Long live, the laurels of the victors,

Ruler of the Fatherland!

Long live the Emperor!

Under the light of your throne, we are filled with joy to be your beloved people!

Long live the Emperor!

On the sea covered in night, the euphorious singing wafted over the majestic warships, this is the "Emperor's Hymn", also known as "Long Live the Laurels of the Victors", the official national anthem of the Second German Reich (to be precise, it is the national anthem of the Kingdom of Prussia, because it is not accepted by the southern states such as Bavaria and Württemberg, this anthem is not popular throughout Germany, but it is used as the national anthem on most occasions). Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The shocking news of the German army's capture of Paris plunged the German naval officers and men into unprecedented joy and excitement. Although the number one enemy of the German navy was the British Empire, which occupied maritime supremacy, France was the most dangerous beast for the whole of Germany, they were constantly thinking about retaking Alsace and Lorraine, they advocated attack, they had a well-quality army force, and geographically, the most important industrial area of Germany was close to the German-French border, and the French were most likely to occupy and destroy it by a victory; France, the link of the Triple Entente, was the culprit behind the encirclement of Germany, and they disgraced the German government in Morocco and greatly damaged German interests abroad. At the beginning of the war, military columns full of German soldiers drove westward, and the German people along the way waved flowers to cheer for the soldiers.

It is not known whether the loss of Paris means that the French will lose the courage and conviction to continue fighting, but it is a glory that tens of thousands of German soldiers have bought with their blood and lives, and it is a victory of great significance and special value, and it cannot be celebrated too much. However, from a rational point of view, mortals often only see the outward manifestations of things, and the wise man cares about what is behind the appearance. While most of his colleagues lit cigars, opened champagne, and joined in the celebration, Natsuki was calmly thinking: Paris has been the largest city in Europe for nearly a thousand years, with a population of 2 million in the late 19th and early 20th centuries! During the Franco-Prussian War, the French army and civilians managed to turn it into a strong fortress, and the Prussian army could not do anything about it for four or five months, and now, even though the German army has a heavy artillery force that is unparalleled in the world, if the French army and people are determined to fight to the death, the number of defenders defending Paris and the situation of not being completely besieged by the German army are unlikely to be able to conquer it in just a few weeks. In other words, the retreat of the French army was by no means desperate, it may have been a human decision made out of some strategic considerations, or it could have been a major mistake by a certain army or a certain defense area, which led to the complete collapse of the Paris defensive line. Under such circumstances, unless the German army can continue to make persistent efforts to pursue and fight the French troops who have withdrawn from Paris until their main forces are annihilated, it will be possible for the French to really sit down at the negotiating table and make peace with Germany - if the German Supreme Commander and the Chief of the General Staff of the army can see this, there is nothing to worry about, the key is that Kaiser Wilhelm II and Moltke Jr. are not at all worrying characters, one is impulsive and happy, the other is indecisive and short-sighted, and the character is frivolous. Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was very proud of himself, was probably at this time completely intoxicated with the joy of the occupation of Paris, and took the defeat of the French and the collapse of the Allies as a matter of course, waiting for the final victory to naturally float in front of him......

"Are you worried that our expedition to Ireland might be cancelled?"

Hearing Scheer's voice coming from behind him, Natsuki shuddered slightly.

It did speak to his heart.

"Abandoning Ireland, we can still win this war, but this will only bring Germany a maximum of twenty years of peace, and in the next war of revenge, Britain will surely stand firmly in the ranks of the avengers." Natsuki turned his head to look at Scheer, this bold and daring "old sailor" was also calm at this time.

"If Ireland is drawn into our camp, England will henceforth be constrained, taking advantage of the decline of England and France, to seize their colonies and trade interests in the open seas step by step, and to increase the national power of Germany, just as England did after the sixteenth century?" Scheer concludes this short but not simple exposition with an affirmative question.

Natsuki gave him an approving gaze, but when he thought about it, his mood became more and more depressed. The victory of the High Seas Fleet in Jutland and Flanders did not make the fleet combat theorists overwhelm the fleet existence theorists in the upper echelons of the Navy, after all, every naval battle inevitably has losses, and some of the naval ships that have been built at great cost can never return to German ports, and some of them have to staggered home with their dilapidated bodies, even if they can be repaired, they have to pay a very high price. If Natsuki was on an expedition, the means of communication by sending wireless telegraphy were naturally not as good as making statements in person and clever tricks, and if the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Müller, and the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Bohr, waited for an opportunity to exert their efforts, Tirpitz might not be able to persuade the Kaiser to keep his original intention.

