When the night of August 8, 1914 fell on Europe, countless British soldiers and civilians were mourning in various ways for the Royal Navy officers and men who died in the Battle of Jutland, and on the other side of the North Sea, in Germany, from the Emperor to the common people, were celebrating the victory - although the "von der Tann" and "Breslau" formations led by Wilhelm Zuchon were anxiously waiting for the reply of the Ottoman Turks at the mouth of the Dardanelles, the top officials and senior generals of the German Navy were very few concerned about this, and they had all rushed to Kiel, Attend a gala dinner at the Royal Pavilion. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

At the banquet scene, Wilhelm II's eyebrows fluttered, and Tirpitz was full of spring breeze, but he was the number one achievement in the eyes of ordinary people - Ingnoll, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, who personally led the main force of the German Navy, performed in a low-key manner. This is a commendable humility in the eyes of many colleagues, but others have already learned first-hand inside information that the real decision-maker and commander of this naval battle is the young and promising Prince Joachim. However, except for a brief appearance at the opening of the banquet, this "Hohenzollern genius" who is loved by the royal family and popular with the public is nowhere to be seen, which cannot help but lead to a reverie.

Under the starry sky, a Prussian prince in a navy dress is staying with a handsome, slender and elegant young lady. The lady wore a long light dress, long hair shawl, and held the prince's left arm with both hands, and the two were intimate and calm. However, the two are not in a romantic garden or a beach, but in the busy construction area of the Germania shipyard. Under the bright lights, the scarred battleships docked one by one by the dock, and many busy figures could be seen on the ships, while the two battleships, whose hulls were obviously tilted, and some of the decks were close to or even touching the water, had been dragged into the dry dock by barges, and what awaited them was a long and thorough structural overhaul.

Although she did not face the bloody scenes that followed the battle, the young lady still showed that she was still apprehensive. She leaned her head on the prince's shoulder and muttered, "I wish this was the last duel between the German and British navies." ”

"If the enemy compromises, this will be the last battle between the two fleets, but ......"

"Yochen, you are my closest relative, and I am afraid to think about what kind of darkness my world will fall into if you are injured or killed."

"I can relate to your feelings, Louise." Natsuki hugged his sister tightly and said in a gentle but firm tone, "But for the sake of our country, I must fight bravely. Once this war is lost, both the royal family and ordinary civilians will not escape the doom of disaster. ”

The young lady, Princess Louise of Prussia, was silent for a long time, and when she spoke again, her tone revealed infinite attachment: "In any case, Jochen, promise me to protect yourself. ”

"I promise you, Louise, that I will do my best to protect myself. Well, of course, and Christian, this guy is always a little unsettling......"

"Ahem! I seem to hear someone commenting on me with some not-so-good words, but maybe I'm misheard? ”

Hearing this familiar voice, the brother and sister who were clinging to each other did not part with each other, but turned around hand in hand like dance partners, without any expression of surprise or disgust on their faces.

Natsuki didn't shy away from what he just said: "I wonder if if it weren't for the bad weather, would you have taken the risk of being a hero despite the adjutant's advice." ”

"Yes, of course."

The young man, who was also dressed in the uniform of a German naval cadet, walked up to the brother and sister with his hands behind his back and smiled.

"I always thought that the battle bridge of the flagship was protected by armor more than thirty centimeters thick and should be a very safe place, but after seeing the appearance of the 'Frederick the Great' after the war, I suddenly felt that you were the real adventurers. You know, my mine-strike boat has only a 5 percent casualty rate, while the main fleet has more than 10 percent! ”

Prince Oldenburg's words immediately aroused Princess Louise's fear, and Natsuki hurriedly corrected: "The battleship's secondary gun position is indeed under threat at all times, and no matter how good the design is, it can't change this situation, in comparison, the battle bridge is obviously one of the safest positions on a battleship." None of the captains of our 14 capital ships were killed, and the unfortunate Colonel Hogg was only slightly wounded, and the casualty rate of the command team was far less than five percent of yours. ”

Christian shrugged and didn't retort.

Louise sighed helplessly: "I pray to God every day that you can survive this war intact. ”

"And then?"

Natsuki asked jokingly, and Louise and Christian both knew what they were referring to, so they both became embarrassed.

Because of his deep entanglement with Charlotte, Natsuki already feels that marriage is not a simple matter of you and me. In this modern society, which flaunts civilization and freedom, the will of the family is still a factor that cannot be ignored. Louise is Wilhelm II's only pearl, and the German Empire is in a period of rising national power, and the entire imperial family naturally has high expectations for the marriage of the princess. Of the many eligible candidates, none of Christian stood out enough, and Louise's own ambiguity kept his confidence stagnant as he aged.

In the year the war broke out, Joachim was 24 years old, Christian was 23 years old, and Louise was 22 years old, and it was neither too early nor too late to talk about marriage.

