On the morning of the third day of the first lunar month of the AD year.
Emperor Zhu Jingyuan of the Ming Dynasty boarded his own special royal train with his entourage.
Cross the Yangtze River to Zhoushan Military Port to participate in tomorrow's ship review.
People from the Ming Dynasty who participated in the ship review also took another train to go there.
Representatives from various countries in Thailand and Spain were also arranged to take trains there.
Although you can reach Zhoushan by boat in one day, it is not as fast as the train.
From Yingtianfu New City to Zhoushan County, Ningbo Prefecture, the land route is slightly closer than the sea route.
It takes twenty hours to transfer from a river boat to an offshore boat.
Even if the train travels at a speed of sixty kilometers per hour, it will only take eight hours to arrive.
The key is that trains are safer.
For Zhu Jingyuan, if you can take a train, don’t take a boat; if you can take a boat, don’t take a plane.
In the evening of the third day of the first lunar month, all personnel arrived at Zhoushan Military Port.
After Zhu Jingyuan arrived at his residence, he first met with Chen Huacheng and Guan Tianpei, who were responsible for organizing the naval ship review.
Listen to them report on the preparations for the ship review.
Overall, everything is going smoothly, and there are no glitches so far.
Royal families, officials, and generals from various countries in Europe and the West also went to greet the mid-level generals of their own navies who stayed at the military port.
These generals and crews who are directly responsible for the control of their warships must participate in the ship review in accordance with Ming Dynasty's requirements and also participate in simple rehearsals.
Correspondingly, they also basically understood the general scale of this ship review during this process.
Now they immediately reported it to their monarchs and superiors.
Two super battleships of more than 80,000 tons.
Eight large battleships of over 60,000 tons.
Sixteen medium-sized battleships of more than 40,000 tons.
Four 60,000-ton aircraft carriers.
Sixteen 40,000-ton aircraft carriers.
There are a total of forty-six battleships, with a total tonnage of more than 2.2 million tons, which is almost equivalent to the combined tonnage of the battleships of the major European and Western countries.
In addition, nearly two hundred cruisers will participate in the review, and the total tonnage is almost the same as that of all major European and Western countries combined.
Destroyers and submarines will not participate in this ship review...
However, there will be a total of more than 2,000 carrier-based aircraft of various types participating in the review...
The generals on the naval ships of various countries were a little excited when talking about these data. They had never participated in a fleet of this size.
The kings, top nobles, navy and army generals from various countries in the West were all stunned when they heard this.
But these data are so real.
Because these battleships are right in front of them.
The residences of personnel from various countries in Thailand and Spain are arranged opposite the berth of the military port, and they can directly see most of the warships in the military port.
At this time, the situation in the military port is that giant battleships can be lined up in rows, and 10,000-ton cruisers are piled up.
Even the capital ship has no chance to occupy an entire berth alone.
Usually two battleships are tied together and tied to the trestle through fixed cables.
Cruisers need to be several together.
Nelson stood in his room, looking at the military port outside through the window, muttering to himself:
"The number of warships, aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft at this military port is almost greater than that of all countries in the entire Europa continent..."
Wellesley sighed and echoed:
"And these are definitely not all the battleships of the Ming Dynasty..."
Nelson didn't speak, just sighed and shook his head, and continued to observe the battleships in the dock.
Nelson's mentality has completely changed now.
At the end of the World War, Nelson was very arrogant and believed that the major naval countries in Europe and the West combined could compete with the Ming Navy.
Among the major naval countries in the West, Britain has the largest and most powerful fleet.
Britain's navy alone poses a certain threat to the Ming Dynasty's navy.
Especially in the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Qin Sea, the British Navy can even gain certain advantages by virtue of its geographical location.
When Nelson was planning and designing the dreadnought battleship, he thought he had found an opportunity to overtake in a corner with his unique design concept.
With that brand-new warship, it directly surpassed the Ming Navy.
The result was also an obvious failure.
During the world war armistice negotiations, the situation had already taken a turn for the worse.
Daming came up with more powerful artillery, and Daming also showed a stronger ability to continue fighting.
After the armistice negotiations ended, in just a few years, the gap between the navies of the European and Western countries and the navy of the Ming Dynasty went from being evenly matched to being difficult to resist.
Daming also completed the perfect battleship he envisioned.
The key is to quickly complete the construction and start large-scale mass production at a speed far exceeding that of the European and American countries.
At this time, Nelson still believed that if he could not compete with the Ming Dynasty in terms of numbers, he would gain an advantage in the tonnage of a single ship.
