Chapter 409 The Fall of Constantinople
Although the Bulgarian people are brave and good at fighting, it does not mean that they are simple-minded idiots with well-developed limbs.
On the contrary, when the Allied troops were only a few kilometers away from Sofia, the Bulgarian people who were still angrily criticizing and blaming the Prime Minister finally began to panic. Suddenly, more people supported the Prime Minister.
Ferdinand became very smart at this time and did not participate in the current measures in Bulgaria. He seemed to be unconcerned and waited for the development of the situation in Bulgaria.
In fact, this is indeed the wisest choice. For the current Bulgaria, both the war faction and the peace faction are wrong. Only by escaping from the current abyss in Bulgaria can it be possible to protect oneself wisely and survive after the war.
Without Ferdinand in charge, the Bulgarian government seemed more chaotic. Due to the pressure brought by the army's pressure on the Bulgarian government and the quarrels between the war faction and the peace faction, Bulgaria missed the final opportunity to defend Sofia.
On June 14, 1915, the Bulgarian army, which had held on for a day, officially announced its surrender, and the Allied forces officially entered Sofia and took control of the city.
Almost at the same time, the Bulgarian government also announced its surrender and ordered Bulgarian troops across the country to cease resistance.
Without the resistance of the Bulgarian government and army, the takeover of all Bulgarian cities became very smooth.
All the Bulgarian troops had their weapons confiscated and were dispersed and guarded in different places to prevent these Bulgarian troops from accidents.
When the Balkan Front troops passed through Sofia with lights and decorations, news of Bulgaria's formal surrender also spread to Europe and around the world.
For the Allied Powers, Bulgaria's surrender boosted the morale of the entire Allied Powers.
As a country that entered the war late in World War I, Bulgaria publicly announced its surrender in just a few months, without even waiting for support from Austria-Hungary and Germany.
This means one thing: Austria-Hungary and Germany have no time to take care of themselves, and the victory of the Allied Powers is imminent.
People always attach great importance to what they see for the first time. Although Bulgaria is not that important among the entire Allies, after all, it was the first Allied country to surrender. The news of Bulgaria's surrender was widely reported by the major media of the Allied Powers and became the biggest news in June.
After deploying nearly 100,000 troops from Serbia, Romania, Greece and Montenegro to control Bulgaria, Commander Martin took the remaining 400,000 troops from southern Bulgaria all the way to Constantinople.
The history of Constantinople can be traced back thousands of years, since the time of the Eastern Roman Empire, and it has been one of the strongest castles in the world.
Of course, with the rapid development of artillery of various calibers, Constantinople no longer seems so strong.
In order to conquer this strong fortress, Commander Martin mobilized a total of 2,000 artillery pieces with a caliber of 150 mm or more from the Balkan countries, Russia, and even Britain, France, and Italy to launch a large-scale bombing of Constantinople.
Of course, in addition to storming Constantinople, Division Commander Martin also decided to use part of the army to land on the Asia Minor Peninsula controlled by the Ottoman Empire and cut off all logistical supplies leading to Constantinople from the rear.
The glorious history of the Ottoman Empire goes back hundreds of years. It was once a powerful country spanning Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Of course, the current Ottoman Empire is not even considered a great power, nor is it very powerful among sub-powerful countries.
But at present, the territory of the Ottoman Empire is still huge. A small part of European territory, including Constantinople, and most of the Middle East are also under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
Of course, this is mainly because oil in the Middle East has not yet been discovered, and the role of oil is not as important as it will be in the future.
The Ottoman Empire did not know that there was a large amount of wealth in its own land, a wealth that could destroy the entire Ottoman Empire.
If nothing else, oil will definitely be one of the most important energy sources in the world for at least 150 years, and it is a resource that all major countries are competing for.
Australasia does not lack mineral resources, but Australasia does not have much oil resources, and it is nothing compared to the oil reserves in the entire Middle East.
