My Italy

Archduke Ferdinand, who was missed by the hot-blooded young man Princip, is on his way here with his wife Sophie Hotek.

That's right, Archduke Ferdinand came to Sarajevo not only to take care of state affairs, but also to take his wife to relax.

Speaking of which, although Archduke Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his marriage to his wife Sophie Hotek was troubled.

Because Sophie was just the daughter of a down-and-out count in Bohemia (down-and-out nobles were automatically reduced by one level), and by chance, she met Archduke Ferdinand at Grand Duchess Christine's house. However, there was a slight gap in status between the two at that time. Archduke Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while Sophie, the daughter of an earl, was just a maid beside the archduchess.

In addition, the Grand Duchess Christine is pursuing His Excellency the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince is not interested in her. Instead, he fell in love with the beautiful maid beside him.

The subsequent result is known. Sophie Hotek, the down-and-out count's daughter, had no reason to refuse Archduke Ferdinand's pursuit, and the two fell in love.

If it had been anyone else, you would have known what would happen next. Sophie would have become Archduke Ferdinand’s lover, and their children would also become the Archduke’s illegitimate children (those without inheritance rights). Later the Grand Duke got married and had a child, and the two continued to be lovers.

However, Archduke Ferdinand did not take the usual path. He was not satisfied with his relationship with Sophie's lover and wanted to marry her.

This was not easy to handle. His uncle, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph I, and other Habsburg people tried to persuade him to change his mind. Because he is the heir to the noble Habsburg family, marrying the daughter of a down-and-out count is nothing.

He, the heir to the empire, was born into a noble family. Not to mention marrying a princess, he at least needed to be the daughter of a grand duke. He also needed a prominent duke from his ancestors, otherwise he would be a disgrace to the Habsburg family.

However, in the face of the persuasion of his family elders, Archduke Ferdinand refused to change his mind and insisted that he would not marry anyone other than Sophie. No matter how others persuaded him, Archduke Ferdinand would not change his mind. In the end, the Archduke chose to marry Sophie, which most members of the Habsburg family considered humiliating and refused to forgive him.

As a price for Ferdinand's acquiescence in marrying Sophie, their descendants will not have inheritance rights. In addition, Ferdinand can no longer mention Sophie's name in public or official occasions.

As for Sophie, who married into the Habsburg family, life was equally difficult.

Although he received the title of Archduchess Hornburg, she had to endure endless humiliation. At royal banquets, she had to be the last to enter, and she was always assigned the last seat at the table, away from her husband.

Such all kinds of suppression made it difficult for Sophie to feel better, so Ferdinand often took his wife to relax when he was traveling.

Of course, as a qualified crown prince, he prioritized getting down to business, so Archduke Ferdinand went to the place where the military exercises were held first and watched the military exercises completed by the 4th, 9th, and 17th Army Divisions. Later, he had a conversation with General Herzendorf, the commander-in-chief of the exercise, Chief of Army General Staff, and the focus of the discussion was Serbia, the hypothetical country of this exercise.

During the conversation, the Austro-Hungarian Army Chief of Staff admitted frankly that if a war was launched against Serbia, Austria-Hungary would not need to mobilize. Then he briefly mentioned his concerns about Russia's attitude.

Regarding the concerns of the Chief of General Staff, Archduke Ferdinand persuaded Russia that it was unable to intervene in the Balkan war due to its greater domestic difficulties. Moreover, the Kaiser also gave him a guarantee that if Russia intervened in the Austro-Serbian conflict, Germany would assist Austria-Hungary.

Well, after resting for one night at the exercise location, Ferdinand and his wife only had one last stop left to visit Sarajevo to complete their trip in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Sarajevo, preparations for welcoming the Crown Prince have already been completed. In the decree issued by Mayor Fehim, he asked the citizens to show hospitality. In addition, he also wrote down the driving route of Archduke Ferdinand (I am sure it is not Insider?). His original intention when writing the route was that he hoped that roadside shops could display imperial flags and flowers on the streets.

