Chapter 332: Taranto

"Two battleships, two cruisers, I thought the Italians would gather all of their battleships." Hipper said with contempt at the Italian fleet in the distance. If the naval officer of this era has the most practical experience, then Hipper said second, absolutely no one dares to say first! Participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, watched the Spanish-American War, and violently beaten the French fleet in Africa. The tonnage of the warship that died in his hands was more than 50,000 tons! This record is enough for him to despise a second-rate navy.

"They have other warships in the port. We came 4, and the other side arranged four. We are 2 battleships and 2 cruisers. The other side is the same. The choice is quite satisfactory. There is no hostility or goodwill." The prince put down his hands. Said the telescope.

"Mr. Commander, what flag do we fly? Is it your general's flag or the prince's marshal's flag?" an officer asked.

"It's better to hang the flag, I'm just a named marshal." The prince thought for a while and said. Sometimes you can't go too far. If you catch the lining, then you can put aside the matter of face.

; "Raise the flag of the Marshal. The other party is a duke, and it is said that there is also a prime minister who greets us. If we hang the flag, then we should fire the salute first. This is not very good for our plans below. You Say yes, Mr. Admiral?" Tirpitz said to Admiral Ball.

"Uh, that's the case. The Secretary of State of the Navy said that it is very reasonable. It is more appropriate to hang your marshal flag. After all, your marshal status is given by the empire. I can't overrule it." Admiral Boll thought for a while and said. Not to mention that the prince is the honorary marshal, just to rush to the prince's huge domestic energy and influence on the navy. In this kind of face matter, it is necessary to give in. Of course, Admiral Ball should say this, and Prince Ruprecht cannot be allowed to speak.

;(First of all, the author has very little regard for naval etiquette. It is customary for the party with a low rank to fire first, but I don’t know what rank the Duke of Abruzzi is. As for whether he also considers the identity of other personnel, the author is not very Clearly, how should I put it? This is what the plot needs to write--!)

; "Mr. Prime Minister, what flag do you think the German fleet will fly?" When the German squadron gradually appeared on the sea level. The Duke of Abuqilu asked.

; "They should be able to fly the marshal flag." Luigi said without hesitation.

; "He is just an honorary title. The Kaiser is really a casual person. He actually awarded the title of a navy marshal to a prince of a state so easily." There was a sneer on the Duke's face.

"Hehe, the energy of this prince is much greater than that of a navy marshal. There is a popular saying in German politics that Prince Ruprecht is the future king of Bavaria and the invisible prime minister of the German Empire! In front of the Kaiser What he said is more effective than the Prime Minister of the Empire."

"What's more, this time, the Germans are demonstrating, they can't fire a salute at us first." Luigi said seriously.

; "It seems that we can't get around the prince this time." The Duke said helplessly. "Your Excellency Commander, the other party raised the marshal flag!" said an officer next to him.

; "Then follow the previous agreement and fire a 19-gun salute!" The Duke of Abuqilu ordered. The 21-gun salute corresponds to the head of state, and the 17-gun salute corresponds to the level of prime minister and prime minister, and the status of the prince is lower than the Kaiser and higher than the prime minister, so the 19-gun salute is also appropriate.

; The Italians sounded a 19-gun salute properly, and then, because of the presence of the Italian Prime Minister, the German responded with a 17-gun salute. The first round of contact between the two sides appeared to be quite satisfactory, and then with the approach of the German fleet, the Italian fleet began to turn, and then sailed towards Taranto in one-to-one correspondence with the German warships.

Both sides knew that the visitors were not good, and tried to suppress the opponent in momentum. The German and Italian navy soldiers stood neatly on the side of the ship, and under the blowing of the sea breeze, the flag on the mast fluttered fiercely.

; The Italians are quite satisfactory, but compared with the Germans on the opposite side, they lack a kind of killing spirit. After all, most of the German naval officers and soldiers who came out to show off have participated in the war against France, and some even participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The **** battles in the war, this kind of soldier who has experienced the baptism of blood and fire, is not comparable to those Italians who just paddling in the Mediterranean. Although there is no more exchanges, this kind of momentum already exists gap.

; The gap in hardware is even greater. "Our battleship is too old, and the design concept is from more than ten years ago. If we face the German fleet, then our performance is not as good as France. Even the battleship we are outfitting on the berth is far worse than these. German battleship!" Putting down the binoculars in his hand, the Duke said to Luigi next to him with some frustration.

"This is a gap in national strength. We don't have German industry and money, but fortunately, Germany is not in the Mediterranean, but can only confront the powerful Britain and France in the North Sea. Our geographical advantage makes up for the military disadvantage. "Luigi said with a gloomy face.

On the opposite side, the Germans are constantly looking at the Italian fleet. "The Italians care about their fleet more than we do." Tirpitz whispered to the prince. The implication is very clear, I hope the prince can give some support in the naval budget after returning to the country.

"However, the input and output of such a navy are not directly proportional. The Italians were able to build warships as heavy as the Mainz 2 armored cruiser in the 1980s. But what was the result? But some. It's nothing more than a product of old technology and design concepts."

"We are at a critical moment of technological leap. The warranty period of any warship does not exceed 8 years. The premature expansion of the fleet has no meaning other than wasting a lot of money."

"I am not opposed to the expansion of the fleet, but we must be cautious. Every warship in the empire must strive for perfection, because we do not have as much budget as the British can tolerate failure, understand?" The prince finished speaking and looked at Tyrp. Ci gave a glance.

"Bavaria has benefited greatly from the expansion of the navy, but as a land power country, we must first guarantee the superiority of the French and Russian army. I will consider your opinions, but don’t try to impose your ideas on mine. On the head. If you really care about naval construction, then I hope you can pay attention to the technical details of the navy. As for budget issues, with me and the Kaiser here, everything is not a problem."

;Prince Ruprecht had to remind Tirpitz, who was a little hot-headed next to him. Although the prince also admitted that a new era may come early, it is now the eve of the rioters!

;Thanks to the book friends for slowly swimming, the fisherman; ~~~, and the book friends for pure and crisp entropy, nemofoxx, jinyufeng; support~~~! The second is more ~~~, please subscribe for support~~~. Tomorrow, the history classification will be closed and pushed, at least three days and three changes~~~! The author is awesome, and readers are also a lot stronger~~~

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