According to later data, the oil reserves in the Middle East alone account for nearly 70% of the world's total oil reserves.
This also means that as long as we can control the Middle East, we can control oil prices throughout the world and check and balance all oil exporting countries, including Russia, which also has rich oil and natural gas reserves.
Therefore, previously occupying part of the Middle East and possessing at least part of the oil reserves is currently the most important thing for Australasia.
Fortunately, the only competitors in the Middle East are the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire. The only real competitor is the United Kingdom. It is no problem to obtain at least part of the region.
As for occupying more areas, the real decline of Britain may not occur until after World War II.
The reason why Division Commander Martin landed on the Asia Minor Peninsula was precisely to realize Arthur's strategy of occupying part of the Middle East.
After all, if the army does not land, occupying the area is nonsense.
It can be seen from the current situation in the Middle East that Kuwait, Oman, and Yemen are occupied by the British, and other areas are lands controlled by the Ottoman Empire or local indigenous people.
Saudi Arabia, an important oil-producing area in later generations, was still a barren desert with few people.
This also means that Australasia still has a lot of room for choice, choosing land with relatively rich oil reserves and easy to control.
On June 17, the Allied forces successfully landed on the Anatolian Peninsula and soon launched a fierce attack.
Bulgaria, which is closest to the Ottoman Empire, has surrendered. The Ottoman Empire has become the worst country among the Allies, and no allies can support it.
Of course, there are only three countries left in the Allies. Except for Germany, which still has a certain combat capability, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire are already in a difficult situation.
More importantly, there are more than 100,000 Ottoman troops in Constantinople, guarding the capital of the empire.
This has led to the Ottoman Empire currently being in a state of two-front war. The European battlefield and the Asian battlefield have made the Ottoman Empire, which was not strong to begin with, exhausted.
If we go into more detail, the Ottoman Empire has Russian cavalry troops wandering around the border between the Caucasus and Russia from time to time.
Although there was no attack, the Ottoman Empire did not dare to gamble. The garrisons in the border areas were waiting for battle, but what they got was a piece of air.
The areas bordering the British colonies in the south also faced attacks from the British army from time to time.
Although these attacking troops were all local natives, they were equipped with advanced equipment and were far away from the Ottoman Empire. Logistics and transportation were very troublesome, which caused great trouble to the Ottoman Empire.
The Caucasus region and the southern border pinned down nearly 400,000 troops of the Ottoman Empire. In addition to the more than 100,000 troops besieged in Constantinople, nearly half of the Ottoman Empire's total army of more than 1 million were pinned down, and only more than 500,000 troops were available.
In order to show support for the landing campaign on the Anatolian Peninsula, at the request of Division Commander Martin, Britain launched a feint attack on the Ottoman Empire from Egypt, Yemen, and Oman, and the Russians also mobilized some troops in the Caucasus.
Although it was a feint, the garrison troops of the Suez Canal and the indigenous troops of Egypt also had a scale of nearly 300,000, far exceeding the more than 100,000 garrisons deployed by the Ottoman Empire in this area.
Coupled with the sunshine from Oman and the Caucasus, the Ottoman Empire was horrified to find that the empire was now in a state of fighting on five fronts, which was worse than the situation faced by Germany.
You know, in the first Balkan War, the Ottoman Empire had not even fought the Balkan Alliance.
Although there was the containment of the Italian army, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army was far behind that of the Australasian army.
At present, the Ottoman Empire is facing not only the Balkan Alliance and Australasian, but also a small number of Russian and British troops.
In such a situation, let alone the current Ottoman Empire, even the Ottoman Empire in a state of complete victory had to show the determination to fight to the death in order to have a chance to win.
As for the current Ottoman Empire, Arthur could actually think of the final outcome with his eyes closed. The Ottoman Empire could not even defeat Italy, let alone the nearly 500,000 troops on the Balkan front and the help of Britain and Russia.
