Chapter 573

The choice which the Greeks believed to be right, was doubtless unsatisfactory to either side, or, as it were, to both.

The Russians could still accept it. No matter where the Greeks fought, they would divert some of the Osman Empire's energy. This was a crucial moment. One more ally meant one more power and a higher chance of victory.

Britain and France couldn't stand it, especially the British. In their eyes, the Greeks' actions were a blatant betrayal.

The conflict between the two countries in 1850 was ignored by the Government of London. They ignored the fact that the two countries had a falling out a few years ago when Palmerston ordered the blockade of the port of Piraeus.

Of course, John Bull didn't want to provoke the Greeks at this time. If they disregarded everything else and went straight to Constantinople, cutting off their logistical supply lines along the way, the coalition forces in the Balkans would be finished in less than half a month.

While the London Parliament was discussing opening a new front, Foreign Minister Palmerston got into trouble. He didn't control his lower body and slept with the Queen's maid.

This wasn't a big deal. The nobles had plenty of things to do, so it didn't matter if there was one more. If they were having an affair in private, then so be it. Everyone would just turn a blind eye to it and let it pass.

However, they had a rendezvous in the Royal Palace, and they were unlucky enough to be caught by Prince Albert.

It was a scandal in the Royal Palace. Prince Albert was furious, and so was Queen Victoria.

If they didn't kill one to warn the others, where would the dignity of the royal family be?

Things got out of hand. The unlucky Palmerston and the maid were captured by the Royal Palace guards and given a good beating.

With Franz's butterfly effect, history had a turning point. In history, Palmerston had violated the chastity of the Queen's maid, but that was a private matter.

The window paper wasn't broken, so there was still room for negotiation. In history, Palmerston paid a heavy price for this. Not only did he go into exile, but he also spent a lot of money to find someone to plead for him. After a series of political exchanges, he finally returned to the political stage.

Now that he was caught red-handed, there was no need to think about what would happen in the future. Even the current crisis was a problem.

If the news of the Foreign Minister having an affair in the Royal Palace got out, there would be a commotion. The British people were very gossipy. Who knew what kind of plot they would come up with?

John Russell was dumbfounded. He admired Palmerston to the point that he had nothing to say. He was envious of this colleague's romantic encounters, and he was even more impressed by Palmerston's ability to court death.

He had to think of a way to deal with the aftermath. He had to give an explanation to the royal family, and this colleague of his couldn't just disappear for no reason.

Palmerston was not a small figure. Not only was he the Foreign Affairs Minister of the British Empire, but he was also the representative of the bourgeoisie in the government.

Prince Albert asked, "Prime Minister, how do you think we should deal with this problem?"

After capturing the man, Prince Albert regretted it. There would be plenty of opportunities to deal with Palmerston later, so why did he have to act now?

God knows what the outside world will say if the gossips are not on him. Some might even think that the royal family was trying to persecute the ministers and put on a show.

For the sake of the royal family's reputation, this matter could only be dealt with coldly. Prince Albert, who was politically astute, naturally chose to play the ball.

The sudden scandal directly affected the efficiency of the Government of London. It delayed the opening of the second front and created an opportunity for the Russians.

The sudden outbreak of the scandal directly affected the efficiency of the London government, delayed the opening of the second front, and created an opportunity for the Russians.

The sudden scandal directly affected the efficiency of the Osman Empire. It delayed the opening of the second front and created an opportunity for the Russians.

"Everyone, we have just received information that the Osman Empire has withdrawn their troops. They have been replaced by 30,000 British soldiers who have just arrived.

This is a challenge and an opportunity. The British are much stronger than the Osman. Without two or three times the number of soldiers, we are no match for them.

Obviously, we don't have that many soldiers. This is the challenge we are about to face.

From the captives, we know that the British and the Osman are also at odds. Although they are allies, the arrogant British only use them as cannon fodder.

This is an opportunity. Since they are at odds, it will be difficult for the two sides to cooperate closely.

After all, the British are foreigners. They are not familiar with the environment of the Bulgarian region. At this time, they are handing over to the Osman Empire. In the short term, chaos is inevitable.

According to the news from the inside, the 5,000 Osman soldiers in Plovdiv were evacuated yesterday. Now there are only less than 2,000 people left. Among them, there are only 800 British soldiers.

This is an opportunity. If we join forces to capture Plovdiv and destroy the enemy's material transfer station, the war in Sofia will inevitably be affected. "

The speaker was a middle-aged man. He was the main leader of the Bulgarian guerrilla alliance, Dimiter.

Don't look at the number of Bulgarian guerrillas and think that they have established a system. In fact, they are not unified and are still fighting separately.

The real purpose of the Russians who supported them is to create trouble for the Osman Empire. They are not prepared to let them be truly independent. Naturally, they will not let them be unified.

In this era, Bulgarian nationalism has not yet awakened. The later Father of the Bulgarian Empire, Hristo Potev, is still a kindergarten child. (If there is a kindergarten.)

The motivation for the Bulgarian resistance is mainly due to the oppression of the Osman government and the persecution of religious beliefs.

A young officer with black hair and green eyes stood up and objected: "Mr. Dimiter, Plovdiv is only 15 kilometers from Asenovgrad and 30 kilometers from Pazardzhik.

This means that once we attack Plovdiv, the enemy's reinforcements from Asenovgrad will arrive on the same day. The reinforcements from Pazardzhik will at most be delayed until the next day.

Pazardzhik still has 3,000 soldiers and Asenovgrad has 2,000. The enemy I have to face is not 2,000 but 7,000.

The enemy has just withdrawn five thousand troops, so there will definitely be new troops coming to replace them. We haven't received any information about this yet, so it doesn't make sense.

