With a single order from Ferdinand, the Balkan Peninsula became lively once more, with every country fighting in a furious crackle and pop.
Nicholas I regretted it again. He had only meant to help Romania share a bit of the pressure, yet he had ended up setting himself on fire.
Even with nationwide mobilization, the Kingdom of Montenegro could only scrape together 150,000 troops. Its military-to-civilian ratio had already reached 1:7; excluding the more than 200,000 people in the concentration camps, that ratio soared to 1:5.
Clearly, they had reached the limit of their mobilization—and that was still under the premise that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was providing them with material aid.
Had the Kingdom of Montenegro simply relied on the mountains for defense, it would have been nothing. Ferdinand had no energy to go looking for trouble with them. Unfortunately, this time, they had come out on their own.
First, they launched an attack on Kosovo alongside the Austro-Hungarian forces, but failed. Then they also attacked Albania, though it was merely a probing assault.
Very unfortunately for them, Ferdinand decided to strike at them early for the sake of postwar stability. The troops originally intended to land on the Asia Minor peninsula were deployed against them first.
Twenty divisions of reinforcements, together with the local garrison, totaled 400,000 men. Under Lieutenant General Pariv Hristov's command, they launched a counteroffensive against the Kingdom of Montenegro.
The two sides were not even in the same league. In an age of aircraft and artillery, defeating the strong with the weak was harder than climbing to the heavens.
Moreover, Lieutenant General Pariv Hristov strictly carried out Ferdinand's regional policy: occupy an area, place it under military rule; occupy an area, purge it.
In just one week, Nicholas I lost Gusinje, Ivangrad, Novi Pazar, Lake