Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

The continuous victory of the war has made the German people full of motivation. The workers in the military port rush to work day and night despite their tiredness. On the premise of ensuring quality, the construction period of repair and maintenance projects of warships such as the "Election Emperor" and "Oldenburg" was shortened from 30 days to 22 days. All these warships that were once domineering in the Atlantic Ocean were completely renewed, and the heavily worn gun barrels were replaced.

After enjoying a 15-day vacation, the officers and sailors all returned to the fleet on time, and then debugged cannons, inspected equipment, and shipped ammunition and fuel. Everyone was very busy.

Soon, the day of sailing has arrived.

February 10, 1915, yin.

The thick clouds give people a sense of unpleasant oppression. Both pedestrians and vehicles appear in a hurry on the dock. The viewing platform is deserted and there are only a few soldiers and families coming to see off the fleet to set sail. Very few of them know where the fleet will go.

Among the warships docked on various docks, the six most massive warships were particularly conspicuous, with their mighty hulls, majestic cannons, and the German naval flags clattering in the wind on the top of the mast, all of which made people feel warlike.

On the deck of the battleship, the sailors were carefully and busy carrying out the final preparations before setting sail, and all the landing pedals had been removed.

On the bridge of the "Election Emperor", Xipard, wearing a brand new general uniform, silently stared at these battleships carrying important tasks. In addition to the flagship "Election Emperor" and the "Oldenburg" that had previously been affiliated with this fleet, there were several new members in Xipard's fleet this time.

First, the battleship "Prince William", which is also a king-class battleship. As the last king-class ship, the "Prince William" was officially included in active service at the beginning of this month. So far, the four king-class battleships "King", "Election Emperor", "Border Governor" and "Prince William" all entered the combat sequence of the German Navy.

The "Prince William" was followed by the newly restored battlecruisers "Moltch" and "Sedlitz". These two battleships performed bravely in the Battle of the North Sea but were also severely damaged. After five months of overhaul, they finally returned to the naval combat sequence. Among them, the Moltch-class battlecruiser "Moltch" has a displacement of 23,000 tons, and its main equipment is 10 45-diameter 280 mm main guns, 12 45-diameter 150 mm secondary guns and 4 500 mm torpedo tubes. The maximum speed is 25.5 knots and a cruising capacity of 4,120 nautical miles; the "Sedlitz" is an improvement in the Moltch-class ground.

The ship was named after the famous Prussian general Friedrich and William von Seidlitz in the 18th century Austrian throne succession war. The ship's hull was longer than the Moltke class and made some major improvements in armor and watertight protection. Its side armor protection level can be comparable to that of battleships with similar to tonnage. The ship's displacement is 25,000 tons, and it is also equipped with 10 280mm 50-diameter main guns with good proven performance, 12 45-diameter 150-mm secondary guns and 4 50-mm torpedo tubes, with a maximum speed of 26.5 knots and a cruising capacity of 4,200 nautical miles.

The last battleship of this fleet, the Hindenburg, was named "The Fleet" when serving in the British Navy. It was injured and captured by the German army in September 1914. Since then, the German Navy has repaired and modified it for five months. The waterline, turret and armor at the command tower were strengthened. The main gun is still 10 50-axis 305mm artillery, with a displacement of 20,000 tons and a maximum speed of 20 knots.

In addition to the above 6 battleships and battlecruisers, there are 5 light cruisers, 8 destroyers, 2 medium-sized seaplane motherships, 3 coal ships and 11 large transport ships in the Hiparia fleet. In terms of scale and tonnage, this can be regarded as a "sized" fleet.

At 8 a.m., the communications officer transferred the telegram sent by the German Emperor to Hippel.

After receiving the telegram and reading it carefully, Xipar immediately ordered: "Start!"

On the same morning, at the parade ground in the southern suburbs of Berlin, Chen Tian, ​​accompanied by General Oli, inspected a new army composed of 15 infantry regiments, 2 armored regiments, and 3 independent heavy artillery regiments. In addition to the five infantry regiments and 1 armored regiment brought back by Oli from Turkey, the rest were elite corps drawn from the German 4th Army. After the end of the Berlin coup, the Duke of Württemberg was under house arrest, and the 4th Army under his command also became the first large-scale demobilized force in the German Army. A large number of pre-war recruitment land reserve troops were disbanded, and most of the remaining permanent troops were dispersed to France. The one with the most outstanding record was incorporated into this newly formed legion.

