Chapter 407 Siege of Bulgaria

After the pension phase, the next step is the promotion and reward of all soldiers.

First, Scott, the commander of the 4th Division, was successfully promoted from brigadier general to major general, becoming one of the few senior officers in Australasia.

The chief of staff of the 4th Division was promoted to brigadier general, and the instructor was promoted to colonel. Soldiers who performed bravely and made meritorious contributions in the war were also rewarded.

Just as the officers and soldiers of the 4th Division who were rewarded were cheering and celebrating, the offensive in the Balkan Peninsula was officially launched.

After arriving in the Balkan Peninsula, Division Commander Martin contacted Greece, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, and received the support of these countries to become the commander-in-chief of the Balkan Front.

Of course, these countries did not have the opportunity to refuse. The appointment of Division Commander Martin was jointly decided by the four major powers of the Allied Powers. Unless they could fight four alone, they would be better off obeying the command.

Under the planning of Division Commander Martin, a large-scale battle on the Balkan Front is about to be launched.

There are two enemies on the Balkan Front, namely Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

Although the Ottoman Empire is much larger than Bulgaria, the combat effectiveness of the Bulgarian army is slightly higher than that of the Ottoman Empire in terms of the combat effectiveness of the army.

More importantly, the Bulgarian army is relatively small. After the previous consumption, the number of Bulgarian troops is less than 200,000.

But the entire Balkan front has 150,000 Serbian troops, 200,000 Romanian troops, 100,000 Greek troops, 50,000 Montenegrin troops and 100,000 Australasian troops.

Such a large number of troops has formed a crushing, and neither Bulgaria nor the Ottoman Empire has any means of resistance.

After discussion, Division Commander Martin decided to defeat Bulgaria first. First, Bulgaria has fewer soldiers, and compared with the vast Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria is the easier one to solve.

Secondly, if you want to solve the Ottoman Empire, the solid Constantinople must be solved.

In order to prevent Bulgaria and Ottoman Turkey from attacking from the north and south, it becomes necessary to solve Bulgaria first.

On May 27, 1915, with the order of Division Commander Martin, Romania, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and the Australasian Expeditionary Force launched a full-scale attack on Bulgaria from the north, west and south of Bulgaria.

The main attack area is the western border of Bulgaria, where there are 150,000 troops from Serbia, 50,000 troops from Montenegro and 100,000 troops from the Australasian Expeditionary Force.

Because Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is located close to the western border, the border between Serbia and Bulgaria has become the main offensive direction of this offensive.

In order to end the battle as soon as possible, the Balkan Front mobilized more than 2,000 artillery pieces and launched an inhumane bombing on the Bulgarian border.

In just one day, the entire Balkan Front consumed millions of artillery shells, and all of them fell on the Bulgarian border, which shocked the Bulgarian army.

Of course, this is not a psychological shock, but a real physical shock.

The bombardment of a large number of artillery made the Bulgarian army's positions shake, and some simple concrete positions even collapsed directly, causing the Bulgarian soldiers inside to enter an eternal dream.

The number of Bulgarian soldiers killed by artillery, affected by shock waves, killed or injured, and buried alive by collapsed positions is conservatively estimated to be more than 10,000.

Although the number of casualties was less than one-fifteenth of the total Bulgarian army, the continuous bombing for a day greatly reduced the morale of the Bulgarian army.

What's more serious is that because of such a large-scale bombing, the logistics of the rear of the army could not be sent to the front line, and the wounded could not be transported to the rear. The wailing of the wounded on the positions could be heard everywhere.

After a day of heavy bombing, the Bulgarian soldiers finally ushered in a brief peace.

In fact, it was also because of the insufficient supply of artillery shells on the Balkan front that millions of shells were consumed in one day, which made the Russian army, which was not too far away, envious, but helpless.

While the Bulgarian army was busy transporting the wounded to the rear, the Allied forces on the front line officially launched their charge.

The divisions of the Australasian colony were at the forefront. It was not that these natives were not afraid of death, but that they were followed by the armies of other countries. If they did not charge, they would be greeted by bullets from the rear.

These native soldiers rushed towards the enemy's position crying and shouting, which had a good effect on the Bulgarian soldiers who were already in chaos in front.

Because of the different languages, the Bulgarian soldiers saw the crazy roars in the eyes of these native soldiers crying and shouting, like the death demanding their lives.

