The tension between the Chinese Empire and the German Empire over the establishment of the Austrian Empire's government-in-exile caused the already deteriorating relationship to plummet to freezing point. The army and navy of Europe where the Chinese Empire was stationed had entered the highest state of combat readiness, which further intensified the confrontation between the two countries, and some countries even claimed that the countdown to the outbreak of war between the Chinese Empire and the German Empire had begun.

However, at the most critical moment, both the Chinese Empire and the German Empire restrained themselves and did not allow the gaffe to develop further. Now a war breaks out, and neither country is ready. The armored units of the Chinese army are being trained, and armored brigades are being formed. In the future European theater, the armored forces of the Reich will play a great role. The Imperial Air Force's new fighter planes are also being mass-produced, and the slipways of the Navy's shipyards have long been occupied by huge warships.

Similarly, the Germans were accumulating strength. The next big war will be a big war that will directly decide the fate of the two countries. Therefore, neither country wants war to break out when it is not ready. And once the preparations are complete, the two countries will do their best in the war. Of course, from the current point of view, the Chinese Empire, which controls almost half of the world, has much more resources at its disposal than Germany, and its combat power is stronger than that of Germany. Therefore, the outcome of this war can be imagined.

The Germans were naturally unwilling to lose, so they deliberately wanted to weaken the power of the Chinese Empire. At the same time, the Germans were also frantically rearming themselves to improve their own strength as much as possible.

The navy has been a branch of the military that the Germans have focused on since the end of the last world war, which has made the German navy develop by leaps and bounds. On May 29, 1859, Kaiser Wilhelm I attended the commissioning ceremony of the German Navy's first class battleship, the last of the 'Brandenburg-class' battleships, the battleship 'Wools', at the Wilhelmshaven naval base. Before the 'Wools', three other battleships, the battleship 'Brandenburg', the battleship 'Elector' and the battleship 'Wisenberg' had already entered service.

The Brandenburg-class battleships were the first class battleships of the German Navy, almost copied from the British Navy's 'Nile-class' battleships, but with some minor improvements, the displacement was increased to 18,000 tons, and the speed was increased to 17 knots.

The main guns of the 'Brandenburg-class' battleships were five twin 305-mm guns, one more than the 'Eastern Han class' battleships of the Imperial Navy. However, in the case of similar displacement, it is certainly more tonnage to use triple main guns than to use twin main guns, which makes the defensive power of the 'Eastern Han class' battleships much stronger than that of the 'Brandenburg-class' battleships. In addition, in terms of speed, the maximum speed of the 'Eastern Han class' battleships was two knots higher than that of the 'Brandenburg class'. Although the 'Eastern Han class' battleships had been in service for several years, it was difficult for the speed of the battleship to reach 19 knots due to mechanical wear and tear. However, the 'Eastern Han-class' battleships were also not slower than the German 'Brandenburg-class' battleships.

On the whole, the Imperial Navy's 'Eastern Han class' battleships were similar to the 'Brandenburg-class' battleships in terms of firepower and speed, but their defensive power was stronger, which made the 'Eastern Han class' battleships slightly stronger than the 'Brandenburg-class' battleships.

"Subjects of the German Empire, today, we are here to participate in the commissioning ceremony of the battleship 'Wools', which also marks that the German Navy is no longer a weak navy, and we will be a powerful navy capable of building advanced battleships on our own! The future world ocean is still waiting for the navy of the great German Empire to conquer and defeat our formidable enemy. I am convinced that God will bless the German Empire and we will achieve the best victory! Kaiser Wilhelm I seems to have confidence in the future of the German navy.

Indeed, there are quite a few naval powers now. In addition to the Chinese Empire and Germany, it included the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and even the Republic of Chile and the Brazilian Empire in South America. However, there were not many countries that could build large-tonnage battleships on their own, only the Chinese Empire and Germany had the ability to do so. Even the Kingdom of Spain, although they have a certain ability to build ships. But the Spaniards were accustomed to the advanced warships they had purchased from the Chinese Empire, which were much more advanced than the warships built by the Kingdom of Spain itself. The Spaniards were also accustomed to buying out warships. So, even if the number of capital ships of the German Navy is not as large as that of the Spanish Navy, their development potential is much stronger than that of the Spanish Navy.

At present, the Spanish Navy has four 'Qin-class' battleships and four 'Western Han-class' battleships, and they have also ordered four 'Tang-class' battleships from the Chinese Empire, and in the future, the Spanish Navy will become a naval power with 12 powerful battleships. However, the four 'Don-class' battleships were not expected to be delivered until around 1861. By this time, the strength of the German navy had rapidly surpassed that of the Spanish navy.

