The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

On June 1845, 6, the British leased most of southern Albania to the Ottoman Empire under the same pretext.

However, due to the tragic experience in Afghanistan, the former does not intend to go deep into the interior and fight with the Albanian army.

At the same time, due to the escrow fee of 100 million Ottoman liras to be paid to the Ottoman Empire, the British have already planned the looting on the Albanian plains.

The deal between the British and the Ottoman Empire spread across Europe immediately. Seeing that the former continued its blockade policy towards the Austrian Empire, France, Prussia, and Russia all breathed a sigh of relief, and even Mejid became more at ease. up.

This time the British are in direct contact with the Austrians, regardless of whether the two will misfire, but internal friction in Albania is certain.

But there are also countries that are dissatisfied with this, and this is the "little brother" of the British, the Kingdom of Greece.

The Greek king at this time was Otto I, who was elected as the first king of the Kingdom of Greece in 1832.

Although the king was escorted to the throne by [-] Bavarian soldiers, as well as the British, French, and Russian navies.

But he had extraordinary ambitions. At that time, Otto was crowned the king of Greece, not the king of the Greek people, which meant that millions of Greeks were still under the rule of Turkey.

And this king wants to change the status quo, and the ambition he showed for the Greeks is also called "the great ideal of the Greeks."

The "great ideal", that is, the recovery of territorialism, was the dream of the Greeks hoping to restore the Byzantine Empire.

There were 250 million Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, and the Greeks in Constantinople, Thessaloniki, and Smyrna demanded unification, and these places were also the centers of Greek merchant activities; Crete was preparing for an uprising at any time.

At that time, there were a large number of Greeks living in southern Albania, and Otto I took it for granted that this was also the territory of Greece.

Due to Otto I's long-term practice, that seemingly outrageous "great ideal" has actually become the national ideal of the Greeks.

Even after Otto I was deposed, his "great ideal" was still affecting this nation.

The behavior of the British at this time undoubtedly slapped Otto I in the face severely, and deeply hurt the national feelings of the Greeks.

Face to face with the Brit?It is not possible for a country that has just been independent for more than ten years, but it is still possible to secretly give some support to the local Greek armed forces.

Otto I was born in the Wertbach family, that is, the royal family of Bavaria. Although he was asked not to merge with the Kingdom of Bavaria, this did not prevent him from visiting relatives.

The Wertbach family has a thriving population, and naturally there are many "good relatives" who have both strength and financial resources and are sympathetic.For example, his aunt Mrs. Sophie and his cousin Franz.

Since the weapons and equipment of the Austrian Empire are updated very quickly, many "obsolete products" will naturally be produced. These things are usually sent to the colonies or sold to countries in need such as Russia.

But since it's a relative, it's better to sell half and give half away, and even make an installment payment or something.

So a small country with a population of only about 80 actually allowed Otto I to pull out a team of 4 people.

Of course, these 4 people are not professional soldiers. Most of them are government soldiers similar to the Tang Dynasty.

(Historically, the Greek military strength at this time was only 8000, including 3000 guards guarding the palace.)
The Greek government at that time was very poor, so it was necessary to sell some weapons to maintain financial balance.

As a result, a large number of weapons from Greece suddenly appeared in the market in southern Albania. The price of these weapons was cheaper than the standard weapons of the Ottoman Empire, and their performance was superior. The most important thing was that they appeared very timely.

After all, both the British and the Austrians claimed to quell the rebellion and separatist forces for the Ottoman Sultan, and those "rebels" naturally could not sit still.

In fact, Austria's actions in the mountains of northern Albania were rapid and bloody. Although it tried its best to block the news, it is impossible for the Albanians in the south to know.

So when the British arrived, they found abandoned manors and heavily guarded forts.

Of course, the fortress that the Albanians thought was strong was no different from a house made of biscuits in front of the firepower of the British.

So the British began to loot everywhere as usual, and the docks were easily pried open by the new artillery, but this also strengthened the local people's determination to resist.

After all, the Greeks in the eastern mountains did not want to share their land with others at all, and the Albanians could only choose to stay in the plains and continue fighting with the British.

Fortunately, the number of British troops is not large, so they cannot occupy too many places.In fact, the British did not plan to occupy the entire Albania, they just wanted to prevent the Austrians from rushing out of the Strait of Otranto.

The British army with less than 3000 people was distributed in large and small cities and ports, and the smallest outpost even had only a few British troops, which gave the Albanian rebels an opportunity to take advantage of.

The latter can assemble a large number of troops in a short period of time to besiege a small group of British troops. This tactic makes the British very unhappy.

But without sending a small group of troops out, there is no way to collect taxes, and without taxes, there is no way to pay the 100 million Ottoman lira escrow fee, and there is not enough funds to maintain the occupation.

Due to the discord between the Minister of Colonial and War William Gladstone and the Duke of Haddington, the Minister of the Navy, the final solution of Prime Minister Robert Peel was to hand over this matter to the Navy. After all, South Albania is not a British colony in name. .

Although the Marine Corps is armed enough to deal with those Albanians, it is not good at maintaining order in the occupied territory.

In fact, the British also want to use the old method in other places, which is to support a puppet regime.It's just that this trick doesn't seem to work well in Albania, that is, the mutiny of the puppet regime is faster than their surrender.

There are even guerrillas who voluntarily surrendered, and then took the opportunity to attack the British team who came to accept the surrender.

And the most terrible thing is that the British soon discovered that the weapons used by those guerrillas were no worse than them.But when the enemy is dark and we are clear, the greater loss is obviously the former.

To be honest, Franz still admires the courage of the British to take the initiative to go to thunder. After all, the Balkans are also famous for their viciousness.

Of course, the British even dared to fight Afghanistan three times, and now it seems that the invasion of the Balkans can only be regarded as a routine operation.

Franz knew very well that it was impossible for the British to send too many troops to the backcountry of Albania, after all, it would make ends meet.

However, if the number of troops sent is too small and a stable order cannot be established locally, it will fall into endless security wars, so the Balkan issue is almost unsolvable for Britain.