Vol 2 Chapter 51: Greece defeated

"Yes! It seems that Ferdinand is still so shrewd, always knowing to get the most benefit for himself! How is the navy prepared? Once the war begins, we can't directly intervene!" Nicholas II laughed. Afterwards
　　The Secretary of the Navy said with confidence: "In order to ensure the victory of this war, the Black Sea Fleet will go all out. At that time, our main fleet will attack the Ottoman Empire in the name of the Bulgarian Navy!
　　 Once Bulgaria has taken Istanbul, then the Bosphorus will be in our pocket! "
　　 At this point, the Secretary of the Navy really did not brag! It's not that the Russian Black Sea Fleet is so awesome, but the Ottoman navy is so bad at home!
　　The Ottoman navy was once too wide, once ranked fifth in the world on the world navy rankings, and the tonnage of armored ships exceeded the sixth Italian by 20%.
　　 In 1878, the Ottoman Empire had 16 iron-clad ships; at that time, the British Imperial Navy had only 40 iron-clad ships; the number of armored ships even surpassed France, the second naval power in the world!
　　 Not only the quantity is large, but the quality is not bad. There are several iron-clad ships of eight or nine thousand tons! Even the bullish German navy in the future, their first 9000-ton iron armored ship, still picked up the cheap price after the Ottoman Empire cancelled the order, and bought it from the UK!
It has 5 shipboard gunboats, 10 central gun galleries, 1 ship surface swivel ship, 4 frigates, and 20 patrol ships, with a gross tonnage of 90,725 tons, second only to Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. Ranked fifth in the world!
　　 seems to be awesome, in fact there is nothing remarkable, this is a "poor man's navy"!
The Ottoman Navy has such a big family background. In an era when national power and technology are not at the same latitude as the great powers, it has created such a fleet. It is completely the Sultan who produced a strange naval fanatic in 1860-1871 Abdul Aziz!
　　 But the Ottoman Empire is poor! The Sudanese government without money, Abdul Aziz did a stupid thing-raise taxes!
　　 are mainly Christian areas, such as Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and other places under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. One day and two days are okay. This tax will last for ten years. Christians everywhere are really unable to survive and have started uprisings.
　　 The nobles and princes of the Ottoman Empire saw that this was not okay. The navy here is still building and the country will be divided. It cannot go on like this. Together, everyone directly launched a coup and abolished His Highness Aziz.
　　 Then the Ottoman navy became a childless child, and the huge armored fleet became a large toy. Even so, it was enough to dominate one side!
　　 It is a pity that the decayed Ottoman Empire was unwilling to pay for the cost of maintaining this fleet. The government stopped the normal funding of the navy, and the fleet stayed in the harbor all day, month, and year with nothing to do!
　　 Navy officers and soldiers do not live on ships, they all have their own lives. Many officers and soldiers will get lost when they arrive at the port, and often cannot find their ships, because they rarely get on board!
　　Some military officers don’t even know how many people are on their ships, and they can’t tell the parameters of the weapons on the warships. These are the status quo of the Ottoman Navy!
　　 As for combat power, what the is that? Didn't the Ottoman navy attack without seeing the provocation of the Greek navy? You know that both countries have declared war!
　　To defend the Bulgarian navy, the reason for this suffocation is to fool the Sudanese government's military team!
　　 Anyone with a bit of military knowledge knows that the Bosphorus Strait is 30 kilometers long, with only 700 meters at its narrowest point and 3.7 kilometers at its widest point.
　　The shore artillery deployed across the strait is not a salute. How could the Bulgarian navy go to the Marmara Sea to do things?
　　Of course, the shore artillery deployed by the Ottoman Empire on both sides of the strait may really be a salute! After all, nothing is impossible in this magical country!
　　……
　　Ferdinand’s butterfly effect, now the Balkan situation has entered a historical turning point, no one can predict where it will go in the future!
　　 But the Greeks still did not get rid of the fate of history. The Greek army led by Prince Constantine was still lost to Ed Hepasa, and the main force of tens of thousands of Greek army was destroyed!
　　 In the early morning of April 29, 1897, the Ottoman army finally tore a hole in the defense zone of Major General Andrew of the 18th Division after a day of hard fighting!
　　 The problem was with these reinforcements. Due to the lack of troops, Major General Andrew had to add the mob to the army.
　　 The brutal offensive and defensive warfare has exhausted the Greek army physically and mentally. They were originally captured strong men, so don't expect them to have a sense of belonging to Greece!
　　 In the early hours of the morning, a battalion of the 10th Division of the Ottoman Empire launched a raid under the cover of night! After encountering the night attack, the recruits who had just replenished ran away in a panic. This run caused a chain reaction, and many Greek soldiers followed in confusion!
　　 It was too late to wait for the Greek officers to react. The defense line had been torn open. The main force of the 10th Division of the Ottoman Army had rushed in, fighting with the Greek army in the night!
　　 Ed He Pasha, who received the news, did not hesitate and immediately ordered the whole army to attack! Hundreds of thousands of Greek and Turkish armies launched the cruelest fight in the middle of the night!
　　All the establishments have been disrupted. Neither Prince Constantine nor Ed Hepasa can command the troops anymore, and can only watch the two sides fighting each other!
　　 With the passage of time, relying on the number of advantages, the Ottomans gradually gained the upper hand, the ending is doomed, the Greek army was so confused and defeated!
　　 Even if Prince Constantine has once again formed a wounded division, he is powerless at this moment!
　　 After daybreak, Ed Hepasa counted the results and suddenly discovered that Prince Constantine, the commander of the Greek army, had been taken prisoner!
　　 In this battle, the Ottoman army paid 34,800 casualties, annihilated more than 57,000 Greek troops, and achieved the first victory of the Turkish army-Trikala City!
　　 Needless to say, in this war, Greece has taken the lead out of the game!
　　 Ed Hepasa, who won the victory, immediately cut off the connection between the Greek army in Epirus and the country! The more than one hundred thousand Greek troops led by Duke Cyril have now been dumped! In the absence of weapons and ammunition supplies, defeat is a matter of time!
　　 At this moment, the Greek government is completely blind, and the worst has happened! Originally prepared to reinforce the reinforcements of Prince Constantine, now they don’t need to go anymore. They return directly to prepare for the local defense war!