Chapter 592: Osmund Who Loved Nature

  Chapter 579 – The Nature-loving Ottoman

Build mansion people mostly like the terrain is open, in addition to a special love of nature, usually do not plant too many trees around the house, especially the front door can not be planted in front of too many trees.

It’s not just a feng shui issue, there is a scientific basis for it. Too many trees will block the sunlight exposure, easy to breed snakes, insects and ants.

There are exceptions to the rule, and right now there are a lot of manors outside of Ankara that have trees planted all around them, and even the roofs of the houses have grass planted on them.

In this era where there were no insecticides, one could imagine how many insects and ants would breed within the manor in this environment. Normally, only nature fanatics would be able to tolerate it.

In this era where most people had to struggle for three meals a day, there were obviously not so many nature-loving fanatics. Most of these estates are newly built and some are still under construction.

Most of the trees were native, and a few were transplanted. Looking down from the sky, there wasn’t much difference from an ordinary grove.

This was all brought on by the war. Ever since Ankara had been bombed, there were more of these environmentally friendly, green estates outside the city.

Austrian blimps came to hang out over Ankara once every three days, dropping a few bombs into the city without a target in the process, leaving their mark.

Regardless of the results of the war, the rich and powerful are afraid to live in the city, and everyone has become a lover of nature and big forests.

In the many estates, there is a special one. Surrounded by “three steps, one post, five steps, one post”, heavily guarded like a palace.

That’s right, this is the temporary palace of Abdul Aziz the First. Inside this small, unassuming manor, there are perfect manned fortifications with multiple exits that can be moved at any time.

It is said that even if a few hundred pounds of bombs were dropped from the sky, it could not be shaken. Unfortunately, the Austrian airships seemed to be only interested in the city and never bombed outside the city, leaving these fortifications without the opportunity for real-world testing.

In the beginning, Abdul Aziz I was worried that the enemy would come at any time and hid in the basement for a week at a time.

Later, he realized that he had completely overthought it, and that airships were not infallible. Darkness, wind, heavy rain, fog, sandstorms, are the nemesis of airships, Austrian airships never travel in bad weather.

Bombed more, the Ottoman government also summed up a set of countermeasures, and established the world’s earliest and most primitive air defense early warning system.

The airships did not fly fast, at least much slower than the telegraph, which created conditions for the Ottoman government to give early warning.

The airships took off from their bases into Ankara and had to pass through quite a few areas, and when the cities along the way spotted the airships, they would immediately report back by telegraph.

Of course, in the absence of air defenses, this kind of warning did not have much substance. In such a short period of time, it would be too late to notify the population to take shelter, but it would still be possible to notify the big shots to take shelter in time.

The fact that the Austrian airships had been bombing for half a year, causing tens of thousands of deaths and injuries, and that not a single high ranking Ottoman official had been grazed, was proof enough of the advanced nature of this early warning system.

Abdul Aziz I’s state is getting worse and worse, originally he thought that the Ottoman Empire would be strong after the reform, however, the cruel reality tells him that the Ottoman Empire is a weak chicken.

Militarily speaking, the Ottoman army performed moderately well this time. It didn’t make any big mistakes and didn’t have many bright performances.

On the local battlefield, it was still able to play half a catty with the Russian army. The great counter-offensive planned by the military almost succeeded, but unfortunately, a careless move was countered by the Russian army.

There was no way around it, and with the loss of air control, the Ottoman army was left in a passive state. The carefully planned strategy resulted in troop movements being exposed to the eyes of the enemy.

In addition to being able to bomb and demoralize, airships could also conduct reconnaissance of the enemy. Austria and the Russians did not work closely together, but when they detected troop movements of the Ottoman army, they would still inform the Russians.

Unfortunately, the Ottoman army did not react in time and ignored the scouts in the sky.

Of course, even if they had taken precautions, it would have been very difficult to make a difference in practice. Small-scale troop movements, can fool people, moving tens of thousands of people on the march, how can there be no movement?

Even if they were to take the mountain road, watching the flying birds abnormally would expose their movements. It couldn’t be possible to specifically pick bad weather where airships couldn’t come out, or march at night, could it?

In this case, it was possible to avoid airship detection. Bad weather is not always available, the battlefield soldiers are quick, it is impossible to wait for the weather.

The only feasible way is to march at night, but unfortunately more than 90 percent of the world’s armies in this era do not have the ability to march at night, and the Ottoman army is no exception.

