German Red Prince

Page 171

As mentioned before, the Rhine Kingdom's handling of this incident, both in terms of methods and means, yielded the best results among the three kingdoms, and its economic recovery was naturally the fastest.

However, this economic recovery has a certain scope. Centered on Frankfurt, the southern part of the Kingdom of the Rhine has recovered well. The southern part of the Kingdom of the Rhine is the most important region of the entire kingdom and its political and economic center, so the recovery speed here is very fast.

Besides these areas, other regions naturally cannot be neglected. The Kingdom of the Rhine and the Ruhr industrial region, the most important industrial area in Germany, are key areas. This is the absolute strategic core, and the economic recovery of the Ruhr industrial region is of paramount importance.

Because he needed to inspect the recovery progress in various places, King Otto often traveled all over the country with Thorne. After returning from Prussia, Thorne thought a lot. Hess was indeed very capable. The entire political situation in Prussia was now in a very complex and strange atmosphere.

Especially recently, something happened to Wilhelm II again, and Prussia is now temporarily under the control of Crown Prince Wilhelm. Hess took advantage of this gap to directly cooperate with the army, and many of the veterans in the army were taken down by Hess.

Who would have thought he had such powerful methods, able to dismiss Prussian army veterans like Seeckt and Mackensen? This clearly shows that Hess's backing is definitely not so simple, the National Party's backing is much stronger than imagined, and this party is definitely not as simple as an ordinary street party.

The National Socialist Party (NSS) was not well-known in Prussia at the time, but through the test of time, it never disappeared. The Fatherland Party, the Imperial Party, and the Conservative Party—those once-mighty entities—have all become history. The previously little-known NSS, after consolidation, thus achieved a complete turnaround amidst the crisis.

Although Prussia was hit hardest by the crisis, it still had some resources. Germany's vast overseas colonies could be easily mobilized. Hess's main achievement in gaining such high support in Prussia was that he quickly restored the economy in a very short period of time.

Unlike traditional elite regulation, Hess's stance on economic recovery was more direct, siding with the majority of ordinary people. The effects were also very obvious. People could quickly feel the changes after the "Hess New Deal." Their living conditions had indeed improved considerably. Hess's various promises had indeed been fulfilled, leading to a new future for the German nation.

Of course, in the eyes of ordinary people, he did achieve it. However, behind these short-term results were various unknown overdrafts. Hess was overdrafting Germany's future to obtain his current dazzling achievements. War was already completely inevitable. Thorne also understood what Hess was thinking.

It has to be said that he was a real gambler. Hess really dared to gamble, betting that he could win the German Civil War. Even Wilhelm II did not have the courage to gamble like him. Thorne also did not understand where Hess got the confidence to do so.

The entire defense structure of the Kingdom of the Rhine is designed to defend against France, which allows the kingdom to maintain a relatively complete military organization. Even in peacetime, the Kingdom of the Rhine has a large standing army and can organize a large army in a very short time.

Prussia had seen previous military parades before. Now, the military reorganization of the Kingdom of the Rhine is basically complete, and various new equipment is being produced according to plan. In order to avoid the damage caused by war, the Kingdom has also made adjustments to various factories to ensure that the Kingdom can maintain absolute combat power when war comes.

With all sorts of exercises and deterrence in place, Hess is now on the verge of action, but he had previously had opportunities to adjust. However, he still carried out these deployments, which shows his confidence and courage. This confidence made Thorne wonder if he had overlooked something.

Bavaria's allegiance during the civil war is out of the question; they will definitely remain flexible and neutral. Prussia is currently making frequent military deployments, but their specific intentions are still unclear. Today, this force may be moved to the south, tomorrow it may be moved north, and the day after tomorrow it may be moved back.

Since I don't know what others are thinking, I can only take care of myself first. The Rhine Kingdom has made preparations long ago, and even if a war really breaks out, I am absolutely confident that the Rhine Kingdom will not be at a disadvantage in a head-on confrontation.

