Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 132 The Powder Keg Is Still the Same Powder Keg
To be honest, when Morin first saw the three pieces of intelligence, he was initially overjoyed and then hesitant.

Is it possible that World War I won't break out in this world?

Princip has been arrested, and the founder of the Mafia committed suicide for reasons unknown. Is it possible that this assassination will not happen?
If Archduke Ferdinand had not been assassinated in the street, would Austria-Hungary have refrained from declaring war on Serbia?

The idea only existed in his mind for less than half a second before he rejected it himself.

too naive.

You laugh at imperialism for being decadent and backward, but imperialism laughs at you for not understanding what imperialism is.

Based on Morin's current understanding of the world situation, the great powers, including the Saxon Empire, are like a herd of testosterone-fueled bulls that have been caged for decades and are already looking down on everyone.

It would be strange if they didn't find an opportunity to have a good, thorough fight.

Whether it was the Holy Britannian Empire dominating the European continent, or an unprecedented chaotic melee between various nations.
What's meant to happen will happen.

The assassination attempt by the ambitious Serbian youth was, at best, a spark that ignited a powder keg.

Now that this Mars is gone, they will always find another Mars.

It could be an "Austrian-Hungarian soldier going missing at the border" or an "Austrian military exercise crossing the border incident."
In short, if they want to fight, they can just find any reason to do it.

However, the timing of the outbreak of war may be postponed as a result.

Is postponing it a good thing or a bad thing?

Molin couldn't say for sure for the time being.

He had originally planned to continue the discussion with the other officers and try to get some information out of them to find out what the situation was like in the Balkans of this world.

Because all he knows so far is the distribution of countries on a map.

But are the relationships between countries as complex as in another time and space?
Especially after the cumbersome giant, the Russian Empire, collapsed prematurely and stopped interfering in the Balkans, will the whole situation change again without his knowledge?

Unfortunately, before he could even speak, the vice dean, Horndorf, who was giving the lecture, had already walked into the classroom with his lesson plan.

The moment the old general appeared, the somewhat noisy discussion in the classroom instantly ceased, and everyone straightened their backs, sitting as upright as javelins.

Molin had no choice but to swallow his questions and focus his attention on the podium.

After the "Imperial Military Tradition" class ended, before the get out of class ended, Vice Dean Horndorf glanced casually at the students who had been discussing the topic most enthusiastically, including Morin.

"Knowing about the international situation and broadening one's horizons are essential qualities for an excellent military officer."

"But don't let this interfere with your studies. Your fundamental task is always to learn how to command troops and win wars."

"Do you understand everything?"

"Yes, Vice Dean!"

After all the morning classes were over, Morin, unusually, did not pack up and rush back to the training commando battalion's base as usual.

He strolled toward the academy's canteen with several officers he had become acquainted with over the past few days.

Hopefully, we can take this opportunity to extract some useful information from these elite officers.

The lunch at the college cafeteria today was as plentiful as usual.

Bavarian Schweinshaxe, or roasted pork knuckle, is made by first boiling and then roasting to create a crispy crust. It is served with sauerkraut to cut through the richness, a large spoonful of mashed potatoes, and two sizzling sausages.

For Morin, who was already completely accustomed to the Saxon Empire's culinary style, this was a pretty good lunch.

In the cafeteria, the trainees sat together in twos and threes, eating their meals while continuing the conversation they hadn't finished that morning.

"Vienna finally did something right this time! If they let the Serbs infiltrate like this, they'd cause a major disaster sooner or later."

One of the trainees said while slicing a pork knuckle.

"If only the Austro-Hungarian intelligence agencies were more professional, they wouldn't have waited until now to take action."

Maureen, carrying her tray, naturally sat down at their table.

However, he didn't quite agree with the second statement.

After all, the Saxon intelligence agencies probably wouldn't have the audacity to say that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was incapable.
However, he naturally wouldn't say that. Instead, he pretended to be curious about the international situation and asked:
"Colleagues, I wasn't very familiar with the situation in the Balkans before. What exactly is the situation in Serbia?"

His question immediately sparked a lively discussion among the officers at the table.

"Captain Morin, don't you know? These Serbs are no ordinary troublemakers!"

One student, who clearly had some knowledge of international relations, immediately perked up and put down his knife and fork to start 'educating' Morin.

"The Serbs have this so-called 'Greater Serbian Nationalism,' which is absolutely fanciful!"

