Chapter 272: In Hoc Signo Vinces
King Ferdinand leaned over and whispered to one of the men bearing witness to this historical event. The man in question was recording the words that had been spoken by all those who were present for these negotiations.
And after a slight nod of his head, the man stood up and departed. This act caught the curious gaze of the leaders of the Central Powers, of which King Constantine I of Greece was the most belligerent, and was thus quick to interrogate his Bulgarian Peer over what he had just done.
"And what, pray tell, is your pawn up to in our absence that is so important that he must disregard his job as the scribe for this meeting?"
Ferdinand obviously did not take kindly to the implications that he was somehow plotting or scheming against the backs of those he was trying to negotiate with and was thus compelled to reveal his hand, even if it was a bit sooner than he wished to do so.
"If you must know, Constantine, I was telling my subordinate to go contact a representative of Waffenwerke von Zehntner and establish a proper meeting face to face so that I can purchase the rights to domestically manufacture their equipment as the Kaiser has just given me his blessing…"
A bold move by the King of Bulgaria, the Kaiser had not outright agreed, merely stated that he could be willing to give permission to the von Zentner family if such a card were in play, but he did not state that he had explicitly done so.
Either way, this aggressive attachment had forced the Kaiser to relent on this regard, for to declare that the King of Bulgaria had "misunderstood" his words would be as good as killing these negotiations here and now.
A certain amount of face had to be saved in diplomatic meetings among monarchs, even if one monarch was in a vastly inferior position to the other. And thus, Wilhelm sighed and shook his head before continuing his train of thought.
"Again, I must reiterate, though I can grant permission to the von Zehntner family to license the manufacture of their weapons to Bulgaria, it is ultimately up to them whether they choose to proceed with the sale.
Either way, in the meantime we need to get back to the matter at hand. It is simple; we need military access through your southern border in order to attack the Ottoman Empire in the West, while simultaneously attacking them in the East.
And in doing so ensuring a quick end to the roaches who have been a plague in the Balkans for far too long… So, considering that these lands that we must pass through in order to commence with our operations are disputed between yourself, and my ally Constantine…
How about I alleviate some of your fears by assuring you that every single soldier in the Hellenic Army who will be taking part in the invasion of Eastern Thrace will be sent through the Black Sea rather than through your borders?"