Lieutenant General Oli, the commander of the German Expeditionary Force and commander of the German-Turkish coalition, was ordered to command this newly built legion. Major Rommel, who had just been recalled from Africa, became the deputy chief of staff of the legion. In addition, the 19th Fighter Squadron, the 33rd Attack Aircraft Squadron, the 51st Bomber Squadron and the 59th Bomber Squadron, which were originally stationed in northern France, were also included in the Oli Legion. It is worth mentioning that air combat ace Captain Manfred von Richthoven has been promoted to the squadron leader of the 19th Fighter Squadron.

After giving the opportunity in person, Chen Tian advised Oli to "open the door to the Mediterranean" for Germany.

After the inspection, the Oli army boarded the train heading south, and they headed to Pula Port, the largest military port in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where they boarded the ship to the Tunisia port in Africa to assemble. The planes were dismantled and packed, parts, ammunition, pilots and technicians also set off together. After arriving in Tunisia, these planes were reassembled.

Taranto military port, Italy.

The reason why this military port located in the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula is famous is largely due to its geographical location and steep terrain: the Italian Peninsula is like a boot entering the Mediterranean Sea, and Taranto is hidden deep at the bottom of the Italian boot-shaped peninsula. Between the heel and the foot of this "leather boot", there is an inwardly curved shoe arc. This is the Bay of Taranto. It faces the vast Eastern Mediterranean Sea and shares the throat of the Mediterranean with Sicily. The Italian fleet based on Taranto can threaten the Mediterranean route, and retreat can be tightly defended by the port.

Taranto is divided into two parts: the inner port and the outer port. The inner port is called Piclot, which is completely surrounded by land. There is only a narrow waterway connected to the outer port. The outer port is called Grande, with a wide port and deep water. It is the main anchorage of large warships. The island of San Pietro and Sao Paulo are like two generals guarding the entrance. The thousands of meters long breakwater extends from these two islands to the shore, like two jade arms, bringing the entire port of Taranto into your arms. At the only entrance of the outer port, the Italian army has built solid fortifications for many years, deploying fortresses and forts with heavy cannons, and the tight anti-submarine net makes anyone who wants to attack the port from the sea must think twice before doing it.

In the Battle of Tiadria on December 22, 1914, the Italian fleet and the Allied fleets led by the Austro-Hungarian Navy were not in the same position as the Allied Forces. However, considering the aviation forces of the Allied Powers, the Italians took the initiative to withdraw the main ships to the port of Taranto. Since then, these warships did not participate in any large-scale operations until the end of the war.

After the signing of the Vienna peace treaty, the whole of Italy was dead, and only the port of Taranto became more and more lively.

"This is the battleship detachment of the Italian fleet. Except for the three ships being repaired on the platform, the remaining seven ships are here!" On the dock of the military port, a naval colonel in a black uniform pointed his right hand at the big objects parked not far away, and next to him was a general wearing the same color of military uniform. Although the Italian Navy's uniforms were mainly black, the eagle-shaped hat badges on the military caps of the two officers showed their completely different identities.

"Very good! It seems that Italians still love peace!" The older general commented on the Italians who obediently fulfilled the peace agreement in a sarcastic tone. No one here intends to do any self-sinking action.

"General, those two Italian battleships that have not raised their flags are the Italian battleships assigned to our country in the treaty. One on the left is the "Leonardo da Vinci" and the other on the right is the "Julian Caesar"!" The colonel had previously continued to explain the situation here to the general next to him.

"Oh, Austrians, Turks and Russians are very active!" The general still commented in one sentence. But the land was indeed very good. Four of the seven battleships not far away had raised the flags of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and the next one was raised the Turkish moon flag (I don't know why the Turks especially like crescent symbols, there were such symbols on the flags of the Ottoman Empire. But the overall style is different from the current Turkish flag).

Among the four delegations that came to receive Italian ships, the German delegation was the last one to arrive.

