War Breaks Out

"However, although the two countries formed an alliance with the support of Russia, the two countries themselves have a lot of dissatisfaction," Venizelos said solemnly.

"If the two countries really jointly attack Greece, it will inevitably affect the situation in Europe. The situation in Europe is already very tense. The alliance composed of Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria, and Italy are hostile to each other. Big powers will naturally intervene between Greece and Bosai. "Disputes" Venizelos, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, told everyone about the situation that Greece may face.

"Austro-Hungary is already very dissatisfied with the ambitious Serbia. If Serbia joins forces with Bulgaria to attack, what will be the result if it succeeds?"

Venizelos did not wait for anyone to respond, and asked and answered his own question: "Once Greece fails, Serbia will inevitably ask for Albania, or the seaport of Albania, in order to lift the restrictions of Serbia being a landlocked country."

"And this is exactly what the Austro-Hungarian Empire absolutely cannot tolerate."

Since the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed the Bosnia and Herzegovina region in 1908, Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire completely broke apart. Serbia actively contacted Russia and became an important ally of Russia in the Balkans.

The relationship between Serbia and Austria-Hungary is tense. The two countries are currently engaged in a trade confrontation. Serbia even banned the export of salted pork to Austria-Hungary, causing the price of salted pork in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to rise rapidly.

"Of course, in accordance with the principle of leniency when predicting the enemy, your General Staff should still make a response plan," Constantine said to Chief of General Staff Emmanuel.

"So, Your Highness, do you need to recruit the Congolese army to go to Europe?" Emmanuel asked.

In the last war, the black troops gathered by Greece from the Congo played an important role on the battlefield and left a deep impression on the General Staff.

Although the combat effectiveness of the black indigenous people is slightly inferior to that of the native Greek soldiers.

However, the Congo region has sufficient human resources, which is indeed unmatched by Greece itself.

The Congo region under Greek rule had a population of approximately 20 to 30 million, while Greece itself had only about 5 million people.

Congo has been under Greek rule for thirty years, and the Congolese government's local management has been very mature.

Compared with the 1897 war, the Greek army was able to mobilize more indigenous people into the army.

Now that the war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire was imminent, the General Staff naturally wanted to obtain more indigenous soldiers from the Congo.

Thinking about Emma Inur's suggestion to call more Congolese soldiers to go to Greece, Constantine shook his head and refused.

First of all, Greece's military strength is sufficient to meet the needs of this war.

The total mobilizable troops of Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia are nearly 800,000 soldiers, which is enough to deal with the military threat of the Ottoman Empire.

Secondly, Constantine hoped that the Greek armed forces would have independent combat capabilities instead of relying too much on indigenous soldiers.

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As time entered into October 1912, the smoke of war in the Balkans was clearly visible. The armies of both sides were at war with each other, and the tense atmosphere lingered.

Although Italy and the Ottoman Empire were still at war, the stalemate remained as neither side could force the other to surrender and end the war.

On October 10, Montenegro in the Balkan Alliance, under the instruction of the three countries, directly sent troops to attack the territory that still nominally belonged to the Ottoman Empire.

Montenegro is trying to capture the area sandwiched between Montenegro and Serbia, thereby bordering Montenegro and Serbian territory.

Forced by the severe situation, the Ottoman Empire accelerated negotiations with Italy in order to free up its hands to deal with the aggressive Balkan countries.

Italian diplomats decided to take advantage of the situation and secure a good peace agreement.

On October 18, 1912, Italy and Türkiye signed a treaty at Uchi, near Lausanne.

There are the following items:

Turkey must withdraw all military personnel from Benghazi province, but in return Italy will return Rhodes and 12 islands close to Turkey.

The province of Benghazi will have a special status, with a regent and judge representing the caliphate.

Before appointing these regents and judges, the Turks would inquire of the Italian government.

The Turkish government will be responsible for the costs of the regent and judges.

The treaty effectively agreed to cede Libya to Italy.

On October 18, Greece issued an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire, requiring the Ottoman army to withdraw from the Balkans.

War has officially broken out!

At two o'clock in the afternoon on the 18th, Crown Prince Constantine, Greek Prime Minister Venizelos, Chief of General Staff Emma Inur, and Navy Commander General Kontoriotis came to the Palace of Syntagma Square to submit a letter to King George. The general mobilization policy was formulated.

King George glanced at the documents on the table, looked at the four people standing in front of the table, and silently signed their names without saying a word.

On the evening of the 18th, Piraeus Port.

As night fell, it was difficult to silence the noisy port.

The Greek Navy has already been waiting for success. All its main battleships, including two Invincible-class strategic cruisers and eight destroyers, are warming up in the port, waiting for the fleet commander's order.

Constantine sent Contoriotis and other senior naval officials to the port.

"The glory of the Greek Navy lies in this battle. I hope to see you return victoriously soon," Constantine said enthusiastically.

Kontoriotis, wearing the uniform of a vice admiral, seemed calm and confident in defeating the Ottoman Navy.

"Your Highness, you will hear the news of our victory in a few days."

As a witness of the Greek Navy, Kontoriotis built the Greek Navy from scratch under his hands, so he naturally has full confidence in the strength of the Greek Navy.

This rapid response fleet used to deal with the Ottoman Navy, all the warships are new warships that have been in service within five years.

The two Invincible-class battlecruisers "King George" and "Trikoupis", as well as the 1,500-ton super-large destroyers built by Greece with the technical assistance of the United Kingdom, can achieve a sailing speed of 20 knots for the entire fleet in wartime.

In order to ensure that the naval warships can cooperate effectively and avoid the large difference in the sailing speed of the warships, which will drag down other warships, Kontoriotis did not even agree to let the two Esmeralda-class armored cruisers in the Greek Navy join the fleet, but used them for sea patrols.

After saying that, he saluted the people who were boarding the navy flagship "Trikoupis".

Constantine was about to go to the Macedonian front and the front-line military camp.

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Compared to the actions of the Greek Army, the Greek Navy achieved dazzling results in the early stages of the war.