Chapter 1: The Golden Scraggak (6)

  "Xilem, how dare you sneak a drink behind my back!"

  Wang Haitie's negotiations with Avril have broken down. Avril wants to let her little friend, Kil's neighbor Brandeis join the Navy. That was a stubborn and unreasonable demand from Brandeis, who had traded two packs of sweets for it, no matter how Wang Haitie explained the Navy's rules and regulations.

  Plump Eve abruptly exposed the fact that Wang Haitian was greedy for wine. Annie, the wife who cared about her husband, rushed in with a momentum, snatched the newspaper from Wang Haitian's hand, and rudely confiscated the bottle of wine hidden under the arm of the naval general worshipped by countless Germans.

  "Heidi, you have no capacity for liquor and no manners when drinking. Your body hasn't recovered yet, that's why I forbade you from drinking, how come you still don't listen?"

  Annie glared at her grinning husband and ignored the stunned Hoffman, muttering to herself.

  It's all about educating Wang Haiting with a clear and reasonable attitude, from the first time he was caught smoking in 1893 to his drunken tryst with Catherine in 1897, to his drunken antics on the eve of their wedding in 1902, to his repeated clashes with naval officials after returning home, and now this latest bout of excessive drinking while still recovering from illness. For over ten minutes, Wang Haiting didn't dare to talk back, hanging her head in a picture of contrition.

  Naturally, Colonel Hoffmann was not absent from this passionate scene. He, who was rarely silent, chose to be completely still, and with the agility of someone who did not have frostbitten legs, quickly got out of bed, snatched up the newspaper that Annie had left on the floor, pretended to study the new weapon called "land cruiser" in the paper, but actually perked up his ears to eavesdrop on a drama that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

  "What if it happens again?" The stormy rain that had been raging finally showed signs of subsiding, and Annie gave Wang Haiting the opportunity to reflect on herself and redeem herself as usual.

  "Then I'll run into Keil's foreman Lehmann on my way out!"

  The dockworkers' strike was the most painful experience for Wang Haitian. At 16 or 17 years old, it was the most vicious oath between Wang Haitian and Little Annie. More than a decade has passed, and Wang Haitian is now in his prime, holding high power and prestige, no longer fearing the sharp-tongued Jewish foreman Layman at Keel Wharf, but the words of their youth still linger on.

  "Let you off this time!" Annie reached out and pulled down the hospital gown that Wang Haiting had some wine on, threw it into the washing basin, called out to Evie and headed towards the hospital's laundry room.

  Wang Haitie covered her violently pounding chest and finally let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't until the sound of snickering came from beside her ear that Wang Haitie realized she wasn't alone in the hospital room. Looking at that damned fatty's ill-intentioned expression, and thinking about his loud voice, Wang Haitie knew he was going to humiliate her all the way to the Imperial Army.

  "Something's not right, Seiler..." Marx-Hoffman's playful expression faded a bit as he shifted slightly on the small hospital bed, holding up the newspaper hesitantly.

  "Are you referring to my wife?" Hoffman's bed creaked loudly, and Heidi Wang smiled wryly and intervened with a joke: "Hoffman, Socrates once said that being afraid of one's wife is a noble virtue."

  "Not that," Socrates was famously afraid of his wife, to the point where his wife Xanthippe's name is almost synonymous with shrew in Europe. Hoffman seemed not to catch Heidi Wang's obvious joke and doggedly repeated the question: "I'm talking about the newspaper, there are some things that don't add up!"

  "Are you worried about the fuel problem of the land cruiser's engine?" Wang Haitian raised an eyebrow, pouting mysteriously: "Don't worry, although the Empire and our allies generally don't have oil fields, Romania does!"

  March 10, 1915 at 9:00 am in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

  "Your Imperial Majesty, I have ordered partial mobilization of the army..." A large crowd of Sofia residents gathered in front of the Bulgarian royal palace, expressing their support for the country with songs and demonstrations. The Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Nikola Zhekov, turned his gaze back from the palace gates and said calmly: "If Serbia refuses, war will be inevitable!"

  On March 7, the Bulgarian government suddenly sent an ultimatum to Serbia, demanding that Serbian troops withdraw from Macedonia, which originally belonged to Bulgaria, and compensate Bulgaria for its losses in the Second Balkan War.

  "I had no intention of taking part in the struggle between the great powers of Europe, but now it is undoubtedly the most favourable moment for recovering our territory, weakening and destroying Serbia."

  Ferdinand was once the most individualistic king in Europe, he was a writer, botanist, entomologist and philatelist. He was the first head of state in the world to ride an airplane. His sexual orientation shocked his royal relatives so much that his uncle - Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary said "surprising people has become his habit", but in front of national interests, the independent Ferdinand still felt pressure.

  Although both belong to the Slavic nation, the contradictions between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Serbia have been long-standing.

  For a long time, the Balkan region was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. After the Eighth Russo-Turkish War, the defeated Turks signed the Treaty of San Stefano, and independent nation-states emerged from the Balkan Peninsula. After the Crimean War, the Ottoman Empire had a brief resurgence, but then declined rapidly, and by the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire's control over its European territories was greatly diminished. In 1912, with Russian support, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro formed the Balkan League and declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

  Despite the Hamidiye's exploits and Lieutenant Commander Rauf Orbay's clever guerrilla tactics, the performance of a small part of the Turkish army trained by German officers was also commendable. However, Ottoman defeat was inevitable. On 30 May 1913, Turkey signed the Treaty of London with the Balkan League, which ceded all Ottoman territory west of Enos on the Aegean coast and north of Enez on the Dardanelles to the league members (Albania was given independence but placed under the protection of the six powers).

