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Body:

January 11, 1915, fine.

Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

Despite the cold wind on the docks and the thick snow on the ground, tens of thousands of people still came here today to greet the hero's victory. High on the podium sat the new owner of the Reich, Kaiser Wilhelm III, who had left Berlin for the first time since his accession to the throne. In addition to the Chentian couple, there were also Imperial Prime Minister Bateman, Imperial Navy Minister Tirpitz, Imperial Maritime Minister Pol, and nearly forty dignitaries and army and naval generals who came to Wilhelmshaven.

It wasn't the Schell fleet that was expected to show its might in Bonemouth, nor the Heydrich fleet in Dover. In fact, the fleet returning to Wilhelmshaven today is not large.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, amid the sound of passionate military music, the harbor salute was bursting, and the first warship slowly sailed into the harbor.

With a displacement of 25,000 tons of steel, 10 mighty 12-inch guns, a simple superstructure, a thick chimney emitting thick smoke, and a black vulture cross flag fluttering at the top of the mast, this is the most advanced King-class battleship in the Empire, the "Elector"!

The returning sailors lined up neatly on the foredeck and sides of the ship, while the generals stood in the command room, led by a vice admiral with a goatee.

In front of the battleship, a flag was raised on the signal tower in the harbor: His Majesty the Emperor personally came to greet the triumphant 1st Atlantic Raid Formation!

Franz. Rhett. Feng. Xibail silently looked at the crowded dock in front of him, his expression was serious, but something was flashing in his eyes, and the veteran's heart couldn't be calm. Successfully intercepting the British special fleet and sending enemy ships of several times its own tonnage to the bottom of the sea, Hillal's fleet, with the assistance of submarine forces, accomplished a miracle, a miracle belonging to the Imperial German Navy. From then on, he would be regarded by the world as a first-class admiral on a par with Tirpitz, who built the Imperial German Navy, and Prince Heydrich, who commanded the fleet and created the miracle of Pascalflau, and history will leave him a prominent place.

Behind the glory there were always victims, and with the sinking of the last freighter laden with munitions in Port Rodel, the hopes of the British were completely dashed, by which time Sheppel and his fleet were exhausted, and 110 officers and men of the Navy gave their precious lives in battle, and the scars on the starboard side and deputy conning tower of the "Elector" were left at that time.

Despite the slow course, black smoke billowed from the huge chimneys on the battleship. At the beginning of the design of the King-class battleships, the British had already widely used higher-power oil-fired boilers on their warships, so as to increase the speed and range of the battleships under the same circumstances, but considering the lack of oil resources in Germany and the possible naval blockade of hostile countries would bring about a fuel crisis, German ship designers cautiously designed a hybrid power configuration of coal-fired and oil-fired for the King-class battleships, that is, 12 coal-fired boilers and 3 oil-fired boilers. This unique configuration reflects Germany's frustration with oil resources before 1910 (Kemal's Turkish regime was established in 1910, Turkish oil extraction did not reach a certain scale until 1911, while the King-class battleships were designed in 1910 and construction began in 1911, and the last King-class battleship "****" was completed in February 1914, when the British Navy still maintained a huge advantage over the German Navy).

The 22,000-ton battleship Oldenburg, a 22,000-ton battleship that sailed into the harbor next up, also had several scars on its body, especially the one on the starboard side near the No. 6 turret, the twisted steel and the blood marks looked so shocking.

The Osterfrieland class was a battleship that served earlier than the King, and they used all-coal-fired boilers with three chimneys concentrated in the middle of the battleship, which caused great environmental pollution when sailing at full speed.

