Greece’s Roman Road

After two days of running around, Constantine and his party finally came to the city of Larissa, where the Thessaly Legion was stationed.

After entering the city, everyone looked at the city that was under the rule of the Turks not long ago.

(Thessaly was assigned to Greece at the Berlin Conference in 1881)

The low building made of gray stones and the slate paved streets could accommodate two carriages running side by side.

The pedestrians on the street were sparse and sparse. When they saw Constantine riding a horse and a group of people in military uniforms, they ducked from a distance, just glanced secretly, and immediately lowered their heads and passed by.

From a distance, we can see the location of the military station - the blue and white cross flag of Greece flying in the sky.

Following the guidance of the national flag, several people came to a building. The guard in front of the door saw the rank of Constantine: the crossed scepter and sword, and immediately respectfully said, "Your Excellency, Private Thales salutes you."

"Private, take me to the command post of your first division," Constantine said.

Several people were led by Thales to a small two-story building.

After entering, I saw several people in the hall discussing problems around the map on the table.

When they saw Constantine and his party coming in, they turned around.

Schmidt stepped forward and read out Constantine's letter of appointment.

"I heard you talking about what railway? What railway?" Constantine asked curiously.

"Your Excellency, we are talking about the Ottoman Anatolian Railway, Metaxas, Chief of Staff of the 1st Division."

Hearing Constantine's question, Metaxas answered while saluting.

"The Ottomans are going to build the railway?" Constantine was moved when he heard the railway.

"Yes, some time ago, when the military attache in Constantinople communicated with us, he gave us the information. In addition, I also heard from him that the Germans sent a man named Colmar von der Colonel Goetz, came to Constantinople, and Hamid II commissioned him to train the army," Metaxas said.

Constantine frowned, this is really bad news.

"Has the Ottomans turned to the Germans?" Constantine murmured.

"According to our intelligence officers, this Colonel Golz is very principled and holds the right to manage the import and export of German weapons. He is very disgusted with the corrupt atmosphere of the Sultan's court. The moves have all failed," Metaxas replied.

"Moreover, this person also persuaded Sultan Hamid II (reigned from 1876 to 1909) to send excellent officers to study in Germany." said.

Speaking of which, Constantine still doesn't understand who this Golz is.

From Constantine's point of view, the Turks really had **** luck.

In the future, the Young Turks Party, which had huge political influence in the Ottoman Empire, mainly consisted of young officers studying in Germany.

These young officers benefited from their study abroad experience, broadened their horizons and improved their thinking, and had a huge influence on the later Turkish state.

For example, Enver Pasha during the First World War, and later the founder of Turkey, Kemal, and the capable generals in the Turkish army, they all have the same identity - the young officers who stayed in Germany.

In a series of Turkish-Greek wars in the original time and space, the Turkish army, under the leadership of this group of people, repeatedly defeated the Greeks.

Emotions were created by this Colonel Golts.

After the independence of Greece, the Ottoman Empire came up with a plan to build a railway in order to prevent such things as Greek independence from happening again. This is the origin of the famous Baghdad Railway in history.

This railway generally passes through Ankara from the Bosphorus Strait, and its final destination is Baghdad in Iraq and Syria and Palestine in the eastern Mediterranean.

This nearly 3,000-kilometer-long railway is of vital importance to the Ottoman Empire, comparable to Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway.

It is conceivable that once the railways connecting Ottoman Turkey are built, the Ottoman authorities' ability to control all parts of the empire will be greatly enhanced.

In the future, other ethnic groups under the Ottoman rule have changed, and the Turkish army can move quickly through this railway, which can quickly stabilize the situation.

In the original time and space, the reasons for the failure of the Greek-Turkish border conflict in 1897 can be partly attributed to the Turkish army trained by Goetz, and the other part is the Ottoman railway that has begun to take shape.

Seeing that Constantine was silent, Metaxas asked; "Your Highness, the role of the railway should not be underestimated, both militarily and economically. Now the Ottomans have already started preparations, when will we build it in Greece? What about your own railway?"

"Building a railway? Do you know how much a railway costs one kilometer to build, especially on a mountainous terrain like the Greek peninsula?" Constantine shook his head and smiled wryly.

"But once Greece and Turkey go to war, the Ottoman Sultan can quickly, massively and effectively transport troops and logistical supplies to the front line through the railway, and the strength of the Ottoman army will continue to strengthen, and Greece will be at an absolute disadvantage. …”

As a staff officer, no one is more sensitive to military delivery capabilities than him. As soon as he heard that the Ottomans were planning to build a railway, he immediately gathered a group of colleagues to discuss the impact of the railway on the military in the command room.

Now that I have met the Crown Prince, I can't help but take this opportunity to inquire about the government's railway plan.

"The railway is a means of transportation. It must be repaired. It's just the Prime Minister's problem. How can I know? You also know the government's financial capacity. If they want to build the railway, I'm afraid they will have to borrow money from foreign countries."

In fact, it is not all bad to owe a debt, especially for some weak and small countries.

People ridiculed the problem of small country loans, saying that in the 19th century, when international Darwinism (the law of the jungle) prevailed, if you wanted to protect the country and avoid extinction, it was a huge debt. UU reading www.uukanshu.com

In this case, even if the small country itself wants to fall or be annexed, I am afraid that the foreign powers will not allow it.

The country no longer exists, who will pay the debt?

For example, in 1897 in the original time and space, when the border war failed in Greece, the European powers saw that the Greek army had failed, and immediately stopped the unfinished Turkish army.

Countries formed a fiscal supervision committee to monitor the Greek government's fiscal revenue and expenditure to ensure that it has the ability to repay its debts.

After hearing Constantine's answer, Metaxas was silent for a moment.

"Your Excellency the Duke, as a staff officer, I strongly recommend to you that you must stop the Ottomans, whether it is their railway plan, or that Goetz officer from studying in Germany, if not, then this inevitable hopeful The Turkish war should be as soon as possible," Metaxas said anxiously.

"The Turkish army is now in disarray, officers at all levels are incompetent, and the morale of the soldiers is low. Since the defeat of the last Russo-Turkish war (1977-1978), the French have occupied Tunisia, an Ottoman North African subject, and the British have occupied Egypt and Sudan (1882). Years), Ottoman Turkey is absolutely at its lowest point ever, I really can’t think of a better time to beat Turkey than now”

"With every passing minute, Turkey's strength recovers a point from its trough, and it is now clear that, for the reasons mentioned above, the Turks have moved closer to the Germans after alienating Britain, France and Russia to train professional army officers with Germans. If Turkey, under the command of that Golz, really reorganized the low-strength army, with the ability of our Greek army, it would not be the opponent of the Turkish army, it should be sooner rather than later.”

Metaxas said excitedly.

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