I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 530 Brother, You've Got the Wrong Path
As the Minister of the Navy, George's opponent should not be Hindenburg, but the German Minister of the Navy Alfred von Tirpitz.

Tirpitz, 60 years old this year, joined the German Navy at the age of 16 and initially served in the destroyer fleet. Later, he developed a keen interest in submarines and became a torpedo expert through hard work and study.

In 1897, Tirpitz served as the Minister of the Navy. At that time, the German Navy was very weak and could only carry out near-shore defense. It was completely incapable of conducting long-distance operations and unable to protect Germany's overseas interests.

In order to change the predicament of the German Navy, Tirpitz pushed for the passage of the Naval Law and made drastic upgrades to the German Navy.

In the second year of Tirpitz's tenure as Navy Minister, the German government allocated 4.08 million marks to the navy, determined to enable the German navy to have 1905 battleships, 17 large and 9 small cruisers and other small ships by 26.

1900年，提尔皮茨修订《海军法》，将德国海军的规模提升为2艘旗舰、36艘战列舰、11艘大型和34艘小型巡洋舰。

After the plan was approved, Tirpitz publicly declared that the purpose of building this new navy was to make the greatest maritime powers dare not challenge it, otherwise they would be in danger of destroying their own advantages.

Germany's military expansion attracted the attention of Britain, especially after Britain built all-heavy artillery battleships. Tirpitz proposed two naval upgrade plans in 1904 and last year.

最新版的海军升级方案包括13艘无畏级战舰、5艘战列巡洋舰、22艘老式战列舰、32艘巡洋舰、114艘驱逐舰和30艘潜艇。

Compared with Tirpitz, George did almost nothing after becoming the Minister of the Navy, which led to George being ignored by Tirpitz.

Before George arrived in Berlin, Tirpitz left Berlin to inspect the Baltic Fleet, revealing his contemptuous attitude.

George was not angry. The more Germany invested in the navy, the better. It would be best if it could build 100 dreadnoughts at once. That way, the pressure on the Russian Empire would be much less.

Unlike Tirpitz, Schlieffen was full of curiosity about George. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the German General Staff reviewed the Russo-Japanese War many times, and George's performance was the focus of attention.

"The gap in strength between the two sides is too great. No matter who is in charge, the final victory will definitely belong to Russia."

There is nothing much to say about George. He did almost nothing. He ate hotpot with Milyutin every day, and then he won.

"The role of the commander is to make the troops perform at their best through reasonable deployment. If anyone can do this easily, the Japanese will have no chance of invading Kanto."

Schlieffen hoped that George would be more honest and not be as hypocritical as the French.

"Although the Empire won the war, it gained nothing except debt. For at least 10 years, the Empire will no longer have the ability to wage a large-scale war."

George took the initiative to relieve the pressure on the Germans, allowing them to concentrate their efforts on the arms race with the British.

"Is this why you're carrying out military reforms?"

Schlieffen was disappointed. No one was stupid.

During the Russo-Japanese War, William II and Nicholas met many times, and the two even signed a joint anti-British statement. Nicholas almost got on William II's boat.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Nicholas woke up in time and was not used as a gun by William II. This led to the century-long reconciliation between Russia and Britain.

After the reconciliation between Britain and Russia, the pressure was completely transferred to Germany. Tirpitz's latest statement was: Germany has no intention of challenging Britain's maritime hegemony, and only needs half of the British navy.

This statement helped to ease tensions between Britain and Germany, but it came too late.

After Germany passed the upgrade plan last year, Britain's First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir John Arbuthnot Fisher, said: The German fleet should be destroyed in Copenhagen like the Danish Navy in 1806.

At that time, Denmark had the second largest navy in the world. "Are the tanks that Carl bought useful?"

George didn't respond and they each said their own thing.

Tirpitz showed weakness not because he was afraid of Britain, but because Germany's strength was limited and it could not cope with the arms race between the Russian Empire and Britain in both the army and navy at the same time.

Britain's attitude towards the arms race was that if Germany built one dreadnought, Britain would build two and firmly maintain its superior position over the German navy.

After the Russian Empire began its military reform, the army was equipped with tanks, the navy established an air force, and it also formed the Balkan Alliance in the Balkans with a large number of Slavic brothers, which put Germany under tremendous pressure.

After the Russian Empire began its military reform, Moltke the Younger also submitted an equipment upgrade plan for the German Army, hoping to equip it with more armored vehicles and heavy artillery.

Because the German government invested too many resources in the navy, Moltke the Younger's plan was rejected.

Neither the old fox nor the little fox could gain the upper hand over the other. The next day, George visited the Blom & Voss shipyard in Hamburg as planned.

Blom & Voss was founded in 1877 by the partnership of Hermann Blom and Ernst Voss.

In 1898, Blom & Voss contracted to build the fifth ship of the Kaiser Friedrich III class battleship, Kaiser Karl der Grosse, and began to undertake large warships from then on.

By 1909, the Blom & Voss shipyard had a plant area of ​​560000 square meters, a quay length of 3000 meters, and a floating dock capable of building ships of 46000 tons. It was one of the largest shipyards in the world.

When George came to Blom & Voss, Blom & Voss was building the Moltke and Goeben for the German Navy, both of which were the German Navy's newest battlecruisers.

George actually wanted to visit the battleship.

It's a pity that Tirpitz wouldn't let me see it.

“毛奇”级满载排水量25400吨，最快速度25.5节，续航力为14节时4120海里，装备5座双联装280毫米50倍径主炮，12门88毫米副炮，以及4座500毫米鱼雷发射管。

Tirpitz finally returned from the Baltic Sea and took the initiative to apologize to George.

George sincerely discussed with Tirpitz the application of torpedoes in naval warfare, and took the initiative to introduce to Tirpitz the role of Siberian Fleet submarines in the Battle of Vladivostok.

The implication is: Man, you are on the wrong track. Don't build any more large surface ships, but build more submarines, so that you can pose a greater threat to the Royal Navy.

“Doesn’t the Russian Empire need more warships to protect its coastline?”

Tirpitz reminded George that the German Navy was far more powerful than the Russian Navy.

"Any fleet that dares to threaten St. Petersburg will be devastated by the Baltic Fleet."

George still has the confidence to protect St. Petersburg.

As for the annihilation of the German High Seas Fleet, that was the mission of the Royal Navy.

(End of this chapter)