The special train continued its smooth journey as Thorne and his team finished their inspection of the Ruhr industrial region and prepared to return to Frankfurt.

"Where is the front?"

"After Limburg, we'll be close to Frankfurt," someone nearby replied.

"By the way, Thorne, go check the things in the back of the car. They were sent over by the head of the Ruhr region. You haven't seen them yet, have you?"

Otto asked Thorne to go to the back to check on the situation. Before leaving, the head of the Ruhr region gave them a statue, which was placed at the back of the carriage. Otto liked it very much after seeing it and planned to put it in the palace.

Thorne had never been interested in these things, but he moved on anyway. Now he just wanted to get back as soon as possible. He had to go to the Socialist Labor Party meeting at dawn. Not long ago, Goebbels had officially become the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Rhine, in charge of Rhine affairs, and he needed to make arrangements for him.

To be honest, the history of the Labour Socialist Party is very similar to that of Hess's National Socialist Party, almost a classic replica. However, Wilhelm II would never have trusted Hess as Thorne trusted Goebbels, so the forces behind the National Socialist Party must have been more complex.

Thorne walked toward the front carriage with this thought in mind, completely unaware that a crisis was quietly approaching. Suddenly, the carriages began to move violently and then started to roll uncontrollably. Before losing consciousness, Thorne's last thought was of that damned Huanggutun. No wonder he hadn't heard anything about the situation in the Northeast for a year. It turned out they were here to mess with him!

Who did this? Hess? Is this his confidence in challenging the Kingdom of the Rhine? Or was it someone else, the French? Bavaria? Domestic opposition? Or was it just an accident?

Thorne had no time to think about these things. After rolling around a few times, Thorne completely lost consciousness. In the Kingdom of Rhine, on the King's special train, under the very noses of the Stasi Gestapo and the Royal Household Bureau, such a thing actually happened, and at this time. Was it an accident or a deliberate scheme?

A train derailment is a major event, and people nearby immediately began to organize a rescue. However, these people did not know that this was the king's special train. The scene was horrific, and it was unknown whether there were any survivors. Soon, the area was cordoned off. Walter was the first to arrive at the rescue site, but before they could begin, another group of people arrived.

Among the dozens of military vehicles, Walter saw at least three different uniforms, which meant they came from different departments. There were heavily armed soldiers and many officers. As a retired soldier serving in the police force, Walter could tell that these people were at least lieutenant colonels, and many were major generals.

With such a grand procession, who's on that train? Could it be the king?

However, these were just Walter's guesses. He didn't really believe it either. Who would dare to attack the king's special train? There must be some kind of marshal on the train, otherwise why would it be all military personnel?

After these rescue teams were taken away, they were given orders not to disclose any information to the outside world, and any leaks would be considered treason by the kingdom.

Not only Walter couldn't believe it, but everyone present couldn't believe that the King's special train had derailed. Seeing the horrific scene, and witnessing such a tragedy at such a critical time, everyone's spirits plummeted. The Kingdom of Rhine had never encountered such an emergency before; the kingdom was now truly hanging by a thread.

379. Action

Goebbels was waiting for Thorne to return from the Ruhr industrial region for a meeting. The Socialist Labor Party had recently become the ruling party, and Goebbels himself had been appointed by King Otto as the new Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Rhine.

The Socialist Labor Party still needs further adjustments and plans for its work, so he started preparing early, just waiting for Thorne to return.

A moment later, there was a knock on the office door, but the person who came in was not the secretary or staff, but Thomas. The Stasi headquarters was in Darmstadt, which was not far, but recently there didn't seem to be anything that required him to come and handle in person.

"What's wrong, Thomas? Why are you here so early?"

Thomas looked flustered. He was the first to receive the news because Heydrich was currently on a mission with Piker at the naval port, so Thomas was handling most of the work. Heydrich was mainly responsible for intelligence in the Prussian region, while Thomas was in charge of the Rhine Kingdom.

