Rise of Australia

Chapter 374 Gunshots in Sarajevo

In the entire structure of the mafia, members with code names are the core members.The smaller the number of the code name, the greater the power and the higher the status in the mafia.

Under these core members with code names, there are also a large number of peripheral members.Although these members are also counted as members of the mafia, they do not have access to the absolute top of the mafia.

The means by which they serve the mafia is to convey it through the core members with relatively large code names.

This also means that every core mafia member with a code name will basically have varying numbers of subordinates.

These subordinates are not only able to safeguard their rights, it is also a guarantee for them to better complete the assassination tasks assigned by the above.

In early June 1914, Archduke Ferdinand's special train departed from Vienna for Bosnia.

At the very beginning of the trip, there was an episode. The axle box of the special train car overheated, which made Archduke Ferdinand criticize angrily: "This is really a good start for this trip!"

In addition, it was already summer in the northern hemisphere, and the weather was very hot along the way, and Archduke Ferdinand felt a little unwell.

But the good news is that Archduke Ferdinand received a warm welcome along the way, which can be regarded as making up for some bad situations encountered before.

After successfully completing his official task, that is, reviewing the army, Archduke Ferdinand went to Sarajevo in a good mood.

Sarajevo is an ancient city in the Balkans, meandering between canyons, a clear river runs through the urban area of ​​Sarajevo, and the north-south bridge on the river is also the center of the urban area of ​​Sarajevo.

It is worth noting the period when the Ferdinand train arrived at Sarajevo station, Sunday, June 1914, 28.

This day happens to be a national day of mourning for Serbs commemorating 500 years of Turkish rule.

Serbian patriots regard Archduke Ferdinand's visit to Sarajevo on this day as an insult to Serbia, but this day happens to be the 14th wedding anniversary of Ferdinand and his wife, and they are quite proud.

Everything is such a coincidence, this day is a sad day for one party, but it is a good day worth remembering for the other party.

On the morning of June 6, Archduke Ferdinand sent a telegram to his three children saying that everything was going well for him.

Then in the afternoon, Archduke Ferdinand looked very domineering and mighty in military uniform and a helmet decorated with feather tassels.

On the other side, Duchess Sophie is wearing a long white dress, wearing a sun hat, and holding a parasol in her hand. Her good temperament makes the Duchess look charming.

The husband and wife were preparing to go to the city hall to attend the welcome ceremony, and the two walked out of the room arm in arm and smiling.

The weather on this day was very clear, and all the shops and streets that Archduke Ferdinand passed along the way were decorated with colorful flags and flowers, which looked very magnificent and beautiful.

The real reason for all this is that the mayor of Sarajevo revealed the itinerary of Archduke Ferdinand in advance, and also called on the residents on the road to spontaneously place the flags and flowers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to bring the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife a good mood.

The mayor didn't know that his ingenious flattery would send the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire directly into the abyss.

The itinerary of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife was directly revealed, which is good news for the assassins.

If it is not confirmed that the mayor of Sarajevo has no contact with any mafia forces, the mafia really thinks that this is his undercover agent.

Although there were police and gendarmerie deployed along the road to guard the streets, the crowd watching the excitement was very crowded, making the scene a bit chaotic.

At this time, the convoy of Archduke Ferdinand had passed half of the distance very smoothly. When it reached the bridge in the city center, suddenly a young man who seemed to be young rushed over and let Ferdinand The vehicle dropped a bomb.

Seeing something bad, the driver hurriedly accelerated, and let the bomb fall on the canvas shed above the car, and was thrown aside by the bomb.

boom!
With a loud explosion, the car behind Ferdinand's seat became an innocent person and suffered the frontal impact of the bomb. The car lost the driver's control and hit the pier directly. The casualties in the car are unknown.

The surrounding police and gendarmerie immediately became flustered, arresting the assassin one after another to protect Ferdinand.

At this time, someone also took the opportunity to suggest that today's visit plan be temporarily canceled until everything is safe.

But at this time, Ferdinand was very calm, and laughed arbitrarily: "This guy must be a lunatic, come on, gentlemen, we will continue with the original plan."

