Now that the banquet had begun, the dance music of Harmony was stirring the mood for the dance, and Gustav wasted no time in inviting Louise to dance. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoAt this time, Sweden is far inferior to Germany in terms of national strength and wealth, but the Swedish prince's tall figure, broad shoulders and lofty temperament still make the current Natsuki very envious. Fourteen-year-old Joachim is one of the best among his peers, but there is still a significant gap between him and adult males. Out of a subtle sense of self-esteem, Natsuki was reluctant to dance with particularly tall adult women, but many noblewomen preferred him as a well-known and gifted boy. In order to avoid unpleasant situations, Natsuki either took the initiative to invite women of similar age and body shape to dance, or quietly slipped into corners that were not easily noticed. In today's rare occasion for young girls, he chose the latter without hesitation.

Behind the large column on the side of the hall, Natsuki found two very familiar figures, and he took the initiative to step forward: "Hey, Nicholas, Ernest, what are you talking about?" The design of a new type of warship? Be careful, there's ears everywhere! ”

For the ridicule of the German prince, the two middle-aged men in black tuxedos looked a little panicked. The tall man was the bespectacled uncle who accompanied Joachim on the dock in the morning, and the short man was so bald that he had a fight with Natsuki's impression of former Liverpool manager Benitez, and he stumbled and said, "Ah! Embrace...... Embrace...... Sorry, Prince...... Your Highness, we have just ...... Just talking about something...... Belch...... Rumor ......"

Uncle Glasses really couldn't listen to it, and interjected: "Your Highness, it's a rumor about a new British battleship. ”

Because of the nature of the work of ship design, most of the ship engineers are "senior nerds" with high IQ and low emotional intelligence, and Natsuki himself was one of them, so he can understand the stupidity of the bald uncle. He smiled kindly, "Just kidding, Ernest, don't be nervous. In fact, I have heard this rumor, as far as I can see, the British want to expand their naval superiority by building a more powerful warship than ever before, just as we try to narrow the gap in naval strength with new speedboats. ”

After the startling just now, the bald uncle's face turned red, he slowed down his speech, and said in a humble tone: "Yes, Your Royal Highness, they ...... There is indeed an incentive to do so, but can we break through the established patterns of more than two decades...... It's hard to say right now. ”

"The outcome is really hard to predict." Uncle Glasses chimed in.

"This is a time of change!" Natsuki's understatement is full of deep meaning. According to the original history, the world's first dreadnought, the British "Dreadnought", was designed in 1905 and completed in 1906, and the initial brewing and demonstration obviously began in 1904 or even earlier. In fact, not only the British Navy, but also the naval designers of the United States, Italy, and even Austria-Hungary invested in the theory of the unified main guns of battleships, and the German ship designers, who received strong support from the Admiralty, also followed the trend, and the first-class ship design was also reflected in the Braunschweig-class and German-class battleships.

Natsuki, who knew the trend of historical development, did not immediately instill advanced thinking in the German Navy, first, because the existing dockyards of major German shipyards were not enough to build battleships with larger tonnage, and the basic technologies such as large-caliber naval guns and large steam turbines, which were of great significance to the construction of dreadnoughts, had not yet fully matured. Second, because the design scheme of each class of warships must pass the strict evaluation of the German Naval Technical Committee, it is not easy for these conscientious members to accept the design concept of breaking through the tradition; The third reason is that the naval powers are very concerned about each other's shipbuilding dynamics, once a country makes a breakthrough in ship technology or design, other countries are bound to quickly follow suit, if Germany takes the lead in coming up with a well-designed dreadnought plan, Britain and the United States and other countries not only save the trouble of taking the lead in eating crabs, but also become the biggest beneficiaries with a stronger shipbuilding industry!

Obviously, out of professional habits, the conversation between the three of them still did not leave the profession after all. The combination of a high-power internal combustion engine and a hard-shell flat-bottomed hull has been a success in the "Thunderbolt" speedboat, but it is still far from meeting the needs of a country's coastal defense, and the two-person speedboat with greater endurance and stronger attack power has initially completed the paper design, and in order to expand the combat range of high-speed torpedo boats, Ernest, a doctor of engineering from Keele University and a technical consultant employed by a number of shipyards. Kars, the bald uncle in front of Natsuki, proposed the concept of a "torpedo boat mothership", that is, a large ship carrying a number of small torpedo boats out to sea, lowering the torpedo boats when approaching the target, and returning to the sea after they have completed the attack.

In Xia Shu's view, the role of the torpedo boat carrier is equivalent to that of an aircraft carrier carrying aircraft, but the aircraft technology has just sprouted, and there is still a long time before the air force dominates the naval war, during which the naval battle is still a naval battle, and the actual combat effectiveness of the torpedo boat carrier may not be strong, but if the opponent can be confused by propaganda means and induce the opponent to invest a lot of manpower and material resources in this area, thereby weakening their energy to develop mainstream ships, it is also a pretty good strategic investment.

