My Italy

In the Balkans, the reputation of the Bulgarian mountain people for their bravery and toughness has long been spread. Since the Byzantine era, Bulgaria has always been an important source of troops.

Since the independence of Bulgaria, the army composed of Bulgarian mountain people has proved itself with outstanding military exploits in several wars, and has also won the reputation of Balkan Prussia.

However, in this battle with the Serbian army around the village of Perk, Bulgaria failed to retain this reputation.

In this decisive battle, the Serbian army withstood the Bulgarian onslaught. The experienced General Putnik released his reserves at the last moment, defeating the exhausted Bulgarian army who had already attacked. , the defeated Bulgaria stumbled all the way back to Slivnica.

Under the leadership of General Putnik, the Serbian army, which was prone to attack and defense, did not give the Bulgarians a chance to breathe, and followed them all the way to capture Slivnica. At this time, the Bulgarian army could only continue to retreat until they retreated to the small town of Nacas, which was only 18 kilometers away from Sofia, before they stabilized their position.

In this battle, the Bulgarian army suffered 8,419 killed, 17,628 injured, more than 4,000 missing, and a loss of nearly 30,000 people. The Serbian army also suffered 6,791 killed, 12,579 wounded, and 627 missing.

Considering that Bulgaria was the attacker from the beginning, such casualties are enough to demonstrate its combat effectiveness.

Of course, the Serbian army is not weak either. After the last war that ended quickly, the Serbians have been training their army hard over the years. At the same time, closely track the emergence of new technologies and study the style of play that suits you.

In addition to the fact that the Serbian army is not what it used to be, Bulgaria itself is actually responsible for half of this defeat. Because according to the plan, the Bulgarian army needed to defeat the Serbian army first, and then confront the invading Romanian army.

This combat plan is very problematic, allowing the Bulgarian army to walk a tightrope on its own. This also caused its commander, Lieutenant General Savov, to have no time to spend with the Serbian army here, and could only attack first. As a result, he was tricked by the scheming General Putnik, and he was defeated in one move.

The defeat in Perk made the situation of the Bulgarians even more difficult. First of all, the capital Sofia is under the threat of the Serbs. Secondly, the Romanians have just captured Pleven and are also preparing to cross the Stara Mountains and march towards Sofia.

In addition, the Greek army that was driven back to Thessaly regrouped and attacked again. At present, the Greek army has approached Salonika. Lieutenant General Kudinchev, who defended the southern front, reported that he planned to use Salonika. Delay the enemy and stop the Greek army here.

Obviously, the Greek army put a lot of pressure on the Bulgarian southern commander, otherwise he should not have said the words "delay" and "stop", but should have said "defeat" and "rout".

This is indeed the case. Greece has regrouped this time. In addition to replenishing weapons and ammunition, it has also added more than 70,000 mobilization troops, bringing the Greek army to 180,000. The difference in strength was so great that Lieutenant General Kudinchev, the commander of the southern front, could only defend first. Fortunately, there was Thessaloniki, the largest city in Macedonia. The Greek army would never consider other targets before capturing it.

Faced with such a difficult situation, Bulgaria is looking for help everywhere in order to break the situation. Bulgaria is trying to contact Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany and even the Turks. However, the most worthy of Bulgaria's attention is the former ally and the Kingdom of Italy, which directly borders it.

"Your Excellency Bondarev, regarding the current war between your country and the three Rohisse countries, our country is currently unable to mediate. You must also know that our country has suffered heavy losses in the Messina earthquake and is interested in mediating disputes in the Balkans. No way, your country should look for other countries.”

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, facing the Bulgarian Ambassador Bondarev, Bacona informed the ambassador of Italy's decision.

Faced with Bakona's answer, Bondarev, the Bulgarian ambassador, was not reconciled.

"Our country is also very sympathetic and understanding of the earthquake and tsunami disasters suffered by your country. However, the actions of the three Rohisse countries have seriously caused humanitarian disasters in the Balkans. Our country is also very considerate of your country, but we also hope that your country can take this into account." In the face of the suffering people in the Balkans, please ask your country to mediate. For this, our country is willing to pay all costs for these people.”

Obviously, Ambassador Bondarev's words mean that the Bulgarian government is impatient. They can't wait any longer, and the Italian side can impose whatever conditions they want (but also within certain limits). And it is not asking Italy to help Bulgaria. Just stand up and mediate.

To say that the country currently best able to mediate the current Balkan war is Italy. Italy's territory in the Balkans borders Serbia and Greece, and its relationship with Romania is not bad, so if Italy steps forward to mediate, it will definitely be the most influential among the countries.

This also fully shows that the Bulgarians are very discerning and know who is most useful to them at this time.

However, it would be an absolute lie to say that he was not impressed by the conditions offered by the Bulgarians, but Bacona knew that for this Balkan War, the king strictly ordered Italy not to participate, no matter how much benefit it gained.

Bacona guessed part of the king's strict order. Although he didn't know why the king seemed too cautious about the close Balkan interests, he could carry out the king's order without compromise. If not for this habit, how could he have been in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for nearly two decades. From middle age to old age, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be firmly in hand, relying on the king's trust.

"Ambassador Bondarev, I'm sorry. Our country really doesn't have the energy to interfere with what's happening in the Balkans. Currently, all our energy is focused on the reconstruction of the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Messina, so I'm sorry that we can't help. Sorry."

After leaving these words, Bakona ended the meeting with the Bulgarian ambassador.

Italy's refusal to mediate has made the Bulgarian government a little discouraged. You must know that apart from having the best relationship with Russia, Bulgaria had the best relationship with Italy.

But the current war has distanced both countries from themselves. Needless to say, Russia, I don’t know what kind of drug the Serbians gave Russia to make it side with them in this war.

As for the relationship with Italy, although it has not been as close as before in the past few years, but how can I put it, it is all because of the damn earthquake, which made it focus on domestic affairs for a period of time, and it no longer cares about affairs other than the Balkans.

Just when Bulgaria was feeling anxious about this, a piece of bad news came that made the Bulgarians feel cold.

At this critical moment, the Ottomans were unwilling to lose the Thracian territory and also declared war on Bulgaria. After defeating a small number of border guards, its 150,000-strong army attacked Adrianople. At this time, Bulgaria only had more than 10,000 people in the new territory of Eastern Thrace. Apart from maintaining law and order, it was unable to stop the Ottoman army at all.

At this time, Bulgaria desperately discovered that, except for Italy in the west, Bulgaria was full of enemies. To use a military term at this time, Bulgaria is under siege from multiple directions, and it is almost impossible to break the situation.

Just as Bulgaria was scratching its head to break the situation, another news came that the Romanian army had breached the transportation hub Vratsa. Next, Romania could reach Sofia just by following the railway.

At this time, Bulgaria's only chance was to defeat the Serbian army. However, looking at the dense fortifications on the Serbian position, the Bulgarian army also lost confidence after attacking several times.

At this time, there was only one way to go before the Bulgarians. Although they were very unwilling to do so, after some thinking and arguing, Bulgaria finally sent a telegram seeking peace.

Bulgaria was defeated.