Mediterranean Hegemony Road

St. Petersburg Winter Palace, after receiving Ferdinand's protest telegram, Nicholas II laughed it off!

Oh, these are not the main points, the main thing is that the opportunity that the Russians have been waiting for for a long time has finally come!

Bulgaria asked the navy to participate in the battle to cut off the connection between Constantinople and the Asia Minor peninsula. After more than half a month of artillery battles, the number of artillery shells in the Ottoman Empire has been reduced to a minimum!

At the same time, Bulgaria's artillery can also suppress the shore artillery of the Ottomans. After all, the Bosporus Strait is so wide, and bombardment between the two sides is not a problem at all!

The Secretary of the Navy said excitedly: Your Majesty, the Navy is ready and ready to send troops at any time!

The Minister of Finance suggested: Should we wait a little longer? Or simply wait until the Bulgarians occupy Constantinople before dispatching the navy. This is more secure?

The Minister of the Navy was stunned, and said without changing his face: I can't wait any longer, the night is full of dreams! According to the information we have received, the Ottoman Empire has ordered a batch of weapons and ammunition from the Germans. , we are in big trouble!

The Minister of War hesitated again and again, but decided to help, so he said: Your Majesty, according to the judgment of the frontline observation team, we have now achieved an absolute advantage in firepower, but this advantage is based on the consumption of countless shells!

From the beginning of the war to the present, Bulgaria has consumed nearly 3 million shells, of which more than 80% were consumed in Constantinople, including hundreds of thousands of shells provided by us!

Now every day it lasts, more than 100,000 shells have to be paid. We can hardly hold on if this continues, let alone Bulgaria!

According to the analysis of the observation team, the supply of heavy artillery and ammunition we provide will not be available within a week at most!

In fact, the Minister of War has to say that now, after all, most of the artillery shells supporting Bulgaria are taken from the army's ammunition reserves, and only a small part is provided by the navy!

But the shell reserves of heavy artillery are limited, if it continues, problems are prone to occur!

As for the problem, of course it is a moth in the Russian army, and it is likely to be exposed! During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russians were trapped by these people in the Far East!

Now the Minister of War does not want to lift the cover, otherwise he will offend many people! Anyway, after the Balkan War, they had a lot of ways to balance their accounts, and they could add a zero after the ammunition to support Bulgaria!

The words of the Secretary of War,

Immediately shocked everyone, the consumption of this war has greatly exceeded everyone's expectations!

In less than two months, the amount of ammunition fired by the Bulgarians has almost surpassed that of the Crimean War!

Of course, due to the different times, the two sides are not comparable!

Nicholas II asked suspiciously: Why do the Bulgarians have so much ammunition? I remember that they had a battle with the Serbs a few years ago, and their artillery is not very good!

The Minister of War began to fool around: The main reason is that the Serbs are too weak. After the first Baosai War more than ten years ago, they have not recovered!

In the second Bauer War, Serbia also used a large number of weapons left over from the previous war. Bulgaria has just completed the refitting. Their Bulgarian 1891 rifles are as good as our Mogan rifles!

There is a big gap between the weapons and equipment of the two sides, and the morale of the troops is not at the same level. The Bulgarian artillery does not have much chance to play!

Moreover, the 75mm field gun they are currently in active service is a new type of rapid-fire gun that crosses the era, and it was installed after the second Baosai War!

This rapid-fire gun is also independently developed by the Bulgarians. Judging from this aspect, the Bulgarians have reached the world's advanced level in some military industries!

In recent years, the Bulgarians have expanded their arsenal many times, and now their army military production capacity has surpassed that of the Italians, ranking very high in Europe!

Nicholas II nodded. This situation is not uncommon in Europe. Bulgaria is not the first case of a small European country with a strong military industry. The military industry in Sweden and Belgium is also developing well!

Since this is the case, then the navy should act immediately! The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must pay attention to coordinating the relationship with the Bulgarians, so as not to cause trouble at critical moments!

