Human society entered the twentieth century with the rumbling of the machines of great industrialization, but this was not a prosperous era, and the contradictions of interests gave rise to fierce conflicts, and the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in the far east added to this turbulent atmosphere. The Pen, Fun, and Pavilion www.biquge.info War started in February 1904, and in most of the half a year, it has experienced large-scale battles such as the Battle of Arthur, the Battle of Liaodong, the Battle of Liaoyang, the attack and defense of Shahe River and the attack on Lushun, and the two sides have successively invested hundreds of thousands of troops, and the battle situation is more tragic than the Qing-Japanese War ten years ago. The lessons learned have again attracted the close attention of the great powers. At the Kiel Naval Academy, the examples of the Japanese fleet's night attack on Arthur and the Russian fleet's subsequent attack on the Japanese army's sea lines of communication have become the focus of the tactical theory course.

With the summer heat down and autumn clothes getting thicker, it's undoubtedly the most comfortable weather of the year on the seafront. One day in mid-October, Natsuki and his bare-ass playmate Christian were about to go to the cafeteria for lunch, when they suddenly saw several students walking on the boulevard leading to the gate of the academy, and many students around them were also looking at them curiously.

"Those were supposed to be exchange students from Russia, and they were supposed to stay here until next summer, but the war with Japan prompted them to leave early." Christian explained in a tone of "a hundred people in the rivers and lakes".

Natsuki was not uninterested or indifferent to the Russo-Japanese War, because he was already familiar with the course and details of the war in the original time and space, and from what he knew so far, the war that took place thousands of kilometers away did not change significantly because of the arrival of his "butterfly", so he did not chase after the information obtained from various channels like others.

Christian continued: "It is said that the main forces of the Russian Baltic Fleet set off from the Gulf of Finland two weeks ago and will cross halfway around the world to the Far East to fight. At the cruising speed of the old ships, they had almost moved to the Western Baltic Sea, and I guess the exchange students had probably received orders to report directly to the expeditionary fleet. ”

In Natsuki's personal concept, the militaristic and domineering Soviet Union is not likable, but the fierce and bold character of the Russians is still worthy of respect. At this time, the Tsarist Russian Empire was decaying, the morale of the army was low, the equipment was outdated, and although their St. Petersburg Naval Academy had a long history of more than 200 years, its teachers, teaching concepts, and customs were all in the bottom line. In the Kiel Naval Academy, the number of Russian exchange students is actually not very large, perhaps because they are not familiar with the place, or they are shy in their pockets, they are very low-key in their daily routines, and Xia Shu has not dealt with them much in the more than half a year since he came to the academy. Looking at the lonely figures who were leaving with their burdens, Natsuki thought for a while and said to Christian, "Let's go, let's take a look." ”

Seeing Natsuki pulling his legs and leaving, Christian muttered, "Ho, what's so nice about the Russians?" We're not going to eat? ”

Xia Shutou didn't look back and said, "I'll invite you to eat when I come back." ”

Christian had no choice but to touch his belly and follow, shouting, "Then I want to eat foie gras, asparagus, lamb chops and tuna." ”

No matter what time it is, there always seems to be such a foodie around, so listening to Christian talking about various delicacies behind his ass, Natsuki is not only bored, but a little self-satisfied.

The Kiel Naval Academy is located on the shores of Kiel Bay, just a short walk from the ferry terminal. When they arrived at the docks, the Russian cadets found an old-looking barge and seemed to be going to charter it to sail, but after some negotiation with the owner, they picked up their bags and headed for another sailboat. Although Russia was at war, the war did not affect Europe, and Britain, France, Germany, Austria, and other countries remained neutral, so the German shipowners had no reason to refuse these Russian cadets except that the price could not be negotiated - and after a while, the Russian cadets moved from the sailboat to the third ship.

Natsuki touched his pockets and carried his wallet with him, but because he had just donated money to the Friendship Association two days ago, he usually did not have much expenditure at the Naval Academy, and the sum of the banknotes and coins he brought did not exceed sixty marks, but this was equivalent to the income of an ordinary German worker for four or five weeks, and it was more than enough to buy a piece of clothing or a meal, but chartering a ship was different from ordinary expenses, and the market fluctuated greatly with the seasons, and was linked to factors such as ship type and sailing distance. Natsuki doesn't have a clear idea of this, so he asks Christian how much money he brought.

