Although the British shouted loudly about this attack, they were eager to immediately encourage the United States to join the Entente to fight against the Central Powers. But the repercussions in the United States have been limited. When the war broke out, the Associated Press conducted a poll, and the results of the survey showed that most Americans hoped that the Germans would beat Britain hard, and the vast majority of Americans opposed the United States joining the war.

As the war continued, this tendency to oppose the United States' participation in the war in Europe became more and more obvious, and at this time, almost any politician who dared to say that he wanted American children to fight the European battlefield was afraid that his approval rating would immediately plummet. The reason for this is of course that the newspapers in the United States are concentrating on reporting on the barbarism and cruelty of the war when they report on the war in Europe. For example, the New York Times has repeatedly reported on the frenzied use of chemical weapons by both sides in the war, and the shocking figures and pictures in those reports, especially the pictures of soldiers poisoned by mustard gas, who are decomposed all over their bodies and covered with soybean-sized herpes on their skin, have made Americans, who are still far away from the war, more and more oppose any proposal to let the United States join the war.

Under such circumstances, Americans have generally come to the conclusion that Europeans are all beasts, and that the war in Europe is a bunch of bastards biting each other. How could the noble, virtuous chosen people of God jump into Europe and join the war of a group of devils and beasts? Therefore, if the Europeans want to fight, let them fight it themselves, and what does it matter to us Americans. Naturally, this view has become a common concept among the American people.

Therefore, although the British vigorously propagated that the Germans killed innocents indiscriminately, and even dared to kill peaceful Americans, in the United States, the Germans' argument, that is, the British deliberately lured the Germans to attack passenger ships in order to draw the United States into the fire pit of war, but more people in the United States believed it.

The Germans, of course, had to make the necessary representations. So poor Captain Hafs naturally became a scapegoat and had to be punished for a certain amount. However, this punishment must not be too severe, because in Germany, most of the people are very sympathetic to Captain Hafs's suffering, especially in the submarine force, the vast majority of people have great sympathy for Captain Hafs, and if it is really severely punished, it will seriously damage the morale of the submarine force. Second, since the Germans claimed that the matter was a conspiracy of the British from beginning to end, the problem with Captain Hafs was not that he had violated the convention to massacre civilians, but that he had failed to see through the conspiracy of the British, which had caused the Reich to suffer undue losses. And considering that Hafs is only a captain, it is a bit difficult for him to see through such a conspiracy. So the punishment for him, of course, should not be too severe, because it is not that Hafs is incompetent, but that the British are too cunning. In addition, if Hafs is punished severely, is it not in a sense a sign to the Americans that we should really bear the main responsibility for this matter?

So, the hapless Hafs was just kicked into the reserves. Even this kick to the reserve is a joke, because this reserve unit will soon be transferred to active duty, and then Captain Hafs will naturally become an active officer again. It's just that promotions or something will definitely be affected more or less.

……

"Have you decided that the German captain named Hafs would be a good target?" Scrooge asked.

"Yes, this German guy was frustrated after being put on the razor reserve, because he was quite an ambitious man. Although this punishment is not severe, it will interfere with his future path. Therefore, he will grasp any opportunity that can make him meritorious and make him famous in the future. On the other hand, his previous performance in the German Navy was actually good, although he was punished this time, but in fact won more attention and sympathy, and when he returned to the army, he would have more opportunities. Gladstone replied.

"Then let's get in touch with him as you planned." "Plus, I have one more question for you. ”

"What's the matter, Dad?" Gladstone asked. He was a little worried about whether he was not doing well enough.

