Greece to roman road

The gloomy sky was covered with lead clouds, vultures hovered over the battlefield, and the air was filled with the strange smell of carrion, blood and sulfur.

In the open space between the Greek defense lines and the Bulgarian army, corpses were strewn all over the place.

In the next two days, the front near the Nizhnytarovs Fortress became the focus of the battle between the Greek army and the Bulgarian army.

In order to break through the Greek army's defense line, Ivanov adopted several methods, changing from a full-line attack to a focused breakthrough, and even a night attack. In order to change the predicament, Ivanov tried all of them.

After five days of offensive, the Bulgarian Army in Kavala still made no significant progress.

Continuous fierce attacks have caused more than 20,000 Bulgarian soldier casualties in just a few days. Ivanov had to bear tremendous pressure and actively stopped the attack.

"Captain Johnkovic, you have been directing the attacking troops at the front these days. I need your opinion. Our attack is not going well. Do you have anything to say?" Ivanov said to the silence in the camp. said the eloquent captain.

The reason why the Bulgarian army's continuous attacks were blocked was because the Greek army adopted unprecedented new tactics. Ivanov, who was responsible for important military tasks, was eager to understand the characteristics of Greece's new tactics, so he would attack the Greek army's defense line during the battle. Several low-level officers who commanded the frontline troops gathered in the camp to find countermeasures.

In just a few days, Johnkovic, a usually optimistic and cheerful junior and middle-level officer, had become taciturn under the frequent baptism of death.

"Sir, I beg you, don't let the soldiers die needlessly. This is a trap. The advantage of the Greek soldiers hiding in the trenches is too great. Our shelling has no effect on the rats hiding in the trenches. "

"When attacking, the Greek soldiers were protected by bunkers and the area to be bombed was very small. However, our soldiers needed to move forward quickly and charge towards the enemy's position. From three to four hundred meters away, the Greek soldiers' rifles could hit us with a high accuracy. Soldiers Shooting"

"In addition to the infantry behind the bunker, when we got closer, there were also Maxim heavy machine guns. The Germans, the sons of bitches, created such evil weapons. Our brothers were swept to the ground in pieces."

"Sir, it is impossible to succeed in a frontal attack on such a position. The soldiers will die in vain."

As a battle-hardened warrior, Ivanov, who was not going well when attacking, was already depressed. Seeing the obedient company commander in front of him, he became furious. He rushed forward, grabbed Johnkovic by the collar, and roared. Said: "It is because of weak and incompetent officers like you that we cannot win."

Ivanov was panting heavily because of his rage. After calming down, he understood that the junior officer in front of him had probably suffered too much mental shock in the past two days. He suppressed his voice and said: "There is no way to break through the damn... A Greek trench?"

The reason why Ivanov is so impatient is because as a senior military officer, he clearly realizes that the situation in Bulgaria is not optimistic.

Bulgaria's economic foundation is not as good as Greece's. Continuous wars have overwhelmed Greece's finances, let alone Bulgaria.

Bulgaria's military operations were almost entirely financed by loans from Germany and Austria.

Hundreds of thousands of prime-age men joined the army, and many more people worked for the army, which brought Bulgaria's domestic production activities to a near standstill.

If the war cannot be resolved quickly within one or two months, it will be equivalent to failure for Bulgaria.

In addition, although the Bulgarian army has an advantage over Greece in terms of numbers, due to bad relations between Bulgaria and all surrounding neighboring countries, some troops have to be stationed in the border areas to contain the other party and prevent the other party from taking advantage of it.

The Ottoman Empire is worried about the loss of Thrace, and Romania also has ambitions for Bulgaria's Dobroga. Once Bulgaria falls into decline, I am afraid that neighboring countries will attack Bulgaria.

This resulted in Bulgaria being unable to concentrate its forces against the Greek army.

The total number of Bulgarian soldiers currently participating in the attack on the Greek defenses is only about 400,000.

The remaining Bulgarian soldiers were forced to station at the border to contain countries that were highly hostile to Bulgaria.

