I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 587 Almost Changed History
Another very important thing happened that afternoon. The Russian ambassador to Austria met with the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Berchtold and brought advice from Russian Foreign Minister Sazonov and British Foreign Secretary Grey to Berchtold.

Both men advised Austria-Hungary to resolve the dispute by non-war means.

Berchtold insisted that Austria-Hungary would not engage in any form of negotiations with the Kingdom of Serbia, and the Russian ambassador left in disappointment.

But in his later memoirs, Berchtold said that what he meant was that although the Austro-Hungarian Empire would not negotiate with the Kingdom of Serbia, it could negotiate with the Russian Empire.

It can be said that the Russian ambassador did not correctly understand Berchtold's meaning.

It could also be said that Berchtold was whitewashing his true intentions.

In any case, the last door to peace was closed, and at four o'clock in the afternoon, the Austro-Hungarian Empire bombarded Belgrade.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire had many problems, the artillery produced by Skoda was still good and comparable to Krupp's artillery, which was world-class.

The 305mm howitzers produced by Skoda for the army have a range of 11000 meters and are deployed on the Osmanthian border, and can directly bombard Belgrade.

At the same time as the bombardment, the Austro-Hungarian Army crossed the border and invaded the Kingdom of Serbia, and the war officially broke out.

Fortunately, the border area of ​​the Kingdom of Serbia is mountainous and the terrain is complex. The Austro-Hungarian Empire's actions are extremely slow. The soldiers have to trek through the mountains and face sniping from the Serbian army. For a while, the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot occupy Belgrade.

So this led to a brief interlude, the Belgrade terminal.

At this time, Nicholas still did not give up.

After Austria-Hungary declared war, Nicholas sent three telegrams to William II. In the first telegram, Nicholas accused Austria-Hungary of launching an ignominious war against a weak country.

In the second telegram, Nicholas asked William: For the sake of our old friendship, can you stop your allies from going too far?

In the third telegram, Nicholas believed that if the Austro-Hungarian offensive stopped after the capture of Belgrade, there would still be a possibility of peace.

William II replied to Nicholas: I am using my influence to bring the Austrians to a satisfactory understanding with you.

Judging from William II's reply, it seems that William II has not given up either.

However, while replying, William II wrote a note on Nicholas' telegram: He admitted that he was cowardly, but he wanted to put the blame on me.

It should be said that at this time all countries have not given up their efforts for peace.

Upon learning that Austria-Hungary had declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia, French President Poincaré immediately summoned Joffre and ordered him not to do anything that would anger the Germans and to withdraw the troops deployed on the border 10 kilometers.

Joffre refused to retreat on the grounds that the fortifications built by the French on the border were all within ten kilometers. If the French army withdrew, once the German army attacked, the French army would have no place to defend.

Not only did Joffre refuse to withdraw, he also demanded that France immediately mobilize for war because France's mobilization speed was slower than Germany's.

At this time, except for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Serbia, no other country had yet carried out a total mobilization for war. The mobilizations of Germany and Russia were partial. Although France and Britain had not announced mobilization, they had actually entered a state of mobilization.

Poincaré did not agree to Joffre's request and was waiting for Britain's commitment.

When Joffre met Poincaré, Paris was in a state of hysteria. People took to the streets and shouted "Occupy Berlin". British philosopher Bertrand Russell said: "I found something that disgusted me extremely. People were ecstatic about the coming war."

Edward Grey was not excited. After learning about the outbreak of war, he expressed his concern: The lights in Europe are going out, and we will never see the light again in our lifetime.

It is hard to say whether other people can see the light, because in 1924 Gray suffered from eye disease and became blind.

The most enthusiastic war-loving person in Britain was Churchill, who wrote in a letter to the wife of British Prime Minister Asquith: People may curse me because I like war and I know it will destroy the lives of tens of thousands of people, but I cannot help myself - I will enjoy every second of it.

After the initial carnival, people finally began to calm down. All kinds of supplies on the market were sold out, bank runs broke out, investors panic-sold, the stock market plummeted, and the stock markets in Berlin and Brussels were forced to close.

The reason several major countries have not yet declared war is that they want to withdraw their foreign exchange reserves from foreign banks, otherwise these foreign exchange reserves may be frozen by the other side once the war breaks out.

Nicholas and William II were in frequent contact, exchanging telegrams until midnight.

In a telegram sent to William II at midnight, Nicholas wrote: All military preparations were decided a week ago in order to prevent Austria's war mobilization.

Nicholas' original intention was to show William II that Russia's mobilization was not directed against Germany.

