German Red Prince

Page 35

Germany's domestic problems are getting worse, and Tirpitz, the only reliable person, can only do his best to maintain order.

In reality, he was the only one in all of Germany who truly worked for the continuation of Germany. Everyone else was pursuing their own selfish interests. You could have relied on Wilhelm II? If you had relied on Wilhelm II, Germany would have already lost the war!

As Tirpitz ages, Germany is inevitably heading down a downward spiral. Even with his iron-fisted methods, the unsavory elements underground are beginning to stir.

Germany, a thousand years?

Chapter 47 The Marshal in Chinatown

"At that time, I was studying at the Charlemagne Military Academy in Germany. To ease my financial burden, I worked part-time. I worked as a waiter at the Lao You Ji restaurant in the Chinatown of the Rhine Kingdom. The boss said I was too dull and couldn't handle the foreigners. So he let me do some help work in the restaurant, like cleaning."

"From then on, I spent all my time in the shop, cleaning, tidying up tables and chairs, doing my assigned job, and if I was lucky, I could get some tips. Although I didn't neglect my duties, I always felt a bit monotonous. The boss was a very nice person, but Germans are all very serious. They all had a straight face when they came to eat, which made it impossible for them to be lively. Only when Mr. Karl came to the shop could I laugh a few times, so I still remember it to this day."

“Mr. Karl was the only German who came to eat without a stern face. He was quite tall, probably around 180 cm. He had a well-proportioned figure and was the kind of person who was easy to look at and didn’t make you feel intimidated.”

"What's surprising is that he can speak Chinese, and very fluently, even with a slight accent. If you only listened to his voice, you would really think he was a native Chinese speaker."

“Mr. Carl is very friendly and we get along very well. He became even more enthusiastic after asking my name. He always greets me when he comes over and is very generous with tips. So I look forward to Mr. Carl coming to the restaurant every day. The atmosphere in the restaurant is more cheerful when Mr. Carl comes to eat.”

—Nie Rongzhen, "My Years in Germany"

Because of the civil war, he returned to China not long afterward. During the long years of fighting in China, Nie Rongzhen gradually forgot about Mr. Karl.

It wasn't until the National Day celebrations of the People's Republic of China that Nie Rongzhen saw a familiar person waving at him from the Tiananmen Rostrum, among the leaders of socialist countries who had been invited to participate in the celebrations.

That man was Nicholas Thorne, the General Secretary of the German Democratic Republic.

Many years later, when facing Erich Honecker, the General Secretary of East Germany, General Nie Rongzhen would recall that distant afternoon when he worked at the Friends restaurant.

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"Warm two bowls of wine and order a dish of fennel beans."

Before you see him, you hear his voice. Thorne walked in from outside, speaking fluent Chinese. He had discovered that there was a Chinatown here a few days ago when he was wandering around Frankfurt.

"I never expected that there would be a Chinese community in the Kingdom of the Rhine at this time."

Thorne was somewhat surprised, as Wilhelm II was not exactly friendly towards Asians, as evidenced by his Yellow Peril theory.

Given this behavior from those in power, it goes without saying that those below them behaved similarly. Under Wilhelm II's influence, Germany as a whole did not have a very friendly attitude towards East Asians.

A few days ago, Hamburg's Chinatown was looted by rioters. There are actually not many places left in Germany where Chinese people can live peacefully.

The restaurant owner greeted Thorne with a smile as he entered, filling the restaurant with a cheerful atmosphere.

"Mr. Carl is here for dinner again?"

"Of course, I'm starving. I'll have another bowl of noodles, with extra chili."

Thorne sat down on a bench and looked around the restaurant. The owner of this restaurant was a Chinese laborer who had been stranded in Germany after the war. After a period of hard work, he opened this restaurant and built his own business.

"Do you know Lu Xun, sir?" Nie Rongzhen asked as he walked over.

“Of course I know him, a great thinker and writer from East Asia,” Thorne replied in fluent Chinese.

"It seems that you are very knowledgeable about East Asia, sir. You have even read Kong Yiji."

Nie Rongzhen knew that what Thorne said when he entered the room came from Lu Xun's novel "Kong Yiji". He did not expect that a German would know so much about these things.

"Have you ever been to China?" Nie Rongzhen asked again.

"Well, how should I put it? I guess I've been there. I'm planning to go to China to take a look later." Thorne hesitated for a moment. He had indeed been to China; he was a true-blue Chinese in his previous life.

"Welcome! If you ever come to China, I'll treat you to hot pot."

"Great! I love hot pot the most."

Later, when Thorne visited China as General Secretary, Nie Rongzhen, who had become a marshal, treated him to the hot pot he had been longing for, and finalized a large number of aid agreements. This is what later generations called "hot pot diplomacy".

"And you, how are you doing in the Rhine?"

Thorne looked at Nie Rongzhen. He didn't know how the people of the Kingdom of the Rhine treated the Chinese, or whether they were as unfriendly to the Chinese as other Germans.

