Chapter 1: The Gold of Skagerrak (Seven)

  Germany is a high-latitude country, with cold and dry winters, mild and rainy summers, and only the southwestern valleys and the foothills of the Alps can guarantee sufficient sunshine hours.

  In March, the warm spring did not arrive, and the cold wind occasionally ravaged the land of Germany. Most areas of Germany were still shrouded in gloom. However, Berlin seemed to be an exception. This metropolis, which is not lacking in medieval classics and stability, but also reveals modern sharpness everywhere, rarely welcomed the long-lost sunshine.

  The sky that had cleared up could hardly hold any excess impurities, the blood-red sunset hung at the horizon, a few clouds made lazy embellishments.

  Occasionally, some industrial-era steam is sprayed out of the manhole covers on the underground pipes. A long line has formed in front of the bakery. People are strolling in the park in twos and threes. The Berliners have brought the strictness of the German nation into their lives. Except for the ubiquitous recruitment advertisements and the noise from the newspapers, the dusk here is quiet. Berlin did not experience too much backlash from the war.

  "The Ministry of the Navy announced an emergency high-level meeting on March 11th in the afternoon to discuss whether to accept General Haeti Silem's resignation and let the naval inspector intervene in the investigation of all events!"

  The slanting sunlight was evenly sprinkled on the body, which was a refreshing taste, but the Berliners holding the "Berliner Tageblatt" felt icy all over their bodies.

  Yesterday was a day with too many stories happening, so that the major German newspapers rushed to write overnight and issued extra editions.

  The mighty British Empire was in disarray: Lloyd George resigned, the Conservatives almost bloodlessly seized power; the strong-willed Arthur Balfour and the technocratic Henry Jackson succeeded as First Lord of the Admiralty and Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, respectively, with a purge of the Royal Navy's high command.

  After a series of crisis PR moves by the government, proud Britons finally calmed down, only to feel a chill run down their spines. It was an unfamiliar cold sweat for the subjects of the empire on which the sun never sets, as arch-enemy Germany and Italy were at their gates.

  How many years has Britain not encountered such an embarrassing situation? In the Second Anglo-Dutch War in ancient times, the Dutch had brazenly bombarded the British Empire's coastline in the Battle of Lowestoft. In November, William of Orange led 14,000 Dutch soldiers to land on the mainland of the British Empire, known as the Glorious Revolution.

  This is the last memory of the British people's arrogant and boastful resistance to foreign invasion. If it weren't for the Battle of Dogger Bank, history would have been forgotten, lost in the corner of memory. After the North Sea battle, the British could no longer find a fig leaf to cover their shame, and no matter how much they reminisced about the past, they couldn't change the dire situation facing Britain:

  The Harwich Force was crippled, although the loss of warships and personnel was only a drop in the bucket for the British Empire, but it would take a generation to recover from the blow to their morale. The Channel Fleet had been severely weakened by Churchill's disastrous Dardanelles campaign and was now stuck in the mud of Germany's U-boat and mine warfare, unable to extricate itself. As for the pride of the British Isles - the Grand Fleet, was there anything worse than them?

  When Arthur Balfour, the British First Lord of the Admiralty, came to power, he announced that Britain would use its full shipbuilding potential to crush the High Seas Fleet with sheer numbers; after Winston Churchill, the former First Lord of the Admiralty, stepped down, he announced the formation of an independent army unit, the 6th Battalion Rifle Brigade, with a strength of no more than six hundred men, which was sent to the French battlefield as a volunteer force. The British choice delighted the Germans, who were accustomed to fighting against superior numbers.

  On March 10, in the U.S. House of Representatives debate, facing Republican criticism, President Wilson reaffirmed the principle of neutrality. He not only cited the example of the Battle of the North Sea that shocked the world but also revealed for the first time the number of American casualties in the European war.

  The War of Independence, the American Civil War, and the United States had a lot of unpleasantness with its former suzerain state - Britain. However, between these two countries that share the same roots, there were still countless ties that could not be severed. At the outbreak of the European war, the United States organized more than two battalions of volunteer soldiers to join the French battlefield. The rearmament and training took a lot of time, so the two battalions did not catch up with the brutal 1914 border war and the Battle of the Marne, but in 1915, the Champagne region's salient battle, Americans finally participated, and the cowboys from America joined forces with the British to attack German positions, then lost nearly two-thirds of their troops in one day.

  The figures cited by Wilson sent shockwaves through the pacifist Uncle Sam, who should know that in March 1915, the entire United States had only two South Carolina-class, two Delaware-class, two Florida-class, two Wyoming-class and two New York-class dreadnoughts, a total of ten, meaning that a moderate-sized Dogger Bank-style battle would be enough to cost the Americans over one-third of their fighting strength, not to mention the recently concluded North Sea Battle, which would likely send the world's third-ranked US Navy back to the pre-dreadnought era.

  As for the army, with tens of thousands of casualties in Europe every day, how can America's supposedly more "elite" army than Britain hold on?

  After the parliamentary debate, every Republican received countless pairs of shoes and bullets with clips. The opening of Wall Street's financial markets can be expected to be turbulent, a short distance from British government bonds being treated as plague and panic-selling, Balfour's anticipated new bond plan is not far from stillbirth.

  In distant Southern and Southeastern Europe, the passive situation of the Allies was almost reversed overnight.

  Italy, Giolitti for the first time broke his principle of not upsetting the order of the kingdom, provoking a certain degree of opposition between Parliament and the King. King Victor Emmanuel hastily terminated all negotiations, while Foreign Minister Sonnino visited Berlin on March 10th.

