Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Chapter 15, let's go to war

One side is Bulgaria, who wants to fight, and the other is the Ottoman Empire, which is ready to go to war. If we can talk about the result, it will be the problem!

Time flies, and it has been more than two months since the multilateral negotiations started on January 5. Even though the Germans have been working hard to conduct diplomatic good offices, on March 12, the negotiations still broke down!

At this time, the foreign minister hurried into the palace and reported the news to Fei.

"Your Majesty, the Kavala negotiations have failed, and the Ottoman Empire has refused to make concessions!" Metev said excitedly

Feidi said excitedly: "Okay! Immediately issue an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire, giving them 24 hours to reply, either accept our conditions in full, or go to war?"

Due to the German intervention, the Bulgarian government had to make concessions in this negotiation. From the initial compensation negotiation, due to the lack of money in the Ottoman Empire, the two sides have already talked about using the territory to compensate in the later stage.

Ferdinand was a little worried, and the Ottoman Empire agreed directly. After all, Bulgaria's appetite cannot be too great in the negotiation. As long as the Ottoman Empire throws out a dozen islands, it is almost done.

To this end, Ferdinand also deliberately launched the intelligence department to build momentum within the Ottoman Empire, inducing the main battle to send out troubles, hindering the negotiation process, and finally let the Sudanese government persist!

The front has persevered. Will the Sudanese government compromise in the last 24 hours? Obviously this is impossible. If they give in now, their previous persistence will become meaningless!

On March 14, Ferdinand convened an interim parliament in Sofia. The Bulgarian government submitted the "Proposal to declare war on the Ottoman Empire" to the parliament. In just half an hour, the parliament completed the vote and passed it unanimously!

On the same day, Ferdinand publicly declared war on the Ottoman Empire on behalf of the Kingdom of Bulgaria; on the 15th, the Ottoman Empire also issued a letter of war to Bulgaria, and the second full-scale war between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire broke out.

This war can be said to be the first show of the Bulgarian Navy. As soon as the war broke out, the Bulgarian navy took the initiative to seek a decisive battle with the Ottoman navy, but unfortunately the Ottoman navy chose not to fight.

As a last resort, the Bulgarian Navy could only cover the army first and carry out the island capture operation, first Samothrace Island, then Lemnos Island, advancing step by step.

In order to force the Ottoman Navy to come out for a decisive battle, Ferdinand still used the old trick to create public opinion to put pressure on the Sudanese government. At the same time, the Navy did not forget to deliberately stay trapped and lure the Ottoman Navy!

It's a pity that Ferdinand still overestimated the strength of the Ottoman Empire's navy. It's not that they don't want to come out for a decisive battle, but that they don't have the possibility of a battle at all!

They haven't added a single warship since they were hit hard by the Russians in the last Balkan war, and they've even dealt with post-war repairs.

Although they still have twelve ironclad ships, four of them were heavily damaged in the last war. After all, the ships have been repaired and they can barely go out to sea. Anyway, the wind and waves in the Aegean Sea are small!

The problem is that the lost artillery has not been replaced, a lot of combat equipment is lacking, and even the ammunition reserves of World War I are insufficient! Except the decoration of the warship is still luxurious, there is nothing missing!

All this is already an open secret at the top of the Ottoman Empire,

But there is only one person who does not know that he is the supreme leader of the Ottoman Empire - His Majesty the Great Sultan!

This is a big trouble. Fortunately, the sultan also knew that the combat effectiveness of the Ottoman Empire's navy was not good, and did not expect them to win the war. They just needed them to go out to sea and wander around to give an explanation to the domestic public opinion.

The navy, who was forced to helpless, can't even find a general who is willing to go to sea. The risk is too great, and the nobles are unwilling to take risks.

Everyone knows that the Bulgarian Navy has been equipped with dreadnoughts, regardless of its combat effectiveness, just looking at other people's artillery and armor, everyone knows that now the Ottoman Navy is going to deliver food when it encounters others!

Under normal circumstances, this bunch of outdated old-fashioned ironclad ships will be injured and even killed if they are hit by a 12-inch (305) main gun; and most of them are equipped with 210mm main guns, probably You can tickle people.

The power of the artillery is not comparable, so forget it, it is normal that the range is not comparable, and the rate of fire is not comparable.