He had heard about the Berlin farce a few days ago. Berlin has been quite turbulent lately, so he sent a message to Adolf, telling him to be on guard and strengthen security.

With the help of Sheriff York and nearby workers, Thorne's assets in Berlin were not significantly affected.

"The bills that were enacted will be withdrawn in a few days. Treating the law like a joke, this Wilhelm II is becoming more and more unreliable. He really thinks he is the victor of the war. He does everything without thinking and does whatever he wants."

Thorne knew that in his timeline, Wilhelm II lost a war, squandering all the wealth Germany had painstakingly accumulated over the past forty years.

After Hitler's "struggle" during World War II, Germany was forcibly divided, turning it into a pawn of the great powers and depriving it of the right to compete for hegemony.

Although it still maintains an economic advantage in Europe and can rival France, it is undeniable that Germany has fallen to a second-rate country and is even ridiculed on the internet as a "federal fat otaku".

So when Thorne saw Wilhelm II so smug in this timeline, he couldn't help but cramp up.

Brother, please, stop messing around.

"You can't carry a teammate like that." Thorne sighed. He really felt sorry for Tirpitz; the prime minister was having a really tough time right now.

“Life in the Rhine is alright, and daily life is quite normal. Although the Germans who come here all have stern faces, they haven’t done anything else besides that,” Nie Rongzhen replied.

"It seems alright. The Kingdom of Rhine hasn't been affected by William's neurotic behavior." Thorne nodded, already vaguely sensing some problems.

Previously, the German government only incited hatred towards socialist countries such as Britain and France, but now it has started targeting Jews, looting, arson, and vandalizing them, leaving Thorne somewhat bewildered.

"Is this San Dezi possessing him prematurely? Why is even De Er starting to target Jews?"

Even if Wilhelm II had no affection for people of other ethnicities, the 1871 German Constitution granted Jews full legal equality rights, yet these actions do not appear to be indicative of having "equal rights."

"I heard you're studying at Charlemagne Military Academy. What do you think of the academy?"

“Very good. This academy is undoubtedly one of the top military schools in Europe. I have learned a lot.”

Nie Rongzhen nodded affirmatively, "During my time living in the Rhine, I witnessed its prosperity. This has strengthened my resolve to study hard and apply this knowledge to the battlefield in the future, ending the chaos in China!"

China was still divided. Although the Northern Expedition was in full swing, German intervention seriously affected the progress of the revolutionary government.

Jiangsu and Anhui provinces declared their allegiance to the revolutionary government, but German fleets continued to linger along the Yangtze River. The revolutionary government lacked a strong navy, making it unable to establish contact with northern Anhui and Jiangsu; its actual control was limited to the area south of the Yangtze.

In the past few months, the revolutionary government has not achieved the same results as before and can only maintain a stalemate along the river. Only Hunan has made a breakthrough and has successfully controlled Guizhou in the past few months, driving Tang Jiyao back to Yunnan.

After the integration of the National Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in Hunan, it unleashed tremendous fighting power.

The instructor analyzed the domestic situation and decided to launch a westward expedition first. The warlords in the west had no powerful backers, and the people there were deeply oppressed by landlords and warlords, harboring strong class hatred. They had a good mass base, and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army had just captured Chongqing a few days ago and was advancing towards Chengdu.

"It seems that no matter the time or place, a great person is a great person." Thorne has been paying close attention to the situation in East Asia and his admiration for great people has only grown stronger.

I really want to meet him. My dream in my past life was to meet my teacher. He would rather die on the road of revolution than rot in the quagmire of consumerism.

Why was Nie Rongzhen, a member of the revolutionary government, allowed to study in hostile Germany? Thorne stated that that was a matter for Prussia and had nothing to do with the Kingdom of the Rhine.

Unless it is a conflict at the national level, the major kingdoms have the right to refuse His Majesty the Emperor's mobilization request. The Kingdom of Rhine does not have many interests in the Far East, so the affairs of East Asia are none of their business, and it is not a big deal for the people of the revolutionary government to come and study.

This is a matter of domestic affairs within the kingdoms. The "Annals of the Three Kings" clearly outlined the powers of each kingdom, indicating that they were at most in a cooperative relationship, not a hierarchical one.

"The future of China will surely be bright. I wish you and your nation all the best. The hardworking Chinese people will surely achieve final victory."

Thorne stood up and looked at Nie Rongzhen. He had never met a Chinese person since he transmigrated here, but he never expected to run into one here, especially such an important figure.

Being able to communicate in fluent Chinese helped him overcome many of his worries. The unique Chinese sentiments he felt during his time in Germany also prevented him from losing his love for his homeland.

"Bless you, Chinese. I hope you succeed in your studies and maybe become a marshal someday."

"Mr. Karl, you flatter me too much. I don't have that kind of ability. I'd be satisfied with just being a colonel," Nie Rongzhen said modestly.

“A soldier who doesn’t want to be a general is not a good soldier. I believe in you, Mr. Nie Rongzhen.” Thorne shook his hand. “Goodbye, and I wish your country a prosperous future.”