  The Entente had once been close to bringing this struggling Mediterranean power into the imperialist camp, but the British themselves blew it. Italy did not immediately turn to the Central Powers, but when two Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts and an armoured cruiser cruised off Durazzo on 9 March, Sonnino's visit to Berlin at least ten days earlier had already shown what was afoot.

  This was not the end of the Entente's lucky day. On March 7, Bulgaria sent an ultimatum to Serbia, which belonged to the Entente, demanding that Serbia withdraw from Bulgarian Macedonia by March 11 and compensate for losses.

  Since the outbreak of the European war, many neutral nationals have accused Serbs of worsening the situation with their carelessness after the Sarajevo incident and accelerating the outbreak of the war. The Serbs are responsible for the outbreak of the war. On March 10, 1915, the simple and rough logic of the Serbs in dealing with the crisis shocked the world again.

  Belgrade spent three days in conferences, so that the British ambassador complained that Serbian politicians could do nothing but hold meetings and shout a few slogans. With only one day left before Bulgaria's final ultimatum expired, Serbia not only failed to come up with any practical solution, but instead sent a strongly worded telegram of refusal to the Bulgarian king.

  Bulgaria was enraged, on the evening of March 10th at 8 o'clock Bulgaria declared general mobilization, ten minutes later King Ferdinand read out a declaration of war against Serbia. At 9:33 pm, the first troops entered the Macedonian region controlled by Serbs and clashed with Serbian troops deployed along the border.

  On the evening of March 10, at 9 o'clock, King Nicholas I of Montenegro, who had declared that "the fate of Serbia is the fate of Montenegro" and was eager to defend his neutrality, hastily declared war on Serbia, and his weak army also advanced northward under cover of night.

  Newspapers, extras and radio were full of news that made the Allies' blood boil, but for Berliners, all this was nothing compared to the news of the resignation of Admiral Heidkamp, a hero of the German people.

  A few days ago, the "Neue Preu?ische Zeitung", which has consistently taken an anti-Navy stance, was the first to reveal hints of unauthorized movements by the North Sea Battle Fleet's First Reconnaissance Squadron. Due to its fear of Heide Kampe's unparalleled influence in the Empire, the "Neue Preu?ische Zeitung" chose a very subtle way to hint at this to its readers, with its criticism directly aimed at Kampe.

  The Berliners initially thought that the Prussian Gazette's report was a fabrication, after all, the Junker-dominated Neue Preu?ische Zeitung had consistently opposed both the Navy and Hede M?ller. The Neue Preu?ische Zeitung's insult to Hede M?ller enraged the Berliners, who besieged the newspaper office in protest, demanding that the editor publish an apology.

  Two days ago, the vast majority of Imperial newspapers received a signed material from the Naval Staff Office, with many participating sailors, lower-level officers of the Naval Staff Office and Wilhelmshaven logistics personnel endorsing it. As a result, more and more media outlets are condemning Heidemarie Stefanyin, and the Imperial Propaganda Department seems to have been interfered with by some external force, remaining indifferent to this chaos.

  The Berliners have finally realized the brilliant tactical deception of their revered Admiral Heidk?mper before the Battle of the North Sea - leading the First Reconnaissance Fleet on a long-range raid from the Baltic without the consent of the Naval Staff, that is, this was a completely unauthorized maneuver.

  Germany is a country obsessed with discipline and adherence to rules, unimaginable to ordinary people. The Germans do not reject creativity and imagination, nor do they dislike victory and glory, but this does not mean that they can tolerate arbitrary mobilization. In this land of philosophers, the nation that always takes an isolated stance against the world has not yet learned to be pragmatic, and in their minds, temporary victories cannot be equated with long-term systems.

  "But he is General Heidik Silleim after all! He has held posts in almost every desolate colony of Germany, and more than once staked his life to win victories. After the decisive battle in the North Sea, he collapsed from exhaustion in his own command post's rest room! For such a general who has devoted himself to the German people, where can one bear to?"

  Confusion is inevitable. The emotionally complex Berliners fell silent, and the Navy also chose to be silent in the face of pressure.

  On March 11, 1915, two shocking pieces of news coincided: the Berliner Morgenpost, Germany's largest circulation newspaper, unexpectedly published a letter of resignation signed by Heidkamp; and the Navy would hold an emergency high-level meeting on the afternoon of March 11 to discuss whether to accept General Heidkamp's resignation and allow the Navy's independent inspector to intervene in the investigation of the entire incident.

  "Although the young people of Deutscher compared me to Franz Liszt, although the Imperial Navy officers affectionately called me 'the unbeatable Ares of the Navy', and although the Empire and its allies saw me as a key figure who could turn the tide of sea battles, I, Heidieselheim, must admit that I made an unforgivable mistake in the naval battle that just ended."

  "Perhaps my influence in the Imperial Court can help me avoid blame, but a soldier's integrity and human conscience are questioning my soul every moment. Yes, as criticized by the Germania Report, I should not continue to remain silent, I should take responsibility and resign!"

  "Without the High Seas Fleet, Heidkamp is just a descendant of Kiel fishermen, a patriot worried about the imperial war effort. But without Heidkamp, the High Seas Fleet remains that iron fleet which dares to defy the raging sea and challenge authority. The Navy still has the brave General Scheer, the wise Admiral Hipper, and young people like Raeder and Wegener - I will continue to support the Empire, long live Germany!"

  (Dividing line)

  1. Friedrich List, a modern German reformer and advocate of the German Customs Union, the greatest behind-the-scenes contributor to German unification.