The ruling center of the Ottoman Turkish Empire was Asia Minor. There is the best part of the Turkish Empire. This situation has not changed much, not because the Ottoman Empire did not pay much attention to the Mesopotamian plain. But it is really a bit inadequate, how can a country that relies on foreign aid to build a railway across the entire plain really grasp and develop this place? Moreover, the Turks were not popular among the ethnic groups of the Middle East, and slave owners and slaves could never coexist peacefully, and as a result, Turkey was not only unable to transform the region into an imperial power, but had to devote a considerable part of its strength to suppressing various local uprisings and revolts.

On the plane, the Turkish state apparatus was greatly strengthened by the strong involvement of Germany, the stronger domestic policy of the Young Turks, and, of course, the large amount of arms disposed of cheaply by the Chinese Republic, and the Sultan's rangers were invincible throughout the two rivers and the Arabian Peninsula. At this time, the British official known as the "Lawrence of Arabia" had not yet reached the Arabian Peninsula, so under the high-pressure policy, the Turkish Empire's control over the entire Middle East region, especially the Mesopotamian plain, was greatly increased. This is one of the fundamental reasons why the German government finally chose this place as the base of the combined German-Turkish fleet. But these circumstances are all on paper, but what the specific situation, the German Navy still has to send professionals to investigate, and when Count Spee came here with part of the fleet, they finally understood what the so-called "military port" was all about.

"Is this our future fleet base?" Looking at the reeds and date palms that came into view, Count Spee said very depressedly. According to him, this is definitely closer to the original ecology than anywhere else in Germany, the environment is very nice and the scenery is beautiful. There are also some ancient buildings located nearby. But all this has nothing to do with a qualified naval base! At least for now.

In a port called Fao, the Germans believed that the hydrological situation here would definitely allow a strong fleet to be stationed. Further inside there is also a lake, which provides a good depth for the fleet. If the Baghdad Railway is completed, goods from Germany will be transported by rail to Port Offa after passing through the Balkans to Asia Minor. According to the idea of the Germans. The German-Turkish fleet stationed here can get almost all the equipment it needs, such as various parts and ammunition.

But Count Spee soon realized. Even after the completion of the Baghdad Railway, according to the German government's vision, Fao will definitely not be able to become a port capable of being used by capital ships in a short period of time. You know, even in the port of Batavia, which is in good condition, in order to accommodate the entire Russian-Dutch fleet, the Dutch and Russians have been busy for 6 years, and it can barely be enough. And although the German-Turkish fleet could not be compared with the once prominent Russian-Dutch fleet in terms of total tonnage. However, in terms of the demand for docks and supporting facilities, it is not worse than the Russian-Dutch fleet, you know, in the future, the German-Turkish fleet will have super-dreadnoughts with a displacement of more than 25,000 tons, not to mention anything else. At least the port should have a dock of about 30,000 tons, and at the same time, there can be a gantry crane that can lift the triple 14-inch gun turret, right? Without these things, expensive battleships are just consumables!

The battle cruiser Goben, which was thrown into the ground in a hurry, was unable to find a suitable dock after being struck by a mine in the battle, and it was not until the Russian dock was laid that the capital ship, which could only be used for emergency treatment after being hit by a mine, was able to enter the dock for repairs. Thus. In fact, Turkey does not have the ability to repair dreadnoughts independently, and a warship in its early 20,000s is like this, let alone a super dreadnought. With the exception of the most basic dockyards and facilities, Turkey has almost no difference in the defense of its ports, leaving Turkey, which is already overstretched with funds and has to deal with the domestic uprising and Russia, build a new and well-established naval fortress? It's hard for him. In a word, yes. Even if the Turks are given another six years, it is very difficult to say whether it will be able to achieve a qualified naval fortress here.

If the hardware of the navy can be smashed out with real money, then the personnel of a country's navy can definitely not be completed in a short time. As the saying goes, a 100-year navy is definitely a testament to the length of time it takes to build a strong navy. To give another figurative example, the Beiyang Fleet is just a regional fleet, and it took more than ten years from the beginning of ordering warships to the final formation of the army. Talent training was even more difficult, and Li Hongzhang finally had to use Fujian people to command this fleet. Tianjin Water Master School is not enough at all. This is still a former dreadnought fleet, and if you want to get a pure dreadnought, this talent problem is even more serious! It's so serious that the Count of Spee thinks it can't be solved!

Many German naval officers who accompanied the expedition thought that it was extremely irresponsible to waste a precious fleet in the reeds under such circumstances. In this case, they believed that it would be more cost-effective to transfer the valuable warships of the Far Eastern Fleet to the North Sea and strengthen the main fleet. After all, Turkey's current performance can indeed be described as unreliable.