Foodies can be vague about other things, and the weight of the money bag is absolutely clear, so he replied without thinking: "Four hundred marks of the whole money, and more than thirty marks of change." ”

Natsuki said casually: "Lend me the whole money first." ”

According to official statistics in 1900, the per capita annual income of Germany was 504 marks, and a large sum of money in the eyes of ordinary people was a matter of one sentence for these two princely financiers. Christian happily handed four 100 mark bills to Natsuki, who stuffed the green-brown notes into his pocket without looking, and walked straight to the first barge that the Russians asked for: "Sir, how much does it cost to go to the place they just said?" ”

The owner of the ship, a burly and hearty middle-aged man, stared at Natsuki several times and was very surprised: "Ah, it's His Royal Highness Prince Joachim, you...... Do you want to go to sea by boat? It's free to go anywhere, it's free! ”

Looking at the mottled and peeling paint of the barge, the owner of the ship must not be a wealthy person, Xia Shu smiled indifferently: "It's not good for me to rent your boat like this, just follow the price you negotiated with them just now!" If the money isn't enough, I'll send it to you tomorrow. ”

With that, Natsuki stuffed the money he had taken from Christian to the shipowner, who was very frightened and took out two and returned them to the prince, and counted out a few light purple bills from his pocket: "150 marks to go to the Femer Strait is enough, enough!" ”

Natsuki didn't say much, turned to the Russian students who were at a loss, and said, "Hey, friends, come over here!" ”

At the Kiel Naval Academy, there was no one who did not know Joachim, a perverted scholar, and the Russians came to him in a bit of a daze.

"Get on board! I'll send you to the Fimmer Strait. Natsuki said proudly.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness the Prince, we need no mercy." The leading Russian cadet replied without humility or arrogance.

Natsuki's original intention to help them was indeed mercy, after all, the Russians' 10,000-mile expedition was destined to end in a fiasco, but looking at the tenacity and fortitude on the young face of the Russian cadet, he changed his mind: "It's not pity, it's respect, my friends." If I'm not mistaken, you're about to go to war, it's a war that takes place in a distant world, and it doesn't matter to Germany which of you wins, but as a fellow student, I wish you all the best you have learned, and I wish Germany and Russia friendship for generations to come. ”

Seeing Xia Shu's sincere expression and sincere tone, the Russian students were all moved. In the face of the German prince's outstretched right hand, the leading young man with sharp eyes and fierce expression shook hands with him in a solemn manner, and the rest followed suit one by one. When the Russians were on board, Natsuki also crossed the side of the ship, turned back to Christian and said, "Let's go!" ”

The foodie had no choice, shook his head and said, "I definitely won't be able to catch up with the afternoon class." ”

With a dull and hoarse roar, the old barge slowly sailed away from the shore. Youths dressed in German naval cadet uniforms sat on the deck, and the leader of the Russian cadets introduced himself: "Andrey. Denisov, second lieutenant of the Russian Navy. ”

"Loban. Krzhakov, Second Lieutenant of the Russian Navy. ”

"Paulshak. Berezutsky, second lieutenant of the Russian Navy. ”

……

From this point of view, these Russian cadets had already attained military positions in the Russian Navy before coming to the Kiel Naval Academy, and it was only reasonable for the Baltic Fleet to summon them on an expedition to the East, and they later revealed that the trip to the Fermer Strait was indeed to meet the Russian fleet directly, but they knew very little about the size, composition, and route arrangement of the expeditionary fleet.

The Fermer Strait is located between the Danish island of Loren and the German island of Fehmarn, less than 30 nautical miles from Kiel Bay. After more than four hours of sailing, the barge came to the western end of the Fermer Strait, but there was nothing on the vast sea, and there was no trace of the Russian fleet.

"Did you agree to meet this afternoon?" Christian asked very skeptically.

The Russian cadets looked at each other, and finally it was their little leader Denisov who answered the question: "The telegram we received really said this afternoon, but it was just ...... The telegram was received a week ago, and with what we know about the Baltic Fleet, they will only be sooner or later. ”

Christian glared: "Then if they change their plans for some reason, or if the trip is delayed due to bad weather, won't we have to wait here indefinitely?" ”

"I'm so sorry, Your Highnesses!" Denisov looked apologetic, "Forgive me for not explaining it clearly when I set off, I would have liked to persuade the two of you not to come with the ship......"

"Uh-huh, it's too late to say it now!" Christian complained unceremoniously. At this time, Natsuki quietly observed the reactions of these Russian students. As the so-called benevolence should be grateful, they naturally did not retaliate angrily at Christian's few words, but they did not behave deferentially and flatteringly because Christian was a prince of Oldenburg who was from the same family as the Russian royal family, they just silently endured the injustice and grievances they inflicted on themselves. Xia Shu pondered that although these Russian cadets had encountered some trouble in terms of funds, they were not reckless and ignorant young people, they were not in high mood but full of energy, and their words and deeds showed good cultivation, but it was a pity that the down-to-earth doers had no way out in the smoky and pompous Russian army.

(End of chapter)