After retreating to Norwich for three days to repair, Bulgaria continued to move to Jablanica, where they would rely on the terrain of the Balkan Mountains to hold back the Romanian army.
At this time, news came that was shocking news for Bulgaria. The Ottomans declared war on Bulgaria. This time the commander of the Ottoman army was Enver, the leader of the three giants of the Al-Shabaab, who was the Ottoman chief of staff at the time. He had previously
With the help of General Otto Liman von Saunders, the head of the German advisory group, military plans for participating in the war were made.
However, due to Bulgaria's amazing strength before, the plan can only be a plan for the time being. However, after seeing Bulgaria's heavy losses after the Battle of Tarnovo, Enver could no longer bear it and planned to recapture his old capital Adria.
fort to keep the Bulgarians away from Istanbul. So on July 23, the Ottomans officially declared war on Bulgaria. Then 300,000 Ottoman troops set out from Istanbul and Sharkoy respectively, and successively occupied Chollu and Teki in East Thrace.
Erda.
Bulgaria has less than 20,000 troops stationed there. Facing the Ottoman army of 300,000, they can only retreat all the way to Adrianople. They plan to rely on this fortress city that they have conquered to support them for a while. Of course, they will not forget to ask for help from Sofia.
But now Bulgaria is being attacked everywhere, and there is no possibility of deploying troops to support them. Now faced with this situation of being besieged from all sides, the idea of summoning has left an image in the minds of Bulgarian senior officials.
On the second day after the Bulgarian army retreated to Jablanica, Ferdinand I, along with Lieutenant General Savov, Minister of War, Prime Minister Gaishov and Foreign Minister Dirasloch who came from Sofia, were at his residence.
Discuss this matter in secret.
Ferdinand I sat on the main seat of the room, looking at Prime Minister Gaschov on his left, who had silver threads in his hair. On his right, Lieutenant General Savov, who still looked ashen-faced, sat next to the Prime Minister and looked down at the ground.
Foreign Minister Dirasloch. A feeling of disappointment could not be expressed in his chest, but he still forced himself to ask the ministers on whom he relied most.
"What should we do in this situation now?"
Faced with the question of Ferdinand I, Lieutenant General Savov, who looked gloomy, glanced at Prime Minister Gaishov. Obviously, he hoped that the Prime Minister would give this answer that could not satisfy all Bulgarians. Diras bowed his head
Foreign Minister Lodge also looked at the Prime Minister beside him. It seemed that he also hoped that Prime Minister Gaishov would start this.
Seeing several people in the room looking at him, Prime Minister Gaishov had no choice but to bite the bullet and said. "Your Majesty, we have no possibility of winning in this war. We can only invite Germany and Austria-Hungary to mediate this war. At the same time, we
Request an armistice from the participating countries."
When he talked about the final moment of armistice, he seemed to have tried his best. After finishing speaking, Prime Minister Gaschof slumped down in his seat. Seeing Prime Minister Gaschof's appearance, Ferdinand I couldn't continue to ask him any more.
He looked at the Minister of War, Lieutenant General Savov. The Lieutenant General Savov who he looked at was much more fluent this time. It was probably someone who started it. He organized his thoughts and started talking.
"I think the Prime Minister's opinion is advisable. Our Bulgarian army now only has 330,000 people left. And we are short of ammunition and support weapons after the Battle of Tarnovo, most of which were destroyed in this battle.
Now we are unable to resist their invasion on all fronts, and now we can reduce some losses by truce."
After expressing his views, Lieutenant General Savov talked about the recent situation on each front in order to enhance his persuasiveness. "Everyone knows the situation on the front lines between us and Romania, so I won't introduce it further.
Now let me talk about the Greek front line. They broke through the defense line of the Second Army three days ago under the leadership of King Constantine. Now they have arrived at the city of Salonika. The Second Army sent a telegram saying that if they can't get more
Reinforcements will not be able to withstand Greece's 150,000-strong army."
After hearing the words of his Army Minister, none of the Bulgarian decision-makers present spoke, and Lieutenant General Savov continued to talk about the war situation in Macedonia.
"Now Serbia has also launched an attack on our defense line in the Macedonian area. The Serbian army, led by its commander Marshal Putnik, has invaded the Macedonian area. Our troops left in the area can only struggle to support it. Among them, the third army
We have retreated to the Kochani area, and most of the areas we currently occupy in Macedonia have been recaptured by Serbia. We have not received much attack at home and on the Serbian border. It is estimated that Serbia hopes to capture most of Macedonia and is coming to discuss with us.
A fait accompli.”
After talking about the Serbian side, Lieutenant General Savov continued to talk about the Ottoman side. If the Bulgarian army can still resist on other fronts, then in East Thrace, the Ottoman army is simply like entering an uninhabited area.
realm.
"Our most dangerous area now is Eastern Thrace. Our 20,000 troops there are completely unable to withstand the Ottoman army of 300,000 troops. Although they slowed down the Ottoman advance by destroying road facilities locally, it did not have much effect.
Now the Ottoman army is approaching Luleburgaz. They are only 120 kilometers away from Adrianople. They will arrive there in a week at most, and it is completely impossible for us to hold it."
In fact, Ferdinand I knew the current situation on all fronts in Bulgaria very clearly. He asked Lieutenant General Savov to tell the purpose of this military intelligence, hoping that someone would lead the Bulgarian delegation to negotiate with various countries. This time
His candidate is actually Prime Minister Gaishov, who has enough weight as the prime minister of a country, and after the negotiation and signing, he can be removed from office to alleviate the grievances of the Bulgarian people.
Prime Minister Gaishov actually knows this, but now he and King Ferdinand I are the only ones who can negotiate on behalf of Bulgaria. It is impossible for the king to participate in the negotiations, so he was already prepared before coming from Sofia. But no one can
I don't want to give up power just like this, but now Bulgaria can't find a better candidate than him.
Under the explanation of Lieutenant General Savov, Minister of War, Ferdinand I agreed with the Prime Minister's opinion.
"Then let's do what the Prime Minister wants."
After saying this, Ferdinand I looked at Foreign Minister Tirasloch, who had been a transparent man for the whole night.
"Foreign Minister, I need to trouble you about this matter."
Foreign Minister Dirasloch trembled, stood up immediately and replied, "For Bulgaria, it won't bother me at all."
Seeing the foreign minister's clever look, Ferdinand I said to him, "We will first issue an armistice request to all countries participating in the war, and then ask Austria-Hungary and Germany to support our proposal. Do you think it is feasible to persuade all countries to armistice?"
Prime Minister Gaschov was ready to step down after the negotiations, but he was still the Prime Minister. After thinking about it, he said, "Your Majesty, I believe everyone except the Ottoman Empire will accept this proposal."
After hearing what Prime Minister Gaishov said, Foreign Minister Diras Lodge asked with some concern, "So how should we respond to the Ottoman offensive?"
Lieutenant General Savov answered this question on behalf of the Bulgarian military.
"It's simple. As long as other countries agree to a ceasefire, I can guarantee that the Ottoman army will not dare to attack alone."
"Then let's do it this way." Ferdinand I said decisively.
Later, after the secret meeting, Foreign Minister Dirasloch sent out the news of Bulgaria's peace request.
