In the second month after the declaration of war, the Bulgarian campaign, which worried both Romania and the Allied Powers, finally began. The 3rd and 7th Divisions starting from Ruse acted as the vanguard and took the lead in launching operations.
Overwhelmed by superior troops and equipment, they took the lead in capturing the border city of Carmen. This border city, which is 40 kilometers away from Ruse, 50 kilometers away from Luman, and 45 kilometers away from Veliko Tarnovo, was defended by only one militia group.
As the forward commander, Lieutenant General Mandif only arranged a brigade-level assault and won this place in one battle.
Standing in the deserted Carmen City Hall and looking at the messy ground, Lieutenant General Mandif ordered the staff beside him. "Send a report to the commander. We have captured Carmen and have not encountered any resistance from the enemy."
The young communications officer asked in confusion. "Sir, didn't we encounter resistance outside the city?"
Faced with the staff's question, Lieutenant General Mandif said disdainfully, "Can a battle that collapses with just one charge be called resistance?"
After saying that, Commander Mandif ignored the young staff officer and said to a general wearing the rank of major general next to him. "Major General Faucto, I will lead the third division to go first, and your seventh division will follow. We are at the base."
Meet outside Tarnovo."
Lieutenant General Mandif's words surprised Major General Faucto, and he couldn't help but say, "This may be dangerous."
"The danger is not great."
Mandiv spoke out his plan. "The enemy even gave up on Carmen. They must have reduced their forces to defend Veliko Tarnovo. There is no way there is a defense line behind. So I bet that from here to Veliko Tarnovo
During this period, there were no large groups of enemy troops along the way."
Facing the confident Mandif, Major General Faucto could no longer dissuade him. After all, the commander of the vanguard was also the opponent. "Okay, you go first. I will leave a battalion to support the group army, and then I will follow."
After seeing that Foktor agreed to his action, Lieutenant General Mandiv immediately went to prepare for the march of the Third Division. In fact, Lieutenant General Mandiv had a small idea in mind. He planned to use the forward position of the Third Division to lure the Bulgarian army.
Attack, and then give the group army a chance to eat the enemy. The incentive that gave him this idea was Lieutenant General Ankodar of the 1st Guards Division. Everyone was jealous of the benefits gained by the commander of the 1st Guards Division after that battle, so he also
Want to give it a try.
Then the 3rd Division, led by its commander Lieutenant General Mandiv, began to march towards Veliko Tarnovo, while the 7th Division started to take action half a day later. The Bulgarian commander Lieutenant General Kudinchev, who had been paying attention to the battle situation, soon
He soon learned about this trend, but even though he was in Veliko Tarnovo, he was not at all interested in it.
With the latest information on the Romanian army in his hand, he said disdainfully, "Such a little trick can be used to make people look embarrassed."
After hearing the commander's words, several Bulgarian division commanders gathered in the headquarters also struck up a conversation.
"Lieutenant General, let's give them some color and see."
"We can send out small groups of troops to take advantage of the familiar terrain and harass their march."
"Lieutenant General, we..."
Seeing that the division commanders were all talking about their suggestions, Lieutenant General Kudinchev raised his hand to listen to him. "You all know that we have been fighting the enemy in Salonika for a month, and we have consumed a lot of money.
And at present, it seems that we have no possibility of drawing troops from the Salonika front line, so now we are the only army resisting the Romanians. For this, I cannot risk putting the country into any danger."
Lieutenant General Kudinchev's words all the division commanders present understood that they were Bulgaria's last asset and would withdraw from the battle if they lost.
After waiting for the division commander to digest these words, Lieutenant General Kudinchev immediately stated his battle plan. "And according to my plan, both Veliko Tarnovo and Norwich will gradually resist and then be abandoned. We have to extend the
The enemy's supply line, and finally in Pleven we blocked the enemy's attack, and then it was time for us to counterattack."
"If we abandon the city like this, what will the people do?"
Faced with the question, Lieutenant General Kudinchev answered: "I will organize the evacuation of personnel and materials, among which young people, women and children will be the priority targets."
