Kavala is Bulgaria's most important port on the Thracian Sea, just out of the Aegean Sea, and one of the centers of the tobacco industry in Bulgaria!

On January 3, 1909, the port of Kavala gathered the top of the Bulgarian government, as well as envoys from various countries, as well as journalists who had received the news!

"Everyone is here, now the ceremony can begin!" Ferdinand said with a smile

That's right, today is the trial ceremony of the first Bulgarian dreadnought, the Sofia, and with Ferdinand's order, the Sofia began its performance amid the exclamations of everyone!

At this time, the British Minister to Bulgaria, Cresdiv's face was a little unnatural, the British Empire originally wanted to use dreadnoughts to throw off European countries and avoid the occurrence of an arms race, but the advantage of dreadnoughts was broken after less than two years!

And he is also a rising star of Bulgaria, of course, he also knows that there are also the credit of the French and Dutch!

But it also means that the lead created by the British Empire with dreadnoughts no longer exists! Since Bulgaria has the technology to create dreadnoughts, then the Dutch, the French naturally have them!

The manufacturing technology of the dreadnought, there are three more owners at once, so the lead will naturally cease to exist!

Since these three countries can do it, the Germans, the Americans, the Italians...... There's no reason why you can't do it, at most it's a little later!

What is lifting a stone and shooting yourself in the foot?

The British have now felt that after receiving the news of the trial voyage of the Sofia, Christmas Eve for many in the top of the London government has become bleak!

No matter what he thought in his heart, the trial voyage of the Sofia was still successful, the Bulgarians present were celebrating to their heart's content, and the mood of the envoys of various countries was also different!

At this time, Ferdinand quietly left the scene and went to the rest room, and the strange thing is that his rest room was actually in the anti-artillery hole!

There is a reinforced concrete wall tens of meters thick on all sides, and there is a whole huge steel plate on the top, and there are multiple layers of protection measures on it! It can be said that at the beginning of the 20th century, no artillery could shake it in the slightest!

This is very abnormal, on the big day to celebrate the birth of the Sofia, Ferdinand actually ran into the bomb shelter, as if to indicate that something ominous is about to happen!

"Are you ready?" Ferdinand asked lightly

The man in gray replied affirmatively: "Everything is ready, just wait for His Majesty's order, and you can start!" ”

"Well, that's good! If this success happens, your intelligence department should take the lead, and Molka did a good job this time! Ferdinand said slightly

Listening to Ferdinand's words, although the man in gray was trying his best to suppress his excited expression, his body was still trembling a little!

That's right, he is the Bulgarian intelligence chief lurking in the Ottoman Empire - Morka Valdo, he has been lurking in the Ottoman Empire under a pseudonym for more than ten years, and this time it was activated!

After Ferdinand thought for a moment, he asked again: "Petrov, what is the Navy preparing?" ”

"Your Majesty, please rest assured! The 15,000 officers and men of the navy are ready to go into battle at any time! Petrov said excitedly

In order to wait for this day, the Bulgarian Navy has been waiting for three years! As early as 1906, the Admiralty felt that the strength was enough, and was ready to take action against the Ottoman Empire, but was suppressed by Ferdinand on the grounds that the time was not ripe!

However, the Admiralty did not give up, the hatred between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire was much greater than the contradictions between Germany and France, and there was no possibility of easing the two sides!

Especially after the Balkan War, the distance between the two countries is always only one excuse!

After the signing of the "Anglo-Bulgarian Entente" in 1908, the main war faction in Bulgaria could no longer bear it, and repeatedly proposed to Ferdinand a war plan against the Ottoman Empire, but it was never successful!

But after the Admiralty tentatively proposed this time, Ferdinand directly agreed! For no other reason, the time is ripe, and Bulgaria has become the second country in the world to have dreadnoughts!

Sofia parameters:

Displacement: standard displacement 19,200 tons;

Full load displacement 23,589 tons;

Dimensions: length 162.3 m / width 25.3 m / draft 8.4 m

Power: main engine output 23500 shaft horsepower, 4 shafts; Top speed: 21.25 knots, range: 5940 nm / 10 knots

Armament: 10 5-seater twin/45-diameter 12-inch main guns, 16 single-mounted 4-inch/50-diameter secondary guns, 3 18-inch underwater torpedo tubes

Armor (inches): main armor belt 5-10.5, deck 0.5-4.5, turret 11-4, gun mount 11, conning tower 11.5

Crew: 758 people

Due to the commissioning of the Sofia, the total tonnage of the Bulgarian Navy has exceeded 80,000 tons, which is on par with the current Ottoman Navy in terms of tonnage, but its combat effectiveness is not at the same level at all!