With the organizational structure of the Ottoman army, if you really want to take it for granted to play the night march, when the final headcount, it will be very touching. No need to fight with the enemy, they tossed themselves out.

Minister of the Interior Abdulaziz Bouteflika: “Your Majesty, news has just come from the British that Austria intends to increase its army by half a million men.”

“Half a million” is not a simple figure, knowing that on the battlefield right now, the combined total strength of Austria and Russia is not half a million.

Originally, Austria and Russia had the upper hand on the battlefield, so they didn’t need reinforcements at all. Now Austria increased its troops by half a million, obviously not to win the war, but to carry out the war of extermination.

Since Austria was ready to increase its troops, was it far for the Russians to increase their troops?

Abdul Aziz I asked in panic, “Is the news certain?”

There was no doubt that the current Ottoman Empire could no longer withstand this blow. Not only was there defeat after defeat on the front, but the country was destabilized as well.

A large number of war refugees poured into the interior, fighting for survival space and the locals in a fierce conflict, in the fight the Sudanese government chose to favor their own people, the minorities naturally centrifuged from them.

At present, there are seven or eight Ottoman rebel armies with more than 1,000 members, the largest of which is the Armenian rebel army, with a total strength of more than 20,000 men.

The fact that the Ottoman Empire lost its land along the Black Sea coast so quickly was directly related to the revolts that were raging in the country.

Abdulaziz Bouteflika bowed his head and replied, “We have confirmed from the French that a week ago the government in Vienna submitted a motion to the Imperial Parliament to increase the army by half a million.

The Reichstag of the New Holy Roman Empire only responded and never vetoed the government’s proposal. If nothing else, it should have passed by now.”

Getting information from the British and asking the French for it? It’s no joke, there’s no way the Ottoman government’s intelligence capabilities could have gotten the information back in such a short period of time.

Confirmed the news, Abdul Aziz I directly fainted magnificently. It wasn’t that he had a poor tolerance, it was really that the news was too exciting.

After a burst of military chaos, Abdul Aziz I woke up already in a hospital bed, and the decision naturally didn’t need to be made by him.

When the war broke out, the Ottoman Empire was blockaded by the Austrian navy, and the external passage was left to Persia.

Ankara had received the news, and the foreign minister, far away in London, must have received it even earlier.

Thousands of miles away, waiting for the Sultan’s government to make a decision was definitely not in time, and Abdul Aziz I had given full authority to the Foreign Minister early on.

Domestically it was impossible to count on, the Ottoman Empire had a limited population, and in the successive defeats they had lost a great deal of their vital forces.

Besides, modern warfare wasn’t just about people. Where would the weaponry come from in a short period of time?

The Ottoman Empire was no industrial powerhouse, and while arsenals certainly existed, that production capacity was quite touchy.

The war is not waiting for anyone, according to the current speed, not wait for them to get together the weapons and equipment, the enemy has hit Ankara, the Sudanese government can only hope on international intervention.

……

Inside the Prime Minister’s residence in Downing Street, Prime Minister Gerston, who has always been well-cultivated, couldn’t help but slap the table.

The Austrians were just too disrespectful, they had only just begun mediation when the Vienna government was about to destroy the Ottoman Empire, where did this put them?

If you let the Ottoman Empire was destroyed, then this London Peace Conference will be reduced to a joke, the British government will also be painstakingly managed up the international reputation will also fall to the bottom.

Marquis Maclean, the Foreign Secretary, analyzed: “According to the information we received, the Ottoman Empire is about to be finished.

Since the war started, the Ottoman Empire has lost at least 600,000 troops, and more than a quarter of the population has become refugees due to the war.

The most crucial thing is that their domestic economy has been devastated, which has galvanized the conflicts that have been built up in the past, and rebellions are coming out all over the place.

Even if the Austrians did not increase their troops, as long as the war continued, the Ottoman Empire would be dragged down.

The Habsburg Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire are arch-enemies, these grudges can be traced back to the Middle Ages, to finish off the Ottoman Empire can be said to be the wish of every Habsburg monarch.

In addition to the hatred, there was also a great deal of interest. Although it is not known how Austria and the Russians were going to divide it up, it is certain that once the Ottoman Empire fell, the entire Eastern Mediterranean would fall into Austrian hands.

The problem now is not only that the Viennese government wants to destroy the Ottoman Empire, but we must also take into account the position of the Tsarist government.

When it comes to grudges, the hatred between the Russians and the Ottoman Empire is in no way lower than that between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire.

