"Today, by the sword, I swear before God that I will dedicate this life to the cause of the German Navy, which I revere, to abide by honor, to unite and fraternize, to defend to the death the sacred dignity of the German Fatherland, to loyally defend the sacred position of the German Emperor, to march forward bravely, and never to retreat......"

Every spring or autumn, the German Naval Academy in the port of Kiel resounds with such a young and sonorous voice. After three and a half years of study and training www.biquge.info the 1904 naval cadets finally put on the official German naval uniforms and wore the ornaments that symbolized their status as officers. Take this as a starting point and start your long and glorious career as a professional soldier.

According to the personnel practice of the German Navy, except for the trainees who have been specially recommended by the instructor or hand-picked by the superior, after graduation, the Navy General Office will assign them according to the personal files and performance evaluations provided by the Naval Academy. Graduates with similar graduation grades can make a world of difference in their career opportunities and life prospects once they enter different departments and take on different positions.

When it comes to personal relationships, cadets of noble blood or born generals have a clear advantage, but at the Kiel Naval Academy, this group never exceeds 10 percent of each class of officer cadets, and even fewer non-commissioned officer cadets. That is, at least ninety percent of the positions in the German Navy were open to ordinary naval cadets.

On the day of the graduation ceremony, the vast majority of cadets received a fateful envelope containing their first letter of appointment after joining the German Navy.

Natsuki also received such an official appointment letter, and he knew his whereabouts long before he dismantled it, but the content of this appointment letter was a hot conjecture among the cadets of the same level - either to the Imperial Navy Office under the direct leadership of Tirpitz, or to the naval staff coveted by many, or to the position of commander of a detachment or detachment of the offshore lightning strike fleet, but the final result was beyond most people's expectations: the youngest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Prince Joachim of Prussia, Will go to the "Alsace" of the 2nd Battleship Squadron of the High Seas Fleet as an operational staff officer.

It was an ideal starting point for the average German naval cadet, but it seemed too low-key for an academy star with a royal background like Natsuki.

In the language of a hundred years later, it is "starting from the grassroots".

The depression of others does not show that Natsuki is perverse, he has already planned his life path for a long time, and what he has to adjust according to reality is just some details.

Becoming the commander of the High Seas Fleet was the ultimate goal of his naval career.

After graduation, people will more or less leave some regrets,

The final ceremony before the graduation of the Class of 1904 at the Kiel Naval Academy was the Naval Football League, the second soccer league held within the German Navy. It uses a points system, and the rules of the points are the same as those of later professional soccer leagues. In the inaugural Naval League held last year, the Kiel Naval Academy team finished second by just two points, won by the sailors' football team from the flagship of the High Seas Fleet, the Deutschland. In this league, Xia Shu and his peers have been training at sea for nearly half a year, resulting in the Keele Academy team can only play as a substitute for many games, and the naval cadets who entered in 1905 and 1906 train with Xia Shu on weekdays, and their technical and tactical literacy is not bad, but their physical strength and endurance are worse after all, and the team's league results once slipped to the middle of the stream.

After the prospective graduates' voyage training, the Keele Academy team won nine and drew one of the ten games and moved up to third in the league points, biting last year's champions Royal Deutsche and Royal Willempel A, who have performed well this season. At the time of the graduation ceremony, there were three games left before the end of the league, and due to the deadline set in the letter of appointment, once the cadets had reported to the new department, they could no longer compete as members of the Kiel Naval Academy team. Natsuki applied to the Navy League Organizing Committee to bring the remaining three games of his team ahead of schedule - with the consent of their opponents, they played the last three games in six days and won them all, taking the top two in points with three more games to win the championship and ultimately winning the championship depending on the performance of their competitors in the last few games.

Having done their best, Natsuki and his companions can proudly recall this precious experience in the future, regardless of the final outcome.

With their dreams and pursuits, the young naval officers bid farewell to the Kiel Naval Academy.

In the first week of April, Natsuki boarded the "Alsace" anchored in Wilhelmshaven with his luggage, and officially became the combat staff officer of the Braunschweig-class battleship.

The current captain of the "Alsace" is Reinhardt, who took office just a few weeks earlier. Colonel Scheer.

After meeting with his new boss and colleagues, the first thing Natsuki did was neither to show off his abilities nor to make suggestions, but to apply to join the "Royal Alsace Mariners Football Team".

