Chapter 1 Skagerak's Gold (Nine)

"On March 2, due to a premonition that the British might take raids in the North Sea and the Ocean Fleet lacks rapid reconnaissance power, the Navy Staff secretly formulated a reinforcement plan and transferred the first reconnaissance fleet, which was carrying out cruise training in the Baltic Sea, back to Wilhelmshaven." The deadly quiet in the old conference room was left with only the sound of Navy Chief of Staff Bohr: "No doubt, this is a successful tactical deception. General Silame's reinforcement operation on March 2 did not violate naval discipline!"

"No violation of naval discipline!" Capelle was dizzy, something exploded in his head, blood was cooling, body temperature was passing, and his eyes were pitch black. Within a few breaths, the Navy Minister Capelle's confidence in victory had been removed from the bottom of the Boer cauldron. He was frightened and struggling in a panic.

"Impossible! If Silem hadn't been guilty, why did he turn a deaf ear to all kinds of public criticism?"

"General Capelle, have you forgotten the rules of the Navy?" Silame was not surprised that Boer would endorse him, and his words already had a sharp meaning: "No matter what misunderstandings and accusations the outside world has about me, before the Navy Committee discusses and forms a unified opinion, I cannot disclose naval secrets for self-protection! When I say the first two mistakes, it constitutes the third mistake!"

Is this the third mistake Silame made?

This is the third mistake Silame made!

Except for Capelle's gasp, the conference room was quiet for a moment. Everyone was shouted by Capelle, Silame's head lowered and Admiral Boer's counterattack was confused.

Most people in the conference room had a muddy head, but Capelle was clear and he had figured it out in an instant.

Silame confused the audience with step-by-step concessions, and connected with General Boer to a wonderful show, laying a foreshadowing on the third and most important mistake, and using a shocking reversal to make Capelle the most sarcastic satirical.

Yes, it was indeed a shocking reversal. Capeler never believed that Silame and the First Reconnaissance Fleet had already obtained the memorandum of the General Staff when they took action. Everything was just a trap. The trap that had been designed long ago was just waiting for him Capeler to jump in!

It should have been figured out long ago! After the naval war, Capelle launched a public opinion propaganda war, which first praised Silame very well, and then used the Berlin Chronicle, which has always been anti-naval, to reveal the problem of Silame's arbitrary mobilization, and finally defeated the naval hero in one fell swoop.

Capelle acted strictly according to the plan, but he should have thought of surviving the naval political storm. Under the suppression of Emperor William, he could still use a backhand blow to overturn George von Muller's Naval Cabinet Minister Heidi Silem, who was silently waiting to die.

In this public opinion war, worship and trust the German people remain silent. However, this silence is not a kind of waiting for changes, but the result of compromise between reason and law. The more depressing the silence is, the stronger the backlash is.

What's even more terrifying is the backlash of the navy. Heidi Sileme is unparalleled among the lower-level officers and ordinary sailors of the navy. Although Capeler released the most critical news and rumors through some anti-navy conservative newspapers, this flash of inspiration cannot save him. Capeler's hatred of Sileme has long been well known, and he has stirred up the flames in the incident. In the end, he criticized him at the naval meeting. Capeler had long exposed himself, and what awaited him was the anger of tens of thousands of naval soldiers fighting bloody battles in the North Sea.

"It's a trap, damn, the bastard from Kiel and the old guy from Tirpitz's era teamed up to play a good show, they deceived everyone, God should send them all to the gallows!"

Capelle wanted to point at General Boer's nose and scold, but the actions that were repeated thousands of times in his mind were not put into practice. He realized that the era of the Ocean Fleet belonging to the Hohenzollern family was over.

If Capelle could not hold too much power in the Navy, but the position of the Navy Minister could at least give him the right to participate in decision-making and retain relative dignity, this time, Capelle, who was obsessed with greed, not only lost the support of the navy's officers and soldiers, but also engraved himself on the pillar of shame in the navy.

