I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 580 If You Want to Die, Come Here

Germany and Austria-Hungary must have advanced and retreated together.

Given Italy's fine traditions, George was not sure whether Italy would align with the German-Austrian alliance.

By the way, although the Ottoman Empire had ceded Tripoli and Cyrenaica to Italy, Italian control of these two places was still limited to a few coastal cities, and most of the inland areas were still under the control of the resistance.

George can't take care of Italy for the time being. This year's exercise will be held in June in advance. The scale of the exercise is large. Including the Gao Ri Corps, it is expected that 6 troops will participate. It will be mainly held in the Sofia area of ​​​​Bulgaria.

It was already May 5 when George arrived in Constantinople. The participating troops were gathering in the Sofia area. George first arrived at Adrianople and met up with Polis, and the two went to Sofia together.

Boris and Elizabeth were making rapid progress and were set to be engaged by the end of the year.

George was quite satisfied with Elizabeth, she was the most suitable candidate for Boris.

Polis's train was similar to Nikola's, extremely luxurious.

There is nothing much to say about this. The King's Train represents the image of the country to a certain extent. Even if Boris wants to keep a low profile, August will not agree.

August did not go to Sofia, but stayed in Adrianople to preside over the work. The relocation of the Bulgarian government had not been completed. Interior Minister Peterkov resigned because of differences of opinion with Vasily, and August was still looking for a suitable candidate.

Although the Kingdom of Bulgaria does not have a regular army, a reserve system must be established, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria must also mobilize when necessary.

Amur had very high requirements for its reserve forces, requiring at least three months of training each year, which was almost impossible for the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

The Amur region is frozen for half a year a year. Participating in reserve training can also bring income, so the reserve members are very motivated to train.

Bulgaria's military budget was insufficient and it was unable to pay salaries to its reserve forces. Since Peterkov did not receive enough support from Polis on this issue, he resigned in anger.

"If the Balkan League is involved in a war, the Kingdom of Bulgaria will not be immune."

Boris did not try to keep Peterkov. With the war imminent, unification of thoughts was the most important thing.

"This war may last for a long time, so you must be mentally prepared."

George was concerned about whether Boris could stand the test.

Although Polis has become the King of Bulgaria, the coronation ceremony has not yet been held, and his foundation is still too weak.

The world war was protracted, and if the war caused serious damage to Bulgaria, Polis's support rate would also be affected.

Boris nodded silently. This was not something he could decide.

After the capital was moved to Adrianople, Sofia's population dropped significantly. Without officials and wealthy people with spending power, Sofia's business atmosphere was devastated, the streets were sparsely populated, and the decline was visible to the naked eye.

George and Polis did not stay in the palace, but came to the military camp on the outskirts of Sofia.

In the past year, in addition to organizing training and improving public order, Vasily also found time to rebuild the border defense line of the Bulgarian Kingdom.

According to the tradition of the Russian Empire, military exercises can also invite observers from various countries to participate.

Since this exercise had a strong deterrent purpose, the Russian Empire had previously extended an invitation to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It was only after George arrived in Sofia that he learned that the leader of the Austro-Hungarian Empire this time was actually the Crown Prince Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

George was taken aback and his first reaction was to refuse.

George remembered clearly that the trigger for the First World War was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

It would be easier to explain if Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo.

Because the Tsar's envoy died in the Austro-Hungarian embassy, ​​relations between the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were already extremely tense.

If he was assassinated in Sofia, George would have trouble explaining himself.

"Why can't we let him come?" Vasily didn't understand. Shouldn't we take this opportunity to flex our muscles to the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
"His identity is too special."

George didn't explain much.

This is hard to explain. You can't say that they were worried that Archduke Ferdinand would die in Sofia.

"Since Crown Prince William can join the military observation group, we have no reason to reject Archduke Ferdinand."

Brusinov reminded George that this was a great disrespect to Archduke Ferdinand.

Nowadays in Europe, even nobles who surrender on the battlefield can demand treatment that matches their status.

George could not refuse the reasonable request of a crown prince.

Since the Grand Duke likes adventure so much, let’s fulfill his wish.

It was Georgi who arrived in Sofia earlier than Ferdinand.

With the help of Vasily, Georgy finally had an army that fully supported him. Although it was only one division, at least there was a certain guarantee of security.

Venizelos did not stop Georgi from expanding his military, and his position in the Kingdom of Greece was not affected, and he remained the core of the military alliance.

Georgi has expressed great concern about the security environment in the Balkans and has been unable to sleep at night in the past two months.

"Now I finally understand the pain of being a king. It's too stressful."

Georgy confided in George.

But to George, this sounded a bit like Versailles.

How many people want to bear this kind of pain and pressure but don't have the chance?

"If you don't want to be king, can you let me go?"

Vasily was not used to this.

"Come to Athens, and I'll ask you to be the commander-in-chief."

Georgi poached people right in front of George.

Vasily is the current Duke of Suvorov. With the halo of being the descendant of a military god, he is more than qualified to serve as the commander-in-chief of Greece.

"You want me to help you deal with Venizelos? Your price is too low—"

Vasily looked down upon Georgy's bargaining chips.

This was George's first visit to Sofia since Polis was invited to be king.

Polis held a welcome banquet for George and Georgi at the Old Royal Palace in Sofia.

Just as the banquet began, George received news that the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Ferdinand and his wife arrived in Sarajevo by train.

Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were indeed too depressed in Vienna. After confirming their trip to Bosnia, Archduke Ferdinand did not want to wait a moment and brought Sophie to Bosnia in advance to start their vacation.

Sarajevo was the third stop for the Archduke and his wife after arriving in Bosnia. At the train station, they took a convertible to the City Hall.

The Archduke and his wife were in high spirits. After leaving Vienna, Sophie was as free as a bird. She smiled happily and sat next to Archduke Ferdinand, holding a small umbrella in her hand.

As soon as the car left the train station, the Archduke and his wife were attacked by a bomb.

The Archduke's driver had obviously learned a lesson from the assassination of Ya Er. Instead of stopping, he sped away, not giving the assassin a second chance.

(End of this chapter)