My Italy

The Maritsa River is a famous river that flows through Thrace. It originates from the Rila Mountains in Lower Bulgaria. The area where the river flows is the essence of Thrace and produces a large amount of fruits and vegetables. It is a A prosperous place.

When the Ottoman army, under the orders of its commander, War Minister Hamed Riza, fought bloody battles against the Bulgarians. A panting force arrived at Catros, a short distance away from the Maritsa River.

This is a small town with less than a thousand people. Because it is located on a coastal transportation artery, it has developed well.

This force is composed of the 14th Division of the Italian Army and the 6th Bulgarian Independent Brigade. The main reason why they are so out of breath is because they are tired.

It was certainly not their intention to make them work so hard. This all comes from orders from above, requiring them to rush to the Maritsa River within the specified time, and this is basically the front line of the confrontation between the coalition forces and the Ottomans. Not far after crossing the river is the territory of the Ottomans.

However, since the two sides are currently fighting fiercely in Adrianople, there are not many troops from both sides here. With their arrival, the coalition forces on the Maritsa River far exceeded their opponents.

Of course, allowing them to travel from Shtip on the outskirts of Skopje to Katros in such a short period of time was not without paying a price.

In four days, they marched a distance of 460 kilometers, which can be said to be a high-intensity forced march. And being able to march more than 400 kilometers in four days is enough to make them proud.

However, after becoming arrogant, Major General Brazeau, the commander of the 14th Division, felt a headache, because when he set out, there were more than 13,000 people in the division. Currently, except for the artillery regiment and the logistics force, which were lagging behind, there were more than 3,000 people. In addition, less than 7,000 people have arrived at Katros, and nearly 3,000 people have gotten separated on the road or failed to follow.

In the same situation as him was the accompanying Bulgarian brigade, which was also seriously depleted.

Major General Brazo, who arrived at Catros, saw that his men were seriously lagging behind. After discussing with the Bulgarian commander, he had no choice but to announce that he would rest here for a day.

And his decision made the exhausted officers and soldiers cheer. No one could resist the temptation after marching for so long.

Of course, Major General Brazeau did this, firstly, to make repairs, and secondly, to wait for the stragglers to catch up. Of course, this would also allow the subsequent logistics artillery to catch up.

Although one day is not enough for them to get here, it can at least bring them closer to the main force.

When Major General Brazo arrived at Catros, he decided to take a day off. The large coalition forces transferred from Skopje are rushing here along the coastal road.

After accepting the surrender of the Ottoman Macedonian Army, General Cadorna, the commander of the coalition forces, ordered the coalition forces to prepare for departure that day. The next day, after collecting the ordnance of the Macedonian Army and driving it to the prisoner of war camp, he left three divisions of troops to guard and monitor, and then led the large army to Adrianople day and night.

In fact, there are two roads from Macedonia to Adrianople, one is the coastal road, and the other is through Bulgaria and along the Maritsa Valley.

Both routes have their own advantages. Since the coastal road is in a plain area, the road is faster in all aspects than the road through the mountains and hills of Bulgaria. Of course, in addition to the advantages, there are also disadvantages. That is, this is a newly occupied area, so the Ottomans will soon know their every move. The Bulgarian road has a great advantage in this regard.

But in the end, Admiral Cadorna still chose the coastal road. Although the enemy knew it quickly this time, what if the news didn't come as fast as them?

Yes, General Cardorna intends to use the big feet of his army to suddenly appear in front of the enemy before he can react.

To this end, he used some unconventional methods, that is, just like what the 14th Division did, he used a rapid march to appear in front of the enemy before they could react.

Therefore, in this march, there is no need to bring any artillery with a caliber of more than 100 mm. And in order to ensure speed, its transport carriages also mainly carry ammunition. Large quantities of food, grass and other supplies that move slowly can only be replenished from the places they pass by.

In addition, each soldier needs to carry two hundred rounds of ammunition for five days of rations, and then go into battle lightly. Not to mention, this method immediately increased the speed of the coalition officers and soldiers. In addition to the vanguard troops who needed speed, their large forces marched at an astonishing speed of nearly 60 kilometers per day, and the laggard officers and soldiers were controlled within 5%.

At present, they have crossed the Saloniga Peninsula and entered the coastal road. It is believed that they will reach the Maritsa River in less than four days.

Of course, this alone was not enough. Before they set off, Admiral Cardorna asked the local garrison on the march route to immediately block the road tightly and stop anyone from passing. No matter where they were going, they must stop. In addition, all telegraph agencies in various places were closed, prohibiting any communication except military orders.

Although this method will make local people complain, and its effect will be greatly reduced for those who are familiar with the local terrain. At that time, it would still increase the difficulty for the enemy to send messages. After all, there was no wireless telegraph yet, and the fastest wired telegraph could not be sent. Then we can only rely on manpower, and with the blockade, the speed of message delivery has been greatly reduced.

But in general, this method is not bad. Although the coalition's march on the coastal road is in full swing, it has not yet been passed to the Ottomans. At present, the Ottomans are still fighting with the Bulgarians in Adrianople, and the brutality of the fighting between the two sides is far beyond anyone's imagination.

"attack!"

An Ottoman officer brandished his command sword and ordered his men to attack the enemy. The position in front of them had been plowed through by intensive artillery and was riddled with holes. This was all due to the Ottoman artillery. Considering that this was the last blow, the Ottomans released their ammunition.

The dominant artillery has become the main method of the Ottoman army. Although the tactics are a bit old-fashioned and simple, the artillery bombardment and then the infantry occupation still has good results.

Although the Ottomans had many new recruits, after these days of fighting, those who survived had gradually turned into veterans. Although the methods were a little simpler, they were still veterans. Therefore, in these three days, the Ottoman army achieved good results and captured several Bulgarian positions. At the same time, the hope of capturing the main Bulgarian position was greatly increased.

This result gave the Ottoman side hope and gave Hamed Riza, the commander, enough confidence. Why didn't I think of this kind of give-and-take style of play before? The Bulgarians had already been defeated.

Now that he had a way, Riza certainly would not give up. He ordered his troops to continue the attack. He wanted to extend the fighting time and completely defeat the enemy.

Following his order, the fighting scene never subsided in Adrianople, and the bloody battles between the officers and soldiers of the two sides could be seen everywhere.

As the commander of the Bulgarian side, Major General Gudshev is now numb to the casualty figures. Thousands of casualty reports every day cannot shake his heart at all.

This is the coveted opportunity to obtain greater Bulgaria, and it is worth the sacrifice no matter how great it is. Next, we need to look at the performance of our allies. Bulgaria has paid too much for this.