"The propaganda department in your hands has been doing very well lately. However, you have to pay attention to the fact that in the future, we will gradually be preparing to change the tone of the propaganda. "Besides, it would be nice to get the Germans' high seas fleet and the British to fight to the death." ”

Scrooge said this because the United States will join the war sooner or later, and if it does not join the war, how will it participate in the partition of Europe in the future? In the original history, the accession of the Americans gave the Germans the final fatal blow, but in the subsequent Paris Peace Conference, the United States did not gain a position commensurate with his power. Even the United States, as the proposer of the League of Nations, was actually squeezed out by Britain and France. And all kinds of interests in Europe were also divided between Britain and France, and the Americans got quite limited. There are many reasons for this, but the fact that the British Navy still has the advantage is the most important one. It would be nice if the Germans were willing to play with their fleet and the British for once. Although the current German fleet could not defeat the British fleet, in history, the German High Seas Fleet fought with the British Grand Fleet in Jutland, and in that battle, the Germans took advantage of the British brute force and used battleships to teach the British battlecruisers a hard lesson. Then, after the arrival of the British Grand Fleet, he took advantage of the darkness and quickly fled back. In the end, the Germans also had a clear advantage. Therefore, after "studying" the exchange ratio of this battle, many people who knew little about military affairs in later generations came to the conclusion that if the Germans were not so cowardly in the Battle of Jutland, but fought valiantly with the British to the end, then the final victory would be German, and once the British Grand Fleet was annihilated, Germany would definitely win a major war.

However, Scrooge knew that anyone who said such a thing could be described by a line from an old movie, that is: "Your soldiers are not, and you don't understand tactics." "Because the beautiful battle loss ratio of the Germans was actually based on bullying the battlecruisers with battleships. As for the battle between battleships, it's another matter. More importantly, in war, the significance of numerical superiority is not understood by those military novices. It's like a group fight on the street, five people fight with four people, it is likely that both will lose, and everyone's losses will be about the same, but if fifty people fight four people, those four people will never have a chance to injure the other four people before being beaten down, generally speaking, the result should be that all four people are taken down, and there are no casualties on the side of fifty people. The number of battleships of the German High Seas Fleet had reached two-thirds of the size of the Grand Fleet, but if it chose to fight to the death with the Grand Fleet, it would already be a miracle that it could fight out one-half of the Grand Fleet at the cost of total annihilation.

Of course, if the German Navy was willing to play like this once, although the defeat was certain, the British losses were just as small. At that time, the status of the US Navy will be greatly raised, and the status of the United States as a country will also be greatly increased, so that American businessmen will naturally have a greater say in the future division of the European market. So, it would be nice to get the German Navy to come out and fight the British.

Of course, Greystone knew what Scrooge meant, but it was not so easy to get the German fleet to follow the American baton.

"Dad, what can you do?" Gladstone asked.

"If you ask for a way to deceive the Germans, I don't." Scrooge said, "The Germans are not fools, they are not so easily fooled. But in a sense, it should still be possible to guide them properly.

For Germany, the most they would like to see we, the United States, join the Allies. Of course, you know that this is unlikely, and one of the reasons we could well have found a way to make the Germans think that we were worried about the British navy. Then if they fight out half of the British Navy, we will not have to be afraid of the British Navy, and it will be possible to stand on the side of Germany. What's more, if the German Navy always stays in the Kiel military port, then where is the value of its existence? As the blockade continues, Germany will only get weaker. When I heard about the Battle of the Marne, Moltke the Younger told their Emperor that the war had been lost. If the blockade continued, and the situation could not be opened on the land battlefield, the defeat of Germany was almost inevitable.

So the Germans should also think about the situation after the defeat. Isn't it? Scrooge smiled and said, "At that time, the situation of the world will be different again." The British and the French would certainly have weakened Germany significantly, they would have carved up the German colonies and demanded huge reparations. In short, the French definitely want to completely 'harmless' Germany, and the British may be relatively tolerant, and they still need to keep Germany and contain France to a certain extent. But it is clear that at that time, the only one who could and was most willing to speak for Germany was the United States, because we hoped that Germany would help us to contain Britain. It's just that if the British Navy is still that strong, it is difficult to say how much of a voice we in the United States. Therefore, even for the sake of Germany after defeat, they should have weakened the British navy as much as possible before surrendering. ”

……