After the conquest of Adrianople, Ferdinand had his sights set on Constantinople!

At this time, the First Army swept through the cities of Kerclarelli and Lülle Bulgaz after the war, like an autumn wind sweeping away leaves, and the road to Constantinople was clear!

"Did the artillery that the Russians promised have been delivered?" Ferdinand

"Yesterday it was already loaded from the port of Odessa, the Navy delivered it directly to the front, and if nothing else, it will be in the hands of General Popov this evening!" Prime Minister Konstantin replied solemnly

Ferdinand hesitated for a moment and said: "Constantinople is not so easy to attack, after all, it is the capital of the Ottoman Empire, although the Armenians tossed it once a year ago, the Sultan government will not give up!"

Once we can't conquer it in the short term, the Ottoman reinforcements from Asia will rush over in a steady stream, and we can't stand it!

Send the last heavy artillery regiment over as well, and at this point, Romania will not go to war! ”

……

Ferdinand decided to fight hard!

The Ottoman Empire was having a hard time, the situation in the Balkans was becoming more and more unfavorable for the Ottoman Empire, and at the same time, the infighting of the Ottoman government was becoming more and more intense!

In the face of the crisis, instead of sincerely uniting and overcoming the difficulties together, the major factions have instead shirked each other's responsibilities in an attempt to use the Balkan war to defeat their political opponents!

As a result of internal struggles, there were huge differences in the strategy of the Ottoman Empire.

The conservatives, led by the prime minister, believed that the Ottoman Empire would not be able to achieve victory in the short term.

Propositions: 1. Abandonment of Bosnia and Herzegovina in exchange for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's renunciation of support for the alliance;

2. Abandon the Egyptian region and gain the support of the British;

3. Strengthen the offensive against Greece, put pressure on the Greek government, and use political means to get Greece to withdraw from the Balkan Union;

4. Temporarily abandon Kosovo and most of Macedonia, and concentrate forces on defense. Immediately reinforce Istanbul (Constantinople) and fight a protracted war with Bulgaria.

The radicals, led by the Minister of the Interior, believe that the current rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire, if the government does not take appropriate measures, will cause further turmoil in the domestic situation, and oppose large concessions to the foreign powers!

Proposals: 1. Abandon the Greek battlefield and concentrate forces on a decisive battle with Bulgaria in Macedonia;

2. Increase troops in Istanbul and fight a decisive battle with Bulgaria;

3. Immediately expand the army by one million to prevent the Russians from entering the war.

The pessimists, led by the chancellor of the exchequer, believe that the Balkan War was a proxy war of the great powers, and that they must be cautious, because if they are not handled well, they may once again trigger a frenzy of the great powers to carve up the Ottoman Empire.

Especially the Russians! They believe that this Balkan war was planned by the Russians in order to seize the Black Sea straits, and that the other powers could compromise!

Proposals: 1. Give up the Bosnia and Herzegovina region and ask Germany to come forward to coordinate relations with Austria-Hungary;

2. Recognition of the status quo in Egypt in exchange for the British not intervening in the Balkan Wars;

3. Use the Greek cities now occupied as bargaining chips to negotiate with the Greeks;

4. Buy Bulgaria, dismantle the Royal-Russian Alliance and the Balkan Alliance, and for this purpose you can give up all the territories of Europe except for the Istanbul region!

……

Before the Sultan government could make a decision, the battlefield changed again, and on May 15, 1897, the Ottoman army in Skopje mutinied!

The mutiny of the Ottoman army is not news in a day or two, it always comes several times a year, but this time it happened at the wrong time and place.

At this moment, the Bulgarian army is already in the city!

The cause and effect are no longer important, anyway, they are all old routines, deducting military salaries, and the captured strong men are unbearable to oppress and rebel.

Dante Kristof had no chivalrous demeanor, and when he noticed the movement of the Ottoman barracks, he immediately launched a tentative attack, and after more than five hours of hard fighting, the largest city in Macedonia was planted with the Bulgarian flag!

Until this moment Dante Kristof was still dazed, the victory came too suddenly.

After counting the results of the battle, more than 3,800 enemies were killed in this battle, and more than 45,000 enemy soldiers were captured!

Seeing this number, Dante Kristof wondered if his subordinates had written an extra zero! The Bulgarian army that participated in the attack, with only two divisions of more than 30,000 people, broke through a city defended by more than 50,000 people, and captured more than 40,000 people.

"What's going on? Could it be that the Ottomans had collective diarrhea today and obediently became prisoners? ”

The chief of staff forced a smile and said, "The Ottomans did not have collective diarrhea, but they did obediently become prisoners!"

This is a detailed battle report, you can read it slowly! ”

After a few moments, Dante Kristof went through the battle report and exclaimed, "What a self-inflicted sin!" ”

The chief of staff smiled: "Isn't this good? The more the Ottomans tossed around, the better it will be for us!

Since the beginning of the war, our Second Army has already defeated more than 100,000 Ottoman troops, and the enemy has captured 70,000 or 80,000!

You must know that the defenders of Macedonia are only more than 80,000 people, how did these people come from, don't you already know? ”

Dante Kristof still said in disbelief: "Who knew the Ottomans could do so much to die!" Are their commanders all idiots?

Obviously there are only more than 10,000 regular troops, but they have captured more than 40,000 people to make up the number, do they think they can rely on the number of people to scare us? ”

The chief of staff thought for a moment and said cautiously: "You have to ask Aris Pasha about this?" Perhaps he thought that these people were loyal fans of the Ottoman Empire!

If more than 40,000 people are united, even if they hold a hoe, they can cause us a lot of harm when fighting in the streets! ”

Dante Kristof retorted: "Save it! It is as if the previous Macedonian uprising, Arispasha did not lead troops to suppress it!

The Macedonian region can be plagued by them a lot, and the local people hate them to the core, can he not know?

Didn't you see that we called, and the local people were all 'eating pot pulp to welcome the king'? Without their help, we wouldn't have been able to move forward so fast! ”

……

The two people who are discussing whether Ali Pasha is an idiot or not, and they don't know that Ali Pasha, who escaped the catastrophe, is also wronged, and he doesn't know the specific situation at all!

The system of the Ottoman army has long been chaotic, and it has long been a common practice for officers who have eaten empty noises and lost battles to catch strong men!

Many of the troops in the Macedonian region were defeated by the Second Army several rounds. There were even some Ottoman armies that were wiped out regiment by regiment, but in the formation of the Ottoman army, they still existed!

As long as the senior generals are still there, the troops will be replenished quickly, and of course no one knows whether they can fight or not.

It's just another place, the revolution in Macedonia has just been extinguished, there are a lot of fish that have slipped through the net, and when you see the opportunity to come, of course you have to do something!

The situation in Skopje is only a microcosm of the Ottoman army, which has been undermanned in various parts of the Macedonian region and has been forced to capture a large number of strong men.

The second army's next battle was even more smooth sailing!

After the outbreak of the Greco-Turkish War, the Sudanese government not only transferred a large number of troops from Macedonia, but also transported a large number of strategic materials.

At this moment, Macedonia is not only short of troops, but also short of supplies, especially in areas close to Greece, where weapons and ammunition are exhausted!

Over the next week, the Second Army swept through the Macedonian region and, if not for logistical constraints, had now captured Thessaloniki!