You can't blame the British for cheating on them. Who is the old ship of the Ottoman Empire? Basically, they were all from before 1874, and the warships of the same period as them were retired by the British!

However, when the Bulgarian navy aimed at Lesbos Island, the Sultan became furious, and it was not a problem if he was beaten and didn't fight back!

If you let Bulgaria follow its own strategy and wait for others to control all the coastal islands, then you can land from wherever you want to land, how can you let this go?

Yes, the Sudanese government's strategy was misjudged. According to their estimates, the Bulgarians should land directly from Banderma and attack the Asia Minor peninsula.

After all, after the Balkan War, the Ottoman Navy withdrew from the Sea of ​​Marmara, and the few broken ships left in Bulgaria were enough.

Who knew that Ferdinand would choose to do it in the Aegean Sea? After all, this is likely to become a protracted war. Even if the coastal islands are all occupied, it will not be enough to make the Sudanese government compromise!

The sultan said angrily: "I don't care what reason you have, the navy must be dispatched, you all go out for a walk and listen to what the people have to say!

Said that we had reached a betrayal deal with Bulgaria and gave all the Aegean islands to the Bulgarians!

Otherwise, where is our navy? Even if you can't beat the Bulgarians, at least go out to sea to harass their transportation lines. Is that difficult?

 …”

In the face of the furious sultan, no one in the Ottoman government dared to go to the tiger's beard, and in desperation, he could only find a scapegoat!

Ahmed Pasha once again appeared in everyone's eyes. The last time this unfortunate lost to the Russians, he has been dismissed and left home.

This is a talent, how can it be wasted? It must be activated immediately. Although it was defeated last time, the opponent is the Russians.

At least keep the main force of the navy, right? Now that the national crisis is on the horizon, of course, this kind of elite talent is required to come out!

Oh, don't want to do it? Are you not patriotic? Or are you dissatisfied with the Sudanese government?

So the hapless Ahmed Pasha was once again appointed as the naval commander of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

When the Austro-Hungarian Empire was worried about the naval officers, the Bulgarian army was advancing vigorously. Ferdinand received good news these days!

It doesn't seem to be very appropriate to describe it as war, and armed parades seem to be more suitable! First the navy bombarded, then the army landed, and it was over!

This is not because the Ottomans don't work hard, the key is that the island is small, how can they resist only the 800 thousand people deployed on the island?

The Sudanese government is reluctant to send it over as cannon fodder with the new army that it has been fortunately trained hard for! How powerful can an army with a large sword and a spear be able to do it without even a single rifle?

It was not until the island of Lesbos that the Bulgarian army encountered an organized enemy for the first time, causing a little trouble for the landing army!

Lesbos Island is an island in the Aegean Sea, 10 kilometers away from Turkey, with an area of ​​1,632.8 square kilometers. It has fertile land, rich vegetation and a mild climate. It is a relatively important island in the Ottoman Empire.

At this time, the Bulgarian army has already invested in five regiments of landing troops, and the main force of the navy has reached the island of Chios, which creates an opportunity for the Ottomans!

Ahmed Pasha, who just came out of the mountain, knows that the navy that wants to defeat the Bulgarians is nothing but a dream, even if his fleet is increased tenfold!

Now the navy of the Ottoman Empire, there is no ship that can catch up with the enemy! To put it simply, when you encounter an enemy, it's okay to win, but if you don't win, it's over!

This is the reason why no one assumes the high-ranking position of naval commander. Everyone knows what it means to take the Ottoman naval fleet whose fastest speed does not exceed 16 knots and go to a decisive battle with the Bulgarian fleet whose minimum speed starts at 20 knots. !

Seeing that the main force of the Bulgarian navy had already left, Ahmed Pasha decided to go out to sea for a walk and send a batch of supplies to Lesbos Island.

After all, Lesbos Island is still somewhat well-known in the Ottoman Empire. If it is completely ignored, the domestic public opinion will not be easy to explain!

The most important thing is to be close. Lesbos Island is only a dozen kilometers from the mainland, and it is not far from the nearest port. Even if you encounter the Bulgarian Navy, everyone can run back!

"Adjutant, inform the government to let them raise a batch of supplies, and we will send it to Lesbos Island. It is best to organize another batch of reinforcements, and we will send them there together!" Ahmed Pasha said calmly

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