Neither Britain nor Germany were ready to go to war immediately, so neither side declared war on each other immediately. Instead, they contacted their respective allies to discuss the issue of cooperation and assistance between their respective allies when a war broke out. At the same time, Britain and Germany also carried out various preparations in their respective homes, such as encouraging people to support and preparing war materials.

Foreign ministries of Britain and Germany continued to embellish the peace and propaganda would definitely resolve the problem peacefully and would not break out, so as to try to paralyze each other. Both sides knew that the other party would not be fooled, but they spared no effort.

The Allies and the Allies held summits one after another. On the Allies, the special envoys of Germany, Italy, Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Turkish Empire met in Berlin. Due to the ambiguous attitude and unstable position, the conflict between Germany and Britain did not affect the interests of the other three countries, so the other three countries were not so active. This made it impossible for the alliance to reach an agreement.

Conversely, the situation in the Allies is better.

France and Germany were old enemies. France was determined to regain the heavy industrial zones of Alsace and Lorraine occupied by Germany. Therefore, from the day when Britain was pulled into the water, France planned to make a war break out between Britain and Germany, and then Britain and France formed a combat coalition against Germany. France believed that the British navy was enough to destroy the German navy and then landed from the west and north of Germany. France attacked from the south, and could quickly defeat Germany by attacking north and south. Therefore, France firmly supported Britain's combat against Germany.

Russia's attitude is a bit unstable. The relationship between Russia and Germany is not yet at the same time. Russia only has territorial and ethnic disputes with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Turkish Empire. Russia is more concerned about the Balkan issue. I hope that the Slavs can escape the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, Russia is not so active in the military conflict between Britain and Germany.

As the saying goes, things are not about oneself. Whether it is the Allies or the Allies, they cannot reach a complete agreement within them, so a comprehensive war between the Allies and the Allies cannot break out for the time being.

However, it was raining all night long, and the third team sent by the CIA of the Empire of China had already taken action in the Balkans.

After the visiting delegation from the Chinese Empire to Europe visited the allies and allied countries, in order to further enhance the international influence of the Chinese Empire, they also tested the results of the visit, and by the way proposed to help Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia resolve the Serbian problem, and to create an image of a peaceful angel in order to resolve the conflicts in Europe.

The Chinese Empire was willing to mediate, and received unanimous praise from people from all walks of life in Europe. Both the Allies and the Allies saw the strength of the Chinese Empire and all agreed directly. At the same time, in order to give the people an explanation.

In this way, the European delegation of the Chinese Empire played the role of a mediator and mediated the conflict between Russia and Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans.

But the Chinese Empire obviously would not help sincerely. During the mediation process, it not only did not relieve the pressure from both sides, but instead caused a more fierce collision between the two sides. Russia demanded the Slavs of the Balkans to obtain the right to democracy, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not give up its control over the Balkan state, which made the conflicts between the two sides unable to reconcile.

When the Suez Canal conflict broke out, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was instigated by the Chinese Empire's special envoy.

As early as after the Sino-Russian War, the two German chiefs of staff, Salifen and Moltchy Jr., had talked with the Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff, Hettesendorf, to discuss the war plan against Serbia. They both believed that Russia had great difficulties at home and could not intervene in the Balkan War.

After the Chinese Empire incited it, William II impulsively assured the visiting Grand Duke Ferdinand that if Russia intervened in the Osse conflict, Germany would aid Austro-Hungary.

With the strong support of Germany, the Chinese Empire also expressed its willingness to provide weapons, equipment and supplies to the Austro-Hungarian Empire during wartime. So the Austro-Hungarian Empire was confident and decided to hold a large-scale military exercise in the Bosnian area near the Serbian border. The time was selected on December 28, which was the anniversary of the war when Turkey attacked Serbia (December 28, 1384). The Austro-Hungarian team used Serbia as the imaginary enemy in this exercise and dispatched two corpses. The purpose of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was to scare Serbia first, and then defeat the troops without fighting.

In order to cooperate with the military exercises, the Grand Duke Ferdinand and his wife were ordered by the king of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to visit Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and were actually demonstrating to the Kingdom of Serbia.

The Third Squad of the CIA of the Empire of China also entered Serbia, and through Serbian anti-Austrian Sarajevo Police Department Deputy Director Martis, as an intermediary, bribed Serbian mafia and ordered him to assassinate the Grand Duke Ferdinand and his wife.

The mafia only recognized the money and immediately took over the task.

