Chapter 273: Truce and Negotiation

On the afternoon of July 12, the General Staff received a telegram from the Macedonian Corps. After being trapped, the Bulgarian Ivanov Corps surrendered to the Macedonian Corps.

Among them, the Bulgarian commander Ivanov committed suicide by shooting himself.

After the news reached Sofia, the Bulgarian King Ferdinand completely cut off the last bit of luck.

It has only been a month since the war started, and the entire Bulgarian Kingdom has gone from being ambitious to being in panic.

After all, before the war, under the propaganda of public opinion and the intentional guidance of public opinion by the Bulgarian government.

The current situation seems to be the same as what is said in the Bulgarian newspapers. The Bulgarian army will still give the enemy a head-on blow like the Bulgarian-Serbian War in 1885 and the Balkan War that just ended a few months ago, and then win a brilliant victory.

In the Bulgarian-Serbian War of 1885, Bulgaria defeated the Serbian invaders in the border battle with an absolutely inferior force, and pushed back into Serbia, not only successfully completing the goal of merging with the Eastern Rumelia Province, but also establishing the dignity and pride of the newly born Kingdom of Bulgaria.

In the Balkan War of 1913, the Bulgarian Army, as the main force, defeated the main force of the Ottoman Army in Thrace and almost reached Constantinople.

The newly independent Kingdom of Bulgaria took only 30 years to restore the territory of the heyday of the Kingdom of Bulgaria in history, and became the new overlord of the Balkans - the northernmost part of the kingdom is the lower reaches of the Danube, and the south is directly to the Aegean Sea, spanning the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, successfully breaking through the shackles of the Bosphorus Strait at the seaport. In time, with the development of the economy, it will inevitably become a great power in the Balkans.

The Bulgarian Army's continuous and brilliant victories made almost all Bulgarians believe that the Greek Army was vulnerable and it was only a matter of time before it was defeated by Bulgaria.

Unexpectedly, after the war began, the front line received bad news one after another. Bulgaria, which was eager to end the war in a short time, was not prepared for a long war at all. After learning that the Greek army had built perfect fortifications and relied on defense lines to hold on, such a completely unexpected tactic, it panicked because it was completely different from the Bulgarian military's idea.

Now the Bulgarian army has no chance of winning. King Ferdinand I contacted the Russian government, expressed a request for a ceasefire to Russia, and asked Russia to mediate the war as an intermediary.

Ferdinand and Prime Minister Gesuf (Bulgarian Prime Minister) were probably annoyed by the deception of the Allies (there was almost no support for Bulgaria in the war), and turned to Russia.

The Russian government saw that Bulgaria, the former iron brother of the Balkans, was so miserable after betraying itself that it was dealt with by various countries.

Considering the German-Austrian alliance members' wooing of Bulgaria, in terms of national sentiment, everyone is Slavic, has similar culture, believes in Orthodox Christianity, and can even communicate directly in language, as well as the role of Bulgaria's geographical location, they naturally happily agreed to be the mediator.

If Bulgaria can be obedient and return to the right path as before, then Russia will have two younger brothers with similar culture and race in the Balkan Peninsula - Serbia and Bulgaria, and once again establish Russia's strong influence in the Balkans.

After the Russo-Japanese War, Russia, as the steamroller of Europe, was defeated by the Japanese, which made the Russians lose face in Europe and their dignity was destroyed.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the whole of Europe became the center of the world and its power reached its peak. Except for Europe and America, almost all other places in the world were colonies of Europe!

Needless to say, Africa was held in the Berlin Conference in 1885. Diplomats held maps on the conference table and drew a few lines on them. You got a piece of South Africa, I got a piece of Kenya. The troops didn't even have to go to Africa. They just divided it up!

First determine the ownership, and then send some troops. That's how European countries determined the sovereignty of African colonies.

The Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, East Asia, these places are all European colonies!

You can imagine that Europeans at this time regarded places outside Europe as wild lands.

In the eyes of Europeans, races other than white people are all uncivilized natives, ignorant, feudal and backward.