Based on the consideration of the current situation, Chentian and the Admiralty proposed a modification request for the latest first-class battleship under construction, the Bavaria-class battleship, to change all 11 coal-fired boilers in the original design to more advanced oil-fired boilers, so that the Bavaria-class battleship can reach a maximum speed of 25 knots and a cruising range of 8,000 nautical miles. With 8 15-inch (380 mm) Bavaria-class battleships were comparable in all respects to the British Queen Elizabeth class, which was originally 12 years later than the Queen Elizabeth class, but due to the shelling of the German fleet by the main British shipyards and the air raids of aircraft airships, most of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were destroyed on the slipway, and the only two remaining were also in an unfinished state, and the construction progress was repeatedly delayed due to lack of resources and constant attacks by the Luftwaffe.

After the two battleships, the cruiser detachment that performed equally well in naval battles was sailed into the harbor, and they were the reconnaissance cruisers "Frenburg", "Munich" and "Will", which, in addition to using carrier-based aircraft to provide effective and reliable reconnaissance and calibration for the raiding fleet, also directly joined the battle with the British cruiser, of which the "Munich" suffered serious losses, the stern turret and the seaplane hangar were blown up together, and the number of casualties on the whole ship reached 1/5 of the full strength.

At the rear of the fleet, submarines that looked less conspicuous appeared one after another, compared with the low-key at the beginning of the war, the German submarine force at this time had become famous, and the crews lined up one by one with their chests straight and on the submarine deck, although the military flag on the control tower was small, but it did not hinder the glorious achievements of these "sea wolves". Returning to Wilhelmshaven with the Hillel fleet were some of the rotating submarines, some of which had been in the Atlantic for weeks.

Chen Tian is very familiar with the submarine numbered U039 at the head, and its captain is the famous Dönitz. Despite his young age, Lieutenant Colonel Dönitz became the most successful captain of the Imperial submarine force, the commander of the first submarine formation in the Atlantic, and the youngest recipient of the Blue Marcos Medal.

Dönitz and the submarine forces played a very large role in the process of blocking and annihilating the British special fleet, and it was they who discovered the whereabouts of the British fleet, and then they not only directly sank several British ships, but also slowed down the entire British fleet (forcing the opponent to take the anti-submarine route), and dealt with the last three wounded British battleships and Churchill's submarine in the night battle, which were no less numerous and influential than Hillale and his surface ships.

Under the leadership of Chen Tian, all the generals and guests present stood up and saluted, and the triumphant ones deserved such respect, and the souls of the deceased heroes deserved to be admired by the people.

The Elector was the first to dock, and the people felt oppressed by its large size, but also proud of its majestic posture. The sailors quickly set up the gangway and rolled out the red carpet, which would be the first time the new Kaiser would board the ship to inspect his fleet.

Guards armed with rifles lined up neatly on both sides of the red carpet, everywhere Chentian went, the soldiers paid attention to the salute, and the civilians on the periphery shouted "Long live", as the war continued, the great victories have doubled the confidence of the people of this country, and they are eager for the army to go out and the army to triumph.

In the past few years, Wilhelm II has inspected the Imperial Navy several times, and these scenes are so similar that Chen Tian has more realistic expectations for the future of the Navy.

Xipaer and Chentian are also old acquaintances, but in the face of Chentian, whose identities are already very different, Xipael is still a little restrained.

"Your Majesty, on behalf of all the officers and men of the fleet, I would like to thank you for coming to greet you personally! The ships are ready, please check them out! ”

Chen Tian held the scepter in his right hand and saluted, "You have worked hard! The empire thanks you, the people thank you! ”

Considering the results and impact of this operation of the Hipper fleet, Chentian discussed with the Minister of the Admiralty and decided to promote Hipper to admiral and award him the Blue Marcos Medal.

Chen Tian personally awarded the medal to Xipar and changed his name to "Admiral". Subsequently, accompanied by Xipar, Chen Tian inspected the "Elector" and expressed praise and condolences to the officers and men on board.

On the way to the inspection of the submarine force, Chen Tian whispered to Xipar: "My brave and wise admiral, you and your fleet will have 1 month to rest, please be fully prepared, after which you will go to the Mediterranean region!" ”

"The Mediterranean?" Shepar apparently did not have a navy that would send capital ships to the Mediterranean so quickly, and after the armistice negotiations with Italy, there did not seem to be much to fight there.

