Wilhelmshaven, Germany, has been crowded since early in the morning, and from above you can see countless heads stretching along the pier to the edge of the waterway.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, clothing was far less gaudy than in later generations, especially in this important port dominated by steel and artillery, where gray and black dominated the mainstream, so whenever two different colors passed by, it would attract a lot of attention.

On the wharf, an open field was vacated early, and soldiers in German naval uniforms and yellow-skinned and black-haired sailors in Pacific Navy uniforms that the German people had never seen before, were busy together, sending leather pipes along the water tower of the pier to the two huge warships docked at the dock.

More sailors were carrying supplies to the warships, and it took a month to get back to the Pacific Ocean from here, and although it was possible to buy supplies at some ports along the way, there was always a good thing to do with them.

In the inner circle, the representatives of the shipyard in brand-new dresses laughed from ear to ear, although the Pacific Army provided some of the drawings of the two battleships of the same size that they had ordered in Britain but were eventually resold to him, even if the Honolulu people insisted on installing some of their own weapons systems, they were able to successfully launch these two battleships with a full load displacement of up to 15,000 tons in one year, which has created the first milestone in the history of German shipbuilding!

With the launch of two battleships, the shipyard not only made a good profit and trained the workers, but more importantly, after His Majesty the great Prussian Emperor saw what they were capable of, the newly vacated dock was already crowded with new Imperial warships under construction!

And the designers laughed equally proudly, because through the drawings of the British who changed hands, through the tactical understanding of the Pacific Fleet, which is now the only one with rich experience in the actual combat of ironclad ships and won, and fully combined the unique achievements of Germany in armor and watertight compartments, they built two first-rate battleships that were not inferior to any country, and it can be said that they were not inferior to the British who are the bosses of the sea today!

Journalists from all over Europe crowded the edge of the clearing, and if it weren't for the soldiers who were loaded with guns, these guys would have raised their cameras and rushed into the infield to take pictures.

The front and rear hemispheres imported from Italy L40 type 305 mm twin naval guns have been installed, but the 203 mm secondary secondary gun position on the diagonal of the bridge is still only a counterweight, this is mainly because the Pacific Army now looks down on Italian-made naval guns, and after the use of tube retreat technology, although the actual damage of Honolulu's improved 203 mm naval guns has not increased much, but the weight, speed and range are much stronger than the original, if it were not for the 305 mm naval gun improvement has not been completed, If it weren't for the unification of the fleet's battleship firepower, perhaps Master Li would not even be willing to install the main gun in Germany.

But even if the two battleships were not fully completed because the secondary guns were not installed, no matter who stood at the foot of such a 15,000-ton giant ship, they would feel insignificant.

This is the real battleship, one of the largest single weapons of the industrial age so far, the strongest note of this era!

With a long whistle, the hearts of the people who came to watch on the pier suddenly surged, and the preheated boiler room began to ignite, and puffs of black smoke rushed down the three chimneys into the sky, like three black dragons flying fiercely.

Lin Tai was once dressed in a straight colonel's uniform, looking up at the continuous ejection of smoke from the chimney, and a sparkle crossed his eyes.

This is the second time he has come to Europe to receive new ships, from the time he went to Britain to receive Chao Yong and Yang Wei, to the current new battleships that are several times larger, from the Beiyang Naval Division to the Pacific Fleet, from the fugitive Beiyang general, to the officially awarded Pacific Navy Colonel, his life has undergone earth-shaking changes!

Duke of Hawaii, Prince of the Ryukyus!

It is said that when the young master decided on these two ships, which not only reflected the European style, but also carried his two major titles, he was ridiculed by the three young grandmothers for a long time, saying that he loved to be in the limelight, and he did not forget to show off himself when he built two warships.

Thinking of this joke anecdote, which I don't know whether it is true or not, Liu Buyun next to him didn't smile closely.

Although the new ship still needs to be refitted for a month after returning to the Ryukyus, the two of them can't wait, compared with the Dingzhen No. 2 ship, which was "praised as the world's first-class ironclad ship" by Lord Li Hongzhang, the two battleships in front of them are not only larger, but also the artillery and armor are no longer the same.

