The early winter sun is shining on the earth, and in the city of Vienna, which has been wrapped in silver, people in thick winter clothes are also busy with their own affairs. It can be seen from the pedestrians rushing to and fro on the street that they are not doing well, and most of the pedestrians are wearing old clothes and vegetables.

Yes, the food supply in Vienna is currently very tight, and according to the survey, the inhabitants of Vienna are currently able to receive 380 grams of coarse grains per person per day. That's right, as the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the world's famous music capital, cultural city, and political center, Vienna is now short of food, and not ordinary.

In peacetime, in Vienna, except for the poor people, who ate coarse grains would be looked down upon, but now ordinary people can't do it even if they want to eat coarse grains. This is what happened in the capital, Vienna, and the hungry in other parts of Austria-Hungary even had to rely on alfalfa to feed their hunger.

Hunger caused internal turmoil in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and even thieves appeared in many areas, but this was only after the defeat of Russia and the receipt of Russian supplies. If there were no Russian supplies, then in Austria-Hungary it would not be a problem of law and order, but a political problem. This can also be seen that the current Austro-Hungarian Empire is powerless in this war, and this war is too great to consume it, and it is almost unbearable.

In fact, the four Allied countries are now exhausted, the Bulgarian economy has completely collapsed, and the domestic famine is worse than that of Austria-Hungary, but it can only survive by relying on its Austro-Hungarian people's ability to endure hardships (the main factor is that the Entente's center of gravity is not on the southern front), and the Ottoman Empire is the same. Now the only hope of the Allies is that the strong German army, after defeating the Russian army on the Eastern Front, can turn back and crush France, withdraw from the war, and then negotiate peace with the Allies to preserve their own gains, which is also the opinion within the Allies.

It is not difficult to explain why Britain and France gave such favorable terms to Romania, which had not participated until the fourth year of the war. Now it's time for Romania to play.

Olga, the Romanian ambassador to Austria-Hungary, who was sitting in the car, was looking at everything familiar with Vienna and said with emotion. "Beautiful Vienna, the pearl of the Danube, I don't know when the next time I see you."

It is nothing more than the sigh of Ambassador Alga, who spent most of his diplomatic career in Vienna, and from the very beginning of his tenure as second secretary of the embassy, he has formed a rare bond with Vienna. Second Secretary, First Secretary, Counsellor, and Ambassador, all of whom had spent time in Vienna, had a very deep understanding of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The relationship between Romania and Austria-Hungary has also changed from the beginning to the bland, and then to the intimacy of Romania after marrying Queen Mary of Austria-Hungary, and now the relationship between Romania and Austria-Hungary has reached a new level.

Three days earlier, Ambassador Alga had received a secret telegram from Bucharest, and when he had taken out the code book he had kept and translated it on his own, he received astonishing news from Bucharest that he was to be delivered to the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 6 p.m. on 5 November. Because of the importance of the matter, he also called back to Bucharest to ask for confirmation, and the result was confirmed, and today is November 5th.

Early this morning, Ambassador Alga demanded the burning of classified documents inside the embassy, which also caused agitation among the embassy staff. What this gesture represents is almost obvious to diplomats. Diplomatic relations between Romania and Austria-Hungary have changed significantly, and for the worse.

Ambassador Alga, on the other hand, had been supervising the destruction of classified documents at the embassy until 3 p.m., because the day before yesterday he had contacted the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, Count Ottokar Chernin, to meet him at 6 p.m. this evening.

For Count Otto Karl Chernin, Ambassador Olga also understood. The new Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister had previously chaired the Committee of Industry and Trade, a department responsible for importing and exporting industrial goods. However, by virtue of his close friends with the new Austro-Hungarian emperor Karl I, he succeeded Bertord, who had previously planned the declaration of war on Serbia.

This Count Otto Karl Chernin did not see any bright spots in his work in diplomacy, the only advantage was obedience, what Karl I said. He just does what he does.

At 5:45 a.m., Ambassador Olga came to the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was led by the staff to its Foreign Minister, Count Chernin. Because Romania was one of the few sources of imports and marriage countries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Karl I was Eder's brother-in-law), there were many economic, trade and diplomatic contacts, so both Count Chernin and Ambassador Orga were familiar with it.

Count Chernin looked at the seriously looking at Ambassador Orga with a somewhat strange face. "Your Excellency, are you not feeling well today, do you need a glass of red wine to relieve yourself?"

Olga almost flashed at Chernin's words, but he quickly adjusted. "I'm fine, Mr. Earl, and I'm here today to present a credential."

