Chapter 619: What Is Japan‑Germany‑Netherlands? This Is Victory! This Is Annihilation!

"Sank one Hood… three Elizabeth Queen Class… two Brave Class…"

He looked up, at the aide: "Six ships?"

The aide nodded vigorously: "Six, Your Majesty!"

Wilhelm II was stunned for a second.

Then he smiled.

It wasn't a restrained smile, not the modesty an emperor should have. It was a laugh that burst from deep within his chest, held back for three years and finally released, shaking the candleholder's flame as it trembled.

"Good!" He slapped the nightstand, toppling the candleholder; the aide scrambled to steady it, "Good! Good!"

He said "good" three times, threw off his nightgown and bolted from the bedroom, sprinting down the corridor toward the study. The aide chased, trying to hand him slippers, but he ignored them, barefoot on the cold marble, running like a twenty‑year‑old.

"Great Emperor! Frederick the Great!" he burst into the study, waving a telegram at the portrait on the wall, "Did you see? Deguo's navy has finally made the Yingguo pay! What are Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands? This is victory! This is a total annihilation!"

In the portrait, Frederick the Great stared down at him with eagle‑like eyes, saying nothing.

Wilhelm II didn't care. He spread the telegram on the desk, read it again, then again. Every word, every number he chewed over repeatedly, as if tasting the most delicious food in the world.

"Six…" he muttered, "Six capital ships. How many does the Royal Navy have? Twenty? That's a third gone!"

He paced the study, his bare feet leaving damp prints on the carpet.

"Scher! I knew Scher was a genius! I knew the Bismarck Class was invincible! Where is Tirpitz? Where is Tirpitz?"

The aide stood in the doorway, panting: "Your Majesty, it's only 4 a. m.; Admiral Tirpitz should be at home—"

"Summon him!" Wilhelm II waved his hand, "Now! Immediately!"

At exactly seven o'clock, Tirpitz entered the study.

He was already sixty‑eight. Roused from bed at dawn, he was driven from home to Carefree Palace, a forty‑minute ride, without saying a word. Not that he didn't want to, he just didn't know what to say.

When he entered the study, Wilhelm II was still in his nightgown, his hair already combed, his face flushed with the kind of redness that only comes after drinking. (Who can provide a picture—like the one with legs crossed, a glass of red wine in hand, leg hair exposed, expression utterly swaggering.)

"Alfred!" the Emperor spread his arms, "Have you seen Scher's battle report!"

Tirpitz stood at the desk, not sitting.

"Seen it, Your Majesty."

"Six!" Wilhelm II stepped before him, almost shouting, "Six Yingguo capital ships! One Hood, three Elizabeth Queen Class, two Brave Class! Do you know what that means?"

Tirpitz was silent for a second.

"Your Majesty, I know what it means," his voice deep, "It means Deguo's navy won a battle more glorious than that of Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands."

"Glorious!" Wilhelm II clapped, "Yes, glorious! I will issue a proclamation, I will have a parade through all of Berlin, I will let everyone know—"

"Your Majesty," Tirpitz interrupted him.

Wilhelm II was stunned.

The sixty‑eight‑year‑old old marshal stood in the center of the study, wearing his faded‑white general's uniform, his facial wrinkles stark in the morning light. He did not look at the Emperor, but at the spread telegram on the desk.

"Your Majesty, the four King Class support ships— all gone."

Wilhelm II's smile faded a bit.

"Caesar, Luitpold, King, Empress Ship," Tirpitz's voice recited like a list of the fallen, "Four battleships, eight thousand Deguo sailors. Fewer than two thousand survived."

He looked up: "Your Majesty, this is a tragic victory."

Wilhelm II frowned: "A tragic victory is still a victory. The Yingguo suffered greater losses."

"Yes, the Yingguo suffered greater losses," Tirpitz said, "but their shipbuilding capacity exceeds ours. They can replace lost vessels within a year. What about us?"

He walked to the window, back to the Emperor:

"Our support fleet is gone. Our capital ships—Bismarck and Tirpitz—are now where? In the middle of the Atlantic. Wounded, low on fuel, ammunition scarce. Will the Yingguo spare them? No. Jellico will surely gather every usable fleet and scour the Atlantic for them."

He turned: "Your Majesty, Scher will not return to Keel Port."

Wilhelm II's flushed glow finally faded.

"What did you say?"

"Won't return," Tirpitz repeated, "The Yingguo won't let them cross the North Sea. Meilika are waiting on the Atlantic. Their only way out is south, toward a neutral‑state port. But under international law, once they dock, they'll be detained until the war ends."

He paused: "If luck's on their side, they might make it to South America. If not…"

He didn't finish.

Wilhelm II fell silent.

He walked back to the desk, sat, stood, sat again. His fingers tapped the surface unconsciously for a few seconds, then stopped.

"Alfred," he finally spoke, his voice much lower, "Tell me, why is the Bismarck Class so strong?"

Tirpitz was startled. He didn't know why the Emperor had suddenly asked that.

"Because… the design is advanced, the technology leads, Your Majesty."

"Advanced design, leading technology," Wilhelm II repeated, "Who designed it?"

Tirpitz was silent.

He knew the answer.

"Lanfang." Wilhelm II supplied, "Designed by Lanfang people. Built by Lanfang people. Sold to us by Lanfang."

He rose, went to the window, standing shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Tirpitz.

Outside, the morning mist over Bodhi Tree Avenue was lifting. In the distance, the statue atop the Victory Memorial Column flickered in the haze.

"A few months ago," Wilhelm II said, "the Bismarck sank the Hood in the North Sea. Now it has also taken down the Empress Ship and three Elizabeth Queen Class, plus that… Brave Class. What does that prove?"

Tirpitz gave no answer.

"It proves the Bismarck Class is correct," Wilhelm II turned, looking at his naval marshal, "Alfred, Lanfang still has six active Bismarck Class ships."

Tirpitz's pupils narrowed slightly.

"I want you to go to Lanfang," Wilhelm II said, "Bring back those six Bismarck Class ships."

"Your Majesty—"

"Buy it, rent it, borrow it—just bring it back!" Wei Lian Ershi interrupted him, "With six Bismarck Class ships, I can finally crush the Royal Navy, trap the British lads on the three islands of Britain! The Atlantic will become Deguo's inland lake! Do the Meilika people still dare to join the war? They dare to go to die?"