African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1142 Mostar Parliament
As a senior, Potiorek personally directed the East African Military Observer Group, but the situation on the battlefield was unpredictable and soon Potiorek was no longer happy.

Because of the threat from Russia, the Imperial Chief of General Staff Conrad transferred the Second Army, which was the most elite force in Potiorek's hands. The departure of the Second Army directly led to the entire Serbian front falling into a disadvantage, and Potiorek's so-called "art of command" was exposed.

Serbia withstood three offensives launched by the army commanded by Potiorek, switched from defense to offense, and seized the initiative in the war. The situation took a sharp turn for the worse in an instant.

Even the neutral organization, the East African Military Observer Group, was not allowed to evacuate to the rear with Potiorek's command.

……

Mostar, southwestern Bosnia.

With the outbreak of the Austro-Hungarian-Serbian War, the entire Neretva region became tense due to its proximity to the front line.

Mostar, as the capital of southwestern Bosnia, also entered a state of war readiness at this time. It was an important node for the transportation of supplies to the Austro-Hungarian front line.

The Bosnia region is mainly mountainous and far away from the core area of ​​the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so most supplies are difficult to transport from the mainland by land.

With the development of East Africa, the Neretva region has the dual advantages of sea and rail transportation. Weapons from Austro-Hungarian Bohemia (Czechoslovakia), Austrian industrial products, and materials from East Africa can all reach Neretva through the Ploče seaport, and then be transported to Jablanica in the east by rail, and finally to the front line by water and road.

This made the Kingdom of Dalmatia and the Neretva River region of Bosnia "weirdly prosperous" at this time, with large amounts of supplies and soldiers landing at the port of Ploče, driving a prosperous war economy.

The local government of Mostar must make corresponding decisions in response to these urgent changes.

"Now Mostar has almost become a barracks. The influx of a large number of soldiers is a disaster for local security and stability. Therefore, we must organize law enforcement teams and formulate wartime decrees to restrain the behavior of soldiers in the entire Neretva River area and prevent them from disrupting local order and production activities." Li Yue, a member of the Mostar Local Council, said at the Mostar Parliament.

Compared with East Africa, the Chinese in the Neretva region have retained more of their own naming habits. After all, this is not East Africa, but a multi-ethnic country like the Austro-Hungarian Empire with weak centralization, so Mostar has great power.

"I agree with Councillor Li Yue's suggestion. Three disputes between the military and the public have occurred this month. This has never happened before. We don't really trust the quality of foreign troops," Croatian-American Councillor Kledovich seconded.

Although East Africa has infiltrated the Neretva region like a sieve, there are still many Croats living here, so the influence of Croatians on the Mostar government is still relatively large.

There were certainly some conflicts between Chinese immigrants and Croatians, but their attitudes were consistent when facing outsiders, especially when it came to the "strictly disciplined" Austro-Hungarian army. No one wanted to leave their fate to others.

This kind of distrust between ethnic groups and regions was widespread within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and even more so in the southern region where the Austro-Hungarian Empire's control was weak.

Speaker Hipper asked at this time: "Then under what name should we negotiate with the military?"

After all, the army and local government are two systems. Of course, there is also a local army in Mostar, but now the Mostar local army has gone to the front line and has been formed into a new German-speaking corps by Potiorek, which is different from the army composed of Ottomans, Croats and Serbs.

Mostar and its subordinate areas can be said to be the only regions in the entire Bosnia where German is widely spoken. Even the local Croats use German as their daily spoken language due to factors such as education, administration, and language environment. They can be said to be the most Germanized Slavs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The German-speaking corps formed by Potiorek consisted of three regiments, one of which was temporarily formed after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, with a strength of about 10,000 people, almost the strength of a brigade. As for the first two regiments, they were formed before the war in accordance with the Austro-Hungarian military service system. Because of the large population of the Neretva River, they accounted for a relatively prominent proportion in the Bosnian local army.

The central army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire can be roughly divided into two parts: the German-speaking Corps and the Hungarian-speaking Corps. The appearance of such a purely German-speaking Corps in a region like Bosnia is quite unusual.

Now Mostar, as a transportation hub in southwestern Bosnia, gathers troops from Venice and Austria in the empire.

These troops are not subject to the constraints of Mostar, which is why the scene that took place in the Mostar Parliament occurred.

In response to Speaker Hipper's question, Li Yue said, "There are now 20,000 troops in Mostar. The sudden emergence of so many troops has put a lot of pressure on us. Mostar will definitely continue to accept more troops in transit, so we should plan a military area to separate the troops from the citizens."

Mostar was a node for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to support the Serbian battlefield, so as long as there was a war in the Serbian direction, more troops would definitely gather here and then be transported to the front line.

Among the major powers in the world, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had relatively poor organizational capabilities, so in order to complete its dispatch tasks, its army was not integrated and was just a group of mobs.

"In this way, military operations will not have much impact on the urban area. Of course, as a city supporting the military, Mostar must also cooperate with the military area, such as building a number of temporary consumption places and material supply points in the military area to minimize the frequency of soldiers entering the urban area."

"At the same time, the city government sent personnel to form a temporary agency to negotiate with the military and deal with disputes. In order to restrain the military, my system set aside a portion of tax revenue to form a local patrol team to specifically deal with emergencies."

Kledovich also added: "I think the north side of the train station is suitable for the barracks. After all, the mobilization of the imperial army depends on the railway system, and Mostar Railway Station is a certain distance away from the city because it was built not long ago. This will also facilitate their mobilization."

"But the general army would definitely not want to go there, after all, it is still a large undeveloped forest, so the city government organized personnel to clear the area and build some temporary facilities, including hardened roads, temporary barracks, water and electricity systems, and public toilets."

"When the rest of the troops arrive in Mostar, we will place them there. All this work should be completed within three months, so we should mobilize the citizens and act quickly."

Hipper: "Very good, then urge the city government to complete these tasks. If there is anything else that needs to be added, please let me know."

The Mostar Parliament was very efficient. Just one day after the meeting ended, the city government began to take action to prepare for the separation of military and civilians throughout the region.

No matter how cautious you are, you can never be too cautious about the discipline and quality of the European army. After all, the Neretva region is one of the few wealthy regions in Bosnia, and it is ranked in the upper-middle level in the entire empire.

While the Mostar operation was going on, other parts of the Neretva region also began mobilizing for war under the planning of East Africans.

After all, Mostar is the local capital, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will still send people to keep an eye on it. With so many people and eyes, many things will be difficult to carry out.

Therefore, East Africa's activities in the Neretva region can only be carried out in other places. According to the East African government or Ernst's pessimistic expectations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Neretva region must always be prepared for unfavorable war conditions on the front line.

After all, the relationship between the Neretva region and Serbia is not very good. For the Serbs, this is a completely foreign inhabited area, and it is also one of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's accomplices in the war. If the war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire's front line is not going well, then this place is likely to become a battlefield.

(End of this chapter)