(--Gorgeous dividing line--)

"Another failed?" The emperor's left arm burst out with blue veins, his eyes were bloodshot, and he whispered in dismay with his head down.

The Navy Cabinet Minister and the Navy Minister have always been the right-hand man indirectly controlled the Navy by Emperor William. After the Navy Cabinet Minister was overthrown by Silame, the Navy also fell down, and the Navy was actually "out of control". William was very unwilling to accept it because the next second he walked out of the conference room, the Navy would exist as Silame's ocean fleet, rather than his William von Hohenzollern's ocean fleet.

The emperor could no longer speak. He wanted to take revenge on Boer, the chief of staff who defiled the majestic Hohenzollern family, but he knew that the old guy Boer must not care. Everyone knew that Boer, who had suffered from mental illness for a long time, was already on the edge of his life, and he was not afraid of any thunderous means at all.

"Your Majesty, it's time to come forward to clean up the situation..."

Now is no longer time to consider how to deal with Boer and Sileme. What is important is how to deal with the rebound within the imperial people and the navy. In this public opinion storm, Charlottemberg Palace's methods were not very clever, and William was even bare-handed. Now, he had to give the navy and the people an explanation.

"Bateman Holwich, you actually made me bow to the poor and humble descendants of Kiel's fishermen?"

The Emperor William, who had a broken-down with Silame, refused to stand up and ease the situation. The first German tinkerer who was used to cleaning up the mess for the emperor, had to smile bitterly and shake his head, ignore William's bloodthirsty eyes, stood up and announced loudly:

"Since Xilem did not have any unauthorized transfers during the war, we will hold a press conference to explain everything clearly. As for Xilem's violation of the law of engagement and concealing and tampering with post-war statistics, it will be left to the Navy Military Court for handling."

The loyal Bateman's speech gave William the best step. The emperor finally let go of the white gloves that were ravaged in all kinds of ways, and said with a tense face and annoyed:

"I announce that the emergency meeting of the Navy's senior management has ended!"

Emperor William left the scene first under the escort of the palace guards. The naval officers guarding outside the venue struggled to suppress the excitement in their hearts, let the road open, and watched the emperor leave with a crooked military salute.

As soon as the emperor's back disappeared at the door, thunderous applause and cheer sounded in the huge conference room. More young officers took off their hats and paid tribute to the prime minister, and squeezed towards the conference room.

Prime Minister Bateman turned his head and looked at Silame with a little surprise, surprised that this lieutenant general, who was born in a fisherman family, had worked as a porter at the dock and was exiled by William for more than ten years, could the young man, who was considered a first-class in the navy, conquered the rebellious navy in more than a year and eliminated the influence of the Hohenzollern dynasty from the navy.

“This is a glorious moment!”

A faint smile appeared on the tired Wang Heidi's face and gave a standard military salute to his supporters. The next second, Wang Heidi was lifted up by his supporters and raised high into the sky.

"Long live General Silaime! Long live General!"

Wang Heidi felt that she had already flown into the clouds. William's gloomy face, the palace guards were frightened by the enemy, Capelle was like a loss of his parents, and the aftertaste reporters quickly peeled off Wang Heidi's eyes. Here there were salty and wet sea breezes and magnificent North Atlantic Ocean, here there were steel fleets, here there were lovely people, even if they died in this gorgeous land, there was no regret.

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

(--Gorgeous dividing line--)

The story is destined not to belong to the old general. Chief of Staff Boer stood up lazyly, staggeringly among the retreating conservative officials of the Admiralty, and walked out of the Navy building. At this time, Wolfgang Wegener, who had sneaked out of the Navy Hospital, stopped him and asked in a low voice:

"General, can you ask why? As a nobleman, your choice in the venue will bring taints to your military career."

