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"What are you going to do about Greece?"

"Of course I have to scold you. If you don't take this opportunity to fix your messy hair, you'll definitely get in trouble again. "Aren't Albania and Bulgaria also threatening to deal with Greece?"

Not to mention Albania, which was invaded, Bulgaria, whose territory was lost to Greece after its defeat in World War I, did not want to miss the golden opportunity to regain its lost territory.

And Greece, along with Yugoslavia, is a pro-British country recognized in the Balkan Peninsula.

Now that war has already broken out, Britain's influence in the Balkan Peninsula will be completely removed by using Albania and Bulgaria to keep Greece firmly on the ground.

This is my plan.

"But there is no need for us to step forward. "Albania and Bulgaria can be used."

Relations between Germany and Greece are not very good, but they are not bad either, and Greece exports minerals such as chrome to Germany.

Therefore, in order to maintain relations with Greece even after the war, it is somewhat difficult to engage in a direct war. Warfare costs must also be taken into consideration.

So what was chosen was not to fight Greece directly, but to send reinforcements to Albania and Bulgaria to properly punish Greece.

"Marshal Goering. I would like to send some of the air force to the Albanian and Bulgarian armies to attack the Greek army. What do you think? Is that possible?"

"It is quite possible, Mr. President. But in this case, wouldn't the Greek military find out about our air force's participation in the war?"

"That's why we paint our air force fighter jets and bombers with Albanian and Bulgarian military paint. "If you refrain from using radios as much as possible, the enemy will not notice."

Even in the Korean War, the Soviet Union did not directly participate in the war, but instead dispatched its air force to support communists.

At this time, Soviet pilots fought against the UN forces by flying fighter planes painted as People's Army and Chinese Communist forces to hide the fact that they supported the Soviet Union. The UN forces, saying that there are no eternal secrets, also found out about the Soviet Air Force's participation in the war through information collection, radio interception, and securing prisoners. Due to the decision of the Truman government, which was concerned that the war would escalate into World War III, the UN forces had no choice but to pretend not to notice the intervention of the Soviet Air Force until the end.

Even in the Donbas War, Russia has a history of attempting to intervene by disguising its troops as pro-Russian rebels. In this case, it was quickly discovered.

Even if it is revealed, there is nothing Greece can do.

Even if they protest against us, we can just ignore them and there is no way Greece would declare war on us.

Are these people who are overwhelmed with just Albania and Bulgaria going crazy and declaring war on Germany?

Therefore, it is okay to intervene openly without the need to paint, but since there is no need to make the job as big as possible, a minimum level of sincerity must be shown.

"In addition to the air force, we also repainted tanks to fool the Greek military. "We can deny that we only sold weapons without participating in the war, and if we arbitrate a ceasefire by claiming to be mediators at an appropriate time, we can suppress the spread of anti-German sentiment in Greece to some extent."

"Hoo?"

"It's a good strategy. "I will immediately instruct the front-line units."

***

April 26, 1941

German Foreign Ministry building in Berlin

"Minister Ribbentrop, is that true?"

The Greek Ambassador to Germany's face lit up at Ribbentrop's words. Ribbentrop raised his coffee cup with a relaxed expression.

"of course. Why would I lie to the Ambassador?"

The Greek ambassador earnestly asked Ribbentrop to set up a meeting with Fuhrer Hitler.

When Yugoslavia collapsed in a week, Greece suddenly found itself in a crisis where it would have to deal with Albania, Bulgaria, and possibly even Germany on its own.

Greece, with its feet on fire, had no choice but to lie flat against Germany and crawl to survive. Because the only country that could mediate between Albania and Bulgaria was Germany.

Ribbentrop responded to the Greek ambassador's request that he could not meet with the Fuhrer because he was too busy, but that he would send a ceasefire proposal to Albania and Bulgaria as soon as possible because he knew what situation Greece was in.

The Greek ambassador looked relieved, as if the stress had finally eased.

"Thank you very much, Minister. If it weren't for the minister, what kind of trouble would Greece have been in? ."

"Greece is an important trading partner for Germany, so how could we so arbitrarily refuse Greece's request?"

Ribbentrop, who had been chatting with the Greek ambassador with a friendly smile, suddenly withdrew his smile and put down his coffee cup.

"but."

"?"

"That doesn't mean the President has good feelings about Greece. When the Fuhrer asked Greece to remain neutral, Greece ignored the Fuhrer's request. "The President is still angry because of that."

"Well, I don't have anything to say… . "It's definitely Greece's fault."

The Greek ambassador suddenly became thoughtful and stuttered.

As expected, things didn't turn out well. The urgent fire was extinguished right away, but it will be difficult for Christ to escape safely after incurring Hitler's wrath.

"He said that if Greece betrays Germany's trust this time, then we must prepare for war with Germany. "You must keep this one thing in mind."

