On August 1, just as Qin Kai rushed to Fuzhou, the smoke of the Great War on the Balkan Peninsula had already been ignited......

Austria-Hungary has been eyeing Bosnia since the Berlin Treaty, and due to the tough attitude of China and Germany, it temporarily abandoned the plan to annex Bosnia, and made a diplomatic statement to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire.

In fact, at the beginning of July, an armed force controlled by the Turkish Al-Shabaab did enter Herzegovia, but the Ottoman Empire is now fighting with Italy in North Africa. It has already taken the whole of Europe by surprise.

The weakening of the Ottoman Empire, which had long been the consensus of the whole of Europe, has suddenly emerged with such combat power, which has undoubtedly affected the plans that were slowly eroded in the original plans of various countries...... So, despite pressure from Germany and China, Austria-Hungary made some tentative moves, and in mid-July, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister von ? Alenthal held secret talks with the Russian Imperial envoy Itzvolsky, and the two countries achieved a striking agreement on the Balkan issue.

It has long been no secret that the Russians were trying to change the Black Sea straits, and the Ottoman Empire was preparing to annex Bosnia and curb Serbia's access to the Mediterranean. It is even more early to wait for the opportunity to implement it. So. The two countries saw the weak opportunity of the Ottoman Empire to fight against Italy, and naturally they were unwilling to wait for the victory or defeat of the Ito-Austrian war before making a threat.

However, the Russians naturally understood that Austria-Hungary had a stronger possibility of intervention than Russia, which was separated by the Black Sea from the Ottoman Empire, so the Russian envoy Itzvolsky left Budapest and then moved to Serbia. Some Austro-Hungarian ideas were secretly revealed to the Serbs!

The intention of the Russians is actually very simple, you know, for Austria-Hungary, the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovia is just a few more Mediterranean ports, originally Austria-Hungary did not lack ports into the Mediterranean, but, for Serbia, in fact, as long as it seizes one of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia will no longer be a landlocked country, but a maritime country with access to the sea.

The most brainless politician can see the difference. Moreover, Serbia has always been an ambitious bloc of military expansion, and the earlier Bulgarian crisis did not reap the benefits. However, this landlocked country has been fighting hard for more than ten years, and now for the fat in front of it, it may become a sweet dream, and the direction of the entire Balkan situation suddenly and irreversibly slides into war......

In the early morning of August 1, the 7th Division of the Serbian Army stationed in the Serbian-Herzegovonian border town of Senica suddenly crossed the border, and now there are no Austro-Hungarian occupation troops stationed on the opposite side of the border. The city of Bérane, 15 kilometres from the border, is home to a Ottoman police force of more than 200 people.

A war began on the same day, the Ottoman police force was armed with only revolvers and a small number of carbines, completely devoid of any heavy weapons, and when the Serbian army entered Bellane, most of the police were sleeping at home, and the resistance was minimal, except for sporadic shootouts, a one-sided occupation.

After daybreak, the commander of the Serbian Army's 7th Division, Misegstone Guò Bellanet, sent a telegram to the country, reporting that his army was leaving Bellane and marching towards the Adriatic port of Budva, 70 kilometers away, and the Serbian general excitedly told the country that the large Serbian population in Herzegovia had shown great support for the military entry.

This news clearly greatly encouraged Serbia to confront the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire head-on, and of course, the Russian Empire's earlier hint of support for Serbia completely aroused the fighting spirit of the entire Republic of Serbia - the liberation of the Serb compatriots in Herzegovia - which became the best excuse for Serbia to declare war on the Ottoman Empire.

At 9 a.m. on August 1, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that due to the military provocation from Herzegovina, the Serbian army had launched a counterattack and entered the Bellane area of Herzegovia to pursue the enemy.

The sudden outbreak of war slapped Austria-Hungary, which was considering how to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina with dignity, and Austria-Hungary didn't even understand how Serbia, which was not in the scope of its own consideration, could suddenly intervene militarily in Herzegovia at this juncture, and the embarrassing thing is that Austria-Hungary had just reached an agreement with the Ottoman Empire to negotiate these two territories with vague sovereignty since the Berlin Agreement in 1881, and now, Serbia has obviously taken advantage of a loophole, Directly point the finger at the Ottoman Empire, which was fighting on two fronts.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister von ? Lord Ehrenthal angrily condemned the Serbian government's sabotage of the Berlin Agreement through diplomatic channels, and proposed that Serbia must withdraw its troops from Herzegovia within two days, leaving the sovereignty dispute of Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, otherwise Austria-Hungary would not hesitate to attack Serbia.

