Since the sixties of the nineteenth century, Kiel Bay, located on the Baltic Sea, has been Germany's main naval base and the centre of the German shipbuilding industry, with the famous Horvaz Naval Shipyard located.

In the middle of a clear blue bay

The Horvaz Naval Shipyard occupies a large area, and the ridges of the towering yard buildings are a conspicuous rust red, standing out against the blue sky and white clouds.

Boats and boats are constantly coming and going on the sea, white sails are dotted, and large flocks of seagulls are noisy and circling in the sky near the sea, presenting a vibrant scene.

On the docks of the Naval Shipyard in Hovaz, there are several large ironclad warships waiting to be repaired, their towering masts piercing into the sky, the huge hull glowing with cold steel, and the huge rivets on the hull show an indestructible momentum, which is daunting.

Docked on the inside is the ironclad battleship "Deutschland", with a displacement of 8,939 tons, mainly armed with eight 254mm guns, a cutting-edge battleship launched in September 1874, a single propeller, still using an old horizontal single expansion engine.

The Deutschland is a formidable centrally arranged gunship, with its main armament concentrated in an armored box in the middle, a huge gun mount that makes the scalp tingle to look at, and the heavy armor-piercing shells fired can tear through any opponent.

Entering the Horvaz Naval Shipyard this time, the Deutsche will undergo a major refit, focusing on the modification of the old-fashioned receded main gun, replacing the original sail with a battle mast, in order to adapt to the trend of eliminating the mast sail of ironclad battleships in the current era, and crossing the river with the Royal Navy of Great Britain.

The ironclad battleship "Fleetjoff" docked outside the Deutschland is much smaller, its displacement is only 3,750 tons, and its main armament is three 239mm guns.

The main power uses the latest triple-expansion engines, which have greatly improved combustion efficiency, and together with the twin-propeller configuration, the "Fleetjov" can reach a high speed of 19 knots in the Mediterranean, reaching a maximum speed of 20.5 knots.

Anchored behind these two battleships was the ironclad battleship "Friedrich de Grosser", with a displacement of 7,718 tons, and the main armament: four 259mm guns, the hull was slightly smaller than that of the Deutschland, and it also had three tall sail masts in the front, middle and rear, which were used for auxiliary power propeller navigation.

The Friedrich de Grosser is an old battleship built in 1859 at the Royal Navy Shipyard in Kiel and is one of three turret ships of its class.

The ship's two turrets are located in the middle of the ship, behind the huge armored bulwarks 2 meters high, which is a major failure in the design of the ship, and the tall bulwarks block the view and bury great hidden dangers.

At the Royal German Navy home port on the Elbe, the ship collided heavily with sister ship Grossel Coolfulst, which was sunk 26 days after its commissioning.

The Friedrich de Grossé suffered heavy losses and was forced to enter the naval shipyard for mid-term overhauls and modernization, so that the deck was dismantled everywhere as if it had been violently destroyed.

Accompanied by Count Holtz, the owner of the Horvaz Naval Shipyard, Li Fushou visited the three huge ironclad ships docked at the dock, and stroked the cold steel hulls, which made him sigh with emotion.

This is the essence of today's European naval powers, and if they are pulled out at will, they can completely crush the navies of other parts of the world, including the United States, and firmly occupy an absolute advantage.

In the past few days, he has been in contact with all levels of Europa society and industrial and agricultural production, and what struck him most was that the gap was so great that it made people despair.

Rulin's tall chimneys spew rumbling black smoke and rendered half of the blue sky, representing the heavy industrial power of the steam industry era and taking the lead in national competition.

England was the first to enter the ranks of industrialized countries, followed by France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

Spain, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, the Ottoman Empire, Greece, Tsarist Russia and other countries have already started the process of industrialization, and the main body is still in the stage of agricultural society, and this competition of national strength among the European powers has fallen behind a big step.

The steam industrial revolution promoted social change, and then incubated the explosive development of science and technology, culture and military fields, showing a pattern of a hundred flowers blooming, which is also the foundation of Europa's domination of the world and colonization of the world.

