Greece’s Roman Road

At noon on June 19, Constantine, who lived in the Tatoi Palace, received an emergency telegram requesting to come to the Ministry of Defense building to discuss the military situation urgently.

As soon as he entered the building and went to the conference room, Constantine noticed that the staff of the General Staff was walking in a panic. Combined with the uncharacteristic behavior of the General Staff, Constantine had a certain understanding in his heart.

"His Royal Highness" saw that Constantine entered the conference room, and the senior Greek army officers who were sitting around the conference table immediately stood up and saluted.

After Constantine looked at everyone, almost all the officers present were staff officers at all levels of the staff.

"Okay, is there a conflict between the troops stationed in Macedonia and the Bulgarians?" Constantine went straight to the topic without hesitation.

"Just received a telegram from the Macedonian Legion, which had clashed with the Bulgarian army stationed in front of it, which seems to have been caused by soldiers crossing the border," said Army Chief of Staff Emanuel briefly.

"It seems to be because of a, nibble, dog." Emanuel said with a hint of embarrassment on his face.

Although the deep-seated cause of the war between the two countries is the discord caused by the division of territory after the last war.

But the direct fuse was a border patrol dog that crossed the border, which made Emmanuel's face a little uneasy.

After hearing what happened, Constantine was not surprised at all.

For this war, whether it is the Greeks or the Bulgarians, there is something to plan. What the direct excuse is is no longer important.

In order to raise funds for the war, Greece has made a raging purchase of patriotic bonds. Such a drastic move by the Greek government cannot be concealed from the Bulgarian side.

Bulgarian intelligence agents, even by reading publicly available Greek newspapers, can understand the Greek government's war intentions.

"The armies of the two sides stationed on the Macedonian border are already at war," Emai Nur said solemnly.

According to European war etiquette, the warring parties generally need the ambassadors of both sides to declare war on the other government before the war.

It now appears that the Bulgarian side has no intention of declaring war.

"Now, regarding the plans made by the General Staff, it is up to you, Your Highness, to decide," said Minister of Armaments Giannis.

For this expected war, the General Staff naturally has already formulated a strict operational plan.

According to the country's strategic plan, it is the job of the General Staff to prepare for the anticipated war.

Therefore, after obtaining the telegram of the exchange of fire between the two armies, there were two copies in total, named "Basil" and "Red Plan".

"The commander of the Macedonian Legion is in desperate need of a comprehensive war plan," Emai Nur said eagerly.

The army on the front line is about to fight, but the senior officers have not been authorized by the General Staff to implement the plan. The huge army composed of hundreds of thousands of people will naturally be like headless flies, not knowing what to do.

Therefore, after learning the news of the exchange of fire between the troops, Emai Nur immediately took out two battle plans from the safe.

Constantine was naturally aware of the two battle plans formulated by the General Staff.

The staff officers headed by Emai Nur, in the process of formulating the battle plan, repeatedly asked Constantine for instructions.

Although the actual supreme commander of the army is the chief of staff Emai Nur, nominally the supreme commander of the Greek army is the king.

The duty of the chief of staff is to assist the supreme commander in making decisions.

The war plan can only enter the execution stage after receiving the order approved by the king.

These two battle plans, the "Basil" and "Black Plan" content are very different.

The name "Basil Plan" comes from the name of a distinguished emperor in the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Macedonian Dynasty was the longest in the Eastern Roman Empire and had the largest number of reigning emperors. It was also known as the "Golden Age" of the Eastern Roman Empire. Its founder was Basil I.

Basil I's successor, Basil II, happened to be the emperor at the peak of the Eastern Roman Empire during the "Golden Age", nicknamed "The Butcher of Bulgaria".

Under Basil II, the northern part of the empire, the Balkans, was under serious threat from the Bulgarians.

After the war with the Bulgarians, Basil II captured more than 14,000 people, of which only 140 were left as guides, and the remaining Bulgarian soldiers were all blinded.

