In the elegantly furnished officers' cafeteria, more than a dozen naval officers above the rank of second lieutenant sit around a rectangular wooden dining table, on which a complete range of meals is arranged, which looks like a lively dinner of a large family. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

After the prayer, Reinhardt sat on the throne. Scheer spoke: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am very impressed by today's all-ship combat training, a few years ago, I served on another battleship, and the best training results are just that. The excellent performance is due to the concerted efforts of the entire ship's personnel, and the decisive role in this must be played by all of you. I would like to accept my sincere respect and hope that you will continue to work hard in the future and strive to perform even more brilliantly in the next naval exercise. ”

Complimented by the captain, the officers all had joyful smiles on their faces.

Chief of Operational Staff Feng. Griffin took over and said, "I have been on the Alsace for two years and five months, and some of you here have been on this ship since it was in service. In my memory, the whole ship has never achieved such good results in combat training, and it seems that it has never happened before. Colonel Scheer has only been in office for a month, and the changes brought to our battleship are obvious to all. Ladies and gentlemen, I propose, let us pay our sincere tribute to Colonel Schell with applause! ”

The applause was soft, so as not to be artificial.

At this time, Scheer was not overjoyed, and more precisely, he apparently did not blame himself for the improvement in the training performance of officers and men. Glancing at Prince Joachim, who was sitting at the far end, he saw that his expression was no different from that of the others, and said, "Everyone, please dine!" ”

The sound effect in the dining room became monotonous, and the officers elegantly and quickly swept away the main meal, and when it was their turn to refreshment, Scheer said unhurriedly: "Recently, I have clearly felt a positive change in the atmosphere on the ship, and the officers and men have become more diligent, united, friendly, and confident. I believe that it is none other than our esteemed Royal Highness Prince Joachim who has brought about this change. ”

Young, steady, confident, humble, honest, and well-spoken, these seemingly contradictory personalities are perfectly blended in this young German royal family, who is easy-going and approachable, but does not lose the majesty of a royal family. In the face of the captain's praise, his piercing eyes converged the light, and his resolute and handsome face had a shy smile. Despite being one of the most peculiar of the crowd and having graduated from the Kiel Naval Academy with the rank of lieutenant, he was never in a hurry to express his opinion or express himself, a quiet low-key that was a harmonious factor for the ship's more senior officer corps.

Natsuki smiled but didn't answer, and Scheer continued: "His Royal Highness Jiuwen has designed a high-speed torpedo boat with first-class performance, and he has also taught those self-righteous foreign counterparts a few times, which is really remarkable. Having said that, does Your Highness also hold the view that the rapid development of rapid lightning strikes has correspondingly reduced the combat space of large ships, and will one day replace them? ”

The smile on Natsuki's face was still the same, but his shy expression was replaced by a calm and calm demeanor, and he made a simple analogy with himself and the burly man among the officers present: "If I sneak up on Captain Ghosn with a stick at night and kill him in one go, will people judge that a person of my stature and strength is more effective than a man of Captain Ghosn's strong, sturdy, and good at fighting, and can take his place on the battlefield?" ”

The officers understood Natsuki's meaning in laughter.

Natsuki continued: "I am sitting here today with the best officers of the German Navy precisely because I firmly believe that battleships will be the supremacy of the seas for a long time to come, just like the dominance of cavalry in land warfare. Cavalry relied on horses and spears, battleships relied on powerful power, thick armor and powerful artillery, naval guns were still the decisive weapons in fleet warfare, and no matter how fast torpedo technology developed, it was only auxiliary equipment. Of course, one of the great charms of war is its uncertainty, any weapon has the opportunity to change the course of battle, and when played properly or even beyond the norm, a small torpedo vehicle is like an archer's arrow, which can shoot a cavalryman in full armor off his horse, and we must use the archer wisely and be on guard against cold arrows from the enemy. ”

Scheer holds a plate in one hand and a cup in the other, savoring the oriental tea. Because torpedoes have played an amazing role in several important naval battles in the past, large warships of this era were also commonly equipped with underwater torpedo tubes. The Braunschweig Class is equipped with a six-seater 17. 7-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, and as the speed of ships continues to increase, especially when destroyers and large torpedo boats have reached 30 knots, it is unrealistic to let a large ship with a maximum speed of less than 20 knots carry out a lightning mission, and sober commanders know this. Therefore, the training arranged by Scheer for the officers and soldiers was mainly artillery shooting and emergency damage management, which Natsuki also recognized.

The officers at the table drank tea, coffee, or pure water to their liking, and each seemed to be pondering the meaning of the Prussian prince's words. There has been a long debate about the superiority of large ships and small ships, artillery and torpedoes, and most people like to list all kinds of data and battle examples, but they rarely think outside the box and explain the dialectical relationship between them in a simple and direct way. This young man, who behaved in a peculiar way, was like a gust of fresh air that brought all levels of youth to the Alsace.

