On June 17, 1913, the world was already boiling over the flames of the European Continental War, and the world broke out again: the Ottoman Navy shelled the Russian military port of Sevastopol and fought fiercely with the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The old Russian battleship "Potemkin" was sunk, the St. John suffered heavy damage, and 7 more torpedo boats were sunk; All they got was the sinking of two Turkish torpedo boats and an innocuous blast hole in the forward bow of the Sultan Selim. Had it not been for the retreat of the entire Russian fleet with smoke cast, they would have suffered even greater losses under the blows of the dreadnoughts.

But it doesn't matter what you lose or whatever. What makes the world interested in the fact that the Ottoman Empire, which has always been called the "sick man of Europe" and known to the world as a waning image, is so bold and unrestrained this time that it directly kicked the Russian giant in the ass! Although the Turks and Russians have been rivals for centuries, averaging a major war every two decades, this is the first time in centuries that they have provoked war so neatly. One wonders where these Turks have the confidence to not be afraid of the wrath and revenge of the Russian bears.

In the face of the stormy roaring oppression of the Entente powers, Taratbey and other high-ranking Ottoman Empire leaders knew that they were bitter (since there was no Second Balkan War, Enver was not the head of the Big Three). However, they were put on a match by the Germans, and at this moment they had already opened their bows and had no turning back, so they could only go all the way to the dark! After unsuccessful emergency negotiations, Russia took the pretext that the Turks had taken the lead in provoking the war. War was declared on the Ottomans on 18 June. Britain and France also declared war on the 19th. This ancient empire that straddled Europe and Asia. After all, in this European war, he was not able to stand alone, and caught the German chariot with a half-push-and-half-take attitude.

With Sultan Mehmed VI denouncing the crimes committed by the British and Russians against the Ottomans on the balcony of the Tokkapi Palace, and reading the war letter to the Entente to a fanatical populace, the great empire began to function in an orderly manner under the central command of the German delegation. Since the Eastern Railway had been extended to Baghdad under German construction, the Ottoman Empire mobilized much faster than it had historically; Groups of brown-bearded men with white scarves were drafted into the barracks, and after being issued individual weapons, they were rumbled to the front along with a large amount of war supplies. In the mountains of the Caucasus. The clash between the border patrol forces of Russia and Turkey began on the day of the declaration of war, and a major battle was imminent.

In the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, the Ottomans officially announced the permanent closure of the shipping lanes to the ships of the Entente. The fishing boats pulled up anti-submarine arrest nets, and two old Abdul-class protective cruisers, launched in 1903, were tirelessly shuttling back and forth between the harbor and the outside of the strait, dropping round mines into the sea. The deployment of such cheap weapons, which loom in the waves, is undoubtedly the best strategy for a weak navy to defend its own port and shipping lanes from being violated; Even the capital ships of Germany and the United States, which have the best underwater defense system at present, are all distorted in the face of mines. Coupled with the large-caliber shore artillery with sufficient range and strict protection by reinforced concrete, this was almost an inexplicable existence during the First World War when aircraft technology was in its infancy!

After learning about the Ottoman Empire's entry into the war. Qingying, who was far away in Berlin, breathed a sigh of relief. Russia, as in history, was trapped on the island of the world, and Germany's victory on the Eastern Front was a foregone conclusion. Although for Germany. The most useful value of the Ottoman Empire was the narrow waterway that was only 4.5 kilometers wide at its widest point, but the Qing Ying felt that it was necessary to improve and promote the country's land warfare.

Historically, Enver had a higher heart than the sky, and after declaring war on the Entente, he attacked the Caucasus in the north, Greece-Serbia in the west, and Egypt in the southwest, intending to restore the territory of the Ottoman Empire at its height in one fell swoop. However, the empire has been ill for a long time, and its economy, industry, and technology are only at the level of third-rate or quasi-second-rate, which is obviously not enough to support Enver's ambitions. The end result of the four divisions was that they achieved little success anywhere, and they were even defeated by the Russian army in the mountains of the South Caucasus, which almost made the Ottoman Empire, with weak roots, unable to bear it.

In view of this, the Qing Ying decided to have the Turks choose their main target for Egypt in the southwest. It is difficult for them to defeat the elite Caucasian mountain troops of the Russians, but the miscellaneous armies of the British colonies are completely considerable. The Turkish Army, departing from the holy city of Jerusalem, was able to directly threaten the Suez Canal, the most important shipping route for Britain to connect the mainland and the colonies in the Far East!

