The Rise of the Empire

According to Rupresit's idea, in less than 4 years, everyone can just gather troops and decide the outcome. But soon, the facts told Rupresit what it meant to be counterproductive! In addition to advancing technology, carrying out military reforms, and accumulating supplies, a formation of four German dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts, led by Germany's first super-dreadnought Helgeland, began its first circumnavigation of the world. And just when the German fleet had just entered the Caribbean and was preparing to chat with its American allies, something happened in the Balkans!

On September 15, 1908, three Dandong-class battleships flying the Greek flag appeared in the Aegean Sea. The next day, the four countries of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro suddenly announced the establishment of the Balkan League. However, on September 20, 1908, the four countries simultaneously declared war on the Ottoman Turkish Empire! Caught off guard, the Turkish Empire could only rely on its less than 100,000 troops in Europe to resist the opponent's first wave of attacks of up to 400,000 troops!

In this case, faced with a group of nationalist leaders who were trying to build armaments by selling iron and steel, and at the same time received strong support from the Allied Powers, the Balkan Alliance, Turkey, which hastily responded to the war, was naturally defeated and lost its troops. Turkey's reinforcement plan also fell through because of three Dandong-class battleships flying the Greek flag. It is very slow to mobilize troops from the depths of the empire by land, and it is impossible to cross the Aegean Sea by sea. The only relatively modern armored cruiser of the Turkish Navy, the Prince Albert, cannot do anything larger than itself. Dandong-class quasi-dreadnought ship, not to mention there are three more!

The younger brother was beaten unexpectedly, and there was nothing he could do in a short period of time, so he naturally turned to the older brother. On the third day after the war broke out, the Turkish ambassador to Germany sent a diplomatic note asking for help. That afternoon, the relevant documents were delivered to Rupresit's desk in the form of a telegram.

"This is a good time." Rupresit had to admit that he made some miscalculations this time. He did not expect that the Allies would dare to instigate the four Balkan countries to attack Turkey when Russia's strength has not yet fully recovered. Wage war. At the same time, the explosive power of the four Balkan countries also surprised Rupresit. How should I put it? To sum it up, the combat effectiveness is quite high!

The total population of the four countries together is just over 10 million, but the first wave of armies has amassed 500,000 troops, a military enlistment rate of 5%! The proportion of this army to the total population has reached that of Germany in the middle and late stages of World War I. It is impossible for Germany to mobilize an army of 5% of the total population in the first wave. That is an army of 3.5 million people! In fact, Germany's first wave of offensive and defensive participation did not even include 2.5 million! But the problem is, Germany is one of the top industrial countries on the planet, but who are the four Balkan countries?

What particularly horrified Rupresit was that Serbia, a country with a total population of only 2.91 million, a population of only 1.5 million men, and a population of only 530,000 soldiers of military age, actually mobilized 175,000 troops in the first place! One-third of all men of working age have joined the army! It’s not an exaggeration to say that it drags the family and everyone along! With this kind of desperate energy, it’s no wonder that in the first battle, a small Seville actually made the Austro-Hungarian Empire feel like a chokehold!

In addition to Serbia, the Kingdom of Greece is not weak either. Greece, with a population of 2.6 million, has also mobilized nearly 100,000 troops, ranking second among the four countries. Moreover, the navy of the Kingdom of Greece has played an extremely important role. Historically, Greece has used a The armored cruisers purchased from Italy firmly suppressed the Turkish Navy and cut off maritime transportation lines. This time, the Greek Navy, which has three Dandong-class battleships, even has enough spare power to provide support to the army.

As a result, the Greek army, with the support of the navy, brought the entire coastal area of ​​the Peloponnese Peninsula under its control. This hand is very good at using the sea to control the land.

The timing chosen by the Entente and the Balkan Alliance was indeed good. The Prussian Army was undergoing army reforms after experiencing a tragic failure at the last exercise ground. It had no time or energy to take care of Turkey's affairs, or in other words, let Germany's internal affairs be for Turkey. Delaying or suspending the military reform is a very costly thing. Not to mention the German General Staff, even Rupresit himself does not recommend going to war under such circumstances.

Using naval deterrence is also a way to at least ensure that Turkey's maritime transportation is smoother. But now, the four main forces of the German High Seas Fleet are in the Americas. The strength of the local fleet has been greatly reduced, and it is impossible to draw a fleet with sufficient deterrence. The fleet went to the Mediterranean to safeguard Turkey's interests. You must know that the Balkan Alliance is backed by the Allies. It can be said that they have a huge advantage in the Mediterranean. Therefore, the final result is that although Rupresit believed that the Allies should not dare to take action against Turkey, in fact, they still took action!

So now the question becomes, how should the German government deal with this matter? One week after the war broke out, Mackensen came to Bavaria on behalf of the Prussian Army General Staff and wanted to discuss the Turkish issue with Rupresit.

"In this case, it is not convenient for the German Empire to intervene. You know the situation of the Imperial Army. We are undergoing a life-and-death reform. No external things should affect this reform, and the Empire's direct participation in the war is very likely to The war has evolved into a major war between the Central Powers and the Entente Powers. The time is not right now. But the Bavarian Army in the hands of His Highness has completed the reform and has a very high combat effectiveness. At the same time, the Blue Army based on your country's elite forces is in the Far East and South Africa. and North Africa's performance is very eye-catching, so the central government of the empire hopes that the Kingdom of Bavaria can turn the tide this time and help our allies tide over the difficulties." Mackensen paused and continued.

"Of course, the military expenses for your legion's participation in the war this time will be borne by the imperial government, and your country can also reach some economic or trade cooperation agreements with the Turkish Empire. These empires will not interfere," Mackensen said. I understand very well, let the Bavarian Legion be a mercenary again, help Turkey solve this crisis, and then watch and reap the benefits.

"No, the Bavarian Army is not suitable to participate in the war this time." Rupresit shook his head and gave an answer that surprised Mackensen.

The third update is here~~~! The Balkan war is just a transition, and there will be a war soon.