Vol 4 Chapter 12: ,fuse

Kavala is Bulgaria's most important port in the Thracian Sea. It is the Aegean Sea to go out, and it is also one of Bulgaria's tobacco industry centers!
On January 3, 1909, the top of the Bulgarian government, envoys from various countries, and journalists who had received the news came together in the port of Kavala!
"Everyone is here, now the ceremony can begin!" Ferdinand said with a smile
That's right, today is the trial ceremony of Bulgaria's first dreadnought ship-Sofia. With the order of Ferdinand, Sofia began its performance amid the exclamation of everyone!
At this time, the British Minister in Bulgaria Kresdiff looked a little unnatural. The British Empire wanted to throw off European countries with dreadnoughts to avoid an arms race, but the advantage of dreadnoughts was maintained for less than two years and was broken. Up!
And he is still a rising star in Bulgaria, of course he also knows that there are French and Dutch credits!
But this also means that the leading advantage of the British Empire created by the dreadnoughts no longer exists! Since Bulgaria has the technology to make dreadnoughts, the Dutch and French naturally have them too!
The manufacturing technology of the dreadnought has three more owners at once, so the leading advantage will naturally cease to exist!
Since these three countries can be made, Germans, Americans, Italians...it is unreasonable that they can't be made, at most it will be a little bit in the evening!
What is shooting yourself in the foot?
The British have now felt that after receiving the news of the trial of the Sofia, the Christmas Eve of the London government officials and many people has become bleak!
No matter what he thought in his mind, the trial of the Sofia was a success. The Bulgarians present were celebrating, and the mood of the envoys of different countries was also different!
At this time, Ferdinand quietly left the field and went to the lounge. What is strange is that his lounge is actually in the bomb shelter!
Surrounded by a reinforced concrete wall tens of meters thick, there is a huge steel plate on top, and there are multiple protective measures on it! It can be said that at the beginning of the 20th century, no artillery could shake a bit of it!
This is very abnormal. On the big day celebrating the birth of the Sofia, Ferdinand actually ran into the air-raid shelter, which seemed to indicate that something unknown was about to happen!
"Are you ready?" Ferdinand asked lightly
The man in gray replied affirmatively: "Everything is ready, just wait for your majesty's order to start!"
"Well, very good! If this is a success, your intelligence department will take the lead, and Morka, you did a good job this time!" Ferdinand said slightly.
Hearing Ferdinand’s words, although the grey-clothed man tried his best to suppress his excited expression, his body was still a little trembling!
Yes, he is the Bulgarian intelligence chief lurking in the Ottoman Empire-Morka Waldo. He has been lurking in the Ottoman Empire for more than ten years with a pseudonym. This time he was activated!
After thinking for a while, Ferdinand asked again: "Petrov, what's wrong with the Navy's preparations?"
"Your Majesty, please rest assured! The next 5,000 officers and soldiers of the Navy are all ready and 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 it had enough strength and was ready to take action against the Ottoman Empire, but it was pressured by Ferdinand on the grounds that the timing was immature!
However, the Admiralty did not give up. The hatred between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire is much greater than the contradiction between Germany and France. There is no possibility of relaxation between the two sides!
Especially after the Balkan War, the distance war between the two countries will always be just one excuse!
After the signing of the "British-Protection Treaty" in 1908, the main combatants in Bulgaria could no longer stand it, and repeatedly proposed to Ferdinand a war plan against the Ottoman Empire, but they were never successful!
But after this tentative proposal by the Admiralty, Ferdinand directly agreed! There is no other reason, the time is ripe, Bulgaria has become the second country in the world to have a dreadnought ship!
Sofia number parameters:
Displacement: The standard displacement is 19,200 tons;
The full load displacement is 23,589 tons;
Dimensions: length 162.3 meters / width 25.3 meters / draft 8.4 meters
Power: main engine output power 23500 shaft horsepower, 4 shafts; maximum speed: 21.25 knots; endurance: 5940 nautical miles/10 knots
Weapons and equipment: 10 5-seater double-mounted/45x diameter 12-inch main guns, 16 single 4-inch/50x 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, command tower 11.5
Crew: 758
Due to the service of the Sofia, the total tonnage of the Bulgarian navy has exceeded 80,000 tons, which is the same as the current Ottoman navy in tonnage, but the combat effectiveness is not on the same level!
