In the early morning of the third day of the war between the New United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary, Natsuki arrived at the Kirruth Naval Base by train to inspect the mobilization and preparation of the navy. Lewen. As soon as the war order was issued, all the servicemen and ships on active duty went to combat positions, more than 28,000 retired officers and soldiers returned to duty in accordance with the mobilization bill and mobilization instructions, and 160 mothballed combat ships, 120 auxiliary ships, and 900 military aircraft were reactivated. For a country with a total population of less than 10 million, this is quite a huge undertaking.

As the most modern naval base in the new United Kingdom, Kierruth quickly became a "sea barracks" for the reserve fleet to assemble and reorganise. There is orderly busyness, longing tension, and the joy of reuniting old friends, all of which make Natsuki feel a long-lost atmosphere, an atmosphere that is enough to make his heart surge. It is a pity that no matter his status, current environment or physical and mental condition, he is not allowed to take command again.

During Natsuki's visit, a special guest arrived from Limerick, the second and only surviving son of the late Prince Heinrich, Prince Sigmund. Natsuki had long held Prince Heinrich in great respect, and even though he had been dead for many years, he remained in close contact with his family, keeping in touch with Prince Sigmund by letter, affectionately referring to each other as "Cousin Hickey" and "Cousin Jochen".

Today, Prince Sigmund standing in front of Natsuki is no longer the ghostly boy he was years ago. Suddenly, he had served in the German Navy for 35 years, stood out from his peers with his outstanding intelligence and tenacity, was promoted to German Admiral at the age of 48, and then briefly served as Commander-in-Chief of the German High Seas Fleet, but sadly, for various reasons, he did not become the second Joachim, but followed in his father's footsteps. Today, at the age of 53, Prince Sigmund can only continue to contribute to his beloved German Navy in such a "respectable" position as chairman of the German Navy's Technical Committee.

"What's the good news for me?" Natsuki asked with a smile.

"In the past, the British used to say that no news is good news." Prince Sigmund replied with a relaxed expression, "Germany has no intention of entering the war, and is not prepared to enter the war. In fact, in the eyes of most of us, a cheetah is something that can't be lost to a bull no matter what. ”

"That's a pretty strong bull." Natsuki quipped, "Although my ally is a lion, his recent form is not at his peak, so this battle is not a sure thing." ”

"Okay!" Prince Sigmund pursed his lips, "I understand this military philosophy of despising the opponent strategically and valuing the opponent tactically!" ”

Natsuki laughed heartily, and the conversation between the two made him feel as if he was back in that cold and beautiful winter. It's a pity that time flies, youth is not there, they can no longer see the childishness of the year, they always have a calm and sophisticated face in front of people, and they are rarely able to show their true selves casually and freely.

Prince Sigmund smiled at the same time: "In fact, as usual, the German top brass does not intend to intervene directly, but to mediate at the right time, so as to show the glorious image of the German Empire as a peace-loving, peace-keeping, and justice-upholding. ”

"I understand!" Natsuki subtly responded with the other party's original words.

Prince Sigmund immediately laughed, and then said: "In addition, I am departing from Wilhelmshaven this time, and Field Marshal von Oldenburg has entrusted me to convey his respect to you, and by the way, two German warships will enter the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar today, and their mission is mainly military observation, and if the safety of the lives and property of German nationals is threatened, they will be sent to carry out the task of escorting overseas Chinese. ”

"Oh, which two ships?"

"The Wisenburg and the Dame-Splivar."

"A battlecruiser and a heavy cruiser?" Natsuki habitually touched his chin, "He's not worried about being accidentally hit by submarines on both sides of the war. ”

Prince Sigmund lowered his voice and said, "This seems to be a direct order from the General Staff. ”

Natsuki smiled wordlessly, not commenting. Despite the fact that he left the German Navy for many years, he still paid great attention to the changes in all aspects of it. For more than 30 years, the German Navy's ships have been updated from generation to generation, the technical and tactical level has always been at the top level in the world, and the bureaucratic atmosphere of the command system has been as bad as ever.

Just this past morning, the new United Kingdom Navy's Mediterranean Task Force Combat Fleet was in full swing at the Cartagena Naval Base in Spain, and the main fleet of the Austro-Hungarian Navy temporarily returned to the port of Pula, while waiting for the next opportunity to make a big attack, while carefully guarding against the air raids of the Italians at any time, and the Italian Navy, which had suffered heavy losses in the previous two days, did not seem to have woken up from its ignorance and had not made any major moves for the time being.

