I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 810 If You Can't Beat Them, Just Be Honest

Russia built two oil and gas pipelines, reaching Germany and France through the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia respectively, and Italy obtained its oil and gas through French pipelines.

To punish Italy, Russia did not need to take any action at all. A little warning from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia would be enough to make Mussolini uncomfortable.

The Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had already had a bad relationship because of the port of Fiume. Now the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was adding fuel to the fire. The situation in the Adriatic Sea began to become tense, and the navies of the two countries were on the verge of a war.

In terms of naval size alone, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was far inferior to Italy.

But Yugoslavia is Russia's ally. Once a conflict breaks out between Yugoslavia and Italy, Russia will certainly not sit idly by. Even if Russia does not intervene but just takes sides, Italy will not be able to win.

At the Washington Naval Conference, the Kingdom of Italy secured a share of 17.5 tons of battleships.

The Italian Navy, however, did not live up to its expectations. After the end of World War II, not only did it not build any new battleships, but it also terminated the plans for the two battleships that had not yet been completed, and the quota has not been filled to this day.

The Yugoslav Navy did not even have a battleship, only two light cruisers and six destroyers. The army had only 6 people, which was pitifully small.

However, Yugoslavia adopted a compulsory military service system, and adult males over the age of 18 had to serve in the army. This allowed Yugoslavia to have more than one million reserve forces, and if necessary, Yugoslavia could expand its military at any time.

After Mussolini came to power, Italy acted in a high-profile manner. Not only did it send troops to invade southern Somalia, but it also fired artillery at Britain and demanded that Britain withdraw from the Mediterranean, which won unanimous praise from countries surrounding the Mediterranean.

Polis is very low-key and has almost no presence in international affairs, with his focus on domestic economic development.

With the military protection of Russia, Yugoslavia did not need to make large-scale investments in conventional forces. Polis formed an air force with 600 military aircraft, which was second to none in the Mediterranean area.

After the end of World War II, countries began to cut their military forces. Even the French Air Force had only 550 military aircraft left, and the Kingdom of Italy was even more pitiful, with less than 300 aircraft.

Like Russia, Yugoslavia implemented compulsory education, and the education rate for children under 20 years old was over 85%. This achievement was very impressive considering that Yugoslavia took over part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire after the World War.

During the World War, Italy and Austria-Hungary fought 12 battles in the Isonzo River Basin, with both sides winning and losing.

After the end of World War II, the Slovenian region was annexed by Yugoslavia and the two countries bordered each other.

To avoid friction, neither Italy nor Yugoslavia initially stationed troops near the border.

After successfully annexing southern Somalia, the Kingdom of Italy first pushed its outposts close to the border.

The Kingdom of Italy also carried out a large-scale disarmament after the end of World War II, and it recovered somewhat after Mussolini came to power. The current size of the army is around 30.

Yugoslavia did not show weakness and also moved its outposts to the vicinity of the border. The distance between the outposts of the two countries was only 200 meters, and could be seen clearly without a telescope.

On December 12, the traditional Christian Christmas, the Italian outpost also celebrated.

That night, the Italian border troops lost a military dog, and Captain Antonio believed it was stolen by the Yugoslav soldiers on the opposite side.

"Someone saw the military dog ​​walking towards your post and then did not come back."

Captain Antonio took the initiative to negotiate.

"Then why didn't the people who saw it call the military dog ​​back?"

Lieutenant Sturach had no idea about this.

"It must be your people who used food to lure the dog, otherwise the dog wouldn't come over on its own initiative—"

Antonio's attitude is arrogant. 30 versus 5, the advantage is on me.

"baffling!"

Sturaci couldn't understand Antonio's feelings at all.

Due to the poor performance of the Italian army during the world war, Italy became a laughing stock of other countries. Italy also gained almost nothing at the Paris Peace Conference and only got a permanent seat on the League of Nations with almost no say.

The invasion of southern Somalia was a successful military operation that effectively stimulated the self-esteem of Italian soldiers, and the Italian military was also eager to change the poor image of the Italian army in people's minds.

Unfortunately, Yugoslavia was one of the countries that discriminated against Italy the most. Sturaci was born in Slovenia, and his father died in the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo.

"Assholes! You must have eaten the general—"

Antonio cursed loudly, saying that General was probably the name of the military dog.

"You are the bastard! Don't talk nonsense without evidence."

