Chapter 1: The Gold of Skagerrak (2)

  Heligoland Bight, within sight of Wilhelmshaven and Jade Bay, the German sailors who had fought for over seven hours could even see the reddish-brown cliffs on the north shore of Heligoland Island, but everything was ultimately irretrievable.

  The setting sun's lingering gaze on the horizon, the faint light cast a bloody hue over the vast and apathetic sea. The stern, turrets, and Emil cannon had already submerged underwater, the bow deck barely exposed above the surface, waves gently lapping at the remaining ten-centimeter-high gunwale, surging across the deck in a frenzy.

  Sailors holding bugles and iron clamps gathered on the forecastle, counting their numbers. Seaman First Class Franz Seldte carefully folded the naval flag that had been lowered and handed it back to Captain K?hler.

  The towing cable was cut by the Derfflinger, and the last batch of retreating sailors from Deutschland climbed aboard the lifeboat, immediately collapsing onto the wet deck with oil stains and bloodstains, gasping for air. Captain Karl K?ller hesitated to leave his warship, a soldier who never surrendered, knelt down on the deck that had been eroded by the waves, bowed his head and lightly kissed his new companion who was about to sink.

  The First Reconnaissance Fleet sounded the whistle, startling many foraging and nesting seabirds. The whistle spread, and the Ocean Fleet also joined in to bid farewell to the departed iron hero. Captain Koller finally stood up straight, with tears swirling in his eyes, rubbing the hull for a long time before jumping onto the swaying lifeboat.

  The destroyer approached, under the solemn and majestic atmosphere, three white waterlines crashed into the Deutschland. The dying Deutschland's hull shook violently, at 17:51, the Deutschland sank.

  The prolonged whistle finally dissipated, and the sailors of the Lev Sofiev still crowded on the deck, commemorating the most tragic moment in the history of the Great Ocean Fleet.

  "The Battle of Jutland, 'the German fleet attacked its prison guards but was still locked in'. Wang Haitao did not go out, he locked himself in the commander's room and let his long-suppressed emotions erupt."

  A glass of ice water sat on the table, painkillers scattered all over the floor from the box, Wang Haitian was completely unaware, he opened his mouth and laughed unscrupulously. It seemed like it had been too long since he last laughed so recklessly, the otaku had almost forgotten this action, he laughed until his hair stood on end, laughed until his heart was torn apart.

  "'Why should a man not wear a Wu hook, take over the fifty states of Guan Shan', and wrestle with Emperor William, sink five British war cruisers, become an irreplaceable figure in the Imperial Navy. Ah, what an achievement!"

  The otaku had laughed until he was exhausted, but the feeling of fatigue and drowsiness came flooding in like a tide. His weak legs finally gave out, and he knelt softly on the floor. The laughter was hard to sustain, and when he turned his head, Wang Haiting's face already had two lines of clear tears.

  "Yes, I changed history, I gave Germany a glimmer of hope for success! But, but I don't want these, I just want to go home!"

  The hoarse and exhausted roar echoed back and forth in the small cabin, Wang Haiting listened to the echoes round after round, and then closed her heavy eyelids...

  Like a distant and long-lasting dream, the dream has children's songs, sailors' stories, warships' taps and thunderous coastal artillery sounds; The dream has calm 'Borodino' sea, wild chrysanthemum and dense cypress; The dream has white 'St. Nicholas' cathedral, noisy steam trains and shuttling city trams; The dream has a strong-willed old naval father who never gives up, an ailing mother; The dream has the sweet kiss of a girl under the old oak tree, and also the poverty that cannot be shaken off in the lower-class district's shanty house.

  "What a familiar dream!"

  A familiar scene made Wang Haitie panic and hesitate. He had not forgotten the slap on the ear of the "girl" outside the wooden shed, he had not forgotten the painful crying on the eve of his new marriage in the cold winter, and he had not forgotten the blood and fire on the coast of Jutland. Under the dark as ink, Wang Haitie felt that he was locked in heavy shackles, standing at a crossroads with no room for choice.

  After groping in the dark for a long time, the sky brightened. Here is the breakwater of Kiel Fjord, an old painter with white hair sits on a small wooden stool to sketch. Sharp lines, tortuous structure, chaotic blocks, crimson watercolor, the beautiful Bora sea in the painter's world has become inexplicable despair.

  "No, Kiel shouldn't be like this!" Wang Haitian shouted rudely at the old man.

  "It was originally like this!" The painter replied in the increasingly unfamiliar Chinese of Wang Haoti. Wang Haoti was shocked, he unconsciously clenched his fists, and the explosive emotions stirred, as if they were about to burst out of the heavily sealed inner heart and pour onto the old man all at once.

  Before the old man could turn around, Wang Haitie sprang forward like a nimble leopard and grabbed his collar, shouting: "You stinky Taoist, how dare you still come out!"

  Originally wearing a suit that was out of place, the painter holding a brush was actually an old Taoist priest who sold tricks on the Tianqiao Bridge in University Town from another time and space.

  "Listen, get me out of here before I lose control of my anger or I'll blow your brains out!"

  "A year and a half ago, under the deliberate suppression of the Navy Department, you were like a wild grass without a floating leaf struggling to survive in the desolate Turkish land; A year ago, with the help of the Minister of the Navy, you returned to the home fleet and became the chief of staff of a branch fleet; Half a year ago, you proved your strategic vision and command ability through two naval battles and stood firm in the navy; Two months ago, you withstood the political storm in the navy and launched a decisive sea battle without the approval of the General Staff.

  Facing the angry Wang Haidi, the old Taoist did not avoid or flinch, neither spoke fiercely nor begged for mercy, he just quietly looked at Wang Haidi, brewing for a long time before reopening: "Young man, your ideal of building merits and establishing achievements has reached the harvest season, can you really bear to give up the hard-won glory?"

