Off the coast of Lianyungang, the German fleet was temporarily anchored in the overcast sea. Two armored cruisers "Scharnhorst" and "Gneissenor", three light cruisers "Emden", "Nuremberg" and "Leipzig", which were the entire main forces of the German Pacific Fleet. The fleet was based in Qingdao. At a time when the situation in China was changing dramatically, the whole fleet was assembled in the port of Qingdao. On the instructions of the German minister, the fleet was ready to set off to implement "deterrence" against the People's Party.

"There is no industry in Lianyungang, and the People's Party has set up its industrial base in Xuzhou. A lot of equipment was shipped from Britain and the United States, and it was ...... in Zaozhuang, Shandong," the intelligence officer reported, reporting on the information gathered.

Strategically or not, the Germans were not foolish when it came to intelligence gathering. In the eyes of the Germans, the People's Party's industrial construction efforts were indeed different, and Beiyang was mainly based on the purchase of factories, especially arsenals. The People's Party, on the other hand, has made the construction of coal-iron complexes a top priority at the moment.

The most popular area for Germans is Zaozhuang. After the arrival of the People's Party, this area, which was not wealthy, was excavated with both coal and iron mines.

"Zaozhuang iron ore is mostly open-pit iron ore, and some mines are only 50 centimeters deep from the surface, which is very convenient for excavation. According to the information received, Zaozhuang Iron Works already has four iron furnaces, and the output of pig iron is expected to be more than 4,000 tons per month. The People's Party uses open-hearth furnaces to make steel, and it also has a certain capacity to pour rails. A small railway connecting the Zaozhuang mining area has been built, and the railway from Zaozhuang to Xuzhou has already started. ”

Hearing this, General Maximilian 61 von 61 Spee's eyebrows flicked slightly. The ability to produce rails, even with the industrial capacity to process inferior rails, means being able to provide some military repair support. As commander of the German Pacific Fleet, Admiral Pace had an extreme desire for military repairs.

The British Navy relied on ports and logistics bases around the world to maintain its supremacy. The strategic situation of the German Pacific Fleet was not good, and the Asian detachment of the British Royal Navy, the Japanese fleet, and the Australian fleet surrounded this German navy in the Pacific Ocean. Qingdao is simply not enough to support Germany's security, and if it can obtain more rights and interests in Shandong, especially strong industrial support, Germany will be able to gain a firm foothold in Asia.

However, the Earl of Pace was not naïve to think that the People's Party, which could build coal and iron in line with industry, was a wine bag and a rice bag. The Beiyang Group led by Yuan Shikai is already very capable, and they have been engaged in foreign affairs for many years and have accumulated quite a lot. Even so, Beiyang still lacked the ability to build factories independently. It's no longer uncommon in Europe to build companies that can produce steel reliably, but it's definitely surprising in Asia.

This time, the Count of Pace was not in Shandong, but when he led his fleet to dock at Canton, he sent a telegram to the German minister, asking him to join the German fleet off the coast of Lianyungang. After the fleets converged, the idea of the German minister turned out to be to deter the People's Party. The Earl of Pace wondered if the Minister had taken the wrong medicine. The German fleet had already done its best to maintain the presence of Qingdao, and then suppressed the whole of Shandong, not to mention whether it was a problem in terms of troops, and it was difficult to grasp the attitude of the British alone. The British Asian Fleet was not something that the German Pacific Fleet could confront it.

After hearing about the scale of the industrial construction of the People's Party, although Count Pace did not want to go to war, he already somewhat agreed with the minister's idea of "expanding German interests in Shandong".

Germany was not as rich as the British, and they could not have done as much business with the People's Party as the British, who were colonies all over the world. Trade between Germany and China can only exist between Germany itself and China. The British, on the other hand, did not have to ship goods back to Britain at all, and they were able to make untold sumplies by manipulating trade between their colonies in Southeast Asia and China.

This simple truth did not even need to be explained by the minister, and the German soldiers could understand it. Because before the German fleet got Tsingtao, the British fleet could intercept German merchant ships to China at any time, and once the shipping route was cut off, Germany's trade with the Far East would be cut off, and the German Pacific Fleet was to defend Germany's commercial interests in the Far East.

With this consensus in place, the only question is how to effectively deter the BJP and force it to make concessions. The minister's representative made it clear that this time Germany was playing the card of "unanimity of the great powers." If Germany can force the People's Party to make concessions, then the Great Powers will force the People's Party to reach common concessions on the basis of the principle of "unanimity of the Great Powers". It was only by virtue of Germany's contribution to the great powers that it was supported by all countries. Moreover, the attitude of the British is quite ambiguous, and they do not give clear support at all. In this regard, it is estimated that the attitude of the British was not to allow Germany to gain too much in this operation.