They were quietly moored in front of them at the moment, like two young dragons that had not yet grown fangs and had not yet polished their claws, but the dragon was a dragon after all, even if it was lying there temporarily, it still exuded a majestic momentum.

They didn't expect that the two would be the lucky ones who came to Germany to receive the battleship, according to the tradition of the Pacific Navy, the officer who received the warship often became the commander of the ship, and this kind of triple jump from the down-and-out surrender to the captain of the capital ship battleship has been envious of all the destroyer cruisers in the Pacific Navy.

However, everyone must admit that in the increasingly large Pacific Fleet, there is really no commander who can temporarily match the experience and military quality of the two, and Lin Taizeng and Liu Buyun also have rich experience in the use of German-made warships, so Li Mo will promote the two to colonel captains and receive warships.

Of course, this is also caused by the rapid expansion of the army, and the current lack of experienced front-line captains has been initially saturated and not allocated, which shows that while the fleet is constantly improving and expanding, the overall quality of the troops has indeed declined.

The 100-year-old navy is not empty talk, but one battle after another has left the Pacific Fleet without any respite, so it can only rush forward with its head straight, but it is precisely the continuous war that has greatly shortened the pace of the fleet's personnel training, and I believe that after the end of this post-war stable few years, the quality of the fleet can be bought to a new level.

The duty officer trotted in front of the two, straightened his waist and saluted and shouted: "Report, the reception work has been completed, please board the ship and raise the flag!" ”

The two nodded briskly in return, and then, led by the watchman, they went down the gangway to the stern of the Duke.

The two sailors held the military flag, standing upright on both sides of the flagpole in the stern, and when they saw the two coming, they immediately solemnly unfurled the blood cloud dragon claw flag of the Pacific Navy, and as the flag bearer violently waved the battle flag as bright as blood in the wind, all the Pacific Navy officers and men, including the two of them, all had solemn faces, stood and saluted, and watched the military flag slowly rise.

At that moment, countless flashing lights converged on the officers and men of the Pacific Army at the flag-raising ceremony, and the posture of the battle flag was as straight as a pine, the solemn and serious face, and the confident gaze made all the people present who witnessed this scene feel a kind of heart palpitation.

"Blood clouds flying!"

The two reporters from the Rhine News who were crowded at the front took pictures of the moment when the flag was raised, and even prepared the headline on the front page.

With the completion of the flag-raising ceremony of the two battleships, it represents their official belonging to the Honolulu Pacific Navy. In the distance, the German new armored cruiser Victoria Louis fired a gun salute, and the rumbling cannon was not only a farewell to the new ship, but also seemed to indicate that the two new battleships were about to start a bloody career.

"General Tirpitz, my Lord Duke and the Pacific Fleet, thank you and your country for your support to us, and please take us to thank His Majesty the Great Emperor of Prussia, wishing him all the best, and Lord Duke hopes that you will have the opportunity to visit our country!"

Lin Tai once led the officers to the German Navy delegation that came to bid farewell, looked at the bearded, but energetic Tirpitz, saluted the military salute, waved his hand, and asked the soldiers to bring carefully prepared gifts.

Tirpitz smiled back, he was not interested in those expensive and exquisite gifts, but he had a very good impression of the captain of the former Beiyang Navy Zhenyuan ship in front of him, not only did he have a good impression, but he even envied Li Mo for being able to collect this experienced captain.

Although his Beiyang Fleet was defeated by Yu Ben and wiped out in the sneak attack of the Russians, in these two naval battles, this Captain Lin showed good naval quality and vital combat experience, which the German Navy does not have at present, maybe his achievements cannot be compared with those cutting-edge captains in the Pacific Fleet, but when it comes to foundation and experience, he is not inferior to anyone!

With a wealth of experience, a strong fleet behind him, and the launch of this cutting-edge battleship, Tirpitz can imagine that his future will be completely changed, and these are the advantages that the current German Navy cannot have for the time being!

However, this did not discourage him, but aroused the determination of the German naval strongman to compete for supremacy, and His Majesty Wilhelm had already made up his mind to expand the navy, and perhaps the next time they met, under his own leadership, the German navy would make all enemies tremble under the guns of the Reich!

"General Tirpitz, this is a personal gift from the Duke." After handing over the gift, Lin Taizeng suddenly took out a thick document and handed it to the other party.