"Yes, the port of ****** will become the home port of the Imperial Mediterranean Fleet, and now our expeditionary force is rebuilding the port and fortifications there, and the project will be completed in 1 month!" Chentian's so-called Mediterranean Fleet is not only the warships of the Hipper fleet, but also the spoils obtained from the French Navy, which will be a considerable fleet, including dreadnought battleships, armored battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and some light ships. As for the port of ******, it was the largest port in ******, and in early December 1914, the German Expeditionary Force officially took over the port from the French, and in addition to renovating and expanding the existing port facilities, a new airport was also under construction.

"Yes!" Sheppel didn't ask much, politics was something that German soldiers like him were not interested in.

Next, Chen Tian and his entourage boarded the U039 submarine, and Dönitz and all the crew lined up to be inspected by the new Kaiser. Seeing the idol he had painstakingly cultivated, Chen Tian was in a very good mood, and he had a cordial conversation with Dönitz for a while, and made careful inquiries about the Atlantic submarine blockade. The U039 was a medium-sized submarine built by the Königsberg shipyard with ocean-going capabilities, but according to the captains, the submarine was not very seaworthy, especially since its low submarine speed made it only attack and escape like all submarines at the beginning of the war.

"My faithful and wise Captain Hunter!" Chen Tian called Dönitz like this, "Do you remember the batch of submarines that the Königsberg shipyard had just begun to build when the war broke out? They're now finished! ”

"Your Majesty, are you talking about UII-type cruisers? Those are the big ones designed for ocean voyages! "When it comes to new submarines, Dönitz seems to have seen a treasure.

"Yes! Now these UI-type submarines will gradually be used for homeland defense and patrolling in the North Sea and the Mediterranean, and the ocean-going blockade will be handed over to these new submarines! "As they look farther afield, Tatsu and his navy need not only aircraft carriers, battleships, and cruisers for surface combat, but also submarines with longer range and better performance for raids and blockades. In World War II, the United States had a huge advantage in the air, sea, and water in the late stage of the war, and the Japanese Navy had no power to fight back.

"That's great! When will they be able to join our battle sequence? "There is a reason why Dönitz is so eager to join the new submarines, as far as Chen Tian knows, Germany has 230 submarines of various types, of which about 40 old submarines with a displacement of less than 300 tons can only be used for offshore operations, and medium diesel submarines with a displacement of 600,800 tons like U039 are the largest, about 200 (historically, Germany had a diesel engine dedicated to submarines in 1913, and the number of German submarines at the beginning of the war was far less than that of British and French submarines, but in terms of torpedo performance, The submarine range and even the technology of the periscope were ahead of the British and French). After the German Navy defeated the British Navy, it was the medium submarines that were used to blockade the British Isles. Due to the limited technology of submarines, these submarines need to return to their home ports for repair and maintenance at regular intervals, and the crews also need to rest, so under normal circumstances, there are often less than 80 submarines distributed in the waters around the British Isles and the Atlantic route, which is somewhat inadequate for the North Sea, the English Channel, the Irish Sea, and the vast Atlantic, although the German Navy's blockade of the British mainland has greatly increased after the three raid fleets entered the Atlantic. However, the submarine forces still need to replenish fresh blood as much as possible in order to reduce the current pressure on the submarine forces and make up for the combat and non-combat losses.

Chen Tian did not answer directly, but told Dönitz: "After you and your crew are familiar with them, they can be served!" ”

Dönitz hesitated for two seconds, then stood up and saluted, "It's an honor to accept this mission!" ”

The reception of the new UII submarines by experienced crews helps to get them into combat effectiveness as quickly as possible, while the newly graduated crews are trained with UI submarines under the leadership of veterans, so that combat effectiveness can be quickly restored. Of course, the legendary Seawolf King is probably going to disappear from the Atlantic Ocean for a while.