After the bereavement process, the next step is the promotion and reward of all soldiers.

First of all, Scott, the commander of the 4th Division, was successfully promoted from brigadier general to major general, becoming one of the few senior officers in Australasia.

The chief of staff of the 4th division was promoted to brigadier general, and the instructor was promoted to colonel. Soldiers who performed bravely in the war and made meritorious deeds also had their own rewards.

Just as the officers and soldiers of the 4th Division were shouting in celebration, the offensive in the Balkans was officially launched.

Upon arrival in the Balkans, Commander Martin contacted Greece, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, and was embraced by these countries to become commander-in-chief of the Balkan Front.

Of course, these countries did not have the opportunity to refuse, and the appointment of Martin's division commander was jointly decided by the four major powers of the Entente, unless they could pick four out of one, it was better to obey the command with peace of mind.

Under the planning of Division Commander Martin, a large-scale battle on the Balkan front was also about to be launched.

The Balkan front had two enemies, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Although the size of the Ottoman Turkish Empire was much larger than that of Bulgaria, from the point of view of the combat effectiveness of the army, the combat effectiveness of the Bulgarian army was slightly higher than that of the Ottoman Turkish Imperial army.

What's more, the Bulgarian army was relatively small, and after the previous attrition, the Bulgarian army was already less than 200,000.

But the entire Balkan front had 150,000 Serbian troops, 200,000 Romanian troops, 100,000 Greek troops, 50,000 Montenegrin troops and 100,000 Australasian troops.

Such an army has formed a crushing force, and neither Bulgaria nor Ottoman Turkey has any means of resistance at all.

After discussion, Division Commander Martin decided to defeat the Bulgarians first. First, Bulgaria had fewer soldiers, and Bulgaria was the better one to deal with than the vast Ottoman Empire.

Second, in order to solve the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the strong Constantinople had to be solved.

In order to prevent Bulgaria and Ottoman Turkey from attacking from the north and south, it became necessary to take the lead in dealing with Bulgaria.

On May 27, 1915, with the order of Division Commander Martin, the Romanian, Serbian, Greek, Montenegrin and Australasian expeditionary forces launched a full-scale attack on Bulgaria from the northern, western and southern regions of Bulgaria.

The main area of attack was the western border of Bulgaria, which had 150,000 Serbian troops, 50,000 Montenegrin troops and 100,000 Australasian expeditionary forces.

Because Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, was located close to the western border, the Serbian-Bulgarian border became the main direction of the offensive.

In order to end the fighting as soon as possible, the Balkan front mobilized more than 2,000 artillery pieces and launched a brutal bombardment of the Bulgarian border.

In just one day, millions of shells were consumed on the entire Balkan front, and all of them were smashed on the Bulgarian border, greatly shocking the Bulgarian army.

Of course, this is not a psychological shock, but a real physical shock.

The bombardment of a large number of artillery made the positions of the Bulgarian army sway, and some simple cement positions even collapsed directly, allowing the Bulgarian soldiers inside to fall into eternal sleep.

The Bulgarian soldiers who were killed by artillery, affected by shock waves, killed and wounded, and buried alive because of the collapsed positions, are conservatively estimated to be tens of thousands.

Although the number of casualties was less than one-fifteenth of the total Bulgarian army, the continuous bombardment over the course of a day greatly reduced the morale of the Bulgarian army.

What is even more serious is that because of such a large-scale bombardment, the logistics of the rear of the army cannot be sent to the front line, and the wounded cannot be transported to the rear, and the wails of the wounded can be heard everywhere on the position.

After a day of heavy bombardment, the Bulgarian soldiers finally had a brief period of peace.

In fact, it was also because of the insufficient reserves of artillery shells on the Balkan front, which consumed millions of shells in a day, which made the Russian army, which was not too far away, jealous, but helpless.

While the Bulgarian army was busy transporting the wounded to the rear, the charge of the Allied troops at the front was officially launched.

At the forefront were several divisions of the Australasian colony. It's not that these natives are not afraid of death, they are followed by the armies of other countries, they don't rush, they are greeted by bullets from the rear.

The native soldiers rushed towards the enemy's position crying and screaming, and it had a good effect on the already confused Bulgarian soldiers in front.

Because of the different languages, these indigenous soldiers cried for their fathers and mothers, and the Bulgarian soldiers roared like madness in their eyes, like death asking for their lives.

