It was easy enough to understand why East Africa had drawn a line between itself and this so-called New Kingdom of Dalmatia. Although East Africa intended to cultivate a mixed-blood German region within the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, that did not mean its interests completely aligned with those of the locals. Moreover, once the local mixed-blood Germans understood the rules of the European game, they might not entirely obey the East African government's commands.
This was fundamentally different from overseas territories directly administered by East Africa. Thus, the former Neretva region had always been a pro-East African force cultivated by East Africa, rather than a complete puppet.
Furthermore, given the uncertainty surrounding the Austro-Hungarian Empire's ultimate fate, East Africa could not further interfere in the local situation. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire vanished into thin air as it had in the previous life, the Central Powers would very likely purge the region after the war. Only a flexible diplomatic policy could ensure that East Africa remained invincible.
It was just like the Western support for Ukraine in the previous life: everything was the Ukrainian people's own choice, and they would absolutely never admit to offering even "insignificant" assistance.
Thus, the New Kingdom of Dalmatia was destined for a fate full of twists and turns. Whether it could gain a foothold in Europe would ultimately depend on its own resilience. East Africa would never admit to being the force supporting it from behind, even if every country knew perfectly well.
Belgrade.
At this time, Belgrade had become the front line where the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia clashed. After briefly taking Belgrade last year, the Austro-Hungarian Army had withdrawn entirely back across the border because of Potiorek's incompetence. Only at the end of the year had the Austrian forces managed to halt their