In the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, the Russians were defeated by Japan in East Asia. In the eyes of Europeans at that time, this was like Italy losing to the black uncles in Ethiopia. It was incredible!

Surprise!

Therefore, after the Russo-Japanese War, Russia lost face in the international community. At the same time, due to the consumption of the Russo-Japanese War, domestic conflicts intensified, triggered popular unrest, and caused Russia's strength to decline sharply.

Bulgaria, Russia's former iron brother, also turned against Russia at this time.

You know, in the original Bulgarian army, almost all middle and senior officers were Russian officers, and the command of the Bulgarian army was naturally in the hands of the Russian Tsar.

After the Russo-Japanese War, Bulgaria saw that Russia could not even beat the Japanese. What qualifications did it have to be Bulgaria's big brother? Can it protect it? Naturally, it no longer obeyed Russia as before.

Therefore, after the Russo-Japanese War, Russia's influence in the Balkans plummeted.

The most direct proof is that in 1908, the Austro-Hungarian Empire directly annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was under its mandate. The Ottoman Empire had a revolution in 1908 (the Turkish Youth Party), and Russia was severely damaged in the Russo-Japanese War. The two influential empires in the Balkans had no time to take care of it, so the Austro-Hungarian Empire directly annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina.

You know, the people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are all Slavs.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Russia held two trump cards, Orthodoxy and Slavic nationalism, which were highly responsive in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire.

Russia advocated Pan-Slavism on the Black Sea coast, while waving the banner of Orthodoxy. The two surrounding empires, the Austro-Hungarian Empire (ruling many Slavs) and the Ottoman Empire (ruling a large number of Orthodox Christians), suffered greatly.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire were both multi-ethnic empires on the decline, with their national strength gradually declining. They were getting worse and worse every year, and they could not resist the Russians fanning the flames and watching them covetously.

There were a large number of Slavs under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, such as Poles, Ukrainians, Czechs, Bosniaks, and Croatians.

The Russians tried their best to promote Pan-Slavism. If they succeeded, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be torn apart.

As a hostile country to Russia, the Ottoman Empire was in an even more miserable situation.

Due to special historical reasons, the Ottoman Empire ruled a large number of Orthodox Christians, who accounted for almost half of the people of the Ottoman Empire.

The Orthodox Christians who were impoverished under the rule of the Ottoman Empire generally believed (probably for religious reasons) that there would be an Orthodox emperor who would rescue them.

From all indications, the Russian Tsar met these conditions.

Combined with the declining national strength of the Ottoman Empire, naturally many believers are willing to believe in Russians, such as Armenians.

(From this perspective, it makes sense for Russia to regard itself as the successor of the Roman Empire)

In the Balkans, there are a large number of Slavs who believe in Orthodox Christianity, such as Serbia and Bulgaria. In the eyes of Russia, which advocates expansion and loves land, is there any place more suitable for expansion than here?

If Russia had not performed so badly in the Russo-Japanese War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was ridiculed as "rag doll imperialism", would not have the courage to annex the Bosnia and Herzegovina region where a large number of Slavs lived.

Russia also actively began to reform after the Russo-Japanese War. In recent years, it has achieved remarkable results and its strength has been restored. Naturally, it wants to restore its previous influence in the Balkans.

Therefore, the request of Bulgarian King Ferdinand I was regarded by Nicholas II as an opportunity to restore Russia's influence in Bulgaria, and he naturally agreed happily.

And the relationship between Russia and Greece has always been good, both politically and economically.

The royal families of the two countries have close relations. Constantine's mother, Queen Olga of Greece, came from the Russian Romanov royal family.

Moreover, the two countries are both Orthodox countries.

There are a large number of Greek merchants engaged in trade along the Black Sea coast. For example, in Odessa in Ukraine, there are a large number of Greeks settled.

In the original historical time and space, Crown Prince Constantine led the Greek army to fight against the Ottoman Empire in 1897, but was defeated. The Greek royal family faced the risk of losing the throne and was criticized by the Greeks.

The Greeks who lost the war wanted to hold the royal family responsible for the defeat, overthrow the royal family, and establish a republic. Tsarist Russia, considering the relationship with Queen Olga, gave diplomatic support to the Greek royal family.

