Chapter 621 Reasonable Exchange
Thanks to the attack of the Russian-Bulgarian coalition forces, Peter has quietly advanced the Russian Navy's base from Corfu to Cataro in the southeastern Adriatic Sea.
Kataro is one of the three main bases of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, approximately 300 kilometers from Corfu.
When Brusinov swept across the Austrian Eighth Army, he easily captured Cattaro, and then handed Cattaro to Peter.
Kataro is a military fortress with less than 2,000 residents. After the war broke out, the population of Cattaro surged. However, with the defeat of the Austrian army, people fled in large numbers, and the entire city's residents were only There are more than a hundred people left.
Before the Austrian Navy evacuated, it laid a large number of mines in Cattaro and completely blocked Cattaro.
If the Russian Navy wants to enter Kataro, it needs to clear all mines in the waterway.
The person responsible for this work is Alexei Yusupov, commander of the 1st Destroyer Squadron.
Clearing mines is a very arduous and dangerous job. Sailors have to take a trawler into the waterway, determine the location of the mines, and blast the mines one by one.
Due to the large number of defense zones, overlapping locations in some areas, and unclear rights and responsibilities, there will be some communication problems. The sinking of the Italian Navy's troop transport ship a month ago was caused by poor communication.
At that time, the troop transport ship entered the defense area responsible for the British Army from the Italian Navy's defense area, and the British Army should have taken over the escort mission.
The British army misunderstood the message sent by the Italian destroyer and did not take over in time.
This resulted in the Italian troop transport being sunk by an Austro-Hungarian submarine without a destroyer escort.
Compared with expensive and useless battleships, Austro-Hungarian submarines were extremely active after the war. They slipped out of the blockade set by the Allies at the Adriatic Sea many times and attacked Allied ships.
The narrowest point of the Adriatic Sea entrance is nearly 70 kilometers. In order to block Austro-Hungarian submarines, the Allies used trawlers to set up a blockade at the entrance to prevent submarines from entering and exiting.
This blockade cannot be said to be useless at all, because it did entangle an Austro-Hungarian submarine in December last year.
But for most of the time, this blockade was like a sieve, and Austro-Hungarian submarines came and left as they pleased.
Kataro is located between the British defense zone and the French defense zone. Since the destroyer squadron led by Alexey consists of 6 destroyers, the British and French forces hope that the destroyer squadron can take on part of the escort mission. .
Peter decisively refused because other countries did not give the Russian navy the respect it deserved.
Kataro’s natural conditions are very good, otherwise it would not have become one of the three main bases of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
After Brusinov occupied Cattaro, Britain, France and Italy proposed that Cattaro could provide supplies for British, French and Italian warships.
Britain, France and Italy are not only thinking about Cattaro, but also thinking about Albania.
Albania is nominally independent, but is actually under the control of Britain, Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Russia.
When Conrad attacked the Kingdom of Serbia, he easily occupied Albania. The Albanians accepted this fate without even resisting.
Britain, France, and Italy also did not resist and allowed the Austro-Hungarian Empire to occupy Albania.
After the Battle of Belgrade, the Austrian Eighth Army entrenched in the Kingdom of Montenegro and Albania was eliminated. Britain, France, and Italy left and returned. They not only demanded the restoration of condominium status over Albania, but also demanded the carving up of the territories that originally belonged to Germany and Austria-Hungary. Jurisdiction.
What is even more unexpected is that Sogu, the son of the former Ottoman Marti governor Cemal Pasha, who adopted a cooperative attitude during the Austro-Hungarian occupation and was awarded the rank of colonel by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, actually asked all countries to withdraw Albania, let Albania become a truly independent country.
Sogu is currently in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Peter will not give these ghosts and ghosts a chance to make trouble. The Albanian court tried Sogu in absentia and sentenced him to death.
Although Sogu has not committed suicide now, with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as long as Sogu is found, he will be dead.
"The Grand Duke is too merciful. To deal with these guys with evil intentions, only death can scare them."
Peter is decisive in killing and wants to help Polis realize his dream of a greater Bulgaria, but relying only on winning over him is not enough.
Sheng Dou Xiaomin can indeed be won over with benefits.
What the powerful class wants is power, unlimited power.
As long as a person like Sogu is given a chance, he will turn Albania into a feudal country.
Since someone must be the king, why can't it be Polis.
"You're right, I've long had enough of this group of people!"
Rakitsky also hopes for the unification of the Balkans. Whether they are Serbs or Bulgarians, they are all Slavs.
"There are some things that the Grand Duke is not suitable for, and it is most suitable for us to do it. As an excellent subordinate, we must take the initiative to solve the trouble for the Grand Duke."
