Chapter 776: Unexpected Joy
Chapter 759 The Unexpected Joy
Shiploads of supplies departed from Britain and were shipped to the Persian Gulf via the Suez Canal, and then turned overland into the Ottoman Empire via Persia.
The arrival of international aid directly stimulated the Ottoman resistance movement. The Sultan, as if he had been given chicken blood, exploded with unprecedented enthusiasm.
The frontline officers and soldiers felt it most clearly, the enemy resistance became more and more tenacious, even the old and weak women and children picked up their guns and were shooting at them.
Before this, the Ottoman Empire weapons are limited, equipment for the regular army are somewhat insufficient, part of the soldiers are still using primitive flintlock rifles.
The people’s equipment is even more cold weapons, occasionally appear a few old antique shotguns, that are treasures, the threat to the coalition forces is not great.
After taking the British assistance, the situation is different, the Ottomans insufficient weapons and equipment dilemma has been changed.
Perhaps the British military production capacity is insufficient, the Ottoman army in the new rifles did not increase much, but the old weapons and equipment has greatly increased.
It can be seen that the British this time is to clean up the inventory. There were all kinds of weapons, and some of the artillery could be traced back to the last century.
Sensei which century, these hot weapons fell into the hands of the Ottomans, in the special geographic conditions, still able to play a small power.
Affected by this, the pressure on the Allied Forces on the battlefield increased greatly. The first one who couldn’t take it was not the Principality of Montenegro, but rather Greece, which had more troops.
There is no way, the Duchy of Montenegro can’t afford to die with so few people, Maxim Trentiev inherited the old ancestor’s combat tradition, adhering to the idea of minimizing casualties to give the enemy the maximum kill.
The war has been going on for more than a month, the harbor is almost flattened by the Austrian Navy, the Montenegrin army landed unsuccessfully, the feeling is naturally not deep.
Greece is different, after the landing success has been and Ottoman defenders dead, every step forward to pay huge casualties.
The “dream of the Great Greek Empire” prevented Publius from slacking off. Although the Ottoman Empire was in decline, its territory was not small at all, covering more than 1.4 million square kilometers.
The Ottoman Empire, though declining, was not small at all, with a territory of more than 1.4 million square kilometers. Not to say much, just a little bit of change is enough for Greece to go further.
You should know that there are still hundreds of thousands of Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, a piece of land to get these people back, Greece’s national strength can directly multiply, this is the last hope of the Greek nationalists.
This was the last hope of the Greek nationalists. Originally, the anti-war faction in the Greek government had the upper hand, and was not prepared to participate in the war at all, but the sudden “Minister’s Case” stimulated the Greek people, who joined the war under the encouragement of the nationalists.
Even Publius was not an orthodox soldier, but a Greek nationalist leader.
It is possible that the war cry was so loud or so brilliant that King Ludwig I paid attention to him and received this “national hero” in the highest possible conditions.
Before he knew it, he was appointed “temporary marshal” and ordered to command his troops on the battlefield.
After all, Ludwig I came from the Lombard royal family, had not been inspired by Greek nationalism, and was not interested in the revival of the Greek Empire.
Not only Publius, but also the nationalists who were making noise in Greece were basically sent to the battlefield by Ludwig I under the banner of national righteousness.
As the saying goes: “If you love your country, fight for it. What’s the point of hiding at the back and yelling?
Therefore, this Greek expeditionary force combat strength, it is particularly touching. If not already landed, swim not go back probably many people have become deserters.
A middle-aged man complained, “Marshal, if this continues. It’s only been more than a month since the war started and we’ve lost more than 5,000 men.
Russia and Austria want to monopolize the Ottomans after the war, and the Allied Command has deliberately set up a mission to send us to our deaths to consume our strength.”
Publius glared at him fiercely, “Shut up, MacCandless!”
“You idiot, can’t you use your head when you speak. Taking charge of the Marmara Sea theater of operations was our own request, and the Allied Command meant for us to stay home with the kids.
We made the battle plan, we commanded the battle, and we’ve lost a lot of men, and we’re asking someone else to take responsibility for it?
Besides, are we the only ones with heavy losses? You’ve read the battle reports. Austria has 10,000 casualties, Russia has 18,000. Which one has more losses than us?
If you’ve lost a battle, you should admit defeat, and blame others here, are you still a soldier?”
I don’t blame Publius to be angry, doubtful or not, can these words be said?
Even if they were true, then they could only be blamed for their lack of strength. People were using a yang scheme, since they took the initiative to take the mission, they had to swallow the bitter fruit.
Admiral McKendricks argued: ”But Marshal, the enemy’s resistance is far more tenacious than we expected, and continuing the previous plan is no longer an appropriate time.
Coalition command is still ……”
Publius slammed the table, “That’s enough, MacCandless. Now I’m absolutely certain that you’re just a big, dumb, stupid idiot.
Don’t bring whichever set of perceptions you have from the outside world into the army, orders are orders and there aren’t that many conditions to speak of.
