Chapter 543 Attack, attack, attack!
The Russian Empire’s seizure of the Black Sea outlet will definitely affect its relations with Britain and France, which Germany is happy to see.
On this issue, Nicholas is now a little worried that seizing the Black Sea outlet will be opposed by Britain and France.
When George proposed to seize the Black Sea outlet, Nicholas was extremely excited, because that would make Nicholas among the greatest czars in history.
Now that everything is ready, all that is left is the east wind, and the weak side of Nicholas's character begins to be exposed again.
George hoped that Nicholas would wake up in time and realize that the security and interests of the Russian Empire cannot be pinned on other countries.
Under the auspices of George, although the Russian Empire is disarmament, Japan and Goryeo have been expanding their armies. The total strength has exceeded 500,000. When necessary, George can mobilize the armies of Japan and Goryeo. Fight in Europe.
Russia currently has about 650,000 regular troops. Once the war breaks out, 400,000 engineering troops can be converted into regular troops at any time. Together with the 500,000 troops in the Far East, George is confident of resisting the German-Austrian offensive head-on. .
So George doesn't care about the attitudes of Britain and France at all. If Britain and France dare to cause trouble to the Russian Empire on the issue of the Black Sea outlet, it will be equivalent to forcing the Russian Empire to the German-Austrian Alliance.
Reminiscent of the repeated jumps of the Italian Kingdom in the two world wars, the Russian Empire can definitely be more flexible.
Nicholas didn't expect that George's bottom line would be so flexible.
"The current situation is like this. The empire is the most important force influencing the situation in Europe. This is our best opportunity. Once missed, the empire will never be able to break through the Black Sea."
George Having no fear, this is why the UK only talks about it but does not take any actual actions.
The French are smarter and don’t even shout.
The Russian Empire has assembled a large number of troops in Crimea, almost as a warning sign, and may send troops to the Balkans at any time.
If this were the case before, Britain and France would have jumped on it long ago and would never be as indifferent as they are now.
"George, have you ever thought that once we lose the support of Britain and France, we may be isolated in Europe."
Nicholas is a very insecure person, which leads to He looked forward and backward on many issues.
"How come, even if we lose Britain and France, we at least still have the Balkan Alliance."
George really wants to tell Nicholas that it doesn't matter whether there are allies like Britain and France. What a difference.
Compared with Britain and France, the Balkan Alliance is the foundation of the Russian Empire.
As for the Russian Empire's delay in taking action, the younger brothers of the Balkan Alliance actually have complaints, especially the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
Brushinov resolutely implemented George's spirit. After failing to capture Thessaloniki, he launched a fierce attack on the Austrian second line of defense from Luleburga to Bunahir.
Due to the short time, the Austrian army's defense line was not strong. Although the Austrian army's reinforcements from Asia had arrived, in the previous stage of the battle, the Austrian army lost a large number of artillery, which caused the Austrian army to The army did not have enough artillery for counterattack.
Brushinov did not give the Austrian army a chance to breathe. The right-wing 6th Infantry Division captured the town of Lule Burgas despite the fierce artillery fire of the Austrian army. Subsequently, reinforcements from the First Army arrived. More intense fighting broke out with the Austrian army.
The Austrian army had no way out at this time. Facing the crazy attack of the Bulgarian army, the Austrian army resisted desperately. The battle was extremely fierce and bloody, with high casualties on both sides.
On September 15th, the forces of the Kingdom of Serbia arrived to join the attack on the Austrian army.
Faced with the superior strength of the coalition forces, the Austrian army retreated across the board and retreated to the third line of defense on the outskirts of Constantinople.
This line of defense is also the strongest line of defense of the Austrian army.
When the Austrian army retreated from Constantinople, the Russian Empire’s reinforcement fleet finally arrived in the Dardanelles Strait. On the 21st, Rakitski, commander of the reinforcement fleet, asked the Ottoman Empire to open the Dardanelles Strait to allow the reinforcement fleet to pass.
The Ottoman Empire once again rejected the request for fleet reinforcements.
Rakitski did not give in this time and ordered the fleet to forcefully enter the Dardanelles Strait.
Chief of Staff Krzakov reminded Rakitski that the Ottoman Navy had laid mines in the Dardanelles Strait. If the reinforcement fleet forced its way through, it might be attacked by mines.
“What kind of mine? That’s a torpedo launched by the Ottoman Navy!”
Rakitsky is full of malicious intent. Whether it is a mine or not, the winner has the final say.
History is written by the victors. If the Russian Empire loses, then naturally everything will stop and it will be useless to say anything.
If the Ottoman Empire is defeated, then the Russian Empire can be rounded if it wants to be rounded, and flattened if it wants to be.
Rakitsky did not rashly let the battleships enter the Dardanelles Strait. The course of the Russo-Japanese War showed that it was difficult for battleships to be sunk in battle. All the battleships lost by both sides in the first stage of the Russo-Japanese War were all It was all caused by mines.
The first to enter the Dardanelles Strait was the transport ship "Dali" from Japan.
As expected by Krzhakov, the transport ship "Dali" struck a mine and sank shortly after entering the Dardanelles Strait.
After learning of the situation, George sent a telegram to Nicholas, asking the Russian Empire to immediately declare war on the Ottoman Empire.
Arrived in St. Petersburg together with George's telegram were telegrams from London and Berlin.
Britain, as before, hopes that the Russian Empire will exercise restraint and not trigger a larger-scale conflict.
William II asked Nicholas if he needed help from Germany. If Nicholas needed it, the German High Seas Fleet could set sail immediately.
"Who are our allies?"
Little Nicholas rushed to the summer palace in person, also hoping that the Russian Empire would immediately declare war on the Ottoman Empire.
“The Ottoman navy opened fire on our transport ships, and the Ottomans must be punished.”
Chief of Staff Suhomlinov also favored an immediate declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire.
“Since you have all decided to do this, I have no reason to object.”
Nicholas finally made up his mind, and while declaring war, he appointed George as commander-in-chief, fully responsible for the war against Austria.
In fact, regardless of whether Nicholas declares war or not, George has already determined to participate in the war.
When the Russian Empire sent the letter of challenge to the Ottoman Empire's embassy and consulate in St. Petersburg, the naval aviation at Varna Airport had received George's order and immediately set off to bomb Constantinople.
Reconnaissance planes also set off immediately to determine the location of the Ottoman Navy's all-heavy artillery battleships.
The torpedo planes are also ready to go.
After receiving George's order, Peter immediately ordered the troops to board the ship and prepare to land in Constantinople.
The order given by George only has three sentences: attack, attack, attack!
(End of this chapter)