The glorious victories of the German Navy created countless heroes, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Reinhardt Scher, was known as the "German Nelson", the commanders of the fleets such as Franz von Hipper, Wilhelm von Reims, and Maximilian von Spee, and the commanders of the battleships von Lubitch, captain of the "King", Paul Beinck, captain of the "Kücher", von Kagnac, and other battleship commanders became famous, and even the chief of staff of the Navy, von Pohl, who had never set foot on the battlefield, became famous. Clausewitz of the Navy". At this moment of enjoying the glory www.biquge.info of victory, people should not forget who put forward the ambitious plan of naval expansion and single-handedly built an invincible high sea fleet; who strongly advocated the passage of the German Navy Act, which provided a strong financial guarantee for naval construction; who adhered to the theory of naval operations and escorted the genius offensive strategy; and who was second only to Kaiser Wilhelm II in the eyes of the British people in the degree of evil......

Christmas 1914 was approaching, and Tirpitz, who had been living for 65 years, sat quietly in his office near the River Spree, with a clear view of the buildings in Berlin's palace district through the window. Back then, he was an "unrealistic outlier" in the high-ranking circles of the German Navy, which everyone admired for breaking the war on the sea, and was ostracized and even humiliated by his colleagues, Tirpitz resigned in a fit of rage, and it was Wilhelm II who had just ascended the throne to retain him. The much-maligned German emperor admired Tirpitz's courage and ambition, and placed deep trust in him, allowing him to rise from commander of the colonial fleet to the position of head of the navy, when Tirpitz was still a rear admiral. Before the expansion of the German navy became effective, Kaiser Wilhelm II bestowed on him the title of Count and called him "Tirpitz Forever". From the end of the 19th century to the outbreak of the war, the Prussian Prime Minister and Reich Chancellor changed three terms, the army entered the Moltke era from the Schlieffen era, and the ministers around the emperor came and went like a marquee, but Tirpitz always held the naval power, and became the first field marshal of the German Navy in 1911. Today, the German Navy has won a series of high-profile victories that have brought down its former rival and moved toward the maritime supremacy that all Germans dream of. As the founder of the German Navy, Field Marshal Alfred von Tirpitz achieved the prestige and status of the sky, but on this weather-beaten face, Natsuki clearly saw a trace of the hero's twilight loneliness.

Despite being overshadowed by Bohr, Müller and others within the navy, Tirpitz was still in charge of the navy's strategic construction and had an unusual friendship with the German emperor, and even if Wilhelm II did not consult him on the selection of the king of Ireland, he should have been the first to know the situation. Therefore, when Xia Shu came to ask for advice, he was not surprised at all, and said in a respectful tone:

"I spent two years in Asia, almost 20 years ago. I know that the Orientals have their own unique philosophical system, some of which are strange to understand, and some of which are very much in line with the laws of nature. For example, they feel that they would rather be the head of a chicken than the ass of a cow, which means that they would rather be the leader in a very small and weak place than a small and strong officer. ”

"I'd rather be the head of the chicken than the queen of the cow." Natsuki uttered this oriental philosophy in German that has lasted for thousands of years.

Tirpitz nodded and said, "It seems that His Highness is very aware of this truth, so it will be easy to do." In Germany, His Royal Highness should be able to become another admiral of royal origin, become a strategic decision-maker of the navy, and even have the opportunity to become the first imperial chancellor of the empire, thus becoming one of the most remarkable figures in the history of the empire. If he wears the crown of Ireland, His Highness will become His Majesty, making his own history there. There is no need to worry about the undisciplined Irish, the most important reason why they reject British rule is that the British do not see them as real Britons, which is a conflict between races. Your rule of Ireland as a German did not fundamentally change the national character and beliefs of the Irish people, the most fortunate French marshal in history is a very successful example, the Vikings are even more brutal and untamable than the Celts, look at Sweden now, the political situation is stable, the national power is growing, and the people love the royal family as much as any other country. ”

