"What? King George I of Greece came to visit secretly! Ferdinand couldn't believe it

I'm too lazy to complain, haven't I read too many mentally retarded novels? Anyway, he is also the king of a country, who can he deceive by playing a secret visit?

The Balkans are so big that once you find out that George I has not leaked for a long time and has a little bit of attention, you will know to check! As long as it is certain that George I appeared in Bulgaria, who is it necessary to ask?

Well, Ferdinand did not yet think that the Ottoman Empire was so mentally retarded now, or that it did not take such small countries as Greece and Bulgaria to heart at all, and they were busy dealing with the difficulties of the British!

Before the outbreak of the first Balkan War in history, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Greece made great preparations for war, but they did not attract the attention of the nobles until the outbreak of the war was taken by surprise!

In any case, George I had already arrived, and Ferdinand had to go to receive it, and everyone was still relatives, so this little face still had to be given.

Since George I had come to visit in secret, Ferdinand also decided to cooperate with him in a play, and as long as the Greeks did not take the initiative to inform him, he pretended not to know about it.

Moreover, the fanfare of the welcome ceremony can be saved, and even the meeting place cannot be chosen in the Sofia Palace.

The most important thing now is to figure out, why did George I visit in secret? And it came so suddenly, if he hadn't been noticed by intelligence officers, it is estimated that he would not have been discovered until he arrived in Bulgaria.

"Foreign Secretary, I remember that not long ago George I's secret envoy arrived in Sofia, and your Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in charge of contacting him, how did the talks going?" Ferdinand asked

The Foreign Secretary had a headache and said: "Nothing, Grand Duke, the Greeks are asking too high, and they can pay too little!" ”

Ferdinand was stunned for a moment, and casually asked, "Oh! How much do I want to hear about the appetite of the Greeks? And what price are you going to pay? ”

The Foreign Minister smiled and said: "The Greeks want to join forces with us against the Turks, Bulgaria will send 300,000 troops, Greece will send 150,000 troops, and the Greek Navy will contain the Ottoman Navy, there is no problem at this point!"

But they are demanding Thessaloniki, and they are also going to share Macedonia, Albania, Eastern Thrace with us equally! ”

Ferdinand was a little speechless, the Greek navy in 1895 could not cut off the connection between Europe and Asia of the Ottoman Empire, and the so-called containment was completely only a part of the operation in the Thessaloniki area.

Since Greece wants the Thessaloniki region, it makes sense to do it yourself, so why should it be included in the alliance's contribution? If the Greek Navy, like in the Balkan Wars, could suppress the Ottoman Navy, it would be about the same!

The battles in Macedonia, Eastern Thrace, and Albania still depend on the decisive battle of the army, and Bulgaria is the main force to obtain these regions, even if the difference in the combat effectiveness of the two armies is not considered, it is Bulgaria that takes the lion's share!

It is no wonder that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not interested in union with Greece, the gap between the conditions between the two sides is too great, and there is no possibility of negotiating at all!

In Ferdinand's view, Greece's 15th Army went to the battlefield, and it was just a make-up number, which was far inferior to Serbia, just look at the historical "Greco-Turkish War"!

In 1897 there was an uprising in Crete, in early February, the Greek army occupied Crete, and in April the Greek army attacked the Turkish army in Thessalonia, and the Greco-Turkish war began.

At the end of April, the Greek army was defeated, and before the armistice on May 20, the Turkish army was not far from Athens. On 4 December, a peace treaty was concluded, under which Greece paid Turkey an indemnity of 4 million lire and ceded part of the territory of Thessalia to Turkey with an indemnity of 4 million lire.

Well, the Ottoman Empire didn't have time to exert its strength, and the Greek Army was defeated, and this combat effectiveness was a fight that the Italian Army had!

Ferdinand's bottom line is that Bulgaria gets most of Macedonia, Kosovo, Eastern Thrace, Istanbul, Greece can get part of Macedonia, and other regions including Thessaloniki, Ipilus, and Thrace can be owned by Greece!

In fact, even if it is distributed in this way, Greece is already very advantageous! The Ottoman Empire had roughly more than 250,000 square kilometers of territory in the Balkans.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina region is in the pocket of Austria-Hungary, removing these 50,000 or 60,000 square kilometers; Montenegro will receive the Lashkar Generation area, which is nearly 150,000 square kilometers of territory; Greece acquired part of the Macedonian region, Epirus, Thessaloniki, Crete, etc., more than 40,000 square kilometers of territory.

But the appetite of the Greeks, beyond his imagination, directly rowed away more than half of the spoils, nearly more than 100,000 square kilometers of territory. Just because Serbia is out, the Greek government can't inherit their spoils, right? Isn't Ferdinand the wrongdoer?

However, George I, who was about to arrive in Bulgaria, did not think so, and in his opinion, among the Balkan countries, Greece was the first to become independent and the earliest to form an army, even if only 150,000 troops were dispatched, the combat effectiveness would not be weaker than that of the 300,000 Bulgarian army!

Then it is very reasonable to divide the territory in this way, Greece has strong strength and great responsibility, so it is natural to take the biggest piece of cake!

Well, before the Greco-Turkish War, the Greeks were full of confidence in the combat effectiveness of their army, otherwise they would not have singled out the Ottoman Empire.

Time flew by, and a week later, the disguised Greek king, George I, arrived in Sofia.

Ferdinand had a cordial and friendly meeting with him at a royal estate on the outskirts of Sofia, and the two sides agreed to strengthen economic and commercial exchanges between Bulgaria and Greece!

To put it simply: Bulgaria and Greece have agreed on the issue of the Ottoman Empire and decided to join forces to overthrow the evil rule of the Sultan in the Balkans!

As for the issue of the trophies, looking at the confident George I, Ferdinand could not say it directly: the Greek army is a weak chicken, and it can only be used to fight soy sauce!

Ferdinand could only make a very constructive proposal: "George, it seems that our bottom line is too far apart, and we can't negotiate it today!"

It's better for us to simply gamble, after defeating the Ottoman Empire, whoever grabs the territory of the Balkans first will belong to whomever it wants, and at the same time grab half of the family, and those who are backward consider themselves unlucky! ”

After a moment of silence, George I seemed to be calculating whether he would suffer a loss! Ferdinand said defiantly, "How? Do you dare to gamble? ”