I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 628 Taking advantage of the situation
From the perspective of the Allied Powers, if the Kingdom of Hungary could be forced to withdraw from the war, it would not matter even if the occupied territories were returned to Hungary, after all, Britain, France and Russia had not suffered any losses.

The kingdoms that suffered the most losses were Bulgaria and Romania.

Let’s not talk about Romania for now. Boris is George’s eldest son.

As soon as the news of the negotiations came out, Ferdinand came to Constantinople from Bucharest.

"Romania has lost 10 people for Transylvania. If we return Transylvania to Hungary, how can I explain this to the people?"

Ferdinand firmly opposed negotiations. Surrender always meant at least a half loss. It was pure dream for the Kingdom of Hungary to get away with it unscathed.

It has to be said that the Hungarians chose a very good time, and their ability to adapt to the situation was comparable to that of the Italians. Withdrawing from the war was the only chance for the Kingdom of Hungary to preserve its territorial integrity.

Ferdinand was filled with indignation. Should the interests of a weak country be sacrificed?
George really wanted to tell Ferdinand that the law of the jungle is the nature of this world.

"George, the Kingdom of Romania has always been a loyal ally of the Empire. When the Empire asked for mobilization, we mobilized. When the Empire asked for troops, we sent troops. We shouldn't be treated like this!"

With red eyes, Ferdinand told George that if Russia and Hungary negotiated, Romania would have to cancel its alliance with the Russian Empire.

George could only tell Ferdinand that the negotiations had not begun and that the empire had not given up Romania.

Before Ferdinand left, Catherine came again.

Catherine's attitude was more radical than Ferdinand's.

"Have you forgotten how they treated our family when your father died?"

It was the first time George saw Catherine swearing without any manners.

"Those bastards kicked us out, separated us from mother and son, and asked you to guard the border for the empire. You won the Russo-Japanese War for the empire and defeated the Ottoman Empire. The empire gave you something, and it is natural for you to give back to the empire. I couldn't protect you and left you alone in St. Petersburg. I still feel deeply guilty. I am not a qualified mother—"

Catherine burst into tears, weaker than ever before.

But in a blink of an eye, Ekaterina's emotions suddenly became excited again.

"The Empire has not given Polis anything. It was the Bulgarians who invited Polis to be the King of Bulgaria. You can sacrifice your own interests for the Empire, but I will not allow anyone to harm Polis!"

Although Annie didn't say anything, her eyes were also red.

"Negotiations have not begun—"

George comforted Catherine in the same way.

"I know it hasn't started yet, but if you don't make your attitude clear, the negotiations will definitely begin, and Polis and his Bulgarian Kingdom will be sacrificed. Those people will definitely do it!"

Although Catherine had been away from St. Petersburg for a long time, she obviously knew St. Petersburg better than George.

"George, why don't you ask the generals for their opinions?"

Anne understood George better than Catherine did.

Brusinov, Vasily and Andrei were not around, so George could only ask Demeter.

"If you want to go back to St. Petersburg, I will have to retire."

Demeter was completely disappointed with St. Petersburg.

Vasily took the initiative to send a telegram to George, saying that he did not want to lead his legion under the command of anyone other than George.

Although Vasily did not mention anyone by name, it was more serious than mentioning anyone by name.

George was speechless. There were still talented people around William II. It was just a suggestion, and the Balkan Alliance was almost disbanded.

Both Joffre and Haig sent telegrams to George, hoping that George would consider the overall situation and agree to negotiate with the Hungarians.

George wondered if this was how Joffre and Haig had persuaded young Nicholas to attack last year.

Now when George saw the words "consider the overall situation", he felt only disgust.

Did the train run over one person or ten people?

If you were that one, how would you choose?
To George's relief, Boris actually agreed to negotiate with the Hungarians.

"You would be willing to return Bosnia and Herzegovina to Hungary?"

George was very happy that Boris had great love.

If Hungary withdraws from the war, George can lead the Balkan Corps to Poland to beat Hindenburg.

Wait, Nicholas didn't say to let George return to St. Petersburg to serve as commander-in-chief.

"If it means ending the war sooner, I would."

Since Boris is so sensible, it becomes even more difficult for George.

Montenegrin Nikola reminded George that the so-called negotiations might just be a delaying tactic by the Germans.

Hindenburg was definitely unwilling to negotiate. No matter who became the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, with an additional million people, Hindenburg would be under great pressure.

If George had served as the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, even if all the German troops in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were concentrated in Poland, Hindenburg would have found it difficult to withstand George's attack.

To be honest, if Zhilinsky had not lost 30 elite Russian troops at the beginning of the war, the outcome of the European battlefield would be hard to predict.

No matter how incompetent Nicholas is, Brusinov, Vasily and Andrei have all experienced the baptism of the Russo-Japanese War. As long as they don't make mistakes, it will be difficult for Hindenburg to defeat the Russian army.