Kill the Sea of ​​Marmara as soon as possible, kill the Ottoman navy, take the fruits of victory, and don't give the British a chance to intervene!

Obviously, Nicholas II was more worried that the British would make trouble for him. This is the core reason for advocating immediate action!

In essence, the London government is also suffering now. The Boers are really not that easy to deal with, especially in Europe, there are still a group of people who are serving as nurses for them!

The British Empire dispatched five infantry divisions, and the performance of these lobster soldiers was really not good. Not only did they fail to settle the Boer Republic, but they were suppressed and beaten by the Boer Defense Forces!

Of course, the British would not admit this. Volunteers from all over the world also gathered in the Boer army. It would be more accurate to describe it as a mercenary!

Anyway, rich in gold and diamonds, the Boer Republic lacks everything except money!

In the face of interests, even the brand of the British Empire is not easy to use!

As long as the profit is high enough, there is nothing capitalists dare not do!

This world lacks everything, but there is no shortage of desperadoes!

At this moment, the British are busy using diplomatic means to deal with the Germans and French. They have no energy to deal with the Russians for the time being. They can no longer care about the Near East!

Well, the Russians have never been fuel-efficient lamps. In Central Asia and Afghanistan, there have been conflicts between Britain and Russia, but they are temporarily restrained for the Bosporus Strait!

The London government does not want to open a new front with the Russians in Afghanistan in the case of a pk between South Africa and Germany, and a pk between North Africa and France!

...

With the participation of the navy, this war has entered a new stage!

Ferdinand's protest was somewhat fruitful, he still got part of the command of the navy, and the specific situation will be understood in detail!

On June 8, 1897, the main force of the Black Sea Fleet set sail from the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, headed to Burgas to join the Bulgarian Navy, and then marched towards the Bosphorus in a mighty manner!

The integrity of the Russians was really not that good. To be on the safe side, they didn't care about whether they would be criticized, and they used the main force of the Black Sea Fleet to directly attack the Ottoman Empire!

Of course, they did not forget to change the national flag to cover it up, saying that the Russian Empire has not participated in the war yet, and that these navies belong to Bulgaria and have nothing to do with us!

As for whether anyone believes it, it doesn't matter, anyway, mercenaries have always been popular in Europe! Although being a mercenary in the navy is a bit different, but that's all side issues!

After the Russian Navy approached the Bosporus Strait, it was quickly discovered by the Ottoman Empire. Such a huge fleet cannot be kept secret at all!

But the Ottoman Navy seems to have made up their minds, and they want the turtle to the end! Ignored the Russian navy at all, trying to rely on the strait for defense!

...

At this time, Ahmed Pasha, the commander of the Ottoman Navy, was not in a good mood. His family knew about his own affairs, and now the Ottoman Navy really couldn't fight!

Without a few months of maintenance, the weapons and equipment on the fleet have not yet been fully equipped; most of the naval officers are named, and now that they are on the ship, many people are still crying; Needless to say, the number of people is not enough!

These questions have nothing to do with him at all! There has been no adequate funding for more than ten consecutive years, and the warships have become old antiques. Combat power?

If it was really capable of combat, the Greek navy would have been killed long ago! With several times the tonnage advantage, they couldn't handle the Greeks, let alone the Russians!

Send a report to the Admiralty and tell them to replenish our supplies as soon as possible. We will rely on the Bosporus Strait to fight the Russians!

An adjutant hurried over, handed over a document, and said, Report, a dispatch from General Eder Pasha, requesting fire support!

Ahmed Pasha said lightly: How many times is this?

The adjutant immediately replied: It's the sixth time, but apart from the previous two times, we have never provided them with support again!

Ahmed Pasha nodded, and said helplessly: I still remember that in order to give them fire support, we still have two destroyers that were hit by Bulgarian artillery and are still under repair!

Tell General Eder-Pasha that the Russian fleet is coming and we have limited ammunition to support them!