If the enemy’s stubborn resistance justifies not carrying out an order, then the war doesn’t need to be fought.”
Military orders on the battlefield were like mountains, and there was originally no price to be paid.
Moreover, they had still formulated their own battle plan to report to the coalition command for approval, and now that the command had told them that they had to fulfill their mission, no one could say that they were wrong.
……
Not only the Greeks have a headache, looking at the casualty figures that are increasing day by day, Albrecht, the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, is also very distressed.
Casualties are not the same as killed in action, the Austrian army’s medical aid system has basically been perfected, most soldiers can still return to the army after healing.
But the casualty figures are growing fast, especially in the last week, the number of casualties in the Austrian army has increased by 21% compared to the previous week, and the number of casualties in the coalition army has even increased by 31.4%.
Despite the staggering exchange ratio on the battlefield, the Ottomans are paying a heavier price behind the casualties paid by the coalition forces.
Including civilians, there have been at least more than half a million casualties on the Ottoman side so far in the war, with the coast essentially beaten into oblivion.
This was just the beginning, after penetrating deep into the inland areas, the Austrian naval fire support could not be counted on, instead, the Ottomans occupied the geographical advantage, and the people.
The deeper the battle line went, the more obvious the advantage of geography that the Ottomans were able to play, fortunately the Asia Minor Peninsula was not large, only six hundred kilometers wide from north to south.
Allied forces from both sides of the attack, equivalent to one side of the depth of more than three hundred kilometers, the battle line is not too long, or the Ottoman Empire to space for time, not possible to really hold out until the international situation changes.
After surveying the map, Albrecht made a decision: “Send a telegram to Vienna to report the situation on the battlefield.
Suggest the foreign ministry to put pressure on Persia, force them to close the trade channel with the Ottomans, and cut off the lifeline of the Ottomans.
In the name of the Allied Command, order the Caucasus and Middle East theaters to march towards the Two Rivers Valley and cut off the link between the Ottomans and Persia.”
The free trade system, that was also targeted.
When the British sold supplies to the Ottomans, that was in the free trade category; when Persia did business with the Ottomans, that wasn’t free trade, it was making an enemy of Austria.
The nature of international politics is to look at people’s food, the same thing happens in different countries, the effect is completely different.
Austria can not help the British, even if the protest is not much effect; on the Persians is different, the Austrian army is enough to reach them.
……
It was as if the government of Vienna was collectively blind to the wonderful performance of the British, and could see nothing, with an attitude of indifference.
Naturally it was not that the Vienna government could not see, nor that it had no means of interfering; there was only one truth, which was suppressed by Franz, the Emperor.
Including Albrecht’s telegram, also suppressed by Franz, incidentally also vetoed the cut off the Ottoman lifeline of the battle plan.
Franz asked, “Have the cannon fodder troops been assembled yet?”
Minister of War Fislav: “The Afrika Korps is not at full strength, and the limited number of colonial natives has only brought together 70,000 men.
For the shortfall, the War Ministry is using criminals who have entered the country illegally to make up for it, 50,000 men have been drafted so far, and it is expected to be full next week.”
The increase in casualties among the soldiers on the front line was naturally not lost on the Viennese government. A great deal of cannon fodder was still needed to fill the pits in order to exterminate the Ottomans.
The main force, Franz, could not afford to spare, so it was left to the cannon fodder troops.
Originally, the African colonial army was the first choice, but the colonial government tossed too much, and the high poll tax directly plunged the indigenous population into negative growth, and now the number has been seriously insufficient.
Originally, the Vienna government could also recruit cannon fodder troops from other colonies, but unfortunately the transportation cost is too high, not economical at all.
Then we can only take the “criminals” to make up the number, anyway, 150,000 cannon fodder troops to make up the full, and take and the Ottoman Empire to fight for human life.
This is only the first wave, and it can be continued if it is not enough. Let the British blood transfusion to the Ottoman, in essence, or in order to more thoroughly solve the hidden problems.
The more tenacious the Ottoman government’s resistance, the smaller the hidden dangers left behind after the war, and by the way, it can also help the Vienna government to consume the cannon fodder troops that have lost their value and may become hidden dangers.
As for the pitfalls to the allies, that was a complete windfall, the original plan Franz did not prepare to pitfall teammates.
After all, Greece and Montenegro were too weak to be worth Franz’s efforts; the Russians themselves were badly wounded, so there was no need to bleed them further.
Franz nodded: ”Once you’ve gathered the number of people, send them to the battlefield as soon as possible, the casualties at the front line are getting bigger and bigger, the commanders are about to be unable to withstand the pressure.
The foreign ministry sends a painless protest to the Persians, focusing on slamming them for the fact that they they colluded with the Ottomans and meddled in the Near East war.
Grasp a degree, don’t scare the Persians, we still need them to give as a transportation brigadier Ottoman.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
……
(End of chapter)