Also on the afternoon of July 12, Prime Minister Venizelos was visited by the Russian ambassador, who clearly expressed Russia's intention to mediate the war between Bulgaria and Greece.

Athens Ministry of Defense Building

"Everyone, how should we respond to the Russians' request for mediation?" Constantine asked the Greek military and political leaders.

"Negotiations are definitely necessary, but it will take some time for the Macedonian Corps to fully achieve the predetermined goals of this war," Chief of General Staff Emmanuel responded.

For Greece now, the most important thing is to completely occupy the territory along the Aegean coast of Bulgaria and curb Bulgaria's development.

But now the Macedonian Corps has just completed the encirclement and annihilation of the Ivanov Corps. It has been fighting for more than ten days, and the corps has been exhausted.

After the surrender of the Ivanov Corps, the entire corps almost relaxed and is now stationed in Kavala. Although the corps commander Manugianaski did not order a repair, everyone relaxed after the fierce battle.

And the territories along the Aegean coast of Bulgaria also include Western Thrace.

Alexandroupolis, the capital of Western Thrace, is more than 100 kilometers away from Kavala.

Moreover, Alexandroupolis, like Kavala, is also a small seaside port city.

If they could not occupy this place, then Greece's purpose of depriving Bulgaria of its seaport to contain Bulgaria would fail.

This is also the cunning of the Bulgarians. They originally thought that after the Ivanov Corps withdrew to Kavala, they would take a defensive position, firmly guard Kavala, and then ask the great powers for mediation. In this way, even if Bulgaria was defeated, since Kavala was still in the hands of the Bulgarian army, Bulgaria could still keep Kavala, an important outlet to the Aegean Sea.

It was just that the tactics of the Macedonian Corps were beyond the expectations of the Bulgarian high-level officials.

The Bulgarian army requested a ceasefire at this time, just to take advantage of the Greek army's carefreeness to retain Western Thrace.

And without actual occupation by the army, it is conceivable that in the subsequent negotiations, Greece's desire to claim Western Thrace will basically be opposed by all countries.

After the victory of this war, Greece's comprehensive strength has ranked first among the Balkan countries, and its prestige is great. The powerful countries naturally want to balance the national strength in the Balkans, and do not want to see Greece dominate the Balkans.

In the negotiations, Bulgaria, the weaker party, must be favored, and Greece, which is in its heyday, must be suppressed.

Moreover, it is unlikely to get the territory that was not obtained on the battlefield at the negotiating table.

Thinking of this, Constantine also had a headache.

"Your Highness, no one is more suitable for such a task than our navy," said the Greek Navy Commander Kontoriotis.

"Our navy's warships are now patrolling the Aegean Sea, not far from Alexandroupolis, the capital of Western Thrace. As long as our navy carries some marines, then..."

Before Commander Kontoriotis finished speaking, Armament Minister Yannis interrupted him: "According to the news sent back by our intelligence personnel, although Alexandroupolis does not have the main Bulgarian army stationed, it is not completely without soldiers defending it. After all, it is also a port, and the Bulgarian side still attaches great importance to it."

"No matter how powerful your navy's warships are, they can't land after all."

"The Marines alone are probably not the opponent of the small Bulgarian garrison. Your navy should not get involved."

"After all, the Marines are not professional land forces, and the number of people is not large. If they are forced to go out in a hurry, they will probably suffer heavy casualties."

Just kidding, the army spent so much effort and finally won the war and successfully encircled and annihilated the enemy's main army in Kavala.

The navy did nothing from beginning to end, except for a few shellings along the Aegean coast, it made almost no contribution.

The war was over, and the navy wanted to take the fruits of victory directly, and directly send warships to receive the spoils?

It's a beautiful idea.

The Bulgarian navy was very weak, with only a few torpedo boats, so after the war, the Greek navy was only responsible for patrolling in the Aegean Sea and hardly participated in the war.

As soon as Kantoriotis, the commander of the navy, spoke, the Minister of Armaments, Yannis, became anxious.