Chapter 4 This is the best of times, this is the worst of times (3)

  The bed was very comfortable, unlike the creaky old bed in that small wooden hut in Kiel's lower district, nor like the narrow military bed at Kiel Military School, and even less like the crowded passageway bed on the Friedrich Karl. This bed was not only soft and bright, but also faintly scented with a girl's body fragrance. Drunken Wang Haitao had a spring dream in his daze, where there were arrogant little girlfriends, hotels in Huangshan Tangkou Town, and more intimate matters between men and women that couldn't be shared with outsiders.

  Waking up, Wang Haitian slightly opened his eyes and saw a dazzling brightness through the blinds, with a hint of annoyance on his face, guessing that it was already high noon outside.

  After a hangover, he always felt dry mouth and tongue, headache, and the otaku had no time to think about how he ended up in the hotel room, nor did he have time to recall who changed him into a nightgown. The lazy otaku didn't even bother getting out of bed to pour himself a glass of water. He wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, turned over and tried to sleep some more, closing his eyes to continue savoring the lingering aftertaste of last night's erotic dream.

  The sound of a girl's murmurs came from beside him, a warm and soft body was close to Wang Haitian, the smooth skin was against Wang Haitian's back, and Wang Haitian could even feel the bulge in front of the girl's chest. A snow-white wrist wrapped around Wang Haitian's stiff head, gently sticking to his face.

  "I'm going to go, wasn't last night just a dream?" The otaku's cold sweat came down instantly, and his morning erection instantly softened. Wang Haitian seemed to have already foreseen the good young man being taken away by the police due to his drunken promiscuity, his reputation ruined.

  Thinking of this, Wang Haiting couldn't help but want to slap herself. The otaku wasn't good at drinking, but he still liked to show off. In his previous life, he was drunk by his little girlfriend with just a few words and lost the ** he had saved for almost 20 years for no reason. He got on her pirate ship, but at least there was an emotional foundation. However, in this life, the otaku himself got drunk and lost the ** of this life in a daze. Currently, it seems that he still has to risk his dog's life. The otaku felt embarrassed no matter how he thought about it.

  Wang Haitie slowly crawled out of bed, carefully separating her body from the girl's, and hastily scrambled to the door in her pajamas. The otaku lingered at the door for a long time, waiting until his panicked heart had calmed down slightly, before daring to open his eyes to see who the girl lying on the bed was.

  On the luxuriously decorated bed, Wang Haitian's military uniform and underwear, the girl's dress, undergarments, and hair accessories were scattered all over the place. A blonde girl was hugging a thin quilt and sleeping soundly, exposing large areas of her snow-white skin to the air without any reserve.

  "Katherine..." Heidi involuntarily let out a sigh of relief, feeling that his precarious life had been spared. He immediately reacted: Katherine wouldn't work either, taking away the girl's body for no reason and not having to take any responsibility, even in the open-minded 21st century, there was no such good thing, and his own girlfriend from his previous life was proof of that!

  Wang Haitian finally found his clothes, rummaged through the military uniform pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, trembling as he lit one up. After the light blue smoke rose, the otaku was afraid of disturbing Catherine again, so he opened the blinds and stood in front of the window, smoking one after another.

  "When did you wake up?" A shy voice came from behind the girl.

  "It's been a while......" Wang Haiting extinguished her cigarette, with a look of despair on her face.

  "It's good that you didn't run away, or else I really wouldn't have known what to do..." Catherine blushed and tightly wrapped the quilt around her body, not letting out a single ray of spring light.

  Christianity does not advocate premarital sex, and Europeans are more realistic and pragmatic than the Koreans who hold onto their faith as a moral baseline. Catherine is a devout Protestant, which shows how much determination the girl had last night to accept him.

  "Last night?" Wang Haitie muttered hesitantly, holding onto a glimmer of hope.

  "I heard you graduated from military school and got drunk at a tavern, I was worried you'd drink too much so I came to check on you. As it turned out, you really were drunk, I was concerned no one would take care of you, so I brought you here. Heidi, I've entrusted everything to you, you won't abandon me, will you..."

  Wang Haitie felt a bit awkward, he touched his nose and wanted to say something heroic "What's there to be afraid of, I'll take responsibility for you", but the image of his little girlfriend kept flashing before his eyes, making it impossible for the otaku to utter those words.

  Catherine waited for a long time, but ultimately didn't get Wang Haiting's response. The expectant look on her face dissipated, and the crystal-like tears were already swirling in her eye sockets.

  "Alright, I'll marry you, as long as Dick and Villani don't object..." Wang Haitian took a roundabout way to save the situation, trying to gloss over the matter. Catherine's mother, Villani, was a selfish woman who would never allow Wang Haitian to take her daughter home.