Now this new era of steam industry revolution

Talking about environmental pollution and other nonsense is hooliganism, talking about what everyone is equal is all nonsense, saying that changing secular forces is pure idiot, and the head is watted.

The only core and most important goal is development, development and development.

Heavy industry builds strong steel bones, light industry fills plump and powerful muscles, and military power builds a formidable iron fist, and Queensland is the first to develop.

No one can run without walking, and it is impossible to cross the era of the steam industrial revolution and directly enter the electric age.

Afraid of polluting the environment, if you don't develop, do you wait to be beaten?

"Lord Queensland, are you satisfied with everything here?" The Count of Horvaz wore two well-groomed and upturned beards, typical of the Germanic style.

Li Fushou walked a few steps on the deck of the battleship, patted the huge steel cannon with his hand, and said with a look of admiration in his eyes; "This is really impressive, I have a higher opinion of the German shipbuilding industry, and I hope that the Australian Hongshan Shipyard can have a deeper cooperation with you, invite some senior shipbuilding technicians to Australia, and we will pay all the relevant costs."

"As far as I know, Mr. Lord has a vast territory in Australia, why don't you order a few big ships, we can sit down and talk, the most favorable terms can be given in terms of price, the shipyard can also guarantee loans, you will feel the warmth and friendship from Germany."

Count Horvaz chattered about the sale of warships, because it was the most lucrative military-industrial deal, and in this day and age, it was the field that all European naval powers scrambled to enter.

In the world ironclad battleship market

The British undoubtedly occupy the vast majority of the share, and they are even willing to sell powerful warships to enemy countries, such as the Ottoman Empire, such as Tsarist Russia, such as Germany, which makes the British almost swallow the lucrative ironclad battleship market.

Backed by the fleet of the British Royal Navy, which dominates the seven seas, these greedy shipyard owners dare to sell their warships to anyone, and are not afraid of any storm or storm that they will throw.

The British know that spending money can never buy the advanced, and the country will never be strong.

Here, we have to mention the current situation in the world.

Based on Britain's century-old policy of "continental equilibrium", any strong player who rises to the top of the European continent will be suppressed, without exception.

When the French Emperor Napoleon swept through Europe with his powerful army forces, the British organized seven anti-French alliances from 1792 to 1815, and finally exiled the great French god of war to an isolated island twice, and finally died on St. Helena.

At first, in order to confront France, the three most powerful monarchs in Europe, the Russian Emperor Alexander I, the Austrian Emperor Franz II, and the King of the Kingdom of Prussia, Frederick William III, formed an alliance, known as the "Three Emperors Alliance".

After defeating France

The "Three Emperors Alliance" swayed the situation on the European continent, and at the same time became a thorn in the side of the British, trying their best to stir up contradictions among all parties, which eventually led to the collapse of the "Three Emperors Alliance".

Tsarist Russia became famous because it broke the expeditionary force led by the French Emperor Napoleon, and was known as the "European steam steamroller", and the endless gray cattle army made the whole Europe tremble with fear, and after the collapse of the "Three Emperors Alliance", Tsarist Russia became the European gendarme that affected the situation in Europe.

How could the British allow such a powerful presence in Europe to influence the policy of continental balance, and instead target Tsarist Russia and aggressive and expansionist policies.

As a result, in the ensuing Russo-Turkish wars, the British either secretly contributed forces, troops, weapons, and even united with France to form an Anglo-French coalition to intervene in person, resulting in successive defeats for Russia, and even if they paid heavy sacrifices, they could not achieve their original goals.

The latest Russo-Turkish war just ended this year, because of the strong intervention of the British and French forces, Tsarist Russia finally stopped on the banks of the Neva River, looking at the warm Mediterranean Sea and could only sigh in vain.

The successive heavy blows greatly reduced the prestige of Tsarist Russia, and it could no longer play the role of the gendarme of Europe, but became the laughing stock of the European powers.

And that's not all

The situation in Europe has always been a dazzling sight, even if the old treacherous and cunning like the British are a beat slower.