Earlier on the 29th, the mafia organization arranged seven assassins on the street where Prince O was about to pass. At around 10 a.m., after reviewing military exercises on the outskirts of the city, Ferdinand and his wife proudly entered Sarajevo City in a convertible car and drove to Sarajevo City Hall to attend a reception.

A long line of royal cars slowly drove through the crowded streets. Because of Martis's relationship, only sparse military police and police were placed on both sides of the road to guard. Ferdinand sat in the second car, and Sophia was on his right. General Oscar Portiorek, the chief of the Bosnian military government, sat in the left seat, and next to the driver was the attendant Earl of Halashi.

When the convoy passed the Chumurya Bridge on the Miliatka River in the city center and drove into the Appel Pier, the first assassin who was ambushing here failed because a policeman came over and stood in front of him. Another assassin, not far away, suddenly rushed out of the crowd and threw a bomb at the car the Ferdinand and his wife were riding.

One witness said: "Due to the rapid and calm response of the Grand Duke, the bomb did not achieve his goal. He picked up the bomb from the car seat and threw it on the street. I could hardly believe my eyes."

When the bomb exploded, eight people were injured, including the Grand Duke's adjutant. The police arrested a young man named Gabrinovix. They said he was a Serbian nationalist who worked as a typist in Herzegovina. He was said to have no regrets either.

After the first incident, the team continued to go to the municipal hall, where the Dagongzhuang angrily announced: "Sir, it's really intolerable. When we came to Sarajevo to visit, someone dropped bombs at us." At first, the people in the hall did not understand what the Dagong was talking about. Later, when they learned that a man was trying to kill him with a bomb, many people cheered.

Ferdinand then planned to go to Persia, and some people warned him not to go to Persia, but he ignored it. A Serbian minister said that the Balkans were very disgusted with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was ridiculous that the royal family was more inclined to make concessions in this tense area than anyone else. He had hoped to give the Slavs more autonomy and might even create a third monarch in the Balkans.

On the way back, Mafia member Principe pulled out his pistol and was about to raise his gun to shoot, a policeman not far from him discovered it and rushed forward to grab his arm. At this moment, Lei Ping, a agent of the CIA of the Empire of China, suddenly took action, like a flash of lightning. He punched the police in the neck, and the police suddenly staggered and fainted to the ground. At this time, Princess' gunshots rang out, and the crown prince and his wife were shot seven times. They died immediately.

Suddenly, there was chaos everywhere, and Lei Ping quickly fled the scene, while Princess was arrested on the spot.

The assassination of Ferdinand and his wife caused a sensation in Europe, but countries seemed to have an ominous reaction to these assassinations. Reports from the Holy See said that the Pope was seriously ill and was praying when he heard the news. He fainted and had to escort him back to the room. William II interrupted a horse racing in the Baltic Sea and hurried back to Berlin. Emperor Franz Joseph fell ill. He was pleased, "Scary. It was so terrible, and I was so sad." In London. Daily News wrote: "This assassination is like a thunder for Europe." The London Times said "it made the world's conscience tremble."

The Serbian police immediately investigated the truth of the assassination, but when they found the mafia leader and followed the clues to find Martis, the deputy director of the Serbian police station, they found that Martis had committed suicide unexpectedly. The clues were interrupted, and a pot of shit was immediately placed on the head of the Serbian anti-Austrian forces.

Therefore, the conflict between Britain and Germany on the Suez Canal issue has caused the allies and allies to draw their swords against each other, and a war is about to begin. Now the crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated by the Serbian anti-Austrian official Martis and the mafia organization supported by Britain, France and Russia. The Austro-Hungarian Empire also had sufficient excuses to start a war against Serbia. For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the last son of the Austro-Hungarian Empire also died and became a veritable lonely man. He was very heartbroken and angry. Originally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to remain neutral on the issue of British-German military conflict and prevent being involved in the war, but now it seems that it is unavoidable.

At this time, after three days of research, the senior leaders of the Chinese Empire government held closed-door consultations with liaison officers from various countries. On January 2, 1913, an international arbitration court was established, located in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Chinese Empire continued to play the role of mediation ambassador, and on the surface they organized the outbreak of the European war, but in fact they wanted to make the outbreak of the European war as early as possible.

The Chinese Empire's initiative was fully supported by European countries such as Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Austria, and Italy. Then, the Chinese Empire and the six major European powers jointly formed an international jury, with China as the first international court officer. The other six European countries participated in the investigation of the assassination and death of the Duke of Ferdinand and his wife as jurors, but the jury members kept Serbia out.

