Bulgarian Empire

One side is Bulgaria, which wants to fight wholeheartedly, and the other side is the Ottoman Empire, which is preparing to go to war. If the results can be negotiated, it will be a 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 mediate diplomatically, 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!" Megev said excitedly

Fei Di said excitedly: "Okay! Immediately issue an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire, and limit them to respond within 24 hours. Either accept our conditions in full, or go to war?"

Due to the intervention of the Germans, the Bulgarian government also had to make concessions in this negotiation. From the beginning of the compensation negotiations, because the Ottoman Empire had no money, in the later stage, the two sides have already talked about compensation with territory.

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

For this reason, Ferdinand also deliberately launched the intelligence department to create momentum within the Ottoman Empire, luring the main fighters to come out to make trouble, hinder the negotiation process, and finally let the Sudanese government persist!

We have persisted before, will the Sudanese government compromise in the last 24 hours? Obviously this is impossible, if they make concessions now, their previous insistence 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 Congress. Then, within half an hour, the Congress completed the vote and passed it unanimously!

On that day, Ferdinand publicly declared war on behalf of the Kingdom of Bulgaria to the Ottoman Empire; on the 15th, the Ottoman Empire also issued a letter of war to Bulgaria, and thus 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. Unfortunately, the Ottoman navy chose to avoid fighting.

As a last resort, the Bulgarian navy could only cover the army first and carry out the island seizure 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 of creating public opinion to put pressure on the Sudanese government.

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

Since being severely damaged by the Russians in the last Balkan War, they have not added a single warship, and even the maintenance of warships after the war has been handled.

Although they still have 12 iron-clad ships, four of them were severely damaged in the last war. The ships were repaired at least, and they could barely go 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 for World War I are insufficient! Except that the decoration of the warship is still luxurious, there is nothing missing!

All this is already an open secret in the high level of the Ottoman Empire, but there is only one person who does not know, he is the supreme leader of the Ottoman Empire - His Majesty the Great Sultan!

Fortunately, the Sultan also knew that the Ottoman Navy's combat effectiveness was not good, and he did not expect them to win the war. He just needed them to go out to sea and wander around, so as to give an explanation to domestic public opinion.

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

Everyone knows that the Bulgarian navy has been equipped with dreadnoughts. Regardless of its combat effectiveness, just looking at their artillery and armor, everyone knows that the Ottoman navy now delivers food when they meet people!

Under normal circumstances,

This bunch of outdated old-fashioned ironclad ships will hurt their muscles and bones if they are hit by a 12-inch (305) main gun, and may even die; and most of them are equipped with 210mm main guns, which can probably be scratched. itch.

It's okay if the artillery power is not as good as it is. It's normal if the range is not as good as it is. It doesn't matter if the rate of fire is not as good as it is.

This can't be blamed on the British for cheating them. Who is the captain of the Ottoman Empire? Basically, they were all before 1874, and the British warships of the same period have all retired!

However, when the Bulgarian navy aimed at Lesbos Island, Sudan became furious, and it was not a problem to just be beaten and not fight back!

If Bulgaria is allowed to follow its own strategy, and when people control all the coastal islands, they can land from wherever they want to land, how can they let it go?

That's right, the Sudanese government made a strategic misjudgment. According to their estimates, the Bulgarians should land directly from Bandirma 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 waters of the Aegean Sea? After all, this is likely to become a protracted war. Even if all the coastal islands fall, it will not be enough to make the Sudanese government compromise!

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

Said that we have reached a traitorous 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 to sea to harass their transportation lines. Is it difficult?

..."

Facing the furious sultan, no one in the Ottoman government dared to shave their beards. They were forced to find a substitute for the dead!

Ahmed Pasha once again appeared in everyone's eyes. Last time, this unlucky guy lost to the Russians, and now he has been fired from his job and is at home.

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

At least the main force of the navy is preserved, isn't it? Now that the country is in crisis, of course this kind of elite talent must 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 worrying about naval officers, the Bulgarian army was advancing triumphantly. Ferdinand received good news these days!

It doesn't seem very appropriate to describe it as war, and armed parades seem more suitable! First there was a burst of bombardment by the navy, then the army landed, and it was time to call it a day!

It's not that the Ottomans don't work hard, the key is that the island is small in size, how can they resist with the thousands of eight hundred people deployed on the island?

The Sudanese government is reluctant to use the new type of army it has trained so hard to use as cannon fodder! How powerful can an army with swords and spears be without even a single rifle?

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

Lesbos is an island in the Aegean Sea, 10 kilometers away from Turkey, with an area of ​​1632.8 square kilometers. It has fertile land, rich vegetation, and mild climate. It is considered a relatively important island of the Ottoman Empire.

At this time, the Bulgarian army had already invested five regiments of landing troops, and the main force of the navy had arrived on Chios Island, which created an opportunity for the Ottomans!

Ahmed Pasha, who had just come out of the mountain, knew that it would be useless to defeat the Bulgarian navy, even if his fleet increased tenfold!

In the navy of the Ottoman Empire, none of the ships can catch up with the enemy! To put it simply, if you meet an enemy, it's fine if you win, but if you don't win, you're dead!

This is why no one is appointed to the high-ranking position of naval commander. Everyone knows what it means to take the Ottoman navy fleet with a maximum speed of no more than 16 knots, and go to a decisive battle with the Bulgarian fleet with a minimum speed of 20 knots. !

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

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

The most important thing is the proximity. Lesvos Island is only a dozen kilometers away from the mainland, and it’s not far from the nearest port. Even if you encounter the Bulgarian Navy, you can come back!

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