Chapter Sixteen: Retreat as Advance

  Appointing a nominal commander of the High Seas Fleet within von Tirpitz's sphere of authority was not a major issue. A few months later, thanks to Tirpitz's efforts in building up the High Seas Fleet, von Tirpitz applied for him to be promoted to Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) in the Imperial Navy. With the help of Crown Prince Wilhelm, he received the approval of Emperor Frederick III.

  However, the matter of preparing a large fleet is still aimless and disorganized.

  Under the name of preparing to build a large fleet, Feng Chongqian visited all the shipyards of the German Empire in these few months and had a deeper understanding of the empire's shipbuilding capabilities.

  As an emerging industrial nation, the shipbuilding capacity of the German Empire was not bad.

  At this time, the German Empire already had several shipyards capable of building large warships above the level of cruisers, including Wilhelmshaven, Vulkan, Germaniawerft, Weser, Danzig, Kiel Navy Yard, Blohm + Voss, Seebeck, and Howaldtswerke, which built dozens of warships of various classes for the Imperial Navy and other navies.

  However, the German Empire still lacked a shipyard capable of building battleships.

  Moreover, there is another problem that cannot be ignored.

  Because orders are extremely limited and shipyards vary in quality, each shipyard finds it difficult to grow and develop, making it impossible to make breakthroughs in emerging technologies.

  Feng Chengqian's first thought was to integrate the empire's shipbuilding industry and merge the scattered shipyards together.

  The question is, where to start?

  The German Empire was a capitalist state and most of its shipyards were privately owned, protected by law from being consolidated through national fiat.

  Although Feng Chengqian was a soldier, he had to admit that at times financiers were more useful than soldiers.

  To integrate the empire's shipbuilding industry, it must rely on imperial financial capitalists.

  For this purpose, Feng Chengqian decided that after returning to Berlin, he would go to find Karl and establish a relationship with the imperial financial capital such as Deutsche Bank and Württembergische Bank through him.

  A lot of things happened in these months.

  Bismarck and Salisbury intervened, France was more restrained in its loans to Russia, and the Tsar temporarily shelved his plans for building the Siberian Railway. As for the Baghdad railway mentioned by von Gutschmid in front of Salisbury, it also came to nothing for the time being, only reaching Ismailia.

  Russia's postponement of the construction plan for the Siberian Railway does not mean that the foundation of the Franco-Russian Alliance has disappeared.

  The Tsar then used the loan to order 500,000 rifles from France in preparation for expanding his army by one million men within three years.

  For the Second German Empire, Russia's move was absolutely a thorn in the back.

  Feng Chengqian returned to Berlin when the Empire was discussing this matter.

  Mao Zedong proposed that the empire should expand its army in response, at least expanding by 500,000 to counter the greatly increased strength of the Russian army.

  It's easy to say but hard to do.

  The military system of the empire was established by the late Count Roan, and Roan became one of the three founding heroes of the empire.

  Although more people know Bismarck and Moltke, Roon's contributions are in no way inferior to theirs.

  Mao Qi proposed expanding the army, which would require revising the empire's military system, issuing new conscription regulations, and modifying the system of military service.

  These are all trivial matters.

  The crucial point is that an increase of 500,000 men means the expenditure of billions of Imperial Marks for arms and equipment, and also an annual increase of hundreds of millions of Imperial Marks in army expenditure.

  With the imperial finances already strained, such a large increase in expenditure was certainly no small matter.

  As a result, the matter was dragged into the financial budget of the next fiscal year, and the core is still the military expenditure.

  Feng Chengqian returned just in time, as Mao Qi had long been eyeing the naval military expenses and Bismarck also believed that there was no need to expand the navy for the time being.

  After learning about the situation, Feng Chengqian did not immediately go to find Frederick III, but instead went to the Crown Prince's Palace.

  "This matter, I don't know much about it either." Crown Prince William sighed and said, "His Majesty told me not to ask too many questions about government affairs. All I heard was that Marshal Moltke requested a reduction in naval military expenditures, and the Chancellor did not raise any objections. His Majesty has not made a decision yet, so you're back just in time."

  "What is the shortfall in army military expenditure?"

  "Next year there will probably be fifteen billion marks, and after that still more."

  Feng Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "The naval expenditure is less than 500 million marks. Even if it is cut in half, it cannot fill the gap of the army."

  "That's what they say, but..."

  "It seems I need to have a good talk with Your Majesty."

  "The sooner the better, the count must seize the time."

  Feng Chengqian nodded, indicating that he understood the meaning of Crown Prince William. Although Frederick III had not yet approved Moltke's plan to expand the army, under Moltke and Bismarck's soft and hard efforts, it was impossible for him to remain silent forever and would eventually have to make a decision on this matter.

  "Will the Earl have a harvest in these months?"