According to the Admiralty's estimates, just one Sofia could collapse the Ottoman Navy!

Theoretically, as long as you use the kite flying method, with the speed advantage and firepower advantage that far surpasses the old ironclad ships, you can slowly consume the Ottoman Empire Navy!

This is the reason why Ferdinand wants to do it now, since it is applicable to the Ottoman Empire, it is also applicable to other countries, even if there is a conflict with the Allied Navy, the Bulgarian Navy will not suffer!

In addition to the dreadnought Sofia, the Bulgarian Navy was armed with two pocket shore defense battleships, an armored cruiser, two ordinary cruisers, five destroyers, ten torpedo boats, three submarines, and a number of other auxiliary warships!

This is the entire base of the Bulgarian Navy, no, there are a few training ships, but the combat effectiveness is negligible, so it is not counted in the fleet!

In military history, there has always been a saying about a "hundred-year navy", which is not a joke, building a strong navy does require hundreds of years of accumulation!

However, there is no way to shorten this time, and the easiest way to do it is - fight! The Japanese Navy, for example, is a successful example. Through actual combat on the battlefield, accumulate combat experience and quickly form combat effectiveness!

Ferdinand is also ready to learn, it just so happens that the Ottoman Navy is the most ideal sparring partner, how weak and weak it is, don't worry about jumping!

Ferdinand jokingly said, "Now that you're ready, let's start with Molka so as not to miss the time!"

Let's hope that the Sultan government will live up to our good intentions, haven't they always wanted to retake Constantinople? The opportunity is given to them, it depends on whether their teeth are good enough! ”

"Yes!" Morka replied in a sonorous voice

With that, he walked up to a telegraph machine that had been prepared in advance, and the news was relayed, and a conspiracy against the Ottoman Empire began!

Thassos is at the northern tip of the Aegean Sea, with an area of 378.8 square kilometers and a coastline of 95 kilometers, only 4 nautical miles from the mainland, making it the closest island to Kavala!

Due to the limited strength of the Bulgarian navy in the previous Balkan Wars, it was not used against it, and now the island of Thassos is still in the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

However, due to the proximity to Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire still placed a large number of troops on it at first, but in the later period, the Sultan government realized that once a war broke out between the two countries, it would be impossible to hold the island of Thassos, and now there are not many troops on the island!

Since the island of Thassos could threaten the port of Kavala, at that time the Ottomans also placed several shore guns on the island, threatening the Bulgarian shipbuilding industry at any time!

At this time, on the island of Thassos, five young men were looking at each other through gritted teeth, yes, they were the Turks who had been deported back to the Ottoman Empire by Ferdinand.

Before they were expelled, they were still high-ranking nobles, but after returning to the Ottoman Empire, their good life was gone, and if it weren't for their aristocratic status, they might not even be able to mix a bowl of rice!

Therefore, they are extremely hostile to Bulgaria, always hoping that the Ottoman Empire will return to the Balkans and regain everything they have lost!

Then, they were recruited by an organization called the "Avengers", whose purpose is to take revenge on all the enemies who have invaded the Ottoman Empire, and the manipulator behind this organization happens to be Molka Valdo in front of them!

In order to provoke a war between the two countries again, the "Avengers" have taken many actions and successfully sabotaged many dirty deals that the "traitorous Sudanese government" tried to fornicate with the imperialist countries!

This "trial ceremony of the Sofia" was also seen by them as an opportunity, at this time the high-level of the Bulgarian government gathered in Kavala, and only a few shells could cause Bulgaria heavy losses, and it was even possible to directly deal with the Bulgarian king - Ferdinand!

Therefore, this glorious and arduous task fell to the five of them, and at this time, their identities happened to be the junior officers of the defenders of Thassos!

Lex Pasha is the squad leader of this operation team, and he is waiting for the intelligence officers lurking in Kavala to send them the coordinates, otherwise there is no approximate location, and who knows where the shells will fly?

"Mr. Lex, the coordinates have been determined, you see?" A teenager handed over an accurate coordinate parameter as he spoke

"Okay, guys, for the sake of the Ottoman Empire, kill the Bulgarian crumbs on the other side for me!" Lex Pasha said excitedly

The opportunity he had been waiting for for so long finally came, and Lex Pasha was convinced that as long as the shells were fired, the Sultan government, no matter how cowardly, would have to go to war with Bulgaria again!

When the time comes, he will be able to return to his Thracian homeland again, regain everything he has lost, and live an enviable aristocratic life!