Maintaining a threat to the Ming Navy.
As a result, this goal undoubtedly failed.
The warship that I envisioned had an advantage in terms of tonnage was smaller than the mass-produced warships of the Ming Dynasty. Instead, it became a junk warship that could be easily suppressed.
By that time, the British Navy's goal finally changed from threatening the Ming Navy to maintaining its position on the Western continent.
But at the same time, Nelson still believed that if the navies of all the countries in Europe and the West unite, they still have a chance to fight the Ming Dynasty.
The British Navy, which has the most experience in naval warfare, must still be the core of this combined fleet.
Once such a combined fleet appears, he will still be the leader of such a fleet.
But in recent years, the situation of European countries has taken a turn for the worse, and civil war may even break out at any time.
Nelson no longer expected that kind of combined fleet.
Now, looking at the fleet at the Ming Dynasty's home naval port, Nelson began to feel that even if the navies of the European and Western countries could really unite, it would be difficult to pose a substantial threat to the Ming Navy.
In terms of numbers, they may be able to barely match each other, but the gap in size and combat capabilities of individual ships is too big.
The residence of the representative of the State of Prussia.
A lieutenant colonel and deputy captain who stayed behind on the Prussian battleship and was responsible for managing the affairs on the ship explained the situation of the navy to his king.
After hearing the introduction, King William III of Prussia asked almost subconsciously:
"This shouldn't be all the battleships and cruisers of the Ming Dynasty, right?"
The lieutenant colonel and deputy captain immediately added as a matter of course:
"Of course not all of them. According to the soldiers of the Ming Navy, there are more battleships.
“All battleships already in service will participate, but some aircraft carriers will remain overseas.
"Only about half of the cruisers will participate in the ship review, and they have to take other destroyers to cruise overseas.
"And I heard them say that this time is actually not suitable. There are at least eight 80,000-ton super battleships in Ming's shipyard.
"There are still at least eight 60,000-ton and 40,000-ton capital ships under construction, as well as more cruisers...
"After three years, all these warships will be put into service, and the size of Ming's navy will expand again..."
When William III heard this, he couldn't help but open his mouth:
"The shipyard still has sixteen capital ships? Eight of them are in the 80,000-ton class?"
The second son of William III, Zhu Jingyuan, the first emperor of Germany in his previous life, and now Prince William reminded his father to explain:
“Since the signing of the Europa Naval Treaty, Ming Dynasty has maintained a pace of starting eight capital ships every year to cope with the shipbuilding plans of Europa countries.
"In the past two years, the shipbuilding of European countries has stopped one after another, and the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding speed has also slowed down a little...
"The construction cycle of capital ships is three years. Now there are only 16 capital ships in the shipyard instead of 24, which shows that the speed has slowed down."
William III actually knew this information, which was basically public information.
But when faced with such an intuitive situation, William III still couldn't help but lose his composure.
The Europa Naval Treaty stipulates that each European and Spanish country can only build 320,000-ton capital ships, which is eight 40,000-ton high-speed battleships.
The Ming Dynasty... actually builds eight ships every year, and the tonnage is even larger, with an average of 60,000 tons per ship.
Although the treaty stipulates that all countries are given the same share, but except for the major countries of Britain, France, Spain, Prussia, and Lu, other countries simply do not have the ability to use up the 320,000-ton capital ship share.
The Ming Dynasty can build a battleship of a major European and Western country every year and still has a large margin.
After a few years of this, the number of warships and the size of single ships of the Ming Navy have exceeded all countries in the entire western continent.
William III looked at his son and asked in a consulting and confirming manner:
"William, you have followed the Ming Emperor for many years, and you should be the one who knows the Ming Emperor best among us Prussians.
"According to your understanding, the Ming Emperor controlled such a powerful force, why didn't he use force to directly annex the remaining independent countries?"
Prince William shrugged awkwardly:
"According to my understanding, His Majesty the Emperor's purpose should be very simple, which is to conquer the enemy without fighting.
“Through suppression, guidance, and infiltration at various levels such as economic, political, and cultural levels, the countries of Europe have slowly lost their independence.
"In the end, we had to actually integrate into the Ming Dynasty market, or join the Ming Empire Federation more directly and openly, becoming an internal vassal state."
"In fact, His Majesty the Emperor has been doing this all these years, and the world situation these years has been in line with His Majesty's expectations.
"The various problems that have arisen within the countries of Western Europe and Western Europe are also within His Majesty's expectation.
