The Battle of Navarino Bay

by TakisAngel

The Greek Revolution needs a miracle. It's October 1827, and the Greeks are holding onto land by the skin of their teeth against the oncoming Ottomans. A diplomatic negotiation between the great powers and the Ottoman Empire was taking place in Navarino Bay, and Heracles comes down to the sea town of Pylos to see it. Then, the entirety of Greek history is changed.

War of the Stray Dog

A soldier sighed as he grabbed another smoke, looking across the Greek-Bulgarian border with a bored expression and a sleepy mind. It was just another day at the job, waiting for any Bulgars to try an ambush or sneak across the border. The Greek soldier's thoughts trailed off as he continued standing guard, when his dog lumbered up to him and nudged his leg, looking for a good scratch behind the ears. The soldier grinned and reached down to play with his mutt, when the dog's head whipped over to the side of the border.

Suddenly the dog bolted towards the border line between the two rival nations. The Greek cried after it, racing to catch up with his dog before it passes the line of no return. Running and running after his best friend, dashing straight to the border, arms raised and eyes wide.

CRACK! A gunshot rang out through the area as the Greek soldier dropped dead, eyes rolling and body limp. The dog came to a crashing halt, tail between his legs as he lurched towards his owner, lying dead on the ground. It looked over to the source of the gunshot, before glancing north towards the imaginary line man had created for itself.

Dear Heracles,

I express my deepest regret for the loss of your soldier at the the pass of Demirkapia on Belasitsa. It was an accident, one that me and my government are going to take full responsibility for. In response to this tragedy, I am prepared to form a mixed coalition of our officers to investigate this incident.

Again, I am sorry that this incident happened. Hopefully together, Heracles, we can solve the puzzle of his death.

Sincerely,

Ognyan Borisov

(The Tsardom of Bulgaria)

Tsardom of Bulgaria,

First of all, don't call me Heracles. You will either refer to me as the Kingdom of Greece, or simply Greece. You don't have the right to say my human name. Second, I don't believe for a second that this was an accident. Your people have been ambushing and killing mine for decades, ever since you crawled your way out of the Ottoman's grasps. You think I will just let the killing of a Greek officer slip me by? You think that I will bow my head to a country that lost everything in the Great War, and embarrass myself on the world stage? You are a fool if you think I will let you kill my people any longer. You've been doing it for decades, with your Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization spreading terror not only to me but to Yugoslavia as well. Your people never really believed in the treaty we signed after the Great War, and this is proof that you will go so far as killing soldiers simply patrolling borders. So this is not just any ordinary letter.

This an ultimatum.

Here are my three demands on behalf of the Kingdom of Greece and the Greek people at large.

There needs to be full punishment for all those responsible for this crime.

An official apology from your government.

Two million French francs, to compensate for the families of the victims.

In order to enforce this ultimatum, Greek soldiers will be sent to the town of Petrich.

Heracles Karpusi Georgopulos

(The Kingdom of Greece)

The town of Petrich was in chaos. Greek soldiers had stormed into the town on October 22, and everyone was up in arms, trying to get away or join the resistance against the invaders.

A veteran of the Great War shot a gun at a Greek soldier, before ducking behind a building to safety.

A young boy with his father's gun in hand stormed alongside seasoned professionals in the art of ambush and guerrilla warfare.

Bulgars from around the entire region flocked to Petrich to defend the town, and with the guidance of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, formed a defensive against the oncoming Greek army.

Because this was no ordinary town, the Bulgarians cried. This was Petrich, the city all on its own. The city where the extremist created a fortress, a haven for those who thought the war was never over. The ones who screamed for Thrace to be taken back. This was a hive extremism and anger, now the Greeks thought they could just waltz in and take more of their land?! Over our dead bodies, the veterans and the school boys and the generals and the dead men roared.

The Greeks had come in, saying "We only want the money! We will only stay here until we get the money!" but the Bulgars snarled and launched their attack.

A couple hours after the seize of Petrich on October 22, the two countries were at war once more.

"And that's what happened! I swear, I didn't kill the soldier on purpose! Greece just went full warrior on me outta nowhere!"

"Oh like you were surprised I wanted to defend my territory from your stupid terrorists that been causing us pain for YEARS!"

"It was an accident!

"Horse shit!"

The League of Nations listened to the argument, muttering among themselves as Greece and Bulgaria continued to lob insults at each other.

"The only warmonger I see in this room is YOU!" Bulgaria snarled.

"You call me a warmonger when your the whole reason the second Balkan War happened? That's very rich coming from you."

"You will NEVER let that DIE!"

"You stabbed Serbia in the FACE! And what about the Great War?! You were at our throats!"

"I'm trying to change!"

"Again, HORSE SHIT!"

"Alright, ENOUGH! I'm sure the League has had enough of your bickering!" England roared, silencing the hall. "I think we can all come to a decision." The member nations nodded, shuffling their papers.

"May I have word?"

"Go ahead Yugoslavia."

"I fully agree with Greece."

"THANK YOU."

"Bulgaria is a jackass, he's the one who started this whole mess. Just give Greece his compensation." Yugoslavia gave a grin to Bulgaria, and he felt a shiver go down his spine at the malice he saw in her eyes. Dread sunk into his gut, and he knew that one day, Yugoslavia would have her revenge for the Great War. Well, she is part Serbia, so of course she hates me, Bulgaria thought, Greece was a surprise, but at least I can count on Yugoslavia to always be a pain in the ass.

"The League of Nations has come to an agreement. Greece, you must answer to these three terms," England ordered, pushing a list of demands towards the Greek, before he snatched it up and started to read. Mumbling about loud, he reached a part that apparently struck a nerve because he whipped up and and roared, "You want me to pay FORTY FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS?!"

