Leaving Britain and France aside, let us return to the Mediterranean.
For the current Greek government, there is a very embarrassing thing. That is, although Greece has ceded the former Bulgarian territory in the north, Romania still adopts an aggressive attitude towards it. In Albania, Italy has also made no secret of its attitude towards Iran.
Pyrus and Corfu ambitions.
Especially after the British Mediterranean Fleet lost its combat effectiveness, this attitude became more obvious. As far as Greece knows, Romanian troops who participated in the Polish war are continuously entering the Thrace region through the Bulgarian mountains.
As far as Greece knows, Romania currently has at least 300,000 troops in the region, many of whom are elite troops who have just arrived from Poland. As for the Italian army in Albania, the number of troops deployed there has also increased from 35,000 to 35,000.
to 56,000 people.
In the face of the increase in troops from Romania and Italy, the Greek government did not do anything. On the one hand, they suppressed the domestic opposition to the two countries (to avoid giving them an excuse), and at the same time requested material assistance from Britain and France.
Faced with Greece's request for assistance, the two countries, which were worried about the situation in the Mediterranean, were naturally very willing. They not only agreed to Greece's request for eight divisions of equipment, but also took the opportunity to propose that as long as Greece was willing, the two countries could also provide aircraft and warships.
Faced with the good intentions of Britain and France, Greece declined the uneasy and well-intentioned proposals of the two countries. If Greece continued to accept fighter planes and warships from Britain and France, then war would inevitably break out.
However, Greece's wish failed to come true. Even before assistance from Britain and France arrived, Italy and Romania issued an ultimatum to Greece.
Greece is required to deliver Epirus and Corfu to Italy, and cede Macedonia, Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios and other islands it occupies, as well as islands off the coast of Turkey to Romania.
The island of Rite must also be managed by Romania for 30 years, and then the island can decide whether to stay or leave on its own. Greece is limited to 24 hours to give a reply.
In fact, this condition is much better than what Italy and Romania negotiated before. Because if Greece really agrees, it will save Italy and Romania time, military supplies, and the two countries have achieved their respective goals, so why not
Woolen cloth.
And if Greece objects, then the initial demands of the two countries can be achieved.
Faced with the demands of Romania and Italy, Prime Minister Metaxas, as the Greek dictator, naturally would not make an immediate decision when faced with this ultimatum. He summoned the main government officials and showed them what he wanted from Italy.
Luo's conditions.
The senior military and political officials recruited by Metaxas all looked ugly after reading this ultimatum. No one wanted to see this condition, but Yi Luo, who only gave them a 24-hour time limit, obviously would not delay them.
Opportunity.
Seeing the silent scene, Metaxas said. "I believe everyone has seen this ultimatum. Now everyone can talk about it."
General Papagos, who had the hottest temper and was also the commander-in-chief of the army, immediately said, "We cannot accept such an ultimatum. Anyone who agrees will become a sinner of the nation and the country."
As a representative of the military, General Papagos naturally had the toughest attitude. The military was the first to refuse to agree to such harsh conditions in the ultimatum.
Of course, some people are against it, while others are in favor. Minister of Commerce and Trade Tasamotos said, "I think this condition can be discussed again. At present..."
"No matter how you talk about it, this is completely dividing the Greek territory, and we will never agree to it."
Unexpectedly, before Tasamotus finished speaking, General Papagos was planning his speech.
Facing the army chief who interrupted his speech, Tasamotos waited until the other party finished speaking before asking. "So is the military confident of resisting the attacks of the two countries?"
"Why not? As long as we insist on using the terrain to fight, and wait until Britain and France come to help, we can completely drive the Italian and Roman troops out of Greece."
"I don't know, how long do you expect this to take?"
"As long as we resist for half a year, we can get support from Britain and France. There are many mountainous areas in our country, and we can take advantage of these to delay the opponent's offensive."
At this time, Tasamotus continued to say, "Very good, we can use this method to fight on land, but how are you going to solve it at sea?"
Tassamotos' words made Admiral Papagos stuck. Although he was confident that he could use the terrain to delay the enemy, he had no choice at sea. However, the Greek coastline was long and could easily be exploited by the enemy.
Metaxas' words immediately focused everyone's attention on Navy Minister Zaccherario.
As the Minister of the Navy of Greece, Admiral Saccherario naturally knows his navy well. Facing the attention of everyone, he said, "Everyone in the navy is willing to fight for the kingdom to the last ship."
The Minister of the Navy's treacherous words also clearly showed that the navy has no confidence in stopping the enemy's navy. But then again, how confident are the Greek ships in stopping the Romanian and Italian navies? The two largest warships of the Greek navy were sold to them by the United States.
The Mississippi-class battleships, these two terrible pre-dreadnoughts, should have gone to the shipbreaking yard long ago. However, since Greece has no money, it can only continue to use them.
Admiral Saccherario's words made Tassamotos snort. These people couldn't see the situation at all. If the British fleet was still there, Greece would still have the capital to resist. Now that there is no foreign aid, Greece can only rely on itself.
, what can we do to resist the Italian army?
But what Prime Minister Metaxas said next surprised him even more. The Prime Minister stood up and said, "Okay, now I announce my answer to this ultimatum. Greece rejects any clause of this treaty.
Greece will not sell its territory for a wronged peace. If they want to fight, then let’s fight!”
Metaxas' words received cheers from many people. They could not accept Luo Yi's conditions. Even if Greece is a small country, it must have dignity.
As for Prime Minister Metaxas, who announced the decision, a trace of helplessness flashed in his eyes.
There is no way he can agree to this condition. He signed the Munich Agreement before, which caused his prestige to be greatly reduced. If he agrees to this ultimatum condition now, the public's anger will tear him apart, and he will also be beaten.
Nailed on the pillar of historical shame and beaten mercilessly.
Therefore, Metaxas can only be tough to the end, otherwise it will destroy itself. Since the results are the same, why not leave a good reputation.
Tasamotos quickly calmed down after hearing the Prime Minister's decision. He stopped talking after the Prime Minister made the decision. After the meeting ended, he also got into the car as soon as possible.
"Minister, where are you going now?"
"go home."
Tasamotus, who was sitting in the back seat, looked at the scenery in Athens, with various thoughts flashing through his mind. When he was almost home, he suddenly called to the driver.
"Stop, Wells."
"Okay, Your Excellency."
"Hey~"
As the car stopped on the side of the road, Tasamotos thought for a while and said, "Let's go to the Domore Hotel now. I still have some things to deal with."
"Okay, Your Excellency."
Under the driver's control, the car immediately turned and drove towards the destination he mentioned.
Sitting in the car, Tasamotus looked uncertain because he had made a major decision. Greece could not be destroyed at the hands of Metaxas and others. Someone had to stand up and stop it, and he thought he was the one.
This candidate just needs to go to the Domore Hotel first, because there is a person he needs there.