The Serbian government, with the Russian Empire behind it, naturally made no sign of weakness that the entry into Herzegovia was a national conflict between Serbia and the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans had no right to blame. Meantime. Serbia also pointedly argued that Austria-Hungary had been stationed in Bosnia for many years and had actual control over it, and that the invaders had no right to make irresponsible remarks about others.

Nicholas II, who was on vacation at Shlisheli Castle, reacted quickly, and on August 2, the powerful Russian tsar announced that the Russian Empire did not want any country to interfere in the national movement in the Balkans, but at the same time. The Russian Empire also expressed anger at the Berlin Treaty's restrictions on Russia's rights in the Balkans, so the Russians announced that they would send 200,000 troops to Moldova, which was close to Serbia, to ensure that they could intervene in the Balkans at any time.

Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy issued diplomatic appeals in the next two days, demanding that Serbian troops immediately stop their attacks on the Herzegovian region and withdraw from the territories they had occupied...... For the 7th Division of the Serbian Army, which had arrived in Budva on the night of 3 August, it was completely a cannon set off by the politicians, and after three days of hard fighting, the Republic of Serbia finally seized the first outlet to the sea in history. It is worth defending with the strength of the whole country.

The Balkan powder keg snorted and sparked, but the Ottoman Empire, the country concerned, was unexpectedly calm. Admiral Enver, head of the ruling joint council in Istanbul, faced a dilemma and was worried for three days...... Despite a series of victories in North Africa, it is clear that there is still a long way to go before the final victory over Italy, and the European territories to the west, which are surrounded on all sides, are now under such direct military assault that it is clear that Al-Shabaab's rule is being tested again and again.

On August 4, Ouyang Geng, the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire who had received instructions from China, appeared at the Prime Minister's Office and showed Enver several messages from secret sources, which showed that Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire had been planning to eventually seize the rights and interests of the Balkan Peninsula, and Serbia's sudden intervention could almost be regarded as the result of the manipulation of the Russian Empire, and the worse news was that Greece, which had been eyeing Albania and Salonia, did not even speak out to condemn Serbia.

Because the Greek military has already gathered troops on the border of the Albanian province to prepare for a decisive battle with the Ottoman border guards stationed there...... If the war was lost, it would be a completely catastrophic outcome for the Ottoman Empire, because then the empire's territory with Bosnia and Herzegovina would be cut off from it, and it would be a complete joke to exercise sovereignty over both places.

"The only purpose of these European countries is obviously to carve up this large territory of the Ottoman Empire in Europe", Ouyang Geng finally gave this assertion very coldly, which immediately made Admiral Enver break out in a cold sweat.

The Serbian invasion, in a sense, was more like a war between Serbia and the Ottoman Empire, and Enver was simply unable to send troops to fight them there, and in fact there was only one viable solution, and that was to use Austria-Hungary to counter the Serbian attack...... But the result of this is only a delayed death, and no matter which side wins, it will mercilessly plunder the two lands.

But the Greek invasion was undoubtedly a major event that would directly lead to the collapse of Al-Shabaab, and once Albania fell, it would mean that the birthplace of Albaab in Turkey would be lost...... Even if he won the North African war with difficulty and repelled the Italians, his ruling position will be in jeopardy, perhaps, the ruling party of Turkey will not be able to wait for the end of the Italian-Austrian war!

"Ambassador Ouyang, please convey our request to the Beijing government for diplomatic support, and at the same time, I hope to receive more military assistance to help Al-Shabaab build more troops to counter the threat from Europe!" Enver immediately made up his mind that, because of the existence of Austria-Hungary, the hope of seeking help from Germany was already slim, and that China's help was even more important, and for this he could even consider exchanging part of the interests on the Red Sea coast.

The empire is now powerless to shake the penetration of the British in the Middle East, and it is expected that it is better to sit back and watch the British control the Middle East, it is better to let the Chinese disturb the situation, at least, if the Chinese stand firm, the Ottoman Empire can still obtain nominal sovereignty and actual military assistance!

Ouyang Geng listened very calmly to Enver's needs and mentions, he had already brought news from Beijing, but before he got a return, he would not simply throw out the red envelope, and Enver's conditions now were obviously a good return, he immediately smiled, "General Enver, I will immediately ask Beijing for instructions, and at the same time, I will come forward to ask Beijing to send more military forces to you to plan military operations to solve the current passive situation!" (To be continued......) R752