These blinded soldiers, led by 140 people, lined up to return to Bulgaria.

According to rumors, these tragic Bulgarians caused great panic in the Bulgarian villages on their way back.

Therefore, the plan called "Basil", since it was so named, is naturally an active offensive combat plan.

The main purpose of this battle plan is to actively attack the strategic depth of Bulgaria and mass-kill Bulgarian soldiers.

Even if Bulgaria cannot be destroyed like Basil II, it will be a complete blow to Bulgaria, so that it can no longer be a threat to Greece and make Greece the hegemon of the Balkans.

Compared with the "Basil" plan, the "black plan" is much more conservative.

This is not even a military plan, more like Greece, when attacked, chooses a defensive plan to keep the enemy out of the country.

"Black plan" is a passive plan, the main purpose is to use complete fortifications to defend and wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

Within the Greek army, the two combat plans were mixed, and some officers supported them.

The Greek general staff system was established by imitating the German army. Just like the German army, the senior officers of the army, without exception, have experience in the general staff.

Therefore, for the battle plan formulated by the General Staff Road Department, the senior officers of Greece, even if they did not fully understand the content, the plan is probably still clear.

Most of the officers, especially the middle-ranking officers, still prefer the "Basil" plan, and the iron and decisiveness in it naturally satisfied the war-torn Greek officers.

And this can prevent the war from protracted for a long time and resolve it quickly. After all, Greece's wealth is not rich, and it cannot withstand the consumption of a long-term war.

A passive defense plan like the "black plan" is naturally not in line with the preferences of a vigorous group like the military.

"Beep-beep-beep", Constantine's fingers kept tapping on the table, and he was a little hesitant in his heart.

"What do you two think?" Constantine asked the Minister of Armaments, Giannis, and the Chief of the General Staff, Emmayinur.

After a long period of contemplation, Armament Minister Giannis raised his head and said decisively: "I still think it is more appropriate to adopt the black plan."

After that, Constantine turned his attention to Emmanuel.

Emmayinur, who also hesitated for a long time, said slowly: "The black plan is indeed more suitable and the risk is less."

Although the "Basil" plan sounds exciting and more in line with the psychology of mid-level and lower-level officers, the senior management still prefers the conservative black plan.

The reason why the two were surprisingly unanimous was that Basil planned such a head-to-head attack plan with Bulgaria that even if he could win, it would be a tragic victory.

After the first two wars, the three people, including Constantine, have realized that the pattern of war has changed.

Especially in the just-concluded Macedonian Campaign, the Macedonian Legion suffered heavy losses when attacking the fortresses and trenches defended by the Ottoman soldiers, and the two clearly saw the huge casualties to be suffered when attacking the enemy's well-defended fortifications. .

Most of the Greek casualties in this war were in the course of attacking fortresses and trenches.

In particular, Giannis, who is the Minister of Armament, has dealt with various army weapons all year round, and he feels more sensitive to the evolution of war weapons.

Under Constantine's reminder, Giannis even organized several small army drills, just to verify the great advantage of the trench fortifications proposed by Constantine in defense.

After seeing the intricate trenches and the dazzling barbed wire, plus the combined defense means of the Maxim machine gun, the visiting Greek army officers all took a deep breath.

In trench warfare, the defender has a huge advantage over the attacker.

Whether it is the Maxim machine gun that can weave an airtight metal storm firepower network when firing, or the rapid-fire gun with unprecedented firepower, which has entered into a great significance in the history of cannon development, and the fixed-load metal bullet breech rifle with the same rate of fire obviously improved , which made Giannis, the Minister of Armament, feel sorry for the soldiers of the army.

Letting the flesh and blood of the soldiers charge is more like letting them die!

It is precisely with this understanding that the General Staff will formulate a "black plan" that adopts a defensive strategy to deal with Bulgaria's war plan.

In addition to the change of the war pattern due to technological progress, the strength of the Bulgarian army should not be underestimated, which is also an important reason why Constantine vetoed the "Basil Plan".