He is the current intelligence chief of the Kingdom of Rhine and one of Thorne's most trusted confidants, so he was among the first to receive the news that the kingdom's special train had derailed and the fate of those on board was unknown.

A bucket of cold water was poured over Thomas's head. His heart sank when he heard the news. A train derailment? His first thought was that it was a conspiracy. It was definitely a conspiracy, and most likely the Prussians were behind it. And he hadn't received any advance notice of it.

No one dared to target the special train. The leaders' daily travel arrangements were top secret, so how could someone have gotten advance notice? However, this also effectively narrowed down the scope for Thomas. He quickly realized the situation and isolated and investigated everyone who knew about the trip, ensuring that no one was released until the cause was found.

Only after issuing this order did he rush to Frankfurt. The fates of King Otto and Prince Thorne were unknown, and Goebbels was now the nominal leader of the government. He had to make arrangements quickly, as every minute and every second was crucial.

"His Majesty's special train has derailed, and now His Majesty and Prince Thorne are missing and their fates are unknown."

"what?!"

Goebbels was shocked when he heard the news. Had things gone awry? He immediately concluded that the incident was a planned attack, and the attackers were very likely Prussians.

"What's the situation now? Who knows about this news?"

Goebbels quickly calmed down. The situation was beyond repair, and all that remained was to minimize the damage.

“We immediately took action to block the news, and the site was also sealed off by the Stasskys and Gestapo. No one else knew about it.”

"How are His Majesty the King and Prince Thorne? Have they been rescued?"

"The scene was horrific. The carriages were thrown a great distance, and many people died on the spot. His Majesty the King and Prince Thorne were immediately taken to the hospital and are receiving secret treatment, but their condition is not good. What should we do next?"

It was barely dawn, and the entire kingdom was still asleep. The people of the Rhine naturally had no idea what had happened, and Goebbels needed to quickly deal with any problems that might arise during this time.

Who exactly committed this act? Could it have been an inside job? If it was Prussia, would they have acted immediately upon receiving the information? Or was it the French who did it? Was the Iberian Peninsula just a pretext?

Who can be trusted most now? Goebbels wasn't sure if anyone in the military was involved; if it was an inside job, then Frankfurt was in danger.

"Immediately mobilize the Stasi and Gestapo forces, and have the Alpha and Vympel forces immediately deployed to Frankfurt for alert. We cannot rule out the possibility of an inside conspiracy. Immediately notify Lieutenant Colonel Guderian and Lieutenant Colonel Rommel to mobilize armored units and grenadiers."

"The Franco-German border and the Prussian-Rhine border have been placed on high alert. I'm going to inform Thälmann that the German Communist Party's armed forces must also be mobilized."

After issuing these few simple orders, Goebbels went to the palace. The King and Thorne were both in trouble, and the royal family had to know about it. After all, the royal family was the actual leader of the country, and only with the authorization of the royal family could Goebbels' actions be considered truly legitimate.

The Vympel and Alpha Group, as rapid reaction forces, were designed to respond to emergencies and could be mobilized the fastest. They took action as soon as Goebbels' orders were given, and the main force quickly took over several important strategic locations in Frankfurt.

Goebbels was in a terrible mood. If something happened to Thorne, all their previous actions might be in vain, and the road ahead would be extremely difficult. The worst outcome would be that the entire organization would perish along with the Kingdom of the Rhine.

More importantly, he should say this. Goebbels naturally wouldn't tell Prince Andreas, whose health was already poor. If he were to be agitated, it would be disastrous; the entire royal family might be wiped out. So he could only report to the Queen.

"What's wrong, Prime Minister? Why are you here so early? His Majesty the King hasn't returned yet."

As is customary, the King gives some instructions after the Prime Minister takes office; however, this new Prime Minister has clearly arrived far too early.

"Your Majesty, something has happened."

"His Majesty's special train has derailed. King Otto and Prince Thorne have both been taken to the hospital, and their current condition is unclear. Many things may happen to the kingdom next. I need your authorization."

