Chapter 821

Compared to his ancestors who ravaged the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, Abdul Aziz I could be called a good baby. Since ascending to the throne, he had been friendly to his neighbors, cautious in diplomacy, and avoided conflict with European powers as much as possible.

Other than hitting the Russians when they were down in the Prussian War, Abdul Aziz I had never initiated a war. It could be said that he was a rare pacifist among the sultans.

Moreover, the last war was also full of inside stories. If it wasn't for the secret encouragement of the great powers, Abdul Aziz I would have chosen to be a spectator.

Of course, he didn't become a "pacifist" voluntarily. It was all because the surrounding enemies were too powerful, and he couldn't win, so he could only choose peace.

When the Osman Empire was strong, it made enemies everywhere, and now it was time to pay the price.

You can't just bully people and not let others retaliate, right? This wasn't the first time the Osman Empire declined. Austria and Russia came to take revenge. If it wasn't for the lack of strength, maybe the neighboring Persia would have also intervened.

Now Persia and the Osman Empire were rotten brothers, and both were on the decline. Because of its geographical location, the Osman Empire was neighbors with two great powers at the same time, so the tragedy happened earlier.

In contrast, the Persians in the east were much better off, and they only needed to face the British. At least there was still hope of winning. More than a decade ago, the Persians crushed a British invasion.

With a cold "hmph", Abdul Aziz I tore the battle report in his hand into pieces. There was no doubt that it was bad news. These days, Abdul Aziz I was going crazy.

"Yesterday, the Austrians just besieged Jerusalem, and today, the Bosphorus Strait fell. Will we lose the Dardanelles Strait in a few days and wait for the enemy to parade in Ankara? "

Everyone bowed their heads in silence. It wasn't that the Osman Army didn't work hard, but the difference in strength between the two sides was too great. The Russians didn't just blindly fight. Within a month after the outbreak of the war, the Russian Army landed from five ports.

Before the Government of Sudan sent reinforcements, the landed Russian Army had already withdrawn and continued to attack from another port.

It didn't seem to have achieved much, but in fact, the damage to the Osman Empire wasn't small. A scorched earth policy was implemented along the way, and a large number of coastal areas were forced to migrate inland.

While fighting the enemy, the Government of Sudan also had to shoulder the responsibility of settling the war refugees. Don't be fooled by Abdul Aziz I's bluster about wanting all the people to fight to the death with the enemy. In reality, that wasn't the case at all.

After the Russians conquered a place, the first thing they did was to destroy it. For example, they destroyed farmlands, burned houses, destroyed landmarks, and drove the local people inland.

The Ottoman Empire's coastline was too long, and it was impossible to focus all of its defenses on defense. The areas with weak military forces allowed the enemy to take advantage of loopholes.

Every time the Russian Army landed, the Empire, and the Empire, and the Empire, to to, Sudan, and, and, and Empire. In the Ottoman Empire, it was impossible for the Sultan's government to pursue the responsibility of so many people escaping.

People needed to eat, Oso, to, and, in., in, and, and., in, and., by. The people of the Osman Empire didn't have high requirements, as long as they had something to eat.

The people of the Osman Empire didn't have high requirements, as long as they had something to eat. Even the simplest of requests had put the Sudanese government in a difficult position.

Abdul Aziz I was anxious as he watched the food reserves dwindle day by day. Now that the Bosporus Strait had fallen, it meant that the war refugees would increase again.

One or two days could hold on, but if the war continued for a year or two, the Osman government didn't have that much food.

The Minister of War, Ermod, replied nervously, "Your Majesty, the enemy has the advantage of the sea, and they come and go like the wind on the battlefield. Before our reinforcements arrive, they will retreat in advance. They don't want to fight us at all. "

This explanation obviously didn't satisfy Abdul Aziz I. "Other areas do have these problems, but the Bosporus Strait was fought by the Russian Army. Don't tell me that you don't have time to mobilize reinforcements? "

There were more than 200,000 Osman troops stationed at the Bosporus Strait, while the attacking Russian Army only had about 100,000. On the surface, the Osman Army had the absolute strength, but unfortunately, they were still defeated.

