The German Prince

Potsdam, located on the banks of the Havel River, is just 27 kilometers from Berlin. It is a picturesque little city where the German Imperial Family built a palace. The German Emperor spends more than half of his year residing here.

A young man sits by the Havel River, watching the water flow silently, saying nothing.

This young man is named Qin Tian. Of course, that was his name in his previous life. Now, he is called Prince Oskar. This is undoubtedly a name that leaves Qin Tian speechless, as he always associates it with that American film award. Fortunately, even cinema itself is just in its infancy now, like a toddler learning to walk, so naturally, there are none of the numerous film awards of later generations.

Why he became Prince Oskar, or rather, how he transmigrated into this world, Qin Tian does not know. He only clearly remembers that he arrived in this world as if his soul had merged into the body of this boy named Prince Oskar, and it has only been a year. Furthermore, it is not the 21st century, but the early 20th century. In other words, he is living more than a hundred years in the past.

In another space-time, Qin Tian had a very wealthy family. His parents were both successful business people, which meant they were busy with business day and night, almost becoming frequent flyers. Naturally, they did not have much time to look after Qin Tian.

Yet, Qin Tian did not become like other rich kids who used their wealth to commit misdeeds; instead, he became a thorough homebody and a military enthusiast.

Qin Tian was keen on collecting military historical materials, weapons, and equipment from various countries, and even all sorts of military historical artifacts and weapon models—airplanes, cannons, tanks, and warships, he had them all.

Qin Tian was particularly interested in Germany. In his view, Germany was undoubtedly a very tragic country. The people of this nation were diligent, rigorous, and rigid, as if they were machines. However, one could not deny their strength. In the two wars of the first half of the 20th century, they fought against superior numbers and nearly defeated their powerful enemies to become the world hegemon. Yet, every time, they fell short at the final hurdle.

Qin Tian even speculated that if Germany had defeated the British, French, and other nations in World War I and dominated the European continent, would the subsequent world history be different from the one he knew?

However, history cannot be repeated, let alone hypothesized.

But it was as if God had played a joke on him. When Qin Tian spent a large sum of money to obtain an Iron Cross medal from Germany and excitedly opened the package, a dazzling light flashed. After a bout of dizziness, Qin Tian found that he had become someone else.

The current Qin Tian possesses a prominent status. He is Prince Oskar, the fifth son of Wilhelm II, the Emperor of the German Empire. However, knowing the fate of the German Empire, Qin Tian is not satisfied with this identity.

Once the German Empire collapses, almost none of these princes of the German Imperial Family will have a good ending.

In that other space-time, although Prince Oskar lived until he was sixty before passing away, he lived a life of mere survival, barely scraping by. Such a life is not what Qin Tian wants to live.

What should I do? It is already 1904. There are only ten years left until the war. Is the fate of Germany's defeat truly irreversible? Qin Tian muttered to himself.

Right now, he feels a deep sense of helplessness and anxiety.

Although Germany's industrial output has surpassed that of the British and it has become an industrial power second only to the United States, in terms of high technology—especially military technology—Germany has left the United States far behind.

The current United States is not the Uncle Sam of later generations; it can at most be considered young Sam. Although it has had great success in industry, it still has a large gap compared to Europe. The current Europe is the center of the world.

But the British control the most colonies in the world and possess the most powerful navy on the planet. Compared to the British, Germany has huge disadvantages in many aspects.

First, although Germany has a developed industry, it is relatively lacking in various mineral resources other than coal. The sales markets for its various industrial products are heavily dependent on overseas markets. Once war breaks out, the German Navy will be unable to break the blockade of the British Navy. German industrial products will be unable to be sold overseas, and at the same time, they will be unable to obtain various natural resources through maritime transport. The final result will undoubtedly be only one: being dragged to death. It can be said that this is undoubtedly the main reason why Germany was defeated in both World Wars.

Secondly, the geographical location of Germany in the center of Europe is very advantageous. The transportation can be described as extending in all directions. But at the same time, it also puts Germany in a situation of being surrounded by powerful enemies. The British and French to the West, and Russia to the East, are all enemies of Germany. Although there is an ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it only has the name of a contemporary power; in reality, it is fragile. Their performance in the war can be described as garbage. Such an ally not only fails to provide help to Germany but instead drags it down. There is a saying: one does not fear a god-like opponent, but rather a pig-like teammate. When the enemy and the enemy's allies are all god-like opponents, while one's own ally is like a pig-like teammate, even if Germany is powerful, it is destined to be beaten to death by a mob!

Although the current Germany has begun to build a powerful navy, the ambitious Wilhelm II longs to build a powerful fleet capable of defeating the British Navy. But because there are enemies all around, Germany must possess a powerful army. Therefore, Germany cannot invest all its financial resources into the construction of the navy. This has caused the gap between the German Navy and the British Navy not only to fail to shrink but to grow larger. When Germany began to build battleships on a large scale, the British arrogantly pointed out that for every battleship Germany launched, they would launch two, always maintaining an overwhelming advantage over the German Navy.

Damn it, no matter how you look at it, Germany is destined to die! Could it be that as a German prince, my final outcome will still be to live a life of mere survival? Qin Tian thought with some helplessness.

Although he has been reborn as Prince Oskar for a year and is already very familiar with this world, Qin Tian has not felt the joy of being a prince at all; instead, he has fallen into endless crisis and worry. This has also made him appear increasingly taciturn in the eyes of others.