LIGHTNOVELONLINE Vol. 1 Chapter 135: Finale
Aleksandar I just want to say that his heart is bitter! The last time his old man went against the wishes of Austria-Hungary, launched Bulgaria-Serbia War, defeated and begged for peace, Austria-Hungary came to his aid but still lost the throne!
The situation is much worse now than it was then. After all, Bulgaria was not much better than Serbia at that time, and the country was in chaos!
If he wants to get through this time, he can't do it without paying the price! King Milan has many supporters in Serbia, at least, and after being forced to abdicate, he can still make Aleksandar I succeed him!
He was miserable. He took over the mess, just caught up with the civil war, which they had just pacified at home, and the Bulgarians came to fight!
For Serbia to choose the worst king, he is definitely the strongest contender!
Although young but not clueless, Aleksandar I has a series of strikes has told him that he is not a natural talent!
If we think about the previous slogan of 'Greater Serbia' to satisfy the public's desire for a great nation, we know that the tragedy is doomed!
The Serbs may welcome a king who wants to unite the Balkans, but Austria-Hungary is absolutely not going to tolerate it!
Aleksandar said with a bitter smile, "Your Excellency, do you think we have a choice?"
...
When the Serbian government decided to ask Austria-Hungary for help, it was too late!
The Battle of Niš has begun, Subrovich's reckless attack has finally torn through the defenses, the Serbian army pours in like a tidal wave, and the disaster begins!
The Bulgarian Chief of General Staff Petrov, himself leading three new divisions under cover of the night, had quietly arrived on the battlefield, where the Serbian army's strength advantage was no longer obvious!
Before the Serbian army could celebrate their breakthrough, they were greeted with a feast of artillery fire!
After a short break, Petrov, with reinforcements, quickly threw himself into the fray to plug the gap in the defensive line!
They thus separated the Serbian army, and Subrovich knew that the tide was turning! The main force had fallen into the enemy's trap!
He commanded the remaining troops in his hands and launched a fierce attack to try to save the besieged main force!
Dante Christov is not stupid. How could he let this happen? He chose directly to defend in place, with the advantage of firepower, waiting for the Serbian army to come up to die!
There was no hurry to attack the enemy troops inside the encirclement, only to constantly harass them with artillery!
The battle remained stalemated until the third day, when both sides engaged with dwindling intensity, and Subrovich knew there was no hope of rescuing the main force!
When attacking, the troops carried limited supplies, and after two days of fighting, the troops inside were now almost out of ammunition!
Inside the city of Niš, Subrovich made a final tour of the camp enough to return to his command and give the last order: "Appoint Kuristlejic as temporary commander-in-chief and retreat the entire army to Belgrade!"
With a sad glance at the Serbian map, Subrovich committed suicide by shooting himself! The Battle of Niš ended with the total defeat of Serbia!
Knowing they had abandoned them, the Serbian army, which had fallen under siege, finally crumbled under the intense force!
At this point, the two countries had put in more than 300,000 troops in the decisive battle came to an end!
When the news came out, it shocked the world!
From the outbreak of war until now, Bulgaria has put in 200,000 troops, and Serbia has put in 380,000 troops!
The biggest battle in the Balkans since the Crimean War has settled in just over a week!
The Maxim machine gun made its mark on the battlefield! Dante Christov was able to resist the siege of more than 200,000 Serbian troops with three divisions, and the Maxim took a lot of credit!
The news reached Bulgaria, and the whole country rejoiced! The victory came too suddenly. From the declaration of war to now, in only a week, they defeated Serbia on all fronts!
For the war behind, Ferdinand is no longer concerned. The war has been fought to this point. If the Serbs can still turn the tables, then they are really the sons of God!
Next came the negotiations, and Ferdinand spoke up and asked, "Prime Minister, Austria-Hungary is about to intervene! Now it is time to collect the payment, what is the opinion of your cabinet?"
Konstantin said with a bright blush, "Your Highness, Serbia is finished, and this time we will make them pay a terrible price! My cabinet believes that Serbia should cede all the land that lies South of the Morava River to us and pay 300 million Leva in war reparations!"
Ferdinand smiled and asked, "Will Austria-Hungary agree?"
They could already ignore the Serbian attitude, the question of Ferdinand brought Konstantin back to reality, and Bulgaria now needed to negotiate with Austria-Hungary!
"Of course, if Austria-Hungary can agree, that would be even better! Even if they annexed Serbia, we could support it!" added Ferdinand.
He really hopes that Austria-Hungary has the ambition to annex Serbia! After all, there are already enough ethnic conflicts within Austria-Hungary, and it would be even more hilarious to add a Serbia that is good at being dead!
The smile on Konstantin's face faded away, and the division of Serbia with Austria-Hungary, in theory feasible, in substance almost impossible!
In the late 19th century, the territory of Serbia only included the central part of what is now Serbia! The cession of all the region South of the Morava River was already equivalent to one-third of Serbia's territory!
Konstantin said hesitantly, "Your Highness, if we are negotiating with Austria-Hungary, I guess we can hardly gain much! Isn't it possible to ask for help from the Russian Empire?"
Ferdinand laughed and said, "I know more about Austria-Hungary than any of you!
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs first contacted the Austro-Hungarian elites, especially those who advocated the annexation of Serbia! After all, a weak Serbia is what makes it easy for them to strike, and on this point, we have common ground!
And that would be - public relations, use all the connections you can, go and send gifts to those big aristocrats, even if you can't get them to speak for us, you have to get them to be neutral!"
The crowd was dumbfounded. Is this not a blatant bribe? But to Ferdinand's proposal, everyone admires the bid or not!
Other empires are difficult to say, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not use the money to solve the problem is really very rare. Who called him the interests of many groups? The state's interests can never be compared to the interests of the group!
The Hungarians, at least, were interested in Serbia, but they wanted the annexation of Serbia by Hungary, not another Serbia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire!
The Austrian claim is again different. Separated by Hungary, they can't annex directly, so another kingdom of Serbia seems to be a good choice!