  ****

  In the blink of an eye, it was already 1898. Rader was assigned to the flagship of the Second Fleet, Deutschland, where he met the talented Lieutenant Wolfgang Wegener and participated in the occupation of Jiaozhou Bay, China. Oden appeared on the new large ironclad Augusta Kaiserin, becoming a torpedo officer. Wang Haitie remained at Navy Headquarters, serving as secretary to the Imperial Navy Office, and was promoted to naval lieutenant in March 1898, embodying the spirit of youthful success.

  April 10, 1898, Berlin, Germany, Reichstag building.

  The German Empire was a monarchical state, and the Reichstag had little power in the political landscape of Germany. Nevertheless, the Reichstag building was the domain of the members of parliament, and even high-ranking officials from the Navy Ministry, Army representatives, Prussian Kingdom officials, and Emperor Wilhelm II himself could only sit quietly in the audience seats and were not allowed to make a sound, otherwise they would be thrown out by the President of the Reichstag.

  Heidi Silem, who has just been promoted to naval lieutenant, stood on the podium of Congress, facing the overwhelming criticism from the members, sometimes inserting jokes and laughter, sometimes raising her arms and shouting with spirit, and sometimes frowning like Bai Yansong, dissolving the provocation of the members one by one.

  "Ensign von Seylem, as the old Chancellor said, the German Empire does not need a powerful navy, that would only arouse the suspicion of the English!" exclaimed Liberal member Schmidt.

  "As of 1897, our German Empire Navy ranks seventh in the world, and its total tonnage is even less than a fraction of that of the British. But did the British not suspect us even then?" Wang Haitian wore a naval uniform, his expression solemn yet with a hint of confident smile: "Schmidt MP, I'd like to ask you, after the 'Kruger Telegram' incident in 1895, when the British issued a warning of war against us, did they consider the sincerity of the German people?! When they arbitrarily intercepted and inspected our merchant ships, did they consider our tolerance?! In my view, it is precisely because our German Navy is not yet strong enough that the British dare to be so reckless. Remember, truth lies only within the range of cannons!"

  "Captain von Seydlitz, Germany is a latecomer to modernization, we lack the original accumulation of capital, I think the naval expansion plan will greatly consume the national strength of Germany!" Congressman Schmidt seemed to be at odds with the Navy, entangling and saying.

  "Honorable members of the parliament, it is not our navy that needs a strong fleet of battleships, but the German nation needs it, the national interests of Germany need it, and the descendants of Germany need it!" Wang Heiti responded with powerful words, stirring up the emotions of the parliamentarians: "We need a strong navy, so as not to repeat the scene of 1870 when French warships blocked our ships at the mouth of the Elbe River, and so that the British will not dare to search our vessels at will. We need a strong navy, and if we lack capital, we can find other ways to solve it, but the constraints on Germany's economy due to scarce resources and a small domestic market cannot be solved by any other means than with iron and blood, using a powerful navy to expand Germany's territory, and using colonies rich in resources, populous, and vast in market to revitalize Germany. Therefore, building a strong navy is not just the gospel of the navy, but the common demand of 60 million German people!"

  "Mr. von Seydlitz, how does the Navy face pressure from Britain?" asked old Junker nobleman Deputy von Kuehlmann in a neutral tone.

  The navy was to be expanded over the next seven years to a fleet of nineteen battleships, nine armoured cruisers and twenty-six light cruisers. The aim of this expansion was to create a force capable of matching that of France, deterring other nations and not provoking Britain, which it could not possibly challenge for naval supremacy. Tirpitz's favourite phrase, the "Risk Theory", was trotted out by Heidkamp without hesitation: "This fleet will be a purely defensive one, peaceful, with no intention to challenge any other nation's sea power; its existence is to prevent any of the world's greatest powers from challenging it, lest they put their own supremacy at risk! Since this fleet exists for strategic purposes of deterrence and intimidation alone, Britain has no reason to exert pressure on us, nor do we need to pay heed to British pressure!"

  The rebuttal time has ended, and Wang Haitie walked down from the podium of Congress with pride, receiving thunderous applause from the pro-Navy lawmakers and cheers from his naval colleagues present.

  Members of Congress began voting on the "Enlargement Bill" under the chairmanship of the Speaker.

  "It seems that the Reichstag can no longer stop the Army Bill......" The situation was settled, Emperor William II let out a sigh of relief and decided to leave early. As he was about to exit, Emperor William II pushed aside the guards surrounding him and said to his Minister of the Navy: "Alfred, you are Germany's hero!"

  "No, Your Majesty! The battleships with the Iron Cross and Black-White-Red flags are about to set sail across the seas, the Empire's colonies and coaling stations will soon be spread all over the world, and a great era for the German Navy is coming, which you have created!"

  Tirpitz was a man of great energy and ambition, who aspired to create for Germany a high seas fleet capable of rivaling that of Britain. Tirpitz had been preparing for this moment since 1892 when he became chief of the naval staff, at which time the admiralty was controlled by conservative old-line officers who were so out of touch with reality that they even talked about putting sails on warships flying the Iron Cross flag. Tirpitz maneuvered within the admiralty to push aside these older officers and in a most ungentlemanly fashion forced his predecessor, Admiral Friedrich von Hollmann, into retirement. Between 1897-1898 he prepared a grand naval program along with its technical specifications, and skillfully used every trick in the book to promote his agenda among political leaders, the press, and the public.

