Chapter 759: Unexpected Joy

Ships of supplies departed from Britain, were transported to the Persian Gulf through the Suez Canal, and then transferred overland to the Ottoman Empire through Persia.

The arrival of international aid directly stimulated the Ottoman resistance movement. The Sultan seemed to have been beaten with blood, and broke out with unprecedented enthusiasm.

The front-line officers and soldiers felt the most obvious. The enemy's resistance became more and more tenacious. Even the old and weak, women and children, took up guns and shot at them.

Before that, the Ottoman Empire had limited weapons, and the regular army was somewhat inadequate, and some soldiers were still using primitive flintlock guns.

The equipment of the people is mainly cold weapons, and occasionally a few antique shotguns appear, which are all treasures and pose little threat to the coalition forces.

After receiving the aid of the British, the situation was different, and the embarrassing situation of the Ottomans' lack of weapons and equipment was changed.

Perhaps it is because the military production capacity of Britain is insufficient, and the new rifles in the Ottoman army have not increased much, but the old-fashioned weapons and equipment have greatly increased.

It can be seen that the British are clearing the inventory this time. A wide variety of weapons are available, some of which date back to the last century.

Regardless of the century, these hot weapons fell into the hands of the Ottomans, and under special geographical conditions, they could still exert considerable power.

Affected by this, the pressure on the coalition forces on the battlefield increased greatly. The first one that couldn't stand it was not the Principality of Montenegro, but Greece with more troops.

There is no way, the people of the Principality of Montenegro cannot afford to die so little. Maxim Trentiev has inherited the fighting tradition of his ancestors, adhering to the principle of giving the enemy the greatest damage with the least casualties.

The war has been going on for more than a month, the port is almost leveled by the Austrian navy, the landing of the Montenegrin army has not been successful, and the feeling is naturally not deep.

Greece is different. After the successful landing, it has been fighting with the Ottoman defenders to death, and every step forward has to pay huge casualties.

The "great Greek Empire Dream" made Publius unable to slack off. Although the Ottoman Empire was in decline, its territory was not small at all, covering more than 1.4 million square kilometers.

Such a big piece of meat, Russia and Austria eat meat, they can always drink soup with it, right? Needless to say, any small fraction is enough for Greece to go further.

You must know that there are still hundreds of thousands of Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. If these people are brought back in a piece of land, Greece's national strength can be directly multiplied. This is the last hope of Greek nationalists.

Originally, the anti-war factions in the Greek government had the upper hand, and they were not prepared to participate in the war at all. The sudden "Minister's Case" stimulated the Greek people, and only joined the war under the instigation of nationalists.

Even Publius was not an orthodox soldier, his other identity was that of a Greek nationalist leader.

It may be that the war slogan was shouted too loudly, or it was so talented that it attracted the attention of King Ludwig I and received the "national hero" with the highest standards.

Without waiting for him to react, he was appointed as a "temporary marshal" and ordered to command the troops on the battlefield.

It cannot be ruled out that there is a suspicion of killing with a knife. After all, Ludwig I was born in the Lombard royal family, and he has not been influenced by Greek nationalism and has no interest in reviving the Greek Empire.

Not only Publius, but also the noisy nationalists in Greece were basically sent to the battlefield by Ludwig I under the banner of national justice.

As the saying goes: "patriotic" means fighting for the country, what's the point of hiding in the back and shouting?

Therefore, the combat effectiveness of this Greek expeditionary force is particularly touching. If you hadn't already landed, and you couldn't go back, it is estimated that many people would have become deserters.

A middle-aged man complained: "Marshal, let's go on like this. We have lost more than 5,000 people in just over a month since the war started.

Russia and Austria wanted to take over the Ottomans for themselves after the war, and the coalition headquarters deliberately arranged a death-defying mission to consume our strength. "

Publius gave him a stern look: "Shut up, Mackendos!"

"You idiot, can you use your brains when you speak. It is our own request to be in charge of the operations in the Marmara Sea Theater. The coalition headquarters means that we should stay at home and take care of our children.

The battle plan is made by us, and the battle is under our command. Can someone else be held responsible for the heavy losses?

Besides, do we alone lose a lot? You have also read the war report. Austria suffered 10,000 casualties and Russia suffered 18,000 casualties. Which one did not lose more than us?

If you lose a battle, you have to admit defeat, blame others and shirk your responsibilities here, are you still a soldier? "

Don't blame Publius for being angry, doubts are doubts, can these words be said?

Even if it is true, it can only blame them for their poor strength. People use Yang Conspiracy. Since they took the initiative to take over the task, they must swallow this bitter fruit.

Admiral Mackendos defended: "But Marshal, the enemy's resistance is far more tenacious than we expected, and it is no longer appropriate to continue the previous plan.

The Allied Command also…”

Publius slammed the table: "Enough, Mackendos. Now I'm absolutely sure, you're a big idiot.

