Chapter 131 Surrender

While the fierce offensive and defensive battles on the Greek border were going on, the First Division of Thessaloniki was also under tremendous pressure.

Due to the important position of Thessaloniki, the two divisions of the Ottoman army, totaling about 30,000 people, frantically attacked the positions of the First Division in order to relieve its front-line corps.

The number of enemy troops was twice that of the defenders of Thessaloniki.

In addition, the Ottoman army used a large number of heavy artillery in the process of attacking Thessaloniki, which doubled the pressure on the First Division.

But Manogianaskis' First Division also has its own unique advantages.

First of all, since Thessaloniki is surrounded by plains, in order to defend Thessaloniki, Manogianaskis ordered the troops to dig deep trenches to deal with the enemy's heavy artillery bombardment.

In order to strengthen the defensive capabilities of the front line, the First Division also used Maxim heavy machine guns at the same time, and cooperated with trench defense positions, which made the Ottoman army attacking Thessaloniki feel difficult-every attack, under the heavy machine guns of the Greek army, suffered heavy casualties.

This batch of Maxim heavy machine guns was part of the Greek armaments before the war and was purchased from Germany.

It was the combination of trenches and Maxim machine guns that allowed the First Division to stand firm under the repeated attacks of the Ottoman army's superior forces.

Second, the First Division's logistical convenience.

Weapons like the Maxim heavy machine gun can fire at a rate of 300 rounds per minute when fully fired, and bullets are fired like flowing water.

Without sufficient logistical support, the army would be asking for trouble if it used such weapons.

In fact, it was precisely because of the abnormal firing rate of the Maxim heavy machine gun that many military strategists had concerns about it - what level of logistics would be needed for the army to use it?

For Greece, this problem was cleverly solved.

The Ottoman Navy did not even have the ability to sail out of the Dardanelles to fight. In contrast, the Greek Navy could patrol the Aegean Sea unscrupulously.

At Constantine's request, the Navy continuously transported logistical supplies and supplementary troops in Greece to the First Division in the fierce battle by sea, and at the same time transported the wounded of the First Division back to Athens on the return voyage.

It can be said that the full support of the navy allowed the First Division to let go and defend Thessaloniki with all its strength.

It was with this unique advantage that from January 10 to 23, under the attack of the superior forces of the Ottoman army, the city of Thessaloniki was impregnable.

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By January 26, the Greek-Ottoman War had lasted for about two months.

Due to lack of supplies, the Macedonian Corps of the Ottoman army could barely cope with the powerful attack of the Greek Thessaly Corps.

In January, the lack of supplies in the Ottoman army was already very obvious, and the news of the logistics cut-off spread quickly in the Ottoman army.

In order to collect rations for the soldiers, almost all the farmers near the battlefield, whether Greeks, Jews, or even MSL, were looted by hungry soldiers.

Even so, after January 20, the entire army had no intention of fighting, the soldiers were panicked, and they had to deal with the offensive of the Greek army every day, which was already exhausting and embarrassing.

In the early stage, facing the firepower preparation of the Greek artillery, the Ottoman army's artillery would fire back. In the later stage, the Ottoman army simply huddled in the shallow trenches of the position until the Greek army attacked, and the officers would order the soldiers to shoot.

Despair spread among the soldiers.

The news that the Austrian commander Edmond expected to recapture Salonika and restore logistics supply was delayed.

In order to trap the enemy Macedonian Corps, Constantine personally notified the Epirus Corps to bite the Ottoman garrison in Ioannina City so that it had no time to worry about the Macedonian Corps.

The Macedonian Corps, which was holding on to the Greek army, was surrounded on both wings. After the hope of opening up logistics was shattered, it was too late to retreat.

Edmond Pasha, who was forced to do so, shamefully surrendered to Constantine on the morning of the 27th.

The soldiers' thunderous cheers went straight to the sky.

Constantine, standing in the command camp, could clearly hear the movements on the battlefield.

In the border battle, the Ottoman army had 80,000 soldiers, 25,000 casualties, and more than 60,000 prisoners, almost half of whom were killed and wounded by Greek artillery.

The Thessaly Corps suffered 15,000 casualties, including 5,000 Congolese.

In order to celebrate this victory, the command ordered that the soldiers of the Thessaly Corps be allowed to rest for two days and hold a celebration banquet for the soldiers.

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Greece won the border battle and wiped out the Ottoman Macedonian advance regiment, which caused an uproar in Europe.

The next day, the British Foreign Secretary personally visited Constantine's command to verify the specific situation of the Greek battle on the spot.

"Great and glorious victory, Your Highness Constantine, from today on, your name will be known throughout Europe", the Marquis of Salisbury flattered Constantine when he saw him.

"Thank you for your congratulations, Marquis" Constantine welcomed him into the conference room.

"Your Highness, do you know that the entire Balkans, and even the entire Europe, were alarmed by your victory?" At this point, Salisbury turned worried.

"According to our ambassador in Belgrade, the news that the Greek army defeated the Ottoman army reached Serbia, and the King of Serbia immediately ordered the mobilization of troops."

"It was only severely rebuked by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which demanded that it stop the dangerous action of mobilizing troops"

"Similar news also came from Bulgaria"

"These two countries are now ready to move"

This was within Constantine's expectations. After all, Serbia and Bulgaria coveted the Ottoman territory, especially the European territory, and it was absolutely possible to add insult to injury.

However, the big brothers behind these two countries, Austria-Hungary and Russia, did not want their two younger brothers to do anything at this time.

Austria-Hungary did not want Serbia to become stronger, even if Serbia was Austria-Hungary's little brother.

Austria-Hungary and Serbia also had contradictions. There were a large number of Slavs in Austria-Hungary, including Croatia and Slovenia, and even Bosnia, which was taken over by Austria-Hungary in 1881, where a large number of Slavs lived.

In the eyes of Serbian nationalists, these were all Serbian compatriots.

Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were neighbors, and the growth of Serbia was not in the interests of Austria-Hungary.

Similarly, after Bulgaria obtained the Eastern Rumelia province that originally belonged to the Ottoman Empire, it was infinitely close to the goal that Russia had coveted for hundreds of years - Constantinople.

Russia had fought eight Russo-Turkish wars for this city, so how could it allow Bulgaria to get involved?

Therefore, although these two countries coveted the Ottoman Empire in trouble, they could do nothing about it.