Chapter 408 Transaction

Although the war has been extremely unfavorable, there is also good news for Tsar Ferdinand, that is, two of the four major powers of the Entente are from the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family like him.

Although neither King George V of England nor King Arthur of Australasia were closely related by blood to Ferdinand, they were all relatives from the same family after all, so there should be no need to exterminate them all.

With this expectation, Ferdinand began to try to contact the Allies to discuss how to end the war with smaller losses.

Yes, although a large number of Bulgarian troops are still fighting bravely on the front line to defend the country, Ferdinand in Sofia is already thinking about how to protect his own interests and that of the royal family, and how to stabilize his position after the war.

Ferdinand successfully exerted the spirit of not dying for Taoist friends but not poor Taoists, and not dying for the common people but the royal family. As long as he could ensure that his power and status would not be lost after the war, he would give up anything.

For this reason, Ferdinand deliberately did not notify the Prime Minister of Bulgaria when he contacted the Allies, so that after negotiating with the Allies, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria would take the blame for launching and participating in the war.

Although the top military officials were more proactive before the war and the pot was bigger, Tsar Ferdinand still needed the military to maintain Bulgaria's stability and his own status after the war. Therefore, the military could not be offended in any way.

Ferdinand gave full play to the spirit of choosing the greater of the two powers for mutual benefit and the lesser of the two powers for mutual harm. He never hesitated when it was time to abandon it, and had even decided on the scope of land to be ceded after defeat.

If the troops on the Bulgarian front line learned that Ferdinand was behaving like this, I am afraid they would have to say: "I am about to fight to the death, why did your majesty surrender first?"

Of course, Ferdinand did a good job of keeping secret. At least the Bulgarian soldiers on the front line did not know that Ferdinand had planned to surrender.

Car after car of materials were transported to the front line, which not only placed the government's ardent expectations for the war, but also placed the Bulgarian people's desire for victory in the war.

May 30, 1915, front border.

Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand initially contacted Britain and France, because the Balkan countries launched the Second Balkan War with the support of Russia, so Ferdinand never thought of contacting Russia first.

As for Australasia, although it is one of the four major powers of the Entente along with Britain, France and Russia, compared to the size of the other three countries, Australasia is still too weak and too far away from Europe to play a vital role in the situation in Europe. role.

But what Ferdinand didn't expect was that the unified foreign policy statement of Britain and France was that Division Commander Martin of Australasia was the supreme commander of the Balkans Front, and Australasia had independent command authority over its own troops.

This also means that unless Australasia and Commander Martin nod, the war in the Balkans will continue. The Balkan countries will agree to sit at the negotiating table with Bulgaria only after they have achieved benefits that satisfy them.

This made Ferdinand instantly nervous. If the Balkan countries are allowed to divide Bulgaria, I am afraid that Bulgaria will suffer huge losses in this war, and the Bulgarian people will not accept the outcome of such a war.

Even if the Prime Minister is pushed to the front desk to take the blame in the future, he may not be able to withstand it. Angry Bulgarians are unlikely to overthrow the government, or even the royal family behind it.

Immediately afterwards, Ferdinand sent his cronies to arrive in Australasia as soon as possible by airship to win Australasia's consent and understanding to end the war in the Balkans.

It was already mid-June when Arthur met Ferdinand's cronies at Sydney Palace.

Although the telegraph was a faster method of communication than the airship, Ferdinand did not dare to take the risk of being discovered by the government and the private sector. It was undoubtedly safer to send his trusted associates to communicate privately.

"Your Majesty, I implore you to stop the army's offensive in the Balkans for the sake of your relationship with the same family as our Tsar Majesty. To show sincerity, we are willing to surrender to Australasia and accept a peace treaty that is not too excessive." When seeing Arthur, Ferdinand's representative pretended to be pitiful with tears and runny noses.

There is no doubt that building relationships with Arthur is impossible. Not to mention that Arthur's soul was not familiar with the people of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family. Even if they were familiar people, it was impossible to be influenced by private interests on the premise that they each represented the interests of the country.

Just like Arthur's Queen Mary came from the Russian royal family, Arthur would not be able to devote everything in Australasia to saving the Russian royal family for Mary.

At most, for the benefit of Australasia, Tsarist Russia can be allowed to exist for a while longer, but only if Australasia has no losses.

Therefore, Ferdinand's behavior of getting closer was simply ridiculous in Arthur's eyes. Are George V and Wilhelm II closer cousins, both going to war for the sake of national interests?

