On November 13, 1915, as dawn broke, a white transport boat carrying several naval officers left the naval pier in Trieste and headed for the Imperial Navy cruiser "Emperor Maximilian" moored in the anchorage. The rising morning sun shone obliquely on the ships of the Second Fleet of the Imperial Navy stationed in the anchorage, leaving long black shadows on the sea.

On the striking orange drums in the anchorage are the flagship of the commander of the Second Fleet, Vice Admiral Vukovich, the 33,000-ton "Grand Duke of Istria" and its two other sister ships. The cruiser "Emperor Maximilian" was next to the flagship, and the old armored cruiser with a displacement of 13,000 tons, commissioned in 1903, was even more delicate.

The transport boat docked next to the gangway on the side of the "Emperor Maximilian", and the hull of the boat was constantly hitting the steel plate of the warship's gangway under the impetus of the waves, making a clangling sound. Colonel Yankel, a stocky man, dressed in a dark blue winter naval officer's uniform, jumped from the bow to the gangway.

The warship swayed gently with the surging sea water in the harbor, and the dark gray surface of the hull glowed with a purple-red halo under the rising morning sun. Several officers followed Colonel Yankel and climbed up the steep gangway to the deck, where they saluted the officers who were on duty at the mouth of the gangway.

"I ask for permission to board the ship."

"Permission to board the ship, sir." The officer on duty said.

"I'm Vilmots. Yankel. ”

The officer on duty widened his eyes and straightened his body further, "Oh yes, sir. I'm going to inform Colonel Kasić, sir, herald! ”

Yankel and his entourage, led by the officer on duty, walked along the deck to the bridge in front, and the wooden deck under their feet was very comfortable to step on, making a brisk sound. The Japanese breeze in the harbor has a salty smell, and the smell of soot peculiar to warships is also pleasant.

This is exactly the world that Yankel envisioned, and it was always his dream to command a warship of steel fortresses, machines, and cannons, and to lead a group of young and energetic people on the sea. Previously, he had only the experience of captaining a destroyer and serving on a cruiser, but never commanded a large warship.

Now, the dream has come true, and in reward for the tireless 18 months of his tireless travel between those car and tractor factories and the Navy's General Command, the Grand Duke of Istria has finally granted his request to serve on a warship.

"Emperor Maximilian", of course, could not be compared with such a cutting-edge battleship as the "Grand Duke of Istria", it was just a somewhat outdated armored cruiser, with a little more than a third of its tonnage, smaller main guns, thinner armor in the hull, and much less resistance to torpedoes.

However, after a long period of work on the shore, the battleship seemed large to him. He stood near the fluttering blue bow flag and anchor chain, looking back at the turret, the mainmast, and the tall bridge towers jutting out in the sunlight, and he couldn't believe himself. This battleship is many times larger than the destroyer he last captained. It had always been his dream to become the captain of the capital ship, but he still couldn't contain his excitement when he received the notice to be the captain of the "Emperor Maximilian".

Yankel met his good friend Colonel Kasić in the spacious and beautiful captain's room, and the Croatian hurried out of the inner cabin with his lightly blue shirt buttoned up. The curly black hair looked a little damp, probably just after a shower, "Hey, I wish you a dream come true!" They shook hands. Something to eat? ”

The orderlies placed breakfast on snow-white linen tablecloths with shiny knives and forks, and the food supply on the warship was much better than on land, where rationing was practiced: half a fresh pineapple, hot bread, steaming milk coffee, and a salad of ham, spinach, fruit, and melted cheese.

Yankel was a little jealous of his classmates, Colonel Kasić would be transferred to the newly commissioned battleship "Austria" to be the captain, which was the most powerful capital ship in the empire or the world, and it was imposing and unbeatable. The two chatted while eating breakfast.

"I'm sorry, but in order to make the new battleship as effective as possible, two-thirds of the crew of the 'Emperor Maximilian' will be transferred to the 'Austria', leaving you with a large group of novices who have not received much training." Kasić said slightly apologetically to his old classmate.

"Well, I'll do my best to familiarize them with the ship's operations." "I'm very satisfied to be able to get back on the ship," Yankel said. ”

"That's good, we'll have a handover ceremony in the afternoon, and I'll have to hurry up and get to the Austria." Kasić said.

"It's just a simple ceremony, and I don't want to make a big deal about it." Yankel said.

"That thing you made for the Army is good, and I heard that you could get a medal." Kasić said.

"Where, that's all the work of the engineers, and I'm only responsible for coordinating the distribution of personnel and materials." "I've heard what might be done recently?" Yankel said. ”

"With this plan, the Grand Duke of Crown Prince Istria has recently been in the command of the Navy." "Now that we finally have a lot of room to move around and no longer have to be in the Adriatic, you're here at the right time." ”

At this moment, the phone rang, and Kasić picked up the ringing phone from the phone rack in the bulkhead. "Ambiguous, going to the Navy Command for a meeting? Okay, I'll go with Colonel Yankel at once. He drank the coffee from his cup, stood up and began to put on his coat, and said to Yankel, "We are ordered to go to the naval headquarters, go now!" ”

……

Crown Prince Lee Hayden is now in the war room of the Navy Command.

There was now a growing divide between the Austro-Hungarian General Staff in Vienna and the German General Staff in Berlin, with Hirten aiming at the Mediterranean and North Africa, while Falkenhein stubbornly wanted to put the main German forces on the French front.

The two quarreled again at a military coordination meeting in Berlin.

"The Germans were supposed to withdraw to the border line of August 1914, after which the occupation of French territory was the main reason that provoked the determination of the French to resist, which allowed them to endure heavy casualties. If the German army retreats to the border, the French lose the determination and desire to continue fighting, and the war on the Western Front will evolve into a kind of 'sit-down war', in which two hostile armies will stick on both sides of the border but will not attack each other lightly. That way we can spare at least a million troops and use them where they are needed even more. At the joint military conference of the two countries in Berlin, Hirten had been accusing the Germans of making a great mistake in waging the war on the Western Front, and that millions of elite German troops had been trapped in the quagmire of France instead of being thrown into the Eastern Front and the Near East, which was the direction that Hirten vigorously advocated.

Admiral Falkenhein prepared to launch a major offensive at Verdun, but was strongly criticized by Helden Leehedon, who always believed that Germany and Austria should first concentrate their forces in 1916 to completely defeat Russia, rather than waste their limited forces in the French trenches. But the chief of the General Staff of the German army was stubborn and did not listen to dissuasion in the slightest.

Now the Austrians and Germans have parted ways and decided to go their separate ways.

Helton also wanted to make a naval raid on France, but apparently the time was not ripe.

He needs to solve the troubles of the Turks first.

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