Chapter 538 Rebuilding the Black Sea Fleet
Among the injured German sailors, only one was seriously injured and was sent to the hospital for treatment.
A serious injury means a broken neck. Even if he survives, he will definitely be disabled, possibly paralyzed for life.
When George and Tirpitz knew the cause of the conflict, they were both dumbfounded.
Slapping is a very popular sport among Russian people. Although the Baltic Fleet does not officially promote it, sailors do it privately in the bar of the Kronstadt Naval Base.
At dinner in the evening, a Baltic Fleet sailor declared that he was the winner of the Kronstadt naval base slap contest.
The conscience of heaven and earth, whether it was during Alexei's tenure or after George became the Lord of the Navy, the Baltic Fleet has never held a slapping contest, and I don't know how this guy's champion came.
The sailors were all competitive, and the German sailors were very unconvinced, so one German sailor proposed to learn the strength of the champion, and his neck was broken with a slap.
The champion is two meters tall and weighs 130 kilograms.
The sailor who challenged the championship had just turned 18 and weighed exactly half the champion.
George was a little surprised when he learned about this situation. Two meters is too high and is not suitable for serving on a warship. It is more suitable for standing guard in the Winter Palace.
"This guy is a porter at the naval base, and his slap is bigger than the average person's face."
Peter is also convinced, one who dares to hit and the other who dares to be beaten are all talents.
The doctors at the Naval Hospital tried their best, but still could not save the unfortunate man's life. He died the next morning after treatment failed.
It is normal for the navy to die, not to mention military exercises. When a warship is sailing, if a sailor slips and falls into the water, the warship will definitely not stop to save the sailor, because there is no way to save the soldier who fell into the water. Wrapped in the bottom of the ship, either drowned or strangled by the propeller.
Accidents occur every year during the Russian Empire's Rovno exercises. As long as no more than 10 people die, they will not be reported at all.
The nature of joint military exercises is special, especially the relationship between Russia and Germany, where death is quite sensitive.
George and Tirpitz were both sensible and unaffected by the unexpected hardship, and the exercise continued the next day.
But the dinner in the evening was delivered directly to the German warship.
On the second day of the exercise, another accident occurred. The power compartment of the Baltic Fleet's cruiser "Valiant" exploded and caught fire. The 14 sailors working in the boiler room were all steamed almost in an instant. The scene was horrific. .
The High Seas Fleet also exposed a lot of problems. The battleship "Westfalen" collided with the cruiser "Vengeance" while sailing at high speed. Both ships were damaged and needed to be docked for repairs.
The battleship "Nassau" exploded during the exercise on the second day, producing a large amount of smoke. Tirpitz did not inform George of the reason.
In view of the fact that the purpose of the joint exercise has been basically achieved, George and Tirpitz decided to end the joint exercise early and return to their respective homes.
That night, a Baltic Fleet submarine lost a torpedo during training.
It was not stolen, but it did not hit the target after being launched, or it hit but did not explode. This kind of thing is normal and will not be reported at all.
After seeing off Tirpitz and the High Seas Fleet, George put forward higher demands on the Baltic Fleet regarding some issues exposed during the exercise.
George didn't pay much attention to the fact that soldiers participated in the slapping competition. Among the many hobbies of the Cossacks, slapping was already relatively civilized.
A boiler room explosion is unacceptable.
After George became Minister of the Navy, he assigned the older warships in the Baltic Fleet to be decommissioned, either sold for scrapping, or destroyed as target ships. Only 4 of them were used as training ships to continue serving.
The "Brave" was built in 1902 and is less than 10 years old. Such an accident should not have happened.
George asked Peter to pay more attention to safety work and never relax for a moment.
This time it was the boiler room that exploded, and the damage was not serious.
If the ammunition depot was blown up, the entire ship would be destroyed.
The matter of the Baltic Fleet has not been finished yet. Brusinov received news from the Kingdom of Bulgaria that the Ottoman Empire has continued to increase its troops to the Balkan Peninsula since last winter, and the plan may have been leaked.
In August this year, the Balkan Alliance held a military exercise. George originally planned to seize the Black Sea outlet through the military exercise.
Not many people knew about this plan. Apart from George, there were only Nikolai, Nikolai Jr., and Storey.
George does not think that the plan has been leaked. The Ottoman Empire's increase in troops may be a normal response to the Balkan Alliance exercises.
George called back to Brusinov and continued to implement the plan and prepare for the August exercise. What should be done.
If the Ottoman Empire wants to increase its troops, just do so. National mobilization is the best option. It would be better if the people are angry and the people are in dire straits. Then George will be able to seize the Black Sea outlet without any effort.
The Ottoman Empire’s current troubles come not only from the Balkans.
In North Africa, the Ottoman Empire also faced the threat of Italy.