Before you know it, the first two dances are over. Natsuki suddenly saw that the expressions of the two engineers in front of him had become respectful and nervous, and when he turned around, he saw that his eldest brother William had already walked in front of him with a smile. The Imperial Crown Prince's cheeks were rosy and his breathing was a little heavier, presumably he had just come out of the dance ring.

"My dear brother, your torpedo boat team performed very well today, I never expected that the sea formation could have such a neat and beautiful formation, which was an eye-opener!"

In the face of the eldest brother's praise, Xia Shu skillfully used the "Fighting Star Shift": "I am deeply honored to be praised by Brother Wang, and the outstanding performance of the torpedo boat test team today should be attributed to these two people around me - Mr. Wiesel, who is proficient in naval machinery, and Dr. Kars, an expert in ship engineering!" It is their design that allows these speedboats to maintain a stable course and speed at sea, and of course, the diligence of the crew is commendable. ”

"Ah...... Mr. Wiesel, Dr. Kars, long time no see! Crown Prince William politely shook hands with the two ship specialists, and then politely "borrowed" Prince Joachim.

Walking to the place where no one was, the crown prince said with a smile: "Brother Wang's torpedo boat team has only been formed for a few months, and its quality is already first-class, so I think tomorrow's drill will be a great success." In the coming day, I will be in command of the army, and you will be in charge of the navy and jointly open up the territory of the empire, what a pleasant thing it will be! ”

People with similar appearances may not have similar personalities, Natsuki has always been honest with his companions, and Crown Prince William is known to be cautious and suspicious, even if he is not a threat to his brother, he has thrown out such sensitive topics more than once.

Natsuki was well aware of the stakes, and he replied cleverly: "I am responsible for designing the battleship, and the third royal brother commands the fleet. ”

"Oh ho ho ho!" The crown prince shrugged his shoulders and laughed a few times, "Command the fleet? Adalbert is not this piece of material! My father and I want you to be Field Marshal Moltke of the German Navy! (Moltke was a Prussian military strategist, the actual commander of the Prussian army in the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, also known as Moltke the Elder in order to distinguish him from his nephew Moltke Jr.)

Natsuki has long been accustomed to Crown Prince William calling his brothers by name in front of him. In his opinion, a person who speaks ill of others in front of himself will inevitably speak ill of himself in front of others, and his consistent attitude towards the advantages and disadvantages of his brothers is not to evaluate, not to follow the trend, and to remain rational and neutral.

"If I want to design a world-class warship, I still have some confidence, and if I want to become a commander who dominates naval warfare, I don't have a bottom at all now, and this topic should probably be put on the table in ten years." Natsuki said with a smile.

"Haha! It didn't look like it came from the mouth of a royal genius. Crown Prince William smiled and patted his brother's arm, "Have confidence in yourself!" ”

Natsuki turned his head to look in the direction of the British naval officer: "It's not that there is no confidence, but that our opponent is too strong. ”

Crown Prince Wilhelm followed Natsuki's gaze at the British, and repeated what Kaiser Wilhelm II used to say in private: "Now they are indeed very strong, but the German Empire has surpassed Britain in many aspects, and our navy is bound to catch up as quickly as industrial capacity and overseas trade, and then establish Germany's maritime supremacy through a battle of Sedang at sea!" ”

When talking about the Battle of Sedang, we have to mention Bismarck, who was diplomatically strategic, and the old Moltke, who commanded militarily, and now the rise of the German Navy is thanks to Tirpitz's excellent organization, but there is still a lack of Nelson-style first-class handsome talents in operational command, although Natsuki has the ambition to establish immortal feats in his heart, but before approaching the role of commander, he does not want to bear all kinds of burdens and resistance brought by high-profile prematurely, so he once again sacrifices the trick of "fighting the stars":

"The rise and fall of a country is like the ebb and flow of the tide, sooner or later, we will inevitably become the first-class maritime power, but Germany is like the Germanic warrior who bloodied the Roman legions, the heavy axe in his right hand is always his best and most powerful weapon, and the sword in his left hand, no matter how sharp it is, is only an aid."

Listening to his brother's analogy, Crown Prince William thought quietly for a while, and then put his gibbon-like hand on Xia Shu's shoulder: "Joachim, my brother, what you appreciate most is this pragmatic view of the big picture. In my mind, you will always be the ideal commander of the High Seas Fleet, nothing else matters! ”

The eldest brother's trust may not be sincere, but in this situation, Xia Shu has to show his acting skills - showing the sincere gratitude of the ignorant young man in front of the crown prince, vividly.

(End of chapter)