Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 504 The Balkan Transformation
Things were indeed developing in the direction the British had feared. The day after Prime Minister Asquith convened a meeting, urgent reports came from the Balkan front: hundreds of thousands of Franco-Russian troops were landing aggressively on the Anatolian Peninsula. The unprepared Ottoman Empire was easily overrun by the enemy, and the front line had already advanced several kilometers. The Franco-Russian landing could not be stopped.

Although the British government had notified the Ottoman Empire in advance, such things cannot be completely avoided simply by taking precautions.

The coastline of the Anatolian Peninsula was very long and narrow, and the Ottoman Empire was unsure where the Franco-Russian allied forces would land.

Furthermore, with more than half of the Ottoman Empire's army already deployed to the Caucasus and the Balkans, the remaining troops stationed on the Anatolian Peninsula numbered less than 30, making it difficult to completely defend the entire coastline of the Anatolian Peninsula.

Germany and Austria-Hungary were quite concerned upon learning that the Franco-Russian allied forces had opened a new front in Asia Minor, in the Ottoman Empire.

Although the Ottoman Empire was not a powerful nation, it was the most powerful of the Central Powers, second only to Germany and Austria-Hungary.

More importantly, the Ottoman Empire possessed the Mesopotamian Plain, along with the vast Anatolian Peninsula, making it a very important grain-producing country.

With Germany and Austria-Hungary deeply troubled by war, food and other supplies from the Ottoman Empire became extremely important.

Bulgaria, in particular, is already small in size, and now nearly half of its land has been occupied by Romania and Russia, so its grain production is bound to be halved.

Although they were concerned about the situation in the Ottoman Empire, Germany and Austria-Hungary were powerless to do anything about it at this time.

Germany's main reason for this was its distance and the fact that it was fighting on two fronts, making it unable to effectively intervene in the Anatolian Peninsula in Asia.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was closer, it did not have many troops available to deploy to the Anatolian Peninsula at that time.

They had previously promised Germany at least 30 troops to the Western Front, and with the Eastern Front and the Balkans added to the mix, they were not much better off than Germany, which was fighting on two fronts.

Bulgaria is even less of a concern. These days, Bulgaria can't even send troops to support the Ottoman Empire; it's a miracle they can even hold onto their capital, Sofia.

Even without the support of the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria might not have lasted more than a few months.

The country that was most terrified by the news of the Franco-Russian forces' forced landing on the Ottoman Empire's Asian homeland was probably Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian government never expected that the seemingly smooth situation in the Balkans would undergo a dramatic change after Romania joined the war.

A large number of Russian troops arrived in the Balkans with the help of Romania, and coupled with the strong counterattacks from Serbian and Romanian troops, tiny Bulgaria was completely powerless.

Although there were Austro-Hungarian troops in the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire couldn't even conquer Serbia, let alone cross Serbia to support Bulgaria.

The more than 100,000 Ottoman troops currently stationed in southern Bulgaria represent almost Bulgaria's last hope of holding onto its territory.

If the Ottoman Empire were to withdraw these troops due to attacks on its Asian homeland, Bulgaria would be left to defend itself.

The good news is that the Ottoman Empire did not order these troops to withdraw to their homeland in Asia. After all, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits were still under the control of France and Russia, and with these straits blocking the way, it wouldn't be easy for these troops to withdraw from Europe to Asia.

On the other hand, the Ottoman Empire also had to consider the security of its capital.

After the two Balkan Wars, Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, was reduced to a small peninsula on which it was located, and the rest of the land was divided among the Balkan states.

It's impossible to say that Bulgaria harbors no resentment towards China. Although Bulgaria was defeated in the Second Balkan War, that was due to the unequal distribution of spoils among the Balkan states.

Bulgaria was a key initiator of the First Balkan War and occupied large swathes of Ottoman territory during the war.

Even the Ottoman Empire sent troops to attack Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War, eventually recapturing some of the territory.

Given these old grievances, the Ottoman army already harbored considerable resentment towards supporting Bulgaria. Now, upon hearing of the Franco-Russian invasion of their homeland, these soldiers went on strike en masse, refusing to help the Bulgarians defend their homeland.

