Greece’s Roman Road

After seeing the breakdown of relations between the Russians and Bulgaria, the British government of Gladstone issued a diplomatic note to the authorities in Constantinople and Athens: If military action against Bulgaria is taken, it will be regarded as an act of hostility to the United Kingdom.

The acting British ambassador to the Ottomans, William White, had planned to be transferred to the British ambassador to the Qing, so the incident remained in Constantinople.

There is no doubt that Britain's remarks are like a pot of cold water pouring down on the Greek anti-war faction that has just come to power.

After hearing the news, Constantine hurried to the Prime Minister's residence.

After Trikupis resigned that day, Delianes, who was supported by the majority of parliamentarians, officially entered the Prime Minister's Office and became the new Prime Minister of Greece.

Hurrying into the prime minister's office, I saw Delia Nis pointing at a map together with Chief of Staff Emanuel.

"Mr. Prime Minister, you should have received the British diplomatic note. What are your plans?" Constantine asked eagerly.

"Your Excellency, the current situation in the Balkans can no longer allow Greece to hesitate. The Serbian army has 60,000 people and is well-trained. The Bulgarian army has only about 50,000 people. It is necessary to guard against the Ottoman Turkish army." said.

His analysis is indeed justified. Eastern Rumelia province is an important geographical location and an important barrier to Constantinople. Once Bulgaria takes control of Eastern Rumelia, Bulgaria is too much of a threat to the capital of Ottoman Turkey. Once the two countries have a military conflict , the Bulgarian army will quickly move south, occupying an advantageous position.

There is a road connection between Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and Constantinople. This is the main road built when the Roman Empire was strong, mainly to mobilize the army and facilitate the travel of merchants.

Ironically, when the Eastern Roman Empire declined, the Bulgarian army, led by the tsar, traveled south along the same road several times until they reached the city of Constantinople.

Now, if the province of Eastern Rumelia is lost, the situation between Bulgaria and Ottoman Turkey is only similar to that between Bulgaria and a weakened Rome, threatening the capital of the Empire through this road.

Therefore, Ottoman Turkey could never sit idly by and remain indifferent to the loss of Eastern Rumelia.

"You know, among the three Christian countries in the Balkans, we, Greece, are the weakest."

"If we don't act at this time, when Serbia wins, she will become the new Balkan hegemon," Delianes explained.

In fact, at this time, all countries are more optimistic about Serbia. One of the important reasons is that there are no officers above captain in Bulgaria at this time, because these senior officers were all served by Russians.

Because of the breakdown of relations between the two countries, Russia directly withdrew all Russian officers in the Bulgarian army.

Second, the attitude of all countries is to support Serbia.

"Greece has to do something," Delianes said.

"First of all, Serbia does have an advantage, but in a war, the side that is not the one with the advantage will definitely win the final victory."

There are many factors that affect victory in land warfare, such as the morale of the soldiers, the quality of weapons and equipment, the number of troops, the ability of the commander, the terrain, the support of the people and so on.

So there is a lot of uncertainty in land warfare.

"Secondly, it is impossible for us to ignore the statement of the British," Constantine said solemnly.

"Moreover, we do not border the territory of Bulgaria, and the Macedonia region is in the middle. Once the border is crossed, it is easy to cause the action of the Ottoman Turks. At that time, it is likely to intensify the contradiction and evolve into a big melee among the Balkan countries. The result that the great powers try to avoid”

Although the current Turkish army is not strong, the Turkish Sultan is retraining the army with the help of the German advisor, Captain von der Goltz, because the time is still short and the formation of combat effectiveness will take time.

It is difficult to say whether the German high-level officials sent Captain Goetz to Turkey because they had a hunch about the future situation of the world war, but from the perspective of the development of the original time and space history, this was a clever move, which indirectly brought the Ottoman Turkey to the scene. Pulled on the pirate ship of the Allies.

"Therefore, Mr. Prime Minister, Greece should not be involved in this war," Constantine stated.

Hearing that Constantine clearly expressed his opposition to participating in the war, the Prime Minister and the Chief of General Staff frowned and remained silent.

This is obviously the attitude of the king.

The office was quiet for a long time.

"His Royal Highness, we will take actions that are in line with Greece's interests as the situation develops," Delianes said vaguely.

This ambiguous answer is undoubtedly perfunctory.

Constantine walked out of the prime minister's residence with a heavy heart, tired of the Greek system of majority voting for the first time.

There is no doubt that, fanatically advocating war and becoming prime minister, Delianes intends to rely on the will of the Greek people, and one road goes black.

For Andreas at this time, peace meant being ousted from power.

On weekdays, in the Greek National Assembly, Trikupis has always had the upper hand. His policies of developing industry and commerce, raising tariffs, and building infrastructure are obviously more popular.

Disappointed, he returned to the Tatoi Palace and explained the meeting to King George.

"Father, can you, as the supreme commander of the Greek army, stop the army's adventure?" Constantine asked in his last attempt.

The king is the commander-in-chief of the Greek army. This is a sacred right granted to the king by the constitution~www.wuxiax.com~ That is impossible. If I really do this, can you imagine how the people will view the royal family? You also don't want to see the people gather in front of the palace gate, shouting traitor, traitor loudly? In the face of the will of the majority, the king can only go with the flow, unless he does not care about his own honor."

George I said with a wry smile.

"His Majesty the King, the British Ambassador asks to see you." Butler Capet came in and interrupted the conversation between the two.

It seems that Delia Nisi's plan to carry out a military adventure has leaked.

After all, with the ability of the British to gather intelligence, it is impossible to hide the mass gathering of troops.

"Your Majesty, the British Empire's attitude is very clear that it does not want Greece to participate in the war between Serbia and Bulgaria."

Ambassador William Walter walked straight to King George I with an arrogant and authentic expression.

"About your country's military mobilization, Your Majesty, what do you say?"

Constantine frowned, the ambassador's arrogant attitude was annoying, and he even roughly interfered in the internal affairs of Greece.

"Your Excellency Ambassador, the Greek people have made their own choice." In any case, as a king, he could not openly oppose his own national opinion in front of foreign ministers.

"Your Majesty, you'd better stop your army's actions that are extremely harmful to European peace. Once Greece is involved in the war, it is very likely to cause a melee between countries."

"Otherwise, the British Empire would have ample reason to be free to take effective measures, as the case may be, to stop the frenzied actions of the Greek war fanatics"

Having said that, he turned around and left the reception room.

King George I was stunned when he heard this.

I didn't expect the British to react so strongly.

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