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On February 24, 1902, just after the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival, the officers and men of the navy were already busy in Qingdao Port, the home port of the Chinese Navy's Turkish Fleet. At present, the Chinese Navy's Turkish Fleet is the smallest of the three major fleets of the Chinese Navy. After the war, in order to strengthen the strength of the Pacific Fleet and the newly formed Indian Ocean Fleet, the Chinese Navy's 'Zhonghua-class' battleships and 'Qin-class' battleships have all been assigned to the Pacific Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet. Only two 'White Rise-class' battlecruisers remained in the Turkish fleet. It will not be until the 'Han-class' battleships are completed, and the Turkish fleet will get four of the six, and then the Turkish fleet will regain its strength.

Today's Qingdao Port, colorful flags fluttering, crowds of people. At the berths of the pier, several huge warships were moored. The most striking thing is not a battlecruiser or a battleship, but a white cruise ship. This is a royal cruise ship built by Wang Yuze at his own expense, named the 'Oriental Emperor', built by the Beihai Shipyard, and the sea trials were completed at the end of last year. The 'Oriental Emperor' is 132 meters long, 22 meters wide, 65 meters draft, and has a displacement of 13,500 tons. With 18 large oil-fired boilers, two-shaft propulsion and a maximum speed of 28 knots, it is currently the fastest luxury cruise ship in the world. The first voyage of the 'Emperor of the East' was to Germany, where she married the seventh Bavarian princess, Helmchud. Imperial Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang, as the plenipotentiary envoy of the Imperial Emperor Wang Yuze, will be responsible for this wedding.

The battlecruiser 'Baiqi' and two 'Tianshui-class' light cruisers will serve as escort warships. Formed a fleet and headed for Germany. It's just that on the dock of Qingdao Port, in addition to these ships, there are several other warships. These battleships are generally similar in silhouette to the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships of the Chinese Navy, and the layout of the superstructure and the division of the turret are exactly the same. It's just that the caliber of the main gun has changed from 305 mm to 280 mm. These few battleships. It was the four 'Nassau-class' battleships that China built for them at the request of Germany, the 'Hamburg', 'Hanover', 'Hesse' and 'Thuringia'. Because the German Navy was now facing strong pressure from the British Navy, the four 'Nassau-class' battleships that had planned to wait until the next four 'Helgoland-class' battleships were completed before returning home together were also required to return to Germany ahead of schedule. Exactly, these four battleships. It can pass with the greeting fleet sent by China.

In order to smoothly receive the four 'Nassau-class' battleships, the German Navy sent nearly 3,000 officers and men to China, and after a three-month familiarization period, they barely became familiar with these battleships. It's just that if you want to put it into actual combat, it will take a period of running-in. German Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper, as commander of the German Navy sent to receive the four 'Nassau-class' battleships. For these four battleships built by Chinese shipyards. He was very satisfied, and the performance was no worse than the four ships built by Germany itself, which made the Germans, who have always been rigorous, give a thumbs up.

on the pier. Admiral Li Dingxin, commander of the Turkish Fleet of the Chinese Navy, and the officers and men of the territorial fleet saw off the fleet.

"Master Wu, I wish you a smooth journey!" Admiral Li Dingxin, commander of the Turkish fleet. said to the Imperial Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang.

"Commander Li, I'm just going to Germany to greet my relatives on behalf of Your Majesty. There shouldn't be any problems! Wu Tingfang said. After all, the Chinese Emperor Wang Yuze married the seventh princess of Bavaria, Heirmchud, which is something that has been agreed upon by both parties, and there should be no accidents! Besides, with China's current national strength, there are not many countries that can provoke China!

"I'm not talking about you. Recently, there has been a lot of foreign activity around the Port of Qingdao. Of course, they should not have come for us, they should have come for the Germans. This trip to Europe, I'm afraid it won't be very smooth! Admiral Li Dingxin reminded.

"Coming to the Germans? Do they dare to provoke a war at this time? Wu Tingfang didn't believe it at all. Since the end of last year, with the commissioning of new battleships of the German Navy and the British Navy, the two sides have engaged in a number of confrontations and clashes in the North Sea. The British Navy, relying on the numerical superiority of two new battleships, plus a large number of older battleships, still had the upper hand. However, once the four 'Nassau-class' battleships built by the German Navy in China return home, the current situation can be reversed. It's just that if the prelude to the war is kicked off, Wu Tingfang thinks it's unlikely. Neither the Central Powers nor the Entente were ready for war. A large number of new battleships are still under construction. Once war breaks out, no one can escape. On the contrary, China, which has four 'Zhonghua-class' battleships, four 'Qin-class' battleships and four 'Baiqi-class' battlecruisers, can become a decisive force in this war.

