My Italian: Chapter 247 Turkish-Greek War

In 1895, the Austrian Macedonia region was caught in a wave. Ptolemy, Thessaloniki, Sere and other places successively held demonstrations demanding autonomy. As many as 50,000 local people participated in the demonstrations.

If you pay attention, you will find that the people in these demonstrations are basically of Greek descent. Obviously, it is clear who is behind the scenes.

Sure enough, a week after the demonstrations, Greece sent a note to Ottoman, asking it to respect the will of the people of Austrian Macedonia and grant it autonomy.

In the face of Greece's rude demands, the Ottoman Empire refused on the spot. And Greece naturally knew that if it wanted to achieve its goals, words could not succeed, so on August 1, 1895, it declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

Little Greece dared to face the Ottoman Empire, who gave them the courage?

Greeks all over the world raised more than 1.6 million pounds of war money for the Kingdom of Greece, especially the Greeks in the United States, who donated 40% of the total.

And Britain and France also sold a sum of arms behind them, especially the two 10,000-ton warships Trafalgar and Nile, which gave Greece an absolute advantage in the sea.

Well, to be fair, in addition to the Greeks themselves and the British and French behind them, Italy and Bulgaria also gave some courage.

Yes, Italy and Bulgaria.

Due to the poor performance of the Ottoman army in the previous battle with the Ottomans between the two countries, Greece has a feeling that I can do it.

Of course, in addition to this feeling, there are some actual situations that make the Greeks think they have a chance of winning.

The reason is that the current Ottoman garrison in Macedonia is very embarrassing. Since there is only a narrow and long coastal area in his hands, the Ottomans dare not place too many troops in Austrian Macedonia. They are afraid that Bulgaria, like the last war, will cut off Austrian Macedonia with a single charge. connection with the native land. Therefore, there is currently only one Macedonian army, with more than 50,000 people.

That's right, Osman believes that the number one threat in the Balkans is Bulgaria, who beat him last time. Therefore, in order to deal with the threat from Bulgaria, the Ottomans stationed their most elite Thracian First Army in Adrianople. The scale of six divisions and the establishment of 100,000 people made it the most combative fist force in the hands of the Ottomans. . Moreover, the group army is also the priority training unit of the German advisory group, which is very guaranteed in combat effectiveness.

Moreover, the defense policy formulated by the Ottomans also has Bulgaria as the main goal. After all, Bulgaria has already faced Adrianople, which is the last fortress city of Istanbul.

And Greece is based on the deployment of the Ottoman army, so it believes that it has a chance of winning.

After the war, concentrated forces quickly defeated the Ottoman Macedonian army, then the Greek army could rely on the narrow coastal road to block the reinforcements of the Ottoman army, thus occupying the entire Austrian Macedonia area in fact. Except Bulgaria allowed the Ottoman troops to cross the border, but with the relationship between Bulgaria and the Ottomans, don't even think about it. Even if Bulgaria really allows it, the Ottomans would not dare.

The Greeks who were preparing for the war thought they were 80%, so they couldn't wait to declare war on the Ottomans.

And Greece's ambition has naturally attracted the attention of all countries. As a party to the interests of the Balkans, Italy will of course not miss this war.

No, Carlo gathered with the Prime Minister Antonio, the Minister of the Army, Marshal Cadorna, and the Chief of the General Staff, General Simone, to talk about the war between the Ottomans and the Greeks.

"Your Majesty, my colleagues, after the declaration of war between Greece and Ottomans, its troops on the border crossed the border and entered the territory of Austrian Macedonia. At present, the Greek army is divided into two parts, among which the first army is led by Crown Prince Constantine. , which started from Thessaly, has arrived at Katerini in Austrian Macedonia. Its target is directly aimed at Seloniki, the core city of Austrian Macedonia. This is its main force, with 76,000 people and 263 artillery pieces.

Another Greek army of 19,000 people set out from Epirus and aimed directly at Ptolemy. It was believed that after capturing the place, it would join the First Army of the Crown Prince. At sea, the warships of the Greek Navy have already gone to sea, and led by two 10,000-ton warships Evlov and Lemnos, they have blocked the Dardanelles.

In addition, the second army is currently being mobilized in Greece, but due to the factors of weapons and personnel, it will take at least 20 days to complete the formation. "

It was General Simeone, the chief of staff, who was on the map with a baton, explaining the dynamics of the Greek army to Carlo and his colleagues.

"And what about the Ottomans? Do they have anything to do?"

At this time, Antonio, the Prime Minister, couldn't help but ask.