"General, this is true! The day after the Vienna peace agreement was signed, the Austro-Hungarian and Turkish naval ships that had been wandering in the Adriatic waters arrived outside the port of Taranto. The Russians were not willing to fall behind. The naval delegations sent from the country came to Pula Port of Austro-Hungarian Empire before the peace talks ended, and rented a cargo ship of Austro-Hungarian Empire. As soon as the peace agreement was signed, they hung the Russian naval flag on the cargo ship, and then rushed all the way from Pula Port. However, it was not until the Italian navy here received the official order of the Italian king. The delegations of Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia and Turkey were allowed to enter Taranto. After the simple warship handover ceremony, this

The delegation of the Three Kingdoms quickly took over the warships assigned to the country in the treaty with lightning speed. If it were not for maintenance and replenishment of fuel, the generals would like to drive them back to the country immediately." The colonel's words seemed disdainful. Although Germany also sent a delegation of more than a hundred officers and more than 3,000 sailors to take over the 13 warships assigned to the country, their actions were much more graceful. On the third day after the Austro-Hungarian Navy came here, the German delegation led by Lieutenant General Benke came to Taranto calmly, and then held a "friendly" and "polite" handover ceremony with Italian commander General Tonedo.

At this time, the German sailors were handing over the ship in an orderly manner, accompanied by Italian naval officers and soldiers.

"Col. I believe their emperor and president did not tell them that the Italians' courage destined to fulfill the peace treaty honestly!" The general who spoke was Lieutenant General Benke, who was over 50 years old. He was originally responsible for the German Naval Base Kiel. This time he was entrusted by William III of Germany as commander of the Tunisian Naval Base. After that, he will take these Italian warships assigned to Germany directly to the port of Tunisia.

The full name of the Colonel Raider next to Benck is Erich Raider. He is 59 years old. Unlike most German naval generals, his face is very clean, leaving only a not-so-tight mustache, giving people the feeling of a weak scholar. In fact, Erich Raider is indeed more like a scholar than a soldier. He is well-versed in English, French, Russian and Spanish languages, has great musical talent and literary creation, and his words and deeds are gentle. However, all this cannot cover up his military talent at all. Reder's hometown is by the sea and has loved the sea since he was a child. After joining the navy, he was particularly interested in the process of expanding with the fleet overseas with his fleet.

After he followed the fleet to East Asia and occupied Qingdao, China, his heart gradually rose into his heart: there would be no strong Germany without a navy! So he began to study naval academics hard and wrote a large number of papers and monographs, which quickly attracted the attention of the German Emperor William II, who tried to compete with Britain with the help of naval power and gained reuse. After the new German Emperor ascended the throne, Redell's first task was to receive the Italian fleet as the deputy commander of the delegation, and then he would go to Tunisia with Lieutenant General Benke and serve as the chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet.

Subsequently, in the cruiser berth of the Italian fleet, Benke and his party saw the heavy cruiser "Brunetti" and the light cruiser "Marmi", "Salaria" and "Peterla". These four battleships were launched before 1910. From the appearance, the Italians did a pretty good job in maintaining the ships. The performance and firepower of these warships are enough to cope with general military operations in the Mediterranean region. At present, in addition to the slightly damaged "Peterla", which was also slightly damaged in the Adriatic Navy, also needs some repairs, the other three can enter the combat state after replenishing fuel and ammunition.

"The Italian warships are really good! In my opinion, it is enough to compete with the British and French Mediterranean fleet before the war!" Benke shook his head helplessly. If the Italians fulfilled the agreement between Germany, Austria and Italy, the Austria Navy would be more than enough to join forces to deal with the British and French Mediterranean fleet, then the German high seas fleet would not be forced to shrink into the port at the beginning of the war.

Reedel also had the same view on this, especially the Italian destroyers they saw later, whose performance was better than French destroyers of the same level. In the words of the New German Emperor, "the combat effectiveness and equipment level of the Italian army are always inversely proportional!"

When the first battleship with the Austro-Hungarian Empire flag sailed out of the Taranto military port, the Hippel fleet passed through the English Channel cautiously and calmly. The British government learned about this through spies deployed on the European continent, but they did not associate the fleet with Gibraltar. However, the British spies received a bad news from the Spanish: the Spanish government is very likely to declare war on Britain!
Chapter completed!