Just as diplomats from the seven countries were in Rome, trying to put forward what kind of negotiation conditions would be fair and just to the warring parties, the unprecedented scale of the Battle of Sofia also kicked off. Four hundred thousand Ottoman troops divided into three groups, first heading towards
A fierce attack was launched on three strategic points outside Sofia: Samokov, Ihtiman, and Dupnitsa. The city is surrounded by mountains, and these places are through gaps in the mountains.
The Bulgarians with the capital behind them also burst out with great courage at this time. Relying on the mountainous terrain in this area, they firmly blocked the progress of the invaders. Even the Serbs who came to help in the battle, after understanding this
After the First World War, they fought tooth and nail on the battlefield. Because of their tenacious resistance, the Ottoman army's offensive did not start very smoothly. After all, they had fought too smoothly during this period and seriously lacked experience in attacking difficult situations.
There were more than 5,000 casualties on the first day.
But for Hamid II, this was just a trivial matter. No matter how stubborn the Bulgarians and Serbs were, when they ran out of ammunition, would they use bayonets to fight against their subordinates' rapid-fire rifles, submachine guns, and even machine guns and cannons?
The consumption of an army of 600,000 is a terrifying figure, especially for those new recruits. It is possible to fire hundreds of rounds of ammunition a day. For armies like theirs, even machine guns and submachine guns consume tens of millions of rounds of ammunition every day. This is just
Speaking of bullets, not counting artillery shells and grenades, all external supplies to the Serbian and Bulgarian armies have been cut off. Even if they still have some domestic military industry, it is sheer fantasy to supply them for such a war.
But the Ottoman army did not need to consider this issue. A steady stream of arms shipped from Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Sweden landed in Istanbul, as well as China. Although the British intercepted the Suez Canal in the name of neutrality,
All Chinese merchant ships transporting arms, but the worst is possible, they will unload directly in Aqaba. Then they will be transported by truck to the port of Jaffa, where they will be loaded onto the Ottoman Empire's own merchant ships and transported to Istanbul.
There is actually no suspense in this battle. The winner has been decided in terms of logistics. The Bulgarians and Serbs are just struggling to the death. In addition, they also have some naive illusions, such as asking their ally Greece to
The navy was dispatched to block Ottoman shipping. Unfortunately, their smart ally rejected them again. Of course, they didn’t really refuse, they just agreed but couldn’t do it, because at this time, the Swedish Young Shipyard gave Hamid
The two perfect battleships built by Emperor II were completed. Although as a neutral country, such ostentatious arms could not be provided now, they sailed directly to Trieste, the port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was also neutral.
Another group of Ottoman sailors responsible for receiving the ship also arrived here. Obviously, if necessary, there will be legendary stories of these sailors stealing the warship and then leaving.
If the Greeks might have had some luck before, but after the arrival of these two battleships, they no longer had any illusions. The diesel fleet did not even dare to leave the military port, let alone attack the Ottomans.
If they dare to go out to provoke, the Ottoman navy will definitely be happy to completely eliminate this hidden danger.
Fortunately, Ferdinand I, who was in desperate situation at this time, got good news. Just when the Ottoman army flattened Ihtiman with overwhelming artillery fire and opened the passage to Sofia, the seven major powers in Rome were
Britain, France, and Russia took a tough stance. If further research failed to produce results, they threatened to form a separate group to mediate, and finally worked out fair and just negotiation conditions.
The Ottoman Empire and the four Balkan Alliance countries maintained their pre-war borders, and the other four countries paid 30 million pounds in war compensation to the Ottoman Empire.
After the study results were obtained, the seven-nation mediation team officially handed over the negotiation proposal to the five warring countries. Naturally, the four countries of the Balkan Alliance accepted the request for ceasefire and peace talks without any hesitation. However, when the proposal was handed over to the Ottomans,
While there, they received a piece of unfortunate news. Due to worrying and overworking all night, His Majesty Hamid II was unfortunately ill and was currently bedridden. He was no longer able to preside over work. For such a major matter as the armistice and peace talks, he
Naturally, the ministers cannot decide, so they need to wait. Experts from Yang's Medical Center are currently conducting consultations with His Majesty. It is estimated that he will be able to deal with government affairs in as little as one month and as little as half a month.
When this news reached Sophia, Ferdinand I almost cried, Damn, you are trying to kill me!
But it's useless no matter how anxious he is. A dignified emperor is already so ill. Even the seven major powers have no reason to drag him up from his bed and force him to agree to start peace talks. We are all civilized people. Why?