Before the war, the Bulgarian military estimated that the Greek Army numbered approximately 300,000 people. As for the 150,000 Congolese indigenous soldiers mobilized by Greece, they were not included at all.

Regarding the current unfavorable situation, Ivanov can only pray that Germany and Austria can keep the diplomatic commitment they made to Bulgaria when they encouraged Bulgaria to take action: regardless of success or failure, Germany and Austria will guarantee Bulgaria's territorial integrity with national credibility.

It was this promise made by Germany and Austria that finally led King Ferdinand (King of Bulgaria) to make the decision to attack Greece.

Naturally, Ferdinand would not ignore the vicious strategy of neighboring countries that had territorial ambitions for Bulgaria. After receiving this commitment from Germany and Austria, Ferdinand decided to let go and compete with the Greeks for Macedonia.

Germany and Austria stood up for Bulgaria. Regardless of success or failure, they would ensure Bulgaria's territorial integrity and successfully persuaded the ambitious king.

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On June 30, Constantine, who was in Athens, received a telegram from Manugianasky, stating that the Bulgarian army's offensive had been successfully contained.

After receiving the news, Constantine and Chief of General Staff Emmanuel hurried to the Prime Minister's Palace to find Prime Minister Venizelos for discussion.

"Mr. Prime Minister, you should also know the information coming from the Macedonian front," Constantine said to Venizelos in a relaxed voice.

"Your Highness, congratulations to you. Under your command, the Greek army once again successfully repelled the enemy," Venizelos said with a smile on his face.

"Although the war situation has eased now, and it is the Greek army's turn to take the initiative, after all, we cannot directly defeat the enemy with trenches," Prime Minister Emmanuel interjected.

"Now the Greek army is in a stalemate with Bulgaria. Even if the Bulgarians can be defeated in the end, Greece will inevitably fall into a long war. Prime Minister, every day the war is delayed, it will cost the government a huge amount of money. If we can do something diplomatically With some efforts, this war may come to an end quickly," Emma Inur said.

The continuous wars have severely overdrawn Greece's finances. It is everyone's common expectation to end the war as soon as possible.

Venizelos also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece. He was initially appreciated by Constantine. With the help of the royal family, he successfully became the Prime Minister. It was also because of his outstanding diplomatic skills that he stood out.

"Since the beginning of the war, Greek diplomats have been working hard to try to persuade other neighboring countries to join the alliance against Bulgaria," Venizelos said.

"It's just that the Greek army has not made a breakthrough on the frontal battlefield, so countries are still in a wait-and-see mode."

As a wise diplomat, Venizelos will naturally not ignore the irreconcilable conflicts between Bulgaria and neighboring countries, which is a favorable condition for Greece.

During this period, Venizelos frequently urged Greek ambassadors to foreign countries to test the attitudes of neighboring countries in the Balkans.

The governments of the three countries, including Serbia, Romania, and the Ottoman Empire, have recently received many visits from Greek diplomats.

It's just that the attitudes of all countries are surprisingly consistent. All three countries have remained silent regarding Greece's invitation, and even the Ottoman Empire, which hates Bulgaria deeply, is no exception.

"The actions of various countries are not beyond my expectations. They will naturally make the best choice for their country. They will not easily express their stance until the Bulgarian army shows obvious decline."

"Once the Bulgarian army shows defeat, the attitudes of the Balkan countries will naturally change accordingly," Venizelos said confidently.

Constantine agreed very much with Venizelos' analysis. The attitudes of various countries still depended on the performance of the Greek army.

If the Greek army was defeated by the Bulgarian army, Romania and the Ottomans would naturally stay out of the matter and would not be able to provoke the Bulgarian army, which had been winning consecutive battles.

And Serbia will definitely add insult to injury and attack Greece and Macedonia.

By the same token, once the Bulgarian war is frustrated, the three countries that also have territorial disputes with Bulgaria will naturally swarm in and beat the lost dog.

