Chapter 1: The Gold of Skagerrak (9)

  "On March 2, due to the premonition that the British might take a surprise action in the North Sea and the High Seas Fleet lacked rapid scouting forces, the Naval Staff secretly formulated a reinforcement plan, recalling the First Scouting Group from its cruise training in the Baltic Sea back to Wilhelmshaven." The old conference room was as silent as death, with only the loud voice of Admiral von Pohl remaining: "Undoubtedly, this is a successful tactical deception, and General von Sleem's reinforcement action on March 2 did not violate naval discipline!"

  "No breach of naval discipline!" Kapeller reeled, something bursting in his brain, blood cooling, body temperature draining, and a blackness before his eyes. In a few breaths, the Navy Minister Kapeller's victory was snatched away from him, and with a ferocious face, he made a desperate struggle as if dying.

  "Impossible! If Xilem wasn't guilty, why did he ignore all sorts of public opinions and criticisms?"

  "General Kappe, have you forgotten the naval code?" Xilem was not surprised that Admiral Pole would speak for him, and his words already had a sharp meaning: "No matter what misunderstandings and accusations there are from outside, before the Naval Committee discusses and forms a unified opinion, I cannot reveal naval secrets for self-protection! When I mentioned the first two mistakes, it has already constituted the third mistake!"

  Is this Silas's third mistake?

  That's the third mistake Xilaim has made!

  Apart from Kappe's sudden intake of breath, there was a brief stillness in the conference room, as everyone was stunned by Kappe's outburst, Zylac's hanging head in shame and General Boll's sudden reversal.

  Most people in the conference room were confused, but Kapeller was clear-headed and had figured everything out in an instant.

  Xilem retreated step by step, confusing the entire audience, and collaborated with General Pol to create a brilliant play. In the third and most crucial mistake, he buried an Easter egg, using a shocking reversal to make a sarcastic remark about Kapeller.

  Yes, it was a stunning reversal. Kappe thought that Seille and the First Reconnaissance Fleet had taken action when they obtained the General Staff's memo, but everything was just a trap, a carefully designed trap, waiting for him to jump in!

  It's about time! After the naval battle, Capelle launched a propaganda campaign. First, he praised Scheer highly and then, through the anti-navy Berliner Tageblatt, subtly revealed Scheer's unauthorized maneuvering problem, finally bringing down the naval hero with one blow.

  Kapeller acted strictly according to plan, but he should have thought that he could get through the naval political storm and turn over the ministerial chair of Georg von Müller under Emperor Wilhelm's suppression. The reason why Heideck-Sileen was silent and waited for death was because of this.

  In this public opinion war, the German people who worship and trust remain silent. However, this silence is not a kind of waiting to see what happens, but a result of compromise between reason and law. The stronger the silence is suppressed, the more intense the backlash will be.

  What is even more frightening is the backlash from the Navy. Heidemarie Steymann has unparalleled prestige among junior officers and ordinary sailors in the Navy, although K?ppeler released the most critical news and rumors through some anti-Navy conservative newspapers, but this flash of inspiration cannot save him. K?ppeler's hatred for Steymann was already well-known to all, and he fanned the flames in the incident, and finally launched a fierce attack at the naval meeting, exposing himself, waiting for him will be the anger of tens of thousands of sailors who fought bloody battles in the North Sea.

  "This is a swindle, damn it, the mongrels from Kiel and the old men of Tirpitz's time have staged a farce together, they have deceived everyone, God should hang them all!"

  K?ppel was tempted to shout insults at General Pohl, but the action he had repeated in his mind thousands of times ultimately remained unfulfilled; he realized that the era of the High Seas Fleet belonging to the House of Hohenzollern had come to an end.

  If Kaeppler couldn't grasp much power in the navy, at least the position of Minister of the Navy could give him the right to participate in decision-making and maintain relative dignity. This time, however, Kaeppler, who was blinded by personal gain, not only lost the support of the naval officers and soldiers but also engraved himself on the pillar of shame in the navy.

