Bulgarian Empire

120mm cannon, imported from France, production or service year: 1878/1916

Diameter: 120mm

Barrel length: 27/20.3 times the caliber

High and low range: 0°~+30°

Horizontal field of fire: 0 degrees

Projectile weight: (18~20)kg

Ammunition muzzle velocity: (265~613)(570?)m/sec Weight: 3740/3750~3850/2700kg Maximum range: 124000m

155mm cannon imported from France, production or service year: 1877/1916

Diameter: 155mm

Barrel length: 27 times the caliber

High and low range: -26 degrees ~ +26 degrees

Horizontal field of fire: 0 degrees

Projectile weight: (40~43.6)kg

Ammunition muzzle velocity: 561(517?)m/sec

Weight: (5700~6500) kg

Maximum range: 12700m

Don't be surprised why the artillery, Ferdinand all use the French!

The reason is simple. Even at the end of the 19th century when the technical blockade was not strict, the export of heavy artillery was strictly controlled by the great powers, and it would not be exported on a large scale under normal circumstances!

In the international environment at that time, there were only two countries that could export to Bulgaria on a large scale, Russia and France!

In fact, the 1877-style 87mm field gun that the Russians and the Germans cooperated with has good performance, but its caliber is too close to that of Miss 75, the gap in rate of fire is too large, and its overall performance is much worse. Historically, Miss 75 But it was used in World War II!

As for other Russian artillery, either they were not born, or their performance was not as good as that of the French, and the artillery that could serve until World War I was absolutely world-leading in 1897!

As for imitation, the Bulgarian arsenal has also done it before. Due to the high cost, it cannot be mass-produced, so I can only buy it!

In order to solve the lack of melee firepower, Ferdinand even had the idea of ​​​​mortars! It can be said that the technology of the Bulgarian arsenal is not up to standard, and it was done. Just like the birth of the mortar in history, it is prone to accidents and seriously threatens the safety of the artillerymen! Due to its performance and instability, it was rejected by the military!

Finally, at Ferdinand's insistence, an old-fashioned 47mm naval mortar was modified on a gun mount with wheels to fire a long-tailed shell at a high elevation angle.

The mass of the whole bomb is 11.5kg, the firing range is 50-400m, and the firing angle is 45°-65°. This kind of primitive mortar will always be reluctantly accepted by the military!

The main reason is that the military thinks it is good to use it against machine guns, so it is accepted! Because of its low cost and simple production technology, General Popov, who was born in the infantry, took a fancy to it and equipped it to the infantry battalion!

Seeing this result, Ferdinand didn't know whether to cry or laugh. The famous mortar of the later generations was rejected by the artillery as soon as it came out, but was favored by the infantry!

Well, for artillerymen, this old-fashioned 47mm naval mortar has low power, short range, and slow rate of fire. It is far inferior to the Bulgarian 1895 75mm field gun. In their eyes, it is simply useless!

Well, Ferdinand's military level is limited to mouthpieces. Regardless of whether such equipment is reasonable or not, after all, it is the end of the 19th century, and the opponent is a local chicken, so let the army do it themselves!

After listening to the chief of staff's initial introduction, everyone didn't have a big reaction! The military already knew about it, and the civil service group was self-aware and did not dare to interfere indiscriminately!

Ferdinand nodded, drew a circle on the map, and continued to ask: If we want to occupy the Istanbul region, Macedonia region, Kosovo region, Thrace region, and most of Albania this time, and drive Turkey out of Europe? go,

Purely from the military point of view, what is the difficulty?

Chief of Staff Petrov said in embarrassment: Other areas are easy to handle, but in the Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelles, the Turks have deployed a large number of shore artillery, which will cause serious damage to our army. threaten!

If these shore artillery cannot be solved, even if we capture Constantinople, we can only be beaten passively!

After a moment of silence, Ferdinand said: If you want to solve the Turks' coastal artillery, unless you can land in Asia Minor, I'm afraid it can't be completely eliminated!

If we also use a large number of large-caliber artillery, which is more powerful than the firepower deployed by the Ottoman Empire, to confront the Turks, is it feasible?

Petrov thought for a while and said: Theoretically, it is feasible. Using artillery against artillery, as long as you have an advantage in firepower, it is still possible to destroy most of the shore artillery on the opposite side at any cost!

After all, most of the shore artillery deployed by the Ottoman Empire was aimed at the strait, without considering the threat on land, and the defense capability was not very strong!

If the navy can bear a certain amount of losses, it can still rush into the Sea of ​​Marma. As long as the navy of the Ottoman Empire is defeated, the Turks will have to admit defeat!

But it is difficult for us to get so many large-caliber artillery in a short period of time now? Our five heavy artillery regiments alone may not be able to suppress the Turks!

Ferdinand nodded, he knew that the Black Sea Strait is not so easy to get through!

Don’t you see that in the First World War in history, the Allied Powers fell into a stalemate on the Western Front. In order to achieve a breakthrough on the moving line, they launched the Battle of Dardanelles.

On the side of the Allied Powers, 500,000 soldiers traveled across the ocean to the Gallipoli Peninsula. After nearly eleven months of fighting, it took about 53,000 dead, 96,937 wounded, and still lost!

The Russians have launched many Russo-Turkish wars in order to open up the Black Sea Strait for a hundred years, but they all returned in vain!

But the Russians still did not give up! It's not that the bear's head got flooded!

But most of the sea transportation in the Russian Empire is through the Black Sea Strait, so we have to fight for it!

Thinking of this, Ferdinand suddenly felt relieved, and said with a smile: We can't take it out, but the Russians have it. I guess they are waiting for us to come to the door?

Don't underestimate the Russians by looking at Russia's poor performance in the Russian-Japanese War and World War I!

Ferdinand knew very well that Nicholas II was definitely not the idiot, authoritarian, and stubborn described in the textbooks. On the contrary, he was very smart and a reformer!

It's a pity that Nicholas II was a failed reformer in history, and the external expansion in order to divert internal conflicts just happened to fail again!

There is nothing that the Russians could not dream of that Ferdinand could think of! In fact, if it weren't for the constraints of national strength, the Bulgarian General Staff would have come up with a complete plan long ago!

...

While discussing matters in Bulgaria, the Russian government in St. Petersburg was also very concerned about the direction of the war.

Nicholas II looked at the battle report and said with a smile: It seems that the Turks have really fallen. It's been so long, and they haven't even got a decent record!

Everyone roared with laughter, Russia and Turkey were originally a pair of old enemies, and they had no reason to be unhappy when they saw the enemy's misfortune!

The Bulgarians are about to end, right? Ferdinand's patience is really good. Could it be that he is not worried at all about the defeat of the Greeks and facing the Ottoman army alone? Nicholas II asked again

The Minister of War said respectfully: Your Majesty the Great Tsar, this war came too suddenly, and the Bulgarians still need time to prepare!

Moreover, the Greeks and the Turks have been at war for less than ten days. If the Greeks are defeated so quickly, it will not be of much use to unite with them!

The Bulgarians are now planning to let the Greeks mobilize them to delay the time, and by the way consume the strength of the Turks. If the Greeks lose, there will be one less opponent for the spoils!

The Secretary of the Navy smiled and said: I'm afraid it's more than that! Our attitude is the key to Bulgaria's decision!

After all, as long as they capture Constantinople and let our navy enter the Sea of ​​Marmara to defeat the Ottoman navy, the Ottoman army in the Balkans will become a rootless weed, and defeat will happen sooner or later!