But this telegram conveyed an important signal to William II: the mobilization of the Russian Empire had been going on for a week.

After dawn, Falkenhayn and Moltke the Younger went to see Bethmann together, and then the three of them went to see William II together. Their demand was: Germany must immediately begin general mobilization for war.

Falkenhayn and Moltke the Younger were well aware that Germany's mobilization was already behind schedule, and every day of delay would bring Germany one step closer to the death trap.

After careful consideration, William II issued an ultimatum to both the Russian Empire and France.

Germany demanded that the Russian Empire stop mobilization immediately, otherwise Germany would begin total war mobilization in 12 hours.

Germany demanded that France declare neutrality within 12 hours. Bethmann played a trick again. He added an additional condition to his ultimatum to France: he asked France to temporarily hand over the military fortresses of Verdun and Tours to the German army. After the war, Germany would return these fortresses to the French army.

This condition was a disguised demand for the French army to surrender immediately.

Joffre rejected the Germans' unreasonable demands without hesitation.

After receiving the German ultimatum in St. Petersburg, Nicholas signed the document brought by Sukhomlinov and agreed to a general mobilization for war.

Nicholas also stated that the document would not take effect without his confirmation order.

Little Nicholas was very angry. He came to the Summer Palace and demanded that general war mobilization take effect immediately.

Nikolai was on the verge of collapse. He shouted angrily to Nikolai Jr.: "Do you know that if I sign, thousands of Russians will die? I don't want this, I don't want it!"
What Nicholas didn't know was that something was happening at this time that could determine the fate of the Russian Empire.

After William II decided to mobilize, he convened senior generals to discuss the mobilization plan.

Halfway through the meeting, Foreign Minister Jagau arrived with a telegram from Karl Linkenauski, the German ambassador to London.

"Rubbish!"

Falkenhayn cursed disdainfully, saying that at this point, these word games were meaningless.

"Take a look, at least take a look!"

Jagau sent the telegram directly to William II.

In the telegram, Karl wrote that he had just talked to Grey on the phone, and Grey asked Karl if he could guarantee that Germany would not attack France if France remained neutral in the war between Germany and Russia.

Carl answered in the affirmative.

Grey asked Carl to give assurances at the British Cabinet meeting held today.

"Great! We should concentrate all our troops on the Eastern Front!"

William II was ecstatic. If France could remain neutral, then Germany could unite with Austria-Hungary to deal with the Russian Empire.

Therefore, the strategy of Britain and France to divert the trouble to the north was not just a practice during World War II, but had already been implemented during World War I.

Moltke the Younger and Falkenhayn looked at each other in bewilderment. The German army had already prepared to implement the "Schlieffen Plan". All its forces were concentrated on the Western Front, and it was impossible to transfer troops to the Eastern Front in a short period of time.

"Your Majesty, this is impossible. It is not easy to deploy an army of up to one million people. It takes a whole year to do it. Once the army's schedule is determined, it cannot be changed. If we concentrate all our troops on the Eastern Front, then we will be behind us with the French army with 62 divisions. They will definitely have plans to attack Germany. How can Britain guarantee that France will not attack us from behind while we attack Russia?"

Moltke the Younger was tactful. Idiots who don't understand military affairs should stay silent.

William II was very disappointed and his words were extremely aggressive.

"If your uncle were still alive, he would give me a completely different answer."

Young Moltke was very sad because his uncle Moltke the Elder had always been his idol.

The dispute over whether to implement the "Schlieffen Plan" had not yet ended, and Linkenauski sent a second telegram.

At the British cabinet meeting that just ended, it was difficult for Britain to adopt a neutral attitude because Germany was unable to promise not to invade Belgium.

William II was very angry. He cursed the British as liars and then ordered Moltke the Younger to continue implementing the "Schlieffen Plan".

A storm disappeared without a trace, and Nicholas should be grateful to the British for their fickleness, otherwise war would have broken out between Germany and the Russian Empire.

George didn't know that all countries were making a final effort for peace, but unfortunately these efforts were doomed to be in vain.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire launched an attack on the Kingdom of Serbia, Peter came to Constantinople again and asked George to provide immediate assistance to the Kingdom of Serbia.

George's response was simple. If the Kingdom of Serbia transferred command of the army to George, George could immediately order the 11th Army led by Brusinov to enter the Kingdom of Serbia to assist the Serbian army in fighting against the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"Grand Duke, you can't do this. Serbia is an ally of the Russian Empire. This is your obligation!"

Peter I was very angry.

"Sorry, the Empire is not yet on combat duty."

George is indifferent, and he can also want it all.

(End of this chapter)