It was not until the end of June that Helton returned to China when the war was decided.

He led a large army to sweep through Romania, and the Romanian army, which was hastily mobilized and lacked equipment, was no match for the German-Austrian forces, and coupled with the activity of pro-German forces in the country, this army had lost its combat effectiveness.

At the beginning of the German-Austrian invasion of Romania, the pro-British and French government led by Bratiano had already fallen, and the leader of the pro-German forces, Majoresco, became the prime minister of Romania. In the midst of this chaos, King Apalent and his wife fled to Serbia and then to England.

Lehedon deposed Apalente as king and assumed the throne of Romania himself.

For this matter, although Wilhelm II was unwilling, it was difficult to say anything.

Austria-Hungary declared the union of Romania with Austria-Hungary, and Helton was officially crowned King of Romania in Bucharest, with Majoresko as Prime Minister and Karp as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In order to encircle the Romanians, Emperor Franz announced the annexation of Transylvania to Romania.

The Romanians, under the banner of the Empire, finally realized their dream of a Greater Romania.

In Vienna, Heldon and his triumphant generals were once again greeted with heroism by the populace, and Hirdon seemed to be the patron saint of the entire empire. Victory in war has always been won by ordinary soldiers with their blood, but ordinary people need a hero to admire, and it seems that only in this way can their safety be guaranteed.

By the time Helton left Vienna and returned to Trieste, it was July 27.

Returning from the swampy western Ukraine to the summer Mediterranean harbor, Helden felt a little uncomfortable for a while.

Under the dazzling sun, more than 30 ships of various sizes were moored in the anchorage of the calm but heavily guarded military port, and the sudden declaration of war by the Italians still filled the entire port with a tense atmosphere.

On April 26, 1915, Italy formally signed the London Agreement with the Allies, stipulating that Italy's participation in the war was not only paid for the above-mentioned regions, but also included the Istrian Peninsula, the Dalmatian region, Vlora and several German colonies in Africa.

The greedy Italians finally couldn't resist the British **, and blatantly reneged on the former covenant, but stabbed them in the back.

In the face of the attack of 700,000 Italian troops, Austria-Hungary deployed on the front line, and the Tyrolean local marksman division, with only two divisions of less than 30,000 people, actually achieved a great victory in the Kati Mountains, defeating the attack of nearly 400,000 people of the two Italian armies, and staged a spectacle in the history of warfare.

The 8th Group Army, which was deployed on the second line and composed of local troops temporarily drawn from various places, looked greedy and asked for battle: Brothers, you should leave us a soup too!

Lehydon had already decided to draw back the three main armies from the Russian front to the southern front, and Boloyevich's 3rd Army had withdrawn to Galicia and began to board the return train. It didn't take long for Lee Hayton to organize an all-out counterattack against Italy.

As for the Serbian front, they were already crippled, and after Bulgaria declared war on the Entente, there was no threat for a long time. Lechelton didn't bother to pay attention to it, he was really not interested in Serbia and Greece, which had no minerals, and he was reluctant to spend his precious troops in this direction.

Now is the time for the Navy to move.

The clean and tidy wharves of the military port of Trieste are full of sailors. Far more than usual naval patrols in dark blue naval uniforms and carrying short rifles still made people realize that this was a time of war.

Shortly after lunch, Lechelton arrived at the dock from the naval headquarters in a Mercedes car with a black wooden box, escorted by several military trucks full of military police. At this time, a huge battleship was docked at the dock, it had basically finished resupplying and was preparing to sail, and some sailors and workers were removing the temporary trestle for carrying supplies under the supervision of officers.

Accompanied by Vice Admiral Horty, commander of the First Battlefleet, Lee Hayton boarded the super-battleship that bears his name.

It wasn't the first time he had boarded the ship, but every time he saw what could be called the world's most powerful new battleship, he was still proud of its strength.

The overall dark gray livery seems to give people a sense of solemnity, but the high 10 380mm guns are enough to make a person who is against them feel deep fear, and the entire warship, even if it is quietly moored on the water, has enough terrifying power to destroy it.

The first thing His Excellency did after boarding the ship was to inspect the sailors on board, accompanied by Vice Admiral Horty, and the new captain of the "Grand Duke of Istria", Rear Admiral Clemens, who had been his adjutant, was leading the entire ship to line up on deck to welcome His Excellency the Crown Prince.

Personal relationships aside, Rear Admiral Clemens had a notable record of success, having led the armored cruiser Archduke Friedrich in several blockades of Montenegro and Greek ports as commander after the start of the war, and escaped from the encirclement of three British and French armored cruisers in a naval engagement.

With his calm and calm personality, he was competent enough to be the commander of a capital battleship, and of course, as a flagship, he needed to be under the command of Vice Admiral Horthy.

The tall bridge of the "Grand Duke of Istria" was more in line with Lechelton's aesthetic taste from later generations, and the warship looked much more majestic than the "Combined Forces" class, which was at least slightly lower on the bridge. The triple main turret was the pride of the Imperial Navy, and no one in the world had as much experience in the manufacture of triple turrets as the Skoda Arsenal, and even the British were currently unable to develop a qualified large-caliber triple turret mechanism.

After a brief review ceremony, the "Grand Duke of Istria" sailed to the fairway, towed by three tugboats, where the battleship "Prince Eugen" and two light cruisers, and four destroyers were already waiting, and they were to accompany the newly commissioned capital ship for its first training at sea.

The "Grand Duke of Istria" had just joined the Imperial Navy, and some of the test projects had not yet been completed, and Helden met some naval engineers he knew on board.

After the warship set sail, Helton Lee, accompanied by Vice Admiral Horthy, began to seriously inspect the ship. As the world's largest warship in terms of tonnage, the "Grand Duke of Istria" is slightly stronger than the "Queen Elizabeth" class that has just been commissioned by the British Royal Navy in terms of tonnage, size and armament. With a displacement of 33,000 tons, it has enough tonnage to equip it with armor and powertrains, and its 85,000 hp power output gives it a speed of 25.5 knots, which is currently the highest in the group.

Unlike all countries in the world, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has never installed torpedo tubes on capital ships since the beginning of the "Radelitz" class, although the Reich has the best and largest torpedo manufacturing company in the world. Due to its large tonnage, the Grand Duke of Istria has enough space to accommodate more than 1,100 crew members on board, and the living space and conditions are much better than those of the Combined Forces class.

Helden had already obtained from the Naval Staff the recent training plan for the "Grand Duke of Istria", and the first task of this super battleship, which had just been in service for more than a month, at the current stage was to debug the equipment, followed by the training and run-in between the crew and the equipment.

Standing on the bridge, Helton confidently imagined what it would be like when the British and French dreadnoughts, armed with only 305 mm guns, saw the super-battleship: would they run away in all directions, or would they bravely rush up to their deaths?

His self-confidence comes from strength, and at least for now, no one is his opponent.

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