As for Princip and the others, with the help of the mayor, they mastered the driving route of the Crown Prince. So the three decided to act separately. Each man took a handful of Brownings and a grenade.

As for the distribution of locations, Grabez prepared on Epiqua Street near the Chumurya Bridge, while Chabrinovitch prepared on the Chukaiser Bridge, and Princip prepared on the Latena Bridge.

If Archduke Ferdinand's driving route does not change, he will encounter Grabez first, followed by Chabrinovitch, and finally Princip.

This was not because Princip had retreated, but because Grabez had the best marksmanship among the three. In order to ensure the success rate, he had to carry out the first assassination. Chabrinovitch, whose marksmanship was not bad, carried out the second assassination. As for Princip, he has the worst marksmanship, so do it as a last resort.

When the three of them were ready, Ferdinand and his wife also arrived in Sarajevo, accompanied by the military governor Potiorek.

When he came to Sarajevo today, Archduke Ferdinand wore the uniform of an Austrian cavalry general, a blue jacket, black trousers, and a red belt. His wife Sophie was also dressed very elegantly, wearing a white tulle and hat, with a bouquet of red roses tied on the hat.

After arriving, Ferdinand and his wife first reviewed the troops, and then the Archduke and his wife boarded a royal convertible and followed the leading car. The mayor and the police chief were sitting in the leading car, and behind the Grand Duke and his wife were three vehicles accompanying them.

A 21-gun salute was fired and the royal parade began.

The cruising motorcade followed the predetermined driving route to show the style of the crown prince and his wife to the residents of Sarajevo. The residents were also very enthusiastic, waving flags and throwing flowers to the crown prince and his wife.

The crown prince and his wife were also very considerate and waved to the enthusiastic residents on both sides.

For a moment, the friendly interaction between the Crown Prince and the residents of Sarajevo was shown.

Soon the convoy will arrive at Epiqua Street and head towards the Chumurya Bridge. At this time, it should be the time for the first assassin, Grabez, to take action.

The value of life cannot be measured by anything, and Grabez may have been able to regard death as home before, but when this emotional impulse gradually dissipated, his views on many things were different.

So when the convoy passed in front of him, the man with the best marksmanship in the assassination team did not take action, but watched the convoy drive past.

Unaware of the danger, the convoy of the crown prince and his wife continued to drive forward, and soon came to the second assassination point, the Caesar Bridge where Chabrinović was. The passionate Serbian young man who was about to assassinate did not hesitate. He unscrewed the grenade. The back cover of the vehicle was thrown towards the approaching vehicle of the crown prince and his wife.

However, when he was about to throw it, a plainclothes policeman noticed his move. His push caused a huge deviation in his aim, and the grenade was thrown directly into the river, making an explosion.

Chabrinović was subsequently arrested by the police.

Ferdinand and his wife were still a little frightened by the assassination they had just suffered. However, as the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, Ferdinand did not want to change his itinerary, so he rejected the mayor's suggestion to change his itinerary. (For nobles, dignity is the most important thing. Princess Sissi was stabbed in the abdomen from behind, but she still wanted to maintain her dignity and did not publicize her death)

Ferdinand and his wife's motorcade then continued to cruise along the established route. We drove all the way to the Latena Bridge where Princip was.

At this time, the lead car suddenly had a tire puncture, causing the convoy to stop here. More importantly, Princip is only 3 meters away from Archduke Ferdinand and his wife. With such a good opportunity, Princip did not hesitate. He stepped forward, approached the target, and fired three shots with a Browning pistol. The first shot hit Archduke Ferdinand in the chest, the second shot in his neck, and the third shot in Sophie's abdomen.

The sound of gunshots made everyone present go crazy, and the driver immediately started the car to take the Grand Duke and his wife to the hospital. Princip, who committed the crime, was directly knocked down by the guards on the side.

Now that the Archduke has been shot, no one knows what this means.

This chapter is considered a chapter with increased rewards. The reward from book friends is enough to reach 100 yuan. I would like to thank you for this.