There are only three possibilities. First, the enemy's commander has forgotten and ignored the importance of Plovdiv. Second, there is a problem with our intelligence system. Third, this is an enemy trap to deliberately lure us into it.

The first scenario is obviously impossible. The enemy is not that stupid. It is impossible for them to not see such a simple problem.

The people who provide us with intelligence are the Bulgarian citizens. The movements of the army cannot be kept secret. From the information we have received, there is no large force coming towards Plovdiv.

Then the possibility of this being a trap is very high. If we cannot occupy Plovdiv in a short time, the surrounding enemy forces will swarm in and trap us here in three days. "

Dimiter explained, "Cypross, you're right. This is likely to be an enemy trap, but the temptation is too great.

We all know that the enemy has stockpiled a large number of supplies in Plovdiv. Even if this is a bait, we have the opportunity to destroy these supplies.

Although I am not sure how many strategic supplies the enemy has stockpiled in Sofia, but from the importance the enemy attaches to logistics, we can roughly judge that the strategic supplies in Sofia are not enough to support their frontline army until the end of the war.

After destroying these supplies, we will escape. As for the city of Plovdiv, let's leave it to the Osman for the time being. We will return after the war is over. "

Dimiter's analysis was well-founded. Up until now, the enemy forces in the Sofia region had fallen to 80,000. Even under such circumstances, Montes had transferred 15,000 British soldiers to be responsible for logistics and transportation.

As the logistics occupied a large number of troops, it resulted in the situation of the coalition forces being beaten to the ground by the Russians at the frontline in Sofia.

Because of the shortage of troops, Montes had asked for help. Dimiter was anxious to break out of the situation. The main reason was that the enemy's reinforcements were coming. If they did not fight now, they really would not be able to win.

This was the aftermath of the coalition forces' hasty response. The Russians were prepared in advance. The frontline troops suffered heavy losses and immediately retreated to replenish.

The reinforcements were sent to the Principality of Wallachia and not directly to the frontline. That was because the logistics could not afford it and could only stay by the Danube River.

The Osman Empire directly played a card stud and now relied on able-bodied men to replenish their troops. Because more than half of the The Balkans had fallen, there was no place to grab able-bodied men. The speed of replenishment could not keep up with the speed of consumption at the frontline.

Britain and France were too far away from the The Balkans. If they wanted to replenish their troops, they would have to report back to their country and go through layers of bureaucratic approval.

In this respect, the British's preparation to open a second front was indeed far-sighted. Once the war on the Crimean Peninsula began, the Russians would be exhausted.

Even if they were well prepared, there was still a limit. The terrible transportation in the country was undoubtedly the biggest enemy and restricted the projection of Russia's strength.

A middle-aged man sneered and said, "Mr. Dimiter, our several guerrilla groups combined only have a little more than 5,000 people. You also know how our weapons and equipment are.

If this is a trap, the enemy will definitely be prepared. On the surface, the enemy's fighting force is the 800 British soldiers.

But in reality, who knows? It's not like the Osman Empire's army can't fight. If they were a bunch of trash, we would have long since restored our country.

If this thousand or so Osman garrison is the Osman's elite troops, plus the 800 British soldiers, their fighting force is not much worse than ours.

I think the risk of rashly attacking Plovdiv is too great. Even if we have an insider in the city, the chances of success are too low. "

Where there were people, there were rivers and lakes. The Bulgarian guerrillas were originally divided into many groups, most of which were formed according to region. Many people coveted the leadership of the guerrillas.

Dimiter was only the nominal leader of these guerrillas, and there were many people who were dissatisfied with him. However, in the face of a common enemy, this contradiction was suppressed.

"What is Mr. Hamil's opinion?" Dimiter asked calmly.

He could hear that Hamil was not opposed to attacking Plovdiv, but had other plans.

Hamil smiled. "It can't be considered an opinion. Since we are not sure whether this is a trap or not, we will test it out first.

First, we will attack Zarjik thirty kilometers away. We have already figured out the situation there. The three thousand garrison troops are all Osman soldiers and their fighting strength is very average. It will not be difficult for us to join forces and eat them.

If the enemy has a trap, it will be exposed at this time. It is impossible for them to arrange a thirty kilometer encirclement.

If there is no trap, we will take a shortcut and go straight to Plovdiv. The surrounding enemy troops have been attracted to Zarjik, so the success rate of our surprise attack is very high. "

Dimiter thought for a moment. "This is indeed a good method to minimize the risk. However, the pressure on the guerrillas to attack two places is still too great.

It seems that it is necessary to contact Boris and the others. They will be responsible for attacking Zarjik to break the situation. We will first help fight the reinforcements.

As soon as the enemy in Plovdiv and Asenovgrad leave the city, we will kill them first to reduce the difficulty of the siege. "

This was not the first time the Bulgarian guerrillas had besieged a city, but it was their first major counterattack after being defeated in the Battle of Sofia.

After more than two months of recuperation, they had recovered their strength. Although they had not reached their peak, their confidence had been boosted.

In this regard, the Sardinian army also contributed. If they had not created an opportunity for the Bulgarians, the guerrillas would still be fighting the Allied forces in their positions.

It was estimated that by this time, they would have suffered heavy casualties. The Hairy Bear was also not an easy person to deal with. From the beginning, he used the guerrillas as cannon fodder. He ordered the Bulgarian guerrillas to tear apart the Allied lines of defense and penetrate the rear to attack the Allied forces. It was obvious that he wanted to kill them with a borrowed knife.

Unfortunately, the plan did not change quickly. Who knew that the Sardinian army would be so cowardly and actually let the Bulgarian guerrillas penetrate their position and penetrate the rear.

The Russians did not believe that the guerrillas could do it. They did not respond in time and lost a chance to win the war.