I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 621 Reasonable Exchange
Thanks to the offensive of the Russian-Bulgarian coalition, Peter had quietly advanced the Russian naval base from Corfu to Cattaro in the southeastern Adriatic Sea.

Cattaro was one of the three main bases of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, approximately 300 km from Corfu.

When Brusinov swept through the Austrian Eighth Army, he captured Cattaro and then handed him over to Peter.

Cattaro was a military fortress with less than 2000 residents. After the outbreak of the war, Cattaro's population surged for a time, but with the defeat of the Austrian army, a large number of people fled, and only a hundred or so residents were left in the entire city.

Before evacuating, the Austrian Navy laid a large number of mines in Cattaro, completely blocking Cattaro.

If the Russian Navy wants to enter Cattaro, it needs to clear all the mines in the waterway.

The person in charge of this task was Alexi Yusupov, commander of the 1st Destroyer Squadron.

Mine clearing is a very arduous and dangerous job. Sailors have to take trawlers into the waterway, determine the location of the mines, and blast them one by one.

Due to the large number of defense zones, the overlapping locations of some areas and the unclear responsibilities and powers, some problems will arise in communication. A month ago, the Italian Navy's troop transport ship was sunk due to poor communication.

At that time, the troop transport ship entered the defense zone under the responsibility of the British Army from the defense zone under the responsibility of the Italian Navy, and the British Army should have taken over the escort mission.

However, the British army misunderstood the message sent by the Italian destroyer and failed to take over in time.

This resulted in the Italian troop transport being sunk by Austro-Hungarian submarines without a destroyer escort.

Compared with the expensive and useless battleships, the Austro-Hungarian submarines were extremely active after the war broke out, repeatedly slipping out of the blockade set up by the Allies at the outlet of the Adriatic Sea and attacking Allied ships.

The narrowest point of the Adriatic Sea outlet is nearly 70 kilometers. In order to block the Austro-Hungarian submarines, the Allies used trawlers and set up a blockade at the outlet to prevent submarines from entering and leaving.

It cannot be said that this blockade was completely useless, as it did entangle an Austro-Hungarian submarine in December last year.

But for most of the time, the blockade was like a sieve, allowing Austro-Hungarian submarines to come and go as they pleased.

Cattaro's location is between the British defense zone and the French defense zone. Since the destroyer squadron led by Alexi consists of 6 destroyers, the British and French armies hope that the destroyer squadron can take on part of the escort mission.

Peter decisively refused because other countries did not give the Russian Navy the respect it deserved.

Cattaro has very good natural conditions, otherwise it would not have become one of the three main bases of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After Brusinov occupied Cattaro, Britain, France and Italy proposed that Cattaro could provide supplies for their warships.

Britain, France and Italy are not only concerned about Cattaro, but also about Albania.

Albania is independent in name only, but in reality it is under the control of six countries: Britain, Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Russia.

When Conrad attacked the Kingdom of Serbia, he occupied Albania at the same time. The Albanians did not even resist and just accepted this fate.

Britain, France and Italy also did not resist and allowed the Austro-Hungarian Empire to occupy Albania.

After the Battle of Belgrade, the Austrian Eighth Army entrenched in the Kingdom of Montenegro and Albania was eliminated. Britain, France and Italy then returned, demanding not only the restoration of the co-management of Albania, but also the division of the territories originally under the jurisdiction of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

What is even more unexpected is that Zogu, the son of former Ottoman Martí Governor Cemal Pasha, who cooperated during the Austro-Hungarian occupation and was awarded the rank of colonel by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, actually demanded that all countries withdraw from Albania and make Albania a truly independent country.

Zogu is currently in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Peter will not give these evildoers the opportunity to stir up trouble. The Albanian court tried Zogu in absentia and sentenced him to death.

Although Zogu has not been executed yet, with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he will be dead as long as he is found.

"The Grand Duke is too soft-hearted. Only death can scare these evil-doers away."

Peter was decisive and ruthless. If he wanted to help Polis realize his dream of a Greater Bulgaria, he couldn't just rely on winning people over.

The common people can indeed be won over with benefits.

What the powerful class wants is power, unlimited power.

If a man like Zogu is given the opportunity, he will turn Albania into a feudal country.

Since someone had to be king, why couldn't it be Boris?

"You're right, I've long been fed up with these people!"

Rakitsky also hoped for the unification of the Balkans. Whether Serbs or Bulgarians, they are all Slavs.

"There are some things that the Grand Duke is not suitable to do, and we are the most suitable to do them. As an excellent subordinate, we must take the initiative to solve problems for the Grand Duke."