"Of course, Minister. "I will definitely convey His Excellency the President's intentions clearly to the home country."

"and… .. Since we are still discussing the demands to be conveyed to Greece, I don't think I will be able to tell you within today. Instead, I think we will see each other again in the near future. Well, I hope you stay safe until then."

"Ah, of course… ."

When Ribbentrop euphemistically announced the end of today's meeting, the Greek ambassador quickly stood up. Ribbentrop did not see the Greek ambassador off on his way back to the embassy.

To be stupid. Ribbentrop laughed heartily at the Greek ambassador who ran away.

The ambassador really believed that Germany would not go to war with Greece. Even though, given Hitler's personality, there was absolutely no way he would just let it go.

As soon as they arrive at the embassy, the ambassador will tell Greece that Germany has no intention of attacking Greece, and Greece will be relieved and only think about how to handle the ceasefire negotiations.

Without any idea what would happen to them.

***

April 29, 1941

albanian korzer

"Did you hear the news?"

"News that the war will soon end?"

"okay. "I heard that Hitler will soon call the ambassadors of Albania and Bulgaria and pressure them to end the war."

"That's a good thing. "I was wondering when I would go home."

Greek soldiers on the front lines were hopeful that the war would soon end.

The Greek army, advancing across the Albanian border while singing military songs, soon encountered fierce resistance from the Albanian army and suffered significant damage.

The majority of the Albanian army was able to block the Yugoslav army, so the Greek army was able to drive out the Albanian army and occupy southern Albania, but the damage to the troops and the consumption of materials were greater than originally expected, so they had no choice but to stop the advance.

The lack of logistics capabilities of Greece, a weak country, also had a significant impact on stopping the advance.

The soldiers, who were confident that the Albanian army was a handful, became increasingly tired of the Albanian army's resistance that was fiercer than they expected and the insufficient rations.

To make matters worse, when news of Germany's participation in the war arrived, the Greek army could not help but be shaken.

Fortunately, Germany did not declare war on Greece, but no one knew when it would change its attitude and attack Greece.

Greece was devastated when Yugoslavia was occupied by Germany and its allies within a week.

The people were anxious that they might go to war with Germany, and the morale of the soldiers plummeted.

Claims that an immediate ceasefire was needed, whether it was territorial or not, were pouring in like a flood.

However, Albania, which was on the verge of being hit by Greece, rejected Greece's request for a ceasefire.

The same goes for Bulgaria. While the Greek army was attacking Albania, Bulgaria attacked eastern Greece, and Greece, which started the war with the dream of territorial expansion, was now fighting for its survival.

The Greek army was becoming discouraged as the war, far from being over, showed signs of prolonging. When will I be able to return home? . Meanwhile, news came that Germany would mediate a ceasefire.

When the news was delivered, the Greek soldiers all shouted hurray.

Since Germany, of course, has stepped forward, Albania and Bulgaria will have no choice.

Thanks to Germany, Greece survived and its soldiers were able to return home alive.

Even though we could not gain even an inch of territory, and only the dead soldiers were treated unfairly, what could we do?

A dead person is a dead person, and a living person must live. The Greek army waited excitedly for news of the ceasefire and hastened preparations for withdrawal.

As soon as the armistice was signed, they had to leave Albanian territory.

"What are you going to do first when you get home?"

"First of all, we should have a drink to celebrate that we came back alive. And then the lovely Sonia and the hot-"

"What are these guys talking about who are still far away from being discharged from the military? "Aren't you standing straight at work?"

"Hey, why are you doing that, Inspector Haengbo? "The person who wants to go home more than anyone else."

The Greek army acted as if the war was already over. It was difficult for them to find tension on the battlefield, and the fact that they were stationed in the rear, far from the front line, may have contributed to the lack of discipline.

"uh? "What is that?"

A Greek soldier pointed to small dots in the sky.

"Is it a flock of birds?"

"Do you think those look like birds? "It's an airplane, an airplane!"

"I think it's our air force?"

The Greek soldiers were not afraid when they saw the aircraft in the sky. Because the Albanian Air Force was destroyed at the beginning of the war, it was clear that the aircraft floating in the sky were friendly planes in all likelihood.

However, the identity of the aircraft was not the Greek Air Force. A scream came out of the mouth of the sergeant who was observing the aircraft through binoculars.

"No, fuck! This is not our air force! "It's the right time!"

"yes? "It's the right time?"

"Yeah, it's a red flag, fuck! "It's the enemy air force!"

After confirming that the roundels painted on both wings belonged to the Albanian Air Force and not to the Greek Air Force, the sergeant informed all units of the emergency.

"emergency! "It's an enemy airstrike!"

"Conduct anti-aircraft fire!"

The German Air Force's Ju88 squadron, disguised as the Albanian Air Force, began bombing, heedless of the Greek army's anti-aircraft fire.