In the last war, Bulgaria's total population was less than 4 million. In response to the threat of the Ottoman army, 600,000 people were recruited into the army.

This ratio is simply jaw-dropping.

If Bulgaria is in a state of war, the proportion of soldiers recruited is relatively extreme, then it is unbelievable that in peacetime, the Bulgarian Army retains a standing army of 500,000 people.

Constantine was astonished at the level of ruthlessness of the Bulgarian army.

For comparison, even adding the population of the newly acquired territory of Greece after the war, the population reached 6.15 million. Under the condition of active preparations for the war, the current number of the Greek army is 350,000, and 150,000 are mainly composed of Congolese blacks, officers Congolese regiment served by Greeks.

If the population of the Congo is included, the population of the Greek side is 26 million.

According to data obtained by Greek intelligence agents, the Bulgarian side has a total population of 5.2 million after gaining new territories and population.

According to the consistency of the Bulgarians, compared to the 600,000 conscripts in the last war, this number has grown again and may reach 850,000!

Moreover, according to the assessment of the General Staff, the Bulgarian Army has strong combat effectiveness, shrewd and capable officers, and brave and fearless soldiers. It is indeed the leading and powerful army in the Balkans.

Whether it was the Bulgarian-Serbian War of 1885 or the just-concluded Balkan Wars, the Bulgarian army proved itself to be a fighting force.

In the Baosai War of 1885, the Serbian army had an absolute advantage and was still pushed back to Niš by the Bulgarian army.

In the just-concluded Balkan War, the main force of the Bulgarian Army fought a decisive battle with the main force of the Ottoman Empire in Thrace.

The Serbian and Greek armies were only responsible for the side battlefield Macedonia.

A large number of German officers served in the Ottoman army, and almost most of the Ottoman officers received full German officer training.

Especially after losing to Greece in the war of 1896, the Ottoman army made a lot of changes after thinking hard and made a lot of changes, and the army was full of German weapons.

Krupp's cannons and Mauser rifles were the basic equipment in the new Ottoman Army.

Especially after the revolution in the Ottoman Empire and the Young Turks came to power, the pro-German atmosphere in the Ottoman Empire became stronger and stronger, and the status of German instructors in the army was once again promoted.

Even the Ottoman army in this situation was defeated by the Bulgarian army.

All in all, the Bulgarian Army is indeed an adversary not to be underestimated, and it is not easy to deal with.

That's why the General Staff agreed to a conservative plan like the "Black Plan".

On the one hand, according to the results of the assessment of the General Staff, the defending side is more advantageous in the engagement.

On the other hand, the extremely high mobilization rate of the Bulgarian Army is also an important reason for Greece to adopt the black plan.

The high mobilization rate did give the Bulgarian army a numerical advantage, but at the same time, the high mobilization rate also became the fatal weakness of the Bulgarian army.

Under such mobilization efforts, Bulgaria almost collected all the prime-age men in the country into the army.

What is the concept of such mobilization?

It is equivalent to three out of every eight men ~www.wuxiax.com~ enlisting in the army!

According to general military common sense, such a huge army is on the front line, and generally the same number of logistics personnel are required to ensure the supply of materials to the front line of the army.

Under such circumstances, the price paid by the high mobilization rate of the Bulgarians is the almost complete interruption of domestic production activities.

Therefore, according to the calculations of the General Staff, it is better to adopt the tactics of delaying the defense and waiting for the internal collapse of the enemy, rather than relying on the huge cost of casualties to defeat the large and powerful Bulgarian Army.

This is also the main reason why the General Staff has developed a defense-oriented black program.

"His Royal Highness, even so, ask the Prime Minister to be aggressive in diplomacy and try to help Greece win over more of Bulgaria's enemies," Emanuel said.

Even so, in order to reduce losses and increase the chance of success, in the face of Bulgarians, Constantine also planned to use diplomatic means to attract more helpers, increase the number of his allies, and attack Bulgaria from all sides.