Peter is Boris's uncle-in-law. Helping Boris is also helping himself.

Last May, Peter and Xiaoye's third child was born. Now Xiaoye is pregnant again and is nurturing the fetus in Constantinople.

Peter was very upset due to the poor performance of the Russian army in Europe after the outbreak of World War I, which was the main reason why he took the initiative to lead the reinforcement fleet to the Mediterranean.

Out of sight out of mind.

Compared with the complicated relations in Petrograd, the new Bulgarian Kingdom had a promising future, and Peter hoped that his children would have a brighter future.

After the Kingdom of Bulgaria entered the war, the country automatically entered a state of war, and many changes were quietly taking place.

Bulgaria is standardizing the Bulgarian language, and the standardized Bulgarian language will become less and less different from Russian.

Now all schools in Bulgaria use the standardized Bulgarian language for teaching. The Eastern Orthodox Church has once again been confirmed as the state religion of Bulgaria, which is the result of the efforts of the former Archbishop August.

During the Ottoman Empire, Orthodox Bulgarians accounted for only 20 percent of the total population.

The Orthodox Christian population now accounts for 70 percent of the total population, and this proportion is still increasing rapidly.

After breaking the landlord class's monopoly on land, the Bulgarians' support for Polis reached its peak. During Polis' wedding, 30 people from all over the country came to Adrianople to congratulate the king. Even more people spontaneously held celebration ceremonies in various places, accounting for more than 95% of the total population.

Land is a powerful tool that is being fully utilized by the Bulgarian government.

After the 11th Army recaptured Albania, information about the Bulgarian Kingdom began to circulate widely in Albania.

Now there are many Albanians who want to join the Kingdom of Bulgaria because then they can get the land they have always dreamed of.

Zogu, who was sentenced to death, was the largest landowner in Albania.

The same thing happened in the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro.

These things were not instructed by George, but it is undeniable that George played a key role in this process.

George knew all too well the power of land reform.

After obtaining the land, if the peasants want to keep the land, they must firmly support the rule of Polis, otherwise the land they have obtained will be taken away by Zogu and his ilk.

These Balkan countries are almost all agricultural countries, with handicrafts remaining at the most elementary level and industry not yet taking off.

George did not forcibly relocate Amur's industrial system to Bulgaria. This requires a process, and it will not be too late after the situation in the Balkans stabilizes.

Although Polis spent most of his time in Adrianople, he often traveled between Constantinople and Adrianople and took the initiative to ask George for advice in person.

Although both are kingdoms, the current system implemented by the Kingdom of Bulgaria is different from that of the United Kingdom, and the king's power is far less than that of the British king.

After the British Prime Minister is elected, he or she needs the recognition of the British King before he or she can officially obtain the power of Prime Minister.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister does not need the king's recognition, and the parliament even has the power to remove the king. Strictly speaking, the king is a mascot.

This is why Bulgarian kings were deposed repeatedly.

There are currently many political parties in the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and the ruling Peasant Party has not gained an absolute dominant position.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Alexander Stamboliysky, who came from the Peasant Party, proposed an industrial development bill, which was opposed by almost everyone and failed to pass.

Alexander hoped to take advantage of the war to develop the industry of the Bulgarian Kingdom.

This is a correct proposal. Boris's tutor told him a long time ago: Without agriculture, there is no stability; without industry, there is no wealth; without business, there is no life.

Although the bill was clearly beneficial to the Kingdom of Bulgaria, it was opposed by almost all members of parliament.

Boris was confused and asked George for advice in person.

So George told Poliskop about the relationship between the ruling party and the opposition party.

and the consequences of rampant democracy.

Boris fell into deep thought.

An MP who does not want to be prime minister is not a good MP.

Alexander, who came from the Peasant Party, insisted on implementing land reform and gained the trust of the farmers.

If Bulgarian industry had made the same great progress during Alexander's tenure as prime minister, many people would have been disqualified from serving as prime minister forever.

Developing industry is certainly a good thing, and it is not too late to develop it when I become prime minister.

As for whether there will be opposition from others at that time, we will talk about it after I become prime minister.

"The significance of the king is that when there are irreconcilable conflicts in Parliament, the king has the final say."

George is trying to motivate Boris to become a real king, but Boris still has a long way to go.

"I know what to do now."

Boris is still very smart and has the support of George, who is his biggest backer.

Even if Boris messes up, George will cover him.

It is actually not difficult to change the current situation. What Alexander needs most now is support from Polis.

If you want to get Polis' support, you have to put up enough chips.

This is a reasonable exchange.

(End of this chapter)