"It's unlikely to start a war. There should be some conflict, though. The British will not watch them lose their advantage! General Li Dingxin said.

"So what should we do? And the Germans are in tune? Wu Tingfang asked.

"As long as there is no real outbreak of war, we will remain neutral. But if the British really dared to attack the four German warships in the face of the world's condemnation, then we would have to join the German side in the fight. These German battleships are the most important chess pieces in our drag on Britain, and they cannot be missed! General Li Dingxin said. The Entente countries are frantically building ships, and the number of new battleships built is thirty or forty in total, which is a huge pressure on China, which needs Germany to contain the British Navy in Europe.

"Hmmm! I know. However, I don't think the British will be confused. After all, going to war now, nothing good for them. Once the main force of the Imperial Navy moves westward and cooperates with the German Navy, the British Navy can be completely annihilated! Wu Tingfang said.

At this time, Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper, a German vice admiral in military uniform, stepped down from the battleship 'Hamburg'.

"Your Excellency the Foreign Minister, Your Excellency the Commander, thank you for taking care of us in these months, and I would like to express my gratitude to you on behalf of the German Navy!" The dragon roared and Franz von Hippert said sincerely.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, you are too polite, we are allies, aren't we? These battleships, your country is still satisfied, right? Admiral Li Dingxin asked. The German Navy's 'Nassau-class' battleships were remodeled according to the drawings of the Chinese Navy's 'Zhonghua-class' battleships, but there is still a slight gap between the real combat power and the Chinese Navy's 'Zhonghua-class' battleships. First of all, in terms of fire control system, the Chinese Navy only provided the most basic fire control system to the German Navy. And all battleships, battlecruisers, heavy cruisers and light cruisers of the Chinese Navy use the new second-generation fire control system. In addition, the more accurate third-generation fire control system is also under intense research and development, and it is expected that it will be put into use when the next major war breaks out. At the same time, in terms of ship power, the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships are also stronger than the 'Nassau-class' battleships, and the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships can reach a maximum speed of 225 knots, while the 'Nassau-class' is only 21 knots, which is comparable to the British Navy's 'Dreadnought-class' battleships. In terms of the caliber of the main gun, the German Navy uses a more mature 280 mm gun, which is comparable to the 305 mm gun of the Chinese Navy in terms of performance. But on the whole, the combat effectiveness of the 'Nassau-class' battleships was only between eighty and ninety percent that of the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships.

"Your Excellency, I am very satisfied. This is definitely one of the greatest battleships I've ever seen. At least, if against the 'dreadnought-class' battleships of the British, in a one-on-one situation, it is definitely our battleships that win! Lieutenant General Franz von Hippert said confidently.

"Your Excellency Lieutenant General is satisfied. Unfortunately, four more 'Helgoland-class' battleships are under construction, otherwise you will see even more powerful battleships! General Li Dingxin said.

"It's really regrettable. However, I am sure that soon they will be able to join the German Navy! Lieutenant General Franz von Hippert said. Vice Admiral Hipper's expectations for the 'Helgoland-class' battleships, which are completely copied from the 'Qin-class' battleships of the Chinese Navy, are also very much expected, but at the current pace of construction, it will take at least two years before these four battleships will join the German Navy.

At 9 o'clock in the morning, after the simple sailing ceremony, the Chinese Navy's battle cruiser "Bai Qi" took the lead and made its way out of the harbor. Behind the battlecruiser "Baiqi" was the cruise ship "Emperor of the East". Two 'Tianshui-class' light cruisers were guarding both sides of the 'Emperor of the East'.

The four 'Nassau-class' battleships of the German Navy also made use of the military port and lined up to sail south less than five kilometers from the Chinese fleet. Because the speed of the 'Nassau-class' battleships was lower than that of the Chinese fleet, the speed of the fleet was maintained at 15 knots. The voyage of more than 20,000 kilometers, plus the time to stop and replenish supplies on the way, takes about 40 days. In other words, the wedding of the Chinese emperor Wang Yuze and the seventh princess of Bavaria, Heirmchud, may be held at the end of May or early June.

After the Chinese welcoming fleet and the German repatriated fleet departed from the port of Qingdao, telegrams were sent from the vicinity of the port of Qingdao to all parts of the world. Soon, it became known that the German fleet was on its way home.