  "That's just a temporary solution, it's just a means to preserve 'life'!" Wang Haitian was still annoyed, but had already shown signs of weakening.

  "In Germany, there are two 'girls' who won't let you go. Catherine knew that you still had a shadow in your heart, but she still gave her first time to you, trying hard to build a family with you; Annie knew that you didn't like her, but she loved you unconditionally, giving birth to an adorable daughter for you, taking care of your family without complaint, and anxiously waiting for her husband to return home." The old Taoist swept away Wang Haitian's hand, sat back down on the small wooden stool in front of the painting board, with a glint of wisdom in his eyes: "Young man, can you really bear to give up your family, love your wife and your beloved daughter?"

  "Don't scare me with my 'girl'!" Wang Haitian's emotions surged, and he angrily waved his arm, only to find himself at a loss for words. "No, I've only loved the little 'girlfriend' from my previous life. I distanced myself from Annie because she was too similar to my little 'girlfriend', which terrified me! I chose Catherine because she's the opposite of my little 'girlfriend', and being with her won't be a burden..."

  "In the past, Germany lost a war of attrition against the Allies. Now you have rewritten history with victory after victory at sea, breaking the Allied blockade of Germany: to the south, you can cut off the vital English Channel from France; to the west, you can threaten and isolate the British Empire; to the east, you can strike directly at Russia's industrial heartland. The German Empire has gained unprecedented initiative."

  "Young man, the High Seas Fleet and the German Empire are at a crossroads of life and death. You are the vane of the navy and the hidden helmsman. Know that if you choose to give up...". The old Taoist put down his brush and watercolors, and handed the oil painting to Wang Haitian: "Then this is the end of Germany!"

  "Old Daoist, I'm not that important!" The overbearing tone turned into panic, Wang Haitian subconsciously pushed the oil painting back, stubbornly refusing to believe that his already shaken heart had been disturbed. "Sher and Hipper generals, as well as Raeder and Wegener, can handle all of this!"

  "Heidi-Xile, your words have offended your own heart!" The old Taoist's nervous and talkative face finally revealed a hint of a smile: "In my life, I've helped those with fate fulfill their dreams, but I'm also responsible for destroying the dreams of those with fate. I possess the power to destroy heaven and earth; all this isn't difficult, as long as you know what your own heart truly desires!"

  "What is it that you want?"

  Wang Haitie no longer had the energy to be angry and resentful, but on the day of Heather's funeral, a certain soft spot in her heavily wrapped and sealed heart was touched.

  To escape the responsibility of his young mistress, Wang Haitian made a so-called transcendent ideal to the old Taoist with all his heart. To protect his family ties, or to make up for the guilt of not being able to take care of his parents in his previous life, Wang Haitian put aside his pride as a rich and handsome man, struggled on the dock, joined the Imperial Navy, and tried to save this family that was sinking on the road of no return. For the sake of dignity, Wang Haitian wandered overseas for more than a decade, and to protect himself and his loved ones' lives, he led the Ocean Fleet to confront the Royal Navy head-on.

  "For what, too many 'for'! I, Wang Haitian, or Heidiseilem, what do I want?!"

  Dockworkers jumping and cursing the old Taoist, the son of the 'chicken' 'legs' in the slum fantasy, the lover's palm covering Annie's shallow 'kiss', the death of Mother Heather, the persistence of Old Navy Fracy, Bronte's selfless patriotism, those were the difficult years that cannot be looked back; The romanticism of Keel Three Swordsman, the joy of Betty's all-night chatter, the tears in front of the church at night and the clear tears holding 'daughter', and the 16-year-old wandering away from home, those were the young people's years filled with complicated emotions; Returning to the Pacific Fleet's smooth sailing, the political storm's strategic planning, the North Sea's thunderous gunfire and choking gunpowder smoke, the taste of victory and the newspaper's lengthy reports, that was the great era belonging to men!

  "Unconsciously, Germany has left me with so many memories, and I have left my mark on Germany!" The long-suppressed doubts in my heart were finally lifted. It wasn't an exciting epiphany or a sudden enlightenment, nor was it a liberation of the soul or body. That feeling was very natural and smooth, and no matter how beautiful the language, it's hard to put into words! "This time, I'm not here for anything in particular, but because I want to stay. I want to re-embrace the people I love on this land, and I want to fight side by side with this nation that has fallen into difficulties and is struggling to free itself."

  Wang Haitie spoke to herself, unaware that everything was flowing again.

  "Oh God, Haitian, you're finally awake!" A surprised cry came from beside his ear, and before Wang Haitian could react, a warm and soft body had already fallen on top of him, sobbing.

  Emperor William and Navy Minister Capelle stood far away in the corner of the sickroom, while Scherer, Hipper, Fregattenkapit?n Vanselow, daughter Annie and loyal companion Redl were present. It was just a terrible dream, Queen Heidie smiled faintly, her rough hand stroking through her wife's long hair filled with the faint scent of soap, a silhouette slowly fading away, opening her mouth to whisper: "Annie, I love you!"

  Happiness, happiness seems to have come too suddenly. The three words that had almost spread between lovers, no matter how Annie 'forced' her husband, could not be uttered from his mouth, but unexpectedly, in the best hospital in Berlin, Annie got what she wanted.

  "So, may I have a small glass of brandy?"

  "Although the young man still has a shackle in his heart that hasn't been unlocked, fortunately he doesn't plan to travel back, so can I have my business license returned now?"

  The Space-Time Management Bureau's service hall, a detestable old Taoist nodded and bowed to the busy clerks who were watching Mango TV's self-made "Youth" hot-blooded motivational drama.

  ……