The tradition of Germans acting as mercenaries dates back to the 15th century, when the Holy Roman Emperor, Mark Millen, organized the first German mercenaries.

At that time, Germany had not yet been reunified, and the Germans were scattered, and they had no country to be loyal to, so they could only choose to become mercenaries and fight for the interests of others.

So for the Germans, becoming a mercenary was not an unacceptable thing.

In the original history, when the German army was limited to 100,000 after the end of the First World War, many soldiers who could only fight at that time chose to join the French Foreign Legion in order to make a living.

This was true not only after the First World War, but also after the Second World War, when many German soldiers joined the French Foreign Legion.

So for Qin Zhiyuan, this is also good news.

Compared to Europe, which was calm between World War I and World War II, East Asia was a mess, and if Qin Zhiyuan wanted to do something, the more troops he had, the better, and those well-trained German officers were obviously the best choice.

So far, although France still claims to have the strongest army in the world, in fact, everyone knows that the German army is the strongest in the world.

This title of "the most powerful" will continue for some time, until some country that brazenly confronts the united **** appears.

"Of course, if you wish, you can now give me a list of good officers who will go to Saigon to undertake certain training tasks, and I can guarantee that the trained army will not be used in the European theater." Qin Zhiyuan immediately agreed to Crown Prince William's request.

"Uh-huh...... So do you still say that the war in Borneo has nothing to do with you? "Although Crown Prince William pleaded for mercy, he did not have much joy.

If you think about it, you can understand that Crown Prince Wilhelm, as the next candidate for the Kaiser, can only watch the best officers under his command serve others, and this frustration can be imagined.

"Of course it doesn't matter, I'm a soldier, and I'm also a businessman, and if someone gives money, I don't mind helping them train the army." Qin Zhiyuan still didn't admit it.

"So what if the Dutch want your help training the army?" Crown Prince William despised Qin Zhiyuan's "high-sounding grandeur".

"Yes! As long as the Dutch can afford to pay for it. Qin Zhiyuan's bowl of water was "flat".

This is very boring, according to what Qin Zhiyuan said, if it is to help the Chinese in Borneo train the army, each person may only charge a guilder fee, and at the same time, it will also include board and lodging, equipment, and distribution.

And if it was to help the Dutch train the army, Qin Zhiyuan could safely offer a price that the Dutch could not accept.

This kind of thing is actually very easy to understand, in the 21st century, where Qin Zhiyuan lived, it was the same fight, some people would only receive oral education, and some people would be detained for 10 days, plus a fine of 500 yuan.

Isn't it fair?

No! It's fair, it's absolutely according to the rules, and no one can find fault with it, because that's what the law says.

Human resources are themselves a kind of resources.

"Okay, if that's the case, I'll help you carry this black cauldron." Although a little unwilling, Crown Prince William still agreed.

"It's okay if you don't carry it, I don't mean to force you." Qin Zhiyuan got cheap and had to sell well.

"Poof......" Crown Prince William was extremely dissatisfied, with a look of disgust and contempt: "Please, let me help you be this black cauldron, if you don't let me carry it, I will be uncomfortable, maybe I won't be able to sleep at night." As long as you let me carry it, I will be grateful to your eight generations of ancestors......"

Belch...... It's excessive!

While Qin Zhiyuan and Crown Prince William despised each other, 500 kilometers south of Corsica, 13 submarines were quietly waiting for their prey to come to their door.

The British were really good at shipbuilding, and when the Germans showed their skills in submarines, the British also began to build submarines, and soon built K-class submarines.

The K-class submarine has a displacement of 2,500 tons, a surface speed of 25 knots, an underwater speed of 9 knots, 8 torpedo tubes, and a range of more than 10,000 nautical miles.

In the early 20th century, the British were able to build submarines with such powerful data, and their achievements in shipbuilding were outstanding.

However, excellent performance on paper did not form excellent combat effectiveness, not long ago, the British submarine force was preparing to go to sea, but in the vicinity of May Island, because of the avoidance of small boats, in a short period of time 7 submarines collided together, two sank, two were seriously injured.

In pursuit of powerful paper data, the K-class submarine design is extremely unreasonable, which also stems from the British giant ship cannon doctrine, they pursue everything big, the bigger the better, but the British never realized that for submarines, secrecy is the most important thing.

The submarines sold by the British to Qin Zhiyuan were older E-class submarines and older D-class submarines, and the British were embarrassed to show their hands.

Compared with the K-class, which has strong data on paper, the E-class submarines are much more normal, with a displacement of 700 tons, 4 457mm torpedo tubes, a surface speed of 16 knots, an underwater speed of 10 knots, and a cruising range of 3,000 nautical miles.

Like all submarines of this era, the E-class submarine is a fully enclosed underwater warship, not only with an angular bridge, but also with huge protrusions everywhere on the hull, and even a gun mounted on its back, which is really nondescript.

After Qin Zhiyuan got the submarine, he almost couldn't wait to improve the submarine.

The revised shape of the submarine changed to a more streamlined teardrop, with a displacement of 850 tons and an underwater displacement of 990 tons.

