Chapter 197: Traitors And Rebels, Everyone Has The Right To Kill Them
Prime Minister Asquith and Minister Walton made the above decision at a secret meeting at 10 Downing Street on the night of November 18.
This concerns inciting the Greek Prime Minister to treason and rebellion, and luring the British Army to land and assassinate the king who maintains neutrality. Such an important matter would require at least ten days or so to plan.
Just transporting the equipment and dispatching the troops needed to land at Thessaloniki Port in Greece would take at least over a week.
Transporting from Northern France by railway to Southern France takes 1 day, then shipping from Marseille Port across the Mediterranean Sea to Thessaloniki is nearly 2500 kilometers, equivalent to 1400 nautical miles. Even using warships at 16 knots economic speed would take a full 4 days. This is still for small-batch express shipping without considering transport costs.
While transporting equipment and dispatching troops, diplomatic efforts must also be made simultaneously.
Although as early as half a year ago, that is, in March or April this year, Britannian Foreign Minister Arthur Belfort had already negotiated with the Greeks once.
At that time, King Constantine I claimed illness and did not meet him, but Greek Prime Minister Venizelos had already indicated that he could cooperate deeply with Britain as long as Greece could gain more territory.
Moreover, that time, Greek Prime Minister Venizelos also used his civil affairs authority to secretly do some substantial things for Britain— at that time, it was the eve of Britain inciting Romania to declare war on the Ottomans, but the Romanians lacked weapons and equipment, demanding that Britain first provide weapons for a dozen infantry divisions before they would consider joining the war.
But Romania’s coastline is all on the Black Sea, and British ships could not pass through the straits controlled by the enemy Ottomans to transport goods to the Black Sea, so they could only have the Greeks transship.
That time, Venizelos took a great risk, secretly allowing British arms ships to dock at Thessaloniki Port in northeastern Greece, then transporting the weapons overland through neighboring Sevilia in the north from Thessaloniki to Romania.
So strictly speaking, Venizelos was already in the same boat with Arthur Belfort. Greece was still neutral at the time, and Venizelos secretly transporting weapons to Romania was suspected of violating the neutrality law. If exposed and investigated, it would affect Venizelos’s political career.
Of course, if one nitpicks international treaties and legal principles, there is still something to say about it: Romania was still a neutral country when receiving the weapons; it was only after receiving them that it abandoned neutrality and declared war on the Ottomans, and was quickly defeated and surrendered.
Greek King Constantine I actually had some inkling of this and even hinted it to the Germanians. But at the time, both sides were busy with other matters, and the Germanians had no time to attend to southern Europe and did not want to stir up another mess, so they temporarily turned a blind eye.
Constantine I also felt that having a handle on Venizelos and not detonating it for the time being was beneficial to him.
To use someone’s scandal to blackmail and intimidate them, the scandal cannot be exposed immediately, so that the secret can last a lifetime.
……
This time, Arthur Belfort quickly found Venizelos again and straightforwardly stated his intention.
“Constantine definitely knows you cooperated with us; he won’t let you go. Even if it’s for the country, he will eventually use the method of exposing your previous cooperation with us to ruin you.
Your only hope to become a national hero in Greek history books is to cooperate with us. And you know very well that the way the Germanians are fighting now has also given the Ottomans many benefits. The Ottomans, who were declining year by year, are very likely to become strong again.
How deep the enmity is between Greece and the Ottomans, I don’t need to say more. If you don’t strike first preemptively, fantasizing that maintaining neutrality will preserve your territory and interests, maybe after the Germanians win the World War, they will still help the Ottomans exterminate you!”
Venizelos symbolically struggled a bit, saying he did not really want to go so far as to take down the king. But under the continuous pressure from the Britannians, he had a way out and finally half-heartedly went along.
With a passive look of “you’ve really put me in a tough spot.”
“For the country and the people, we must strike first preemptively! Don’t think that the Ottomans now respect our Greek neutrality; that’s only because Britain, France, Lusha, and other countries are threatening them. If the external threats are gone, leaving only the Ottomans and Greece one-on-one, they will definitely invade us brazenly!”
After returning, Venizelos propagated this to his followers, thus unifying thoughts internally.
Moreover, Venizelos had been Greek Prime Minister for five or six years and had a solid foundation, but he had little influence in the army. His authority in civil affairs and internal affairs was very great, and local officials mostly followed his lead.