"Mr. Kosnov, I am very pleased that your country has returned from its lost ways, but the war in the Balkans cannot be decided by Australasia alone. We have to inform our allies, Britain, France and Russia, and we can inform the Balkan countries to obtain all It only requires the consent of countries and forces. If your country is really sincere, as long as we can get the consent of all the above countries, of course we agree to let the Balkans enter peace and end this war through peaceful negotiations." Arthur smiled said.

Hearing that Arthur was not interested in trying to build ties, Kosnov quickly continued: "Your Majesty, in order to show sincerity, we are willing to provide 50 billion leva in compensation to your country and the Balkan countries and cede Western Thrace. And I promise not to have any contact with the Allies. I hope that His Majesty can take the fact that the Bulgarian royal family belongs to the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family to bring peace to the Bulgarian people again."

Seeing that the other party had offered real conditions, Arthur nodded and said: "Your country's compensation will still need to be discussed at the future peace talks. If your country really wants peace, then you can tell Feidi South, order all Bulgarian troops to stop resisting, and the Allied forces will officially take over Bulgaria. For the sake of co-signing the European Royal Declaration, I will persuade other countries to try to keep Ferdinand on his throne."

Ferdinand's real purpose was clear to Arthur, which was not to promote peace talks in Bulgaria, but to protect his throne after the war.

For Ferdinand, war or peace was not important, what was important was that his throne was protected.

If the war is won now, what Ferdinand wants to do is how to carve up the lands of other countries and seek more benefits for himself.

After hearing Arthur reveal his purpose of coming, Kosnov nodded quickly without any hesitation.

Although Ferdinand is much older than Arthur, with Arthur's current status, there is nothing wrong with calling Ferdinand directly by his name.

Instead, Kosnov breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Ferdinand's throne can be guaranteed, the Prime Minister will be responsible for the cession of Bulgaria's territory and compensation. The government and Prime Minister are also to blame for the public's anger.

After achieving his goal, Kosnov immediately went to the Bulgarian Embassy in Australasia and sent a confidential telegram to Ferdinand.

The content of this confidential telegram was very simple, and ordinary people could not see any secret at all, but Ferdinand knew at a glance that Kosnov's operation had been successful.

On June 11, 1915, the Bulgarian army had retreated again and again, and was not far from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

Although Ferdinand had decided to surrender to the Allies, it could not be Ferdinand who took the initiative to surrender.

After all, Bulgarians are inherently brave and good at fighting, and most people in the country are militants.

Historically, Bulgaria had only a population of more than 4 million during World War I, but it mobilized more than 1 million troops, which shows the fierceness and bellicosity of Bulgaria's people.

Today's Bulgaria is not much different. It also has a population of more than 4 million. Bulgaria has mobilized more than 400,000 troops. On average, one out of every three prime-age Bulgarian men joins the army, which is enough to show how crazy the Bulgarians are about war.

While the frontline troops are still fighting to the death, if Ferdinand surrenders publicly, his prestige among the people will definitely be greatly reduced.

Therefore, it would be best to find someone, someone with enough weight in the government, to be the first to call for surrender.

There is no doubt that the Prime Minister of Bulgaria is the most suitable choice. As the prime minister of the government promoted by Ferdinand, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria is still very loyal to Ferdinand.

In order to get the Prime Minister to work for him regardless of his reputation, Ferdinand used various methods, and finally got the Bulgarian Prime Minister to agree to take the blame.

On June 12, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria publicly delivered a speech, stating that Bulgaria has reached its end so far. Rather than being defeated by the enemy and having its territory divided by others, it is better to surrender voluntarily to protect its own interests.

This speech caused an uproar among the Bulgarian people. Even during the Bulgarian Prime Minister's speech, many Bulgarian people wanted to rush to the stage and beat up the prime minister for his shocking words.

If it were not for the police and military guards arranged by the government, the Bulgarian Prime Minister would have been beaten to death by the angry Bulgarian people before he could receive justice.

Of course, the Bulgarian Prime Minister's speech cannot but have an impact on the Bulgarian people.

A few Bulgarians looked back and sadly discovered that just as the Prime Minister said, Bulgaria no longer saw any hope of victory.

At the same time, under Ferdinand's instruction, the government began to control the troops to retreat one after another. The Allied troops easily reached Sofia and surrounded the Bulgarian capital.

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