When the bombing began, the Greek military positions were instantly devastated.

The Greek positions, which had no anti-aircraft guns and only a few machine guns, were extremely vulnerable to bombing by the German Air Force.

Some pilots attempted dive bombing with the Ju88, which is a medium bomber but is capable of dive bombing like light bombers such as the Stuka.

When the air raid began, the car was hit by a bomb and turned to powder along with the passengers.

Greek troops on the front line were also attacked by German troops disguised as Albanian troops.

Germany attempted to hide its participation in the war by painting its tanks with Albanian military paint and then burning Albanian soldiers on them.

Tankers and pilots were instructed not to communicate unless absolutely necessary.

This was because there was concern that the Greek army would be aware of Germany's participation in the war by intercepting radio signals. Also, Albanian and Bulgarian were taught to the soldiers in preparation for the Greek army's eavesdropping, but when they went into battle, the soldiers forgot all the words they had learned in the dictionary.

"Enemy machine gun position at 2 o'clock. Distance 400, grenade loaded."

"load!"

"launch!"

The 75mm main gun of Panzer 4 spewed fire and silenced the Greek machine gun position.

The Greek army's Vickers light tank tried to stop it, but its 47mm short-barreled tank gun could not even make a scratch on the No. 4 tank.

"Ricochet!"

"shit! "What is that monster!?"

The Greek tank crews were astonished by the No. 4 tank, which ricocheted off shells like a bean.

Before the driver could reverse the tank, a 75mm Type 39 armor-piercing round hit the tank, killing the tank crew.

"Defeat!"

"Hey, this is Germany!"

***

With the support of German armored units and air forces disguised as their own troops, the Albanian army was able to quickly drive the Greek army out of its territory.

In the case of the Bulgarian army, it was much easier to camouflage it because it was originally using tanks and fighter planes imported from Germany.

Greek fighter planes were destroyed on the ground before they could take off, and tanks were reduced to scrap metal as they went into battle.

The Greek army's tanks and fighter jets were nothing more than targets for the German army, which had overwhelming performance and experience.

Under the support of the German army, the Albanian and Bulgarian armies continued to advance and encroach on Greek territory.

Eastern cities such as Ceres, Xanthi, and Komotani fell to the Bulgarian army, and the Albanian army captured Kastoria.

At this point, Greece seemed to have noticed to some extent, and protested through its ambassador to Germany that German troops had participated in the war, but he denied this was true.

The tanks and fighter jets operated by the Albanian army were recently sold to Albania, and the Bulgarian army originally operates German-made equipment, so the rumor that the German army participated in the war is a groundless speculation.

"What happened to the ceasefire talks?"

"Both Albania and Bulgaria rejected our mediation. "They both said there would be no truce until the Greek government accepted their demands."

"Well, like that! Didn't the President say that he would mediate between the two countries? "Why are you saying this now?"

The Greek ambassador became thoughtful after hearing the extent of the requirements of both countries.

I know the situation is urgent, but why are you blaming me for it? I lowered my voice and spoke to the Greek ambassador who was making a fuss as if he had heard that something he had entrusted was lost.

"Look, Ambassador. I understand that the Ambassador is in a desperate situation, but why do you make it seem like it's my fault? Wasn't it Greece that first rejected our mediation? "Has the Ambassador forgotten what happened in the past, or is he just pretending not to know?"

"ah… ...Excuse me, Mr. President. "It was a huge disrespect."

When he pretended to be angry, the Greek ambassador immediately gave in. What are you talking about without even knowing the topic? Don't you know that I am Hitler?

"Tell this to your home country. Will we accept their demands and end the war, or will the war continue? We will keep trying, but the final decision is yours. Do you understand?"

The Greek ambassador walked out of the residence, frozen like a newly transferred private.

As if they could not just be pushed back like this, the Greek army gathered troops and materials and attempted a counterattack, but the offensive was halted within a day due to the disguised Luftwaffe.

As a result, the Greek army suffered a severe blow from which it could never recover, and Thessaloniki was lost to the Bulgarian army.

The Greek government, which judged that there was no hope for further war, finally told me that it would accept the demands of Albania and Bulgaria, and I ordered Albania and Bulgaria to stop advancing.

Now that Greece had effectively declared surrender, there was no need for further bloodshed.

On May 7, representatives from Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania gathered in Berlin to begin ceasefire talks.

As Ribbentrop and I watched, the representatives of the three countries took turns signing the ceasefire agreement.

With Greece's declaration of surrender, the month-long 'Fourth Balkan War' came to an end.

Yugoslavia and Greece, which had started the war, were defeated, while the invaded victims of Albania and Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, which had been gnashing its teeth at Greece, and Germany, won a complete victory.

The war is over, now all that's left is to clean up the mess.