Chapter 273: The Final Conditions of the Allies (Medium)
The Foreign Secretary's words made everyone feel that there was a great deal of viability. For although the Chief of the General Staff, Field Marshal Hindenburg, spoke of the final solution to the Romanian question, for the Allies themselves, it was also a drain on the surplus forces brought about by the defeat of Russia.
As Hindenburg said, this held back the military strength of the Allies by about 1.5 million. If Romania could be drawn into the camp, these forces would give the Allies a huge advantage, whether on the Western Front or on the Italian side, or even withdraw France or Italy from the war. The waste of this military power in Romania is too unworthy.
"So what conditions should we give Romania?"
Wilhelm II was still interested in drawing Romania into the Central Powers, not to mention that he was eager to send troops to destroy the country. But the benefits of Romania joining the Central Powers were so great that Wilhelm II had to think a lot about the empire.
It was again Foreign Secretary Wilhelm Zolf who suggested. "Your Majesty, I think that the region of Bessarabia can be used as a reward for Romania joining the camp."
As soon as the Foreign Secretary finished speaking, Prime Minister Olg Meese stepped forward and asked. "We already mentioned this condition at the beginning of the war, and it should not be able to impress Romania now. You must know that the conditions put forward by Romania to the Entente are that the area east of the Tisza River belongs to them, and we are only a region of Bessarabia, which is difficult to make Romania feel good. ”
Prime Minister Olg Meese's suggestion made all the important ministers present nod their heads secretly, and they all had seen the conditions that Romania had offered to the Entente, and everyone was still surprised by the Romanian appetite.
Foreign Secretary William Zolff had clearly prepared more than these conditions, and he continued to speak to his ministers. "I know that it is difficult for Romania to be tempted by the region of Bessarabia alone, but what if we join Odessa and Vinnytsia?"
Foreign Minister Wilhelm Zolf had already prepared to take out a map of Ukraine and explain it to everyone. "We can win over Romania with most of Vinnitsia and the Odessa region as a reward, and I believe that these two regions will be able to satisfy Romania enough."
The crowd was amazed at the magnanimity of Foreign Secretary William Zolf, who together with the region of Bessarabia, was a territory of no less than 100,000 square kilometres. The main part of these territories were rich plains, and if it were not for the knowledge that Wilhelm Zolf was the German Foreign Minister, it would have been assumed to be by the Romanians.
Despite knowing the Foreign Secretary's proposal, the Admiralty Secretary Scheer couldn't help but ask. "Isn't that too much?"
On the question of Romania, in fact, Schell did not intend to speak, because it did not require the German fleet. But in the face of the Foreign Secretary's words, he couldn't help but speak.
Upon hearing Scher's questioning words, William Dorff did not immediately answer, but continued. "Not only that, but we should also consult with the Austro-Hungarian government and let them let out the wind and intend to let Transnesia decide on its own after the war."
Foreign Minister Wilhelm Zolf's words surprised all the important ministers present, and even Kaiser Wilhelm II was surprised. But he soon reacted and spoke to William Zolf. "Are you trying to coerce the Romanian government into making a decision with public opinion?"
Seeing that the Emperor reacted so quickly, William Zolf nodded and spoke. "This was a condition that the Romanians could not refuse, and it was impossible for the Entente to give. If Romania still refuses, then we have reason to believe that Romania does not intend to negotiate with us, and is only interested in joining the Entente. If this is the case, then the plan of His Excellency the Marshal will be used. ”
Watching the Foreign Secretary mention himself, Hindenburg, who reacted, stood up and said. "Your Excellency Zolf's words are very reasonable, and we have given the most favorable terms. If Romania continues to push back, we must react to them. ”
To accentuate his tone, Hindenburg said to those present. "We can't leave a factor of instability behind us."
Hindenburg's words made everyone present nod their heads in agreement, and no one was unaware of the fact that a surprise attack from behind would hurt too much if it was unprepared.
Prime Minister Olg Meese pointed out a difficult point for the foreign secretary. "Then we need the cooperation of Austria-Hungary, their new emperor is not a man of good words."
When it comes to Karl, the new emperor of Austria-Hungary, Germany can have a lot of headaches. The new emperor is constantly making small moves in the alliance. Soon after he succeeded to the throne, he dismissed Conrad, the chief of the Austrian General Staff who had been friendly with Germany, and sent him to the Trentino front, which was sent to Italy, as a field commander, which gave the Austrian army subordinate to the German army a lot of autonomy.
Moreover, on the battlefield, the orders of the General Command of the Eastern Front (where German officers were served) were also disobeyed. In particular, during the Kerensky offensive, Major General Max Hoffmann, who was the chief of staff of Crown Prince Leopold and held the de facto command of the German forces on the Eastern Front, had planned to wait for the Russian attack to exhaust and launch a counterattack. However, the Austro-Hungarian 7th Army did not wait for orders to take the lead, which made Max Hoffmann very angry, and unexpectedly the Austro-Hungarian army succeeded.
These are not the things that hurt the German government the most. This year, the new Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl negotiated a secret peace with France through his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Parma, but fortunately his refusal to cede any of the Habsburg possessions to Italy led to the failure of the secret peace talks. But his support for French demands on Alsace and Lorraine set Germany on fire. For this reason, the Kaiser said on more than one occasion that the Austrians could not be trusted.
It was very difficult to get Austria-Hungary to publish the news that Transnesia would be self-determined after the war, but these were the goals that the German government had to worry about.
Now Ambassador Ferralowski has a great headache, because the information on the Romanian negotiations is missing, and the Embassy Counsellor Andez Danton has also been missing for three days, and he now wants to die.
"Damn, didn't any of you find Andez Danton?"
Ambassador Ferralowski vented angrily at the other embassy staff. With that, he asked again about the last guard to see Andy Danton. "Ivan, tell you again what Antizi Danton told you when he left."
To Ambassador Ferrarowski, who had listened eight times and still wanted to listen, the guard named Ivan continued. "Your Excellency the Counsellor said to me, if anyone comes looking for me, say that I am out."
In the face of the guard named Ivan, Ambassador Ferralowski also knew that he was not to blame. They all blamed themselves for not being vigilant enough against Andy Danton, so they let him steal these secrets.
While Ambassador Ferralowski was troubled by this, the staff he had sent out to find Andy Danton also returned, but the news he brought back made him despair.
"I'm sorry. I have not seen Mr. Counsellor, Your Excellency, Ambassador. ”
"We didn't see Mr. Counselor either."
The bad news made Ambassador Ferarowski know that he had to make a quick decision. He turned to a staff member. "Prepare my car, I'm going to the French embassy."
Half an hour later, at the French Embassy, Ambassador Ferralowski confronted the French ambassador Jean-Bard and told him about his loss of information on negotiations with Romania.
"It's terrible, we have to rush to the British embassy and hopefully there will be time to make amends."
So the news of the loss of classified documents by the Russian embassy also came here.