African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1232 Seeds of Hatred

1916 October.

Macedonia.

Bilatto is a mountain forest on the border between Macedonia and Greece. Of course, after the Ottoman Empire withdrew from Macedonia, it changed hands several times and finally fell into the hands of the Kingdom of Serbia.

But the good times did not last long. The Kingdom of Serbia had now been destroyed by the armies of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its ally Bulgaria. Its government and army had to move into the mountains while its neighbors continued to resist.

As summer approaches, the entire Balkan Peninsula becomes unusually hot. The cicadas' calls fill the entire jungle. Soldiers from the Kingdom of Dalmatia sweat as they search for the remnants of the Kingdom of Serbia along the border.

A small troop was interspersed among the mountains and forests of Macedonia, walking on the mountain paths with a dejected look on their faces.

Makarich listened to the cicadas chirping overhead and said impatiently, "I heard that Macedonian farmers like to bury cicadas in the soil, which makes it easier to earn money. Now I just want to poke these cicadas down from the trees and then trample them hard with my shoes."

Taros, the squad leader of the squad, seemed not to have heard the complaint in Makaric's words. He said, "The war has been going on for so long, and now the battle in the Kingdom of Serbia is basically over. The only pity is that the Serbs have fled to Greece, so we must guard this place strictly to prevent them from reorganizing their forces and infiltrating."

"Although Bilatto is not a place for human beings to stay, we can't let it affect the overall situation. And be thankful! If it were really winter, I guess you wouldn't want to."

The Balkan Peninsula, located on the Mediterranean coast, is deeply influenced by the Mediterranean climate. The Mediterranean climate is very special. Its rainfall is mainly concentrated in winter, while the summer is relatively dry and hot.

Makarich immediately thought of the winter days, then shuddered and replied, "That won't work. Although it's cooler here in the winter, the roads in the rainy season are not as easy to walk on as they are now! Moreover, in this kind of mountain forest, clothes will get wet by rain in the winter, and the soles of shoes will be covered with mud. That would be really fatal."

Talos said with a smile: "You just haven't suffered much. You should know that when our generation first arrived in Neretva, we really overcame many difficulties. The situation in Neretva was very similar to that in Bilatto. There were endless mountains and forests everywhere, and the terrain was also quite rugged."

"At that time, one of our farm workers had just arrived in Neretva and had only one job, which was to cut down forests. This was not the hardest part. The hardest part was dealing with the tree roots."

"Neretva is full of towering trees with thick and large roots that are deeply rooted in the soil. In some places, the soil cannot even be described as soil, as it is mixed with a lot of gravel that has flowed down from the mountains."

"My friends and I took our shovels and cleared the land piece by piece. We didn't have any cattle or horses, so we had to carry everything on our shoulders..."

Once dissatisfaction arises in the team, Talos likes to talk about the energy he had when he was young. This can indeed bring some comfort to the entire team. After all, pain comes from comparison.

In this protracted war, low morale is inevitable. Of course, the current situation of the Dalmatian Kingdom Army is still good.

At the beginning of last year, the Austro-Hungarian Empire basically ended its total war against the Kingdom of Serbia, and the troops currently remaining in Serbia are mostly second-line troops.

The newly reorganized Dalmatian Kingdom army left more people in Serbia. After all, in the entire Balkan Peninsula, the Habsburgs could not find a local force more loyal than the mixed-race Germans of the Dalmatian Kingdom.

Spreading separatist sentiment in Croatia and Bosnia led the Habsburgs to distrust the troops they had recruited from those regions, at least not if they were stationed on Yugoslav lands.

This has led to a result that the local troops in Croatia and Bosnia are currently focused on the Eastern Front against Tsarist Russia, while the garrison in Serbia is manned by troops from other regions.

There is no doubt that the Kingdom of Dalmatia, which originally belonged to the Bosnia State and Croatia, was the most suitable source of troops. After all, Vienna deeply realized that these Germans with impure blood could not mix with the Yugoslavs.

Of course, another reason that cannot be ignored is that the Kingdom of Dalmatia can be turned into a sharp knife inserted into the heart of the Balkans, as a weapon for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to disrupt the unity of the Balkan region. And obviously, this decision is quite correct for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Tarolin spoke to his soldiers intermittently, but soon his years of combat experience made him feel a sense of crisis.

He stretched out his arm, signaling everyone to be quiet, and his expression became serious. Even the chatterbox Makarich noticed that Squad Leader Tarolin had a bad look on his face and shut his mouth.

Tarolin tilted his head, listened in the direction of the jungle with one ear, put one hand over his ear, and listened seriously to the movements in the jungle.

"Shouldn't this be possible?" he murmured.

"Sergeant, what did you find?" Makarich asked in a low voice.

Tarolin said lightly, "Just now I seemed to hear some unusual noises in the jungle, but now I am not sure. Maybe it was just an auditory hallucination. After all, we have to be on tenterhooks every day here, so it is normal to be suspicious."

"So that's how it is. It looks like nothing serious should happen!" Makarich breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

But Talolin did not relax. He said in a serious tone: "Now is not the time to relax. This is not a good place. It is the border between two countries. Anything can happen."

"So it's never wrong to be cautious. Everyone, be prepared for battle. The next patrols must be more serious. Pay attention to the terrain. If an accident occurs, quickly find a good cover and be ready to fight at any time."

Facing Talolin's caution, Makarich said, "Squad leader, aren't you making a fuss over nothing?"

Tarolin shook his head and said, "My premonition has always been accurate. My intuition tells me that we seem to be being watched now. Next, you should try to behave as usual and don't reveal any flaws. But be careful, otherwise you won't be able to fire any bullets."

Afterwards, Tarolin continued on his journey with this group of new recruits. Tarolin pretended nothing had happened, but he was always nervous.

After Tarolin and his group left, the branch in the direction where Tarolin's ear was pointing suddenly moved, and a man with a gun on his back jumped down from the tree.

With a gloomy face, he looked at the direction where the Dalmatian soldiers disappeared, muttering in his heart, it was a close call that he was almost discovered just now.

But now is not the time to think about this. He tidied up the leaves on his body, then swaggered across the path and walked towards the northern part of the jungle. After all, the patrol team of the Dalmatian Kingdom had just passed by, so it should be relatively safe.

"These lackeys from Vienna definitely don't think they missed anything, but that's normal. Looking at their faces, except for the squad leader who might be a veteran, the others are not very old. This should be considered good intelligence."

"If my guess is correct, the Austro-Hungarian Empire should have placed its main forces on the front line with Russia. Once this fact is confirmed in the future, it will be a good opportunity for the kingdom's counterattack."

The man muttered to himself, and then walked down the mountain along the familiar terrain. It was obvious that he knew the situation here much better than the officers and soldiers of the Dalmatian Kingdom. The trees that covered the sky and the rugged terrain could not block his way down the mountain at all.

Pushing aside the weeds and bushes, a less clear path appeared in front of them. Obviously, this path was difficult to be found, but the man found this downhill path quite easily.

(End of this chapter)