The officials in Istanbul also began to worry about their own safety. Although they did not recall these troops to their homeland in Asia, they began to order their withdrawal, prioritizing the safety of Istanbul.

If the Franco-Russian allied forces could land on the Anatolian Peninsula, they could certainly land on Istanbul as well.

Although Istanbul is an ancient city with over a thousand years of history and boasts extremely strong military fortifications, how many shells could such fortifications withstand from giant naval guns that could easily reach over ten inches in height?

The Ottoman Empire's order to withdraw its troops to Istanbul struck like a bolt from the blue, directly impacting the minds of all Bulgarian officials.

As a result, the Bulgarian army, lacking reinforcements, suffered a series of defeats in the face of a joint offensive by Romania and Serbia, and the capital Sofia was in imminent danger.

At this point, the Bulgarian government finally panicked. Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria hurriedly appealed to his allies, Germany and Austria-Hungary, for help, hoping that the two countries would send troops to support him.

To reiterate, there was nothing Germany and Austria-Hungary could do to help.

But since it was an ally seeking help, remaining indifferent would be a blow to the prestige of both Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Germany and Austria-Hungary responded to Bulgaria by stating that they would intensify their offensive on the Eastern Front and in Serbia, forcing the Allied Powers to reduce their troops in the attack on Bulgaria and thus liberate Bulgaria.

At the same time, Germany and Austria-Hungary also sent notes to the Ottoman ambassador, hoping that the Ottoman Empire would redeploy its withdrawn troops to Bulgaria to ensure that Bulgaria would not be at risk of national subjugation.

Although the Ottoman Empire was somewhat reluctant, Germany and Austria-Hungary were, after all, two of the most powerful allies, and they still had to be given face.

Bulgaria breathed a sigh of relief after learning that Ottoman troops would return to Bulgaria within days.

But before they could celebrate for long, terrible news came from the front lines: the Romanian army had breached the Bulgarian army's defenses.

The story dates back several days.

While opening a new front in Anatolia, the French and Russian governments also reached an agreement to intensify their offensive in the Balkans.

On the one hand, the goal was to force the Austro-Hungarian Empire to choose between two equally important territories, making it impossible for the Ottoman Empire to attend to both its European and Asian territories simultaneously.

On the other hand, they wanted to end the war in the Balkans as soon as possible.

Under the combined offensive of Romanian and Russian forces, nearly half of Bulgaria's territory has fallen. A swift and decisive victory over Bulgaria would not only boost the morale of Allied soldiers but also fundamentally alter the course of the Balkan campaign.

Without Bulgaria, the only remaining allied powers in the Balkans were the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Unfortunately, these two countries are separated by the entire Balkan Peninsula, with Serbia and Romania in between, making it difficult for them to take care of each other.

Once Bulgaria was occupied, the Ottoman Empire was like an isolated island, no longer receiving aid from its allies.

How long could the Ottoman Empire, fighting alone, hold out? Although the Ottoman Empire trained a new army with German help, the number of these new troops was always limited, and most of them were lost in the Balkan Wars.

As long as the Franco-Russian allied forces launched a relentless offensive, the Ottoman Empire was destined not to last long. If the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria could be quickly dealt with, the subsequent sieges of Germany and Austria-Hungary would become much easier.

The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, Bulgaria was definitely the first step.

The reason is simple: Bulgaria has a small land area and not much strategic depth, making it relatively easy to deal with.

In order to resolve the Bulgarian conflict as soon as possible, Serbia and Montenegro each sent tens of thousands of troops, forming a coalition army of up to 50 with the troops of Romania and Russia.

For Bulgaria, which has less than 20 troops left, the pressure of facing an attack by 50 Allied troops is naturally immense.

Although Bulgaria has mountains within its borders that can be used for defense, the Allied Powers were not entirely without countermeasures.

Although France could not provide much military support, it did provide the Allied powers in the Balkans with hundreds of artillery pieces, thanks to industrial assistance from Spain.

Including artillery pieces put together by other participating countries, the 500,000-strong Allied coalition forces were equipped with more than 2,000 artillery pieces.