In the early morning, the German Navy's battle cruiser "Wissenberg" and heavy cruiser "Dame-Splival" sailed into the Mediterranean. In today's era of naval aviation, the total number of battle cruisers in the world that are still in service is less than ten, and the Brandenburg-class battle cruiser is called "the last battle cruiser" and "the swan song of the battle cruiser" because it was built and put into service the latest, and the four sister ships were all completed during World War II, and after the end of World War II, the great powers did not re-install the battle cruisers, and all the construction plans that had been started were suspended, or dismantled on the spot, or repurposed.

Although the displacement of the Brandenburg class when it first entered service was slightly less than that of the Tirpitz class that dominated the ocean during World War II, its comprehensive combat capability has been greatly improved compared with the Tirpitz class thanks to the innovation of design thinking, construction technology and technical equipment, and the Brandenburg class has become the last afterglow of the era of giant ship cannons. With a full load displacement of nearly 60,000 tons, it has strong seaworthiness and self-sustaining ability, and can complete circum-equatorial navigation without midway resupply; Its 52 times diameter 406 mm main gun has a very long range and great power, and can basically penetrate the armor of all active warships within the combat range; The radar, fire control and electronic communication equipment used by it almost represents the highest level of the era, and it can be used as both a charge and a fleet command ship.

As for the "Dame-Splival" heavy cruiser, which has been in service for less than three years, it is a new type of surface ship designed and equipped with ship-to-air and ship-to-ship missiles by the German Navy, and considering the excellent performance of the German Navy's second-generation ship-to-air and ship-to-ship missiles in various tests, the "Dame-Splival" in an ideal state may not be inferior in comprehensive combat capability to the Brandenburg-class battlecruiser twice as large as itself!

It is worth mentioning that in 1933, when the Battle of the Azores was in full swing, the Germans signed the "Rome Agreement" with Italy in order to win Italy's entry into the war, handing over the two major Mediterranean fortresses of Malta and ****** to Italy. After defeating Britain and the United States, the German Empire's sphere of influence expanded eastward to the Indian subcontinent and the Indian Ocean, and westward to Central America and the Caribbean. Under such a general pattern, the German top brass has disdained to compete with Italy, Austria, Turkey and other countries for hegemony in the Mediterranean, the regular establishment of the German Mediterranean fleet has been abolished, and after the end of the Turkish Civil War, they have withdrawn from the last naval base on the Mediterranean coast, and for most of the future, it is difficult to see German ships cruising on the main routes in the Mediterranean. However, the tradition of Allied naval forces holding joint exercises in the Mediterranean at least once a year has continued since the end of World War II, and specific terms of the Allied Treaty have given the German fleet unfettered access to the ports of the Mediterranean coast of Algiers, Valletta, and Said, for the military supplies they need, and preferential use of the ship's maintenance facilities in those ports. In a sense, although the Germans no longer deployed conventional military forces in the Mediterranean region, they never looked far from this beautiful and important land sea.

As he spoke, Prince Sigmund's gaze fell on the reactivated ships in the harbor. Seeing this, Natsuki teased: "I didn't expect the chairman of the technical committee of the German Navy to be interested in these old warships?" Say, which one do you like? When the war is over, I will buy it privately, and when the time comes, I will use it as a private collection or a public museum, it's up to you! ”

Prince Sigmund had no intention of accepting such kindness from the other party, and he said thoughtfully: "In the past few years, I have carefully studied the drawings of various ships in various countries for nearly half a century, and found that Ireland's shipbuilding industry has the shortest history and the weakest foundation, but its ship development level is clear, closely connected and leaves room for it, in short, the Irish have taken a shortcut with the least detours in the field of shipbuilding. ”

Xia Shu looked at the other party: "Compliment me like this, do you want to ask me for help?" ”

Prince Sigmund shook his head and said: "As long as Germany and the new United Kingdom continue to maintain the current close alliance, and the exchanges and cooperation in military technology are enough for the German Navy to benefit from His Majesty's extraordinary wisdom, why should I add to it?" ”

"Then you ......"

"Actually, I was just thinking that these ships designed and built twenty or thirty years ago, even if they were designed to perform very well, maintain very well, and fully exploit their potential, are still a little unsatisfactory for first-line operations, and the most suitable role for them should be patrolling, alerting, and escorting in the second line. With the current situation of the war, it is difficult for the Austro-Hungarian Navy to do anything other than to contain part of the air and sea forces of the Italians, that is, your fleet is the main force against the Italian naval forces. ”

"Your analysis is absolutely correct." Natsuki responded, "Although the Austro-Hungarian navy will be blockaded in the Adriatic Sea for most of this war, their presence is still very valuable - in order to protect the eastern and southern parts of the mainland, the Italians will have to deploy a large number of naval and air forces in the Apennine Peninsula, and the forces to be put into the Mediterranean front will be very limited, and we will quickly defeat them in a way that the Italians did not expect." ”