After negotiating with the Britannians, Venizelos quietly slipped out of Athens late on November 24—he knew he had absolutely no chance in Athens, because King Constantine I was not only the nominal commander of the Greek Army but could truly control it.
Moreover, Greek Army Chief of Staff General Ioannis Metaxas was a die-hard loyalist to the king and had always had a very bad relationship with Venizelos. The Chief of Staff privately always thought the Prime Minister was a traitorous minister.
Venizelos left Athens without any fanfare; the people at the Prime Minister’s residence the next day still used the excuse of the Prime Minister being ill to refuse visitors, buying him time.
He himself took an all-night train and arrived at the northern border port city of Thessaloniki by early morning of the 25th.
After a day of hasty preparations, early on the 26th, Venizelos publicly raised the flag and switched allegiance, announcing the formation of a new Greek government in Thessaloniki, organizing the people to join the new army, and overthrowing the “king who acts as a puppet for the Germanians.”
In his public speech, Venizelos loudly called out that Constantine I refused to declare war on the Ottomans not out of consideration for the country and nation, but only because of personal family ties—because Constantine I’s wife was Emperor Wilhelm’s own sister.
Therefore, he, Venizelos, would overthrow the tyrant for the Greek people! Lead the Greek people to declare war on the Ottomans!
After the flag-raising telegram was sent, on the 26th, the British Mediterranean Fleet, which had long been drifting on the Aegean Sea surface outside Thessaloniki Port, sailed into Thessaloniki Port within a few short hours and unloaded a full army of Britannian Army, under which were 3 infantry divisions.
These British Army troops were originally transported to the Aegean Sea from the rear under the pretext of reinforcing the Gallipoli Peninsula battlefield. As a result, with a turn of the gun muzzles, they took a slight detour of over 100 kilometers and easily arrived at Thessaloniki.
Venizelos also went through the formality, stating that these British troops were invited by him and were friends of the Greek people.
After the British troops landed, they did not clash with the pro-Venizelos militia in Thessaloniki Province. But after a brief rest of a few hours, early on the 27th, they launched an attack southward along the coastline.
The British troops even had over 30 Rolls-Royce armored cars.
In Greece, which had no war preparations and no trench defense lines, armored vehicles—armored weapons with only slightly inferior obstacle-crossing ability compared to tanks—already had exaggerated deterrence and assault power.
The Britannians’ march was almost like traveling; they could cover nearly 100 kilometers in a day. They could reach Larissa in three days and Delphi in five days.
……
Upon learning that Venizelos raised the flag on November 27 and lured the British Army to invade his homeland that same day,
Even though he had some psychological preparation, Constantine I still could not believe that Venizelos would go so far and leave no way back.
He did not show weakness either and immediately summoned Greek Army Chief of Staff General Ioannis Metaxas in the Athens palace.
“General Metaxas, you know me; I have never wronged this country! But now Venizelos claims to represent the people to overthrow me!”
General Metaxas was an absolute royalist; he answered without hesitation and gnashing his teeth:
“Your Majesty! You are too merciful, giving that traitorous minister chance after chance to repent! What more is there to say now? That guy’s actions are undoubtedly treason and rebellion! The army remains loyal to you; order the suppression of the rebellion!”
Constantine finally confirmed: “Do you guarantee the army has the courage to fight the invading British Army?”
General Metaxas did not hesitate but phrased it skillfully: “The army will absolutely fight to the death! But we Greeks are after all a small military nation; relying on our own strength to resist the Britannian invasion long-term is still somewhat difficult.
We can resist while seeking ways to obtain international aid… You know, after all, the whole of Europe is now in chaos. We should have no problem holding Athens for a month or so on our own, but the northern regions may be lost temporarily—I mean the land north of the Delphi Isthmus.”
His implied meaning was already very clear: Why doesn’t Your Majesty call your brother-in-law for aid?
“I’ll consider this; you immediately go organize the army for resolute resistance. We are after all a neutral country; some diplomatic procedures take time, but I’ll find a way to get reinforcements as much as possible without dragging Greece into full-scale war.”
After receiving orders, General Metaxas immediately took leave and returned to General Staff Headquarters to organize the Greek Army’s deployment.
After being alone quietly for a while, Constantine I chose to first return to the rear palace, find his queen Sophie Dorothea Ulrike Princess, and discuss something with her.
“Call your brother and say that Greece does not want to be drawn into war against France and Lusha, but can declare war separately on the Britannians. Because the Britannians have just brazenly supported a group of traitorous rebels in my country and invaded Greece.”