  (---Beautiful Separator Line---)

  "Failed again?" The emperor's left arm bulged with veins, his eyes were bloodshot, and he muttered to himself with a dejected expression.

  The Minister of the Navy Cabinet and the Minister of the Navy have always been the left and right arms of Emperor Wilhelm's indirect control over the navy. After the Minister of the Navy Cabinet was overthrown by Seylem, the Minister of the Navy also fell, and the navy had actually "lost control". Wilhelm was very unwilling, because as soon as he walked out of the conference room, the navy would exist as Seylem's ocean fleet, not his Wilhelm-von-Hohenzollern's ocean fleet.

  The emperor was speechless. He wanted to take revenge on the chief of staff, Boll, who had tarnished the dignity of the Hohenzollern family, but he knew that old man Boll wouldn't care. Everyone knew that Boll, who had been suffering from mental illness for a long time, was already at the end of his life and wasn't afraid of any drastic measures.

  "Your Majesty, it's time to take control of the situation..."

  It's no longer a question of how to clean up the mess with Boulanger and Clemenceau, but rather how to respond to the backlash from the imperial people and within the navy. In this storm of public opinion, the methods of Schlo? Charlottenburg are not very clever, Wilhelm even almost went all out, and now he must give an account to the navy, to the people.

  "Betmann-Hollweg, you expect me to take orders from that miserable descendant of a Kiel fisherman?"

  The Emperor William, who had a falling out with Sillem, was slow to get up and ease the situation. The German premier Bethmann-Hollweg, accustomed to cleaning up after the emperor's blunders, shook his head in dismay, ignoring William's bloodthirsty gaze, stood up and loudly proclaimed:

  "As there was no unauthorized movement of troops by Silim during the war, hold a press conference to clarify everything. As for Silim's violation of combat regulations and concealment and alteration of post-war statistical data, let the naval military court handle it."

  Loyal Betmann's words gave Wilhelm the best stage, and the emperor finally loosened his white gloves that had been trampled on by all, and scolded with a sullen face:

  "I announce that the emergency meeting of the high-level naval personnel has concluded!"

  Emperor William left first under the escort of the palace guards, and the naval officers who were guarding outside the venue suppressed their excitement at the bottom of their hearts, made way, and bid farewell to the emperor with a crooked military salute.

  As the emperor's back disappeared from the doorway, a thunderous applause and cheers erupted in the large conference room. More young officers took off their hats to pay respects to the prime minister while pushing their way into the conference room with all their might.

  Prime Minister Bettmann turned his head and looked at Seiler with a hint of astonishment, amazed that this young man from a humble fishing family in Kiel, who had once worked as a dockworker and was exiled overseas by Wilhelm for over a decade, could conquer the unruly navy in just over a year and remove the influence of the House of Hohenzollern from it.

  "This is a glorious moment!"

  Weary Wang Haitao's face broke into a faint smile as he gave his supporters a standard military salute, and the next second, Wang Haitao was lifted up by his supporters, high above the sky.

  "Long live General Xi Lai! Long live the General!"

  Wang Haitie felt as if she had flown to the clouds, William's gloomy face, the palace guards' fearful faces like they were facing a great enemy, Kapell's mournful expression, and the reporters who had just escaped from Wang Haitie's eyes. Here there was salty sea wind and the majestic North Atlantic, here there were iron fleets, here there were lovely people, even if she died on this magnificent land, she would have no regrets.

  "My girlfriend, really, I like this feeling of striving forward!"

  (---Beautiful Separator Line---)

  The story does not belong to the already aged general. The chief of staff, Pol, lazily got up and swayed among the conservative dignitaries of the defeated Navy Department, lifting his feet towards the outside of the Naval Building. At this time, Wolfgang Weigand, who had secretly slipped out of the naval hospital, stopped him and asked in a low voice:

  "General, may I ask why? As a noble, your choice in the hall will bring a stain to your military career."

  "This, well..." Admiral Bohlke paused, using a jest to deflect another sentiment, and said calmly: "The relationships between old guys from the Tirpitz era are probably something you'll never guess. Maybe we can be divided and used, maybe we can be restrained and balanced, but in the end, we're not mature politicians, we're just soldiers!"

