Chapter 195: The Coalition’s Plan
Chapter 192 The Plan of the Allied Forces
On August 15, 1852, the Russian army launched the Second Battle of Bulgaria, in which the main force of the Russian army poured out over the Balkan Mountains to attack the allied army.
Franz found it hard to understand that the Russians pressed their main force into the battle, leaving enough troops to guard the logistic and transportation routes. However, he had to help the Russians.
Austria needs this war to continue, only when the Russians and the British and the French have fought a real fire, there will be a good opportunity for Austria to move westward.
Franz frowned and ordered, “Order the troops on the front line to stand by, and once the allied forces have broken through, pose as Balkan guerrillas and help the Russians hold the transportation line.”
If it weren’t for the fact that Austria was a multi-ethnic country with a good number of minorities in the army, it would be difficult to help the Russians.
Politics is all about shamelessness, as long as the lid isn’t lifted and Britain and France have no proof that Austria did it, then everyone will continue to play dumb and find a chance to retaliate back next time.
If the lid is uncovered, then there is no choice but to fight with their backs against the wall, this kind of extreme things, Franz is very hate to risk.
Marshal Radetsky proposed: “Your Majesty, direct intervention is easy to expose, or we support the Bulgarians’ local militia and guerrillas.
The Russians don’t take them seriously, but the news provided by the frontline military observers suggests that they have a high will to fight and have some fighting ability.
As long as we provide them with a batch of weapons and equipment and arm these people, with them as the groundlings, it will be almost impossible for the Allied Forces to sneak in.”
Austria needed the Russians to fight on, but wasn’t prepared to go into battle itself to help the Russians fight, that would mean bankruptcy of the westward strategy.
Couldn’t expect the Russians to keep their word that if Austria helped them take down Constantinople, they would send troops to help Austria unify the German region, could they?
If Austria’s strategy had been realized, would Franz be so dedicated to helping the Russians now?
Sincere cooperation is based on common interests, once the interests are gone, everyone’s position will change.
Franz shook his head and said: “It’s easy to support the Bulgarians, we don’t lack of arms.
But what about the Russians, according to the covenant, the Bulgarian region is Russian territory, we can’t reach into it.”
In order to avoid conflicts, the Russian-Australian alliance agreement is very clear, the division of power between the two countries is very clear, their own territory can be randomly engaged in, the ally’s territory can not reach out.
Now the Russians are propagating Slavism in the Bulgarian region and Slavism in the Principality of Montenegro, but the two principalities of Serbia and the Danube Valley, they can’t move.
The Russians keep the rules, Austria naturally can not break the rules. This is the foundation of the alliance between the two countries, and it is easy to destroy and difficult to establish.
Prime Minister Felix proposed, “How about arranging for someone to smuggle arms into the Bulgarian region, there are quite a few arms dealers active in the Balkans recently, we can find someone to act as an agent.”
Metternich objected, “No way. If it’s a few thousand rifles, we can naturally have the arms dealers sell them to the Bulgarians.
But now we’re giving the Bulgarians the ability to hold off a surprise attack by the Allied Forces, which will require at least one or two divisions of weaponry.
If so many weapons flowed into the Bulgarian area, would it be reasonable for us to know nothing about it?
Besides, right now the Bulgarians simply don’t have that much money to buy weapons, and when an arms dealer sells arms without charging for them, and such an odd thing happens, the Russians, if they’re not stupid, will know that it’s our doing.”
Smuggling arms can only be done on a small scale, once the scale is large it will be difficult to keep it secret.
The Ottoman Empire had always controlled the flow of arms and ammunition into the Bulgarian region, and if a large number of weapons were to enter Bulgaria from the Austrian-controlled area now, Austria would not be able to say anything at all.
Franz thought for a moment and said, “Take the second-hand weapons in our coffers, select a portion of those that can still be used, and those captured in the Balkans, and have the quartermaster steal and sell them to arms dealers in his own name, and leave the rest of them out of our hands.”
Ordering his men to sell weapons and equipment is kind of a strange thing to do, and now it’s happening.