Unlike the K-class submarines that used 10,500 horsepower steam turbines, Qin Zhiyuan's improved submarine was equipped with a 2,100 horsepower diesel engine, although the speed did not reach 25 knots and only 17 knots, and the range also dropped from 10,000 nautical miles to 4,000 nautical miles, but the engine volume was also reduced a lot.

At the same time, the improved submarine was also equipped with a 1300-horsepower electric motor, which provided the submarine with a speed of 12 knots under water.

At the same time, the warhead of the submarine has also been improved, as the main means of attack of the submarine, the number of torpedo tubes is two in the front and two in the back, and a total of 8 torpedoes are equipped.

The improved submarine was named the "Marseille" class, because in the process of improvement, the French Admiralty also joined it, and it played a huge role. As early as 1904, France built the world's first diesel-powered submarine "Egirette", although the French Navy's submarine force is not famous, but it does not mean that the French have no technical reserves.

If you think about it carefully, you will understand that the German naval fleet hid in the military port and could not come out, and all the German merchant ships were confiscated by Britain and France, and the submarine forces of Britain and France were indeed useless.

The joint development of submarines by the government of the Republic of China represented by Qin Zhiyuan and the French Navy is to be kept secret, including the shape of the submarines, which belongs to the scope of secrecy, and the secrecy period is forever.

So far, more than 30 submarines have been produced, half of which belong to the French Navy and half to the Republic of China Navy.

This is a submarine force that completely belongs to Qin Zhiyuan.

The main attack was carried out by the Q-1 boat to the Q-9 boat, and 10 nautical miles further on, the Q-10 boat to the second ambush circle prepared by the Q-13 boat was responsible for attacking the fish that slipped through the net.

In order to prevent accidents, there were no merchant ships and submarine hunters in the busy channel during the day, only the 13 big "black fish" under the surface were waiting quietly.

"Brother, will the Dutch come?" Inside the Q-1 boat, Huang Guangyao asked the captain Shen Zhixin anxiously.

Huang Guangyao and Shen Zhixin are both Chinese children of Borneo, and they have received secondary education in the local overseas Chinese middle school, which is a group of people with a relatively high level of Chinese Chinese. When the destroyer fleet under Qin Zhiyuan was established, these overseas Chinese children with secondary school education were the first batch of Chinese navy, and after the establishment of the submarine force, this group of people became the first batch of "submarine soldiers".

Compared with the tall northern men, these overseas Chinese children of Borneo are more petite and more convenient to move in the narrow cabins of submarines, which is an innate advantage that no one else can compare.

The war in Borneo affected the hearts of all overseas Chinese children, although Qin Zhiyuan had promised to protect all Chinese, but there were still overseas Chinese children who asked to go back to join the army by writing a "blood letter" and other paragraphs.

In this regard, Qin Zhiyuan did not explain much, but announced the battle plan for the next period of time, so the "tide of willingness" disappeared immediately, and all the soldiers began to train desperately, because they knew that whether it was in Borneo or Corsica, they were not short of combat opportunities.

"Definitely, don't worry, this is the only way, where can you go if you don't go from here? I don't believe that the Dutch took a detour from the Cape of Good Hope. Shen Zhixin, who was operating the periscope, swore an oath.

The so-called "waterway" is to determine the safe passage.

Although the sea looks flat, in fact, there are countless reef whirlpools and other things hidden under the water, and the Germans are desperately laying mines in the Mediterranean region during the war, so there are only a few safe passages, and the Dutch have no choice.

"Brother, can you let me go when the torpedo is fired?" Huang Guangyao gritted his teeth.

Huang Guangyao's home is in Surabaya, as the center of this "rebellion", the surrounding area of Surabaya City must be under unparalleled pressure, from Huang Guangyao's heart, if it were not for this group of Dutch warships, Huang Guangyao would rather die and return to Surabaya to be with his family.

"Do your job, don't talk nonsense, I still want to launch it myself." Shen Zhixin's eyes did not leave the periscope.

Huang Guangyao is Shen Zhixin's attendant, the two are a little related, Huang Guangyao is a generation more free than Shen Zhixin, so Shen Zhixin never pretends to Huang Guangyao.

"Your target shooting results last time were not as good as mine......" Huang Guangyao complained in a babbling voice, resentment filling the bridge.

"It's coming, it's coming." The officer in charge of communications shouted and came to report.

"What are you panicking about? Read! "Shen Zhixin is strict.

"Observation Point No. 1 is calling, a fleet of nine warships has passed through Observation Point No. 1, and the leader has been confirmed to be the flagship of the Royal Netherlands Navy fleet, the 'Seven Provinces Alliance', which is expected to arrive in an hour, please be ready to receive it." The officer in charge of communications had a serious expression.

Now that there is a radio, Qin Zhiyuan will definitely install this thing on the submarine, which will greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the submarine force.

In order to better grasp the movements of the Dutch Navy, Qin Zhiyuan set up several observation points, from the Strait of Gibraltar to Port Said at the mouth of the Suez Canal, all under Qin Zhiyuan's monitoring.

It's finally here!

(To be continued.) )