Greece to roman road

Before the war broke out, Edmund Pasha vowed in front of Sultan Hamid that the great Ottoman Empire would teach the Greek dwarfs a harsh lesson.

Although the Ottoman Empire was crumbling, suffering repeated defeats, and its national strength was declining, the existence of the empire was only necessary to maintain a balanced political structure in Europe.

However, before this war, the empire's opponents were traditional European powers, such as Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

As a small country like Greece, the Ottomans really didn't take it seriously.

The Ottomans had a psychological advantage over Greece. You know, it only took a few decades for Greece to become independent from the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire still rules millions of Greeks to this day.

How could those submissive and cowardly Greeks fight so powerfully?

However, the development of the war situation was not as expected.

Less than three days after the war began, not only did the front line fall into a passive position, but they also had to request assistance from the rear.

Edmund Pasha was so ashamed that he was ashamed to think of sending rear troops to support him.

Seeing the hesitant Edmund Pasha, Goltz persuaded: "The frontline troops have fallen into passivity. If we don't immediately mobilize the rear troops for support, will we see the frontline troops being defeated at the hands of the Greeks?"

After pondering for a moment, Edmund gritted his teeth. The situation on the front line could no longer be delayed and said, "Then mobilize the troops stationed in Salonika. They are closest to the front line."

The armies closest to the Thessaly-Macedonian front line are the defensive army stationed in the Salonika area, one division, with about 15,000 people; the second is the 26,000 defensive army in the city of Ioannina, the capital of Northern Epirus.

However, the Ottoman army in Ioannina, after the war, was restrained by the 16,000 men of the Greek Epirus Army, and was able to support the Macedonian Army flawlessly.

Hearing Edmund's plan, Goltz instinctively felt that something was wrong. The location of Salonica was very important. It was an important fulcrum of the Ottoman Empire's power in the Balkans and was also the rear of the Macedonian Army.

With its convenient transportation hub and a safe distance of 100 kilometers behind the front line, the city of Salonika became a transit point for logistics supplies for the front line army after the war broke out.

The supplies transported by the Ottoman Empire from Asia Minor passed through the Constantinople-Thessaloniki-Macedonian front line to supply the frontline legions.

Therefore, after the war broke out, even though Salonika was hundreds of kilometers away from the front line, it was actually very safe. The Ottoman Army still stationed a reorganized division here just to prevent any eventuality and ensure that Salonika was safe. The card is absolutely safe.

Edmund Pasha decided to mobilize troops from Salonika to assist the front line, and mobilized a division of troops, which almost completely depleted the defense force of Salonika city.

Seeing the embarrassment on the German advisor Goltz's face, Edmund explained: "The front line is critical, this is also an expedient measure. Let's ease the tension on the front line first." Edmund Pasha said, rubbing his eyebrows.

"I will immediately ask for help from Your Majesty, requesting Your Majesty to mobilize garrisons from Thrace and near Constantinople to supplement the defense force of Thessaloniki."

Even so, Salonika City's defensive strength will be vacant for more than ten days, Goltz secretly thought.

Just on second thought, there really is no better way at the moment.

It was considered acquiescing to Edmund Pasha's plan.

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Thessaloniki

On November 26, the commander of the Ottoman Empire's Salonika garrison, Ouz Pasha, received an order from the frontline headquarters and ordered the army to assemble urgently that day, inventory supplies, and prepare to support the Macedonian Army and go into battle.

Early the next morning, at the gate of the city of Salonika, a long line of Salonika troops lined up. The soldiers marched in neat steps and formed neatly.

Ouz Pasha seemed to intend to show off the powerful force of the Ottoman Empire and shock the annoying Jews and Greeks in the city.

Therefore, the whereabouts of the army were not concealed and were allowed to be watched by the citizens of Salonika.

Among the onlookers, a little girl in red was sitting on a small bench beside the road with her head lowered. She raised her head from time to time and looked at the troops passing by. At regular intervals, she peeled the beans from the pods. A pea placed in the white porcelain bowl in front of you.

An hour later, the army had already disappeared at the city gate.

The little girl held the porcelain bowl in both hands and ran very fast towards the warehouse district in Thessaloniki.

Seeing Volgaris smoking a cigarette and pacing back and forth in front of the warehouse, he shouted happily: "Dad"

Volgaris walked forward quickly and picked her up.

"Look, Dad, I followed what you said. When the army passed by me, I put a pea into the bowl before I counted a hundred." The little girl held the white porcelain bowl high in her right hand and handed it to Volgaris. He said as if taking credit.

There was an expression on my face that said, "I must be awesome." His young face was full of joy.

"Yes, my little Palasia is the smartest." Volgaris called Palasia with his left hand and took the porcelain bowl with his right hand.

Kuros stepped forward, carefully took the porcelain bowl, looked at the small half bowl of peas, turned and walked into the warehouse, counting the peas one by one.

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Ministry of Defense building in Athens, Greece.

Since the outbreak of the war, even though he did not understand military affairs, King George I still came to the Ministry of Defense building every day to listen to the staff of the General Staff and explain to him the military developments on the front line.

Emma Inur was discussing military affairs with King George. The staff suddenly came forward. After saluting, he said to the two of them: "Report, there is an urgent message from the Salonika Intelligence Office: the Ottoman garrison in Salonika. The 13,000 people supporting the Macedonian front line have set off this morning for the front line battlefield."

Emma Inur was shocked when he heard this, and said with a trembling voice: "It seems that the key conditions of the Athena Plan have been met."

According to previous intelligence, the total number of troops stationed in Salonika was no more than 15,000. Now, in order to relieve the pressure on the front line, the enemy has deployed 13,000 reinforcements.

In fact, Ouz Pasha led a total of 14,000 people to the front line for support, and there was an error of 1,000 people in the intelligence.

Even with little knowledge of military affairs, King George understood the importance of this news.

This means that the garrison in Salonika is less than 2,000, and the defense is extremely empty.

Emma Inur excitedly directed the telegraph staff: "Send a telegram to the navy and implement the Athena plan immediately."

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In the southern part of the Greek peninsula, on the vast Aegean Sea, a special fleet cruised on the sea near Crete.

What’s special about this fleet is that the masts of several warships are flying the flags of Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy and other countries.

Since the declaration of war between Greece and Austria, in order to intervene in the situation, six countries, Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Italy, formed an international fleet to patrol the island of Crete.

The island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean has an important geographical location, located between the Greek Peninsula and Libya, and not far from Egypt and Asia Minor.

For the European powers, controlling Crete had many benefits.

Starting from Crete, it can radiate to many strategic locations, cutting off Mediterranean shipping with ease; the Dardanelles Strait, the throat of the Black Sea; the Strait of Otranto - the gateway to the Adriatic; and the Suez Canal, an important channel from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. .

It is precisely because of Crete's important strategic position that after the Cretan uprising, all European powers had ideas about Crete.