Episode 86 Commodore Dönitz

"The battle flag is raised high! The queue is tightly aligned! The stormtroopers march with firm steps! …… Comrades died at the guns of the reds and reactionaries! Our team is moving forward in order, and our will is more unified! …… The flag of the National Socialist Party is the only hope for millions of people! Looking forward to freedom and bread ideals! …… It's the last moment, be awake to your sleeping heart! It's time to fight, and we're ready for everything! Let's fill the streets with the Führer's flag! Slavery and shame will eventually disappear! Glory and dignity are about to be restored! ”

After the singing of a "Song of Horst-Weesel" was sung, the officials in the hall raised their glasses and cheered three times:

"Roar! Roar! Roar! ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang also happily raised his glass and followed the "roar", the champagne in his hand spilled on his wrist, but he, like the other German officers, laughed and didn't care. Although he couldn't sing the lyrics, he had already downloaded this Nazi party song in later generations and was familiar with it. Just now, I also followed the loud "lala" and went down again. The German officers around him were very surprised to see him as a Ming commander, who knew the Nazi party song so well, and did not go out of tune at all.

Heydrich was in extra good spirits today, his blonde hair, a pure black military uniform, and a fiery red armband, dazzling in the hall. As the No. 2 figure in the SS, he became the No. 2 protagonist at the banquet and the host of hospitality on behalf of the German side, and the limelight faintly surpassed the two commanders-in-chief of the army and navy, Flitsch and Raeder.

He smiled, picked up champagne, and loudly proposed that in order to welcome General Xiang of the Ming Dynasty, everyone sang the national anthems of the two countries again. The SS officers in the hall were the first to respond, and then the other officers and generals smiled in agreement. Heydrich turned and signaled, and an SS officer immediately ran to give orders to the band. The band players in white dresses and black bow ties sitting around the hall immediately took out the sheet music they had prepared, put it on the shelves, and tuned the strings one after another.

Xiang Xiaoqiang listened to the guard's translation and was startled. He has not been in Daming for a long time, and he has not sung the national anthem a few times. I haven't even gotten the right tune yet. He had an idea and asked the guards to quietly run to the band and ask them if they had any scores for the Ming military songs. Although he is not familiar with the national anthem of the Ming Dynasty, he likes the military songs of the Ming Dynasty too much, especially the lyrics, which he has long been familiar with.

The guard quickly ran back and quietly told him that the military singer family also had a score, and said that if it was okay, he would play the military song. Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded, very satisfied.

The orchestra conductor bowed slightly to Heydrich's side, signaling that he was ready. Heydrich put down his champagne glass, picked up his big-bellied brandy glass, and shouted:

"Comrades, go to brandy!"

Then he poured himself a glass of nearly a full glass of high-height brandy, and with a "snap" of his feet, he solemnly held the wine to his chest. The officers in the hall were all like him, pouring nearly 40 degrees of brandy, solemnly holding it on their chests, standing in a straight posture, facing the flag.

Xiang Xiaoqiang also took a large glass of brandy, followed their example, and stood upright.

The conductor of the orchestra held his head high and waved his baton proudly, and the majestic melody of "Deutschland above All" resounded through the hall. Xiang Xiaoqiang was very surprised, he originally thought that he would play the Ming military song first. According to international practice, when the national anthems of the two countries are played, the host's should be placed behind.

The German officers in the hall held wine, those wearing armbands raised their right arms, and everyone sang loudly:

"Germany, Germany, above all, above all things in the world! Whenever the time comes, in order to protect and defend, the brothers will always stand together. From the Maas to the Meur, from the Esch to the Pent, Germany, Germany, above all, above all things in the world!

"German women, German loyalty, German wine, German songs, all over the world, but forever maintain their ancient and noble reputation, inspiring us to do noble causes, even if it takes our lives!

"German women, German loyalty, German wine, German songs!!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang, as a World War II military fan, is naturally too familiar with "Germany above all else". But this time, he and his guards just stood upright with their glasses in their hands, their mouths tightly closed. This is not an ordinary song, this is the national anthem of others. And the center of the lyrics is "Germany is above all things in the world", which obviously includes the Ming Empire. This is absolutely unacceptable. Although it's just lyrics, there's no need to be true, but at least you can't sing along.

He knew that the song was composed by Haydn, and it turned out to be a passage from the Emperor's String Quartet, which was designated as the German national anthem in 1922. Originally, during the Weimar period, there were three verses of the lyrics, but during the Nazi period, only the first two verses were sung. Because the third paragraph contains the word "freedom", it was "banned" during the Nazi period. But the lyrics of the first two stanzas are very much to the Nazis' appetite. Later, however, the Federal Republic of Germany continued to use the national anthem, but on the contrary, the first two stanzas were not sung, only the third stanza was sung.