In the face of the Prime Minister's inquiry, Admiral Simeone said immediately. "As for the response of the Ottoman army, according to the information we have received, its Macedonian army has shrunk in Theloniki."

"Gone?"

The words of Admiral Simeone surprised everyone.

"Yes, that's all Ottoman's intelligence at the moment. Of course, his secret actions cannot be ruled out, but with Ottoman's secrecy, I don't think it's likely."

Well, knowing what they were thinking, Simeone said a little more directly. Obviously, this kind of questioning of the military's battlefield intelligence gathering capabilities is simply not desirable.

"The Ottomans have not made a move in the face of the Greek offensive, are they worried about Bulgaria?"

Suddenly, this sentence caught everyone's eyes.

"It is indeed possible that if Ottoman can't be sure of Bulgaria's true thoughts, the troops placed in Adrianople will not dare to use it at all, and not only can't be used, but also need to be strengthened. If so, then it makes sense. "

Simeone, chief of the general staff, looked at the map and muttered to himself.

"Then why did Bulgaria want to help Greece? Did they make a secret agreement? It shouldn't be. Given the relationship between our country and Bulgaria, even if there is a secret agreement, there should be a hint."

Foreign Secretary Barcona asked his own question.

Don't doubt Italy's influence in Bulgaria. At present, Italy has a very high priority in Bulgarian diplomacy. Because Italy is Bulgaria's most needed and important ally at present, Bulgaria generally does not hide from Italy. And the relationship between Greece and Bulgaria is not good, it is difficult to believe that the two will be close, because they have an irreconcilable contradiction, that is Theloniki. The largest port in Macedonia, neither side would like to see it fall into the other's hands.

"Perhaps Bulgaria has no connection with Greece, but simply wants to keep the two sides fighting?"

The Prime Minister's point of view made everyone's eyes shine.

This is really possible. Both sides of the war are their own enemies, so why not let them continue to fight. If this makes sense, it would be cost-effective to give the weaker Greece an advantage in the early stage, and then let the two sides continue to fight to expand losses.

The Prime Minister is indeed the Prime Minister, and the ensuing battle is as expected. The Ottomans did not dare to relax because of Bulgaria's changes at the border, so the First Thracian Army in Adrianople did not dare to move at all, and reinforcements could only be sent from Istanbul.

Istanbul sent reinforcements of three divisions and rushed all the way to Theroniki.

On the side of the Greek army, the fierce siege of Theloniki is going on fiercely.

The Greek army with superior strength and firepower continued to attack the Ottoman defenders.

However, the Greek army failed to succeed under the resistance of the defenders.

The excellent command of the Turkish commander Kara Mustafa caused the Greek army to lose its troops. During the 12-day siege battle, Greece lost 18,000 people and still failed to capture the city.

Being dragged in Theloniki for a long time put the Greek army in danger. Sure enough, after the arrival of the reinforcements from the three divisions, Crown Prince Constantine, commander of the Greek army, could only announce the withdrawal of Theloniki and retreat to the border. Originally, according to the crown prince's words, considering that the long attack would make the soldiers physically and mentally exhausted, they slowly retreated to rely on the fortifications to defend.

But this order turned into a major mistake.

The Turkish commander, Kara Mustafa, took advantage of the more chaotic retreat of the Greek army and gave it a shot. The retreating Greek army was held back by the oncoming Ottoman army, and panic fell into chaos. The Ottoman army, which was overwhelmed by the entire army, was even more morally shaken. Under the situation, a big victory took place outside the city of Theloniki.

Only 57,000 Greek troops were withdrawn to the country, and some weapons were lost, and more importantly, the artillery they carried, most of which were lost.

Such a tragic situation has wiped out all the Greek ambitions. The morale of the returning troops was completely demoralized, and it took a long time to rectify them.

Moreover, the winning Ottoman army was approaching the border, and the Greek army, which had lost heavy firepower, could only try to resist by taking advantage of the terrain.

However, the resistance was futile. After losing heavy firepower, the Greek army suffered successive defeats. The cities of Fasalu, Velistinon, Pigatia, Arta and Prevoza suffered successive defeats, and Greece could only ask for a truce.

The loss of Greek troops in this battle will not be said, and years of hard work have been in vain. What a terrible word.

After the mediation of various countries, Greece compensated the Ottomans with 2 million pounds in reparations, and ceded several key points in Thessaly, the war ended.

In this war, the poor performance of the Greeks made all countries take a look at the Ottomans. It also made the Balkan countries, which were already in chaos, calm down a lot. I don't know if this is a good thing.

But whether it's a good thing or not, it doesn't matter to the Italian Navy, because they have more important things to do.