely passive situation once the Western Front is reborn.

"Your Majesty the Emperor." Moltke admonished, "This is impossible. The mobilization and deployment of millions of troops cannot be done on an ad hoc basis. If His Majesty insists on bringing the whole army to the Eastern Front, it will no longer be a waiting army, but a rabble with guns and no provisions. It took a whole year of arduous and complicated labor to arrange their provisions. Once a decision has been made, it cannot be changed. ”

"Your uncle will certainly give me a different answer," the Kaiser said helplessly to Moltke from childhood.

This sentence was undoubtedly an extremely heavy blow to Moltke's self-esteem, and he insisted: "I firmly believe that since Germany and France have been mobilized, it is impossible to maintain peace between the two countries. ”

After a long hesitation, Wilhelm II reluctantly accepted Moltke's advice - the army continued to concentrate on the Western Front according to the "Schlieffen Plan".

The Army's operational deployment has almost undergone a major change, and the Navy is facing similar problems. After Tirpitz signed the order for vigilance and readiness, sensing that the High Seas Fleet might take the initiative to attack on the initiative with extreme risk, the German Chief of the General Staff von Bohr, the Chief of the Naval Cabinet Müller, the Minister of Maritime Transport, Müller, and Prince Heinrich, who had just been appointed commander of the Baltic Fleet, met with the Kaiser. They knew that Wilhelm II loved the fleet as much as any of his princes, and they were deeply in awe of the strength of the British navy, and described to him with great affection how the majestic German fleet had become a pile of scrap metal, and then persuaded him to retract his order, and forced the high seas fleet to hold on to the British navy with only the "presence fleet", so that the German fleet could survive this war with great certainty of victory on land.

More than half of the top brass of the navy held this attitude, and Wilhelm II immediately hesitated. Fortunately, he finally remembered the promise he made to his youngest son, Joachim, to give him a final chance to make a final statement before changing his decision.

Receiving a telegram from the Kaiser, Natsuki did not delay for a quarter of an hour, and drove from the fleet headquarters in Wilhelmsport to the base of the 2nd Flying Group of the Navy, 15 kilometers away. In accordance with his instructions, the flight group arranged for a Junkers-20 land-based aircraft to be on standby at all times. The design concept of this long-range aircraft equipped with two in-line piston engines is similar to that of the German Gotha heavy bomber, the ancestor of strategic bombers in history, that is, it adopts an open cockpit, the propeller blades are placed behind the engine, and the fuselage can be flexibly split into wings, the middle and front parts of the fuselage, the rear part of the fuselage and the tail, which is convenient for production, transportation and maintenance. Without carrying bombs, the Junkers-20 can fly for up to 3 hours and has a maximum range of 450 kilometers, which can easily complete the non-landing flight from Wilhelmshaven to Berlin.

After flying to Berlin, Natsuki did not go straight to the palace, but met Tirpitz first. Despite his scrambling reputation, Tirpitz still had a loyal following within the navy, and he was in control of the main moves and intentions of the power contenders. Taking advantage of the few hours saved by the flight, Natsuki and Tirpitz had a careful discussion and finally decided to go to the palace together to meet the Kaiser.

Somewhat unexpectedly, when the two men arrived at the palace, Wilhelm II did not immediately meet them, but made them wait in the lounge for nearly an hour. At dusk, the Kaiser walked out of his office with a tired look on his face, and asked Natsuki and Tirpitz to accompany him for a walk in the garden.

Leaving the place where almost everyone had a solemn expression, the solemn and oppressive atmosphere suddenly eased a lot. The three of them walked silently until they reached the heart of the garden, when Wilhelm II found a bench and sat down, and said, "You must have persuaded me to allow the fleet to strike a fateful naval battle against the English Navy, and I had longed for this honour of the highest victory, but it seemed too hot compared to the risks we had. You guys...... See what I mean? ”

Natsuki and Tirpitz looked at each other, and Natsuki replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, we are well aware of the risks that the fleet takes when going to war, and if there is room for maneuver, we would rather the fleet survive the crisis intact." According to the information just obtained, six divisions of the British Expeditionary Force have been assembled in the south of England, and transport and escort ships are on standby, so that in the event of a war they can land in France in four to five days to fight our offensive with the French. ”

"Even if this information is conclusive, six divisions of British troops are not enough to turn the tide. In fact, this British army had been taken into account in our newly adjusted battle plan, and even if they had 10 divisions, we would still be sure of a quick victory. ”

Wilhelm II's words made it clear to Natsuki that his thoughts at this time had changed a lot from those during the North Sea cruise, but it was more appropriate to describe it as "no room for error" than to be confident.

This situation did not exceed Natsuki's expectations, and he used his most powerful and effective trick: "Your Majesty, are the recent developments in the situation in line with the speculation I made to you ten days ago?" ”

Wilhelm II closed his eyes and nodded.