After the national anthem, all the German officers spontaneously raised the brandy, and cheered loudly three times, and the sound shook the ceiling:

"Roar!! Roar!!! Roar!!! ”

Then Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned, and every officer, especially the fanatical SS officers, straightened their necks and drank all the brandy from their cups.

Xiang Xiaoqiang: That's not champagne, it's nearly 40 degrees brandy! Then it immediately occurred to him that those fifty or sixty-year-old generals would not be as crazy as these young men, would they? And what about the officers who don't drink much?

He looked around, and saw that the old men had poured a little bit into their cups, only enough for the bottom of one cup. Obviously, people have a good idea of how much they drink.

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked down at such a large glass of amber spirits in his hand, which was full of two or five amber spirits, and scolded in his heart, who poured me wine, so lacking in morality!

The guards around him also looked at him with sad faces, as if asking for advice on what to do. Xiang Xiaoqiang saw that the German officers around him were all looking at him, shrugged his shoulders, and leaned his neck to "goo dong" and poured it all down.

……

"I rely on ......"

A stream of fire burned from the base of the tongue to the throat, and from the throat along the esophagus, all the way to the stomach, and finally a raging fire in the stomach.

shook it twice at Xiaoqiang's feet, and his eyes were full of gold stars, and he was almost about to fall. Thirty ** degree brandy is not as powerful as China's forty or fifty degree liquor, and Xiang Xiaoqiang's amount of wine is half a catty, but after pouring two or two halves in one go, ordinary people really can't stand it.

His guards didn't dare to pour so much at once, after all, they were duty-bound. He helped Xiang Xiaoqiang and handed him a glass of mineral water. Xiang Xiaoqiang grabbed it and drank it all, and it was better.

Looking at the German officers around them, they all laughed, especially the young ones, all of them were similar to Xiang Xiaoqiang, unsteady on their feet, and drunk.

After the group drinking, the atmosphere in the hall was much more casual and noisy.

At this time, the band played the melody of the Ming military song, and the hall resounded with a burst of "shhhh

Xiang Xiaoqiang climbed on the guard's shoulder and stood up, and at this time he was already drunk. But he was dizzy at this time, and his whole body seemed to be doping, which was in the best condition. In the quiet hall, Xiang Xiaoqiang and the guards hugged each other's shoulders, and the two of them let go of their throats with wine and sang the blood-boiling lyrics loudly:

"Angry hair rushes to the crown, with the Lan place, Xiaoxiao rain rest!

Raise your eyes, look up to the sky and roar, fierce and fierce!

Thirty merits, dust and earth, eight thousand miles of clouds and moons!

Don't wait for the young man's head to be white, empty and sad!

……

"Jing Kang is ashamed, and it is still snowing; When the courtiers hate, when will they be destroyed!

Drive a long car to break through the lack of Helan Mountain!

Zhuang is hungry for Hulu meat, laughing and thirsty for Hun blood!

To clean up the old mountains and rivers from the beginning, towards the sky! ”

……

After the two of them finished howling, they threw their necks back and poured the brandy from the cup. But this time the wine was poured by the guards, and that's it. Otherwise, Xiang Xiaoqiang would have to lie here.

At first there were only a few sparse applause, and then soon, the applause and stamping almost burst the ceiling of the hall. Although the German officials couldn't understand the lyrics, the impassioned, shocking tune, the rough feeling of singing loudly after being drunk, and the alcohol stimulation in everyone's brain, everyone couldn't help but raise a wave of blood, raise their wine glasses, and "roar" again.

The Germans are a nation that cannot do without music, and the military is no exception. After a few glasses of wine, "Lily Marlene" was sung again in the hall.

This song is so famous that it was widely sung in the trenches of both sides during World War I, and was wildly loved by soldiers on both sides during World War II. So much so that later, the Nazi "State Administration of Radio, Film and Television" "banned" the song in the name of disturbing the morale of the army, and the female lead singer Lale-Anderson and related personnel were also imprisoned in concentration camps. But good works never disappear because of the "banning" of the dictatorship. "Lily Marlene" became more and more sung in Germany, and finally witnessed the end of the Nazi regime.

"Once by the gates of the majestic barracks! She and I were both standing by a skylight! We were shy to say goodbye to each other! Now only that skylight remains! Favorite, Lily Marlene! Favorite, Lily Marlene! ……”

The hall filled the hall of German officers with high spirits, holding their glasses, stomping their feet to the beat, shaking their heads and singing loudly, such a mournful and lingering song, which was torn by these people's throats and sung like a military song.