A large amount of Austrian equipment had appeared in the Bulgarian region, which would surely attract the attention of the Russians. If it was replaced with second-hand old equipment flowing into the market estimates, the Russians would still feel confidant.
Now the biggest arms dealer in Bulgaria is the Russian Expeditionary Force, the officers take the captured weapons and equipment and sell them back to the local guerrilla organizations for profit.
Since the Russian army did it, it’s not surprising that the Austrian army followed suit. Even if the Russians found out, they would help to cover it up, or else their selling of arms would be exposed along with them.
Prime Minister Felix thought for a moment and said, ”Your Majesty, I’m afraid this is a drop in the bucket, the Bulgarian local militia is too poor to purchase some guns and ammunition, they can’t afford to buy artillery.
If the allied forces send troops to the back to cause havoc, the number of troops, though not too many, will not be too few either, at least they will be in the form of regiments, I’m afraid that the local Bulgarian militia will not be a match for them.”
“Don’t worry, we just need the Bulgarians to be able to stall for time, with this time as a buffer, I think the Russians should be able to react.” Franz said calmly
Franz was still relieved about the fighting strength of the Bulgarian militia. He was previously caught in the misconception that these people could not beat the regular army in a frontal battlefield.
But at home, with terrain to rely on, these Bulgarians delayed the enemy’s marching speed, or no problem.
Raiding the rear was supposed to be one word – fast. If the speed is not fast enough, not to mention cutting off people’s logistical lines, it would be good to expose the tracks and not be eaten.
……
Balkan Peninsula Allied Forces Command
“General Mostr Pasha, how can you tell me what’s going on? Why is it that you have no news at all about this attack by the Russians?
Don’t tell me hundreds of thousands of army movements, you guys didn’t even notice?” French Commander-in-Chief Emabule Jean-Jacques Pelissier questioned
“General Mostert Pasha, you are to blame for this time, the Russians have begun their attack and you didn’t even know about it, and you had to ask us to inform you.
This is your Ottoman Empire’s homeland, you can’t even get this little bit of information, are your officers all shit-eaters?” Montez, the commander of the British army, accused
In the face of the two men’s accusations, Mostr Pasha had nothing to say. People are all guest troops not knowing about the Russians’ actions is excusable, they, the groundlings, actually let the Russians complete the military mobilization under their noses and still know nothing about it.
“I’m sorry both of you, we’ll deal seriously with the personnel who malfeasance, and the same thing won’t happen a second time. Now that the enemy is already hitting us, let’s take on the enemy first!”
After saying that, Mostr Pasha picked up his baton and made a point on the military map, analyzing, “Here, and here, are the focal points of the fight between us and the Russian army.
Judging from the firepower on the battlefield, the focus of the Russians’ attack this time should be the strategic location – Sliven.
Sliven has been a strategic location in the Balkans since ancient times, and once the Russians capture it, it will create a strategic advantage for us.
It’s flat from here to Edirne, and we’ll no longer be able to build effective defenses. If the Russians leave 100,000 troops in Sliven, we’ll have to leave 200,000 troops to watch over them.
Apart from that, the other city that could be the focus of a Russian attack is – Sofia.
Sofia is situated in the southern part of the Sofia Basin, and is likewise a strategic place in the Balkans, and to master it is to master half of Bulgaria.
If Sofia is lost, then the Russians can can link up with the Austrians to the north, and Belgrade, which we are still holding on to, will lose its strategic significance.”
Looking at the map Monteith’s face changed, the place where the British army was now stationed happened to be Sofia, together with them there were 30,000 Ottoman troops.
The choice of stationed here, that is because beforehand the British Expeditionary Force internal analysis, that the Russians target is Constantinople, the focus of the attack will be on the Sliven area.
If the allied forces victory, launched a counter-offensive, Sofia is again in a favorable position, can be the fastest swoop to the Danube River, cut off the retreat of the Russian army, this is a good place to reap the rewards of war.