The most recent one was the Russo-Prussian War, which the Tsarist government would not have lost at least as badly had it not been for the Ottoman Empire’s backstabbing.

Alexander II, having experienced it first hand, had a personal pain and a much stronger desire to exterminate the Ottoman Empire than Franz.

As things stood, the Vienna government and the Russians had reached an agreement. Unsurprisingly, the Tsarist government will likewise increase its troops.”

Hatred and interest were complete and deserved the Ottoman Empire’s downfall. It would have been a problem if the Vienna and St. Petersburg governments had shown mercy to the Ottoman Empire.

Prime Minister Gerston rubbed his forehead and said helplessly, “No matter what, the Ottoman Empire has to be preserved or we will become a joke.

The international situation right now is very bad, we have to adopt flexible diplomatic means to preserve the Ottoman Empire, and we can’t let the situation go on out of control.”

There’s no way around it, the French aren’t giving it a go right now. The Parisian government is heavily infighting, and by the time they make a decision, the Ottoman Empire will be history.

Without the French involved, the London government couldn’t intervene by force even if they wanted to.

The Royal Navy was certainly powerful, but if they were to send their main fleet deep into the Mediterranean Sea, the London government would also wimp out.

It’s not just a question of how many warships, but also how much power they can put out there.

If the Royal Navy is concentrated, in and out of the Mediterranean Sea, of course, there is no danger. France and Austria in the Mediterranean Sea warships together, may not be able to leave them, naturally will not be desperate.

In reality, this is impossible. As the colonial empire warships will inevitably be scattered stationed, the British can mobilize the mobile force, at most half of the fleet.

British and French hatred is not shallow, and the French Navy is sitting on two to one. Just sent to the door, who can guarantee that France and Austria will not join forces and pull them down from the position of maritime supremacy?

To know the Mediterranean Sea is different from the Atlantic Ocean, once blocked that can not get out. In other places even if the sea battle suffered a loss, can also run away.

As long as the sea battle is not surrounded, or or warships performance gap, very few were wiped out, the sea is not so good to chase.

The Mediterranean Sea is an exception, the British in the Mediterranean Sea ports are only a few, not very insurance.

If they really flipped, when the Royal Navy just need to go deep into the Eastern Mediterranean, the French can cut off their retreat.

As soon as the Suez Canal is closed and the island of Malta is taken, the Royal Navy is trapped inside. It’s not a question of whether or not they can rush out, but what to do about logistical supplies?

This era warship range can not be as strong as the latter days, from the Eastern Mediterranean to run back to the British mainland, straight-line distance are several thousand kilometers, the actual route distance is even farther.

Most of the warships carrying coal is not enough, must be resupplied, to be able to sail back smoothly.

Along the way, there are still French and Austrian naval interceptions, can only run at full power, changing sails also depends on the wind direction. Moreover, many warships had given up sail power and did not have this option.

The French and Austrian navy do not need to fight with them, just attack the supply ship on the line. Or cut off the coal supply, or consumed ammunition, can achieve the purpose.

What’s more, the performance of the steam engine in this era, in general, can not open full power, full power to run on a time, have to carry out an overhaul.

Along the way there is no port to moor for overhaul, it can be said that as long as the first time did not run out, that is not run out. Loss of logistics of the navy, simply does not have the ability to sustain operations.

These days there is no radio, sea drift lost for ten days and half a month, that is a common thing. As long as the French and Austrians blocked the news, may be this side of the fight is over, the London government can not receive news.

Of course, this component of luck is very important. If luck, for example, encounter foggy weather, avoided the intercepting fleet, carrying enough supply ships, and did not hit the reef, or may run out.

As for defeating the enemy interception and forcing their way out of the encirclement, just think about it. It may not be difficult to win, the problem is that after winning, how many supply ships are left?

Is the enemy’s main fleet coming after us? To carry out the main duel, half of the Royal Navy certainly can not win.

Without enough certainty, the British certainly would not gamble on character, and the Ottoman Empire was not yet worth the risk to them. If they succeeded, they might not be able to achieve their goal, but if they failed, they would lose a lot of money.

Now we have entered the era of ironclad ships, not sail battleships so easy to replenish. The Royal Navy only needs one big defeat and the position of maritime supremacy will be shaken, the British can’t afford to lose.

The world’s leader is so pulling hatred, once revealed the cracks, even if the group of wolves eat tiger pattern.

(End of chapter)