"Unless we replace all the Turks with the Germans, I don't have hope for this fleet flying the Star and Moon flag. There are too many difficulties in building a base in Fao, at least for the time being, I don't see the rudiments of what a naval base should look like, and from the current situation, it can only be used for replenishment and simple maintenance of light cruisers. Unless decisive measures are taken, I do not hold out much hope that this will be a point of support for naval strategy in the Indian Ocean. Count Spee wrote in the report, in fact, there is one sentence he did not say, that is, he intends to let the navy abandon the Indian Ocean strategy and fully implement the North Sea strategy!

Didn't the German Admiralty know about the situation with Fao? Strictly speaking, I know something, but it's not as bad as it really is, but it is obviously impossible to get the Germans to abandon the Indian Ocean strategy, which is still in business, and it is not even possible to simplify the plan. Because for the decisive battle of the British and German navies in the North Sea, the German navy must weaken the strength of the home fleet as much as possible, and the total combat power of the German navy is definitely not as good as that of the British, even if there is the containment of the Italian navy in the Mediterranean, it is still difficult to say how much energy the British can be involved, after all, Italy's performance in the Battle of Lissa and the navy that has not been tested by war for many years can really not be said. For the sake of safety, it was undoubtedly the best choice to let Count Spee, a fairly good general, lead a strong fleet stuck in the deadliest lines of communication of the British.

"How can we still expect Rear Admiral Spee to be able to pin down a whole fleet of battleships and a large number of auxiliary warships from the British?" Scheer said privately. According to his assumptions, even if the German and Turkish navies had only three super-dreadnoughts, the British would need at least four or five battleships if they wanted to destroy or suppress them. And if it can destroy a British capital ship, then Britain will inevitably mobilize more fleets against the German-Turkish fleet. Then the gap between the two sides in the North Sea will be further narrowed. In addition, the port of Faw can also be used as a home port for Indian Ocean assault ships. Under the cover of capital ships, a breakdown unfolded throughout the Indian Ocean, and the light cruiser formation, in which the British had absolute superiority, was forced to disperse. This is very important good news for the home fleet.

However, the German Admiralty still needed to face up to the advice made by Count Spee. From the current point of view, Turkey's port of Faw does have various deficiencies, and the Turkish Navy does lack the training and ability to control a dreadnought, and the transfer of personnel from the German Navy is not impossible to get together two super dreadnoughts. But the Turkish government insisted on keeping the warships of the Turkish Navy in the hands of the Turks. This is a political issue, above all else. And in the end the Germans had to compromise. In order to save time and learn about the new warships earlier, the German and Turkish navies signed a personnel training program, that is, some Turkish officers will be trained in Germany, and the Germans will arrange for the Germans to go to China to pick up the ships and complete the relevant training work after the new ships are almost completed. I don't know what the final result will be, but at least it will have an effect.

But in the end, the German Navy still did not solve the problem of fleet maintenance and anchorage of the Turkish and German Far Eastern fleets! The information given by the Chinese Navy to the German side has already written very clearly that the German Far East Fleet is now stationed at only one berth that can dock 25,000-ton warships, but it cannot be effectively maintained. And Turkey can only dock in a military port in Europe Super Dreadnought, and the port of Faou will not be able to accommodate such a huge warship in 3 years. Not to mention maintenance, of course, and even the annual scraping of the bottom of the boat cannot be carried out. That is to say, even if the warships built by Huaxia for the German-Turkish fleet are completed, they will not be able to be stationed directly. It has to be said that the German Navy, in order to prevent the British Navy from continuing to obtain warships from China through various means, carried out this order operation in a somewhat hasty manner. Before I was ready, I had already booked the boat.

However, there is obviously no regret medicine to sell in this world, in order to place the warships that were built first, the German government negotiated with the Huaxia government, and decided that the super dreadnoughts ordered by the Turkish fleet would first be stationed in Huaxia for training. After completing the tour at the port of Faou, we will depart for your home country. And this idea obviously played into Xu Jie's heart. It's okay for a foreign ship to visit and anchor for a short time, but if you stay for a few years, it won't be easy, so Xu Jie immediately put forward a counter-suggestion, that is: let the dreadnoughts of the Turkish fleet be temporarily incorporated into the battle sequence of the Chinese Navy. The warships were jointly operated by the navies of the two countries, and in order to give the Turks a sense of security, Huaxia agreed that when the Turkish warships returned to China, Germany and Turkey would pay Huaxia the remaining balance of the purchase of the ships and the expenses during the period of berthing in Huaxia.

In order to show his friendship to Germany, Xu Jie then said through a special channel that he would allow the German Far East Fleet to resupply and maintain the port of Batavia in the South Seas of China, and signed a cooperation agreement between the Republic of China and the German Far East colonies.

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