Count Pace had no dealings with the People's Party, and he did not know exactly what the style of the People's Party was. Since the BJP has a certain amount of industrial capacity, and as far as the public information goes, the BJP has more than 100,000 troops, how the war should be conducted is indeed a very difficult matter.

"What does the minister want us to do with Lianyungang? Occupy him? Or are you going to do it? Earl Pace asked. As soon as he finished speaking, the communication tube of the observation post sounded, and the communicator in the bridge immediately lifted the cover that should be on the communication tube, and soon, a voice came out. "I'm an observation post, and there's a strange thing flying in the sky. It's not a balloon, it's like an airplane. ”

Airplanes were not uncommon in this era, and on December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers' first self-powered aircraft flew 260 meters under its own power. Four months later, at the age of fourteen, Erwin 61 Rommel and his friends built a glider that caused a local sensation. Of course, due to the lack of sufficient manufacturing and flying skills, Rommel's glider Jr. was not able to fly successfully.

It is indeed a very puzzling thing that this plane, which is rare in Europe and the United States, actually appeared in the skies over China.

"Let's take a look." Said the Earl of Pace.

There are indeed planes in the sky, but not one. In those years, due to the lack of air defense awareness, the telescopes on the observation posts did not have a large angle of view of the air. After identifying the few moving dots, the Count of Pace and the officers of the German Navy could only look at the sky with ordinary telescopes.

The sky was overcast, but in the clouds were two planes shuttling around. It was indeed an airplane, and it was a glider. But the planes looked completely different from the ones Count Pace had ever seen. European gliders are mainly van-type, or in order to reduce weight, pilots simply lie on the rack. But the two silver-white gliders in the sky are not at all so. The wing is a long monoplane, and the fuselage is beautifully streamlined, and the whole aircraft looks very slender, but it has a beautiful feeling that can't help but be admired.

The heads of the officers on the German warship followed the flight trajectory of the silver-white plane, and the plane circled in the sky several times, and finally flew in the direction of landing.

"It was supposed to be a BJP plane. Under the wing there is the emblem of the BJP. Putting down the binoculars, said the naval officer from Qingdao.

Everyone looked at the officer, and at his mention, some of the German officers who had read the People's Party material also remembered the sickle and hammer emblem on the red background, which looked like an open bow and arrow.

"This is a BJP plane?" Count Pace asked in a tone that seemed to be skeptical, as if he wanted to reaffirm himself.

The German officers looked at each other, not wanting to be sure of such an answer. When Germany was preparing to deter the People's Party, they thought they were facing a traitor from a backward country. Even in the event of a military conflict, the Germans should be able to win easily. But the planes flying in the sky prove one thing, and it is likely that this is not the case.

In fact, most of these naval officers also saw gliders for the first time, hot air balloons were already a very common thing in the German army, but airplanes were not. These servicemen have been in the Far East for several years and have had little exposure to changes in technology. The plane, which flew freely like a seagull, really made the German officers not know what to say.

After a moment of silence, the Count of Pace took the lead in the direction of the bridge, a few steps behind, and the German officer followed the fleet commander to the bridge.

It was indeed a People's Party reconnaissance plane flying in the sky, and the two pilots were outstanding fighters in the People's Party Air Force. The glider is not powered, and its operation requires extraordinary ability. The People's Party's glider brigade was actually established very early, starting in 1908. Relying on the production of electrolytic aluminum by the People's Party, it was originally an early glider with a skeleton made of aluminum alloy sheets and thin steel sheets, and used multiple layers of silk as the wing. Glider enthusiasts in the 21st century often use this style of glider.

With the development of the BJP aerodynamics, hard wings began to appear, and with the accumulation of more and more parameters, gliders with cabins finally appeared. In addition to the steel skeleton, the wings are made of lightweight wood and aluminium skin, and the nacelle has an aluminium frame and silk casing, with steering rudders and adjustable windshields on the wings. Gliders in the base areas have become more and more characteristic of their own.

Of course, the Air Force is not afraid of death. The first glider brigade was a company of 104 pilots selected from the 200th Division. From 1908 to 1911, 64 of these 200 pilots were already killed in training and flying. With a mortality rate of 32% without any participation in the war, it is also an extremely dangerous profession.

But no pilot launched out of fear. For example, Zhang Shaobo, the captain of the flight group, piloted the plane to observe the enemy situation, and calmly controlled the plane to fly to the airport in the clouds.