"Oh? How exactly does this outlandish idea work?" Morin pressed.

They have two core demands.

The student held up two fingers. "First, all the land of the ancient Kingdom of Serbia should be inherited by the present Kingdom of Serbia; second, all the places where Serbs currently live are also Serbian territory!"

Morin was secretly delighted to hear this.

This first point, although a bit domineering, is somewhat understandable since it's a historical matter that's hard for people today to explain.

But isn't this second point a bit too much?

This level of shamelessness is comparable to the 'Promised Land' described by a certain marine creature before the transmigration.

Maureen couldn't help but comment:

"According to the second point, does that mean every place in the world where Serbs live belongs to them?"

"Who says it isn't?"

The student slapped his thigh, clearly in high spirits.

"According to their logic, whether it's Bosnia 'merging' with Austria-Hungary, or Croatia, Slovenia, or even the independent Kingdom of Montenegro, they all have to obey Belgrade's orders! Isn't that ridiculous?"

“That’s quite an appetite,” Morin nodded.

"It's not just the Serbs who have huge appetites! The entire Balkans are now a madhouse!"

Another officer interjected, "Besides this 'Greater Serbian Nationalism,' there's also 'Greater Croatian Nationalism,' 'Greater Albanian Nationalism,' and 'Greater Greek Nationalism.' Every country wants to be the leader, and they all want to seize more land and people in that small corner of the Balkans."

"Their ideas are all similar: to unify all ethnic groups that share the same ancestry, speak the same language, and have similar customs under their own national flag."

As he listened to the officers' chatter, the puzzle of the Balkan situation in Morin's mind gradually became clearer.

At the same time, the information gathering rate in his system was also slowly increasing.

40%
As the level of information gathering increases, more detailed content is also refreshed in the [Information] and [Intelligence] tabs.

The amount of gunpowder stuffed into this European powder keg was clearly no less than that in the world he had traveled to before.

While absentmindedly slicing the sausage on his plate, Morin was quickly processing the new information flooding his mind.

The Kingdom of Serbia in this world, after the old king and his family were killed in a coup in 1901, for reasons unknown, embarked on the path of a constitutional monarchy.

Driven by 'Greater Serbian nationalism', they did indeed gain considerable benefits in previous Balkan conflicts, expanding their territory significantly.

But this also messed up their relations with neighboring countries.

Relations with Austria-Hungary have now reached a freezing point due to the Bosnian issue.

They also had a falling out with Bulgaria because of conflicts of interest during the division of Macedonia, which even escalated into a physical fight.

Most critically, with the premature disintegration of the Russian Empire and its plunge into civil war, Serbia suddenly lost its biggest backer.

This dramatic shift from heaven to hell plunged the entire country of Serbia into a state of extreme panic and insecurity.

Although the Gallo-Luxembourg Republic and the Holy Britannian Empire quickly stepped forward to express their support for Serbia's "legitimate demands" and to provide "all necessary assistance."

But everyone knows that this is just diplomatic rhetoric.

A distant source of water cannot quench a nearby fire.

The Serbs never expected that these two countries would actually offer any help before their country was destroyed.

Therefore, in recent years, the Kingdom of Serbia has been frantically expanding its military and preparing for war.

The country's economy has been dragged to the brink of collapse by this reckless preparation for war, and public discontent is boiling over, teetering on the edge of explosion.

Although Belgrade politicians do not want to start a war, they do not mind using a war to divert attention from their own problems.

Almost all European politicians knew that a war between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Balkan states was inevitable.

However, no one could have predicted how this war would begin or how it would end.

As for the destruction of the 'Black Hand' branch in Bosnia, these Saxon officers, who were used to the turmoil in the Balkans, considered it a trivial matter.

Everyone thought that this was just the Austro-Hungarian intelligence service finally doing something legitimate.

Maureen listened silently, finished the last bite of mashed potatoes on her plate, then stood up, picked up her tray, and left her seat.

As he stepped out of the cafeteria, the afternoon sun shone on the ground, but his mood was much heavier than the weather outside.

Morin walked quickly back to his temporary dormitory, took out a small notebook from the drawer, and recorded all the information he had just obtained, as well as his own speculations, in detail.

After finishing writing, he looked at the handwriting in the notebook and pondered for a long time.

Simply listening to secondhand information in the academy to trigger the "intelligence" update of the cheat ability is clearly far from enough.

He needs more direct and reliable intelligence.
(End of this chapter)