“According to His Majesty’s theory, as long as the imperial court allows uncontrolled development of business, the current result will eventually occur.
“If the countries in the most difficult situation want to get out of this predicament, the best way is to fully adopt the system and directly seek help from Ming Dynasty.
"Once it becomes a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, all the current problems will be solved."
After hearing this, William III pondered for a moment:
"You mean to say that the Ming Emperor pursued subjugation without fighting, that is, he pursued not using war methods.
"So as long as other countries do not surrender and do not take the initiative to use force against Ming Dynasty, then Ming Dynasty will not launch war against other countries?
“But more importantly, when the weaker side of two countries at war chooses to defect to Ming Dynasty, what will Ming Dynasty choose?
"Will you take this opportunity and directly join the war between the original two countries as the suzerain country of the defecting party?"
Gneisenau listened to William III's question and looked at Prince William with curiosity, waiting for the prince's answer to this question.
Prince William's expression was a little strange, and there was a hint of disgust in it:
“At this moment, I realized again that His Majesty, my father, who has been living in the mainland, still cannot think outside the European style.
"Just as His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty said in the Western Cape, Europeans will regard Ming Dynasty's tolerance and good intentions as weakness.
“The Ming Dynasty’s goal and position of not using war means as much as possible will be regarded as the prerequisite and opportunity for oneself to act arbitrarily.
"His Majesty the Ming Emperor does have the idea of defeating others without fighting, but this is not his guarantee to anyone."
William III and several core officials around him were obviously stunned.
Then they subconsciously entered a brief state of reflection.
However, this state did not last long, and Gneisenau already had a new idea:
“It’s really hard for us to think outside of Europe.
“But our thinking is actually strategically correct.
“As the most civilized nation and country, Ming Dynasty has the ideal of solving problems through peaceful means.
“This ideal is indeed very noble.
“But the reality is that this ideal creates a certain constraint on their behavior.
“Others did not place restrictions on them, nor were they forced to make restrictions due to circumstances, but they actively set restrictions on themselves.
“One-sided restrictions on them, no restrictions on others.
"This is our opportunity!
“It’s an opportunity for all other less civilized countries!
“Since Ming Dynasty is reasonable and pursues solving problems without resorting to war, it will definitely remind, persuade and warn other countries.
"Other countries only need to stop when Ming's warnings become more and more severe.
"There should be no direct punishment...
"There may even be a chance to negotiate some conditions and rewards..."
Regarding Gneisenau's analysis, William III nodded frequently.
Prince William next to him had a confused look on his face, and subconsciously uttered an elegant saying:
"Am I a barbarian?"
William III was slightly startled when he heard these four words, and Gneisenau next to him said with a smile:
"We are indeed barbarians, so we must survive according to the barbarian rules."
This time Prince William was also stunned for a moment:
"Because we are barbarians, shouldn't we actively learn civilized systems and civilized ways of thinking and decision-making?"
After hearing this, Gneisenau wanted to laugh but also felt a little worried:
"Your Highness, we are barbarians, not only because our system is different from the Ming Dynasty, but more importantly, we are Europeans.
“We are different from the people of Ming Dynasty in terms of image.
“Even if we learn from the Ming Dynasty’s system and culture, people in the Ming Dynasty will think that we are barbarians just by taking one look at our image.
“Our status and geographical environment in the world are also completely different from those of Ming Dynasty.
“Our country is surrounded by barbarians, ferocious beasts that choose people to devour. Pure civilization cannot give us the power to defeat danger.
“Unless we become as powerful as Ming, we have no chance of considering more civilized approaches.
"Compassion and elegance, civilization and order are all the preserve of the strong..."
Prince William fell silent after hearing this.
The whole person fell into a kind of mental confusion.
Prince William felt that what Gneisenau said was true. Prussia's status, environment and ethnic group were indeed in this state.
But at the same time, I also feel that Gneisenau’s statement is not quite right.
I just don’t know how to argue.
The key is that if he directly admits his status as a barbarian and lives and responds to the situation according to the barbarian rules, he really has nothing to say.
Various discussions also occurred in other countries' rest areas.
Almost everyone was extremely shocked by the scale of Ming's fleet review.
Many people and the British once again felt the despair at the naval level.
Then many people, like the Prussians, worried, considered and discussed the future situation of the world.
In this atmosphere, time slowly came to the morning of the fourth day of the first lunar month of the AD year.
The largest ship review in the history of the world has begun.