……

After three rounds of drinking, it was almost too much. Suddenly, the lights went out, and the whole hall went dark.

Just as the officers were complaining in the darkness, a faint glow appeared in the distance, shaking closer and closer. When I got closer, I saw that it was a large cake with more than two dozen candles on it, pushed by a small cart.

The officers all laughed out loud in relief and turned back to Xiaoqiang. Xiang Xiaoqiang was also very happy, and surrounded by several generals, he gathered next to the cake.

Flitsch and Raeder were both admirals and commanders-in-chief of the army and navy, and today they were both of the highest ranks. The German Army is above the Navy again, so Flitsch, on behalf of the generals of the Third Empire, wishes General Xiang of the Ming Empire a happy birthday and a long friendship between the two countries.

The band played "Happy Birthday to You" again. Xiang Xiaoqiang listened very kindly, he didn't know when this song was written, anyway, it seemed to have been very popular in the thirties.

Immediately afterwards, Xiang Xiaoqiang bent down and blew out 25 candles in one go.

…… Ah, it's the first birthday I've ever had, and it's with a bunch of Nazi officers...... Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't help but think of his family and friends in the next life, I wonder how they are now?

But he immediately laughed and relieved: a year in this time and space, there is only one day over there. It's only been a few hours over there. Ha ha.

The hall was lit up again, and the waiter held a knife and asked Xiaoqiang to cut the cake.

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked down and saw that the pattern on this table-sized cake was very thunderous - two huge flags crossed, one was the German flag, and the other was the Ming Panlong flag. Beneath the two flags is a huge map of the world, delicately delineated with the contours of the land and sea, as well as the shapes of the borders of the major nations.

The whole pattern is delicately outlined and detailed, revealing the meticulousness of German craftsmanship. These Germans, even making cream cakes are like making car engines.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and the generals admired the cake, and they were all amazed by the exquisite workmanship and ingenious conception of the pattern.

He suddenly remembered that the world map of European and American countries was different from China's, and China always put the Pacific Ocean in the center, while Europe and the United States always put the Atlantic Ocean in the center. Today, however, the map of the German cake puts the Pacific Ocean in the center.

And, in the lower right of the Pacific Ocean, there is a line of German text with black jam and a signature underneath.

The guard told him that the line read:

Happy birthday to General Xiang. - Adolf Hitler

Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly understood the reason for putting the Pacific Ocean in the center. This is not to take care of Chinese habits. Ordinary people can't think about it that much.

He grabbed the dinner knife, glanced at the Soviet Union in the center, smiled slightly, slashed down, cut the Soviet Union in half from the Ural Mountains, and then continued to cut down, the dinner knife turned to the left, bypassing China's new-Xinjiang and Western-Tibet parts, and then continued to deviate to the left, including the Middle East to the right, and then turned back to the right, and pulled down in the middle of the Indian Ocean, cutting Europe and Africa to the left.

Xiang Xiaoqiang raised his face and looked around at the surrounding German generals, all of whom were staring at the big cake with full attention. Heydrich, in particular, kept a close eye on the knife in Xiang Xiaoqiang's hand.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled slightly, and started the second knife: cut from the Bering Strait, and then went around a large arc to the right, returning the Hawaiian Islands and Oceania to the left, all the way to Antarctica.

These two knives cut the whole of Asia and the whole of Oceania in, and cut out Europe, Africa, North and South America.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled, threw down the dinner knife, and handed over the detailed work below to the guards.

Heydrich looked excited, nodded, laughed, and applauded. Immediately afterwards, the SS officers applauded, and at last the hall burst into applause. Most of the officers at the back didn't see what was going on, and they were applauding and asking each other.

……

After a few symbolic pieces of cake, everyone began to serve the main dish. Xiang Xiaoqiang doesn't understand Western food, so he can't tell which grade of this dish is higher than Goebbels' last time. However, this time it was a buffet, and there were basically no hot dishes, everyone was standing and holding the plates, like a buffet, using tongs to choose dishes to eat, chatting and moving freely, and approaching the guests they were interested in.

Xiang Xiaoqiang naturally became the center of the banquet, always surrounded by several officers, and the guards around him kept translating back and forth, so busy that he was dizzy. Several German officers talked to Xiang Xiaoqiang at the same time, but the guard could only translate one person's, so that Xiang Xiaoqiang's often answered donkey's head was not in the horse's mouth, and finally the guard had to look at the other party's military rank, only the highest military rank was translated, and the others were thrown there.

Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't expect that the German Army, which has a proud tradition, would have so many star chasers. He noted, however, that he was surrounded by young officers, mainly colonels, and the SS. And the generals who wanted to get close to him were scattered in the distance, chatting with each other in twos and threes.

Xiang Xiaoqiang had already set his sights on a commodore admiral. The commodore was forty-five or sixteen years old, and he did not brow like the other generals, but stood there, discussing problems with the two naval officers beside him, holding a wine glass in his left hand and gesturing with his right hand.

Karl von Dönitz, the current commander of the German submarine forces, the future field marshal, commander-in-chief of the Navy, the head of the German Führer.

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked left and right, and saw Heydrich holding a dinner plate, standing close and talking with several SS officers, but his eyes glanced at Xiang Xiaoqiang from time to time. Looking at Xiang Xiaoqiang looking at him, he immediately smiled affectionately and greeted him.

Heydrich is now Xiang Xiaoqiang's nominal friend in Germany. After all, they had hunted together and roasted wild boars together. Xiang Xiaoqiang glanced at Heydrich. Heydrich immediately understood, immediately ended the conversation with a smile, and leaned over to Xiang Xiaoqiang with a plate.

The "blonde beast" appeared with a smile on his face, and several Wehrmacht officers had a premonition of something, and they all retreated in amusement.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and patted Heydrich's arm, like an old friend, and whispered:

"Reinhard, can you get me to know the gentlemen of the Navy?"

Heydrich understood. He knew that so far, Xiang Xiaoqiang had been surrounded by army and SS officers, and even if it was polite, he should at least meet the generals of the navy.

Heydrich also patted his arm and smiled affectionately:

"No problem, follow me."

Then he also pulled Xiang Xiaoqiang like an old friend and walked towards the gathering area of naval officers.

……

Heydrich first introduced Commander-in-Chief of the Navy to Xiaoqiang. What Xiang Xiaoqiang wanted to see was Dönitz, but he knew that he couldn't rush. Dönitz is now just a small commodore in command, commanding a small submarine force, and his rank is two levels lower than himself, and he is not ranked in the navy. Rushing to see him now will only distract the Germans.

Raeder was very fond of music, and Xiang Xiaoqiang remembered that he had been a band leader on a cruiser when he was younger. Raeder first politely complimented Xiang Xiaoqiang's "singing voice", and then asked whether he was used to eating and living in Germany, how he felt about Germany, and so on. Xiang Xiaoqiang knows that people in the navy are generally more responsible, unlike the army and the SS that have so many arrogant people.

He took the initiative to talk to Raeder about the topic of naval expertise, and wanted him to talk about how the strategic posture in the Indian and Pacific Oceans would change after the Ming Dynasty took Sumatra. This belongs to the category of naval strategy and geopolitics, and for Raeder, a veteran admiral, it is natural to talk about it. Xiang Xiaoqiang also wanted him to let go and talk, so that he could absorb some nutrients.

But somehow, maybe it's Reddell's bad talkativeness? Maybe it's because these military generals don't dare to talk much when they are in contact with them alone? Anyway, Xiang Xiaoqiang felt that Redder was very cautious in his speech, and he didn't express his opinions much, and often talked about him left and right.

But Xiang Xiaoqiang liked the navy so much that he made up his mind that he must learn something from this old-school admiral. He also took the initiative to talk about the German Navy in World War I and the Battle of Jutland.

Now Redder dared to let go of the talk. As if he had changed a different person, he enthusiastically discussed with Xiang Xiaoqiang the movements of the two sides on the day of the naval battle, the formation of the fleet, the position of the battleships, the orders of the commanders of both sides, and even which ship was in what position at what time, and what orders were given by the commander of the two sides at what time...... Xiang Xiaoqiang felt that he could almost memorize the logbooks of the day between the two sides.

Soon, there were many naval officers standing around the two, all holding wine glasses and dinner plates, listening with great interest. From time to time, one or two qualified generals interject a sentence or two. Xiang Xiaoqiang was overjoyed to find that Dönitz also leaned over and listened. But he wasn't qualified enough to interject.

Since the Battle of Jutland took place, it has become a classic case of the world's navies, and all naval academies have taken this naval battle as a classic teaching material, repeatedly explained, studied, speculated, and carried out various deductions. Even Akiyu knew every detail of the Battle of Jutland. Xiang Xiaoqiang, a fan of the navy, has wanted to discuss with Qiu Qian several times, but Qiu Qiu's true colors are fully revealed, as long as she is in front of him, she will definitely forget about military things, and she will think about the wind and snow. Xiang Xiaoqiang had no choice but to give up.