……

The second junior high school boy, it is useless to talk to them about the difference in strength between the two sides, and besides, the Balkan War was ten years ago, and they are still little children, how can they know the cruelty of the war?

Their purpose now is to provoke a war between the two sides again, as for whether they can win or not, with the blessing of ****, the great Ottoman army is invincible and will definitely be able to destroy all enemies!

At the instigation of Lex Pasha, several Ottoman junior officers did something that shocked the world - the bombardment of the port of Kavala!

And achieved remarkable results, killing the Austro-Hungarian official in Bulgaria, Holman Berg, and three members of the Bulgarian Military Council, as well as two reporters from the Times of London and more than a dozen attendants, and also wounding dozens of dignitaries, including the British minister Kresdiv!

It can be said that these Ottoman officers set a world record and killed three Bulgarian generals at one time, two of whom were generals and one was a lieutenant general!

Their results have surpassed the highest victory of the Ottoman army in the Balkan War, killing Bulgarian officers, but after receiving this heavy result, I wonder if the Sudanese government will cry now?

Immediately after the shelling, the Bulgarian Navy launched a counterattack and landed directly on the island of Thassos, purged all military personnel on the island, and captured one of the culprits!

Of course, it couldn't end like this, and Ferdinand had played a bitter trick, how could it end so easily?

Besides, Bulgaria also needs to give an explanation to all countries! You can't let the minister of the family have an accident on his own territory, and there is no explanation, right?

After receiving this news, the reaction of the top leaders of various countries was very unanimous: first of all, it was considered impossible! And then I thought the Ottomans were crazy!

There is no way, who made this shell fall so coincidentally, it fell to the position of the legation, if it were not for the close place, Bulgaria also hung up three generals, and injured a number of dignitaries, they would still suspect that this was a conspiracy of the Bulgarian government?

Well, do the drama and do the full set! In order to ensure that nothing went wrong, Ferdinand directly kept the cabinet in Sofia on the pretext of ensuring the smooth progress of the "Third Five-Year Plan", but brought a group of high-ranking military officials to attend the ceremony.

Of course, this is also in accordance with the rules, with the king personally present, it is okay if the cabinet does not come!

It is normal for the Navy to choose to retreat during the trial ceremony of the Navy, anyway, there are so many generals in the Military Council, and it is enough to represent!

If you want to fool others, of course you have to fool yourself! So unfortunately, this group of generals who played a role in the military council were used as cannon fodder by Ferdinand!

In fact, although the young Turks are very middle-class, they also know that if they accidentally injure the ministers of various countries, something will happen!

Therefore, they had to wait until they got the exact coordinates before they started shelling!

There is no doubt that this coordinate was of course provided by Ferdinand to Moorka, and in order not to arouse suspicion, the location of the coordinates is not very accurate.

It's just that some of them are close to the legation, otherwise the legation might be wiped out, and then Bulgaria would not want to get out of it!

Now in this situation is undoubtedly the most ideal, on the bright side of the Bulgarian military bigwigs, now the dead are dead, the wounded are wounded, and the military committee is basically abolished!

And only the unlucky guy from Austria-Hungary hung up in the legation, and a few people were injured, which is very consistent with the scene of being affected by the pond fish!

As for why the artillery deviated, this is very simple, the artillery capabilities of the Ottoman Empire are not enough! There is also the artillery of this era, which comes from several miles away, and it is not strange to deviate by tens of meters!

As soon as the "Kavala Bombardment Massacre" came out, the Ottoman Empire was attacked by public opinion from all over the world, and Ferdinand successfully portrayed Bulgaria as a victim and won the sympathy of public opinion.

And the dignitaries of various countries know that the Ottoman Empire is going to be unlucky this time, especially since Bulgaria has occupied the island of Thassos and has evidence of the Ottoman shelling of the port of Karava!

Even the Germans will not be able to stand out for them now!

In addition to international public opinion, because the Austro-Hungarian Empire was affected by the pond fish this time, a minister died, and now it is clamoring for revenge?

The Germans were busy calming the mood of Austria-Hungary, but it was a pity that they could secure Austria-Hungary, but not Bulgaria!

Suddenly attacked by the enemy army, and so many high-ranking Bulgarian government officials were killed, if Bulgaria could endure it, Ferdinand would be embarrassed to call himself a great power again!

Therefore, now unless the Ottoman Empire was willing to pay a sufficient price, a war between the two countries was inevitable, and this was known to all the countries of Europe!

At this time, the Sudanese government has become an ant on a hot pot, and it is so anxious that it is spinning!

"What do the Germans say?" The Sultan said with a grim face