The stars are dotted, the night is deep, and a hooked moon hangs obliquely in the sky, exuding a cold and soft fairy glow.

In the Imperial Palace, most of the areas have been occupied by darkness and dead silence, and occasionally cold winds blow, adding to the feeling of loneliness and coldness. Every once in a while, a group of brightly clad officers and soldiers of the Guards passed by at night, and even in the middle of the night, not a single sergeant showed the slightest tiredness.

A middle-aged man with a beard sat quietly in the study of the side hall, and he was a little more rational and quiet in civilian clothes, and a little less of the majesty of an emperor. In the bright light, the left hand, which had shrunk from congenital polio, was carried behind its back as usual, and as time passed, the tall stack of papers had become more than half shorter, and was folded again on the other side.

"Damn Alfred, didn't he say that at half-past eight, he was going to submit the plan for the development of the Navy to me? It's already 8:40 now, why hasn't he shown up yet? Wilhelm II glanced up at the wall clock, and there was already a hint of anger in his words. In German circles, punctuality is a quality that has been imprinted into everyone's genes like eating and drinking; If both parties agree on a time, even if they are 1 minute late, it is very rude in the eyes of the Germans!

After approving a document, Wilhelm II stood up from his chair and walked slowly to the door. The wind was biting, and the moonlight was blank. On the bluestone path in front of the study, the shadows of the trees are shaking, the branches are dancing, and a few street lamps are faintly lit, but there is no half of a figure in the field of vision.

"It's weird, why hasn't Alfred come yet? This is not scientific! Wilhelm II turned to an old man in a tuxedo beside him and asked, "Aleman, did Alfred tell me?" What else does he have for tonight? ”

The old man, known as Aleman, was in his 50s, with a thin figure and a kind face. In the face of Wilhelm II's question, he bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the Chief of Staff of the Navy is going to give a lecture to His Royal Highness the Second Prince tonight, and he has already gone at 6:30. ”

Wilhelm II pondered for a moment and whispered, "No. His teaching time at Ettel's would only last until 8 p.m., but now it was 8:40. He looked at the clock on the wall with some irritation, and a thought suddenly came to his mind: Surely Tirpitz was suddenly ill? Otherwise, with his way of acting, it would be impossible to be late!

At this thought, the more Wilhelm II thought about it, the more likely it became, and besides, Wilhelm II really couldn't think of a second scenario. He took a dark trench coat from the hanger, draped it over his body, and hurried out the door; The old butler in the tuxedo was startled, and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, where are you going?" ”

Wilhelm II did not stop, leaving behind a series of voices that gradually became smaller: "Alfred is probably ill at Ettel's, I must go and see it." Aleman, you have to sort out these approved documents first, and you don't have to follow along! ”

The palace of the Second Empire was not as large as one might think, and Wilhelm II's office was less than 200 meters away from Qingying's study. In less than 2 minutes, he appeared in front of Qingying's study. The two guards guarding the door were startled when they suddenly saw the young monarch of the empire, and hurriedly saluted; Wilhelm II nodded slightly, and then asked, "Chief of Naval Staff, are you still inside?" ”

One of the guards bowed and replied, "Almighty Caesar, Lord Alfred is indeed still with the second prince and has never left. No, that's his voice. In the previous half hour, His Excellency the Chief of Staff had made this sound from time to time. ”

Wilhelm II stood outside the door, listening intently, and faintly heard Tirpitz's unbridled laughter coming from inside the room, as if he had lost his mind. He stood in the doorway for a moment, two gray eyebrows rising upside down; Then he strode up the steps and pushed the door open.

The warmth is blowing and the lights are golden. In front of the purple desk, a delicate child is sipping coffee from a porcelain cup; When he heard the sound of the doorway, he turned his head to look at it with a surprised expression on his face. Opposite him, an octopus in his forties was drawing frantically on white paper with a quill, with two unique parted goatees on its jaws, not Tirpitz, but who.

At this time, Tirpitz had completely entered a state of self-forgetfulness; His entire energy was focused on what he was doing, and he didn't care about anything that was going on in the outside world. Sometimes he frowned and pondered, sometimes he wrote hard, and a square piece of white paper had been densely drawn by him, full of figures. In the wastebasket next to it, there are two large crumpled clumps of manuscript paper casually discarded inside; A few blue ink stains somehow climbed up Tirpitz's face.

