On the exercise ground in Bosnia, near the Serbian border, the Austro-Hungarian Army dispatched two corps to use Serbia as an imaginary enemy. Nearing the end of a large-scale military exercise, Ferdinand believed that the Austro-Hungarian army was more than capable of defeating the Serbian army.

"Your Highness, the exercise is over, and the next trip is to Sarajevo for a visit. However, I have to advise Your Highness that Sarajevo is not safe, and that we have been warned by the Serbian Government that ultra-nationalist militants are attempting to carry out an attack in the city, and that His Highness should abandon any intention of entering the city. "Leaving the exercise grounds, the Chief of the General Staff, Hertzendorf, advised Archduke Ferdinand.

Ferdinand looked at his wife Sofia, who was holding him beside him, and responded with a smile: "The itinerary remains the same, and the visit to Sarajevo is an established arrangement and of great significance. I'm sure the security measures taken by the general are enough to keep me safe, aren't they! ”

Insisting on visiting the city, more for the sake of his wife, Ferdinand wanted Sofia to enjoy the glory that he could not get in Vienna in Sarajevo.

Helping Sophia to board the prepared open-top car, the car produced by the German BMW company specially for the Habsburg royal family was luxuriously decorated, and the entire royal convoy stretched for more than 500 meters. The car in which Ferdinand and Sofia were riding was in the second, Sofia was on his right, General Oscar Portiorek was on his left, and next to the driver was the chamberlain, Count Harasi.

"Your Highness, Serbia is probably not going to rest on its laurels with our military exercises, there are more and more troops in the border areas, and I am afraid that if war breaks out, the Bosnian people will be affected." General Oscar interrupted Ferdinand and Sofia's whisper, causing Ferdinand to frown, then turned to respond to General Oscar's question.

"I have consulted with His Majesty Wilhelm II, and have received a promise from the Germans, that the Russians are ill-prepared at home, and that a great deal of wealth has not yet had time to be translated into the number and equipment of the army to intervene in the Balkan wars. We should take advantage of this favorable moment to attack Serbia, and if Russia intervenes in the Austrian War, Germany will come to Austria-Hungary's aid! Ferdinand's tone was relaxed and confident, and after explaining to the general, he looked at Sofia and admired the scenery along the way.

Oscar didn't seem relieved, and muttered a word, but it was not heard by Archduke Ferdinand: "Then the whole of Europe will be drawn into the war!" ”

Before the Austro-Hungarian convoy slowly entered the city, and Caplin stood between the crowds of onlookers, before crossing the border, the leader of the group, Colonel Timitrievich, had said that only death and blood could deter the Austro-Hungarian ambitions and make it difficult for the Habsburgs to retreat. This death and blood must also be his own, Keplin thought to himself, the gendarmes on the side of the street were lax, but he would definitely be discovered after the assassination began, and it would be difficult to escape the pursuit of the enemy.

However, he has already put life and death out of the way, and I believe that all the secret members scattered along the road have such thoughts! Keplin slowly reached into his arms and felt the cold touch of the pistol, which gave him plenty of confidence.

At 10 a.m. on January 1, 1910, the royal motorcade entered Sarajevo at a leisurely pace, and the crowd of onlookers made the streets look very crowded, the center of the road was less than five meters from the sides, and only sparse military police and police officers were placed on both sides of the road. Ferdinand and Sofia, as conquerors, waved to the crowd on both sides of the road, their vigilance at the extreme.

As the convoy passed the Milia Bridge in the city center and drove into Appel Pier, the first assassin in ambush did not make a move, as a policeman came up and stood in front of him. Another assassin not far away suddenly burst out of the crowd, and the gendarmes and policemen on both sides stood dumbfounded, and none of them stepped forward to stop them.

The assassin threw a bomb at the car in which the Ferdinands were travelling, but it was bounced to the ground by the canopy and exploded in front of the third car, injuring General Portiorek's deputy and Sofia's maid with fragments.

"Oh my God!" Sophia covered her mouth and her eyes widened, as if frightened by the slightly bloody scene. Ferdinand patted his wife's hand, then pretended to be calm and stepped out of the car, inspected the scene, glanced at the assassin who was caught by the guards, and then waited for the car and waved his hand: "Gentlemen, this man is crazy, let's go according to the original plan!" ”

General Portiocre, who was in charge of security after the attack, did not increase the number of guards or arrange for more vehicles to surround the Ferdinand couple's car, but the speed of the convoy increased slightly and soon entered the town hall. There, Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand attended a welcoming ceremony at the town hall, and after a short rest, drove to the hospital to visit their injured entourage.