In this case, the so-called negotiations may really be a delaying tactic.

After all, without the Germans' consent, the Kingdom of Hungary would have no chance to negotiate.

George called Nicholas back and said that if the Kingdom of Hungary agreed to withdraw from the war, the Balkan League could withdraw its troops from the occupied areas.

This is not perfunctory at all.

It was easy enough to appease Ferdinand.

Ferdinand's request was to obtain Transylvania. This was easy to do. First, return Transylvania to Hungary. After defeating Germany, the Kingdom of Romania could take Transylvania back at any time as long as it was still strong enough.

After losing the protection of Germany and Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Romania no longer needed George's help and could just keep the Kingdom of Hungary under it.

Likewise, there would be no problem returning Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Kingdom of Hungary.

Stamboliyski was fighting against the local tyrants and dividing the land in the above-mentioned two places.

Even if these two places were returned to the Kingdom of Hungary, it would be difficult for the Kingdom of Hungary to deal with them.

As for whether George should be the commander-in-chief, to be honest, George didn't care.

George has received enough honors.

Even if Nicholas wanted to defeat his cousin in Berlin personally, he would not ignore George's influence in the army. At the very least, he would appoint George as deputy commander-in-chief. Moreover, Nicholas would only be a figurehead, but in reality he would have to listen to George in all matters of fighting.

Isn't this the same pattern as when I served in the Guards?

The withdrawal would not happen right away. It would have to be after the negotiations were completed and the German and Russian troops withdrew at the same time, only then would the Kingdom of Hungary be considered to have withdrawn from the war.

If the Germans retreated, George would retreat.

Catherine was easy to deal with. George invited Ferdinand to a banquet and personally persuaded Ferdinand.

This time it was a private banquet. George did not invite any other guests except Ferdinand. The banquet was held at George's home.

"So, you'll help me get Transylvania back, no matter what."

Ferdinand was in a difficult situation. No one wanted to spit out the meat in their mouth.

"Yes, that is my promise."

George assured Ferdinand that his promises would never fail.

"Yes, you know, we are friends, and the Kingdom of Romania will always be your most loyal ally."

Ferdinand had just said this to George a few days ago, the difference being that "empire" was replaced by "you".

On August 8, a delegation led by Hungarian Prime Minister István Tisza arrived in St. Petersburg via Berlin to start negotiations with the Russian Empire.

When George learned the news, he felt extremely absurd.

The trip to Berlin must be to visit Wilhelm II.

Would William II allow the Hungarians to withdraw from the war?

impossible.

Something else happened before that.

Kitchener, the Secretary of War who represented Britain in negotiations in St. Petersburg, was killed when his warship was attacked by a German submarine in the North Sea.

George did not participate in the negotiations, but was in Constantinople keeping a close eye on the situation.

The Hungarians made many demands, not only demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops, but also demanding the return of the looted property.

This probably means withdrawing troops and paying additional compensation.

Nicholas asked George for his opinion.

George agreed, but this time George was no longer responsible for lobbying for the empire.

George was able to convince Ferdinand and Boris because they were both righteous and reasonable.

The Cossacks fought bloody battles and obtained the spoils at the cost of their lives. Now the Hungarians are going to return them?

If anyone wants the Cossacks to pay back the money, go and ask for it yourself.

George was eager to see how many unreasonable demands Nicholas could agree to in order to get Hungary to withdraw from the war.

“If we agree to this request, will the Hungarians then demand compensation?”

Demeter was almost laughing madly. He had never seen anything so ridiculous.

Not to mention seeing it, I've never even heard of it.

That's not right. In the Sino-French War, the victorious country also ceded territory and paid compensation.

But the Russian Empire is not the Qing Empire.

"Just wait and see. The more the Hungarians demand, the more miserable their death will be."

George knew Nicholas well.

Although Nicholas' character is a bit weak, if anyone offends Nicholas, Nicholas will remember it for the rest of his life.

After Nicholas was assassinated in Japan, whenever Japan was mentioned, it was replaced by "yellow monkeys", which was known to everyone in St. Petersburg.

The relationship between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire is so bad that even if Nicholas is forced to agree to the Hungarians' demands now, he will take revenge on the Hungarians after defeating Germany.

If Nicholas was still the Tsar at that time.

István Tisza was still self-aware and did not ask Russia for compensation. Instead, he demanded that the Russian army withdraw from the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary first.

Nicholas still had a bottom line and did not fall for the Hungarians' tricks.

What if the Russian army withdraws first and the German army does not withdraw?
Fight again?
The Russian army could break through the Carpathian Mountains line defended by Austro-Hungarian troops.

If the German army was defending, could the Russian army still break through so easily?

At least it would be impossible for the paratroopers to capture Victoria easily.

(End of this chapter)