"A personal gift?" Tirpitz was slightly stunned for a moment before quickly taking the document, but when he opened it, the detailed data on it almost made him cry out in front of many German and Honolulu officers.

"God! Here are the detailed data on several new types of battleships built by the British! Tirpitz raised his head in disbelief and looked at Lin Taizeng, who was smiling, and even though he was used to seeing big scenes, he was a little short of breath.

Although Tirpitz knew that Honolulu had cooperated with the British many times, it was certainly not so easy to obtain information on these capital ships, and he didn't understand why the other party would give him such rare information. Don't they understand that once Germany has this information, it can design warships with strong surnames?

"General, with all due respect, although your navy has high morale, it lags behind a lot in terms of equipment, so my young master hopes that this information can be helpful to your navy." Lin Taizeng said with a smile.

"Why?" Tirpitz overshadowed Lin Taizeng with eagle eyes, and his words were very direct, he just wanted to know why the other party would give him these important information.

Lin Taizeng actually didn't understand why Li Mo would let him hand over these hard-earned information from the intelligence department to the Germans, he just vaguely guessed that the young master seemed to be making some trouble for the British again, but it was this that made him very unintelligible, because after the Franco-Prussian War, all the actions of the Germans were based on France as an imaginary enemy, and the gap between their navy and the British was too big, even inferior to the current Pacific Fleet, even if they got the information, what could they do?

If you don't understand, you still need to answer the question, so he smiled and said: "General, I believe you must know very well where the ambition of my Duke is, he will not come to the Atlantic, but he needs a friend who can speak in the Atlantic, we don't want to be restricted again, and we don't want to be stepped on by people again!"

We need a friend who can help us, who can have a second choice outside of Britain, who can work together to contain the expansion of the Russians! And not to limit our enemies at every turn! ”

Lin Taizeng's tone was subdued, and his excited expression seemed to make Tirpitz feel the anger of the Pacific Army at Britain's recent technological limitations, but in his opinion, this explanation was still a bit far-fetched.

It's impossible!

Tirpitz did not continue to ask, because what he needed was not explanations, but tangible information, with which the German naval expansion program would become more targeted and efficient!

It was a real gift, even more than gold and diamonds!

Thinking of this, Tirpitz quickly put away the documents, regained the smile on his face just now, held Lin Taizeng's hand and said with a smile: "Please convey to the Duke on my behalf, on behalf of Germany, I thank him for his generosity, and if there is a chance, the Empire welcomes him to visit at any time." ”

"Thank you, I'll pass it on." Lin Tai saluted again, and after shaking hands with all the German officers, he walked quickly to the battleship, his mission has been completed, as for what Tirpitz will think after getting the documents, what kind of reaction the Germans will make, this is no longer what he needs to think about now, he just wants to take the ship back as soon as possible, complete the refit, and then...!

Return to the familiar sea, crisscross the four seas with the fleet, and create a new ocean for the Chinese daughter!

In addition to nearly 1,000 sailors, the two ships also carried nearly 100 engineers sent from Honolulu to supervise the construction of the keel from the time the keel was laid, in addition to being responsible for debugging the warship all the way, they will also go to the Ryukyus to cooperate with the shipyard to install secondary secondary guns and refits.

Looking at Wilhelmshaven, where there was only one line left, Lin Taizeng took a deep breath, according to the plan, the fleet would reach the Mediterranean Sea in a few days, where it would join several large naval transports built in Italy, enter the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal, and finally go home together under the protection of escort ships that may have already departed!

"The power compartment is ready, and half an hour later it will start sailing at full speed, and the mechanics will keep an eye on the situation in the power compartment at all times."

After half a year of familiarity in the Naval Academy, Lin Taizeng already had an in-depth understanding of the Pacific Fleet, and there were some changes in what he did and what he said, so he didn't want to waste a month's journey in vain, although the secondary gun had not yet been installed, it didn't mean that there was no need for other tests, but maybe even he didn't think that this was the first order he gave after joining the Pacific Army!

It's a new beginning!

As the Duke and the Prince rushed out of Williamshaven one after the other, the four dockyards in distant Honolulu, which had been closed for two years, began to slowly pour seawater

(To be continued)