Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 487 Balkan Turmoil (Seeking monthly votes!)
When Carlo saw the results of the Battle of the Marne, he couldn't help but admire the French people's tenacity.

France in this world did not have the help of the British army; the only troops involved in the Battle of the Marne were German and French forces.

The French army's ability to find gaps in the German army's advance and quickly launch an attack on the exposed flanks was something Carlo hadn't anticipated.

The German First Army, which had crossed the Marne River, clashed fiercely with the French Sixth Army, which was advancing eastward from Paris. Subsequently, the German Second and Third Armies, as well as the French Fifth Army, launched support for their comrades, bringing the number of soldiers involved in the battle that took place on the banks of the Marne to over one million.

Once the German troops are allowed to cross the Marne River, they can easily outflank Paris and launch an attack on the city, France's most important city.

This was absolutely unacceptable to the French army. Under the command of General Gallieri, the French Sixth Army launched a fierce attack on the flank of the German First Army, and despite casualties, managed to repel the German First Army after it crossed the Marne River.

The German and French troops that arrived later to provide support engaged in fierce fighting on the plains between the Aisne and Marne rivers, ultimately ending what can be described as one of the most brutal battles, with casualties on both sides exceeding 25.

As the vanguard of the attack on the German army, the French Sixth Army had fewer than 100,000 troops available for continued combat after the Battle of the Marne, and its losses were undoubtedly heavy.

Of course, the losses on the German side were also quite severe. The German First Army, led by Kluke, had less than half its combat-ready force; without the support of the Second and Third Armies, it would likely have been annihilated.

The most painful part for Germany is that with the First Army suffering heavy losses, and the Second and Third Armies also suffering significant losses, the Schlieffen Plan has essentially failed.

The French were prepared for Germany's plan to raid Paris, and ending the war by quickly occupying Paris would not be so easy.

Due to the defeat at the Battle of the Marne, the German army was forced to retreat north of the Aisne River, handing over a large area of ​​land between the two rivers to France.

This also allowed France to build a large number of trenches and fortifications along the Marne River, compensating for the lack of natural defenses in the vast plains north of Paris.

As a result, the war with France would inevitably turn into a protracted war of attrition. Germany was also fighting on two fronts, and under such a long war of attrition, Germany's domestic resources were bound to dwindle.

Therefore, Germany must find a way to avoid being forced into a protracted tug-of-war.

While the western front was locked in a protracted battle, the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia on the eastern front finally came to a conclusion.

The war that broke out in the Balkans was somewhat unexpected, even shocking.

Although the spark that ignited the world war in this world did not originate in the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's ambitions toward Serbia remained unchanged.

After Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, a large number of troops were immediately mobilized in an attempt to eliminate Serbia, its weak neighbor.

To more securely divide Serbia, Austria-Hungary also brought in Bulgaria, promising to share Serbia with them.

Serbia and Bulgaria were roughly equal in overall national strength, and with the addition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a powerful ally, Serbia should theoretically have had little ability to resist and, like Belgium, would have been hastily resisted before being annexed.

However, the reality was that Serbia not only resisted the invasion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but also fought Bulgaria to a standstill when facing two opponents.

In the battle against the Serbian army, the Austro-Hungarian army performed terribly, much to the surprise of other European countries.

According to publicly available data from the Balkan campaign, Austria-Hungary mobilized more than 35 troops to attack Serbia, while Bulgaria mobilized more than 20 troops.

On the Serbian side, the initial mobilization of troops was only 20, and the subsequent mobilization of troops was only 5.

In a battle between 25 and 55, the side with more people will generally win.

However, the reality was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire suffered a series of defeats, with more than 15 casualties, and its hopes of capturing Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, were dashed.

During the Balkan Wars, the Bulgarian army performed better than the Austro-Hungarian army. Coupled with the widespread hatred of Serbs among Bulgarians, they caused considerable trouble for Serbia.

But all of this was to no avail. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, as the main force, performed poorly, and Bulgaria alone could not eliminate Serbia.

The combined casualties of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria approached 25, and although Serbia suffered more than 15 casualties, it still failed to change the current situation in the Balkans.

After several rounds of mobilization, Serbia still had as many as 20 combat troops available for deployment. On the Austro-Hungarian side, the remaining combat troops available to Serbia were less than 30, and Bulgaria had less than 15 troops capable of continuing the offensive.