To Qingying's surprise, not long after Turkey declared war on the Entente, news came from Budapest, the capital of Romania, in favor of the Central Powers.

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From the day the war broke out, Germany tried to encourage this small and powerful country in the southeast of Austria-Hungary to enter the war, but Romania never responded positively to Berlin's invitation because of Russian fears and uncertainty about the prospects for war. And now, they have decided that they want to fish in troubled waters.

Although Romania has historically joined the Entente side, this does not mean that there is any kind of long-standing grudge between this country and Germany and Austria similar to that between Germany and France. Romanians living in Transylvania were subject to ethnic disputes that were discriminated against and oppressed by the Kingdom of Hungary, and were a common occurrence in the Balkans, where ethnic groups were mixed and regimes were densely populated. In fact, the pre-war Romanian political position was biased towards Germany, and the reason for this was their fear of Russia.

A map of southeastern Europe shows that Romania is bordered by Russia to the north, Austria-Hungary to the west, Bulgaria to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. Russia has long coveted Istanbul, and successive tsars have all taken it as their first priority; And once Russia starts its plan to seize this thousand-year-old capital, Romania, adjacent to the Black Sea, will be the only way for the Russians! With the greedy and brutal nature of the Slavs, it is hard for Romanians to imagine what it would be like for them to set foot on their own soil.

Ten thousand steps back, even if these gray animals who drank blood suddenly changed their sexuality and instantly turned into gentlemen angels who had committed no crimes on the way, Romania, from its own interests, could not accept the situation after the Russian capture of Istanbul. If the Tsar established his rule over the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, Romania's foreign trade routes were in constant danger of being cut off by the Russians; In the long run, Romania will inevitably become a vassal of Russia for this reason. Romania is clearly more willing to maintain the status quo than Russia, keeping the keys to the Black Sea gateway in the hands of weak Turks.

In addition, the monarch of Romania, Carol I, was himself a staunch pro-German - a member of the pure Hohenzollern family, who was inexplicably put on the throne of the Kingdom of Romania as an artillery lieutenant because of his intricate intricate affinities. This phenomenon is not uncommon in Europe, when Greece welcomed a Danish prince as its king, George I. In such a situation, how could Carol I not belong to his homeland?

Thus, even if there was a slight rift between Romania and Austria-Hungary, for Germany its political position was not at all a problem. Historically, Romania's reversal to the Entente two years after the outbreak of the war was mainly due to the death of the 48-year-old King Carol I in October 1914, and the brilliant victory of the Russian army in the Brushilov offensive.

At present, however, the situation is completely different from that of the same period in history. The old king from Hohenzollern was still alive, and Germany had won heavy victories on both the eastern and western fronts; The disastrous battle of Galicia in Austria-Hungary did not materialize, and the Allies had so far been strategically undefeated. Spurred on by Germany's successive victories, Romania's desire to win a vote in the war became more and more apparent. The Ottoman Empire's declaration of war on the Entente greatly encouraged the politicians in Budapest: how could the Turks, who had been weak for many years, dare to join the war so decisively unless they were sure of victory?

Driven by this mentality, the old king Carol I, as a member of the Hohenzollern family, wrote a letter to Wilhelm, holding his lute and half-covering his face to express his desire to ally with Germany. Of course, Carroll I still gave the lion's opening premise for an alliance, that is, to ask Germany to put pressure on Austria-Hungary to cede Transylvania to Romania after the war. It was the most industrially developed region in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, second only to Bohemia and Silesia. If Romania gets here, it will be of great benefit in the fields of ethnicity, economy, and population.

After receiving this letter, the German government was pleasantly surprised. Although Romania's offer is harsh, it is only a game of exorbitant demand. Importantly, this letter has shown that Romania is implicitly tilted towards the Allies, and this is the key to this!

For Germany, Romania is undoubtedly a valuable oil depot and granary. In 1912, the country produced 1.4 million tons of crude oil, accounting for more than 60% of all European oil production (excluding the Baku oil fields); Once this country can join, Germany, which already has good crude oil reserves in advance, basically no longer has to worry about the shortage of oil. Romania is also a well-known grain exporter in Europe, with 40% of its grain being exported every year, which can also greatly alleviate the problem of reduced grain production in Germany due to the large number of conscripts! (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the tips from book friends Heinz and zhouyu1976~~~