As long as Bulgaria is in trouble, it can take a piece of the pie from Bulgaria at a small cost and with almost no risk. Such a thing that is sure to make a profit without losing money is naturally what all countries are willing to do.

Thinking of this, Constantine asked: "So what are the Prime Minister's plans? Where do you plan to get a breakthrough?"

Now the Bulgarian army's offensive is firmly defended by the Greek army, and the war situation has only entered a stalemate stage.

After all, the use of trenches for defensive operations did give the Greek army a favorable position. It would take a lot of trouble to directly defeat the Bulgarian army by relying on trenches.

The current situation is delicate. Once Greece can recruit a helper to deal with Bulgaria, the stalemate can immediately change in the direction of Greece's victory.

"I plan to visit Constantinople immediately, contact the Ottoman Empire, and then cross the Bosporus, pass through the Black Sea, and go to Romania. As long as I can win over the two countries and join the anti-Bulgarian alliance, there will be no more ambiguous Serbia. There are other options,” Venizelos said.

The Ottoman Empire had lost a large amount of Balkan territory in previous wars and was not afraid that they would not be tempted.

Especially with the loss of East Thrace, after Bulgaria occupied Edirne, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire, there was no buffer between Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria!

The capital of the Ottoman Empire became a border city, always under threat from the Bulgarian army.

In fact, there are also reasons why Bulgaria readily accepted the olive branch extended by Germany and Austria.

As an important member of the Entente, Russia's ambitions for Constantinople were well known to the world.

But after the Balkan War, Constantinople turned out to be only one step away from Bulgaria, and King Ferdinand seemed to have taken this famous city into his hands immediately.

For Russia, Bulgaria is a little brother that it supports - Bulgaria was able to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire only because its big brother, Russia, spared no effort to help.

Now Bulgaria actually made a request to Russia's Constantinople.

During the Balkan War, the Bulgarian army tried to attack Constantinople, but failed.

Bulgaria's performance will naturally arouse the fear and resentment of Russia. As one of the three giants of the Allied Powers, Russia has a huge influence among the Allied Powers.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Bulgaria fell into the arms of the Allied Powers represented by Germany and Austria.

Thinking of this, Constantine couldn't help but admire Ferdinand's plan.

The reason is also very simple. If it stays in the Allies and Russia opposes it, Bulgaria has no hope of getting Constantinople.

On the side of the Allies, Bulgaria had such an opportunity to take the city of Constantinople into its hands.

"The Ottoman Empire never forgets the lost Thrace. As far as I know, the Ottoman Empire now has hundreds of thousands of troops deployed on the new Bulgarian-Ottoman border. Once they have the opportunity, they will never let go of regaining Thrace. Opportunity,” Constantine said.

"As for Romania, it may not be that easy to win Romania into the anti-bulking alliance," Constantine pondered.

After the independence of the Kingdom of Romania, King Carol I was a distant sibling of the Hohenzollern royal family in Germany.

Before becoming King of Romania, he held public office in Prussia.

Because the king was born into the Hohenzollern family, Romania has a very close relationship with Germany.

In other words, if Romania takes action against Bulgaria, it will naturally be opposed by Germany.

Romania is currently a country close to the Allies.

"Your Highness, this is no longer the era when feudal monarchs put personal likes, dislikes and interests above national interests," Venizelos said.

"His Majesty King Carol cannot harm Romania's national interests because of his family ties."

"If King Carol doesn't even have such political awareness, there is no way he can securely sit on the Romanian throne."

Constantine thought of the king who founded the Hohenzollern dynasty of Romania, and felt that Venizelos was right.

Emmanuel, who had been listening, was obviously relieved. These days, Emmanuel, the chief of general staff, has been under tremendous pressure.

If Prime Minister Venizelos's visit goes well and he can win over an ally for Greece, even if this ally does not actually send troops, but just takes some actions in the border area to attract the attention of the Bulgarian army and contain part of the Bulgarian army, it can also greatly share the burden. Pressure from the Greek Army.