At the moment, Natsuki silently put away his thoughts about personal emotions, and he turned to look at the brightly lit dock. With the rapid development of the German shipbuilding industry, Kirgermania has become the first-class large-scale shipbuilding enterprise in Europe and even the world in this era, and has successively built new warships such as the Nassau-class battleship "Posen", the Caesar-class battleship "Louisport Regent", and the King-class battleship "Crown Prince Wilhelm". The first two capital ships were put to the test in the just-concluded Battle of Jutland, and the "Crown Prince William" was also in the late stages of outfitting and could be completed in a few days.

On this heart-pounding night, both sides of the naval battle carried out the "aftermath" with the same sense of urgency. The Germans who took the initiative to attack could have been able to deploy in advance, but in order to prevent leaks, the German Admiralty did not call in advance the ship's engineers and technicians from major shipyards, but waited until the end of the naval battle to carry out emergency mobilization. After the main force of the High Seas Fleet returned to Kiel, the ship's engineers who had been called in quickly boarded the warship to inspect and assess the damaged warships and to coordinate with the shipyard workers and naval officers and sailors to carry out follow-up damage management and emergency repairs.

"Do you have a vacation before your next voyage?"

Louise's question was right to Natsuki's train of thought, and he hesitated for a moment before replying tactfully, "The war has just begun, and although the British Navy has suffered a crushing defeat, they are still very strong. In order to turn the tide, they could strike back at us at any time with a surprise attack. So, each of us must remain in a combat position. ”

"So, the fleet is likely to be dispatched in the near future?" Louise asked, worried.

Natsuki let out an "um".

Christian in turn comforted: "Don't worry, I'll take care of Jochen." ”

Louise looked up at Natsuki, silent.

Of the three, Natsuki was the only one who knew what she was planning for the future, and in fact, Louise's worries about the "near future" were probably faster than she could have imagined.

By the next day, August 9, 1914, two important forces of the German navy deployed outside the mainland, the fleet of Wilhelm Zuchon in the Mediterranean and the fleet of Graf von Spee in the Pacific, had arrived at their respective destinations in accordance with the instructions of the Admiralty: the fleet of Zuchon escaped the pursuit of the British and French navies and sailed to Constantinople, taking advantage of the situation to put the royal family and government of Ottoman Turkey under the deterrence of large-caliber naval guns; Spee's fleet left its respective anchorages and concentrated on the island of Pagan in the Mariana Islands to avoid direct confrontation with dangerous opponents such as the British Far East Fleet, the Australian Fleet, and the Japanese Navy.

In Germany, after the inspection of the ship's engineers and technicians, the maintenance plan of the capital ship was basically determined. The "King", "De Fllinger", "Goeben", "Kaiser", "Regent of Louitport", and "Oldenburg" were listed as priority repair targets for the ships identified as slightly damaged, and the Kilgermania Shipyard, Kilholwald Shipyard and Royal Wilhelm Shipyard concentrated their efforts on surprise repairs, and the "Goeben", "Nassau", "Rhineland", "Helgoland", "Thuringia", "Blücher" and "Westphalia" were identified as moderately damaged and sailed to Hamburg and Bremen respectivelyThe main shipyards in Danzig were to carry out repairs, and the most seriously injured "Frederick the Great", "Posen", "Catherine", "Osterfriedland", and "Seydlitz", whose injuries were initially controlled by the damage management, were to be determined by their engineers after a thorough inspection - the possibility of turning into a reserve ship due to damage to the backbone structure could not be ruled out.

As soon as the war began, the trade routes in and out of the North Sea were in the hands of the British Navy, and the scale of Germany's material imports was reduced by more than 70 percent, and the results of the Battle of Jutland could not directly change this situation, and after a long time, there was bound to be a shortage of various raw materials needed by the German military industry, but at the beginning of the war, because the German government had foreseen a reserve plan, the stocks of steel, oil, and rare metals were enough for the industrial sector to maintain the wartime operation for several months. Major shipyards have also stockpiled a large number of shipbuilding materials in advance according to the instructions of the Admiralty. As soon as the maintenance plan for the high seas fleet was decided, the corresponding types of steel and spare parts were quickly delivered to the shipyard docks, and all the large ships under construction were suspended, and all technicians and skilled shipwrights were transferred to participate in the maintenance work of the main fleet. Workers worked in shifts day and night, and ship engineers worked hard to get the temporary flagship "King" back into battle in just 38 hours, and the "Regent of Louitport", "De Fllinger" and "Goeben" were restored with astonishing efficiency.

On 11 August, just three days after the Battle of Jutland, the German High Seas Fleet had three dreadnoughts, two battle cruisers, seven light cruisers, and eighteen large torpedo boats on ready to attack.

(End of chapter)