No way, Ferdinand had the highest status at the scene, so naturally Ferdinand had the final say.

After that, the road to the city hall became very smooth again, which also made the security forces breathe a sigh of relief.

At the welcome meeting of the city hall, when the mayor was giving a welcome speech, Archduke Ferdinand interrupted the mayor's speech impatiently, saying: "Damn it, enough is enough! I don't I have come to visit you from thousands of miles away, but you welcome me with bombs!"

Ferdinand's anger made the kind-hearted mayor tremble and stutter.

Fortunately, Archduke Ferdinand has no intention of pursuing responsibility for the time being, which allowed the welcome meeting to proceed smoothly.

After the welcome meeting, before leaving for the next stop, Ferdinand looked at Governor Bothirek next to him, and asked with some deep meaning: "Mr. Governor, do you think we can still visit the National Museum as originally planned?" ?"

The governor hurriedly replied: "Of course, Your Highness. I assure you that such despicable things will never happen again."

The governor even planned to use his political career as a guarantee, but Ferdinand waved his hand, unwilling to listen to the governor's nonsense.

What the governor didn't expect was that what happened next was not only despicable, but also plunged the whole of Europe into chaos.

The next stop of Archduke Ferdinand was the National Museum, but because of the assassination, Ferdinand temporarily changed the next stop to the hospital to visit those who had been injured by the bomb explosion.

However, Ferdinand's change of itinerary was temporary, perhaps because the driver had forgotten the reason, and he still followed the mayor's car ahead without modification.

At this time, Governor Botierek on the side reminded: "Wrong way, wrong way! We should go to the hospital!"

Under the governor's order, the driver stopped and diverted, which also slowed down the entire convoy and stopped at this street corner.

The convoy seems to have plans to change the itinerary, which also makes the hidden assassins a little flustered.

If the convoy took a new route, it also meant that the assassination they deployed would fail.

The assassins selected by the mafia were all extreme patriots. After thinking for a while, the assassin named Princip resolutely chose to carry out the assassination in advance.

50 meters, 40 meters. 20 meters, 10 meters.

Seeing a young man getting closer to the Grand Duke, the police standing by the street noticed something was wrong.

"Protect Your Highness!"

The moment the police shouted, Princip came to the convoy, without any hesitation, and fired several shots at Archduke Ferdinand with the M1910 pistol developed by Browning.

Perhaps because of some nervousness, a few shots drifted and hit Duchess Sophie next to Archduke Ferdinand.

The ear-piercing gunshots made everyone present panic instantly. The shouts of the guards and the screams of the crowd made the voices of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife a little weak.

Governor Botierek looked at the Grand Duke and his wife who were not far away from him, and suddenly turned pale with fright and panic.

Archduke Ferdinand's chest, neck, and Duchess Sophie's abdomen were all crazily bleeding, and the blood had already dripped down the car door, forming a small pool of blood on the ground.

"Sophie, Sophie, don't die, live for our children." Archduke Ferdinand, who was shot in the neck, shouted righteously at this time.

"Go to the hospital quickly! Send His Highness the Grand Duke to the hospital!" Governor Botierek finally came to his senses, and hurriedly shouted at the driver who was stunned and didn't know what to do.

Although capturing the assassins is also very important, for Governor Botierek, nothing is more important than saving the lives of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife.

It's a pity that the chest and neck are fatal places, and Archduke Ferdinand also encountered two, so the fate can be imagined.

Duchess Sophie, who was in a slightly better condition, also died of excessive bleeding on the way to the hospital.

By the time Archduke Ferdinand and his wife successfully arrived at the hospital, they had already paid for two cold corpses.

Fortunately, the deployment of the police was fairly successful, and the person who assassinated the Grand Duke did not escape.

After frantic arrests by the surrounding police, the assassin and seven of his accomplices were finally captured. They were all Serbs and belonged to a youth Bosnian organization.

Among them, the one who carried out the assassination was the person who threw the bomb before, and the other was Princip who shot and assassinated.

After overnight interrogation, Governor Botierek finally confirmed that this was an assassination against the Grand Duke.