Although the Allied powers still had a numerical advantage, Serbia was not without allies. To support Serbia, Russia launched wave after wave of offensives along its border with Austria-Hungary, forcing Austria-Hungary to deploy most of its main forces to Galicia and Lodomelia, thus giving Serbia a much-needed respite.

The successive failures of Germany's and Austria-Hungary's war plans prompted them to urge their ally Italy to fulfill its alliance as soon as possible and join the Central Powers in fighting against France and Russia.

The astute Italian government naturally could not agree to the demands of Germany and Austria-Hungary. They would only accept the sale of goods to Germany and Austria-Hungary, which was also Italy's obligation as an ally.

As for declaring war on France and Russia, since Germany's act of declaring war violated the treaty, Italy had no obligation to fight against France and Russia.

At this time, the Italian government did not intend to break the alliance. What the Italian government wanted was to gain more benefits, such as territory in the Balkans and African colonies.

From the Italian government's perspective, the longer the war drags on, the greater Italy's importance will be in the war.

If Italy were to enter the war now, gaining Albania and Tunisia after the war would be quite a good outcome. However, if it waits until Austria-Hungary and Germany are somewhat weakened before joining the war, Italy could gain even more, such as Dalmatia, Savoy and Nice, and Algeria.

Many of the territories that Italy wanted were under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is why the Italian government wanted to participate in the war only when the Austro-Hungarian Empire showed signs of decline.

Germany and Austria-Hungary naturally understood Italy's thoughts. They could only curse the Italian government's shamelessness in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do about it.

After all, you can't force the Italian government to join the war, can you? If you really push Italy to the enemy's side, it will definitely not be good news for the Allies.

Although Italy's army was not strong, its navy was quite capable. Italy's geographical location also posed a threat to the Austrian region, which was fatal for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

If Italy were to defect, Austria-Hungary would have to concentrate a large number of troops to defend Austria, which would leave the Balkans and the Eastern Front even more vulnerable, affecting Germany's war plans against France.

While Germany and Austria-Hungary were urging Italy to join the war, France and Russia were also seeking allies for themselves on the European continent.

After the outbreak of war, France and Russia ceased their efforts to win over Spain. They understood that even if they could persuade Spain to join the Entente, Britain would soon join the Central Powers to balance the situation on the European continent.

It would be better to let Spain and Britain remain outside the two major military blocs. After all, they can obtain a large amount of supplies from Spain, which is equivalent to having half an ally, so it's worthwhile.

France and Russia have many allies they want to win over, including Romania, the largest country in the Balkans.

Romania was very important to both the Central Powers and the Entente Powers, not just the Franco-Russian Entente; the Central Powers were also seeking Romania's support.

The reason is simple: Romania's important geographical location and abundant mineral resources.

Romania has oil, and a considerable amount. Modern internal combustion engine technology is quite advanced; whether it's automobiles or other engine-based machinery, they all require gasoline or diesel fuel made from petroleum as their energy source.

Germany and Austria-Hungary possessed a large number of automobiles and other machinery, but they did not have many oil fields domestically and were heavily reliant on imports for oil.

If Germany could secure Romania's membership in the Central Powers, it would have a complete supply line from Berlin to the Anatolian Peninsula, eliminating its fear of a war of attrition.

At the same time, Romania could also share some of the Russian troops and join the siege of Serbia.

In this way, Serbia was destined not to hold out for long, and Austria-Hungary and the Balkan countries could commit more troops to the war against Russia, allowing Germany to divert more troops to fight against France.

The Allied Powers would also benefit greatly from winning Romania's support.

Firstly, Russian troops could directly enter Serbian territory to fight, and from Serbia they could reach the Hungarian plains, threatening the heartland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Furthermore, once the road from Romania to Serbia is opened, Russian troops will be able to reach the heart of the Balkans, control the entire Balkan peninsula, and thwart the Austro-Hungarian Empire's southward expansion plans.

With the support of Romania and Serbia, Russia was able to quickly defeat Austria-Hungary, encircle Germany in the German region, and then trap and defeat it.

At this time, the King of Romania was still Carol I, a king from the German region.

Because Romania had long relied on Germany to resist Russian invasion, the relationship between Romania and Germany was relatively good.

The problem is that Romania is also very interested in Transylvania in Hungary, which Germany is unlikely to support.

Compared to Romania, Austria-Hungary was Germany's most valued ally. Germany would never support Romania's acquisition of Transylvania, even if Romania could play a significant role.

This is precisely why Romania faced a dilemma in choosing between the Allied Powers and the Entente Powers.

King Carol I expressed support for Germany, but those who supported Greater Romanianism wanted Romania to join the Entente Powers.