The Chinese Empire proposed to establish an international court and serve as the chief officer of the International Court of Justice, which undoubtedly hit European countries with a fierce political blow and was also a sign of the beginning of the Chinese Empire's interference in European affairs.

The Chinese Empire government took the opportunity to set up an international tribunal, increased its political influence in Europe, and quickly completed the task of instigating the European War.

After consultation between the Chinese Empire and other countries, the trial result came out in just three days. Serbian man Principe and 17 others were found guilty of assassinating the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Ferdinand and his wife. At the same time, senior Serbian government official Martis and others were also suspected of instructing the murders behind their backs.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was determined to use this as an excuse to completely destroy Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian Emperor sought Germany's opinions, while the German Emperor William II said that it was now, or would never fight. The German Army Chief of Staff Moltke Jr. also said that for the allies, the earlier the war, the better.

Germany promised to fully support the Austro-Hungarian Empire in military action against Serbia. This greatly encouraged the Austro-Hungarian Empire's confidence.

The Allies Group is also actively engaged in activities. On January 5, British senior officials visited Russia and France in succession to ensure the fulfillment of their allied military obligations. France is very good at using tricks and publicly declared that France remains neutral on the Balkan issue. This gave Germany an illusion that Germany believed that France was unwilling to be involved in the Balkan War immediately. In fact, France had secretly reached an agreement with Britain and Russia, and the purpose of this move was to lure Germany to start the war first.

In this way, the Allies and the Allies had their own ulterior motives. The excuse for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to get what they wished was finally here.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to use this as an excuse to provoke a war and annex Serbia. Germany firmly supports Austro-Hungarian action, and Russia expressed its support for Serbia.

On January 7, 1913, Austro-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, with a reply of 48 hours. The content of the ultimatum was extremely harsh, requiring all anti-Australian activities to be stopped, and officials and civilians who carried out anti-Australian propaganda were punished. Other Serbian government officials involved in the matter were extradited.

Serbia was originally a lamb who was sacrificed by the Allies. She had no idea of ​​the true purpose of Britain, France and Russia, and she foolishly believed in the Allies' commitments.

On January 8, Serbia responded to the public and rejected all the requests of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the grounds of being excluded from the international court. On the same day, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia broke off diplomatic relations, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire began military mobilization.

The next day, after learning that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was conducting military mobilization, France made a mediation request to Germany and hypocritically expressed to avoid war.

German Emperor William II immediately convened a meeting of imperial fronts to discuss countermeasures. At the meeting, the arrogant Germans believed that Germany should be neutral with France, so that the Austro-Hungarian Empire should also be neutral. Let the Austro-Hungarian Empire resolve the conflicts on their own. Because Serbia was a Slav country, once the Austro-Hungarian Empire invaded Serbia, the Russian Empire, which was also a Slav country in the north, would declare war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In this way, Germany needed to declare war on Russia to protect the allies, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, it was not only Germany who formed gangs, but Russia's accomplices France would definitely attack Germany.

If Germany intervenes, it will be attacked by two powerful countries from both sides. Fighting on both sides has always been a taboo in military strategists, so Germany's hope is placed on Italy to help. Unfortunately, Italy also declared neutrality on the excuse of France's neutrality and did not join this war, which made Germany very annoyed.

However, Germany could not guilt Italy at this time and had to continue to tolerate Italy's neutrality.

Germany could not afford to fight on two fronts. Therefore, as early as 1905, Germany formulated the Schriefen plan. According to the Schriefen plan, Germany's goal and purpose were very clear, which was to solve the Western Front problem in a short period of time, use its superior forces and large-scale intersecting siege to eliminate France as soon as possible, so as to achieve strategic goals.

However, when Moltke Jr. became the chief of staff of the German General Staff, he questioned Schriefen's plan. Schriefen's plan needed to bypass France's strong defensive fortress and attack France in the opposite direction through Belgium, which required very fast assault forces and long-distance recharge capabilities. This was impossible for the current German capabilities.

If France adopts a defensive tactic of strengthening the walls and clearing the field at every step, blocking the German offensive speed and time and lengthening the German supply line will put Germany in danger. Because that will give Russia valuable time to mobilize wars, send troops to attack East Prussia, and threaten the security of the capital Berlin.

Therefore, Moltke Xiao revised Schriefen's plan, reduced the assault forces and transferred them to the eastern front to deal with the threat from Russia. Schriefen's plan was a huge risk plan, and France would be eliminated if it succeeded, and Germany would be destroyed if it failed. It was precisely because of Schriefen's insistence that Moltke Xiao was appointed Chief of Staff.