Peter is from Polis. My uncle, by helping Polis, he was also helping himself.
In May last year, Peter and Xiaoye’s third child was born. Now Xiaoye is pregnant again and is raising a baby in Constantinople.
Due to the poor performance of the Russian army in Europe after the outbreak of the World War, Peter was in a very irritable mood. This was the main reason why he took the initiative to lead a reinforcement fleet to the Mediterranean.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Compared with Petrograd, which has complicated relations, the new Kingdom of Bulgaria has a bright future. Peter hopes that his children will have a brighter future.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria entered the war and the country automatically entered a state of war, and many changes were quietly taking place.
Bulgaria is standardizing the Bulgarian language. After the standardization, the difference between Bulgarian and Russian is getting smaller and smaller.
All schools in Bulgaria now teach in standardized Bulgarian. The Orthodox Church was once again recognized as the state religion of Bulgaria, a result of the efforts of former Archbishop Augustus.
During the Ottoman Empire, Bulgarians who believed in Orthodox Christianity only accounted for 20% of the total population.
The number of people who believe in Orthodox Christianity has now reached 70% of the total population, and this proportion is still increasing rapidly.
After breaking the land monopoly of the landlord class, the Bulgarians' support for Polis reached its peak. During the wedding of Polis, people from all over the country took the initiative to come to Adrianople to congratulate the king. The number reached 300,000, and even more people held spontaneous celebration ceremonies in various places, accounting for more than 95% of the total population.
Land, a powerful tool, is being fully utilized by the Bulgarian government.
After the 11th Army regained Albania, information about the Kingdom of Bulgaria began to spread widely in Albania.
Now many Albanians hope to be incorporated into the Kingdom of Bulgaria, because in that way, they can get the land they dream of.
Sogu, who was sentenced to death, is the largest landowner in Albania.
The same thing happened in the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro.
These things were not ordered by George, but it is undeniable that George played a key driving role in this process.
George knew all too well the power of land reform.
After obtaining the land, if the farmers want to keep the land, they must firmly support the rule of Polis, otherwise the land they obtained will be taken away by Sogu and his like.
These countries in the Balkans are almost all agricultural countries, and the handicraft industry is still at the most rudimentary level, and the industry has not yet started.
George did not force the relocation of Amur's industrial system to Bulgaria. This required a process, and it would not be too late after the situation in the Balkans stabilized.
Although Polis spent most of his time in Adrianople and often traveled between Constantinople and Adrianople, he took the initiative to ask George for advice in person.
Although they are both kingdoms, the current system implemented by the Kingdom of Bulgaria is different from that of the United Kingdom. The king's power is far less than that of the British King.
After the British Prime Minister is elected, he needs the recognition of the British King to formally obtain the power of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister of Bulgaria does not need the recognition of the King. The Parliament even has the power to remove the King. Strictly speaking, the King is a mascot.
This is why the Bulgarian king was deposed repeatedly.
There are currently many political parties in the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and the ruling Peasants' Party has not gained an absolute advantage.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Alexander Stamboliski, who was born in the Peasants’ Party, proposed an industrial development bill, which was opposed by almost everyone and failed to pass.
Alexander hoped to use the opportunity of the war to develop the industry of the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
This is a correct proposal. Polis’s tutor told Polis a long time ago: there is no stability without farming, no wealth without work, and no life without business.
It is obviously a bill that is beneficial to the Kingdom of Bulgaria, but it is opposed by almost all members of the parliament.
Polis was confused and asked George for advice.
So George asked Polisco to learn about the relationship between the ruling party and the opposition party.
And the consequences of the proliferation of democracy.
Polis fell into thought.
Members of Congress who do not want to be Prime Minister are not good members of Congress.
Alexander, who was born in the Peasants' Party, insisted on carrying out land reform and gained the trust of farmers.
If Bulgarian industry had also made great progress during Alexander's tenure as prime minister, many people would have been permanently disqualified from being prime minister.
It is certainly a good thing to develop industry, and it will not be too late to develop it when I become Prime Minister.
As for whether I will encounter opposition from others, I will wait until I become Prime Minister.
“The significance of the king is that when irreconcilable conflicts occur in the Parliament, the king must have the final ruling power.”
George planted grass for Polis and wanted to become a real king. Polis had a long way to go.
“I know what to do.”
Polis is still very smart, and having the support of George is his biggest backing.
Even if Polis messes up, George will be there to back him up.
It is actually not difficult to change the status quo. What Alexander needs most now is the support from Polis.
If you want to get the support of Polis, you need to use enough chips.
This is a very reasonable exchange.
(End of this chapter)