Having received Ferdinand's reply telegram, Nicholas II was so furious he nearly spat blood. In his eyes, the Russian Empire had been played by its allies this time!
The supplies promised by the United Kingdom and France had yet to arrive, while the Germans' main force had already reached the Eastern Front. The people who had previously sworn guarantees now did not dare make a sound.
They had solemnly guaranteed that Bulgaria would advance these supplies first, yet the answer that came back was: there were not that many supplies!
There was no way to verify this. The warehouses storing supplies were scattered across various regions, and aside from a handful of people, no one knew how large Bulgaria's strategic stockpiles actually were.
Since the outbreak of the World War, everyone's strategic reserves had been steadily dwindling through consumption. The total amount of these supplies nearly matched Russia's previous reserves; it was only normal that Bulgaria could not produce them.
It was precisely because he believed he had figured it out that Nicholas II felt he had been duped. It was plainly a bad check, yet he had actually believed it!
"Where are the supplies promised by the United Kingdom and France, my Foreign Minister? Didn't you say that even if transport capacity fell short, Bulgaria would advance them first?" Nicholas II demanded furiously.
Russia's Foreign Minister, Sazonov, had kept his head lowered from the very start, trying to diminish his presence, but he still failed to escape notice.
"Your Majesty, Alliance submarines have been running rampant across the Mediterranean Sea lately, and Entente cargo ships have suffered grievous losses. Many of the supplies originally meant for us have sunk to the bottom of the sea, so the arrival of this batch may be delayed," Sazonov said awkwardly.
He already