African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1172: Unfair Treatment of the 54th Division
It is easy to understand why East Africa is separated from the so-called New Dalmatian Kingdom. Although East Africa intends to support a mixed-German region within the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, it does not mean that the interests of East Africa and the local area are completely consistent. Moreover, the local mixed-Germans may not completely obey the command of the East African government after figuring out the rules of the game in Europe.

This is fundamentally different from the overseas territories directly managed by East Africa, so the former Neretva region was originally a pro-East African force supported by East Africa, rather than a complete puppet.

And due to the uncertainty about the final fate of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, East Africa could not further intervene in the local situation. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire disappeared like in the previous life, the Allies would most likely liquidate the local area after the war. Therefore, a flexible diplomatic policy could ensure that East Africa would always remain invincible.

This is just like the support Europe and the United States gave to Ukraine in the past. Everything is the choice of the Ukrainian people themselves, and they will never admit their "insignificant" help.

Therefore, the New Dalmatian Kingdom is doomed to a tragic fate, and whether it can gain a foothold in Europe depends entirely on its own resilience. East Africa will never admit that it is the supporter behind it, even though other countries are aware of this.

……

Belgrade.

At this time, Belgrade became the front line of the confrontation between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. After briefly capturing Belgrade last year, due to Potiorek's incompetence, the Austro-Hungarian Army retreated back to the country. The Austrian Army only stopped its decline at the end of the year.

At the beginning of the year, the reorganized Austrian army once again set foot on the land of Belgrade suburbs, and the Serbs were forced to start the defense of the capital again.

Southwest bank of the Sava River.

The newly formed 54th Division based on the Neretva regional army is stationed here for rest and recuperation.

This time, the 54th Division followed the Austro-Hungarian army, all the way from Mostar, and advanced eastward for nearly kilometers, with almost no pause for three months.

Division headquarters.

"Report to the division commander, General von Frank called and asked us to fully cooperate in the attack on the 523rd position west of Belgrade tomorrow." The signalman delivered the telegram to Division Commander Clyde and reported.

Commander Clyde said impatiently, "Call the headquarters back. Our division has not yet completed its rest and recuperation. The troops have suffered serious casualties and are seriously short of weapons and ammunition. We are unable to undertake the main combat mission."

After the signalman left, Clyde slammed the branch in his hand hard on the edge of the sand table and said to his subordinates, "These bastards are really using our division to death. Before we set out, our division had more than 13,000 people, but now it has less than 9,000. The supply of materials is also poor, and they still expect our division to keep fighting."

The 54th Division is one of the two divisions formed in the Neretva region. The other is the 59th Division, which has now gone to the Russian battlefield.

The fundamental reason for this result is that the Neretva region performed very well on the battlefield.

The 54th Division was established before the 59th Division. It was the first division-level unit in the Neretva region. It was formed by the nd Infantry Battalion of Neretva, which had originally retreated to Neretva.

Commander Clyde, the former commander of the 54nd Infantry Battalion, was quickly appointed as the commander of the newly formed th Division. This was a huge leap.

But Clyde was obviously no small figure. Although commanding a battalion was completely different from commanding a division, Clyde performed with ease on the battlefield.

This was mainly due to the fact that his father was a grassroots military commander in East Africa. Later, because of East Africa's "0" document, his father joined the Austro-Hungarian Army and became the captain of a guard company in the Neretva region. Under the influence of his father and the support of East Africa's funding for the Neretva region, the young Clyde not only graduated from the Trieste Military School, but also had the opportunity to study at the Hechingen Military Academy in East Africa.

It can be said that Clyde's life was arranged by the East African mastermind from the very beginning, so Clyde received a complete and systematic military education.

Of course, at most, East Africa could infiltrate the grassroots troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was never expected that Clyde could become a member of the senior ranks of the Austro-Hungarian Army. This shows that war is indeed an opportunity for rapid class advancement.

According to common logic, Clyde would not be able to become a battalion commander for several years before Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. However, as soon as the war broke out, the army in the Neretva region was expanded and Clyde became a battalion commander directly. Now he has gone a few steps further and directly become a division commander. This is simply magical for Clyde, who does not have extensive connections within the Austro-Hungarian army.

Facing Clyde's anger, many people in the command center deeply agreed with him. The brigade commander Carrington said, "Our brigade has suffered the most casualties in the war. In the past three months, we have carried out many offensive missions. Generally speaking, this should be accomplished by the main force of the empire."

"We have basically used up all our shells, but we haven't received any new ones. However, the 46th Division next door just received a batch of ammunition, food, and medicine three days ago... It's obvious that our superiors are not treating everyone equally. Are we going to go head-to-head with Serbia's solid military fortress with our rifles?"

As the capital of Serbia, the fortifications built by Serbia near Belgrade can be said to be an iron wall. Without heavy artillery coverage and support, suppressing the Serbian firepower output would be tantamount to suicide.

As Carrington spoke, others also started to complain. By now, the 54th Division was basically filled with a war-weariness sentiment.

"Jingle Bell……"

The phone in the command center suddenly rang.

"Commander, it's General von Frank calling!"

Clyde went to the phone and picked up the receiver, only to hear General von Frank shouting angrily: "Clyde, are you trying to disobey orders?"

Clyde was not affected by General von Frank's anger. He confidently asked, "General, our 54th Division is not a steel giant, but also mortals. If we cannot get the basic personnel and supplies, I will accept the court-martial."

"If you say the domestic situation is difficult, we would accept it, but now the supply of materials is obviously sufficient. Our neighboring 46th and 28th Divisions received material and personnel replenishment in the last round, but they have only carried out a few combat missions. You are treating our soldiers in the Neretva area as if they are not human beings. Therefore, our division resolutely refuses to carry out this mission and will withdraw to Mostar. At worst, we will all be embarrassed together..."

Clyde was confident. At worst, he could rely on his father's organizational connections to return to East Africa. Anyone who wanted to be an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire could do so. But when he thought of the unfair treatment the 54th Division had received, he might as well be a basic military personnel in East Africa.

At this time, General von Frank was completely stunned by Clyde's words. What was going on?
Disobeying orders on the battlefield and going to court-martial, who gave Clyde the courage! And what about the 54th Division?
General von Frank was also a veteran of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At least in the last war against Serbia, he was a senior commander, but most of the blame was borne by Potiorek.

On the contrary, General von Frank and some others did not receive severe punishment. After all, the Austro-Hungarian army had been defeated too quickly before, so these people were needed to stabilize the morale of the army. This combat mission against Belgrade was an opportunity for General von Frank to redeem himself. If he failed again, Crown Prince Rudolf would not forgive him.

The 54th Division is now a trump card under General von Frank. Although the 54th Division is in its infancy, the residents of Neretva, who have received military training since childhood, have strong martial ethics. Relying on their performance in the previous few months, they have become a main local force that is not inferior to the elite of the empire.

At least General von Frank had already regarded the 54th Division as an ace unit under his control. Relying on the 54th Division's previous outstanding performance, the newly established 59th Division was singled out by the Empire to be sent to the Russian battlefield.

(End of this chapter)