I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 581: Loyalty

The assassin who threw the grenade at Archduke Ferdinand and his wife was named Bedelik Chabrinovic, who was only 19 years old.

As an assassin, Bedric was too unprofessional compared with his imperial Russian counterparts. He knew little about the performance of grenades and did not know that the delay of grenades was 10 seconds. As a result, Ferdinand and his wife escaped, but two passengers in the fourth car of the convoy were seriously injured.

After throwing the grenade, Bedlik immediately jumped into the nearby Miljac River and tried to escape.

Bedrick was not familiar with the environment around the assassination site and did not scout the location in advance. The river water only covered Bedrick's ankles, and his escape attempt failed.

When the police surrounded Bedrick and ordered him to surrender, Bedrick swallowed another bottle of cyanide.

Because this bottle of cyanide was expired, it could only induce vomiting, and all the cyanide swallowed was then vomited out.

So Bedrick was arrested.

Bedric was from the Bosnian secret organization Youth Association.

The Youth Association was formed with the support of the Black Hand of the Kingdom of Serbia.

The leader of the Black Hand is Lagutin Dimitrijevic, the head of the Serbian intelligence service.

In 1903, Lagutin and a group of young Serbian officers launched the "May Coup", killing King Alexander I and his wife and electing Peter I as King of Serbia.

In 1911, Lagutin founded the Black Hand.

The person who provided funds for Lagutin was Peter I's second son, Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia.

In order to ensure the safety of the Archduke and his wife, the Sarajevo City Government imposed martial law on the route of the Archduke and his wife in advance, which in turn exposed the Archduke and his wife's travel route.

Bedrick and his accomplices, a total of seven people, were spread out along the travel routes of the Archduke and his wife, preparing to assassinate them.

The first assassin did not dare to attack because there were policemen around him.

After Bedrick took action, the convoy increased its speed and the other assassins did not get a chance. The Archduke and his wife arrived safely at the city hall.

After the reception, the Grand Duke and Duchess will go directly to the train station and take a train to Sofia as planned.

At this time, the road between the city government and the railway station is still under traffic control.

On the way to the train station, Archduke Ferdinand made a sudden decision to go to the hospital to visit his adjutant who had been injured in the explosion.

The driver immediately braked and the car stopped in front of Gavrilo Princip.

Princip pulled out a pistol and shot the Archduke and his wife twice.

The first bullet hit Archduke Ferdinand in the chest, and the second shot went through the car door and hit Sophie in the abdomen, severing an artery.

A few minutes later, the Archduke and his wife died.

When George learned the news, he felt extremely complicated, but history finally returned to the right track.

Vasily was amazed at the accuracy of the assassin's shooting.

Killing two people with two shots, and under the careful protection of countless security personnel, this was something that even Vasily could not have planned and done.

"Is war about to break out?"

Boris was terrified but excited.

"We must act immediately and be prepared!"

Brusinov is a man of action.

"No, no, no, we can't over-stimulate the Austrians."

Georgi's face was filled with shock. The Serbs were really cruel.

Coups are common in the Balkan countries. In recent years, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece have taken turns to take advantage of the situation, with the main theme being that the flag on the city wall changes with the times.

Other countries were better off, as they only overthrew the king and did not kill him. During the Serbian coup, the king and queen hid in the closet out of fear, but they were eventually found and executed.

Although it is still unclear who assassinated the Archduke and his wife, the most likely suspects are definitely the Serbs.

"Prepare to mobilize. War is inevitable."

George took the initiative. Since the fuse had been lit, let's fight.

History books say that the assassination of the crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the fuse of the First World War.

In George's opinion, once the news of Archduke Ferdinand's death reached Vienna, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would immediately declare war on the Kingdom of Serbia.

At this point it doesn't matter who killed Archduke Ferdinand.

Vienna's reaction was different from what George had imagined.

The 83-year-old Emperor Joseph I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not seem as sad as George imagined.

His reaction to this incident was not even as intense as that of William II.

William II and Archduke Ferdinand were good friends. A few weeks before Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, William II visited Archduke Ferdinand at his country villa.

When Archduke Ferdinand was alive, he was working hard to make Bosnia the third pole of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and to gain a voice for the Bosnians.

No one expected that Archduke Ferdinand would be killed by the Bosnians.

This is not surprising.

Before his assassination, Yakovlev was still working hard to promote constitutionalism and try to transform the Russian Empire into a constitutional monarchy.

Ya Er was also killed by the Narodnaya Volya party of imperial Russia.

As soon as Ferdinand was assassinated, Nicholas urgently summoned George back to St. Petersburg.

Poincaré had not left yet. After Ferdinand was assassinated, he took the initiative to meet with Count Szabari, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to St. Petersburg, and reminded Count Szabari that under the current situation in Europe, all countries should be more cautious.

"As long as everyone has good intentions, the Serbian issue can be resolved. Otherwise, the conflict will intensify."

If these words were understandable, then the following words were all threats.

"-Serbia has many close friends in the Russian Empire, which is allied with France. These relationships are complex and worrisome."

Count Szabari said nothing during the entire conversation and politely took his leave after Poincaré finished speaking.

After Count Szabari left, Poincaré said to the French ambassador to Russia, Maurice Palaiolog, with some worry: "I am not impressed by this meeting. Austria is preparing a good show for us."

George was very interested in seeing how the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was facing domestic rebellion, would launch a full-scale war against the Kingdom of Serbia.

Not only the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but Britain was also facing rebellion in Ireland.

Although there was no rebellion in the Russian Empire and Germany, the Poles were ready to make a move.

The French are still waiting for Madame Caillaux to go on trial.

When Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, William II was on vacation. After learning about this, William II immediately ended his vacation and returned to Berlin.

After returning to St. Petersburg, George was surprised to find that everything was normal in St. Petersburg. The French flags hung on both sides of the Neva River to welcome Poincaré's visit to Russia had not been lowered. People had no idea that the world was on the brink of a war.

"George, what should we do?"

Nicholas frowned. He had just received a report from Berlin that William II was very dissatisfied with the indifference of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and asked Vienna to retaliate against Serbia with the toughest attitude.

Therefore, it was not the old Emperor of Austro-Hungary but William II who wanted to avenge Archduke Ferdinand.

This is really loyal!

(End of this chapter)