Queen Martha fell into a long silence after hearing Goebbels's news, clearly unable to believe what had happened.

“Prince Andreas was unaware of this,” Goebbels added at the end.

"Very good, Your Excellency."

Queen Martha quickly realized that the kingdom was in a multi-crisis situation.

"In my capacity as Queen of the Kingdom of the Rhine, I authorize Prime Minister Goebbels to take full responsibility for all matters that follow and approve the enactment of the Emergency Law of the Kingdom of the Rhine."

The Economic Law is a law the kingdom uses to deal with emergencies, but the kingdom has never used it before. Now, the situation is an extremely urgent one, and this is the first time the kingdom has used this law.

After receiving royal permission, Goebbels breathed a sigh of relief. He could now issue a series of orders as the executor of the emergency law, and the kingdom had to prepare quickly.

Where are they now?

"At Rudolf Hospital, we sent His Majesty the King and Prince Thorne there as soon as we received the news."

"Okay, I'll leave the rest to you, Prime Minister."

......

Once Goebbels received authorization, his first action was to notify the army. Thorne had been in charge of reorganizing the Rhine Army and had cultivated a great deal of power, so Goebbels was well aware of this. The most important task now was to mobilize all of these troops.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was heavy. Guderian and his men had also received the news and mobilized troops to rush to Frankfurt. This was the strange sight that Frankfurt residents saw that morning: why were there soldiers all over the streets? There were even tanks at some intersections. What was going on?

Goebbels issued an official notice stating that the military was conducting emergency drills in Frankfurt, so the city was under martial law, and citizens were advised to stay home unless absolutely necessary, and all public activities were suspended.

"Given the current situation, should Paulus's troops be withdrawn?"

Paulus's Desert Legion is a large and elite force in Thorne's hands. If they retreat, Thorne will have another card to play.

“We cannot withdraw. Paulus’s troops are responsible for the security of the oil fields, and North Africa is still at war. The Cyrenaissance oil fields are too important to the kingdom. This force cannot be withdrawn.”

Guderian was the first to object. As the commander of the tank force, he certainly knew how important oil was. If this oil field were lost, the kingdom would be in danger if war broke out in the future.

“I agree, Paulus’s troops cannot return.” Goebbels nodded in agreement.

"The mountain division can return. Send the mountain troops back immediately." Thorne had transported a batch of troops to Patagonia for training, which was a decent fighting force. They could be sent back.

"We can simply recall the mountain divisions from overseas. The most important thing now is to mobilize the domestic armed forces. Has this incident been thoroughly investigated? Who did it? Was it the French or the Prussians?"

What needs to be figured out now is the cause of the accident, which is related to their deployment priorities: whether they should defend against Prussia or the French Commune.

"The specific attackers cannot be identified yet."

Thomas was under immense pressure. If the incident was a planned and premeditated attack, his responsibility would be enormous. Therefore, Thomas issued a firm order for the investigation to be completed.

However, nothing of value has been found so far. There were survivors on the train. The Gestapo questioned them immediately. Everyone on the train was absolutely reliable. Their backgrounds had been thoroughly investigated long ago, so their words were highly credible.

According to the survivors, the accident was almost certainly not intentional. The train's journey was kept secret and only a few people knew about it. If the train had encountered an accident while following its original route, it would have been highly likely that someone had deliberately caused it. However, during the journey, in order to get back to Frankfurt as quickly as possible, the king ordered the route to be changed.

The king chose to change his route, taking the shorter one. If someone had deliberately planned this, how could they have gotten wind of it in such a short time and changed locations? Did they think every railway line had an ambush? That was even more impossible. If every railway line had an ambush, and the Stasi and Gestapo couldn't find out about such a big commotion, then Thomas could really just hang himself somewhere.

Thomas had no valuable leads, and based on the principle of who would benefit most from this incident, Prussia was becoming increasingly suspicious.

With the border under martial law and military preparedness escalated, the most important thing now after dealing with everything in the kingdom is whether Thorne can wake up. If he doesn't, things will become extremely difficult.