"Thank you," Nie Rongzhen replied solemnly.

As soon as I came out of Chinatown, someone ran up to Thorne.

"Huh? A Stasi?" Thorne was quite surprised to see him pull out his identification from his pocket.

"I didn't expect Thomas and Heydrich to manage it so well; the Stasi has developed so quickly."

The Stasi were able to find him, and Thorne deliberately didn't tell anyone about his schedule so as not to let others affect his work (slacking off).

"After fighting wars your whole life, can't you enjoy yourself a little?" (lol)

The fact that the Stasi were able to find out the itinerary showed that they had already achieved a certain level of capability and scale, which greatly pleased Thorne.

"It seems my decision was right. Let the Stasi shine under the leadership of those two great gods," Thorne said with a hint of smugness.

The Stasi whispered something in his ear, and Thorne frowned after hearing it.

“Interesting, this is getting more and more interesting.” He said with a hint of sarcasm, “It seems some people are getting bolder and bolder. Do they want to repeat the purge of five thousand officials by Charlemagne back then?”

The exact reasons for Charlemagne's massacre of 5,000 officials are now unknown. These are the sealed archives of the Kingdom of the Rhine. All the clues were burned at Charlemagne's funeral. Thorne only knows that after that incident, the political situation in the Kingdom of the Rhine has remained stable to this day.

Something big must have happened back then, enough to cause that time traveler to massacre five thousand people. Thorne could guess the danger of that fluctuation.

Does my father know?

"His Highness Otto doesn't know yet, but I think it will be soon."

"I didn't expect you to get the news faster than the kingdom." Thorne nodded in satisfaction.

"Whatever, I'll take action." He clenched his fist. "Let me deal with you monsters and demons."

"Let's go! Back to the palace!"

Some casual conversation

Dear readers, would you like a future East Germany that successfully completes a revolution to use the flag of East Germany from this timeline, or would you design something different? Please leave a comment, and I will make adjustments accordingly. _(:з」∠)_

Also, how many readers are still reading my book? I created a group before, but no one disbanded it for me. I don't know how many people are there now. If there are enough people, I will create a new one. The future First Congress of the Communist Party of Germany will need proposals from everyone in the group, so that all readers can immerse themselves in the construction period of East Germany! ~(￣▽￣～)~

Chapter Forty-Eight: Sword and Shield

"yue~"

Fremont knelt on the ground, leaning against the bucket, and vomited, his legs twitching.

In the past few days, he has finally understood what Thomas meant by "cost".

Fremont has been driven crazy these past few days. He has to practice Russian during the day and do a lot of exercises and homework.

"What is your opinion on Leo Tolstoy's novel 'War and Peace'? Analyze the character of Pierre Bezukhov in the book and write your thoughts in no less than 800 words."

"The birth and death dates of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, list his representative works, and recite the poem 'If Life Deceives You' from memory."

He had to study Russian knowledge endlessly every day, which was acceptable, but he also had to practice his drinking capacity. The Russian vodka was too strong; he would always be in a blackout after drinking it.

After a period of training, he was finally able to withstand one round. Today was his best performance. He didn't black out, but just vomited while holding the bucket.

Just as his stomach was churning, several people suddenly came up and dragged him away. Fremont was dizzy and confused, his mind a complete mess, and everything in front of him was blurry.

He was handcuffed to the chair, a bright light shining on his face, the intensity of which left Fremont's mind blank.

He felt his stomach cramping and his mouth tasted bitter.

"Is there water?" Fremont asked in Russian.

"Water? You German beast, there's plenty of water!" A person next to him poured a bucket of water over his head. It was still winter, and Fremont's clothes had been stripped off. This bucket of water was not something an ordinary person could withstand.

Fremont trembled violently, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

"German, tell me, who was your contact? And what do you know?" the interrogator asked slowly in Russian.

“My name is Andrei. I am Russian. I live on 16th Street in St. Petersburg. I am not German. I am Russian.”

Fremont forced himself to say that he had to constantly hypnotize himself, that his name was Andrei, that he lived on 16th Street in St. Petersburg, that his parents had died early, and that he lived alone.

"Stop lying to us! Tell us, who is your contact? Who sent you?" the interrogator shouted sternly.

The people around him poured cold water on Fremont, constantly torturing him both psychologically and physically.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not German. I don’t know anything about contacts. I’m not an undercover agent.”

Fremont felt his vision growing darker and darker, and he gradually lost all feeling of pain, experiencing a lightheaded sensation.

"If life deceives you, do not be sad or angry! Endure the days of misery for now, and believe that joy will eventually come."

He began reciting Pushkin's poems, focusing his attention to prevent any lapses in concentration from being exploited.

His name was Andrei. He lived on 16th Street in St. Petersburg. His parents died early. He loved literature, greatly admired Pushkin, and could recite many of his poems.

"How about we stop here?" Robert said to Thomas with some concern as he watched from outside.

"How long has it been?" Thomas glanced at his watch and said coldly, "If he were really captured, the enemy wouldn't be as kind as we are, throwing cold water on him."