With the unification of Italy in 1861, King Vittorio Emanuele II of the Kingdom of Sardinia became the King of the Kingdom of Italy. Italy is a representative country with a strong food addiction. Not long after its unification, it set its sights overseas, trying to acquire overseas colonies like other European countries.
In 1895, the Kingdom of Italy invaded Abyssinia. Not only did it fail to win the battle, but it also paid a compensation of 10 million lire to the Abyssinian Empire, which caused an uproar throughout the world.
Abyssinia is Ethiopia, an African country.
This was the first time in modern history that an African country defeated a European colonial country, and its significance was comparable to the Russo-Japanese War.
After hitting a wall in the Abyssinian Empire, Italy did not give up. In 1899, Italy proposed to the Qing Empire to lease Sanmen Bay as a military base for the Italian Navy.
The Qing Empire, which had just been defeated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, was extremely tough when faced with Italy's request. Not only did it not agree, but it also actively increased its troops in Sanmen Bay, forcing Italy to give up this request. Require.
Italy, which has continuously encountered difficulties in Africa and East Asia, finally realized that the current strength of the Italian Kingdom was not enough to follow the example of Britain and France in its ocean expansion.
So Italy looked around the Mediterranean and finally set its sights on the decadent and old Ottoman Empire, the sick man of Europe.
The Ottoman Empire not only owned the Black Sea outlet, but also occupied a large number of colonies in North Africa. This time Italy was eyeing Tripoli and Cyrenaica in the Ottoman Empire.
Since 1880, the Kingdom of Italy has continued to immigrate and send merchants to Tripoli and Cyrenaica, purchase land, and actively expand its power.
Italy also sent naval officers pretending to be fishermen to conduct coastal surveys in Tripoli in the name of fishing for sponges; and ordered Italian Catholic priests to go deep into the inland areas to collect intelligence in the name of missionary work.
After the Berlin Conference, the African continent was divided among European countries, and Tripoli and Cyrenaica were the last chances for the Kingdom of Italy.
The reinforcement fleet brought by George from the Far East is passing through the Suez Canal.
George is preparing to stimulate the Kingdom of Italy. If you don't take action, I won't be polite.
The reinforcement fleet mobilized by George consists of 14 warships, including "Yuryev" and "Romanov", as well as two pre-dreadnoughts "Ural" and "Caucasus".
After the Russo-Japanese War, the Siberian Fleet was alone in seeking defeat in the Far East. It would be a waste to leave powerful battleships in the Far East, so George decided to transfer this reinforcement fleet to the Black Sea and rebuild the Black Sea based on this fleet. fleet.
This is one of the serial sets that George prepared for the Ottoman Empire.
The Russian Empire has always been obsessed with the Black Sea outlet. The fundamental reason is that the Black Sea outlet is not open to the Russian Empire’s warships.
The Ottoman Empire regarded the Russian Empire's Black Sea Fleet as the biggest threat. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Empire dispatched warships from the Black Sea Fleet to the Far East to participate in the war. The Ottoman Empire agreed without saying a word.
After the Russo-Japanese War, Alexei wanted to transfer the two battleships Japan had compensated to the Russian Empire to the Black Sea Fleet, but was rejected by the Ottoman Empire. At this time, the Black Sea outlet was closed to the Russian Navy. .
George rebuilt the Black Sea Fleet not to deal with the Ottoman Empire, but to fight against the German-Austrian Alliance.
Britain and France have always accused the Russian Empire of inaction, hoping that the Russian Empire would actively join the arms race and force Germany to give up the arms race.
So when it comes to rebuilding the Black Sea Fleet, Britain and France support the Russian Empire.
Britain and France strongly support the dispatch of warships from the Siberian Fleet to Europe.
Britain and France both had fleets in Asia.
The strength is weaker than that of the Siberian Fleet.
Although the Russian Empire and Britain and France are allies, a powerful Siberian fleet is also a threat to Britain and France.
What made the British uncomfortable was that George did not move the reinforcement fleet to the Baltic Sea, but to the Black Sea, which put little pressure on Germany.
However, compared with the pressure that the Siberian Fleet brought to the British Asian Fleet in East Asia, this pressure should be borne by the Ottoman Empire.
Without the support of Britain and France, it would be difficult for George to get the Ottoman Empire to agree to open the Black Sea outlet.
George wanted to see if the Ottoman Empire would be so tough with the support of Britain and France.
On May 10, the reinforcement fleet transferred from the Far East entered the Mediterranean. George did not send the fleet to the Black Sea immediately, but went to Tripoli for a circle.
Going to Tripoli is to show off your muscles to the Ottoman Empire.
But this move has a different meaning in the eyes of Italians.
You want to show off your muscles, why not go to Constantinople?
Tripoli is a desert with nothing, show it to the sand?
Those desert peoples do not understand the role and significance of battleships at all.
So for the Kingdom of Italy, this is not a show of muscles at all, but a full demonstration of the Russian Empire's ambitions in North Africa.
(End of this chapter)