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, the absolutely lucky Frenchman, became the biggest reason for Natsuki to choose the Irish throne. Bernadotte was a commoner who was named Marshal of France for his military exploits and his relationship with Napoleon by marriage. Sweden participated in the anti-French coalition in the early days, due to King Gustav IV's decision-making mistakes in the Napoleonic Wars, repeated defeats, the Swedish army generals staged a coup d'état, arrested the king, and then announced the deposition of the king and exiled the country, the Swedish parliament controlled by the army elected the king's uncle, the king's minor regent, the Duke of South Manland Karl as the new king, and the old Karl was 61 years old when he was king, and had two sons but died young. Considering that the king had no heir, and feeling that Napoleon's claim to the throne had a great influence on European countries, the Swedish parliament made a shocking decision in 1810 to elect French Marshal Bernadotte as the king's adopted son and heir to the throne. Bernadotte accepted the kindness of the Swedes, changed his name to Karl Johann, converted to Lutheranism, and began to take charge of Swedish state as regent the following year. It is worth mentioning that Sweden soon allied with Britain, Russia and Prussia and re-entered the anti-French front, and Bernadotte, who participated in the war as the crown prince of Sweden, served as the commander-in-chief of the anti-French coalition forces in the north, participated in the Battle of Leipzig, won a decisive victory, and later defeated Denmark and captured Norway. After Karl the Elder's death, Bernadotte succeeded to the thrones of Sweden and Norway, founding the Bernadotte dynasty, which lasted from the 19th century to the 21st century.

"But Scandinavia does not have a formidable rival like Britain, and Ireland is geographically like the British backyard, and they absolutely do not want to see a German-backed power control of Ireland."

This lack of confidence had already helped Natsuki gain strong political support from Wilhelm II, and the reason why he wanted to move out again in front of Tirpitz was not only to pave the way for future deals, but also to hope that Tirpitz would give him the help he could.

Tirpitz did not speak appeased, as Wilhelm II did, but said: "The British Empire has gone through a period of more than three hundred years of strength, and its national strength is far beyond the imagination of ordinary people, even if all the warships in service sink to the bottom of the sea, as long as the shipbuilding industry and military system are preserved, it will not be too long before they can rebuild a first-class fleet, so I have always suggested to Your Majesty that since we have made enemies of England and have defeated their fleet, we cannot be merciful to it, and once Britain prays for peace, We had to set terms that were even more stringent than the Franco-Prussian Armistice Treaty, and cut off the possibility of redeveloping the Great Navy, so as to provide long-term guarantees for Germany's national security. ”

"You are quite right, Britain is indeed an adversary not to be taken lightly." Natsuki chimed in, "This is also something I'm very worried about. Even if the British navy had recovered only a quarter of its original size after the war, it would have been able to easily control the trade routes of Ireland, and the Protestants in the north of Ireland were a very difficult problem, and the British government could have secretly supported their funds and weapons, so the situation was really difficult to control. ”

Tirpitz is well-informed, has read countless people, and is a leader who has been in the power field for many years, how can he not see through Xia Shu's little ninety-nine. He thought for a moment: "I understand what Your Highness means, although you are from the German royal family, once you become the king of Ireland, you only retain the blood relationship, and Germany cannot unconditionally support the royal power you have established in Ireland forever for this reason, and having a reliable military force and the necessary industrial facilities to support this army is the foundation of maintaining the royal power." I don't have any advice for the army, but economic and industrial construction is one of your great specialties, so I'll give you a few words of advice on naval and coastal defense strategies. ”

Natsuki was sitting on his lap and listening.

"The first piece of advice, never underestimate the role of coastal defense fortresses. Any fleet, no matter how powerful, needs at least a sufficiently safe home port, and round-the-clock, day-and-night protection can only be provided by coastal fortifications. ”

"The second piece of advice is that the confrontation of a country does not necessarily have to be decided by a duel between the naval fleet, but what kind of fleet to form and what kind of naval strategy to pursue should be comprehensively planned in accordance with the country's strategic geography and comprehensive national strength."

"The third piece of advice is that even the best warships need people to control them, and it takes no less money and time to train a good team of professional officers and a sufficient qualified fleet than to build a fleet. As far as I know, Ireland has no foundation in terms of warships and personnel, and everything has to start from scratch, so it is better to plan ahead. ”

Xia Shu silently wrote down Tirpitz's three pieces of advice, which seemed to be a big truth, without any operational advice, but every sentence was a golden and jade good word, and it was something that Xia Shu usually dabbled in less and might ignore it, especially the last sentence "plan early", which made him think a lot in his heart. Although the throne of Ireland is still an expected thing, and whether it can become a reality is still subject to change, the door to a new world has aroused Natsuki's infinite longing, and what really attracts him is not the brilliant crown, nor the prominent position admired by all the people, but the freedom to no longer submit to others, the freedom to truly unleash personal charm, and the freedom to cultivate a group of officers who are loyal to him.

Long live freedom!

(End of chapter)