Chapter 230 Seeking Negotiation

Northwest of the Ottoman Army's defense line

The sound of bullets hitting the ground was heard at the foot, and Greek soldiers were constantly hit by bullets and fell to the ground.

The soldier who was hit in the thigh covered his wound and shouted loudly to the medical soldier, and the bright red blood soon dyed the ground under him red.

The soldier who was hit in the abdomen fell to the ground, holding down the wound and wailing miserably. Some people even tried to put the intestines that flowed out back into their abdominal cavities, and then twitched weakly on the ground as their vitality faded.

The infantry squad led by Sergeant Simitis of the Second Division was very unlucky and ran into an Ottoman Army machine gun company at this time.

Although 3 machine guns were knocked out by the previous artillery bombardment, the remaining 5 machine guns still caused huge casualties to the company to which Simitis belonged.

"Machine gun, hold down that fire point for me!" Simitis shouted loudly: "Others keep charging, don't lie on the ground, it will only get worse!"

The machine gun group in the squad followed Simitis, the squad leader, and immediately jumped forward after hearing the order, lying in a shallow crater, then placed the Maxim machine gun on the ground, and immediately started shooting.

The machine gunner pressed his cheek tightly against the butt of the gun, and his shoulder pressed against the butt of the gun. The recoil of continuous shooting spread through his shoulders and his whole body. The complex emotions of tension and excitement made him clench his teeth tightly. The flames at the muzzle flickered, and the diffused smoke choked people's throats, but his fingers never released the trigger.

Now is not the time to fire short bursts, and the magazine strips were used up in an instant.

The machine gunner opened the receiver cover, took out the magazine strip and threw it away. The assistant gunner immediately took out a magazine strip and skillfully hung it on the side of the gun. The machine gunner pinched the iron sheet exposed outside the magazine bag and pulled it. The empty magazine strip was pulled out of the magazine bag, and the new magazine strip was installed. The receiver cover was buckled down, pressed hard, and then the bolt was pulled. Then the trigger was pulled, and dense bullets continued to gush out.

Bullets were sent into the gun chamber as the magazine strip moved, and in the blink of an eye, they jumped out from the ejection port at the other end of the receiver. The hot shells with residual smoke fell to the ground, gradually forming a pile of shells, colliding with each other and making a pleasant jingle.

Soldiers on both the Greek army and the Ottoman side were constantly torn to pieces. If they wanted to break this stalemate, they had to completely destroy the machine gun positions on the opposite side.

Simitis' eyes were red as he shouted to Sergeant Karamandis, the mortar squad leader of the same rank as him: "Karamandis, use the mortars to support us quickly. We need you to use the mortars to eliminate the enemy machine gun positions in front of us."

Sergeant Karamandis also knew that the situation was urgent. He nodded and jumped into a shell pit with his men.

The soldier carrying the seat plate slammed the seat plate to the ground with force. The protrusion under the seat plate was inserted into the soft soil. The soldier carrying the gun body slammed the gun body onto the seat plate, then spread the bipod, and then took off the protective cover on the muzzle.

Karamandis took out the sight in the small box hanging on his chest and inserted it on the side of the gun body, then rotated the direction wheel to adjust the direction: "Direct aiming, high explosive bomb, two rounds in a row, no correction"

At a distance of less than 100 meters, Karamandis was even sure that the shells would hit the French crotch, and there was no need to waste time correcting the trajectory.

The loader immediately pulled out a cylindrical thick paper tube from the bag on the ground, unscrewed the lid, and took out the mortar shell.

"Ready," Karamandis shouted, the loader put the tail of the shell into the muzzle, held the side of the shell tightly with both hands, "release," loosened his palm, the shell slid into the barrel, and then with a muffled "bang," the shell flew out.

Before the first shell landed, Karamandis continued to shout: "Ready" "Release"

Two clouds of smoke and dust rose from the Ottoman army's position, and the Ottoman machine gunners in front of them suffered heavy casualties in an instant.

Seizing this opportunity, Herbert's squad rushed to the front of the Ottoman army's position.

After a volley of gunfire pushed the Ottoman soldier's head back into the trench, the Greek soldier finally jumped into the trench.

The trenches built by the Ottoman army were straight, and a bullet could hit from one end of the trench to the other.

The rifles equipped by Greek soldiers are Greek standard rifles modified from Enfield rifles. Several rounds of bullets can be pre-loaded in the magazine, and they can be fired continuously and quickly in a very short time.

In contrast, the Mauser 98 rifle used by the Ottoman army is a single-shot rifle. Every time it shoots, it has to load and pull the bolt.

In the straight trenches, the Greek soldiers with faster firing rates naturally have an advantage.

Therefore, in the first trench, the resistance of the Ottoman army was quickly disintegrated under the offensive of the Greek soldiers.

The Greek vanguard soldiers who occupied the first trench have gained a firm foothold. The originally scattered vanguard troops began to gather in the first trench, and the troops began to gather on both sides of each communication trench connecting the second trench.