Prussia has naturally noticed the unusual behavior of the Kingdom of the Rhine in recent days, which has alerted Hess. Their borders have been unusually active these past few days, and the atmosphere at home is also very strange and something is not right.

After Tirpitz's death, King Otto upon his return home must have said and done something, but during the time they were back, they seemed to have vanished. Prussia also had spies in the Kingdom of the Rhine, and even the Gestapo, no matter how powerful, couldn't arrest them all.

A train derailment incident that had been reported not long ago immediately alerted Hess. Considering the timing, it was only after this period that the Kingdom of Rhine began to mobilize troops so frequently. A bold hypothesis formed in Hess's mind.

If the king and his entourage were on this train, wouldn't this be the weakest point for the Kingdom of the Rhine? Wouldn't that be the best time for unification?

Hess was a gambler from a merchant family. He knew that the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Now was the closest Germany had ever come to unification, and such an opportunity would never come again.

Prussia had long been prepared for war, and all Hess needed to do next was to conduct one last probe.

380. Raid

Even if the Gestapo were highly capable of making arrests, capturing all the spies lurking in the Kingdom of the Rhine would still be a massive undertaking. Not long ago, Hess received news that a train in the Kingdom of the Rhine had derailed. Train accidents are not usually a big deal, but the fact that news of this incident was strictly suppressed is something worth pondering.

Combined with the intelligence from the Rhine Kingdom during this period, and the fact that Thorne and King Otto had not made a public appearance for several days, all of this seemed strange. Therefore, Hess had this bold idea: the train derailment and the king's disappearance, when combined, made everything seem to make sense.

The reason for the news being kept secret is because the king is sitting on the throne. If Hess guesses correctly, this is definitely the best opportunity. Losing a king and a capable heir to the throne means that if they don't attack now, they'll miss their chance.

To confirm this further, Hess probed the situation, and as he had expected, the news was being heavily suppressed. However, Hess was now almost certain that something had happened in the Kingdom of Rhine.

The gambler's spirit dictates that now is the perfect time to go all in. The Prussian army has made swift adjustments; he must unify Germany. His sins are contemporary, but his achievements will last for generations.

......

"Has His Majesty the Emperor not woken up yet?"

"No." The doctor shook his head.

Seeing the doctor's expression, and then looking at Emperor Wilhelm lying on the bed, it was best if he didn't wake up. That way, if they won the civil war, Hess would have absolute prestige and would lead Germany down a different path.

"Crown Prince Wilhelm, we must fight this war for the future of Germany. Even if we don't fight, Bavaria will, and the Kingdom of the Rhine will. War is inevitable. His Majesty the Emperor is still in a coma. According to reliable sources, King Otto and Prince Thorne were on a derailed train in the Kingdom of the Rhine. Now is the best opportunity for unification, and it is your chance to go down in history, Crown Prince."

Hess urged Crown Prince Wilhelm that this was a golden opportunity to make a name for himself in history, a chance to stand at the crossroads of Germany, and that regardless of success or failure, it would definitely leave its mark on history.

"Fifty-eight years ago, Emperor Wilhelm I defeated the invincible France and became Emperor of the German Empire. Eleven years ago, Emperor Wilhelm II defeated the Allied Powers and ushered in a new future for the German Empire. Now is the turning point of history. Crown Prince, the power to decide history is in your hands."

Hess's words were very tempting. His father had defeated the Entente Powers, and his great-grandfather had unified Germany. If he were to resolve the historical issues, his position among the German emperors would certainly be quite high.

"Prime Minister, how confident are you?"

“I am 80 percent certain, Your Highness William, that the Kingdom of Rhine is completely caught off guard. If we launch a surprise attack, we will definitely be able to break through their weak defenses.”

"How is the soldiers' assembly going?"

"Everything is ready and we can move out at any time. Our troops in East Prussia have also been assembled and can be deployed to the battle immediately."

"Is it really okay?"

"Absolutely no problem."