Chapter 120: Vol. 1 Chapter 120: Reaction of the Great Powers

At the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Franz Joseph I held a cabinet meeting to discuss what Austria-Hungary would do next in response to the war between Serbia and Bulgaria!

"Your Majesty, the Serbs are already aware of the rush, and it seems they are not sure about the war!" gloated the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati.

"This is normal, only nine years have passed since the last war with Serbia, and Serbia has not recovered yet; Bulgaria has become even stronger, and the gap in strength between the two sides is so great that this war is not beatable at all!" said the Minister of War with scorn.

"Are you saying that they will defeat Serbia this time if we don't intervene?" The prime minister asked in the sense of interest.

"Judging purely from the military, I can't imagine how Serbia could have won, but of course if other countries had been involved it's possible!" The Minister of War said with certainty.

"This chance is almost non-existent! The great powers are holding each other back, even if they support Serbia, except for us other countries are not able to intervene with the limited forces they put in the Balkans!" The Foreign Minister added.

The prime minister asked suspiciously, "What about the Ottoman Empire? They have a lot of power in the Balkans, so if they want to intervene it is still possible?"

The Foreign Minister thought for a moment and said: "The Ottoman Empire is now in a state of trouble, the issue of their massacre of Armenians some time ago has not yet been resolved, and the Sultan has refused our 'goodwill'! Now they are in a state of distress, and international pressure is keeping them from moving!

The Russians had previously invited countries to intervene with a coalition of forces, but we turned them down! Even if the Ottomans wanted to support Serbia, they considered whether the Russian Empire would get involved!

In fact, now, except for us, basically they will play no other country directly!

By the way, Romania seems to have some ideas, but Carol I is too timid. Unless we are willing to step in and hold the Russians at bay, they dare not intervene!"

Franz Joseph I seemed interested in what the Minister of Foreign Affairs said and asked, "What would have been the result if we had held the Russian Empire in check and Romania had entered the war?"

The Minister of War thought about it and said, "If Romania can fully unite with Serbia, then the war has yet to be waged!"

Franz Joseph I asked in surprise, "Oh, Bulgaria has grown to this point?"

"The fact is that Serbia is now semi-crippled, the country is in a mess, has only just put down the rebellion, it is okay to put on the defensive, but simply does not have the ability to take a proactive approach! If Romania enters the war now, it is basically a single fight with Bulgaria, and Serbia can at most help hold back 20,000 to 30,000 troops!" The Minister of War explained.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs asked in disbelief: "Hasn't Serbia already expanded its army? It is said to be a national mobilization, they plan to mobilize 300,000 men? Even if they don't have much combat power, they can't be stopped by 20,000 to 30,000 Bulgarian troops by sheer numbers, right?"

The Minister of War shook his head and said, "No, Mr. Roman! If it is only used to put on guard, they may still have some fighting power under the great righteous call to protect the country; if it is an active attack, maybe they can collapse when they start the battle!

An army that can't even get one gun per soldier together, perhaps not even enough ammunition to support a big battle, we can know their fighting ability!"

At this point, the Minister of Finance spoke up: "The Minister of War is right! The Serbian government's finances are so bad that they are now out of money! Whether it's weapons and equipment or pay, three hundred thousand troops can't afford it!"

Franz Joseph I felt puzzled that the situation in Serbia was much worse than he thought! If that was the case, why was there such an arrogant move to create a 'Greater Serbia'?

Don't they know that the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina is already being eaten by their boss, so they openly declare that they want to take away the food from the tiger's mouth? Aren't they courting death?

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He thought about it and said, "Forget it! Since the Serbs are so ungrateful, let Bulgaria teach them a lesson in blood!

Tell the Bulgarians to do as promised! They must also prepare the army, and the play must be complete so that no one can see the flaw!"

...

The Russian Empire, Aleksandr III, who is cruising around, is in a terrible state!

The 'Near East crisis' has not yet been resolved, the Ottoman Turkey did not seem to yield half of the interest; the Far East 'Sino-Japanese War' broke out again and attracted his attention; now Bulgaria, the little one, seems to plan to make things happen again!

Aleksandr III asked unhappily, "What do you think of this conflict between Bulgaria and Serbia?"

The Prime Minister smiled and said: "The Bulgarians did not ask for our help this time but just wanted our support in the international arena, which is full of confidence!

Of course, this is related to the rapid growth of Bulgaria in recent years. They have no longer been able to hold back and want to show their strength!

Bulgaria and Serbia have conflicted for a long time, the two sides have long been at odds with each other, and a war between them is to be expected! I just didn't expect it to be so early."

Aleksandr III looked at the Crown Prince, who had a good idea of what to expect, and asked, "What do you think, Nikolai?"

Crown Prince Nikolai smiled and said, "Ferdinand's insight is still so sharp! Serbia is at its weakest now, so he is planning to take the chance to make a move and ruin his rival!"

Aleksandr III smiled and nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

The future Nikolai II, slightly alarmed, continued: "The international situation is now very favorable for Bulgaria!

Austria-Hungary had just overcome the financial crisis. It is not possible to intervene directly; the Ottoman Empire is trapped in the 'Near East crisis', surrounded by the great powers to keep a close eye on; Britain, France, and Germany have limited forces in the Balkans in that they are unlikely to stand up for irrelevant Serbia!

After excluding external troubles, Serbia is no match at all, but once Bulgaria wins, Austria-Hungary will surely interfere. Have they already reached an agreement?"

Aleksandr III said with a smile: "Good! Although Serbia is the minion of Austria-Hungary, it does not mean that there is no conflict between the two sides. The young king of Serbia all day takes the idea of establishing 'Greater Serbia' as a slogan. Vienna is certainly not happy!

Vienna wouldn't mind teaching Serbia a lesson if it could, to show them God knows how high they are!

Ferdinand should have reached a tacit agreement with them, even though that old fox Joseph may have planned this war secretly!

The Habsburg family's political tactics, which are the best in the world, will soon force Serbia fully into the Austro-Hungarian Empire!"

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