Sturaci looked disdainful and said, "What can I do even if I eat you?"

"Very well, I will find the evidence myself!"

As Antonio spoke, he was about to cross the border.

"Stop your reckless actions! If you dare to cross the border, it will constitute a de facto invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia!"

Sturaci warned sharply.

Antonio responded with a middle finger.

So Antonio got a bullet.

Sturaci was still very cautious and did not shoot directly at Antonio. Instead, he shot at the ground in front of Antonio, warning Antonio not to move forward.

The Italian outpost mistakenly thought that a battle had taken place near the border, so they fired at the Yugoslav outpost. At a distance of 200 meters, the power of the heavy machine gun was enough to tear a person to pieces, without even a scope.

The Yugoslav outpost returned fire.

No one expected that a conflict would break out between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia over a dog.

Although the Yugoslav army was small in size, its weapons and equipment were very advanced, and fighter jets soon arrived and dropped bombs on Italian outposts.

The Italian air force launched a counterattack, and by the time George received the report, the conflict had already caused the deaths of more than a hundred people.

Andre immediately attacked Italy in the League of Nations, demanding that the Kingdom of Italy stop its military operations and compensate Yugoslavia for the losses caused.

"It is obvious that our losses are more serious. Yugoslavia must compensate us for our losses!"

Count Lorenzo was very angry, and Andrea was obviously taking sides.

"I hope both of you can exercise restraint. This is the end of the dispute. The dispute should not be resolved by war."

The new French ambassador to the League of Nations was Pierre Laval, a lawyer and extreme pacifist.

Extremely peaceful!

This combination looks very unpeaceful.

But Pierre Laval was right: if all disputes were resolved by war, there would be no use for lawyers and diplomats.

"Your Excellency, Grand Duke, although we all know the relationship between Russia and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, I still personally suggest that you should treat this conflict from a fair and objective standpoint."

Sir Edward fanned the flames, and this was a great opportunity to win over the Kingdom of Italy.

None of Britain's overseas colonies and dominions were reliable, which made Britain isolated in the League of Nations and unable to resist the siege of Russia and its allies.

Britain was actively lobbying the United States to join the League of Nations. If the Kingdom of Italy could be brought into the Anglo-American camp, Britain's predicament in the League of Nations could be alleviated to a great extent.

As for the combat effectiveness of the Italian army——

No matter how unreliable Italy is, it is still more reliable than the Indians who only take money but do nothing.

"My advice is that you should not give me advice! Did the British army care about my advice when they invaded Theo? Since you don't care about me, why should I care about you?"

Andre pulled Edward to fight together.

"If the Kingdom of Italy is willing to stop here, then the conflict will not expand."

Kostic took the initiative to send out a peace signal.

Yugoslavia is not warlike, but is never afraid of war. As long as the Italians want to fight, Yugoslavia will fight to the end.

"You fired the first shot, you must be held accountable!"

Lorenzo also hoped to wash away Italy's humiliation with a less violent conflict.

As long as Russia does not quit, Italy is confident that it can defeat Yugoslavia.

Lorenzo probably forgot that before Italy entered the war, it also believed that it could easily defeat the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"I must remind you that you can start a war, but how it ends is not under your control."

Kostic should have reminded Lorenzo that the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was not Somalia.

The Italian army can bully Somalia by relying on the generation gap in weapons.

Before the outbreak of World War I, Italy defeated the Ottoman Empire. The reason was not because Italy was so strong, but because the whole world was taking sides and the Balkan Alliance added insult to injury, so the Ottoman Empire had to admit defeat.

During the World War, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire was resisting the Russian attack, it only sent a small army to fight a stalemate with Italy.

Kostic didn't know where the Italians got their confidence from.

"Without Russia's help, you Yugoslavs are nothing!"

Lorenzo appears to be powerful but is actually weak.

"You are right! If you want to escalate the conflict into a war, your opponent will become Russia!"

Andre was not ashamed and just wanted to fight ten against one.

If Lorenzo wants to use moral kidnapping to tie Russia's own hands, then Lorenzo is just daydreaming.

During the World War, Britain pulled the Commonwealth together to fight Germany, and the British did not seem to feel embarrassed at all.

Since Russia has the strength, it should take the initiative and let all countries know the consequences of angering Russia.

Since you can't beat me, just be quiet.

(End of this chapter)