It was in the second half of 1859 that the second class battleship of the German Navy, the 'Kaiser. The 'Frederick III' class battleships will also be commissioned one after another, including four battleships, namely the 'Caesar. Frederick III's battleship,' Caesar. Wilhelm the Great's battleship,' Caesar. Karl the Great's battleship and 'Caesar'. Battleship Barbarossa'. In the first half of next year, it will be the 'Wichelsbach-class' battleships, namely the 'Wichelsbach' battleship, the 'Schwar' battleship, the 'Vidin' battleship and the 'Mecklenburg' battleship. In the second half of next year, there will be the 'Braunschweig-class' battleships, namely the battleship 'Braunschweig', the battleship 'Hesse', the battleship 'Alsace' and the battleship 'Lorraine'. The battleships commissioned in the first half of 1861 were the 'Deutschland' class, including the battleships 'Deutschland', 'Hanover', 'Pomerne' and 'Silesia'. In the second half of 1861 it was the 'Nassau-class' battleships, which included the battleships 'Nassau', 'Westphalia', 'Rhineland' and 'Posen'. It can be said that from 1859, the German Navy began a phase of frantic explosion. Within three years, the German Navy will have a total of 24 advanced battleships in service. This will give the German Navy the initial strength to challenge the Chinese Navy.

Of course, the speed of shipbuilding of the Chinese Navy is not slower than that of the German Navy, and the number of battleships in the Imperial Navy will reach 48, which is twice that of the German Navy, with the subsequent 8 "Northern Song Dynasty-class" battleships, 8 "Southern Song Dynasty-class" battleships, and the eight "Eastern Han Dynasty-class" battleships in service in the early stage, the number of battleships in the Imperial Navy will reach 48, which is twice that of the German Navy. The Imperial Navy will still be firmly in the ascendant!

Of course, the vast majority of Germans did not know this, and the four 'Brandenburg-class' battleships moored in the military port gave them great courage and confidence. It was as if they had seen the arrival of a magnificent era for the great German Imperial Navy.

Vice Admiral Philip, commander of the German High Seas Fleet, was on the battleship Brandenburg, the flagship of the German Navy, and he was very excited when he looked at the battleships lined up. He still remembers that last year in the Persian Gulf, the German Navy escorted the Army to the Persian Gulf, only to be intercepted by the Chinese Navy's 11th Fleet. The huge battleship, which floated like a hill on the sea, gave the German Navy a great shock. At that time, the German Navy only had light cruisers and destroyers, and it was simply powerless to fight against such huge warships. Therefore, the German Navy could only choose to retreat in the end. This has always been a shame for Lieutenant General Philip. Washing away that shame became his life's goal. Now that the German Navy finally had its own battleship, he was one step closer to revenge.

The inauguration ceremony of the battleship 'Wools' was soon over, after which Kaiser Wilhelm I, Crown Prince Frederick Friedrich. Wilhelm, the Minister of the Navy, Prince Felix and others boarded the battleship 'Brandenburg' to inspect the first class battleships of the German Navy.

"Your Excellency, Commander, now, the German Navy also has its own battleships, then, in the future, can we defeat the Chinese?" Frederick. Crown Prince William asked excitedly.

"This ......" Lieutenant General Philip was a little embarrassed. After all, the German Navy now had only four battleships. The Chinese Navy already had 16 battleships, four times the size of the German Navy. Even in the second half of the four 'Caesars. The Frederick III class battleships were commissioned, and the German Navy was still completely at a disadvantage.

"Your Excellency, Commander, is there still such a big gap between us and the Chinese?" William I also asked. He had a lot of confidence in the German Navy, otherwise he would not have agreed to build so many warships. The British spent almost all of their money to build these ships.

"Your Majesty, there are more and more battleships in the German Navy, and in the same way, there will be more and more battleships of the Chinese, and the Chinese with deep pockets shouted the slogan that Germany will build one battleship, and they will build two battleships. Therefore, the number of battleships in the Chinese Navy will be twice as many as ours. In the future, the pressure on the German Navy will still be great! "said the Minister of the Navy, Prince Felix.

Kaiser Wilhelm I's face suddenly became gloomy, and the joy originally brought by the commissioning of the 'Brandenburg-class' battleships seemed to have disappeared at this moment. R1152