"Well..." General Boer pondered in an artificial way, used jokes to explain another feeling, and said calmly: "You may never guess the relationship between the old guys who belonged to the Tirpitz era. Maybe we can be divided and used, and restrained and balanced, but after all, we are not mature politicians, we are just soldiers!"

General Boer put on his military cap and continued to walk outside the conference room. Before leaving the door, he turned around and looked at Silame with Yin Xian, his face full of loneliness belonging to the years.

“It’s a pity that we are old…”

Although Boer said it was in vain, Weigener was not defeated by the title of "Double Navy Strategy", and soon understood Boer's meaning.

"It's not that the general is old, but that Silem is so outstanding that he makes those living in his contemporaries feel ashamed!" Weigener no longer blocked Boer's way, but straightened his body and gave Boer the most solemn military salute.

The face of veteran Boer became brighter again. He walked away a few steps away easily, and seemed to remember something. He turned back swayingly, patted Wegener's shoulder and asked with interest:

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

"Don't worry about me, General." Weigener looked down at his empty sleeves and smiled faintly: "Since I fell from the warship, then I - Wolfgang - Weigener will stand up from the warship!"

Boer didn't insist and turned around and walked out of the Navy Headquarters building. As soon as he left the door, fresh air and warm sunshine came to his face.

"The taste of Bernhard von Oden is very good!"

(--Gorgeous dividing line--)

March 20, 1915, Empire Berlin.

The Navy Department released the news early that the Navy's ** prosecutor's investigation and evidence collection work will end within eight days, and on March 20, the Navy Military Court will conduct a trial on Silame.

On this day, the weather in Berlin was not very good. The cold wind was a bit cold, and a few bleak dark clouds remained in the sky. However, all this could not stop the Germans' enthusiasm. Berlin citizens and supporters who rushed from other places gathered outside the court door, and they were about to welcome the return of the naval hero who had received the grievance.

"Why did the trial last so long? Will there be an accident?" said Keel University professor and Wang Heidi's neighbor, Brandeis, looked at the closed door of the military court guarded by the army and police, and cautiously.

"I'm not worried about this!"

Little Brandeis stood on a stone slab, tiptoed and twisted, and the thirteen-year-old boy's tender voice exuded wisdom that was not of that age:

"After the decisive battle in the North Sea, General Scher was transferred to the Imperial Navy Minister, General Hippel took over as Commander-in-Chief of the Ocean Fleet, Lieutenant General Schmidt was transferred to the Third Battle Fleet Commander, Lieutenant General Mavie was transferred to the First Battle Fleet Commander, Major General Bihanik also served as Commander of the Second Battle Fleet, and the position of deputy commander was temporarily vacant. I was wondering if General Silame would take over as Deputy Commander of the Ocean Fleet after the war."

The 37-year-old deputy commander was promoted to commander-in-chief and was only a matter of time before Brandeis realized his ideal and entered the navy.

Berlin, Naval Court.

The representatives of naval officers and sailors, reporters from mainstream German newspapers, Anne, Avril, Frasey and Shrekt stood up from the auditorium, the spotlight flashed, the air suffocated, and everyone was waiting for the final verdict of the military judge.

"In view of the unrestricted abuse of the neutral national flag in the submarine war against the Empire before the decisive battle in the North Sea, I ruled that General Silame was not a violation of the law when he hung the Norwegian flag in the Skagrak Strait reconnaissance operation; after the North Sea naval battle, it was impossible to prove that all the officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance fleet had been killed by the testimony of the captured British sailors. Therefore, I ruled that General Silame insisted on putting the officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance fleet on the list of missing persons after the naval battle; as for General Silame's leaks at the naval meeting, since the ** inspector did not file a complaint on this issue, the military court will not hold him accountable."

Even if roaring at the court is a sin, the audience could not suppress his emotions. Cheers rang out, and almost the general judge's figure reading the verdict was overwhelmed.

"To sum up, I declare General Silame innocent and released in court!"

(To be continued  89 free novel reading "")
Chapter completed!