Joining the Central Powers certainly suited the King's wishes, but Romania's accession to the Central Powers would not bring many benefits.

After joining the Central Powers, Romania could only expand westward to Serbia and northeastward to Russia because Austria-Hungary to the northwest and Bulgaria to the south were both allies.

The problem is that neither Serbia nor Russia are easy to mess with, and the territory Romania can acquire is really limited.

If we had joined the Allied Powers, we would have gained not only Transylvania in Hungary but also Bulgarian territory, and we would have gotten a much bigger slice of the spoils in the post-war distribution of wealth.

Although King Carol I supported joining the Allied Powers, his heir to the throne, Crown Prince Ferdinand, also from the Hohenzollern family, did not support the idea of ​​joining the Allied Powers.

Although Crown Prince Ferdinand was born in Germany, he settled in Romania at a young age and clearly has a stronger affinity for the country.

Compared to the aging Carol I, Crown Prince Ferdinand clearly harbored greater ambitions. He hoped to lead Romania to acquire more land under his future rule, and was naturally not satisfied with the meager benefits of joining the Allied Powers.

This is also a change brought about by the different developments in this world.

In the original world history, because the death of Romanian King Carol I occurred in the same year as World War II, Ferdinand I was the Romanian king who seized power after the outbreak of World War II.

Without the support of Carol I to join the Central Powers, Romania naturally had few internal divisions and joined the Entente Powers in 1916.

In this world, because the world war broke out two years earlier, the King of Romania at this time was still Carol I.

Although Carol I was quite old, he still wielded considerable influence in Romanian politics due to his long-standing hold on power.

Carol I's support for joining the Central Powers was supported by many, which is why Romania remained inactive, observing the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.

For Romania, whichever side gains the upper hand in the Balkan wars will likely be on Romania's side.

If Austria-Hungary could easily defeat Serbia, Romania naturally wouldn't offend it. After all, under normal circumstances, there's a significant gap between powerful nations and non-powerful nations, and Romania's overall strength wasn't sufficient to bridge that gap.

However, if Serbia could resist the invasion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and even inflict heavy losses on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then Romania could consider demanding the Transylvania region of Hungary.

If Romania can acquire Transylvania, it will become the undisputed strongest country in the Balkans, and the benefits it will gain after winning the war will naturally be even greater.

While the Romanian government was divided, Montenegro chose to take up arms to help its ally, Serbia.

We can't not help them either; once Serbia falls, Montenegro will inevitably be annexed by Austria-Hungary.

Compared to the Balkan countries that can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops, Montenegro can only mobilize a maximum of 100,000 troops.

However, this is good news for Serbia, since the country has already undergone several rounds of mobilization and cannot provide combat troops in the short term.

Montenegro's 100,000 troops provided much-needed relief, and together with Serbia's 200,000 combat-ready troops, they now have a total army of over 300,000.

The Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian armies numbered only slightly over 40, so their numerical advantage had vanished.

Initially, the Central Powers' operations were progressing quite smoothly after the outbreak of war. However, following the Battle of the Marne, both the Western Front and the Balkan Front became mired in a protracted war, which proved fatal for the Central Powers.

Although significant victories were achieved on the Eastern Front, Russia was already a large and powerful nation, and the small amount of territory occupied could not force Russia to surrender.

To force Russia out of the war, it was necessary to occupy Russia's two most important cities: St. Petersburg and Moscow.

The German army is still far from these two cities, which means that Germany's pre-war plan to quickly force either France or Russia to withdraw from the war has completely failed.

Since the Battle of the Marne in September, the Central Powers and the Allied Powers fought several more battles in the remaining three months of 1912, but they were mostly evenly matched, with neither side able to gain an absolute advantage.

With the combined efforts of Serbia and Montenegro, the Austro-Hungarian Empire found it difficult to advance and ultimately abandoned its offensive against Serbia.

This completely changed the situation in the Balkans. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was forced to mobilize a large number of troops to the eastern front, and the Balkans went from being attacked by Serbia to being attacked by Bulgaria.

The failure of the Austro-Hungarian offensive was not simply a matter of Bulgaria being attacked. It also meant that Serbia had cut off Germany's vital logistical supply line from Berlin to the Anatolian Peninsula.

Germany and Austria-Hungary did not have many colonies, and the wars of attrition in the Balkans and the Western Front were drawing them in. The Central Powers were losing strength and would eventually be exhausted by the war of attrition.

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(End of this chapter)