However, the main target of this assassination was Archduke Ferdinand, and the secondary target was Governor Bothirek. Sophie was the most innocent person.

No matter how flustered he was, it was impossible not to report such an important matter to Vienna.

With very complicated feelings, Governor Botierek sent a telegram to Vienna, describing in detail the assassination process and all the background of the planner.

At this time, Franz I was going hunting at his country house because of the hot summer.While hunting, Franz I learned that Archduke Ferdinand and his wife had been assassinated.

The aged emperor announced with a cold expression: "A powerful force is trying to subvert the order. For this reason, we cannot just sit idly by."

No one knew what the old emperor was feeling at this time, but it could be seen from the slight shaking of the old emperor's shoulders that the old man was experiencing one of the greatest sorrows in his life.

For the old emperor, misfortunes never come singly for the Habsburg family.In a few years, the old emperor's brother was killed, his sister-in-law went crazy, his only son died violently for no apparent reason, the queen was assassinated by the Italians, and the queen's nephew was drowned again.

The current only heir to the throne was assassinated during such an ordinary inspection, leaving only the old emperor alone among all close relatives, which can be described as very sad.

On the way back to Vienna, the old emperor couldn't help sighing sadly: "The future I see is darkness, and people around me are dying one by one."

A few days later in Vienna, the Reichstag.

The old emperor sitting on the high platform had a cold face, and announced to the ministers in the audience: "I want you to come up with a plan to deal with the impact of this crisis at home and abroad. Although Habsburg Weakened, but the Habsburgs never feared death."

Konrad, Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has always advocated resolute suppression of the Serbs.

It is worth mentioning that Conrad was able to serve as chief of staff successfully, thanks to the strong recommendation of Archduke Ferdinand.

Conrad said loudly: "Your Majesty, for a long time, Serbia has attempted to annex our two provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and establish a unified Yugoslavia. The national unity of Yugoslavia may be unstoppable, but at the expense of Serbia's independence, so that the Austro-Hungarian Empire controlled Whether to seek unification in the next way, or to bring the empire under Serbian control, is a question."

"If it is the latter, it will mean the loss of the Yugoslav national area and almost the entire coastline of the empire. Such a major loss in territory and decency will reduce the empire to a small state. The sooner the conflict between us and Serbia is resolved The better, the assassination of the crown prince is shocking, but it is also our godsend opportunity, we have a rare excuse to destroy Greater Serbiaism, Serbia, a damned country."

The Prime Minister of the Austrian government and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Behertold, who did not advocate war before, also said: "Your Majesty, the time to resolve the Serbian issue has come."

The Hungarian Prime Minister Ticha, who held a high position in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was the most capable politician in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his way of handling things was calm and steady.

He pondered for a while, and then said: "The key to the European situation lies in the Balkans. We cannot act rashly. If we can use diplomatic means, seek Germany's support, and win Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey to resolve ethnic disputes. Start a war." It was a fatal mistake to put a noose on us and make us a violator of the peace in the eyes of the people of the world."

But against such a background, the peaceful faction is a minority after all.

Chief of Staff Konrad retorted: "We can no longer comfortably endure this provocation with indifferent calm. It's like a Christian who gets slapped in the face and sends the other. It's not with damn Serbia. The knight's duel is not a punishment for an assassination, but an honor for a great country and a great power. If we keep giving in and enduring, people will feel incompetent. The enemy will also be more presumptuous, prompting the empire to perish. This Is it not clear enough that we are being strangled by this event, whether we will be strangled to death, or whether we will make a last-ditch effort to avoid perdition? From now on, the military must mobilize."

Ticha retorted: "Mobilization means war. If we attack Serbia, Russia may not stand by. In this case, Germany and Romania may not be able to help us. If the war becomes a war between us and Russia, Serbia War, that would be extremely bad for us."

After the old Emperor Joseph I heard that military mobilization was required, he couldn't help sighing, and said weakly: "Mobilization is temporarily impossible. Russia may attack, but Germany's support is still a problem."

　The second update of 4200 words, ask for a monthly ticket, ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)