  "Ran around many places, didn't gain much."

  "Is it?" Prince William furrowed his brow.

  "The shipbuilding industry of the empire, and indeed all industries in the empire, are still in their infancy. The scale of each enterprise is very small." Feng Chengqian forced a smile and continued, "To put it nicely, there is huge potential for development. To put it bluntly, they have not yet grown their wings."

  "It seems that the Earl's hard work over the past few months has not been in vain."

  "It's all right, the empire still has a long way to go to develop and grow." Feng Chengqian sighed and said, "It's getting late, I won't bother Your Highness anymore."

  Prince William did not retain Feng Chengqian either, because he knew that Feng Chengqian was in a hurry to see the Emperor.

  Leaving Sanssouci Palace, Feng Chengqian went to Potsdam Palace.

  When they arrived, it was already late in the evening, and Frederick III was preparing for dinner. Feng Chenqian had been traveling day and night, and his stomach was empty.

  "Are you back today?"

  "I arrived in the afternoon and was delayed for a while when I came to pay respects to Your Majesty because I met Crown Prince Wilhelm."

  "Didn't you meet by chance?" Frederick III smiled and said, "William is not young either, and he has always been very interested in the navy. He must have been waiting for you specially."

  "This..."

  "In a few more years, I will let William enter politics and learn how to govern the country." Frederick III took a deep breath and continued, "You must have heard that Moltke proposed an expansion of the army, and at least an increase of 500,000 troops. The prime minister did not object, and all the ministers are waiting for me to make a decision."

  "The empire is a land-based country, and expanding the army is very necessary."

  "Really?"

  "Your Majesty, I am speaking from the heart. Without a solid foundation at home, an empire with even the strongest navy in the world would be of no use. In any case, we do not have the natural barrier of the English Channel; if our land forces are defeated, the empire will suffer a disaster that will lead to its downfall."

  "You mean..."

  "Perhaps 500,000 is still not enough."

  "This..."

  "Russia is expanding its army by one million, France will not just watch from the sidelines, and it's likely that they will soon propose a similar expansion plan. We must consider the possibility of going to war with both France and Russia at the same time, so I think that if we are to expand our military, we should also take into account the potential threat from France."

  "How much expansion do you think is suitable?"

  "For now, it seems we need to increase our military by at least one million. If France also starts expanding its military, we'll have to add some more."

  "This..." Frederick III was somewhat embarrassed.

  "I'm just the war minister in charge of the navy, I don't know much about the army's affairs, so it's just a one-sided word." Feng Chengqian smiled and said, "But I think, since the purpose of expanding the military is to respond to new threats, why not make decisions based on reality?"

  "You mean..."

  "Train an army for a thousand days to use them for a moment. The value of the military in peacetime is to prepare for the next war, so first we need to figure out what the next war will be like, then we can know how to build today's military, and only then can we clarify whether or not we need to expand our forces."

  Frederick III nodded thoughtfully, as if he felt that Feng Chengqian's words were very reasonable.

  "My opinion is that before deciding to expand the army, two things must be done. First, it is necessary to clarify when and how the next war will break out, what scale it will be, what new weapons will appear, and whether there will be changes in strategy and tactics. Second, a detailed strategic plan should be formulated, from which a comprehensive plan for the military strength of the empire can be made. With these two foundations, it will be possible to determine whether an expansion of the army is needed."

  "You're right, it seems we both overlooked the most essential thing."

  "Your Majesty, concern leads to chaos." Feng Chengqian secretly let out a sigh of relief and said, "Russia suddenly announced its expansion of the military, not only did Your Majesty feel tense, I'm afraid no one in the empire is not feeling tense. For a moment, neglecting the essence of things is also a common occurrence. As long as we understand the truth, it's not difficult to respond."

  "I will make arrangements as soon as possible."

  "Your Majesty, this matter is not beneficial to drag out, after all it's still not necessary to draw swords with France and Russia at present."

  Frederick nodded and said: "Then find Moltke alone and let him organize a sand table exercise to simulate the next war."

  "Your Majesty, I have an impertinent request."

  "What?"

  "If possible, I hope Your Majesty will permit me to organize personnel to act as hypothetical enemies."

  "This..."

  "Such a bitter job, I'm afraid no one in the General Staff Department is willing to do it."

  Frederick III smiled and said, "Since you're so interested, it's not impossible. However, if you get involved, I'll have to be the judge myself."

  "Then I'll have to trouble Your Majesty."

  With that, dinner was also finished. Feng Chengqian was very self-aware and did not disturb the emperor's evening activities. Frederick III was both an imperial emperor and a husband and father. In general, Frederick III rarely handled government affairs at night, but instead stayed by his wife and children.

  In the matter of expanding the Imperial Army, Feng Chengqian adopted a strategy of advancing by retreating, and has already seen initial results.