  General Bole walked out of the conference room with his military cap on, and when he was about to leave, he turned back, looked at Xilaimu with a deep gaze full of nostalgia, and his face was filled with the melancholy of the years.

  "It's a pity, we've grown old..."

  Although Bohr spoke vaguely, Wigner soon understood what he meant without being dubbed "the twin jewels of naval strategy".

  "It's not that the general is old, but Xilem was too outstanding, making people of the same generation feel ashamed!" Veigener no longer blocked Pol's way, but instead stood up straight and gave Pol the most solemn military salute.

  The old general's face lit up again, and he strolled a few steps away before seemingly remembering something. He turned back, patted Wiegand on the shoulder, and asked with interest:

  "By the way, while I'm still in this position, young man, are you interested in joining my staff?"

  "Don't worry about me, General." Wiegner looked down at the now empty sleeve and smiled faintly: "Since I fell off the warship, then I - Wolfgang Wiegner will get back up on the warship!"

  Bo did not insist and turned around to walk out of the Navy Headquarters building. As soon as he stepped out, fresh air and warm sunshine rushed towards him.

  "One-armed general, Bernhard von Orten's taste is good!"

  (---Beautiful Separator Line---)

  March 20, 1915, Imperial Berlin.

  The Navy Department had announced earlier that the investigation and evidence collection by the Navy's independent inspector would be completed within eight days, and on March 20, the Navy Military Court will try Suleiman.

  The weather in Berlin was not particularly good that day, with a cold wind and several dull grey clouds stubbornly lingering on the horizon. However, this did not deter the enthusiasm of the Germans. Berliners and supporters who had rushed from afar gathered outside the courthouse to welcome back their wronged naval hero.

  "How long will the trial last? Will there be any unexpected events?" asked Professor Brandeis, a neighbor of Wang Haitao, looking at the closed door of the military court guarded by soldiers and police.

  "I'm not worried about this!"

  Little Brandais stood on a stone slab, tiptoeing and twisting awkwardly, his thirteen-year-old boyish voice issuing wisdom that didn't belong to someone of that age:

  "After the Battle of the North Sea, General Scheer was transferred to the Imperial Navy Minister, Admiral Hipper took over as Commander-in-Chief of the High Seas Fleet, Major General Schmidt was transferred to Commander of the Third Squadron, Major General Mauve was transferred to Commander of the First Squadron, and Rear Admiral Behrnik concurrently served as Commander of the Second Squadron. The position of deputy commander is temporarily vacant. I wonder if General Westerem will take over as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the High Seas Fleet after the war."

  The 37-year-old deputy commander will be promoted to commander-in-chief, it's just a matter of time. He is only an inch away from realizing his ideal of joining the Navy in Little Brandon.

  Berlin, Naval Court-Martial.

  Representatives of the naval officers and sailors, reporters from mainstream German newspapers, Annie, Evie, Fr?ulein and Herr Schreckert rose from their seats in the gallery, flashbulbs popped, the air was thick with anticipation as everyone waited for the military judge's final verdict.

  "In view of the fact that Britain, before the Battle of the North Sea, declared unrestricted submarine warfare against the Empire under neutral flags, thereby violating the laws of war, I rule that General Westerheim's use of Norwegian flags during reconnaissance operations in the Skagerrak did not violate the law; after the Battle of the North Sea, it cannot be proven solely on the basis of testimony from captured British sailors that all personnel on board the reconnaissance ships were killed in action, therefore I rule that General Westerheim's insistence on listing the personnel as missing after the battle does not violate the law; regarding the issue of General Westerheim's breach of secrecy at the naval conference, since the independent inspector did not bring charges on this matter, the court-martial will not pursue it."

  Even if the courtroom was a place of solemnity, the gallery could not restrain its emotions. Cheers erupted, almost drowning out the military judge's reading of the verdict.

  "In conclusion, I declare General Suleiman not guilty and order his immediate release!"