Xia Shu said: "Then the day after tomorrow at the latest, Britain will declare war on us." ”

Britain's declaration of war was undoubtedly the last thing Wilhelm II and many German magnates and dignitaries wanted, and Britain had the world's largest naval power, one of the key factors in self-knowledge, and it should not be ignored that the resources of the British Empire throughout the world meant that the energy potential was enormous. Hearing Natsuki's assertion, Wilhelm II opened his eyes abruptly and looked at his young son with a look of astonishment, and he repeated comfortingly, "This is the worst we have prepared." Let the British army come, we will defeat them along with the French army! ”

"Of course we're going to beat them." Natsuki said earnestly, "So, Your Majesty, please unsheath your sharpened naval sword, which is eager to prove itself in a glorious battle!" ”

"Yes, there will be such an opportunity, but our time is not very ripe now." The Kaiser looked up at Tirpitz, "What do you say, I will always be Tirpitz." ”

Tirpitz replied gently: "Your Majesty, in the very beginning of the war, the parties are often not very well prepared, and this can be a disadvantage or an advantageous factor, the key lies in our hearts. ”

"Our hearts?" The Kaiser looked with bewilderment at the highly decorated founders of the navy, who, 17 years ago, had the same vision and like-mindedness, so they regarded each other as confidants, and joined forces to build a technologically advanced and well-equipped ocean-going fleet in just over a decade.

Tirpitz said slowly: "Before 1910, we had an advantage in the scale of shipbuilding, and the strength of the main fleet reached the closest level to the British Navy, and when the British adjusted their strategy and accelerated the pace of shipbuilding, our advantage was gone, and the gap in strength was gradually increasing, and the most important reason for this was that the British shipbuilding industry was stronger than ours." From past experience, we can see that in peacetime, the scale of a country's armament is subject to the actual constraints of economy and finance, and under the stimulus of war, the scale of armament becomes a loose horse, as long as the production capacity allows, it can be put into military production almost uncontrollably, which means that the longer the war lasts, the more replenishment the British Navy gets, and the greater the advantage for us. ”

The Kaiser pondered for a moment: "If an army division is badly damaged, it will take a few weeks to replenish the reserve troops, but if a battleship is sunk, it will take two or three years to build a new battleship." Based on this essential distinction, naval operations should be more prudent than land attacks. ”

This must be the advice of those supporters of the "fleet existence theory", Xia Shu thought to himself, and he immediately shot back: "Comparing the losses and replenishments of the army and navy on fair and equal terms, the navy actually has a great advantage. Your Majesty, you think, our battleship design philosophy has always put survivability first, and I can responsibly say that the enemy can inflict heavy damage on our battleship, but it will be difficult to sink it. As long as the ship remained unsinkable, even if it returned to port covered in bruises, most of the combatants on board were saved. In fact, it only takes a few weeks to repair a damaged ship, and when it returns to the battle sequence, the personnel who experienced the previous battle will become more mature and stable, and even if the worst-case scenario arises - the damaged ship cannot be completely repaired due to structural damage, we can also arrange the ship's combat personnel to the new battleship, so that the new battleship will have strong combat strength from the beginning. In contrast, can the reserve soldiers who are temporarily added to the Army units have the same qualities as veterans? ”

The Kaiser was dumbfounded, and this confirmed Natsuki's speculation that he was only borrowing the arguments of proponents of the "fleet existence theory" to refute it.

"I designed these ships and watched them go from drawings to ships sailing the oceans. From the very first line, their mission was to engage a strong enemy, and the crews understood and accepted this brave and honorable mission through their daily training exercises. It would be a great humiliation to us if the British ignored our gestures of kindness and insisted on standing with our old enemy. Do we have to endure humiliation while forcing the fleet to stay out of war? No, I can't stand this humiliation! The English have shown their utter contempt for me in their merciless manner in my affection with Charlotte, and the German Imperial Family is nothing in their eyes! ”

Speaking of this with anger, Natsuki paused, and said absolutely: "Your Majesty, if you do not want to see the High Seas Fleet damaged in battle, then, please forgive me for not being able to bear this blow mentally, and I will preserve my honor in a way that understands me." ”

Of course, Natsuki's words were just a threat, but there was an example of the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Rudolph committing suicide, and Kaiser Wilhelm II did not dare to despise it, he got up angrily and said loudly to Natsuki: "This way will not only not protect your honor, but will make the whole world think that you are cowardly evading the war!" ”

Natsuki retorted without giving in: "I have worked hard to forge a sharp sword, but I have to hide in the room with it and dare not go out, what is the difference between this and cowardice? ”

The Kaiser was speechless to retort, and then became angry: "How can you speak to me in such a disrespectful tone, Jochen? ”

Natsuki bowed his head and was silent, his eyes staring directly at the Kaiser's sword, his unprecedented gloomy expression frightened Wilhelm II, and at this time, Tirpitz said roundly: "Your Majesty is angry, His Royal Highness the Prince is an impulsive young man after all, and he is speechless for a while, but the starting point is good after all, everyone wants to defend the empire - defend your great honor." ”

Wilhelm II was such a self-respecting monarch that it was almost impossible to make peace in such an atmosphere. Xia Shu then apologized in a low-key tone and said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being reckless, I really can't swallow my breath to the British. They united France and Russia to encircle us, two Moroccan crises, they stirred up trouble behind the scenes, we were humiliated again and again, if this time they took the initiative to declare war on us, trying to drag us down with their superior naval fleet, we must fight for the fate of the country and the nation, this is a war that cannot be lost! ”

Even with the steps, Wilhelm II still didn't want to pull down easily, he looked at Tirpitz angrily: "Well, there is only one chance, if you fail, automatically resign!" ”

Tirpitz hurriedly replied: "The German Navy will live up to Your Majesty's expectations!" ”

(End of chapter)