Mediterranean Hegemony Road

In addition to the death of the old emperor, at the end of 1916, a far-reaching event occurred. Falkenham, who had just won the victory on the Eastern Front, was impeached by the German military and was removed from office on December 1, and was replaced by a Junker nobleman. Hindenburg served as the German chief of staff.

The next day, Chancellor Theobaden von Batemanholweger submitted his resignation to Wilhelm II, and he resigned from public office along with the German Finance Minister, Logistics Minister, Interior Minister and other high-level government officials.

Obviously, in this round of political struggle, the military won an overall victory, the German government lost its dominance over the country, and Hindenburg also began the road to dictatorship of the military government.

As for William II, he has completely become a rubber stamp emperor. Even if he did not express his position in this political struggle, he was still overridden by the military.

Ferdinand, who received this news, had to admit that an indecisive person is really not suitable to be an emperor. Originally, he and the government could suppress the Junker nobles by joining forces.

As a result, because of his momentary hesitation and indecision, the military forces representing the Junkers aristocrats defeated the government. Even at this time, as a king, he was still able to intervene.

But Wilhelm II still chose to remain silent, sit and watch the government fall, and then the larger military also took advantage of the situation to put him on the air.

Of course, this is not comprehensive. William II has also made efforts. For example, he promoted Hindenburg, a Juncker nobleman, to be the chief of the general staff. He tried to reconcile the contradictions between the Georgian side through such efforts.

Needless to say, as in history, as soon as they took the throne, they allied with the Junkers nobles and made him the king.

The German military's coming to power had a huge impact on the world war. First of all, the High Seas Fleet left the port and was ready to find the British for a decisive battle.

This is also inevitable. With the end of the Eastern Front War and the beginning of the Southern Front War, the German Army fell into the predicament of protracted combat, and the dream of trying to end the war on land was shattered.

The German financial community and the Junkers aristocrats did not agree to end the war, and the German High Command had to change its original intention and turn its strategic focus to the sea.

In order to break through the British naval blockade, ensure Germany's freedom of movement at sea, and reverse the passive situation, the German ruling authorities decided to find an opportunity at sea for a decisive battle with Britain.

So on December 10, 1916, the German High Seas Fleet and the British Royal Navy Home Fleet broke out in the Atlantic Ocean in the largest naval battle in the history of war.

Well, Ferdinand was directly stunned by this shocking news. If the Germans had the courage earlier, they would have had a decisive battle with the British as soon as the war broke out.

Not only can it hit the British Royal Navy, but it can also save the Navy's huge expenses. This funding can at least add fifty infantry divisions to Germany. Maybe the history of the World War can really be rewritten.

As for whether the Germans might win, Ferdinand never thought about it. The strength gap between the two sides is too large, and the navy is not the army. It can make up for the gap with courage and tactics.

Now the eyes of the whole world are paying attention to this naval battle, and even the news that the Allied and Allied countries are fighting on the western and southern fronts has been covered up by this naval battle.

Ferdinand knew that, if nothing else, this was a replica of the Great Battle of Jutland in history, and even the location had not changed much, it was all near Jutland, Denmark.

As soon as the war broke out, the main British fleet squatted in the port of Scapaflo like a watchdog, staring at the German High Seas Fleet and trapping it in Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven. The German High Seas Fleet became a veritable name. the "fleet of existence".

Due to Ferdinand's butterfly effect, this time and space now has 21 battleships in the German High Seas Fleet, 3 more than in history, while the Royal Navy's Home Fleet has 35 battleships, 2 more than in history.

There is no doubt that these battleships are dreadnoughts or super dreadnoughts, in addition to which there are a series of large and small warships on both sides.

Germany has more than 400 warships of various sizes.

The British owned more than 700 warships, and the Germans were less than half of John Bull's total tonnage.

Admiral Reinhardschel, then the commander of the German High Seas Fleet, was dismayed to find that in the face of the mighty British Royal Navy fleet, there was only one realistic choice in front of him, either being trapped in the port and doing nothing, or fighting John Bull. main fleet.

After receiving the domestic decisive battle order, Admiral Scheer was not in a better mood. In the end, he made the same decision as in history, enticing some of the Royal Navy to come out and kill them. If the time was right, he would lead the High Seas Fleet and Part of the main battle of the Royal Navy

After hesitating, Admiral Scheer decided to hand over the task to Hipper. At 5 pm on December 8, Hipper set off with five battlecruisers and twelve cruisers, while the High Seas Fleet set off. The main force set sail in more than three hours.

Contrary to the high-profile voyages of the Hipper fleet, which acted as "decoys", the departure of the main formation led by Scheer maintained strict radio silence.

At the same time, the radio station in Wilhelmshaven continued to use the callsign of Scheer's flagship "Frederick the Great" to communicate with the outside world, creating the illusion that Admiral Scheer and the main force of the Ocean Fleet were still in the port.

In fact, winter is not a good time for a decisive battle, but Admiral Scheer has no choice. If the conditions are really suitable for naval combat, the British will not be fooled.