He may have acted such a barbaric way, even if everyone knew that he was pretending to be ill, he would still be treated as if he was really ill. For a time, monarchs from all over the world sent princes and princes to visit him. It is said that the news came back that this person was
His Majesty the Emperor is in a state of being filled with tubes all over his body, as if he has not yet passed away. People can't help but wonder whether his half-month recovery period is enough.
However, Hamid II's illness also released a message that he is not ready to continue to attack Serbia until he captures Sofia, at least not yet. In fact, this is understandable, although he is not ready to attack Serbia.
I would mind helping Emperor Joseph to cripple one of Serbia's legs, so that the Austro-Hungarian Empire could move south to invade Serbia, but if you help him cut off all his limbs, it would not be a good thing for the Ottoman Empire.
He could cripple Serbia, but it would not be in his interest to completely cripple them and leave them powerless to fight back when the Austro-Hungarian Empire invaded. After all, he also needed someone in the middle to separate him from Emperor Joseph.
On the road to eroding the Ottoman Empire over the years, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not much slower than Russia or Britain.
Therefore, a Serbia with a certain resistance capability is very beneficial to him. As for Bulgaria, it is different. This country must be completely defeated. Their geographical location is too dangerous for the Ottoman Empire. To put it lightly,
A country that can reach the city walls of Istanbul with a single charge must be completely defeated and beaten until it can never stand up again.
The news he released made Britain, France and Russia breathe a sigh of relief. Although the complete defeat of Bulgaria was not good news for them, at least Serbia was retained for them. With this country, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also
Part of the energy needs to be allocated to deal with it, and as long as Serbia is not affected by the war, it will not be difficult to develop again in the future. After this war, they will no longer have the courage to expand their territory. It can be said that the British, French and Russian
Some goals have still been achieved.
For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, although this result was not perfect, it was still acceptable. The Serbs had already suffered more than 200,000 casualties in this war. Even if they were not defeated, they still had a broken leg.
When all forces acquiesced to Hamid II's goal, Bulgaria became a destined victim. Unfortunately, Ferdinand I didn't know it at this time. His prime minister went to the embassies of Britain, France and Russia every day, hoping that they could
Give yourself a hand, as long as Hamid II is willing to cease the war, even if he pays more compensation, it will be fine.
Unfortunately, his efforts were doomed to be fruitless.
Even the Serbs fighting alongside him understood the situation clearly. After the news that Hamid II might recover in half a month reached Serbia, the hundreds of thousands of Serbian troops outside Sofia became obviously distracted.
The Ottoman army is still advancing slowly like a steamroller. As the battle progresses, the ammunition supply problem of the Serbian-Bulgarian army becomes more and more serious. After the Ottoman army breaks out of the mountains and enters the plains outside Sofia, even the main force of the Bulgarian army will have to fight.
When there were no bullets, they used bayonets to fight the invaders. As for high-end goods like artillery shells and grenades, they were even rarer. Even machine guns began to be smashed on the position because they had no bullets.
The helpless Ferdinand I did not care about his face. While preparing to escape from Sofia and take refuge in Serbia, he proposed peace to Hamid II. Unfortunately, his peace request did not receive a response, and he knew that his situation was over.
His Majesty the King, at night when Ottoman artillery shells fell on his capital, quietly boarded a train that had been prepared and fled to Belgrade with the main members of the royal family and some ministers.
Just after he left, the Bulgarian soldiers and civilians, who did not know that the king had abandoned them, continued to resist in the city of Sofia for three more days before the city finally fell. The Ottoman army that captured Sofia suffered nearly a death and injury in the street fighting.
Thousands of people, in order to vent their anger, just like their ancestors who fought against the city of Vienna, looted the city and then burned it to the ground.
As the fire in Sofia ignited, the Ottoman Emperor Hamid II, who had been said to be dying, miraculously recovered after being fully treated by experts from the Yang Medical Center, and soon began to handle government affairs.
The first decision he made was to agree to the proposal of the Seven-Nation Mediation Group to cease the war and hold peace talks. It is said that His Majesty the Emperor blamed himself for delaying the peace process in the Balkans because of his illness, and even severely reprimanded his ministers.
As for the fire in the city of Sofia that was unfortunately caused by the explosion of artillery shells, we expressed great regret and urged the Ottoman army that occupied the city to quickly control the fire and provide treatment for the victims. (To be continued...)