  Overthrow the old men of the Navy Department, get along with Foreign Minister Bernhard von Bülow, and leave young and impulsive Heidebrand to be his own secretary. Visit the elder statesmen of the Kingdom of Prussia, spread the maritime tradition of the Hanseatic League through the Kiel Sailing Festival, and translate and publish "The Influence of Sea Power upon History" in large quantities in Germany. The Naval Association was established in 1898, and the "Naval Yearbook" was published in Berlin. At the age of fifty, Tirpitz devoted his life to the German Navy. Now, with gray hair on both sides, old Tirpitz can finally fulfill his wish, and he can follow Emperor Wilhelm out of the solemn parliament building with his great ocean fleet and a proud smile.

  The vote count was over, and the Speaker of the House banged his gavel to quiet down the rowdy lawmakers, saying in a deep voice:

  "The naval bill has obtained a simple majority; according to the Constitution, I declare the Naval Expansion Bill passed!"

  April 10, 1898, the gunfire in Heligoland Bay, the shock of Dogger Bank, the pride of Coronel, and the misfortune of the Falkland Islands, the raid of Emden, the trial cut at Lake Tanganyika, and the inevitable "Rainbow" over Jutland and Scapa Flow, finally brought an end to the era of the High Seas Fleet, leaving countless regrets for posterity.

  Wang Haitie became a hero of the navy, standing in front of reporters carrying long guns and short cannons, allowing the old-fashioned camera to flash brightly in his eyes.

  "The German-British naval arms race, the Allies and the Entente, World War I - did it make me or did I drive history?" As a secretary of the Navy Office who knew future history, Wang Haiting was well aware of Tirpitz's ambition and the self-contradiction of his so-called "risk theory".

  Tirpitz used the "Risk Theory" to deceive those members of parliament who did not understand the navy and the sea, but this does not mean that he agreed with Tirpitz's views. The "Risk Theory" is not unreasonable, but the British are not fools, and John Bull will not sit idly by while Germany rises up and surpasses them; having a fleet is not without value, at least it can make the British cautious, but in the event of a brutal world war, both sides would be fighting with national strength, and competing for resource consumption, and having a fleet would be of no help, or even slightly cumbersome. In the past, Germany was exhausted by the endless resources of the Allies after its plan for a quick decisive battle failed.

  The Navy Expansion Act of April 10 was not only the beginning of the rise of the German Navy, but also a precursor to World War I. Once Pandora's box of arms race was opened, it would never stop unless one side fell. Thinking of Germany rushing down the road to war and thinking of Germany's miserable defeat in World War I, the otaku suddenly felt a sense of fear and confusion.

  "This is the best era, and also the worst..." The otaku muttered to himself, immediately followed by a self-deprecating laugh, silently acknowledging that he couldn't go back.

  When Wang Haitie first joined the Navy, he still fantasized about retiring early and immigrating to the United States. However, now Germany has his quasi-fiancée Catherine, his father Freesi, and the grave of Heatherveld. In Germany, there is a group of classmates who have been living together for three years, many old acquaintances like Blount and Weigand, and memories of Wang Haitie's joys and sorrows. Unbeknownst to him, the homebody has developed true feelings for Germany, and Wang Haitie feels he cannot just leave.

  "No way, I have to talk to Tirpitz about this. Even if I can't slow down the formation of the High Seas Fleet, at least I should make him accept the concept of asymmetric warfare and increase our chances of winning!"

  ****

  A luxurious wisteria wood table held a crystal glass, which contained a small amount of expensive Cognac. Dick, the wealthy businessman, sat on the couch in his living room, smoking a cigar and reading the newspaper, while his shaggy dog lay sleeping at his feet, resting its head on his leather shoes.

  The sudden footsteps broke the tranquility, and Villani walked into the living room, kicking away the pet dog that came to greet her, furious:

  "Dick, how could you agree to Catherine's marriage with Silas? Catherine is our only daughter, she is the apple of Keil's eye, she can't marry a descendant of Haikendorf fishermen, a small naval lieutenant! Only young Victor, son of old Senator Victor, is worthy of her!"

  "What's that? You think your future son-in-law, Heidemarie Seiler, is just a small naval lieutenant?" Dick flipped his eyelids and handed the newspaper to Villani.

  That is the largest circulation newspaper in Schleswig-Holstein, the front page of which was entirely devoted to a large photograph of Haile Selassie, showing him in full regalia and with an expressionless face. Underneath were a few lines of small print:

  "On April 10, 1898, the Naval Expansion Act was passed and Lieutenant Heidemarie Seligmann of the Imperial Navy Office became a naval heroine!"

  The first part is about to end, speeding up... By the way, please click to follow, collect and recommend, thank you...