, Edel is doing everything possible to avoid war, and other countries are also avoiding this situation. However, sometimes it is completely unavoidable and is brought into this century war. This country is Ottoman Turkey.
After the Balkan War, this declining country came under the rule of the Three Giants (Enver Pasha, Talat Pasha and Cemal Pasha). Among them, Enver Pasha, the Minister of War, controlled the three giants.
Most of the power. The Big Three were very dissatisfied with the performance of the Ottoman army in the Balkan War and planned to spend huge sums of money to transform this large and incompetent army.
Among them, Enver Pasha, with the help of the German advisory group, rebuilt the Ottoman army with disorganized military discipline, and also purchased a large amount of German arms to enhance its strength. While the army and the German army had different qualities, the navy was more optimistic about British ships. They
Two super-dreadnoughts were ordered in the UK, one of which was the famous seven-turret battleship "Sultan Osman I", which was also later the "Agincourt". The other was also renamed the Ireland.
Contrary to what many people think, this is Russia's request to the United Kingdom to temporarily detain it. Because the Russian Black Sea Fleet currently has no dreadnoughts in service, if the Ottomans take these two battleships, the Russian Black Sea Fleet will be temporarily at a disadvantage. At that time, Russian diplomacy
Minister Sazonov sent a telegram to the British government, requesting a postponement of the delivery of Ottoman warships. When World War I broke out, facing the German High Seas Fleet, Admiralty Minister Churchill felt that his own dreadnoughts were not in an absolutely dominant position, so the two Ottoman ships
The battleship was immediately detained.
Faced with this situation, the Ottoman Empire has no intention of fighting against the Allies. Its three giants are still very clear-headed and know that the Ottomans will have little benefit from participating in this war. However, at this time, Germany sent them a "big gift" that made them unable to
The gift of rejection, the battlecruiser Goeben.
The battlecruiser Goeben is the second ship of the Moltke-class battlecruiser. Launched on March 28, 1911. Completed on August 28, 1912. Displacement: standard 22,616 tons, full load 25,300 tons. Hull: 186.5 (full length), 29.5
,8.2. The power is 4 Parsons steam turbines and 24 Schultz-Thornycroft coal-fired boilers. The power is 52,000 horsepower, the coal load is 3,050 tons, the speed is 25.5 knots, and the endurance is 4,120 nautical miles/14 knots.
.
Protection: main armor belt 102~270 mm, armored compartment 102~203 mm, horizontal protection 50 mm, main turret 152~203 mm, main gun mount 30~229 mm, command tower 350 mm;
Armament: 5 twin 11.1-inch (283 mm) SK L/50 main guns, 12 150 mm SK L/45 secondary guns, 12 88 mm SK L/45 rapid-fire guns, 4 500 mm underwater torpedo launchers
.Establishment: 1053 people.
Faced with Germany's great gift to the Ottomans, the government was overjoyed and immediately agreed. So the Goeben was renamed Yavos, and another cruiser Breslau was renamed Mitea. The officers and soldiers serving in it
He changed into an Ottoman navy uniform and continued to serve on his own battleship. General Sorochin, who led the small fleet, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Ottoman navy and still commanded the fleet.
In fact, Sorochin's fleet did not go to Turkey to escape for his life. He also had an arduous political mission, which was to fully assist local German diplomats in urging Turkey to join the war on the German side.
Now facing such a situation, the Ottoman Empire's attitude has begun to change towards Germany. However, the final decision given to the Ottomans was indeed brought by the Goben. Seeing that the attitude of the Ottoman Empire was about to change towards itself, in order to avoid long nights and dreams, Sora
After General Rodchin replenished and organized the ships in Istanbul, he left the port in the name of going to sea for training.
This is when German diplomats began to lobby the Ottoman Empire with all their strength, because they knew that the Ottoman Empire would not be able to participate in the war. On the Goben, which was at sea, General Sorochin interpreted the order of the Admiralty, asking them to bombard the Russian Black Sea Fleet station in Savastopo.
and its largest Black Sea port city, Odessa. Faced with the Ottoman Navy, which was operated entirely by German naval officers, of course there would be no objection.
So on October 30, General Sorochin led the Goben to raid two ports. Facing the powerful Goben with the star and crescent flag, the Russian Navy was caught off guard. The minelayer "Prut" was sunk.
The 4,500-ton cruiser "Captain Pushkin" was seriously damaged, and a large number of ammunition piled in the Savastopol port was hit and exploded, causing considerable losses to the Russian Navy.
In fact, after this attack, the Ottoman government knew that it had to board the Allied ships this time, and they were forced to a desperate end.
Facing the attack by the Ottoman Navy, which was actually the German Navy, the Russian government was overjoyed. They were still worried about not taking Istanbul in the 10th Turkish-Russian War, and now this attack gave them an excuse. And this time they could prevent Russia from gaining
The British and French who entered Istanbul into the Mediterranean were also on their side, so they also believed that the Ottoman navy had attacked them.
They also turn a blind eye to the fact that the Black Sea channel will be blocked by the Ottomans, which will affect Russia's access to assistance. From Russia's perspective, the Ottoman army only needs a slight blow from its own army to collapse, and it also has British and French allies, so it has no idea about this issue.
Pay attention to.
Russia, finally overwhelmed by interests, declared war on the Ottomans on November 4, and Britain also declared war on them on November 5.
Sitting in his office, Edel could only watch the closure of the Black Sea Strait, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He looked at the Prime Minister who had brought him the news and said unwillingly, "Can't we use the right of passage in the strait now?"
Facing the king's inquiry, Prime Minister Bretianu also said helplessly. "Now the Ottoman Empire will not let any ships pass through the strait, and neither can ours."
"How much loss will we suffer?"
Now Edel is still concerned about the domestic economy. When he is happily making money from the war, Osman's actions make him impatient. Even if he knows that Osman will join the war, everyone wants to think in their own favor.
"The losses are not big. They are mainly orders for vehicles and spare parts. We can only ship orders from Britain and France through Bulgaria in Thessaloniki. It's just that Bulgaria's asking price is higher, and we haven't reached an agreement yet."
Hearing the Prime Minister's words, Eder was moved and asked, "How much do they want for the transit fee?"
"The 20% transit fee and railway transportation fee are not included. At this price, our profit is not as good as before the war."
Hearing the Prime Minister's words, Eder knew that this was Bulgaria's attempt to raise the price in retaliation for the war a year ago. He thought for a while and said, "Then you go talk to the British and French ambassadors and tell them that the fee is too high and ask them to increase the price. If not,
If so, just ask them if they can transfer the order to Russia."
The Prime Minister thought for a while and found no other better way, so he sighed and said, "This is the only way."