Queen Sophie Dorothea indicated no problem and soon called her own brother Emperor Wilhelm:
“Brother, the Britannians invaded Greece this morning… We cannot declare war immediately on other countries besides Britannia, but we need reinforcements.”
After receiving his sister’s call, Emperor Wilhelm took it very seriously; he didn’t even wait for General Staff Headquarters to mobilize but first thought about which of Germania’s own troops were on the Southern Front.
The closest to Thessaloniki should be the advisory group and small model units stationed in the Ottoman territories, but the Ottomans and Greeks have a blood feud; directly transferring troops from there could easily cause misunderstandings.
Finally, Emperor Wilhelm decided to call Baria Crown Prince Marshal Rupprecht, who was in charge of the Southern Front, and ask him to see if there were any other troops that could be sent first without being too sensitive.
“The Empire now needs a small unit that can be immediately deployed to Athens to ensure Venizelos doesn’t, in desperation, send small groups to infiltrate and assassinate the king and queen. After all, the situation is unclear now; Greece has just made its judgment domestically and doesn’t yet know how many enemies there are or where they are.”
Marshal Rupprecht received the call at midnight on the 27th, when the siege of Poltava was at its most intense.
Amidst his busy schedule, Marshal Rupprecht sorted out his thoughts and then gave the emperor a plan:
“On the Southern Front, besides the troops stationed in Ottoman areas, the closest to Athens should be that mountain division in Ollie’s Trieste, that is, the unit helping the Ollie people defend Italy on the Trieste and Isonzo River defense line; it was originally drawn from our 6th Army Group.
I just checked the situation; they have just rotated off the front line for rest and are now refitting at Trieste Port. However, the Adriatic Sea is blockaded by the Italian Navy, and the Ollie fleet cannot sortie from Trieste to fight Italy, so sea transport is not feasible.
We can only first airlift a battalion or so by airship on a small scale; the rest will have to slowly go overland later by frontal ground offensive from Bulgaria into northern Greece. But currently, our 6th Army Group really cannot spare troops to reinforce Greece immediately.
We’re here enclosing an encirclement of over a million Lusha Army troops; it’s a major matter. I guarantee that after the encirclement north of Kyiv closes, even if the enemies inside haven’t been annihilated yet, I will definitely draw at least several corps to drive out the Britannians in Greece and Gallipoli!”
Emperor Wilhelm: “How many more days does the encirclement north of Kyiv need to close?”
Marshal Rupprecht: “…I’ll do it as fast as possible; I guarantee to divert the main force as soon as it closes!”
Emperor Wilhelm: “Alright, as long as nothing happens in Greece. Also, the Greeks don’t want to go to war with the Entente countries besides Britannia; be careful with procedures these few days. The battalion sent first should be demobilized, then voluntarily go support Greece, just like the Boer War a dozen years ago.
As long as Greece holds, after the campaign, these men return to ranks, and everyone gets promoted one level.”
Marshal Rupprecht: “Yes! Your Majesty!”
So early the next morning, Marshal Rupprecht contacted the troops resting in Trieste:
“Lieutenant Colonel Walter Model? Hurry and process demobilization; from today, you’re temporarily not active duty. First, as hired security troops, employed by the Greek King, assist the Greek Army in holding Athens, Delphi Isthmus, and Piraeus Port.
Within half a month, Empire main forces will split off southward to reinforce Greece, and together with the Greek Army pinch north and south, and by the way annihilate the British Army on the Gallipoli Peninsula too.
Your task is to ensure Greece doesn’t have issues before the Empire main force arrives. After the campaign, you’ll be a colonel. The airship force will fly to Trieste today to pick you up. You’ll take off before nightfall and arrive in Athens by dawn.
Piraeus Port is already urgently building airship mooring towers, and I remember you were also one of the first under that kid Lelouch’s command; you participated in the airborne assault on Fort Malraux at Dunkirk Port, right?”
Lieutenant Colonel Model: “Yes, Marshal! In February, I followed Officer Lelouch in air-dropping Fort Malraux, seized the fort, and held off the ANZAC Corps’s counterattack for a whole day.”
Marshal Rupprecht: “Then do a good job; show the same spirit as when you completely sealed off the British Army at Dunkirk!”
Model received orders and that same day processed temporary demobilization and security employment contracts, leading a downsized mountain battalion by airship to Athens.
