Romanian Eagle

After retreating to Norwich for three days, Bulgaria continued to move to Jabranica, where they would rely on the terrain of the Balkan Mountains to drag the Romanian army.

At this time, a piece of news that was shocking for Bulgaria came, and the Ottomans declared war on Bulgaria. The commander of the Ottoman army this time was Enver from the al-Shabaab triumvirate, who was then the chief of the Ottoman general staff. He had already done so with the help of General Otto Liman von Sanders, head of the German advisory group. Okay, the military plan for the war.

However, because Bulgaria has shown amazing strength before, the plan can only be a plan for the time being. However, after seeing the heavy losses of Bulgaria after the Battle of Tarnovo, Enver couldn't bear it any longer. He planned to retake the old capital of Adrianople and keep the Bulgarians away from Istanbul. So on July 23, Ottoman officially declared war on relegation Leah. Then 300,000 Ottoman troops set out from Istanbul and Sharkoi respectively, and successively occupied Corlu and Tekirdag in Eastern Thrace.

Bulgaria has less than 20,000 troops stationed locally, and facing the Ottoman army of up to 300,000 troops can only retreat all the way to Adriatic Fort. They plan to rely on this fortress city that was broken by themselves for a while, and of course they will not forget to ask Sophia for help. But now Bulgaria is being attacked everywhere, and there is absolutely no possibility of deploying troops to support them. Now facing this situation of siege from all sides, the idea of ​​seeking reconciliation here is an image left in the minds of Bulgarian high-level officials.

On the second day when the Bulgarian army retreated to Jabranica, Ferdinand I and Lieutenant General Savov, the Minister of War, Prime Minister Geschov and Foreign Minister Tirasloch, who had arrived from Sofia, were at his residence. Discuss this matter secretly.

Ferdinand I was sitting in the main seat of the room, looking at Prime Minister Geschov with silver hair on his left, Lieutenant General Savov, who was still looking ashes, on his right, sitting next to the Prime Minister and looking down at the ground Dilas Lodge Foreign Minister. A feeling of loss could not be expressed in his chest for a long time, but he still forced himself to ask the ministers he trusted most.

"What should we do now in this situation?"

Facing the question of Ferdinand I, Lieutenant General Savov, with a gray face, glanced at Prime Minister Geschov, apparently hoping that the Prime Minister would come up with an answer that would not satisfy all Bulgarians. Foreign Minister Dirasloch, who bowed his head, also looked at the Prime Minister beside him, and it seemed that he also hoped that Prime Minister Geschov would come to make this head.

Seeing that several people in the room were looking at him, Prime Minister Geschoff had to bite the bullet and say. "Your Majesty, we have no chance of winning in this war. We can only invite Germany and Austria-Hungary to mediate this war. At the same time, we request a truce from the participating countries."

When he said the final armistice, he seemed to do his best, and after that, Prime Minister Geschoff slumped into his seat. Seeing the appearance of Prime Minister Geschov, Ferdinand I could not continue to ask him any more. He looked at Lieutenant General Savov, the Minister of War. Lieutenant General Savov, who was being watched by him, was much more agile this time, probably someone started. He sorted out his thoughts and started talking.

"I think the Prime Minister's opinion is advisable, we in the Bulgarian army now have only 330,000 people left. And we were short of ammunition and support weapons after the Battle of Tarnovo, most of them were destroyed in this battle Now that we are powerless to resist their invasion on all fronts, we can cut some losses by truce."

After speaking his views, Lieutenant General Savov talked about the recent situation on various fronts in order to enhance his persuasive power. "Everyone knows the situation on our and Romanian fronts, so I won't introduce more. Now I will talk about the Greek front. They broke through the defense of the Second Army three days ago under the leadership of King Constantine. Now The troops had already approached the city of Thessaloniki, and the Second Army sent a telegram saying that if they could not get reinforcements, they would not be able to withstand the Greek army of 50,000.

"

Hearing the words of his Minister of War, all the Bulgarian decision-makers here did not speak, and Lieutenant General Savov continued to talk about the war in Macedonia.

"Now Serbia has also launched an attack on our defense line in the Macedonia area. Among them, the Serbian Army, under the leadership of its commander Marshal Putnik, has entered the Macedonia area again, and our local army can only be supported. The third army We have retreated to the Kochani area, and most of the Macedonia we occupy now has been recaptured by Serbia. There has not been much attack on the border between the country and Serbia. It is estimated that Serbia hopes to take most of Macedonia and is here to discuss with us. A fait accompli."

After talking about the Serbian side, Lieutenant General Savov did not stop talking about the Ottoman side. If it is said that the Bulgarian army can still resist on other fronts. Then in Eastern Thrace, the Ottoman army was like entering no man's land.

"Now our most dangerous area is Eastern Thrace. Our 20,000 troops there are completely unable to resist the Ottoman army of 300,000. Although they have slowed down the speed of the Ottoman advance by destroying road facilities, they have little effect. Now that the Ottoman army is approaching Luleburgaz, they are only 20 kilometers away from Adriatic Fort, and they will arrive there in a week at most, and it is absolutely impossible for us to hold it."

In fact, Ferdinand I knew exactly what was going on on all fronts in Bulgaria now. He asked Lieutenant General Savov to tell the purpose of these military intelligence, and he still hoped that someone would come forward and lead the Bulgarian delegation to negotiate with various countries. This time, his candidate is actually Prime Minister Geschov. As a prime minister of a country, he has enough weight, and after signing the talks, he can also let him go out of office to ease the grievances of the Bulgarian people.

Prime Minister Geschov actually knew this, but now only he and King Ferdinand I can negotiate on behalf of Bulgaria. It is impossible for the king to participate in the negotiations, so he was already prepared before Sofia came. But no one wants to give up power like this, but now Bulgaria can't find a better candidate than him.

Ferdinand I agreed with the Prime Minister's opinion under the explanation of Lieutenant General Savov, the Minister of War.

"Then do as the Prime Minister wishes."

After saying this, Ferdinand I looked at Dirasloch, the foreign minister who had been a transparent person for a night.

"The foreign minister needs to trouble you with this matter."

Foreign Minister Tirasloki gave a shudder, and immediately stood up and replied. "I have no trouble at all for Bulgaria."

Seeing the foreign minister's more clever appearance, Ferdinand I told him. "We first issue a truce request to the countries participating in the war, and then let Austria-Hungary and Germany support our proposal and persuade the countries to truce. Do you think it is feasible?"

Prime Minister Geschov is ready to be laid off after negotiations, but he is still prime minister, he said after thinking about it. "Your Majesty, except for the Ottoman Empire, I believe they will all accept this proposal."

After hearing Prime Minister Geschov's words, Foreign Minister Dirasloch asked worriedly. "So how do we deal with the Ottoman offensive?"

Lieutenant General Savov answered this question on behalf of the Bulgarian military.

"This is simple. As long as other countries agree to a truce, I can guarantee that the Ottoman army will not dare to attack alone."

"Then let's do it like this." Ferdinand I said firmly.

Then after the secret meeting, Foreign Minister Dirasloch sent out the news of Bulgaria's request for peace.