Christmas

Oscar spent a great deal of time perfecting the blueprints for the Battleship he had designed. It was not until Christmas Eve that they were finally completed. On the drawings stood a mighty, majestic Battleship, one whose style differed utterly from that of existing Battleships.

Before the British Navy's 'Dreadnought' entered service, Battleships around the world generally displaced only a little over ten thousand tons, and their main guns were divided into two tiers: primary large-caliber guns and secondary smaller-caliber guns. The higher rate of fire of the smaller-caliber guns was used to make up for the insufficient firepower of the large-caliber guns.

However, beginning with the 'Dreadnought,' Battleships entered the era of All-big-gun Armament. The secondary main guns were eliminated, and all ships adopted a single class of main guns, further strengthening a Battleship's striking power.

The Battleship Oscar designed was likewise an All-big-gun Armament Battleship. Its general appearance resembled the Nassau-class Battleships the German Navy would build in the future. The only difference lay in the number and arrangement of its main guns. The German Navy's Nassau-class Battleships had six twin-mounted 280mm main gun turrets in total, one each on the fore and After Decks, with the other four deployed along the sides of the warship. This allowed the Nassau-class to concentrate four main gun turrets when firing a broadside.

The Battleship Oscar designed, however, used three Triple 305mm Main Guns in place of six twin-mounted 280mm main gun turrets. After all, Oscar, who knew the trends of later development, understood well that Triple Turrets were the way of the future. The major Battleships of World War II all used this arrangement. The Japanese Navy's Yamato-class Battleships and the American Navy's Iowa-class Battleships were both built this way.

Furthermore, using Triple Turrets could save space and reduce the length of the hull, allowing the warship's defenses to be improved even further.

It was precisely for this reason that, apart from its main guns differing from those of the Nassau-class, the Battleship Oscar designed also possessed stronger defenses.

As for propulsion, Oscar had not used Coal-fired Boilers, but oil-fired boilers. The engines had also been changed from Triple-expansion Steam Engines to Steam Turbines. This would allow the warship to achieve greater speed.

"I hope Wilhelm II likes this Battleship. If he does, then once the German Navy enters the dreadnought era, it will be able to crush the British outright. Should the two sides go to war, the German Navy's chances of victory will be somewhat greater." Oscar gazed at the warship on the blueprints and muttered.

Now that he had money and intended to fulfill his promise of donating a Battleship to the German Navy, Oscar naturally hoped to provide it with a powerful warship, rather than those trashy Pre-dreadnoughts of which more than twenty had already been built.

Moreover, Oscar hoped to use this opportunity to win Wilhelm II's favor. Wilhelm II was an emperor who loved the navy. If he could place Oscar in an important position, Oscar would gain greater authority and a stronger voice in both imperial and state affairs. Perhaps he might even use this to turn Germany's fate around.

If possible, Oscar naturally did not wish to see the German Empire perish. While the Empire was strong, he was a Prince of the Empire and enjoyed every kind of privilege. But once the Empire fell, this Prince would likely have to flee overseas. Even if he had money, what would it matter? Would he not simply become a juicy piece of meat in others' eyes?

As for the right of succession to the throne, Oscar had never considered it. He knew that so long as Crown Prince Wilhelm did not die, he would have no chance. Even if Crown Prince Wilhelm died, he still had three older brothers standing ahead of him.

Time passed bit by bit, and the German Welfare Lottery Company's development had also entered a steady course. Double Color Ball had now become the lottery German players most loved to buy. In particular, each lucky winner who struck the first prize spurred others on, driving them one after another to pour their money into lottery tickets. Yet first-prize winners were, after all, exceedingly rare. The vast majority kept investing, at most winning only a small prize now and then.

This caused Oscar's wallet to swell continuously. With the Imperial Family's backing, no one dared set their sights on them. Oscar and Karl planned to expand into overseas markets starting next year. There were less than ten years left before war broke out. If they could use lottery sales to plunder more wealth from other nations, it would also be a roundabout way of strengthening Germany's power. If the opportunity arose, Oscar naturally hoped to invest this wealth into military expansion and war preparations, driving Germany's military strength still further toward its peak.

Christmas was a tremendously important holiday to Westerners. For the German Imperial Family, it was also a day of reunion. To strengthen ties with the various forces within the Empire, German Emperor Wilhelm II held a banquet at the imperial palace in Potsdam on Christmas Eve. The royal families of every kingdom in the German Empire, the royal families of every grand duchy and duchy, high-ranking government officials, leading military commanders, prominent figures of society, and envoys to Germany from every country would all receive invitations.

Originally, Oscar had thought he would have no chance to attend this banquet. Yet some time ago, he learned from Karl that Wilhelm II had agreed to let him return to the imperial palace. To Oscar, this was undoubtedly an unexpected delight.

"Your Highness, I'm ready. When are we leaving?" Karl asked excitedly.

Although he had attended banquets held at the imperial palace in previous years, his status and position were now entirely different. Before, he had merely been a Servant at the imperial palace. Now, he was the general manager of the German Welfare Lottery Company, and his personal wealth had accumulated to five million Mark.

"Mm, I'm ready too. Let's go." Oscar nodded, picked up a suitcase, and walked out. Inside the suitcase were gifts he had prepared for his parents and siblings. He was now considered a wealthy man, so he naturally could not be too stingy when giving presents for the holiday.

After the two went downstairs, they got into the Mercedes-Benz automobile that had long been prepared and hurried all the way toward Potsdam.

Although Mercedes-Benz automobiles had been sold on the market for many years, Oscar felt that automobiles of the present day were far too crude, whether in appearance or interior fittings. They simply could not compare with the cars of later generations.

The Welfare Lottery Company is continuously drawing in money. Leaving so much of it in the bank is a complete waste. Perhaps it's time to consider the next direction for investment. The automobile industry seems rather promising. Oscar thought to himself.

If he could design those beautifully styled automobiles of later generations, they would certainly sell like wildfire. Of that, Oscar had not the slightest doubt.