The charge of a large number of troops made the Bulgarian troops, who had just let down their guard and prepared to rest, immediately nervous, and under the yelling of one officer after another, they rushed out of their rest areas and lined up in the trenches.

As the closest border to the Bulgarian capital, and Serbia-Bulgaria have the worst relations among the Balkan countries, the Bulgarian army stationed on this border is also the largest, at its peak at more than 150,000 people.

However, with the attrition of the war, the total number of troops stationed on this border is now less than 100,000, far behind the Allied army.

On the Bulgarian border, the Entente troops launched a fierce attack. The armies of Serbia and Montenegro charged with great vigour, because after the defeat of Bulgaria, they were able to share a large amount of land and benefits from Bulgaria, as in the Second Balkan War.

By this time the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian border was already disheartened, and he had just received news that there was an attack by Romania and Greece not only on the western border, but also in the north and south.

It is clear that the first target of the Entente in the Balkans was Bulgaria.

Under the fierce attack of a large number of troops, in just two days, the Bulgarian army suffered nearly 40,000 casualties, but the combat army was sharply reduced by one-fifth.

It is worth mentioning that Bulgaria did not have good relations with several other Balkan countries, which is why Bulgaria joined the Allies.

The other Balkan countries, in order to divide more interests after the war, attacked Bulgaria almost with full strength, mobilized most of their troops, and various domestic resources were also being transported to the front.

Faced with a deep hatred with other Balkan countries, the Bulgarian government was in a great dilemma at this time.

For now, Bulgaria's defeat is a foregone conclusion. But the problem is that the Bulgarians are very hostile to the Balkan countries, led by Serbia.

It was the joint efforts of the Balkan states against Bulgaria after the First Balkan War that led to the outbreak of the Second Balkan War, which cost Bulgaria a large part of its newly occupied territory, and even part of its original territory.

In the face of deep hatred, if the Bulgarian government dares to privately propose peace talks, I am afraid that the angry Bulgarian people will break out into a large-scale demonstration.

Even against the government and the royal family.

At this time, the Bulgarian king Ferdinand, as the main fighting faction before entering the war, had long since disappeared, trying to shift all the responsibility for the war to the government.

Now, of course, Ferdinand is not addressed as a king, but as a self-proclaimed tsar.

Speaking of the Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand, his experience is somewhat similar to Arthur's, coming from the same German family Saxe-Coburg Gotha, and compared to Bulgaria, Ferdinand was also a foreign monarch.

In 1886, a coup d'état broke out in Bulgaria, and Alexander I, who had reigned for only seven years, was forced to abdicate and elected Ferdinand, who had served as an officer in Austria-Hungary, as the new Prince of Bulgaria.

In order to prevent Russia from gaining the right to rule Bulgaria, the road to electing a monarch in Bulgaria can be described as very difficult.

The Bulgarian government found the Caucasus from Denmark all the way, and even came up with the idea of inviting the Romanian king to be the prince of Bulgaria, almost allowing Romania and Bulgaria to establish a dual state similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although Ferdinand eventually became Prince of Bulgaria, the matter was questioned by many European royal families, including Arthur's grandmother, Queen Victoria.

This also led to Ferdinand not gaining much power in the early years of his reign as Prince of Bulgaria, and the power of the government was controlled by Stefan Stambolov, the leader of the Liberal Party at the time.

After the assassination of Stefan Stambolov, Ferdinand gradually took control of the political situation in Bulgaria and gained a considerable amount of power.

But now, Ferdinand really wants to resurrect Stefan Stambolov, preferably to regain control of Bulgarian politics.

The defeat of Bulgaria was a foregone conclusion, and the responsibility for the defeat of the war had to be borne by someone of sufficient weight.

Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria knew very well that as a person who was extremely supportive of and personally started the war, he was very likely to be liquidated after the war, and even lose the throne of Bulgaria like his predecessor, Alexander I.

This was not good news for Ferdinand. Although he lost the throne of Bulgaria, he remained a member of the great House of Saxony Coburg Gotha, and his father was the younger brother of King Fernando II of Portugal, the Honourable Prince Albert.

But the problem is that compared to a monarch as powerful as the Bulgarian Tsar, a huge gap in status for Ferdinand as an ordinary member of the royal family was enough to break him.

A person who has held the most top power, after losing all rights and status, the huge gap is unacceptable. That double emptiness, both physical and mental, is enough to bring a normal person to a breakdown, enough to break all one's faith.

3000 words for the first update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

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(End of chapter)