  After the end of the First Balkan War, Bulgaria emerged as the largest winner, with the most powerful and best-organized army in the Balkan League, and also gained the most territory. This was both fortunate and unfortunate for Bulgaria: in June 1913, disagreements over the division of spoils led to a split in the loose alliance, with Serbia and Greece signing a secret treaty against Bulgaria, followed by Romania. Bulgaria realized its predicament and began to mobilize its army with German support.

  On June 29, 1913, while the ink of the London Treaty was still wet, a dog-eat-dog farce unfolded. Former allies clashed with each other, and the Turks soon joined in as well. As the situation seemed to be getting out of control, European powers intervened under various pretexts, sending troops to occupy the Balkan Peninsula, thus further escalating the chaos!

  With Germany preoccupied, the Bulgarians, surrounded on all sides, quickly succumbed. On August 10, Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Bucharest with Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Romania, ceding much of its gains from the First Balkan War: Serbia took a part of Macedonia, most of Thrace was ceded to Greece, Southern Dobruja was ceded to Romania, and even the weakest of the allies, Montenegrin prince Nicholas, obtained some territory.

  Although there is no such thing as justice and sublimity on this land of "miracles" in the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgarians still feel that they have been deceived and suffered greatly. They are eager to take back everything they want, even if it means giving up neutrality and getting involved in an uncertain European war!

  "General Ganchev, if this is the only way for Bulgaria's rebirth... then let us go to war!"

  March 10, 1915 at 4 pm, Vienna capital Belgrade.

  Although the Serbs had abandoned Belgrade, time is undoubtedly a good medicine for healing wounds. In March, white fog drifted through the streets of Belgrade, and amidst the ruins, destructive forces were brewing.

  The palace of King Peter I of Serbia, where the council is being held, the regent, prime minister, foreign minister, General Zivoin-Misic and General Radomir Putnik are calmly stating their views, unaware that only one day remains before the Bulgarian ultimatum expires.

  "The British ambassador asks us to return Macedonian territory and calm down the restless Bulgarians..." The Serbian foreign minister slowly enunciated the plan proposed by the British ambassador regarding the Balkan situation, of course, with some reservations from the belligerent foreign minister.

  On 7 March 1915, upon learning of Bulgaria's warlike intentions towards Serbia, the British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey realised that the Entente's Balkan strategy might be on the verge of collapse. To retrieve the situation, Grey telegraphed Belgrade instructing the British Minister to Serbia to persuade the Serbian Government to make concessions to Bulgaria at any cost in order to keep her steady and prevent a complete overturn of the Mediterranean and Balkans towards the Central Powers.

  This is clearly an insoluble problem. The Bulgarians are sharpening their knives, and Macedonia is a necessity for them, while the Serbs' ambitions regarding rich Macedonia are beyond human imagination: even when Austria-Hungary launched a massive attack on Serbia in 1914, the Serbs did not withdraw their troops stationed in Macedonia, but rather increased their forces there to suppress local uprisings. After much deliberation, the British ambassador had no choice but to propose a compromise on March 9 - "Return part of Macedonian territory and appease Bulgaria".

  "Why should Serbia's interests be sacrificed to satisfy that wretched little country?" General Radomir Putnik, representing the military, involuntarily snorted in derision at the British decision: "Why don't the English use their unruly Ireland to 'hold down' the German High Seas Fleet"?

  General Radomir Putnik's view represents the opinion of the vast majority of Serbs - even if Serbia is already busy, giving up Macedonia is out of the question.

  "But this is, after all, the final opinion of the Allies!" The aged King Peter I was already powerless to handle state affairs, and although the energetic Regent Alexander felt good about himself, he still had some hesitation towards British mediation.

  "Your Majesty, perhaps at this stage the British should listen to us!" General Radomir Putnik spoke up: "The British have suffered consecutive defeats in the Dardanelles and the North Sea, the former resulting in the loss of one battleship and three old battleships from the Mediterranean Fleet, with more than four old battleships heavily damaged, while the latter resulted in the loss of eight battleships for the British. Now that the German High Seas Fleet and Admiral Scheer are at their gates, the British, whose homeland is empty, will necessarily have to withdraw ships from the Mediterranean Fleet to strengthen their home defense, so the Gallipoli landing plan is almost dead..."

  "So we openly and defiantly reject the Bulgarian rabble's yelping, and demand that the British and French armies gathered in Lemnos, Alexandria and Sedd-Ul-Bahr reinforce us!" The regent quickly grasped Radomir Putnik's insinuation, his fist clenched with enthusiasm: "Kidnap the Englishman, let the Englishman die for us, perhaps we can seize the entire Balkans, ah, Serbia's Balkans!

  As soon as Prince Alexander finished speaking, his father, the old King Peter I, who had not inquired about state affairs for a long time, suddenly stood up from his wheelchair, knocked on the table and shouted: "Then let's act!"

  "No, Sillem, I mean this!" Marx-Hoffman's finger ran along the newspaper photo of a 21st-century-style tank with a gleaming cannon barrel, past the misleading data in the caption, and pointed directly at the photo of Heidemarie. "Maybe you're in trouble..."

  "Hoffman, indeed some people want to deal with me, but these despicable means cannot stop my progress!" Wang Haitian finally stopped beating around the bush, and Admiral Hai stood up straight, stretched out his middle finger, and made a gesture of piercing the sky. He said solemnly: "This time, my target is the Imperial Navy Minister - Edward von Capelle!"