Nowadays, football has become popular in many European countries such as Britain, France and Germany, and more than 50 football teams have signed up for the first German naval football league. Starting from the second German Navy Football League, the team began to classify the competition, the first league won the top 24 into the first league, followed by 24 teams included in the second league, the last and the new team signed up this season to be included in the **** league, after the end of the season to determine the relegation and relegation team. Real Alsace finished 17th in their inaugural league and have been able to stay in the first division, and have risen steadily this season and are currently 11th, which can be considered a strong team. Natsuki played against him three times with the Kiel Naval Academy, winning all three times, and the only game he missed due to a training voyage, Real Alsace defeated the Kiel Naval Academy 7-6 away game.

Although Natsuki's physical condition and football skills are impeccable, the sailors of the football team are still in awe of him when he first arrives, and the greatness of football lies in its magical communication ability, which can easily cross the boundaries of nationality, ethnicity, language, class, etc. After a few days of training, most of the sailors here were able to smile at the illustrious Prussian prince, and Natsuki smiled freely at everyone here.

Because there is no limit to one person not being able to represent two teams in a single season, Natsuki was able to play for the remainder of the tournament as a member of Real Alsace. Soon, they were at home to Royal Brandenburg, with Natsuki offering to be a substitute and did not appear until the second half. He used his masterful possession and passing skills to provide two assists for his team, and he also scored a goal in a one-on-one run to help his side win 8-3.

At dusk, the sailors who had come down in their leisure time practiced as usual in the open space of the dock where the battleship docked. Before Natsuki's arrival, most of the team members were sailors on the ship, with only two junior young officers and a handful of non-commissioned officers. Natsuki's rank is not high, but his special status still has a considerable impact. In just one week, nearly 100 officers and sailors applied to join the team, of which about one-third were officers and non-commissioned officers of all ranks on the ship, and the battleship's combat strength was 705 people, which means that more people may apply to join the team in the future. These crews are usually no more than 30 years old, in good physical condition, the degree of fitness is often better than ordinary people, from the hardware can be eliminated not much, widely absorbed will cause overcrowding bloated situation, how to choose is a very headache for the team organizers, the final result of the discussion is to establish a multi-echelon, players into the first echelon, the second and third echelon the following year to sign up for the low-level naval league.

On the starboard deck, where the setting sun was set, two bearded senior officers stood against the railing, watching the crew play with the round brown balls. Among them, the young member of the royal family did not stand out in particular.

"It's still a kid who hasn't grown up."

Words from the chief of the operational staff of the "Alsace" Ttensen. Feng. Major Griffint came out of his mouth, and it didn't seem to mean contempt or contempt, but the care of the elders for the juniors. After all, the age difference between the two is doubled, that is, they are alumni of the Kiel Naval Academy, and they both come from traditional Prussian noble families, such an evaluation is by no means an exaggeration.

With Von. Major Griffin stood beside the battleship's new captain, Reinhardt. Colonel Schell, he was born in an ordinary German family, and his naval career can be regarded as a standard reference for young juniors: at the age of 15, he entered the Kiel Naval Academy, obtained the second place with excellent grades, and after graduation, he was assigned to the cruiser Hertha, participated in transoceanic cruises with the ship, and then sent fleets to the colonies for training, accumulated the most basic experience, and then returned to the main fleet to serve, served as an instructor in the naval school for a period of time, accumulated technical and tactical theoretical literacy, and entered the naval office because of Tirpitz's appreciation, Having received a valuable opportunity to broaden his horizons and accumulate contacts, he returned to the High Seas Fleet again and began to serve as a commander of ships, cruisers and then soon battleships. With his current age of 44 years and past qualifications, it is clear that there is still a lot of room for improvement in the German Navy.

Scheer obviously did not agree with the major's remarks, and he said meaningfully: "It seems that he is a playful that is not on the right topic, but he can quickly win the love and trust of the junior officers and sailors, and it will not be long before his prestige on this battleship will be above you and me, and his future is limitless!" ”

Listen to this analysis, Feng. Griffin slowly put away his smile, staring very seriously at the young man in the crowd who was sometimes running and laughing, his outfit was not clearly distinguishable from the people around him, and he didn't mind physical contact with the dirty stoker during the kick, and even laughed with the other party.

"You say...... As a member of the imperial royal family, Tirpitz's private protégé, the top student of the Kiel Naval Academy, who ranked first in the overall score, why would he come to an ordinary warship like ours to serve as an ordinary staff officer? ”

The Major's question also seemed to haunt Scheer, and he only shook his head slightly in a steady and decisive manner, indicating that he had not yet found an answer.

"Maybe he's writing a perfect resume for himself." "And then it just so happened that the 'Artace' was chosen. ”

Is it pure coincidence?

Sher looked noncommittally at the docks, at Prince Joachim, who was in full bloom. He had a vague feeling that the titles of a member of the royal family, a design genius, and a top academic were far from enough to sum up his talent and ability, far from enough......

(End of chapter)