But as it stood now, the Russians were just as likely to make a breakthrough in the Sofia area. With the capture of this place, half of the Balkans would have all fallen, and the political gains would have been greater than the military.
French commander-in-chief Emabule Jean-Jacques Pelissier coldly analyzed, “If the Russians want to take Constantinople, the Sliven area is an inescapable obstacle. Unless they are not afraid of us taking the rear, this is the place the Russians must take.
If we lose the Sliven area, the battle behind us will be difficult to fight. When the Russians can attack and retreat, we can only be passive.
Now your country has given up the Serbian region, even if Sofia is lost, it is only another loss of central and western Bulgaria, plus Belgrade.
It is still early in the war, and the winner is the one who laughs at the end. There is no need for us to care about the gain or loss of a city or a place, and it is worthwhile to temporarily give up some land for the sake of final victory.”
Montes strongly objected, “The Sofia region can’t be given up just like that, the Russians have already compelled the Bulgarians, and if it continues there will be more Balkan peoples to be compelled.
In time we will find more and more enemies to fight, with the support of these people, even if we defeat the Russians, we have no way to drive them out of the Balkans.
The 30,000 reinforcements we sent from home have already departed and will arrive in the Balkans the day after tomorrow at the latest, and 20,000 troops from the Kingdom of Sardinia have also arrived in the Balkans, sending these 50,000 men of theirs over to reinforce Sofia.
Restricted by logistics, the Russians have a limited number of troops in the Balkans, and it is impossible for them to attack Sofia with too many troops, 100,000 troops can definitely hold it.
Sliven on this side is guarded by French troops, there is almost no possibility for the Russians to break through, as long as we block this wave of attacks, we can launch a counterattack.
In terms of troop strength we have an absolute advantage, that even if the Russian army’s fighting strength is strong, it’s no match for us in the Balkans.”
Military is for politics, as the first battle of the British army in the Balkan Peninsula, it is impossible for Montes to retreat without a fight, this is related to the face of their British Army.
The French had come into their own, that even if the French army had suffered a loss, but on the bright side, they were all winners, and the defeat that was the Ottomans’ pot.
The British Army also needed to make a statement, they also had to prove their strength to the outside world and improve their status at home. This dictated that they couldn’t operate with the French or they would be seen as a punching bag.
Moster Pasha supported, “General Monteith’s proposal is a good one, Sofia cannot afford to be lost, and we can’t afford the political fallout.”
Negatively, whether or not the Russians can be driven out is an unknown, in case the two sides fight a losing battle and the Ottoman Empire is unable to recover the lost territory, now give up Sofia is not a big loss?
The British are powerful, that’s naval power; the French are powerful, that’s Napoleonic era France is powerful; the Ottoman Empire is powerful, that’s history.
The Russians are strong in the present, and still have a strong army. Having fought the Russians many times, there were a lot of Russophobic conscripts in the Ottoman government, and that inevitably affected even Mostr Pasha.
The Sultan’s government was all ready to move the capital, and if it wasn’t for the morale boost, the capital of the Ottoman Empire would be Ankara by now.
The woolly bear is too difficult, if they can not drive them out of the Balkans, the Sudanese government can not dare to continue to put the capital in Constantinople, and they are neighbors.
Two to one, Emabule Jean-Jacques Pelissier didn’t continue to object, everyone was an ally in fact he would be able to command the French army, the Ottoman army could barely command it, and the high and mighty John Bull wasn’t going to buy his argument.
Emabule Jean-Jacques Pellissier proposed: “In that case, let’s divide the labor, the defenders of the Sofia region are mainly British troops, named the left army, with General Montes as commander.
The Sliven area, including the area around Kazanlık, is garrisoned by French troops, with me personally as commander considered the center road army, and the rest of the area will be under the responsibility of General Mostert Pasha as the right road army.
The battle at the front is tight, there is no time for us to waste. If there are no problems, let’s go to our posts as soon as possible!”
Without hesitation, Montes said, “No problem, this distribution is reasonable and can mobilize the troops to the maximum extent.”
(End of chapter)