According to the estimates of the Admiralty, a single Sofia can cause the collapse of the Ottoman Navy!
In theory, as long as the kite-flying method is adopted, with the speed advantage and firepower advantage far surpassing the old iron armored ships, the Ottoman navy can be slowly consumed!
This is the reason why Ferdinand wants to do it now. Since it applies to the Ottoman Empire, it also applies to other countries. Even if there is a conflict with the Allied Navy, the Bulgarian Navy will not suffer!
In addition to the dreadnought ship Sofia, the Bulgarian Navy is also equipped with two pocket-sized coastal defense battleships, an armored cruiser, two ordinary cruisers, five destroyers, ten torpedo boats, three submarines, and various other auxiliary warships. Some!
This is the entire wealth of the Bulgarian Navy. No, there are a few training ships, but the combat effectiveness is negligible, so they are not included in the fleet!
In military history, there has always been a saying of "a hundred-year navy". This is not a joke. Building a powerful navy does require hundreds of years of accumulation!
But this is not impossible to shorten this time, the easiest way is to fight! Like the Japanese Navy, it 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 an ideal sparring partner, as weak as it is, so don't worry about playing!
Ferdinand jokingly said: "Now that everything is ready, then Morka will start, lest you miss the time!
I hope that the Sudanese government will not fail 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 sonorously
After speaking, he walked to a telegraph machine prepared in advance and relayed the news, and a conspiracy against the Ottoman Empire began!
Thasos Island is at the northern end of the Aegean Sea, with an area of ​​378.8 square kilometers and a coastline of 95 kilometers. It is only 4 nautical miles from the nearest mainland. It is the closest island to Kavala!
Due to the limited strength of the Bulgarian navy in the previous Balkan wars, it did not work on it. Now Thasos is still in the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
However, because it was too close to Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire still deployed a large number of troops on it at the beginning, but later the Sudanese government realized that once a war broke out between the two countries, Thasos Island would be impossible to defend. Now the island is already There are not many troops!
Since Thasos Island could threaten the port of Kavala, the Ottoman Empire also deployed several shore guns on the island, threatening Bulgaria's shipbuilding industry at any time!
At this time, on Thasos Island, five young people were gritting their teeth and looking at the opposite side. Yes, they were expelled by Ferdinand back to the Ottoman Turks.
Before being expelled, they were still aristocratic lords, but after returning to the Ottoman Empire, their old good life was gone forever. If it weren't for the status of aristocrats, they might not even have a bowl of rice!
Therefore, they are extremely hostile to Bulgaria, and always hope that the Ottoman Empire can return to the Balkans and regain everything they have lost!
Then, they were absorbed by an organization called "The Avengers", the purpose is to avenge all enemies who invaded the Ottoman Empire, and the manipulator behind this organization happened to be Morka Waldo in front of you!
In order to provoke the war between the two countries again, the "Avengers" has acted many times and successfully disrupted many dirty deals that the "traitable Sudanese government" attempted to have with the imperialist countries!
The "Sofia trial sailing ceremony" was also seen as an opportunity by them. At this time, the high level of the Bulgarian government gathered in Kavala. Only a few shells can cause heavy losses to Bulgaria, and it may even directly kill the Bulgarian king. -Ferdinand!
Therefore, this glorious and arduous task fell to the bodies of the five of them. At this time, their identities happened to be the grassroots officers of the defending army of Thasos!
Lex Pasha is the team leader of this operation. He is waiting for the intelligence personnel lurking in Kavala to send them coordinates. Otherwise, there is no approximate location. Who knows where the shells will fly?
"Mr. Lex, the coordinates have been determined, you see?" a teenager said as he handed over an accurate coordinate parameter
"Well, guys, for the sake of the Ottoman Empire, give me the Bulgarian offal on the opposite side!" Lex Pasha said excitedly
The opportunity he had waited for a long time finally came. Lex Pasha believed that as long as the shells were shot, the Sudanese government would have to go to war with Bulgaria again, even if it was cowardly!
At that time, he will be able to return to his hometown in Thrace again, regain everything he has lost, and live an enviable aristocratic life!
...
It's useless to tell them about the power gap between the two sides. Besides, the Balkan War was already ten years ago. They are still kiddies. How could they know the cruelty of the war?