When facing Lieutenant General Kudinchev, the division commanders present were not moral people and knew that this was the best way. It was the most sensible thing to evacuate supplies and useful personnel and leave old people who lacked food and clothing to increase the supply pressure on the other side.
However, my heart is more or less suffocated. After all, they are also humans and not machines, and they all have feelings. Who makes Bulgaria's material shortage now?
In fact, Bulgaria is the country that lacks the most supplies in the Alliance. Over the years, one million troops have already overwhelmed this mountainous country not known for its food production. Even starting last year, the Bulgarian military has to send a group of soldiers back during the early farming season.
Help with farming and harvesting.
However, these still cannot solve the problem of food and clothing for the people, and a large number of old and weak people still die from various injuries and illnesses caused by hunger. The domestic resentment among the people has made Bulgaria somewhat unable to suppress it, but it can still survive relying on strong patriotic national sentiments.
maintain.
After glancing at the division commanders in front of him, Lieutenant General Kudinchev continued. "The next thing we have to do is to block the Romanian attack for the people."
At this time, someone asked, "What if it can't be stopped?"
"Then ensure your strength and reserve it for the next counterattack."
Seeing the division commander who had become quiet and depressed, Lieutenant General Kudinchev knew that his words were serious, so he said remedially. "I have discussed this with the commander-in-chief before, as long as we resist the attack in Salonika
If the Allied forces attack outside the city, he will send reinforcements."
The commander-in-chief Lieutenant General Kudinchev mentioned was not Ferdinand I, who was traditionally held by the king, but General Zekov.
The full name of General Zekov was Nikolai Zekov. He was born in Sliven in 1865. He graduated from the Sofia Military School and volunteered to join the reserve regiment during the Serbian-Bulgarian War in 1885. In 1886
, he participated in the military coup against Alexander. After the failure of the conspiracy, he was demoted to a military cadet and sent to serve in the 12th Infantry Regiment. Soon, he received an amnesty and graduated from the military academy.
In 1887, he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to Schumann's 2nd Artillery Regiment. In 1894, he was promoted to captain and sent to Italy. In 1898, he graduated from the Military Academy in Turin. Returned to Bulgaria
Later, he served in the Third Artillery Regiment and the Army Staff. In 1901, he was promoted to major and taught at the Sofia Military School. In 1912, he became the principal of the school. During this period, he gained the trust of King Ferdinand I and from
From 1910 to 1912, he also served as commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment.
During the First Balkan War, Colonel Zekov served as the Chief of Staff of the Second Army and was responsible for the initial siege of Edirne. Later, he led a team to raid the fortress of Edirne and achieved military exploits. The Second Balkan War
He was unable to participate due to illness, and after the war he was appointed commander of the Bulgarian Thracian troops.
After the Balkan Wars, King Ferdinand I refused to continue commanding the Bulgarian army as commander-in-chief and supported Nikolai Zhekov for this position. Zhekov supported Bulgaria on the side of the Allies in the war,
So when he decided to join the war, he assumed the post of Commander-in-Chief on September 24, 1915.
After taking over the post of Commander-in-Chief, Zekov worked hard to solve the problem of bloated command and lack of supplies in the Bulgarian army. He performed very well. He not only reduced the number of personnel in the headquarters to supplement the grassroots troops, but also asked Germany and Austria-Hungary to provide indispensable support.
Less than aid.
In addition, he paid attention to the morale of the soldiers and visited the grassroots companies many times to understand the situation, which earned him the deep love of the soldiers. In addition, he also made considerable contributions in the flanking campaign against Serbia.
One more thing to mention here is that when Romania joined the war in the original time and space, he also led the Bulgarian army to join the army group led by Marshal Mackensen, and performed very well when capturing Romania.
Therefore, after Lieutenant General Kudinchev said that he had discussed it with General Zekov, the division commanders present felt relieved.
It's just that they need to face the next battle seriously. With the Romanian army that defeated Bulgaria and pulled it out of the war, it depends on them whether they can stop it.