"Your Excellency Commander, will the British be fooled?" the chief of staff asked worriedly

Scheer replied without hesitation: "I don't know if we are unlucky, we encountered a British reconnaissance plane just after we came out, and we might turn from hunters into prey."

The chief of staff smiled bitterly and said, "Well, I originally wanted to seek comfort from you, but I didn't expect you, the tactician, to be more pessimistic than me."

Scheer sighed and said: "I'm not pessimistic, but the truth is that even if the British are fooled, as long as they are cautious enough to come out, we are not running for our lives.

Or maybe he only sent a fleet of troops, and the commander is a coward who takes advantage of it and takes it as soon as he can, and doesn't pursue them at all, what can we do with them?"

After a moment of silence, the chief of staff said, "It seems that now we can only hope that God will bless us."

The two ended the conversation. It was a gamble. If the Germans won this naval battle neatly, there would be another naval battle waiting for them. John Bull's navy was not something they could solve once.

If it is lost, or both are lost, then there is no such thing as then, and the German Navy can announce its withdrawal from this world war in advance.

The Germans had good luck this time. The British reconnaissance plane returned directly after spotting their cruiser fleet.

Of course, their luck will end here. Due to the weather, the British pilots mistakenly turned the battle cruiser into a battleship and reported it.

After receiving the news, Admiral Jericho, commander of the British Ocean Fleet, immediately made a decision to set up a large net and send a decoy fleet to lure the Germans into the pit.

At 21:30 on the evening of the 8th, Jellicoe led a huge fleet of 26 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, 20 cruisers and 50 destroyers out of Scapa Flow.

After that, Betty led an avant-garde fleet consisting of 4 battleships, 6 battlecruisers, 14 light cruisers and 27 destroyers out of Port Rosyth.

A few hours later, the German submarine stationed outside the Rosyth port sent back a telegram to the Ocean Fleet that "the enemy fleet is sailing". The German "decoy fleet" was also under the surveillance of the British.

The two fleets that almost came out of their nests believed that their "decoy tactics" had been successful. At this time, neither Scheer nor Jellicoe expected that the opposing fleet had been dispatched in full. It is not expected that in the near future, they will personally participate in the world's largest fleet battle.

Forget the stereotyped sea battle, everyone doesn't want to watch it, and I'm too lazy to water

Time passed quickly, and it was on December 13 that three days had passed since the Anglo-German naval battle. Bulgarian intelligence finally figured out the outcome of the war.

The intelligence chief Sim submitted a document to Ferdinand and said, "Your Majesty, the results of the naval battle between England, Germany and Jutland have come out, please take a look."

Ferdinand took the opportunity to take the document and read it carefully. There is no doubt that both the British and German governments are bragging.

If according to the results they announced before, they are all victors, but there can only be one victor in a battle, or there can be no victors

The British claimed: 3 German battlecruisers, 3 dreadnoughts, 1 super dreadnought, 2 former dreadnoughts, 7 light cruisers, 9 destroyers, and 8 torpedo boats. 8 German dreadnoughts and 2 battlecruisers

German claims: 2 British battlecruisers, 5 dreadnoughts, 2 super-dreadnoughts, 3 pre-dreadnoughts, 2 armoured cruisers, 10 light cruisers, 9 destroyers, 5 torpedo boats 4.85 million tons, damaged 12 British dreadnoughts and 8 cruisers

And Ferdinand received information showing that the Germans did take advantage of this naval battle, but both sides of this victory were exaggerating.

The Royal Navy sank 2 ex-dreadnoughts, 3 battlecruisers, 3 armoured cruisers, 6 destroyers, 2 cruisers, 5 torpedo boats with a total tonnage of about 1.78 million tons.

The High Seas Fleet sank 1 battle cruiser, 1 ex-dreadnought, 4 light cruisers, 3 destroyers, and 5 torpedo boats with a total tonnage of about 890,000 tons.

Although the losses on both sides are much greater than in history, they are still not to the point of breaking the bones. A sea battle in which a main battleship did not sink is only a scratch for the British and German navies. .

Of course, the loss of warships is not large, which does not mean that the loss of personnel is not large. At least the sum of their casualties is close to the total number of the Bulgarian Navy.

The total strength of the British army was about 650,000, and the number of casualties was as high as 10,472, and the casualty rate was 161; the total strength of the German army was about 50,000, and the number of casualties was 4,356, and the casualty rate was 87.

This is also the sequelae of the decisive battle in winter. After falling in the icy sea water, the survival rate dropped sharply.

Fortunately, both countries have a bottom line. After the war, rescue ships were dispatched. The two sides tacitly rescued the drowning people, then exchanged their respective soldiers and went home.

Ferdinand was satisfied with this result. The Germans won tactically, even better than in history; the British won strategically, albeit with heavy losses.

From Bulgaria's standpoint, Ferdinand only cared about whether the Royal Navy could continue to block the Germans. As for the casualties of British naval personnel, it was not worth mentioning.

Look at the countries participating in the war on the European continent. Whoever does not move will suffer hundreds of thousands or even millions of casualties. The mere 10,000 people can’t keep up with the casualties on the western front.

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