Seeing this scene, the anger in Wilhelm II's heart subsided, and was replaced by a feeling of doubt. It was clear that Tirpitz was not sick in any way, and that he was still engrossed in doing something. But what was it that could have made him completely unaware of the passage of time, so that he released his Kaiser Wilhelm's pigeons? Tirpitz entered the Navy at the age of 16; After 30 years of military career, the concept of punctuality has long been deeply rooted in his bone marrow!

Wilhelm II's eyes turned, first at Qingying, and then at Tirpitz, who was painting endlessly, and the meaning of inquiry was unmistakable. Qingying put down the coffee cup, shrugged her shoulders, and then spread her hands, indicating that she didn't know what was going on with Tirpitz.

Wilhelm II gave Qingying a blank look, and then stopped looking at his son; He clenched his right hand into a fist, put it to his mouth, and suddenly coughed heavily, breaking the silence in the room. Tirpitz looked up, only to see Wilhelm II driving himself a few meters away, with a bit of anger on his face.

"Ah, Your Majesty!" Tirpitz stood up from his chair and said, "Your Majesty, how did you get here?" ”

"How did you get here? How did you say I got here? Wilhelm II laughed angrily, stretched out his right arm, pointed to the clock by the wall with his right halberd, and said angrily, "Didn't you say that at 8:30 you would report to me about your latest plan for the expansion of the battleship?" You give me a good look, what time is it! What about your concept of time, have you been in vain for the past 30 years in the navy? ”

Tirpitz looked down Wilhelm II's arm, stunned. Wilhelm II snorted coldly and said: "As Germans, punctuality is our most basic morality!" Alfred, what are you doing that you have forgotten about your meeting with me? ”

"Your Majesty, I am extremely sorry for this incident!" Tirpitz bowed to Wilhelm II; After deep remorse, the look on his face immediately changed to excitement and joy. He grabbed the unrecognizable manuscript paper on the table, and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, I have finally found the future development direction of the German Navy!" If we do this, we will be more effective than the previous method, and even the British will not be able to stop the rise of the German Navy! ”

Since Wilhelm II's visit to England in 1887, he and Tirpitz have known each other for six years. In the eyes of Wilhelm II, Tirpitz has always been a strict and calm person, who will walk his word, and he will never say anything without 120% certainty. Seeing that Tirpitz was so excited and said this in an extremely affirmative tone, Wilhelm II was so angry that his heart itched and he blurted out: "What to do?" Tell me! ”

"We can appropriately expand the tonnage and build large battleships with strong firepower, superior protection, and speed. At the same tonnage, this method can greatly generalize power and armor; From a ship design point of view, this is a shortcut that we haven't even noticed before! Tirpitz said this, and glanced at Qingying next to him with joy, "If it weren't for His Royal Highness the Second Prince's words to wake up the dreamer, the German Navy doesn't know how long the German Navy would linger in front of the progressive court!" His Highness is truly a little angel from the Almighty Lord to the German Navy! ”

"What about the cost? How did this matter have anything to do with Ettel again? "Wilhelm II asked two questions in a row.

Tirpitz briefly stated the conversation between himself and Qingying to Wilhelm II. He picked up the already cold coffee on the table and poured it into two sips, then wiped his mouth with his cuffs without any image, and continued: "Although His Highness did not do it intentionally, this idea of increasing firepower and merging tonnage is absolutely correct!" Almost all of the ship-building plans we had made before had to be torn down and rebuilt; Except for torpedo boats, which are themselves expendables, any warship must develop in the direction of large-scale and heavy firepower! As for the cost, we can offset the increase in the tonnage of a single ship by reducing the quantity, so as to obtain an equilibrium of the total cost. For example, we originally planned to build 4 11,000-ton battleships, but now we should change it to 3 15,000-ton battleships! I've already done the math, and there is little difference between the two types of plans. But if you fight the enemy head-on, the latter's combat effectiveness is far better than the former! ”

Hawkers, the author is very attentive to the code word.,An average of 3000 per chapter.,Look at this.,Just give some recommendations and collections.