"Then again, risking the main fleet on an expedition to send four thousand reinforcements to the Irish insurgents was considered by many to be more than worth the cost. If His Majesty the Kaiser had really made the decision to suspend the operation, it would have been excusable, since he had his own considerations. What do you say? Natsuki looked at Scheer.

Scheer did not answer immediately, but faced the bow in front of the ship. Until a clear order was given to cancel the operation, the main forces of the High Seas Fleet were still sailing north. Although it is only the beginning of November, the west coast of Norway is already full of cold, the sea surface temperature at night is only about five degrees, and when you reach the northwestern waters of Norway near the Arctic Circle, you can enjoy the breath of midwinter in advance, and after bypassing the northern waters of Britain to Ireland, the weather will return to late autumn, and the perennial overseas crew can still adapt to such changes, for ordinary people, this is a new and difficult voyage.

"My father taught me from a young age that no matter how difficult it is or how many people ridicule me, I must unswervingly continue to achieve the goal I have set for myself, no matter how difficult it is. The moment you stand at the end of the line, you may find that this goal is not exactly the same as you originally envisioned, but no matter what, you are a winner in life. With that, Sher turned his head to look at Natsuki.

"I envy you to have such a wise father." Natsuki shrugged slightly, and the voice outside the words could only be understood but not spoken. Unlike the German generals who were illustrious, Reinhardt-Schell was born into an ordinary commoner family who was not even wealthy, but he was not ashamed of it, and even when the Kaiser bestowed him with a title of nobility, he refused to use the "von" in his name, which symbolized nobility, and left it as it was.

"All fathers will do their best to nurture, love, and support their children, and there is no doubt that father's love is the second greatest emotion in this world after mother's love." Scheer said that because he was busy with his career, he did not marry until he was 36 years old and had two daughters. Family has an incomparable meaning to him, in the original historical time and space, after the defeat and collapse of the Second German Empire, Schell chose to retire and try to live a peaceful life with his family, but unfortunately only two years after the end of the war, a painter attacked his home, Mrs. Schell and the maid were shot, and the youngest daughter was also injured in the incident. This tragic event greatly affected his life and health, and he passed away at the age of 65.

In this historical time and space where Natsuki has been greatly influenced, the same tragedy obviously will not happen to Schell, and the 53-year-old is using his perseverance, determination, intelligence, and sensitivity to help the German Navy step by step out of the shackles of fate.

Natsuki was silent, for Kaiser Wilhelm II, who has lived in the same world for more than 20 years, he looks at and uses it more from the perspective of a latecomer, that family affection is very light on him, and he never shows his true heart in front of the other party, all his efforts are just to avoid the occurrence of that great tragedy, everything is just for victory.

The two of them stood quietly until midnight, and there were no important orders from the local side.

On this night, Natsuki had many dreams, in which he recalled his childhood, the childhood of the mortal Natsuki and the childhood of Prince Joachim were intertwined, the two fathers were completely different in shape, appearance, status, and power, but there were many similarities in the smiles on their faces, the love in their eyes, and even the tone of advice.

When he woke up from his dream, Natsuki was stunned.

The next day, the morale of the German sailors continued to steer the north, and the small accident of the mechanical failure of the "De Fllinger" was overshadowed by the joy of the German capture of Paris, but the newly commissioned "Frontier Governor" also had problems, and the sudden rupture of a working fluid transmission pipeline wounded three crew members, although the failure was quickly repaired, it still cast an ominous shadow on the expedition of the High Seas Fleet - in the three previous naval battles, the German main fleet had only sailed as far as the mouth of the Thames, The round trip was only 600 nautical miles, and the distance from Kiel to Ireland and from Ireland back to Germany was six times that number, and the long journey was an unprecedentedly severe test for all the ships involved, and the Germans, no matter how skilled they were, could not escape the technical limitations of the age.

In the afternoon, the German fleet entered the Norwegian Sea (not the general name of the Norwegian coast, but a triangular area of 1.38 million square kilometers on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, more than twice the size of the North Sea), where it joined the coal ships that had arrived in advance, and the large torpedo boats that accompanied the fleet began to replenish the coal. At this time, the fleet received a telegram from Kiel that the landing fleet led by the "Frederick the Great" had begun a landing attack on the Belgian coast, but before that, Bülo's 2nd Army had announced the breakthrough of the Bruges Line, and the significance of the landing seemed to have become to prevent the withdrawal of the Entente troops from the sea.

(End of chapter)