"For compensation," France explained.

"Look, I can understand the rest of the terms. A ceasefire, done. Greek troops withdrawn from Bulgaria? Fine, I can stomach that. But 45,000 POUNDS?! Over my DEAD BODY!" Greece slammed the papers on the table, fuming. The rest of the nations turned around in shock and confusion. Most of them never saw this side of Greece, the bitter angry side he only showed when he was at war. Only at those times did his mouth flow freely, as many could see now.

"This is absolutely ridiculous! I understand and expected maybe some type of compensation, but 45,000?! Do I look like I'm made of money?! I just got out of another civil war, I have a dictator breathing down my neck, I lost the greatest prize I will never get a chance to have again because of a STUPID PRINCE that YOU GUYS threw at me, and you expect me to pay you FORTY FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS?!"

"Greece," England spoke calmly, but from the vein throbbing in his forehead everyone knew he was close to exploding. "Do you accept the terms?"

"I'll tell you what's really going on here. This is because I'm not a great power. Look at what this says: 'because I have invaded innocent lands?' That's your entire justification?! Well, does anyone remember the LAST time someone invaded an 'innocent land?'" Greece glared at Albania, who adjusted her hijab and scowled. "Oh that's right! During the border dispute between me and Albania! Now, tell me again, how did that end?" The room was silent, all eyes on a guilty looking Italy. "Oh yes, I remember. The Italian ambassador, who all wanted Albania to win, got murdered! And then what happened? Italy blamed me! He and his stupid DICTATOR seized the island of Corfu, and refused to let it go until I responded to a list of STUPID commands he had in the ultimatum, which I had 24 hours to respond to! And I did. I had minor adjustments made, to avoid trampling and destroying my honor and dignity for all of eternity, but I agreed to the terms. And what did Italy do? Tell me Italy, what did you do to the refugees in Corfu?"

Italy swallowed as once again all eyes were on him. Head down he whispered, "I bombed them."

"He killed 20 civilians, and wounded 30! The island wasn't even militarized! It just housed refugees from Asia Minor! They looted, plundered, and destroyed my island. I closed my amusements parks, I rang my church bells, and I kept trying to get you to stop senselessly killing innocent people. And how did you react Italy?"

"I stopped trading with you," he whispered meekly.

"You threw all Greek reporters out of your country, you seized all of my boats! Even when everyone condemned your actions, you still kept punishing innocent people for a crime they didn't commit." Greece pointed at Albania, who was now shifting in her chair uncomfortably. "You closed your borders!" He pointed at Yugoslavia. "Serbia was the only one in this room who actually said he would be on my side! And Turkey wanted to use this opportunity to steal Thrace!"

"Greece, enough of this! This matter is already settled," France warned, face then going white as Greece turned his full fury on him.

"Did you bring it to the League of Nations, France? Were you startled by the display of aggression and resolved for justice? Of course not! If you brought it to this room, you would have to answer to the Occupation of Ruhr! You said that we shouldn't discuss this matter in front of all these nations! Italy and France threatened to pull out if we did. So what did the League of Nations decide after the illegal occupation of a defenseless island and killing Greek refugees?"

Yugoslavia answered this time, glaring at the sulking nations of the room for being cowards. "They demand all the things Italy did, and said you had to pay 1,000,000 lires for every day the Italian occupied the island" she hissed at France.

"So I paid 50,000,000 lires along with everything else, humiliating myself on the world stage for accepting your other nauseating terms, and went broke as Italy escaped all persecution, still rich from his looting in Corfu. Italy was allowed, even encouraged to invade and destroy refugees' homes and lives, and got off richer than ever.

"And now we come to this. I simply send my army to one town to ensure payment for grieving families, and you are all acting all sanctimonious about 'justice' and a nation's land being 'seized by a hostile power.' Now is a great time for us to talk about JUSTICE," he spat, glaring at Italy, eyes smoldering with hate.

"ENOUGH!" England snapped, face red, with anger or embarrassment no one could tell. "Greece! Do you accept the terms or not?!"

"This organization has two rules," Greece continued, ignoring the Englishman. "One rule is for the small nations like us, who have to bend to the richer's every whim. The other rule is for the Great Powers, who can do whatever they please and not receive a single scratch from what you call a 'peacekeeping' organization. This League exists only to satisfy the whims of the powerful. And when anyone tries to go the other way ends up being forced more to pay more dearly than any of THEM will ever have to. This League is a sham, a disgrace, and an embarrassment to anyone who calls themselves a peacekeeping nation!" Greece snarled, finally stopping for breath.

"Greece, do you accept these terms or not?" England advised darkly.

"Were you not listening? Are you deaf along with-"

"Do. You. Accept. The. Terms?" England hissed once more, jabbing his finger at the paper Greece had in front of him. Greece stayed silent, fist clenched and eyes smoking with some emotion that resembled hatred if it was lit on fire, pummeled with rocks, and then thrown in the way of a grenade. In response to his silence, England yelled once more.

"DO. YOU. ACCEPT. THE. TERMS?" Everyone leaned in close to study Greece's response, Bulgaria unknowingly holding his breath. After a long period of silence, Greece looked around the room, to each and every member of the League of Nations, who didn't dare look into the Greek's eyes. After everyone had turned away their eyes, he then, finally, sunk back into his chair.

"I accept these terms."

"Good, now we can finally move on." The rest of the meeting passed in a blur, and at the end, two men stood up and left.

One was a worn old man who had seen this too many times, a man who simply wanted the money, and to defend himself against an enemy. The other was a man tired from constantly fighting against the voices that raged inside him, and had to sit and watch as an army seized his town and killed fifty of his people. Both of these men had watched a war unfold because of one accident, one stray dog.

But which one of these them were in the right?