Archduke Ferdinand clasped his hands behind his back and turned his back to his table, looking out the window at the dark cloud-covered sky.
There were two documents on the table, one was a strongly worded note from Berlin, and the other was a telegram sent to him by his niece in Langgabo.
The former content goes without saying, but the latter one clearly told Archduke Ferdinand that Hollandia was preparing for a new war. Ferdinand believed that Sissi’s telegram must have been reviewed by Hollandia.
- In fact, it seems so - so this means that the Netherlands is expressing their attitude to Ferdinand in this way.
Ferdinand believed that the Netherlands did not want Austria-Hungary to wade into the murky waters of the Balkans.
In Ferdinand's view, the facts are very clear. Being an enemy of Britain means being an enemy of Holland. Although it is not known to what extent Holland represents the attitude of the Chinese Federation, it is just that
Horangabo's own military strength is worrisome enough. They only need to send their own Shenji troops to participate in the war, and they can effectively affect the balance of the war.
Although Ferdinand had Germany's support behind him, he did not want to become a victim of Germany's efforts to redraw the world map.
Then the remaining question is very simple. If Berlin's request is rejected, will the German army cross the Austria-Hungary border? They had already beaten the Austrians half a century ago, and now Archduke Ferdinand does not think that he is at all
Can block the German offensive.
"Sure enough, there are only other ways to achieve Berlin's wish." Ferdinand whispered.
As long as the smooth flow of the Berlin-Baghdad railway can be guaranteed, Kaiser Wilhelm II would have no reason to complain.
After making up his mind, Archduke Ferdinand turned around, sat down at his desk, and began to draft a personal telegram to his close friend William II.
"Dear Willy, I think we can secure the Berlin-Baghdad Railway through methods other than war. To this end, I will go to Sarajevo, Bosnia, later this month or early next month to discuss with representatives of the Balkan Alliance.
Please be patient and wait for my good news."
As soon as this telegram was sent, it was seized by the European Bureau, which was always listening to the telegram communications between capitals, and was then sent intact to the desk of Horany Bolin.
**
"Nima."
Since the girls happened to have their own things to do, Lin Youde was staying alone in his room and office at this time, so he could express his shock in a very exaggerated way.
The information that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heading to Sarajevo gave Lin Youde the feeling that "the gears of fate have begun to turn." Obviously the historical process of this time and space has been changed like this, but the First World War still had to start with the assassination in Sarajevo.
start?
This kind of thought completely eliminated Lin Youde's idea of postponing the war: the little girl named History used this method to show her "loyalty and unyieldingness". It was still a tease.
However, Lin Youde thought about it and felt that Archduke Ferdinand could still be rescued, so he picked up the phone.
"Tell Victoria to come to my room immediately."
Not long after, Victoria appeared in the room.
"What's wrong?" The girl blinked her red eyes and asked Lin Youde strangely.
"Do you know that Archduke Ferdinand is going to Sarajevo?" Seeing Viktoria nodding, Lin Youde continued, "There is a Unity and Death Society in the Principality of Serbia, and they will assassinate Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. I ask the Gestapo to take over everything in Sarajevo immediately.
Work and do your best to crush this assassination."
"Uh, this..." Victoria frowned, "We have not obtained any information related to the assassination."
"So you should whip your European Commissioner, make him pay more attention to the Balkans, and start collecting intelligence now. Remember. The mastermind is the Unity and Death Society of the Grand Duchy of Serbia, also called the Black Hand. The assassins will set out from Belgrade
, and there are multiple people.”
After Victoria left with a suspicious look on her face, Lin Youde took a long stretch.
Come, he thought, let's see if the gears of fate are truly unstoppable.
**
August 1, 1908. Sarajevo.
Archduke Ferdinand arrived in Sarajevo two days ago and inspected the exercises of the Austro-Hungarian troops stationed in Bosnia.
On this day, the Archduke and his accompanying wife Sofia were preparing to drive through the entire city to show the importance that the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as the "liberator", attached to the Bosnian people. The parade started from the hotel where the Archduke stayed, passed through the entire city of Sarajevo, and finally ended in Sarajevo.
It ends in front of the market. Archduke Ferdinand will give a speech in the market square to express the goodwill of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After everything is over, he will be waiting in the market.
Representatives of the Balkan Alliance held talks to discuss matters related to the Berlin-Baghdad Railway.
The motorcade set off on time at nine o'clock in the morning.
It was a refreshing morning, the night rain had stopped, and the air was filled with a moist earthy smell.
Archduke Ferdinand wore an Austro-Hungarian Army Generalissimo uniform that did not fit so well. His strong body held up the entire military uniform. He wore an extremely exaggeratedly decorated helmet, which made him look slightly a bit awkward.
Funny, like bluffing.
His wife Sofia wore a dress that was obviously not suitable for her age. She obviously wanted to make herself younger and more beautiful, and maybe she also fantasized that she could use her charm like the Austrian Empress Sissi.
Conquer the dissatisfied people. But she obviously made the wrong calculation. Although there were various signs that the sun would not be particularly strong on this day, Sophia still held a pure white parasol decorated with lace flowers, which was too girlish.
