On the left bank of the Strymon River, Otto I was burying the corpses of Greek soldiers beneath the land he had just conquered.
(The Strymon River was the boundary between East and West Thrace in this book, not the later Maritsa-Evros River.
Historically, the Maritsa-Evros River did not become a boundary until after World War I.)
At this point, neither the British nor the Russians wanted Otto I to advance any farther. The Greeks' dream of a Greater Greece could only go this far.
The Greeks were all celebrating, because they had won again. Revelry had already begun across Greece, while the soldiers celebrated their survival after the catastrophe.
Greece's great families and political alliances had already begun fighting over the interests in the new territories. Otto I had initially wanted to follow Franz's example and turn the newly acquired lands into Imperial Territory.
However, the power and influence held by Otto I, King of Greece, simply did not support such a move.
Yet compared to the petty men at home, Otto I hated the British and Russians even more.
They had blocked his golden road, the road to the revival of the Greater Greek Empire—yet no one understood him.
Under pressure from Britain and Russia, the Austrian Empire's army had long since withdrawn. Looking at the endless sea of crosses along the riverbank, Otto I swore that sooner or later, he would make the Russians and British pay the price.
Without fail.
Vienna, Hofburg Palace.
The Austrian Empire's high officials showed no surprise at the sudden ceasefire. Many even complained that it had come too late.
"Are we really handing South Serbia and East Bosnia over to the Russians?"
Minister of War Count Latour looked toward Prime Minister Prince Schwarzenberg, whose brows were tightly furrowed.
"Don't look at