My Italy

Putting aside the thoughts of Greek Prime Minister Trikupis, let’s first talk about the impact of Bulgaria’s mobilization.

Since both Serbia and Greece have received the information, of course the Ottoman Empire as the country involved has also received the information. However, thanks to its "excellent" intelligence work, Osman received the news five days later than the two countries.

Faced with the unexpected situation, the Ottoman monarchs and ministers were shocked and quickly began to discuss countermeasures.

“How is the situation in Bulgaria?”

It was rare that Hamid II, His Majesty the Sultan, was the first to ask.

"Your Majesty, I just asked the Bulgarian envoy in Istanbul. He said that this was Bulgaria's natural reaction to this war. In order to prevent the war from spreading to Bulgaria, they carried out a small-scale mobilization. The number of people was not large, only About 40,000 people.”

Halim Pasha, who is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, responded to the inquiry from His Majesty the Sultan.

However, the Foreign Minister's answer made Hamid II smile.

"Do you believe the Bulgarian's answer?"

"If you don't believe it, the Bulgarians must have some kind of intention, especially when there are a large number of Italian weapons in their army, we can't believe their words."

Obviously, the words of the Bulgarians cannot be deceived even by the children of Istanbul.

However, even though the Bulgarians' intentions were known, the matter was still difficult to handle. Just open the map and you can see how critical Bulgaria's location was to the Ottoman Empire.

Bulgaria's location happened to threaten the security of the Ottoman Empire's Aegean Corridor.

This corridor is a key link between Istanbul and Macedonia, Albania and other Balkan territories. As long as this corridor is cut off, the armies in Macedonia, Albania and other places will lose contact with Istanbul. This will be even more dangerous especially when the Italians still control the sea.

Therefore, under such circumstances, the Ottoman high-level officials were so concerned about Bulgaria's actions. This was simply holding a sharp knife to Osman's vital points.

However, in the face of Bulgaria's hostility, the Ottoman leaders are not fools.

Nuri Pasha, who was the Minister of War, then spoke.

"Can the government find a way to remedy this situation?"

What to save? Although Nuri Pasha didn't say it, everyone present knew what it meant.

Facing the words of the old marshal, Foreign Minister Halim Pasha thought for a while and replied. "This is unlikely. We all know Bulgaria's intentions. They want all of Macedonia and Western Thrace. There is no way we can give it to them."

After hearing what Halim Pasha said, the old marshal shook his head and said. "You misunderstood me. I meant talking to the Bulgarians. I think Harim Pasha, you should know better than me about negotiations. In fact, just a small issue will take many days of wrangling."

Nuri Pasha's words were so explicit that those present did not understand what he meant. This was to delay time and give the Ottoman Empire more time.

"How long, then, does the Marshal think the conversation should last?"

The person who asked this question was the Grand Vizier Kamil Pasha. After all, it was not just diplomats who were willing to compromise with the Bulgarians, but also required the cooperation of other departments.

Facing the Grand Vizier's inquiry, Nuri Pasha spoke naturally. "Of course the longer the better, but it should be at least a week."

The old marshal gave a minimum of one week, which was also the minimum number of days he recognized. Because if you want to protect the narrow coastal channel of Western Thrace, you need a lot of troops.

Currently, there are more than 200,000 troops in Macedonia and other Ottoman-owned Balkan regions. Although this seems like a lot, it is still not enough. Because Osman has too many things to do. It is necessary to defend against Italian attacks, protect the coastline, and provide necessary surveillance forces for other Balkan countries, and to retain sufficient mobile forces, so it would be good to be able to mobilize 40,000 people locally.

How could a 40,000-strong force block a possible Bulgarian attack? Although Bulgaria has a small population, it is still possible to mobilize more than 100,000 people from its population of more than three million, which requires the deployment of troops from Istanbul.

However, Istanbul is the capital city, and deploying more troops will give the Bulgarians a chance to seize the city. Besides, there are currently only 60,000 troops in Istanbul, so it is not suitable to mobilize too many troops. So the only solution at the moment is to mobilize troops from Asian territories.

Of course, before this, War Minister Nuri Pasha had already done this again. However, the number of troops mobilized is not large. Only more than 60,000 troops have been mobilized from Asia, and more than 60,000 more are on the way. It took about a week for these people to arrive.

With these 60,000 people plus the 40,000 people that Macedonia can provide, and another 20,000 people transferred from Istanbul, there are 120,000 people for defense. Although it is not enough, it is almost enough if it only performs defensive tasks. . This is why Nuri Pasha asked for seven days.

Faced with Nuri Pasha's request, Kamil Pasha glanced at Halim Pasha, the Foreign Minister, and finally said. "Then our government will try our best to delay it for a week."

After receiving the assurance from the government, the old marshal no longer had any problems. Although there are still issues such as ordnance and supplies, it is not appropriate to discuss them here at the moment.

After solving the army's problem, Kamil Pasha turned to look at the almost transparent person in this meeting, Navy Minister Hardman Pasha.

Yes, Hardman Pasha, who is in charge of the Ottoman Navy, really seems to be a transparent man, but this time he cannot be transparent.

"Hardman Pasha, can your navy go to sea to protect the Empire's shipping lanes in the Aegean Sea?"

If Kamil Pasha's words were placed in Italy, they would definitely be an insult to the other party. Not being asked to duel on the spot was considered a good-tempered admiral.

It's just that when this sentence is applied to the current Ottoman Navy, it does not mean to insult the other party at all. The dispatch of the aging navy was also the reason why Kamil Pasha wanted to speed up the delivery of supplies to the Macedonian region.

Although Nuri Pasha promised that the Ottoman army would be able to make defensive arrangements in just one week, there were always surprises. In order to prevent the possibility of being cut off in the event of an accident, it is always good to transport more supplies.

Facing the question of Grand Vizier Kamil Pasha, Hardman Pasha stood up and spoke impassionedly. "Your Majesty, everyone, although the situation of our navy is not very good, as long as your Majesty orders it, the Imperial Navy will still fight to the death to fulfill your Majesty's request."

Hardman Pasha's words made several others secretly curse at the old cunning guy. This is the same as saying nothing, and puts the choice in the hands of His Majesty the Sultan.

But his plan failed. Faced with Hardman Pasha's words, Sultan Hamid II glanced at the Minister of Navy, and then turned his eyes to Grand Vizier Kamil Pasha. “What does the government need from the Navy?”

Facing the Sultan's inquiry, Kamil Pasha quickly came up with the idea of ​​using ships to transport supplies.

Kamil Pasha's words made the respected Sultan think for three seconds, "Since the navy is needed, let the navy do it."

He had no scruples about the admiral standing next to him and forcing a smile on his face. In response, Kamil Pasha made an apologetic look. He did not expect that the matter would end like this.

Of course, Kamil Pasha only left the other party with an apologetic expression. He originally had a lot of things to do, but now he has even more things to do. Of course, anything that can be said on this occasion is a big deal.

Kamil Pasha later proposed the need to strengthen intelligence work in other Balkan countries to prevent a recurrence of what happened in Bulgaria.

This proposal was very important and everyone present unanimously agreed.

Just as the meeting was coming to an end, an attendant suddenly rushed in with a telegram.

After reading the telegram, Hamid II told a piece of news with an unsightly expression.

"The Italians landed in Crete."