Don't bring your outside knowledge into the army. An order is an order, and there are not so many conditions to speak of.

If the enemy resists stubbornly, it can be exploited for not carrying out orders, and then there is no need to fight wars. "

Military orders on the battlefield are like mountains, and there is no price to talk about.

Moreover, they still made their own battle plan and reported it to the coalition headquarters for approval. Now the command has asked them to complete the task, and no one can say that it is wrong.

...

not only greece

It was a headache, and seeing the increasing casualties, Albrecht, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, was also very distressed.

Casualties do not equal death. The Austrian army's medical assistance system has basically been perfected, and most soldiers can still return to the army after being cured.

But the number of casualties is growing fast, especially in the last week, the number of casualties of the Austrian army has increased by 21% compared with last week, and the number of casualties of the coalition forces has increased by 31.4%.

Although the exchange ratio on the battlefield was amazing, the Ottomans paid a heavier price behind the casualties of the coalition forces.

Including civilians, the Ottoman side has suffered at least 500,000 casualties since the war, and the coastal areas have basically been beaten to nothing.

This is just the beginning. After going deep into the inland areas, the fire support of the Austrian Navy cannot be counted on. On the contrary, the Ottomans occupied the geographical position, people and people.

The deeper the battle line, the more obvious the geographical advantage the Ottomans could play. Fortunately, the Asia Minor peninsula was not large, only about 600 kilometers wide from north to south.

The coalition forces attacked from both sides, which is equivalent to more than 300 kilometers in depth on one side. The front line is not too long. Otherwise, the Ottoman Empire would exchange space for time, and maybe it would really last until the international situation changed drastically.

After looking over the map, Albrecht made a decision: "Send power to Vienna and report the situation on the battlefield.

It was suggested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put pressure on Persia to close trade routes with the Ottomans and cut off the lifeline of the Ottomans.

In the name of the coalition command, the Caucasus theater and the Middle East theater were ordered to march to the Mesopotamia to cut off the connection between the Ottomans and Persia. "

Free trade system, that is also targeted.

When the British sell supplies to the Ottomans, that is the category of free trade; when Persia does business with the Ottomans, it is not free trade, but an enemy of Austria.

It is the essence of international politics to judge people's food. The same thing happens to different countries, and the effects are completely different.

Austria couldn't help the British, even protests didn't help much; it was different for the Persians, who were within reach of the Austrian army.

...

The wonderful performance of the British, the Vienna government seems to be collectively blind, seeing nothing, and an attitude of indifference.

Naturally, it was not that the Vienna government could not see it, nor that the Vienna government could not interfere. There was only one truth, and it was suppressed by the emperor Franz.

The telegram, including Albrecht, was also suppressed by Franz, and incidentally, the battle plan to cut off the Ottoman lifeline was rejected.

Franz asked, "Has the cannon fodder team been formed yet?"

Minister of the Army Feslav: "The African Legion is not full, and the number of indigenous people in the colonies is limited, but only 70,000 people.

For the vacancy, the War Department uses criminals who entered the country illegally. At present, 50,000 people have been recruited, and it is expected to be full next week. "

The casualties of soldiers on the front line increased, and the Vienna government would naturally not be invisible. To destroy the Ottomans, a lot of cannon fodder is needed to fill the pit.

Franz, the main force, was reluctant, so he could only let the cannon fodder.

Originally, the African Colonial Legion was the first choice, but the colonial government was too much tossing, and the high poll tax directly caused the indigenous population to fall into negative growth, and the number is now seriously insufficient.

Originally, the Vienna government could also recruit cannon fodder troops from other colonies, but unfortunately the transportation cost was too high and it was not economical at all.

Then we can only use the "criminals" to make up the number. Anyway, the 150,000 cannon fodder troops will be filled up and used to fight the Ottoman Empire.

This is only the first wave, and it can continue if it is not enough. Letting the British transfuse blood to Ottoman is essentially to solve the hidden danger more thoroughly.

The more stubborn the Ottoman government resisted, the smaller the hidden dangers left after the war. By the way, it could also help the Vienna government consume the cannon fodder troops that have lost their value and may become hidden dangers.

As for pitting allies, it was a total accidental gain. Franz was not prepared to pit teammates in the original plan.

After all, Greece and Montenegro are too weak to be worthy of Franz's shot; the Russians themselves are seriously injured, and there is no need to bleed them.

Franz nodded: "As soon as the number of people is gathered, they will be sent to the battlefield as soon as possible. The casualties on the front line are increasing, and the commanders are almost unable to withstand the pressure.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent the Persians a non-painful protest, focusing on the fact that they had colluded with the Ottomans and meddled in the war in the Near East.

Grasp a good degree, don't intimidate the Persians, we also need them to be the captain of the transport brigade Ottoman. "

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

...