The parasol made her look as bravado as her husband, but surprisingly matched.
Sitting in the car, the grand duke and his wife did not look like the crown prince and crown princess who were vicious invaders at all. They gave the impression that they were a kindly old couple, holding gifts and preparing to celebrate the birthday of their little grandson.
Perhaps this was exactly what Archduke Ferdinand wanted to achieve.
The people of Sarajevo seemed to give Ferdinand and his wife more respect.
In a warm and friendly atmosphere, the motorcade began the procession.
**
Brinovich felt as if his heart was about to jump out of his mouth. He had tuberculosis - in fact, five of the six men in his Black Hand operations team had tuberculosis.
One of the key factors in being selected to participate in this doomed mission. The Black Hand will regard them as dead soldiers and believe that they will not give in to fear and nervousness because they are greedy for life and fear of death.
Brinovich thought so himself, until he heard the noise of the approaching convoy.
He was breathing heavily. This action and his already pale appearance made the passing police officer stop and ask with concern: "Sir, are you okay?"
Brinovich almost screamed, but luckily he held back.
"I'm fine. I just had a fever two days ago, so I'm a little weak. I'll just rest for a while and I'll be fine."
But Jing Cha was obviously worried. He approached Brinovich and raised his hand to touch his forehead, seemingly wanting to test whether he had a fever.
"No, Mr. Cha Cha, thank you, I really didn't..."
Brinovich stopped talking. His lips were trembling desperately, his eyes were protruding, and he looked at the face with some oriental characteristics in disbelief.
"I, I, I..."
〖jing〗 Cha raised his hand and gently blocked his mouth, which was trying hard to make a sound. At this time, the quick-acting poison had fully taken effect, and the life of this patriotic Serbian young man was completely dissipated in the wind.
〖jing〗The policeman leaned his body against the wall on the street, making it look like he was taking a nap, and then turned around and left.
"This is Woods No. 7, threat eliminated."
"clear."
**
Caprino Princip became more and more anxious. He was the leader of the assassination team and was assigned to the last assassination position. The five companions in front of him were supposed to use explosives to try to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand. But until now,
There was no sound at all.
The Unity and Death Society has already obtained the Archduke's itinerary for today. According to the time recorded on this itinerary, the parade is already halfway through.
The original plan was to have the first five people attract the attention of the Austro-Hungarian military forces, giving people the illusion that the assassins all used explosives - in fact, when faced with a target guarded by Shen Ji, explosives and poison gas were the most effective.
A good choice. When the guardian goddesses' attention was drawn to guarding against explosives and they all flew low to pay attention to the crowds on the streets, Princip used a rifle to snipe the Archduke from a long distance.
But now, not a single explosive has gone off, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire's goddess is still patrolling in the air. Princip doesn't even dare to show his rifle, and can only pretend to watch the parade from a distance like everyone else.
This can't go on like this.
After the parade finally appeared in sight, Princip made up his mind. He closed the window, then took out the revolver he bought from the Chinese people, checked the bullets, put it in his arms, and went downstairs.
Downstairs, Princip mingled with the crowd and struggled to squeeze toward the driveway. When he finally squeezed to the side of the road, the motorcade was already in front of him.
The lead car of the motorcade slowly passed in front of Princip. Not far behind the lead car was the convertible in which Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were riding.
Princip took a deep breath and was about to take out the gun in his arms when a chill ran to the back of his head.
Almost at the same time, a man in trench coat on the other side of the road took out a gun and pointed the gun at Princip.
The bullet hit Princip's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.
Princip knew that the shot he fired was just too fast and he was not accurate in his haste. The next shot from the ambushed plainclothes spy would definitely hit his head accurately.
But something strange happened. The goddess of the Austro-Hungarian Empire swooped down from the sky, threw the cold weapon in her hand and knocked down the plainclothesman, and his second shot hit the street lamp above Princip's head.
"Assassin!" Shen Ji shouted.
The soldiers on the leading vehicle bravely jumped out of the vehicle and pounced on the plainclothes who were still struggling on the ground.
Archduke Ferdinand straightened up and stuck his head out to check the situation, but was blocked by the guards coming from the car behind.
Everyone's attention was focused on the other side of the road, and no one paid attention to the injured Princip. Even the Grand Duke's guards forgot to form a human wall on the other side of the road.
Princip endured the severe pain, took out his revolver, pointed it at Archduke Ferdinand and pulled the trigger.
He only had time to shoot twice before a rifle bullet flew through his head from nowhere.
**
After the second assassin opened fire, the Bosnian local police chief who was riding with the Grand Duke nervously turned back to check on the Grand Duke and his wife.
He found that both of them were sitting properly in their positions, and then he breathed a long sigh of relief.
But at this moment, the Grand Duke coughed violently, and a large amount of blood poured out of his mouth.
Sofia seemed frightened, exclaiming: "Oh my god, what's wrong with you?"
Then he fell sideways.
The local governor thought that the archduchess was just frightened and fainted. After all, there were no obvious injuries on her body. But Archduke Ferdinand didn't know what power he had to detect the "true" situation. He used his last strength to shout to his wife: "