In late April, the final round of the second German Navy Football League was staged. In the championship match, the Kiel Naval Academy, which took the lead to complete all the games, was tied with the "old enemy" German sailors, who were temporarily in first place because of their six more goal differences, while the other strong team, the Willemstead Football A, was three points behind the first two teams and theoretically still had a chance to win the championship.

The opponent of the German sailors in the final round is precisely the Alsace sailors where Natsuki is located.

Because of this rather fantastic match-up format, many well-wishers took it for granted that Natsuki had come to work on the "Alsace" to help the Kiel Naval Academy team achieve their championship dreams. As a result of the honor, the classmates who were assigned to serve on the Kiel base or the ships with Kiel as their home port came to cheer on Natsuki and the Alsatian sailors.

Shouldering the hopes of his classmates, Natsuki made his debut without shirking his responsibilities, ambushing behind the two strikers as the frontcourt playmaker, and arranging two speedy players to disrupt the opponent's defense on the wing, while the rest of the players held the back.

The "Deutschland" belonged to the German class of battleships, and was the last class battleship built by the German Navy before entering the era of dreadnoughts, with a relatively balanced performance and a combat strength of 745 people. The main reason why the German sailors have performed so well in two consecutive editions is that they have a captain who is passionate about football, and this dude in his forties is not only good at arranging on the field, but also a shooter with a keen sense of smell and a cool head. Under his leadership, the German sailors were sharp in attack, solid in defense, and efficient in fighting tactics with good physical fitness, and could often gain the upper hand in direct conversations with the Kiel Naval Academy.

The German Mariners, playing at home, were clearly hoping for a second league title with a beautiful victory, and it was no surprise that they launched a fierce attack from the opening kick-off and soon scored their first goal, scoring from a pass from a team-mate.

The opponent celebrated the goal with a smile on his face, and Natsuki high-fived and loudly encouraged his teammates on the court, so that they could lift their spirits and resolutely follow the tactical routine set before the game. Capable of being in the middle of the first division of the Navy League, the Alsace Mariners players are no slouch either, and their key to victory is a high-speed combination up front - the almost two-metre-tall centre-forward Hook and the short-range fast horse Ferrich, plus two speedy wingers with good footwork, who are best suited to tear through the opposition's defence on the counter-attack.

After the restart, Natsuki played a kick-and-wall combination with right winger Ettel one after another. In the first year of the Navy League, the Kiel Naval Academy team relied on this new and flexible passing combination to firmly control the rhythm of the game, and then defeated many teams of sailors with excellent physical conditions, but the tactical combination is not a unique skill after all, it is easy to imitate, and it is easy to find a way to restrain it. A number of players on the left and middle of the German Mariners quickly surrounded them, Natsuki accelerated, looked at the space and passed the ball out - although the left winger Hank's receiving action was a little staggering, he quickly controlled the ball, a light line change bypassed the opposing defenders, drove the ball for more than 20 meters, and raised the ball to the penalty area at a 45-degree angle, only to see the high school striker Hook's header a little back, Ferrich passed through the German Mariners' back line like a ghost, and stretched out a head before the goalkeeper......

The ball is in!

The crowd was mostly supporters of the German Mariners, so despite the spectacular goal, there were few cheers.

Natsuki raised one arm in the air and made a fist gesture to his companions.

After conceding an accidental goal, the German Mariners quickly made a comeback, with their concise and decisive quick passes being penetrating and the movement between the players was very good. At this time, if they score another goal, it will be too difficult to recover or even overtake the score, so Natsuki did not hesitate to run and intercept at all costs, retreating from the midfield to the backfield. The effort paid off, seizing the opportunity of one of the opposing players to hesitate because he looked up to find someone, he offered a crisp sliding tackle and shoveled the ball to the feet of his own player, the player decisively kicked the big foot, Hook, who remained in the center circle to grab the header again, Ettel received the ball and ran wildly, in front of the opponent's last line of defense, diagonally passed to Ferrich, who went straight in and sent the ball into the net with a beautiful kick......

2:1！

Except for the cheers of a few people, the scene was silent.

Originally thought that the championship was in the bag, the players of the German Mariners were not convinced by the successive goals conceded, and they continued to show the king of the league with round after round of strong attacks. 2:2, 3:2, 4:2, 4:3, the goals came one after another, and the score never opened. Towards the end of the half, the panting captain shouted to his crew, and the intention of retreating was obvious.

Unless the Alsace Mariners can outscore their opponents by 7 goals, the German Mariners will still be able to beat the Kiel Naval Academy team by virtue of their overall goal difference and head-to-head record, and the title will be decided between the German Mariners and the Willemstamptjot Football A.

In the last minute before half-time, Natsuki dribbled past three opponents in a row and scored a brilliant goal in a way that surprised him very much, and fixed the half-time score at 5:3.

(End of chapter)