In the tent of the Macedonian Corps Headquarters

Constantine sat anxiously at the table, silent in front of the huge battlefield situation map.

The map describes in detail the distribution of the Greek and Ottoman armies.

A dozen combat staff officers kept moving the small flags representing the army on the map and discussing the development of the occupation.

After the full-scale offensive began, although Constantine did not think the plan would fail, he still felt uneasy before the final result was revealed.

"Report, just received a telegram from the Second Division, our army has just broken through the first line of defense of the northwest defense line of the Ottoman army," a signalman walked in and said loudly.

This news was like a bucket of gasoline poured into a fire, and the atmosphere in the room immediately became heated.

"What? Is this true?"

"Great, finally, the first good news has appeared"

Constantine jumped up from his seat and walked quickly to the signalman, and the result was confirmed by the telegram.

"Report that our army's offensive in the northwest has broken through the enemy's four lines of defense"

In the next few hours, the general command received frequent good news, and five lines of defense were broken by the Greek army.

In the next few days, the Greek army that broke through the northwest defense line quickly interspersed, and in order not to be divided and surrounded, the Ottoman army shrank its defense line.

By January 4, the Bazani Fortress, Kastritsa Fortress, and Thessaloniki City had been cut off from each other by the Greek army, and fell into a terrible situation of fighting each other.

By January 6, although the Ottoman army was still holding on to the fortress, the situation was over. It was only a matter of time before the Ottoman army in Thessaloniki was defeated.

The residence of Aitser Pasha in Thessaloniki

In the office, many Ottoman officers were worried and the atmosphere was bleak. The ashtray on the table was filled with cigarette butts and the room was filled with smoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our army's defense in Thessaloniki has failed. In order to avoid meaningless losses, I propose to seek negotiations with the Greeks." Seeing that no one spoke, Aitser Pasha spoke first, breaking the silence in the room.

Everyone knew that the so-called seeking negotiations was just a euphemism. According to the current situation of the Ottoman army, it would be more appropriate to say that it was a surrender negotiation.

Although the Ottoman army's defense line was breached by the Greek attack, there were still about 60,000 Ottoman soldiers in the city.

The number of 60,000 seems impressive, but these soldiers lack food, ammunition, and weapons. They are now in a new defeat, and their morale is low. They are already a group of defeated soldiers, and they have completely lost their organization and discipline.

It is meaningless to force such soldiers to fight against the Greek soldiers who are in high morale.

"Commander, we still have 60,000 people and the city of Thessaloniki. We can organize soldiers to fight street battles with the Greeks in the city, and we can still hold on," said Visip Pasha, a general of Aitsa Pasha, unwillingly.

In the last war (the war of 1897), we lost Thessaloniki, and the Germans helped to get it back from the Greeks. Now that we have lost Thessaloniki again, it is impossible to come back.

"First of all, we don't have sufficient ammunition supply. Even if we fight street battles, we can't win. That will only anger the Greeks."

"Secondly, the success of street fighting requires an important condition, that is, the full support of the residents in the city. Do you think the residents in the city will stand with us?"

Aitsa Pasha looked around at everyone and asked back.

Everyone was silent.

There are about 300,000 Jews living in Thessaloniki, and the rest of the ethnic groups, MSL and Greeks, add up to less than 100,000 people.

The current Thessaloniki is the largest Jewish settlement in the world.

In the past, the Ottoman government encouraged Jews to settle in the city in order to dilute the influence of Greeks in Thessaloniki.

Why did the Jews cooperate with the Ottomans?

"For the empire, in the current war situation, the most important thing is to keep Thrace. Macedonia is no longer important. Now, the Bulgarian offensive in Thrace is extremely fierce. The important fortress city of Adrianople in the empire, and even Constantinople, are facing huge threats." Aitsa Pasha tried hard to persuade everyone.

"Since the loss of Thessaloniki is unstoppable, then we might as well use Thessaloniki in exchange for some benefits, such as letting the Greeks agree to the remaining 60,000 Ottoman soldiers to return to Thrace."

Visip Pasha wanted to ridicule Aitsa Pasha for his wild ideas, but then he thought about it and felt that it might not be impossible.

"You mean to alienate the relationship between Bulgaria and Greece?" Visip asked uncertainly.

Aitsa Pasha nodded: "Although Greece and Bulgaria are allies, no matter how close their relationship is, it will be dirty when it comes to the issue of Macedonia's territorial division."

"If Greece and Bulgaria have a conflict over the ownership of Thessaloniki, it can relieve the pressure on the Ottoman Empire anyway," Aitsa Pasha explained earnestly.

The Ottoman Empire has fought wars with Italy and the Balkan League in succession. These two wars are indeed beyond the power of a declining empire.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Aitsa Pasha called the servants, prepared the carriage, and went to the British Consulate in Thessaloniki.