Greece to roman road

In this international environment, it is impossible for Greece to find allies it can rely on.

Therefore, King George’s so-called idea of ​​winning over Serbia and Bulgaria is basically unrealistic.

But the conflict between Greece and Ottoman Türkiye is already imminent.

Seeing that King George was still hesitant, Trikupis continued: "Recently, there was another riot in Crete. Several Orthodox Christians died. The nationalist sentiments of the people in the country are getting higher and higher, and the pressure from public opinion is increasing. It’s bigger”

"In this case, Your Majesty, it is best to prepare the army in case of any eventuality."

“Moreover, recent incidents of making things difficult for Greek merchants in the Ottoman Empire have become more and more frequent,” Trikupis said.

These Greek businessmen whose interests have been damaged are increasingly dissatisfied with the Greek government's weak attitude, and naturally they have to put pressure on him as the prime minister through parliament.

A large number of islands in the Aegean Sea, including Crete, are still Ottoman territory today, but the majority of the islands are Greeks. For many years, the residents of Crete have been strongly demanding merger with Greece.

"But can the government do it by investing 200 million drachmas in military expenditure?" King George asked Trikupis.

“Greece’s economic situation has been very good in the past two years, and the government’s annual fiscal and tax revenue has increased by almost 10%. Considering that this investment is not a one-time investment, but a plan for the next five years, although the government’s finances are not very generous, It can still be done,” Trikupis replied.

In recent years, Greece's economic development has obviously accelerated after taking over the management of Congo, which is one of the reasons why Trikoupis agreed with this proposal.

As for the attitude of the military, there is no need to ask. It is impossible for the military to object to the government's increase in investment in the military. This can be understood by looking at the eager expression of Chief of General Staff Emma Enol.

"Well, I agree to this plan," said King George.

Sighing inwardly, King George made a decision.

The themes of the 19th century were empire and conquest, blood and war.

"Wait a minute," Constantine interrupted suddenly.

Seeing the attention of everyone present, Constantine said unhurriedly: "With the investment of 200 million drachmas in military expenditure, there is no doubt that the Greek army will undergo radical changes. In this case, Your Excellency, Chief of General Staff, Army Isn’t it time for reforms?”

Constantine looked at Emmanuel and said.

Emmanuel knew exactly what Constantine was talking about.

That is the staff system.

Germany's staff system is known as the greatest military invention of the 19th century.

Through three dynastic wars (Putin, Austria-Prussia, and France), Germany proved to the world the power of the general staff system.

For example, the Schlieffen Plan (Revolving Door Plan) in World War I and Operation Scythe (defeating France in one month) in World War II were both masterpieces of the German General Staff.

Prior to this, although the Greek army also followed the European trend and established a staff system, due to the weakness of the country, the number of high-quality officers was relatively small, while the German staff system required a considerable number of high-quality officers.

This system cannot be learned by economically backward countries.

Therefore, the Greek army only imitated the staff system that originated in Germany and only scratched the surface.

But now, as the Royal Hellenic Education Foundation promotes compulsory education, it has improved the literacy rate of the Greek people and facilitated the selection of talents for the Greek army.

Although Emmanuel was the chief of staff of the Greek army, he could not formulate a complete military plan at all.

In fact, this cannot be blamed on Emmanuel for neglecting his duties.

Formulating a complete military plan is far beyond the ability of an individual, but is a task that can be completed by an organization with a complete division of labor and a large number of manpower.

For example, although Greece faced a serious threat from the Ottoman Empire, due to the lack of sufficient intelligence and personnel, the top Greek military officials had no plan to deal with this threat.

Emma Noir, the Chief of General Staff, did not have enough personnel to collect intelligence on the Ottoman Empire for a long time. This intelligence work included politics (internal and external policies), military (strategy, technology, army deployment, tactics), As well as the country and people (economy, management, culture, immigration, mining, agriculture and forestry, trade), transportation and communication (rail transportation, road transportation, telegraph, shipping, etc.).

This all-encompassing intelligence is far from something that can be accomplished by just a few staff officers in the Greek army.

Even if Emmanuelle worked hard and was resourceful, miraculously formulating a highly feasible military plan, without the perfect coordination of the staff system and relying solely on the military chief, it would be impossible to implement the plan on paper. implement.

Germany's general staff system tells the world that modern warfare is a complex act that can no longer be commanded and responded to solely by relying on the personal experience and knowledge of military commanders.

Constantine planned to take advantage of this opportunity to reorganize the army, rather than simply adding some technical weapons to the army.

Upon hearing Constantine's request, everyone present was attracted to his attention.

"Your Highness, do you want to reorganize the army? Even if it can be done, it will probably take a long time to adjust," Emmanuel said.

After that, no words were spoken, just looking at King George.

After all, he was the supreme commander of the Greek army.

King George kept rubbing his eyebrows with his left hand, considering Constantine's proposal, and finally made the decision: "Since the high military expenditure of 200 million drachmas has been spent, let's try to be as perfect as possible."

"From today on, Prince Constantine's military rank will be raised one level, from brigadier general to major general, to assist the chief of general staff in carrying out necessary reforms in the army," George I said to everyone majestically.

Although the king's words were to ask Constantine to assist Emmanuel in reorganizing the army, everyone understood that it should actually be the other way around, asking Emmanuel to assist Constantine.

When the matter with the Greek army came to an end, Emmanuel asked Constantine: "Your Highness, I heard that the Congolese government wants to purchase warships?"

"That's right." In fact, everyone including Banning understood that in name it was Congo purchasing warships, but in fact it was Greece.

Emmanuel was curious about this matter because Greece's navy was weak.

There are hundreds of thousands of Greek people living on the islands in the Aegean Sea. Once there is a conflict between Greece and the Ottoman Empire, the navy will be indispensable to regain these islands.

However, after the Greek government invested 200 million marks in army military expenditure, it will not be able to take care of the navy in the short term.

Therefore, Emmanuel asked this question.