Thanks to the advanced military strategy of the Napoleonic Emperor, even after the restoration of the Bourbons, France had a powerful army that was feared by the whole of Europe, and its profound heritage should not be underestimated.

Shortly thereafter, Napoleon III overthrew the Bourbon dynasty and succeeded in restoring France, leading the rise of France in south-central Europe.

The rise of the Third Reich upset the European equilibrium and became a new target for the British, with the attendant attacks both overtly and covertly.

This time

The British supported the ambitious ambition of the German Emperor Wilhelm I, faced the traditional enemy France, defeated Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War, and forced him to go into exile in England, the French Third Reich completely collapsed, and German Wilhelm I was crowned Emperor of Germany at the Palace of Versailles, France, thus opening the pattern of the five great powers of the European continent.

The five powers were Germany, France, Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

Some people say that the rise of Germany was due to the eloquence and strategy of Wilhelm I, the astonishing alliance of Bismarck, the iron-blooded prime minister, the outstanding talents of German military leaders, and the outstanding performance of the traditional Germanic Junker military aristocracy.

True, but that's just scratching the surface.

In order to get the support of the British and complete the great cause of German unification, Kaiser Wilhelm I married the eldest princess of Victoria for Crown Prince Frederick William Nicholas Carr, and the relationship between Britain and Germany entered a honeymoon period.

The outcome of the victory in the Franco-Prussian War was already sealed in 1859.

How could poor Napoleon III withstand the combined beating of the British and Germans, not to mention the fact that the British took advantage of Europe's fear of the glory days of the Napoleonic dynasty to attract a large number of juniors to cheer on.

The connivance and support of the British Empire, which was hidden behind the scenes, was the greatest decisive factor, and the clever use of four or two means to create a continental situation in which France and Germany were incompatible, and to achieve the desired result of the continental balance policy.

Time into the late 19th century

Kaiser Wilhelm I unified parts of Germany's traditional territory, and his attempts to expand again were ruthlessly interrupted.

Why?

Because the British did not agree, Germany, which is now growing stronger, has become a new target for the British, and the nickname of "European-stirring stick" is not a joke, and no one dares to ignore the opinion of the British, not even Kaiser Wilhelm I.

The world and European order is dominated by the British, and without a deep understanding of this, it is impossible to fully understand the pattern of the post-Franco-Prussian war in Europe, and can only superficially surface.

As a result, decisions are often made in the opposite direction, leading to fatal mistakes.

The nineteenth century was the age of the British, and at the end of the century, no one dared to question that.

Seeing that the great ideal of a complete reunification of Germany's traditional territory had come to naught, Kaiser Wilhelm I's depression and resentment could be imagined, and it was only natural that he would make trouble for the British everywhere in Europe, resulting in the current situation in which the whole European continent was in flames.

While the British were busy putting out fires, they began to make all kinds of small moves to knock Germany, which quickly cooled down the relationship between the two countries, and also made Germany's dream of completely reunifying the German-speaking region always stay in the dream stage.

At this time, the Germans were revealed, the great Wilhelm I was helpless, the iron-blooded chancellor Bismarck could only sigh with admiration, and the warlike Junker military aristocracy could no longer occupy even a mile of land.

The British had already begun to support the French, the Dutch, the Danes, and even the Tsarist Russia, which had just been beaten by the British, to pose a great threat to the nascent German Empire.

Looking around, it turned out that all of them were opponents with solemn hostility, and in the face of a possible siege, how many nails could Germany beat even though it was all iron?

The message from Great Britain is clear;

If you dare to act rashly, you will be beaten so that you can't take care of yourself.

This is the real reason why Germany has not waged foreign wars since the Franco-Prussian War, even if the chaotic Balkan Peninsula is within reach, has broad support in German-speaking Austria, and can easily cut off a large piece of meat from the decaying Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany still honestly guards its existing territory.

Because Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck knew very well that if the anger of Great Britain was really aroused, the road to the rise and revival of the German nation would be completely interrupted, and they could not afford to gamble or lose, let alone try.

Li Fushou's trip to Europe deeply felt this, and the empire on which the sun never sets, which occupies one-third of the world's land area, is at the peak of its glory.