Their current purpose is to provoke a war between the two sides again. As for whether they can be won, under the blessing of the great Ottoman Empire army is invincible and will surely destroy all the enemies!
Under the encouragement of Lex Pasha, several Ottoman young officers did a great thing that shocked the world-bombarding the port of Kavala!
And achieved remarkable results, killing Holman Berg, the official official of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Bulgaria, and three members of the Bulgarian Military Commission, as well as two reporters from the London Times and more than a dozen attendants. Dozens of dignitaries including Minister Kresdiv were injured!
It can be said that these Ottoman officers set a world record and killed three Bulgarian generals at once, two of them were generals and one was a lieutenant general!
Their results have surpassed the highest results of the Ottoman army killing Bulgarian officers in the Balkan War, but after receiving this heavy result, I wonder if the Sudanese government will cry now?
After the shelling, the Bulgarian navy immediately launched a counterattack and went directly to Thassos, clearing out all military personnel on the island, and arresting a culprit!
Of course, things can't end this way. Ferdinand used a bitter trick, how could it end so easily?
Besides, Bulgaria also needs an explanation to all countries! I can’t let the envoy of my family have something to say on my own territory, right?
After receiving this news, the high-level responses of all countries were very consistent: First of all, they thought it was impossible! Then I thought the Ottoman Empire was crazy!
No way, why did the shells fall so coincidentally? They just fell to the position of the ministerial regiment. If it weren’t for a similar place, Bulgaria had killed three generals and injured many dignitaries. They would still suspect it was. What about the conspiracy of the Bulgarian government?
Okay, make a full play! In order to be foolproof, Ferdinand directly left the cabinet in Sofia on the grounds of ensuring the smooth progress of the "Three-Five-Year Plan", but brought a group of high-level military officials to attend the ceremony.
Of course, this is also in line with the rules. If the king is present in person, it is okay for the cabinet not to come!
It is normal for the army to choose to retreat during the navy's trial ceremonies. Anyway, so many generals in the military committee are enough to represent!
If you want to fool others, of course you must also fool yourself! So unfortunately, the generals who played their residual heat in this group of military committees were used as cannon fodder by Ferdinand!
In fact, although Turkish youths are in the second grade, they also know that if they accidentally hurt the envoys of various countries, it will cause serious problems!
Therefore, they had to wait until they got the accurate coordinates before they started shelling!
There is no doubt that this coordinate was provided by Ferdinand Morka. In order not to arouse suspicion, the position of the coordinate is not very accurate.
It's just a little bit close to the mission, UU reading www.uukānshu.com, otherwise, the mission may be confided. In that case, Bulgaria would never want to break away!
Now this situation is undoubtedly the most ideal. The big boss of the Bulgarian military is now dead and injured. The military committee is basically abolished!
And the ministerial mission only had the hapless Austro-Hungarian Empire dead, and a few others were injured, which is in line with the scene where the pond fish was affected!
As for why the artillery deviated, this is very simple, the artillery capacity of the Ottoman Empire is not enough! There is also the artillery of this era, which is fired several miles away, and it is no surprise that it deviates by a few tens of meters!
As soon as the "Kavala shelling tragedy" came out, the Ottoman Empire was criticized by public opinion from all over the world. Ferdinand successfully portrayed Bulgaria as a victim and gained public sympathy.
And politicians from all countries know that the Ottoman Empire is going to be out of luck this time, especially Bulgaria has occupied Thasos Island and has the evidence that the Ottoman Empire shelled the port of Karava!
Even the Germans cannot stand up for them now!
In addition to international public opinion, it is also because the Austro-Hungarian Empire was hit by Chiyu this time, and an envoy died. Is it now clamoring for revenge?
The Germans are busy pacifying the mood of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but unfortunately they can stabilize the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but not Bulgaria!
Suddenly he was attacked by enemy troops and killed so many high-ranking Bulgarian government officials. If Bulgaria could bear it, Ferdinand would be embarrassed to claim himself as a great power again!
Therefore, unless the Ottoman Empire is willing to pay a sufficient price, the war between the two countries is unavoidable. All European countries know this!
At this time, the Sudanese government has become an ant on a hot pot, and is spinning around in a hurry!
"What did the Germans say?" Sudan said with an iron face