Moltke's plan was to strengthen the east and west lines, slightly lean towards the western line, and prepare to defeat France on the western line before returning to the eastern line to face Russia. Germany is very much looking forward to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, hoping that the Austro-Hungarian Empire can withstand the Russian team with the German Eastern Front army. Because in terms of force, the German Eastern Front strength and the Austro-Hungarian Empire's troops are enough to withstand the Russian team. Therefore, the German Eastern Front strategy is to defend first and then counterattack.

While Germany formulated its military plan, France was not idle. The French side believed that land war could not defeat Germany, so France's idea was to use the solid fortress and fortress to hold the German team, allowing the huge Russian army to attack Germany, forcing Germany to mobilize more troops to fight against Russia, and finally France took the opportunity to counterattack Germany.

For a long time, France has been preparing for large-scale positions expansion, including large fortresses such as Belfort, Epinal, Tours, and Verdun, which constitute the main support point for defensive positions. This position can be stationed in various ways by a large number of French troops, which brings great difficulties to the attack.

It can be said that the war strategies of the two major military groups are very in place, each with targeted characteristics, and are very feasible tactical and strategic plans. However, during the war, the plan cannot change faster than the change. Whether the plan can be completed smoothly depends on actual combat effectiveness and is affected by other uncertain factors.

Three days later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire completed the preparations for military mobilization and declared war on Serbia. Since the Austro-Hungarian Empire had begun to conduct a secret military mobilization before, by the time the war was declared on January 12, the Austro-Hungarian Empire mobilized 2 million troops.

According to the combat plan formulated by the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1911, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will follow the three plans of c, q, and x. In the plan of c, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will fulfill its obligations to work with Germany and will start a full-scale war against Russia. The main forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be concentrated on the front line of Galicia, cutting off Russian Poland in a far-reaching way, cooperating with the German army on the eastern front, concentrating three million troops, and defeating the Russian team. This plan is crazy, so the Austro-Hungarian Empire will take time to seize all domestic forces and determine the outcome in a battle with Russia.

The q plan is a compromise plan. It also cooperates with the German attack on the eastern front, detours to the Russian Polish region, mobilizes 1 million troops to fight against the Russian army with the German army. At the same time, it mobilizes 800,000 troops to attack Serbia, maintaining only a weak Balkan army group that is oppressed against Serbia.

According to the plan x, the Austro-Hungarian Empire only fought against Serbia, and used the Balkan Army Group and the Royal Hungarian Infantry Army Group to attack Seychelles with an overwhelming force advantage. The Royal Austrian Infantry Army Group maintained a defensive posture against Russia.

It can be said that if the Austro-Hungarian Empire's combat plan was perfect with Germany, the Allies would be defeated by the German-Austrian coalition within three months. However, the arrogance of German Emperor William II led to the failure of this ultimate skill to be used.

While the Austro-Hungarian Empire was mobilizing, Germany was also mobilizing, but it did not develop into a comprehensive general mobilization. However, Russia was carrying out a national general mobilization. For this reason, German Emperor William II sent a telegram to Russian Emperor Nicholas II, demanding that Russia stop conducting military mobilization. It was said that Germany did not want to go to war with Russia, they were relatives and should not turn against each other.

After receiving the telegram from William II, Nicholas II was very moved and immediately gave up the national mobilization. He also replied to William II, expressing his lack of hope for the war to break out.

However, William II believed it and still did not allow Germany to mobilize in full. Although Nicholas II ordered the stop of mobilization, when the order was passed on, Russia had already completed the mobilization. The unprecedented efficiency made Nicholas II unable to believe that it was his army. So under the instigation of the Russian side, Nicholas II's thoughts of war burned again.

When Russia secretly completed military mobilization, Germany indeed gave the Austro-Hungarian Empire a wrong signal, that is, Russia will not interfere in Serbia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire can send troops with confidence.

So, on January 13, the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not wait to implement the x plan and launched a full attack on Serbia.

Located at the forefront is the Austro-Hungarian Balkan Army Group, which is a third-rate unit with twenty-two divisions, belonging to the local city guards, right next to the Serbian border.

Since Serbia is only a small country with 3 million people, it has reached its limit by only 400,000 troops. In order to defend the country, Serbia has not hesitated to blow up the only bridge on the boundary river to prevent the enemy from invading.

At the beginning of the battle, the Balkan Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, under the command of the same third-rate commander, Potilek, the former Bosnian military governor, attacked Serbia twice, and was defeated by the Serbian and Montenegro coalition forces.


Chapter completed!