The charge of a large army made the Bulgarian army, which had just put down its guard and was ready to rest, immediately nervous. Under the roar of one officer after another, they rushed out of their rest area and lined up in the trenches.

As the border closest to the Bulgarian capital, and the relationship between Serbia and Bulgaria is the worst among the Balkan countries, the Bulgarian army stationed on this border is also the largest, with a maximum number of more than 150,000.

However, with the consumption of war, the total number of troops stationed on this border is now less than 100,000, far behind the Allied forces.

At the Bulgarian border, the Allied forces launched a fierce attack. The Serbian and Montenegrin armies charged fiercely because after Bulgaria's defeat, they could get a lot of land and benefits from Bulgaria, just like the Second Balkan War.

At this time, the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian border was already discouraged. He had just received news that it was not just the western border, but also Romania and Greece in the north and south.

It is obvious that the first target of the Allies in the Balkans is Bulgaria.

Under the fierce attack of a large number of troops, in just two days, the Bulgarian army suffered nearly 40,000 casualties, and the combat army was reduced by one-fifth.

It is worth mentioning that Bulgaria did not have a good relationship with several other Balkan countries, which was also the reason why Bulgaria joined the Allies.

In order to share more benefits after the war, other Balkan countries almost tried their best to attack Bulgaria, mobilized most of their troops, and various domestic resources were also transported to the front line.

Faced with the deep hatred with other Balkan countries, the Bulgarian government was very embarrassed at this time.

At present, Bulgaria's defeat is a foregone conclusion. But the problem is that the Bulgarians are very hostile to the Balkan countries led by Serbia.

It was the Balkan countries that jointly targeted Bulgaria after the First Balkan War that led to the outbreak of the Second Balkan War, causing Bulgaria to lose a large area of ​​newly occupied territory and even part of its original territory.

Under deep hatred, if the Bulgarian government dared to propose peace talks privately, I am afraid that the angry Bulgarian people would launch large-scale demonstrations,

and even oppose the government and the royal family.

At this time, the Bulgarian King Ferdinand, as a war faction before joining the war, had long disappeared and tried to shift all the responsibility for the war to the government.

Of course, Ferdinand is not called the king now, but the self-proclaimed Tsar.

Speaking of Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand, his experience is somewhat similar to Arthur. He comes from the same German family, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and compared to Bulgaria, Ferdinand is also a foreign monarch.

In 1886, a coup d'état broke out in Bulgaria. Alexander I, who had been in power for only seven years, was forced to abdicate and elected Ferdinand, who served as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as the new Bulgarian prince.

In order to prevent Russia from gaining control of Bulgaria, Bulgaria's road to electing a monarch was very difficult.

The Bulgarian government found the Caucasus region all the way from Denmark, and even had the idea of ​​inviting the King of Romania to serve as the Prince of Bulgaria, which almost allowed Romania and Bulgaria to establish a dual state similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although Ferdinand eventually became the Prince of Bulgaria, this matter was questioned by many European royal families, including Arthur's grandmother Queen Victoria.

This also led to Ferdinand not gaining too much power in the early days of his becoming the Prince of Bulgaria, and the power of the government was controlled by Stefan Stamblov, the leader of the Liberal Party at the time.

After Stefan Stamblov was assassinated, Ferdinand gradually took control of the political situation in Bulgaria and gained a considerable amount of power.

But now, Ferdinand really wants Stefan Stamblov to be resurrected again, and it would be best if he could regain control of Bulgaria's political situation.

Bulgaria's defeat has become a foregone conclusion, and the responsibility for the failure of the war must be borne by someone of sufficient weight.

Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand knew very well that as a person who strongly supported and personally launched the war, he was very likely to be liquidated after the war, and even lose the Bulgarian throne like his predecessor Alexander I.

This is not good news for Ferdinand. Although he lost the Bulgarian throne, he is still a member of the great Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family. His father is the brother of King Ferdinand II of Portugal, the honorable Prince Albert.

But the problem is that compared with a monarch who holds great power like the Bulgarian Tsar, the huge gap in status for Ferdinand as an ordinary royal family member is enough to make him collapse.

A person who holds the top power, after losing all power and status, the huge gap is unacceptable. The double emptiness of body and soul is enough to make a normal person collapse and destroy all a person's confidence.

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