War couldn't just be judged by numbers, it was more about the deployment of troops. It seemed that the Osman Army had more troops, but in fact, they had to be stationed in different places. When fighting with the Russian Army, they didn't have the upper hand in terms of military strength.

Ermod hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, although the Bosporus Strait was lost, it also dealt a heavy blow to the Russian Army. In the short term, the Russian Army that landed has lost the ability to continue waging war.

We are mobilizing a large number of troops to drive them into the sea.

Now that the war between Russia and Poland has broken out, the Tsarist government probably won't send more troops. On the surface, we have lost this battle, but strategically, the situation is developing in our favor. "

This explanation was enough to fool Abdul Aziz I, who didn't have a good military ability. Subconsciously, Abdul Aziz I wanted to hear good news.

As for whether the counterattack plan could be realized, it was no longer important. The battlefield was ever-changing, and it was normal for accidents to happen.

Seeing the problem, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Muhmeda, frowned and glanced at the Sultan's expression. He decisively chose to play dumb.

After hesitating for a moment, perhaps because of his uneasy conscience, or perhaps because he was worried that if the ship of the Osman Empire sank, everyone would be finished.

Muhmeda vaguely reminded him, "Up until now, the number of war refugees in the country has exceeded the 750,000 mark. This number is already very dangerous.

If it continues to increase, we won't have enough food relief. When the time comes, it might cause a big mess. "

It wasn't that it might cause a big mess, but it would definitely cause a big mess. The Osman Empire only had a population of about 16 million, and the number of refugees already accounted for 4.7% of the total population.

With so many people losing their livelihood, there weren't that many jobs in the country, so they could only rely on government relief to survive.

If they continued to lose on the battlefield, the number of refugees would continue to rise. The Osman Empire wasn't a large grain producer, and its overseas trade was also blocked. If the number of refugees continued to increase, a food crisis was almost inevitable.

In reality, the situation would be even worse. With so many people doing nothing every day, waiting for government relief, public security would be a big problem.

When these words fell into the ears of different people, there would naturally be different interpretations. Originally, it was to exert pressure on the military, but when Abdul Aziz I heard it, it changed its meaning.

"In order to save food, in the future, the relief for the refugees will be treated differently. First, the relief for those blessed by God will be given priority, and the rest will be left to fend for themselves!

Gathering the refugees together is also a problem, and the government will find a way to settle them separately. If they can't think of a way, then let the infidels make room. "

Hearing the Sultan's words, Muhmeda broke out in a cold sweat. Did he think that the country wasn't chaotic enough? If it was someone else, he would have thought that they had been bribed by the enemy to specially come to the Osman Empire to cause trouble.

The ethnic and religious conflicts in the Osman Empire were already very serious. Now that they were treated differently, wasn't this forcing them to rebel?

Working together from the inside and outside, internal and external troubles, these two phrases had already appeared in Muhmeda's mind, and he hurriedly advised, "Your Majesty, you can't!

We are now in a period of war, and the country must not be in chaos. If the conflict intensifies now, the infidels might collude with the enemy, and the empire will be in danger. "

Unfortunately, Abdul Aziz I was no longer the ambitious Sultan who had just inherited the throne. Instead, he was a brainless Sultan who had been defeated by reality and had given up.

Before 1872, Abdul Aziz I's performance could still be called a wise ruler. In terms of internal affairs, he recuperated with the people, established universities, established laws, and carried out secular reforms in the Osman Empire.

Under the strong backlash of the conservatives, the reform of the Osman Empire in 1872 failed, and Abdul Aziz I became degenerate, no longer having a great mind and bold vision.

He became more and more radical, and did not listen to advice at all. When faced with religious and ethnic problems, he did not want to solve the problem from the root, but directly and crudely used force to suppress it.

The original Abdul Aziz I tossed and turned too much, and was overthrown by the people in 1876, and finally died in depression.

If it was done according to Abdul Aziz I's wishes, maybe it wouldn't have to wait for two years, maybe two months later, the master here would change.