No matter how strong Bulgaria's defenses were, they could not withstand the full-scale bombardment of more than two thousand artillery pieces.

This is no joke. Even the highest mountain can be blasted flat, and even the most fortified defensive fortress will eventually turn to ashes in the face of so many cannons.

After several days of all-out attack on Bulgaria, the Bulgarian defenses finally collapsed. No matter how powerful the Bulgarian army was, they were still just ordinary people and could not withstand the bombardment.

Faced with such heavy casualties on the front lines, the Bulgarian government knew that defeat was inevitable.

Although they knew defeat was certain, not a single official in the Bulgarian government dared to propose peace talks.

This also brings us to the two Balkan Wars.

Although Bulgaria occupied a large area of ​​territory in the First Balkan War, in the Second Balkan War, due to the siege of Bulgaria by the Balkan states, these territories were eventually divided up by other countries.

Even Bulgaria itself lost South Dobroga. Despite mobilizing a large number of troops domestically, the gains were minimal, and it even created a situation where the Balkan countries jointly besieged Bulgaria, which was naturally unacceptable to the Bulgarian people.

From that moment on, hatred began to permeate the once harmonious Balkan peoples. Bulgarians harbored deep resentment towards Serbia, Greece, and Romania.

It was the combined attack of these three countries that caused Bulgaria to lose almost all of its gains and become a laughing stock of the whole of Europe after the Balkan Wars ended.

If any official were to propose surrendering to Romania and Serbia right now, without a doubt, they would be beaten to death by angry mobs the very next day.

If the Bulgarian government dares to pass such a proposal, it will likely face severe consequences, potentially even leading to large-scale unrest.

This is why, so far, Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria has made no move.

He knew that Bulgaria's defeat was inevitable, and he also knew that he could not speak out at this moment under any circumstances.

If Tsar Ferdinand were to take any action, he could become the scapegoat for the government after the war. Although Tsar Ferdinand was also a proponent of war, the order to wage war was ultimately issued by the government, and as Tsar, Ferdinand could shift the blame.

The Bulgarian government certainly understood the Tsar's thoughts, and they were certainly unwilling to take the blame for the Tsar, or at least not to bear the public's anger on his behalf.

As the Tsar of Bulgaria, Ferdinand was quite apprehensive at this moment.

His background was similar to Carlo's; both were foreign monarchs. In 1886, a coup d'état broke out in Bulgaria, and Alexander I, who had reigned for seven years, was forced to abdicate. The new Bulgarian government elected Ferdinand, who had served as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as the new Prince of Bulgaria, thus beginning the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty in Bulgaria.

Like Spain's election of a king, Bulgaria's election of a prince was also a very difficult process. To prevent Russia from gaining control of Bulgaria, the new Bulgarian government's selection of a monarch involved a long and arduous process.

The new Bulgarian government has been exploring the Caucasus region, starting from Denmark, and is considering princes from almost every European country.

At its most extreme, the Bulgarian government even considered inviting then-Romanian King Carol I to become a Bulgarian prince, forming a dual federal system similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire between Romania and Bulgaria.

Although Ferdinand of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family was ultimately chosen as the Prince of Bulgaria, he was not the one who was widely accepted.

His grandmother, Queen Victoria, once questioned Bulgaria's decision to elect Ferdinand as prince.

If even her own grandmother had such doubts, one can only imagine what other European countries were saying.

This also meant that during the period when Ferdinand had just become the Prince of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian government was controlled by Stefan Stamborov, the leader of the Liberal Party at the time.

Although he became a prince, Ferdinand's power was completely hollowed out; he was more of a figurehead.

It wasn't until Stefan Stambolov was assassinated that Ferdinand successfully seized power and became the de facto prince of Bulgaria.

Ferdinand was very pleased at the time; he even wished Stamborov had been assassinated a few years earlier.

Now, however, Ferdinand wished Stambolov could live a few more years. Only a prime minister with such absolute power could take the blame for him, the Tsar, at such a crucial moment, and do so completely.

(End of this chapter)