In fact, Division Commander Martin originally only expected the Russians to contain the Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus.
But there was a feud between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. After the Ottoman Empire showed weakness, the Russian army attacked more fiercely, and it seemed that they would open the Caucasus front.
In this way, the siege of Constantinople was the slowest. In just a few days, the Allies won a huge victory in the Middle East. The Ottoman army was beaten and abandoned, and the Allied army marched dozens of kilometers in a few days.
The Ottoman Empire could no longer hold on at this time, but every area was very important to the Ottoman Empire. If it was easily abandoned, it might face more serious consequences.
Not to mention the Arabian Peninsula, most of this area is desert, and the population is not too large. The Ottoman Empire has retreated strategically and announced that it has given up.
But the Ottoman Empire did not dare to give up the Syrian region further north. It is no exaggeration to say that if the Ottoman Empire dared to give up, the British army could control Syria at any time and establish a British Syrian colony.
In the Caucasus region, the Russians' desire to fight is already very strong. Even if the Ottoman army surrenders now, I am afraid that the Russians will kill them.
The Iraqi region cannot be abandoned, as there are a large number of people and materials here. Once abandoned, the Ottoman Empire will only control the Turkish part of the land, and even the status of the second strongest will be lost.
As for the Anatolian Peninsula, this is the most important region of the Ottoman Empire besides the European region. The Ottoman Empire has deployed hundreds of thousands of heavy troops for defense here, but it still cannot resist the Allied forces.
The situation of the Ottoman Empire at this time is worse than that of Russia. Because all parts of the country have fallen, the Ottoman army not only lacks weapons and ammunition, but also lacks clothing and food, and medical supplies are naturally needless to say.
In just a few days after the Allied forces launched the offensive, they brought more than 100,000 casualties to the Ottoman Empire, and the death toll has exceeded 20,000.
It doesn't seem much, because the Allied forces have not yet mobilized a large number of heavy weapons. When the heavy weapons are transported to the major battlefields, the number of casualties in the Ottoman Empire will only rise sharply.
The Ottoman Empire is so difficult at home, and the situation faced by the defenders of Constantinople can be imagined.
Although Constantinople has a large amount of supplies in stock, in addition to more than 100,000 defenders, it also has a large population, and the speed of resource consumption can be seen.
At present, Constantinople is already very short of food, weapons and ammunition, and medical supplies have become very scarce. Some people even pay a lot of money for medicine, but they can't find it anywhere.
From June 17 to June 22, under the order of Martin, the Allied forces launched a six-day bombing of Constantinople, consuming a total of 2.2 million rounds of ammunition in six days, and also exhausted the artillery reserves of the Balkan countries and the entire Balkan front.
Of course, such a long-term bombing has also achieved very good results. The solid Constantinople has already had many cracks, and the bombing of artillery fire has caused the deaths of a large number of Ottoman civilians and troops.
A real war will not be so merciful, and will not stop the attack just because there are a large number of Ottoman civilians in Constantinople.
Of course, the major Allied powers did not take the casualties of these Ottoman civilians seriously. Although they would not actively massacre these Ottoman civilians, they would not care about their lives.
It is worth mentioning that in this bombing, the Allies not only used a large number of airships, but also hundreds of aircraft for bombing.
Although aircraft have participated in many wars with airships, the Battle of Constantinople was the first time that aircraft were regarded as more important weapons than airships.
Although the aircraft of other Allied countries developed very slowly, it does not mean that other countries have no aircraft.
Since the aircraft participated in the war, they have evolved into types such as reconnaissance aircraft, fighters and bombers.
Of course, the difference between the three is very small now, even the same aircraft, the difference in the number and type of weapons carried leads to their different classifications.
As the first country to have militarized aircraft, Australasia naturally also dispatched a large number of aircraft, but they were the earliest first-generation military aircraft.