After Xiang Xiaoqiang saw Dönitz coming, he gradually turned the topic to the "rainbow" incident at the end of the war, talking about the tragic collective sinking of the Ocean Fleet after the surrender of Germany in World War I, and the surrounding naval officers all showed sadness and indignation. Many of them were sailors of the Ocean Fleet at the time, and some of them were also witnesses of the "rainbow" incident, when they were at the British military port of Scapa and watched their warships sink into the water.

So, naturally, the topic turned to the current reconstruction of the German Navy. Xiang Xiaoqiang chatted with them about the Washington Naval Agreement, the London Naval Conference, and then about the Anglo-German Naval Agreement that had just been signed. Britain allowed Germany to build its navy to 35% of the British navy, which was tantamount to allowing Germany to build warships. Because according to the current number of warships in Germany, it will take a long time to reach this ratio, even if all the shipyards are frantically built.

Several admirals are lamenting that Germany now has too few warships and too weak a ship-building capacity, which is simply not enough. At present, the bottleneck that restricts the expansion of the German Navy is no longer allowed by Britain, but Germany's shipbuilding capacity. They are all very envious of the Ming Dynasty, which has such a powerful fleet and such a strong ship-building ability.

Glancing at Xiaoqiang, he saw that Heydrich was also in the crowd, and he was bracing his ears to remember what everyone said. Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled secretly, thinking that it was the right time to throw the bait out.

"Hehe, although our fleet is large, it is mostly old warships," he smiled, pretending to be drunk, and said unabashedly, "It's not as good as you, the old doesn't go to the new one, you can build new ones now, and your warship design capabilities are above us, and the warships you build will be the world's advanced warships...... Hehe, I heard that our navy is preparing to dispose of two or three large ships......"

As soon as the guard translated the last sentence, Heydrich's ears moved. Not only Heydrich, but Raeder also immediately captured this information.

He took a glass of wine and handed it to Xiang Xiaoqiang, and asked with a smile:

"You're going to retire the old cruiser, right?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang took the glass of wine, drank it all, and said dizzily:

"Oh, it's a capital ship! At least one capital ship, and two heavy cruisers...... It's not about decommissioning, it's about dealing with ...... How so? Just sell it...... It's all treaty ships, built during the treaty...... Now that the London naval agreement has expired, a few new warships will be put on board, and a few old ones will be disposed of...... In fact, it is not outdated at all, it is not old, it was mainly built during the treaty, and the tonnage and caliber are limited...... But let's be honest, the treaty ships are all very well designed! It's all a masterpiece......"

The surrounding naval officers nodded in agreement. Under the restrictions of the treaty, warships cannot expand their tonnage and main guns indefinitely, so they can only spend their efforts on design. The characteristic of the treaty ship is that the tonnage is not too large, but it is well designed, and the firepower, protection, and speed are very balanced.

Hearing that Da Ming was going to deal with one capital ship (battle column or battle cruiser) and two heavy cruisers, Raeder's eyes lit up.

Oh my God, if this is taken over, how much time can be shortened by the "Z" shipbuilding plan at once!

But Xiang Xiaoqiang stopped talking about it. He glanced at Dönitz and continued:

"Alas, in fact, my opinion, the Daming surface ships are already possible, to build ships, it is better to build one less capital ship and dozens more submarines. …… It's a pity that our Navy guys don't listen to me. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang said, smiling and sweeping around the faces of the surrounding German naval officers. Those admirals also smiled and said in their hearts: Nonsense, of course people can't listen to you.

But Xiang Xiaoqiang noticed that the expression on Dönitz's face changed, and he obviously paid attention to himself.

He smiled again and said:

"Alas, I also said to our navy that even if we build submarines, we should build less cruisers of one or two thousand tons, which is useless, and it is better to build more medium submarines of several hundred tons. You can build a little more that way. After all, submarines are used to destroy the sea communications of enemy countries, so it is not possible to rely on one or two large submarines alone, but still rely on group tactics. …… I call it 'wolf pack tactics'. ”

He looked around the naval officers again, and saw that Dönitz seemed more focused, and even seemed to have something to say.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, do any of you agree with me?"

He looked over one by one, and when he saw Dönitz, he paid special attention to it, and asked with a smile:

"Huh? The mark on your military uniform is so familiar, it seems to be ...... Well, I've seen a mark similar to this on my insider's uniform, which seems to be ...... It can't be a submarine, right? ”

Reddell smiled and introduced:

"This is Commodore Dönitz, our new commander of the submarine forces of the Imperial Navy."

Dönitz's rank was lower than that of Xiang Xiaoqiang, he bowed his head slightly, his heels "snapped" on the ground, and he did not speak.