After several days of hard fighting, the First Army finally managed to get the fortresses along the way and landed in Constantinople!

Located at the crossroads of Eurasia, Constantinople is an irregular triangular peninsula with high terrain and a natural barrier surrounded by water on three sides.

At this moment, General Popov, who was reconnoitering the terrain on the spot, gasped!

Constantinople had long and narrow straits on both sides of the north and south, which served as natural barriers; Two more great walls were built on the land, and they joined the Balkan mountains! The city is crisscrossed by fortresses and fortresses!

Popov put down the binoculars in his hand and sighed: "This battle is not easy to fight!" ”

Petrov nodded and said: "Constantinople has been occupied by the Ottomans since 1453, and it has been more than five hundred years, and the Turks have been operating for more than five hundred years, and the city can be said to be impregnable!"

Now we are going to tear this fortress city to shreds, and after this battle, we will have a place in the history of world wars! ”

Speaking of which, Petrov's eyes have already burst out with a scorching light!

The siege began, and the invincible defense of Constantinople in the era of cold weapons has become crumbling under the baptism of artillery!

Far away in Sofia, Ferdinand was disrupted by a sudden donation.

As soon as the Balkan War broke out, the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria took action, and Skritment suggested to Ferdinand to start a war in the name of "holy war", but Ferdinand decisively refused!

But the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria did not stop, they turned to Orthodox dioceses all over the world for help, to raise money and supplies.

Ferdinand didn't take it seriously, the Balkan wars in history were examples, and the help provided by the Church was not great!

In fact, this was also the case at the beginning of the war, and the attitude of the major dioceses was cold, and in addition to supporting public opinion, they coped with the situation in actual action!

But when the Bulgarian army officially attacked Constantinople, the situation changed, and with the exception of places such as Jerusalem, which was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, there was no response, and a huge fundraiser was launched in all other regions!

Needless to say, in the Balkans, every day believers form volunteers to help the war effortlessly!

Ferdinand still underestimated the influence of the Orthodox Church, as one of the three major religions in Christendom, the influence is still huge, and millions of pounds have been raised in just a few days!

Seriously, Ferdinand didn't want to take this money at all, there is no such thing as a free lunch in the world!

"Have you figured out what they're up to? I don't believe that just for the sake of faith, they are so selfless to contribute money and efforts! Ferdinand asked with concern

Fuhu said with some hesitation: "The Grand Duke, they are ready to build Constantinople into a religious municipality, and there seems to be a shadow of the Russians in it, and they don't want us to control Constantinople!" ”

Ferdinand thought for a moment and said, "It seems that the Russians can't sit still!" Being able to mobilize so many Orthodox dioceses to act together at the same time, I can't think of any other force in the world other than the Russians with such strength! ”

Prime Minister Konstantin asked in surprise: "Grand Duke, if the Russians want to attack Constantinople, they can directly put it forward, and it is impossible for us to refuse!" ”

Foreign Minister Metev replied hesitantly: "I am afraid that this is related to the current international situation, the Russians are afraid that they will directly obtain the sovereignty of Constantinople, which will be interpreted by the outside world as a prelude to the struggle for hegemony in the Mediterranean, which will undoubtedly stimulate the sensitive nerves of the British and Italians!"

Now the Russians now have a strategic center of gravity in the Far East, and the control of Constantinople is to ensure their strategic security in the Black Sea, and they do not have the energy to devote themselves to the struggle for hegemony in the Mediterranean! ”

Suddenly Ferdinand laughed and said, "This is also a good thing for us!" The strategic center of gravity of the Russians is still in the Far East, and our value is great!

Tell the Russians that, given the unique strategic value of Constantinople, we are ready to build it into a military port as a base camp for the Bulgarian Navy! ”

Everyone's faces changed, and Chekov said unwillingly: "Grand Duke, let's abandon Constantinople like this, it is better to establish a city of religious freedom!" ”

Ferdinand interrupted: "No! Religion is too harmful to become bigger, and the secular must be strictly separated! ”

Ferdinand's real thoughts were that the Russians took it, and they could take it back after World War I, and established a religious freedom city, so never think about taking it back!

……

In the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Nicholas II, who had just received Ferdinand's offer, squirted out a mouthful of water, and then asked in disbelief: "Is Ferdinand's brain in water?" Just threw Constantinople out of it, without conditions? ”

The Foreign Secretary embarrassedly explained: "His Majesty the Great Tsar, he is a Catholic, and naturally he is not interested in the free city of the Orthodox Church!" ”

Nicholas II thought for a moment and said: "That's right! If an Orthodox free city really emerges in Bulgaria, he, the Catholic king, will be embarrassed!

What did he want to change? ”

"The Bulgarians want to get all the territories that are under their actual control!" The Foreign Secretary replied

Remembering that Constantinople, the city for which the Russian tsars had fought for all generations, was about to fall into his hands, Nicholas II was in a good mood!

He smiled and said, "Oh, Ferdinand really dared to think about it, but I agreed!" ”

The Prime Minister questioned: "Your Majesty, the area controlled by the Bulgarians is not small now, and once they are all annexed, I am afraid that it will be beyond our control in the future!" ”

The Admiral asked rhetorically: "Prime Minister, what will happen to Constantinople if you do not accede to their demands?" Shall we take it ourselves?

As for whether Bulgaria will get out of our control? No one can answer this question, anyway, I know that as long as the Russian Empire remains strong, there will be no problems! ”

The Foreign Minister thought for a moment and said: "A powerful Bulgaria appears in the Balkans, and it is Austria-Hungary that should be most worried!"

After the Balkan War, they bordered on Bulgaria, and the matter of limiting the growth of the Bulgarians was left to them, and we still have to fully support the allies! ”

……

After receiving accurate information from the Russians, Ferdinand breathed a deep sigh of relief, with the support of the Russians, Bulgaria was able to pocket the benefits in his hands!

At this time, the unresponsive Ottoman Empire also took action, lobbying the great powers everywhere in an attempt to gain support!

In the palace of Ankara, the Sultan asked expectantly, "How is the situation?" ”

The Foreign Secretary was embarrassed and said: "There are some results, but they do not meet our expectations!"

After I made concessions on the question of Egypt, the British promised to stop providing support to the Balkan League; But they rejected our proposal to jointly limit the Russians!

The Germans are willing to take our side, but unfortunately they are now fighting with the British for colonies in South Africa, and their influence in the Balkans is too weak!

After we agreed to give up Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary offered to intervene, but they did not want to engage in a violent conflict with the Russians! ”

The Sultan asked dissatisfiedly: "And what about the French and Italians?" What about their attitudes? ”

After saying that, he also realized that he had asked in vain. Just by looking at the Russian-Russian alliance, you can know the position of the French, the British did not have the energy to intervene in the Balkans, and the French also made great efforts!

The Italians ignore them, the Russians don't take them seriously, they have just been in Ethiopia again, and it is estimated that even a few small countries in the Balkans do not take them to heart now!

The Foreign Secretary added: "The Romanians were ready to take our side, but when the Russians made their stance clear, they shrank back!" ”

The Sultan said fiercely: "In this case, the great powers cannot be counted on, so let's fight!" I don't believe that all the newly formed troops in the country will be transferred to Constantinople, we will not be able to defeat a single Bulgaria! ”

With the failure of the Ottoman diplomatic efforts, the Battle of Constantinople became even more intense, and with the arrival of a large number of Ottoman reinforcements, a brutal war of attrition began!

In just a few days, the First Army lost two divisions. Of course, the Ottomans were not easy, the loss of troops was even more, and even the two walls of Constantinople were breached, and the war had entered a white-hot stage!