Chapter 407 Siege of Bulgaria

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

First, Scott, the commander of the Fourth 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 Fourth Division was promoted to brigadier general, and the instructor was promoted to colonel. Soldiers who performed bravely and made meritorious deeds in the war were also rewarded.

While the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division who had been rewarded were shouting and celebrating, the offensive in the Balkans officially began.

After arriving in the Balkans, Commander Martin contacted Greece, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, gained the support of these countries, and became the commander-in-chief of the Balkans.

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 challenge four, it would be better to follow the command with peace of mind.

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

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

Although the Ottoman Turkish Empire is much larger than Bulgaria, from the perspective of the combat effectiveness of the army, the combat effectiveness of the Bulgarian army is slightly higher than that of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

More importantly, the number of Bulgarian troops is relatively small. After previous attrition, the number of Bulgarian troops has been 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 numbers of troops have become overwhelming, and neither Bulgaria nor Ottoman Turkey have any means of resistance.

After discussion, Division Commander Martin decided to defeat Bulgaria first. First of all, Bulgaria has fewer soldiers. Compared with the vast Ottoman Turkish Empire, Bulgaria is the one that can be solved better.

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

In order to prevent Bulgaria and Ottoman Turkey from attacking from the north and south, it became necessary to take the lead in solving Bulgaria.

On May 27, 1915, following an order from Division Commander Martin, the Romanian, Serbian, Greek, Montenegrin and Australasian expeditionary forces launched a comprehensive attack on Bulgaria from the northern, western, southern and other regions 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 direction of this offensive.

In order to end the fighting as soon as possible, the Balkan front mobilized more than 2,000 artillery pieces and launched a brutal and inhumane bombing on the Bulgarian border.

In just one day, the entire Balkan front consumed millions of artillery shells, and all of them hit the Bulgarian border, shocking 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 shaky, and some simple concrete positions even collapsed, sending the Bulgarian soldiers inside into an eternal dream.

It is conservatively estimated that the number of Bulgarian soldiers killed by artillery, affected by shock waves, killed and injured, and buried alive due to the collapsed position is tens of thousands.

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

What's even more serious is that because of such large-scale bombing, the logistics from the rear of the army cannot be sent to the front line, and the wounded cannot be transported to the rear. The wails of the wounded on the positions can be heard everywhere.

After a day-long bombardment, the Bulgarian soldiers finally experienced a brief period of peace.

In fact, it was also because of the insufficient reserves of artillery shells on the Balkan front that millions of artillery shells were consumed in one day. This made the Russian army not too far away envious, but there was nothing they could do about it.

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

At the forefront were several divisions of the Australasian colony. It's not that these natives are not afraid of death. They are followed by troops from other countries. If they don't charge, they will be greeted by bullets from the rear.

These indigenous soldiers rushed towards the enemy's position crying, which had a good effect on the already chaotic Bulgarian soldiers in front.

Because of the different languages, these indigenous soldiers cried out for their fathers and mothers while charging, but in the eyes of the Bulgarian soldiers they roared like crazy, like the god of death demanding their lives.

The charge of a large army immediately made the Bulgarian army, which had just put down its alert and prepared to rest, become nervous. Under the roar of each officer, they were rushed out of their rest areas 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 the war, the total number of troops stationed on this border is now less than 100,000, and the number lags far behind the troops of the Allied Powers.

On the Bulgarian border, Allied troops launched a fierce attack. The armies of Serbia and Montenegro charged extremely fiercely, because after Bulgaria's defeat, they were able to obtain a large amount of land and interests from Bulgaria, just like the Second Balkan War.

At this time, the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian border was already frustrated. He had just received news that there were attacks from Romania and Greece not only on the western border, but also on the north and south.

It was obvious that the Allies' first target in the Balkans was Bulgaria.

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

It is worth mentioning that the relationship between Bulgaria and several other Balkan countries is not good, which is also the reason why Bulgaria joined the Central Powers.

In order to carve up more benefits after the war, the other Balkan countries almost made all their efforts to attack Bulgaria, using most of their troops, and various domestic resources were also transported to the front line.

Facing the deep hatred with other Balkan countries, the Bulgarian government is in a very difficult position at this time.

Judging from the current situation, Bulgaria's failure is a foregone conclusion. But the problem is that Bulgarians are very hostile to the Balkan countries headed by Serbia.

It was the joint attack on Bulgaria by the Balkan countries 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.

With deep hatred, if the Bulgarian government dares to propose peace talks privately, I am afraid that the angry Bulgarian people will break out in large-scale demonstrations.

Even against the government and the royal family.

At this time, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, as the main militant before joining the war, had already disappeared, trying to shirk all responsibility for the war on the government.

Of course, Ferdinand is now not called a king, but a tsar as he calls himself.

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

In 1886, a coup broke out in Bulgaria. Alexander I, who had only reigned for seven years, was forced to abdicate, and Ferdinand, an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was elected as the new Prince of Bulgaria.

In order to prevent Russia from gaining the right to rule Bulgaria, Bulgaria's road to electing a monarch can be described as 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 system similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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

This also resulted in Ferdinand not gaining much power in the early days when he became Prince of Bulgaria. The power of the government was controlled by Stefan Stambolov, the leader of the Liberal Party at the time.

After Stefan Stambolov was assassinated, Ferdinand gradually took control of Bulgaria's political situation and gained considerable power.

But now, Ferdinand really wants to resurrect Stefan Stambolov, preferably to 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 a person of sufficient weight.

Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria 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 throne of Bulgaria like his predecessor Alexander I.

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

But the problem is that compared to a powerful monarch like the Bulgarian Tsar, for an ordinary member of the royal family, the huge gap in status for Ferdinand was enough to make him collapse.

For a person who holds the top power, after losing all rights and status, the huge gap is unacceptable. That kind of double emptiness in body and mind is enough to make a normal person collapse, enough to destroy all a person's confidence.

The first update of 3000 words, please vote for me and support!

Thousands per day today, 3000/10000 has been updated, please vote for me, please support!