I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 603 Balkan Slavs
In July this year, almost at the same time as Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, Italian Chief of General Staff Alberto Burio died of illness, and controversy over whether to join the war broke out.

Alberto Berio had a good relationship with Moltke the Younger and Conrad, and was the main driving force behind Italy's joining the Triple Alliance.

Alberto Burio's successor, Luigi Cadorna, was inclined to join the Entente, but the Kingdom of Italy was not ready to enter another war.

The reason why it is "another battle" is that the Italian army in North Africa also faced resistance from the remnants of the Ottoman army and local resistance forces.

The weak Italian army couldn’t even defeat the North African nomads, so how could it defeat its old rival, the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
At this time, the total strength of the Italian army was only 27, which was already overwhelming for the Kingdom of Italy.

If Italy joined the world war, the Italian army would have to expand to at least one million people, which would be a huge disaster for the finances of the Kingdom of Italy.

George didn't care how the Italians struggled, he focused on the contest between Conrad and Putnik.

Putnik is indeed tenacious. Despite suffering from illness, the 67-year-old general is still strong and personally commanded the war against Austria, which is admirable.

Under Putnik's command, the Serbian and Austrian armies launched flexible guerrilla warfare, not caring about the gains and losses of the moment or place, striving to stretch the Austrian supply lines and looking for opportunities to deal a fatal blow to the Austrian army.

Peter is still working hard internationally. Although he has gained support from Britain and France, it is a pity that it is all just a lot of noise with little action, and the Serbian army has not received any substantial assistance.

Sporadic fighting continued until mid-November. Putnik caught a cold during the transfer and his condition became increasingly serious. By the end of November, he was no longer able to command the Serbian army.

Without Putnik's command, the Serbian army was in complete disarray.

At the end of November, the Serbian troops that had invaded Bosnia were forced to withdraw, and the area under their control in the southern mountainous areas became smaller and smaller.

The Serbian army began to flee, and the defeated troops and a large number of Serbian people poured into Bulgaria. By mid-December, the Austrian army announced that it controlled the entire territory of Serbia, and the Kingdom of Serbia was destroyed.

Peter came to St. Petersburg again, crying about the unfair treatment suffered by the Kingdom of Serbia and hoping that the Russian Empire would send troops to help Serbia restore its independence.

Nicholas was also exhausted by the fighting on the front line and had no mood to comfort Peter.

After the Battle of Warsaw, the Russian army planned a counterattack, concentrating the Second and Fifth Armies of the Northern Front and the Fourth and Ninth Armies of the Western Front to launch the Battle of Lodz.

After a month of fierce fighting, the battle ended with the defeat of the Russian army.

Considering the performance of the Russian army in 1914, Nicholas Jr. had to admit that the strategy George formulated for the Russian army was correct.

The Russian army performed well in defense, and the Battle of Galicia was the only highlight of the Russian army in 1914.

During the offensive, the Russian army's bloated structure, chaotic command, poor logistics, and serious internal friction were exposed. Several offensives planned in the European theater all ended in failure.

Compared with the European theater, the Balkan theater led by George only planned one offensive and captured Transylvania, which seems to indicate that the Russian army can also perform well in offensive.

Since the Russian army is fine.

So who is the problem?
The answer seems to be coming soon.

George has gained a new nickname these days - Lazy George.

Judging from the fighting effectiveness shown by George's Legion in Transylvania, it seemed that taking Budapest was just around the corner.

George didn't want to attack at all. If it wasn't for relieving the pressure of the Russian army on the northern and western fronts, George didn't even want to take Transylvania.

It's really not George's fault for being lazy.

The main force of the German army is still on the Western Front, not on George's side.

Germany will not abandon its ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If Vasily and Andrei advance to Budapest, they will attract all the main forces of the German army to George's side. Then it will be the turn of the British and French to rest.

During this period, there was frequent communication between St. Petersburg and Constantinople, and George and the two Nicholas sent telegrams every day.

Little Nicholas hoped that George could send part of the Gaori vassal army to the northern front to fill the gap on the northern front.

George was speechless.

The Russian Empire's mobilization speed was not slow, and troops arrived at the front in a steady stream.

However, the army’s replenishment speed is not as fast as the consumption at the front line, so the troops at the front line are always insufficient.

Including the losses in the Battle of Lodz, the Russian army had lost 1914 million people in 100.

The year 1914 was not yet over.

The key loss of 100 million people were either regular troops or the first batch of elite soldiers recruited after mobilization.

The soldiers that are mobilized next will be weaker and weaker every year.

As the army suffered heavy losses, the pressure on military production was increasing. Although the output of rifles was increasing every month, it was never enough. A large number of weapons and equipment were seized by the German army. The newly formed 14th Army of the German Army used all Russian equipment.