Compared with the aircraft of other countries, Australasia's first-generation military aircraft still has a considerable advantage in performance, which also means that Australasia has a huge lead over other countries in terms of aircraft.
Under the bombing of a large number of bombs dropped from overhead by aircraft, the Ottoman army soon could not hold on.
In order to break through this strong city as soon as possible, the Allied aircraft also dropped a large number of leaflets to Constantinople, claiming that after the surrender of the Ottoman Empire, the Allied army would not harm Ottoman civilians.
This action was very effective and largely undermined the determination of Ottoman civilians to defend Constantinople.
On July 7, 1915, Constantinople, which had persisted for more than half a month, was finally broken. The Allies paid 200,000 casualties and 3.5 million artillery shells to finally break through this famous city.
In addition to the major news of the fall of Constantinople, Australasian military aircraft also attracted the interest of other countries.
Compared with the slightly backward military aircraft of other countries, Australasian military aircraft are obviously more advantageous in design and have better performance.
Almost the next day after Australasian military aircraft were dispatched, Britain and France sent a telegram asking whether Australasian aircraft could sell technology, and at least sell hundreds of them to them.
The Russians were also very interested in the technology of Australasia's aircraft. Nicholas II privately telegraphed Arthur, wanting to buy the technology of military aircraft.
Arthur certainly welcomed this and agreed to sell the technology of military aircraft, but Britain, France and Russia could not transfer it to each other, and within five years, the aircraft technology could not be sold to other countries.
In order to obtain Australasia's advanced aircraft, Britain, France and Russia immediately agreed without thinking, and said they would send a team to negotiate the price with Australasia.
Arthur knew their purpose without thinking. At present, the war is very costly for all countries, and Britain, France and Russia just want to lower the selling price of technology and aircraft.
Arthur directly stated that Australasia spent a lot of money on aircraft research and paid a lot of research funds to develop the most powerful aircraft at present.
In view of the close alliance relationship with Britain, France and Russia, he agreed to sell it to them, and could not give in too much in terms of price.
Arthur offered a price of 20,000 pounds per aircraft, and a complete set of military aircraft technology including reconnaissance aircraft, fighters and bombers was sold for 20 million pounds.
For Britain and France, 20 million pounds is not an unacceptable figure. Compared with their huge military expenditure, if a large number of aircraft can be used to accelerate the war, 20 million pounds is a good deal.
For Russia, it is unrealistic to let them buy aircraft and research technology on their own. Russia's scientific research technology does not support it, and Russia has no time to wait for domestic experts to research aircraft technology.
Therefore, Britain, France and Russia all agreed to buy aircraft technology. After a long period of bargaining, they finally agreed to buy it at a price of 18.5 million pounds for a set of technology, and Australasia also made a profit of 55.5 million pounds.
Of course, it will take some time to master the technology and build a production line. Therefore, Britain, France and Russia also generously placed orders for 100 aircraft each from Australasia.
According to the price of 20,000 pounds per aircraft, a total of 300 aircraft, Australasia can reap a total of 6 million pounds of funds, of which the cost is about 3 million pounds, and the profit and cost are not much different.
The total income from the sale of aircraft and aircraft technology has exceeded 60 million pounds. However, the cost of Australasia's research and manufacturing of aircraft does not exceed 10 million pounds, and it is the cost of researching the most advanced fourth-generation military aircraft.
Using the backward first-generation military aircraft technology to exchange for nearly 60 million pounds of income, Arthur smiled slightly and said that it was a bloody profit.
Although 60 million pounds is not much for the cost of European countries invested in the war, it is a huge income for Australasia.
Even if it is to build a super dreadnought, this 60 million pounds is enough to build 20 ships, making the number of Australasia's super dreadnoughts the top two in the world.
Of course, Arthur is not so crazy. But in any case, this 60 million pounds is very beneficial to Australasia's future military expansion plan. In a word, it is that there is money in the pocket and no panic in the heart.
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