On the way to the hospital, the driver turned in the wrong direction, and Keplin, who was waiting at the corner of the street, was still worried about the car leaving, but he didn't expect it to hit his direction.

When the opportunity to assassinate came, Keplin drew his pistol and was about to raise his gun to shoot, when a policeman not far from him noticed the anomaly and rushed forward to grab Capling's arm. At this moment, another member of the Mafia Society, who had just arrived here, waved his hand like a bolt of lightning and punched the policeman in the neck, and the policeman was knocked down unexpectedly.

At this time, Keplin seized the opportunity, and the gunshots rang out one after another, and the pistol fired five shots at the Ferdinands, all of them on both of them. The Ferdinands were killed on the spot, Caplin was captured by the gendarmes, and another member of the covering group fled the scene.

Sarajevo, which had previously been obscure, exploded the world in an instant, with media reports from all over the world, and politicians and diplomats gathered to discuss the implications for their own countries.

The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo was quickly exploited by the two major military blocs, and Austria-Hungary shouted: "Draw your sword, aim at Serbia, take revenge, take revenge, and completely destroy the obstacles to Austria-Hungary's domination of the Balkans!" ”

When Kaiser Wilhelm II learned of this, and having received a letter from the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, he said on the spot: "Austria-Hungary can certainly count on Germany, as an ally and friend, to support him fully in the military action of Austria-Hungary against Serbia." "And think it would be a shame to miss such a powerful opportunity.

A meeting of high-ranking generals and government ministers was summoned at Potsdam Palace, and Wilhelm II informed his ministers of the possibility of war. The military said that all preparations for war were ready, and the quartermaster reported to the emperor that I had nothing to do after this visit.

The Chief of the General Staff of Austria-Hungary met with the Austrian Empress, conveyed Germany's reply and began to actively prepare for war. While Germany and Austria were actively preparing for war, France and Russia were also speeding up preparations for war, and French President Poincaré and Prime Minister Viviani visited Russia, and the two countries pledged to each other that they would fulfill their obligations as allies in the event of war against Germany.

It was only in the favor of the Allies that after the secret cooperation with China, Germany underwent a drastic change, and the change was even more pronounced in the army. The Kaiser had frequent correspondence exchanges with the President of China, and Lu Liang expressed his views in the letter, in which he believed that because of the rise of China in the Far East, the world pattern was undergoing profound changes, and the British Navy had become scrap metal because of the appearance of the Wuyue ship, and the German and British navies were on the same starting line, and after Germany obtained four German-class battleships, it had formed a de facto advantage over Britain, and the sooner the war was waged before the British shipbuilding industry exerted its strength, the better!

Wilhelm II fully agreed with President Lüliang, and in mid-1907 Germany began to speed up preparations for war, and in June 1908 Germany completed the widening of the Kiel Canal, which allowed Deutsche class battleships to sail directly into the Baltic Sea through the canal from the North Sea, accelerating the flexibility of troop movements. In the middle of 1909, the German Empire basically completed the expansion of the army, with a total strength of more than 93 divisions and 9 army groups, with a total of 1.03 million people. (890,000 men before the original time and space war) planned to put one army group and 9 divisions on the eastern front to contain Russia, 82 divisions on the western front, and 8 army groups to attack France, one of which was deployed in the Franco-German border area, and the remaining seven army groups attacked neutral Belgium.

Logistical reserves and rail and road transport systems have also been prepared, just waiting for the outbreak of war. The key to the problem lies in the logistics department's ability to raise and dispatch materials and the transportation capacity of the railway system, which is a systematic project and is complicated, for example, there are as many as seven types of bullets used by the army, and there are more types of artillery shells, and shells of different calibers and different performance must be transported to different regions according to the needs of the front line. Combined with other supplies, the logistical preparation required before a large-scale campaign is not possible in all countries, and the natural rigor of the Germans makes them comfortable with it, and high-quality logistics personnel are one of the keys to the normal functioning of the army.

The number of warships and the mobilization of the army alone do not tell whether a country is well prepared for war, and in the original time and space, it was widely believed that Germany went to war too hastily during World War I. To quote ****, it is: Give me twenty years, and give you back a strong Germany. Dragged into the water by Austria-Hungary when all things were ready, or rather, the military clique of the Prussian Junker nobility had long been impatient. (To be continued.) )