Nicholas hoped that George would organize another offensive before the New Year to make the Russian army's performance look better.

In George's reply to the two Nicholas, the key point he emphasized was that since the German army was difficult to defeat, the focus should be placed on the Austrian army.

When eating persimmons, you always know to pick the soft ones and squeeze them. The same applies to war.

The result of the Battle of Galicia showed that the fight between the Russian Army and the Austrian Army was similar to the fight between the German Army and the Russian Army, which was basically like adults beating children.

In the Battle of Lodz, Rudzki's performance was far less impressive than in the Battle of Galicia, which seemed to prove that Rudzki was only good at defense and not good at offense. In this case, the Northern Front could take a completely defensive stance, while the Western Front would intensify its offensive against Austria-Hungary, forcing the German army to provide more assistance to Austria-Hungary.

George does have an offensive plan.

After the fall of the Kingdom of Serbia, the Austrian-controlled area finally overlapped with Brusinov's defense zone.

Since the end of November, the 11th Army led by Brusinov had sporadic exchanges of fire with the Austrian army.

After the baptism of the Russo-Japanese War and the Balkan War, Brusinov's command became more and more sophisticated. Conrad did not gain any advantage over Brusinov, and the 11th Army had actually invaded the Kingdom of Serbia.

A week ago, Demeter planned a counterattack plan, with the 11th Army led by Brusinov as the main force, cooperating with the Bulgarian First and Second Armies, to fight an annihilation war against the Austrian troops in the Kingdom of Serbia.

George did not approve the battle plan because the situation was still unclear.

Long before the Serbian army was defeated, Serbian Crown Prince Alexander fled to France through Albania and became a deserter in advance.

After Peter arrived in St. Petersburg, he immediately announced the establishment of a government in exile in St. Petersburg and continued to command the resistance forces in Serbia to fight against the invasion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

There are indeed some remnants of troops in Serbia who are still resisting. After all, it is impossible for an army of 40 to be destroyed in one day.

However, the government-in-exile has lost contact with these remaining troops and has no command capability at all.

What George is considering now is the future of the Kingdom of Serbia.

It is easy to help Serbia restore its independence.

What George was struggling with was who to return the Kingdom of Serbia to after annihilating or expelling the Austrian army.

George did not want to return the Kingdom of Serbia to Peter.

On December 12, Brusinov returned to Constantinople from Sofia and reported his work to George in person.

After the fall of the Kingdom of Serbia, part of the Serbian army retreated to Albania and part to Bulgaria.

Among the Serbian officers who retreated to Bulgaria was Dragutin Dimitrijevich, nicknamed "Apis".

Remember the Black Hand Society, the mastermind behind the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand? This organization was founded by Dimitrievich.

About 10 days ago, Dimitrievich suggested to Brusinov that if George helped Serbia to restore its independence, then after the war, the Kingdom of Serbia could unite with neighboring countries to establish the "Greater Balkan Slavic State."

If Bulgaria was willing to join this country, then Polis could become the king of the "Greater Balkan Slavic State".

Brusinov was very interested in the suggestion.

George was also very interested.

But George didn't like Dimitrievich as a person, and he hated the Black Hand organization even more, and didn't want to have anything to do with it.

"It's easy. We just need to create an accident when the day of victory comes."

Brusinov also disliked Dimitrievich, without any psychological barriers.

"No, we want to put Dimitrijevich on trial and let everyone know that his actions were not right."

George actually doesn't like to solve problems in such a simple and crude way.

Dimitrijevic started out as an assassin. If George used the same method against him, then George would be the same kind of person as Dimitrijevic.

George didn't think he was very noble, but he still felt insulted when he was compared with Dimitrievich.

To put it bluntly, Dimitrijevic is not qualified to discuss cooperation with George.

"That great Balkan Slavic state—"

Brusinov is not sure about George's purpose. This is to push Boris to the top. Don't you want that?

Of course George was willing. The Greater Balkans Slavia, isn't that Yugoslavia?

It wasn't just Peter who had ambitions for Bosnia and Herzegovina; George wanted it too.

If Bosnia and Herzegovina is taken, plus Bulgaria and Serbia, the Balkan Slavs will be more powerful than the Yugoslavia in another time and space.

After experiencing two Balkan Wars and the World War, the ambitious people in the Balkans have stopped their activities and gradually realized their own strength and position.

With George's help, as long as Polis doesn't act recklessly, the Balkans will no longer be the world's powder keg.

"I believe there must be someone more suitable. Dimitrijevic is not suitable."

George asked Brusinov to concentrate on fighting, as such matters should be left to more professional people.

There are a lot of Serbs in Bulgaria now, so there must be suitable candidates.

(End of this chapter)