After speaking, he handed over the national letter in his hand. Count Chernin felt that the Romanian ambassador was a little strange today, but he did not delay in reading the Romanian credentials in his hand. Flipping through this 4A paper-sized national letter, the first letter that catches his eye caused a dizziness in Count Chernin's head.

The words 'declaration of war' frightened Count Chernin, but he quickly reacted. "Mr. Alga, are you sure that this was given to us by your country?"

Faced with Count Chernin's words of inquiry with the declaration of war in his hand, Envoy Orga replied with certainty. "Yes, Your Excellency, that's what my government has asked me to submit."

Count Chernin, hearing Envoy Orga's answer, began to read his declaration of war. This was prepared after a long consultation between Prime Minister Brettianu and Foreign Minister Barnosque. The main content of this declaration of war is: Because the Romanians of Croatia and Sarabia were being humiliated by Austria-Hungary and its client state Ukraine, the Romanian king Eder Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, on behalf of the Kingdom of Romania, declared war on Austria-Hungary in the hope that the Austrian Emperor and King of Hungary, Carl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Maria von Habsburg-Lorraine, would seriously consider the Romanian proposal.

Count Chernin, who had read the contents of the declaration of war, shouted at Envoy Alga with an angry face. "This is shameless blackmail, you will not get what you want, there is no possibility."

Facing the fierce reaction of the Count, Envoy Alga spoke calmly. "I'm sorry, but now my country wants to reclaim these two pieces of land inhabited by Romanians."

Count Chernin looked at Ambassador Orga with a cold face and spoke in a cold tone. "Then if you want to seize these two Austro-Hungarian territories, then try the Austro-Hungarian Fury. Ambassador, now you can go, and we will give you 24 hours to evacuate. ”

Looking at the departing Olga Ambassador, Count Chernin was very nervous. Because he still remembers a month ago, according to the information provided by the Romanian embassy, the military estimated that it would take at least three months for its military preparations, but he did not expect to get the Romanian declaration of war only a month later. Although he doesn't know much about military affairs, the military expects that mistakes will be a big price, and I just hope that this price is not too great.

"Hopefully it's not too late."

After Count Chernin said something anxiously, he immediately called his secretary. "Leave to arrange the vehicle, I need to go to the palace in five minutes, hurry up and get ready."

When the news of the Austrians declaring war on Romania in Vienna was taken by surprise, there was also a person in Bucharest who was shocked by the news: Queen Sophie Marie of Romania. As a former member of the Habsburg family, and still a close member of the Romanian Queen, she naturally cared about the family and country she was born into, not to mention that the current Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl I was still her younger brother. So when he heard the news that Romania was going to declare war on Austria-Hungary, he immediately called her husband Eder.

"Eder, why are you fighting my brother?"

In Sophie Marie's eyes, this was not a war between Romania and Austria-Hungary, but a fight between her husband and her brother, which made her feel very distressed to be caught in the middle.

Edel looked anxiously at his wife, and organized his words to speak. "Listen to me, Mary, this war is not what I want to see. In the previous two months, Austria-Hungary and Germany had demanded that we, Romania, join their alliance, which the whole of Romania did not want, and I was only the king of the Romanians, but could not reverse their will, so I had to submit to them. I believe that the Habsburgs will do the same in this regard. ”

Eder didn't want a fire in his backyard, so he used other places instead of Romania to explain, because his wife, Queen Mary, did not have a deep understanding of Romanian politics, and thought that like the Habsburgs, national affairs needed to be decided with the people and nobles.

"You should dissuade it, this will lead to a war between Romania and Austria-Hungary, I don't want to see you and Karl go to war, and I don't want you two to die."

Queen Mary cried as she spoke, her husband on one side and her brother on the other, and she had no idea what to do.

Looking at his crying wife, Edel stepped forward to hug her and comfort her. "Don't worry, I won't go into battle, and I'll order that no Romanian soldier should shoot at Karl. I can guarantee that. ”

Hearing Edel's words, Queen Mary felt much better, and Edel was also relieved to see his wife, whose mood was gradually calming down.

At this moment, a baby's cry came from the next room, and Edel immediately changed his wife's mind. "Mary, Miria is awake, go see her."

Eder's second child, he and Queen Mary, named Milia von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was of course liked by Eder as a girl, and he planned to make her an archduchess when she was 5 years old, and would give her a lot of rewards. And now that her daughter has relieved her father of such a big circumference, the reward will be increased.

Eder, after resolving the crisis from home, immediately came to the General Staff, where he was going to wait for news from the front. As for going to war, don't joke, as a king, he doesn't have a hobby of going to the front, and I believe that his wife and brother Karl are the same.