"My fellow countrymen, we have been Bulgarians for generations. We cultivate, harvest, and flourish in this land. Bulgaria is our motherland, we pay taxes to our motherland, we serve as soldiers. But where do our taxes go? A large part of it is given to foreigners, or forcibly taken away by foreigners. If we want to keep our money, we first have to use Bulgaria's own stamps, and use Bulgaria's own currency. Not foreigners' stamps, and not foreigners' currency. "
Bulgaria was not a big country with a small population. Milosevic was speaking out in every Bulgarian city and town. Of course, he did not have the guts to go to Pleven Fortress to spread this Bulgarian ideology. Stationed in this powerful fortress, which was famous in Europe, was the Pleven Fortress Defense Force, which was considered Turkey's most elite force. Although most of these people were no longer Osman Nuri's troops. Nuri's old troops had all been promoted to the ranks of sergeants and even officers. But no country in Europe dared to underestimate this defense force.
With Milosevic's outcry, the Bulgarian parliament and people also knew that there was such a force in Bulgaria, and the targeted propaganda of daily life did strengthen Bulgarian national sentiment.
At the Russian embassy in Bulgaria the Russians were discussing Milosevitch, whom they had helped up. "Is that man a Republican?"
Milosevic did not act like a supporter of the monarchy, but more like a republican politician. In a short period of time, Milosevic almost traveled all over Bulgaria. In addition to meeting with the local lords, priests, and parliamentarians, the new Bulgarian Grand Duke met more with the Bulgarian people. This was a move that made the Russian side very unhappy.
"At least he agreed to the Russian warships to dock in Bulgarian ports." The Russian ambassador finally reluctantly agreed with Milosevic's actions. Bulgaria was close to the estuary of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Stationing a fleet here would be a very effective threat to the Bosporus Strait. This alone was enough to satisfy the Russians.
The Russian ambassador also found a reason for Milosevic to work so hard. "I think the stamp money can also maintain the salaries of the Bulgarian militia."
It was already September 1885, and a year was about to pass. When winter came, the war would also calm down a lot. According to intelligence, Russia had already wiped out a large number of armed forces supported by the Osman Empire in Azerbaijan. If this went on for another year and a half, the war would probably be over. Russia hoped to secure greater independence and Russia's influence in Bulgaria in the final stages of the war. Seven years ago, Russia failed to achieve this goal. Now Russia hopes that their dream will come true.
On the 17th of September, the autumn rain fell on the coast of the Black Sea unhurriedly. The whole of Bulgaria was under the same weather, and the sky was grey and the ground was dark and gloomy, and the air was hazy from the fine rain.
At noon, a few gray shadows appeared on the gloomy sea. It was not until they were about ten kilometers away that the Russian patrol ships patrolling the waters off the coast of Bulgaria discovered that it was a large warship painted in gray. It took all their eyesight and binoculars for the Russians to ascertain that the flag on the mast of the warship was a British naval ensign.
Were the British ships supposed to be painted in that eye-catching Victorian style? When did they all change to light blue and gray? In such a musical day, these warships were like ghosts in the dark night that were hard to find.
But these questions could only remain as questions forever. The 4-inch rapid-fire cannons installed on the side of the huge British battleship began to fire at the Russian patrol ships. The Russians did not know that China and Britain had already used retractable cannons, so they could not imagine that the navy could fire such dense artillery shells. The British navy's artillery level was unquestionable, and the retractable cannons did not require too many adjustments. In less than two minutes, all the members of the Russian patrol ships that were hit by more than a dozen explosive shells sank into the sea along with the broken hull.
Hearing the distant cannons, the commander of the Russian navy immediately shouted, "Quick! Rush out of the port and head north along the coast. "
The Russians did not become careless and relaxed their vigilance. The warships were already on fire at this time. After receiving the order, they quickly pulled out the anchor and rushed out of the port, following the route that Russia was very familiar with and began to head north.
In the telegraph room on the four British battleships, the experts temporarily recruited from the cable telegraph office quickly received the news from the wireless telegraph. The British Fleet set up a large net, and the high-speed warships as surveillance stared at the Russian warships.
Holding the telegraph, the commander on the flagship laughed and said, "The Russians actually divided into three and tried to break through separately. That's a good idea. "
Such a relaxed attitude was entirely due to the radio equipment imported from China. The British bureaucracy displayed a speed that had never been seen for centuries. They actually went from minister to the staff, and then from the staff to the minister in one day. They stamped all dozens of seals.
It was not unusual to be able to move at such a high speed. British ministers and clerks worked in several offices next door. The staff walked through the offices like a horse lantern. After China completed the paperwork for the radio patent in Britain and officially applied for patent protection. China directly sold 12 sets of wireless telegraphs to the British.
The British could use radio, and of course, they could research radio. However, according to British law, if the British wanted to copy, they had to pay patent fees to China according to the British patent law. It must be noted that the British patent law enforcement was relatively reliable. Not only in Britain, but in Europe as a whole, patents were valued. At this time, the major imitators were Germany and the United States. The British had a headache because these two countries stole a large number of British ideas.
The British Royal Navy did not care about these problems, and the reason for their excitement was very practical. If it was in the past, Russia's choice was correct. Although there were only three boats, in this kind of situation where they couldn't see clearly, they might really be able to escape.
But with the radio, the situation was completely different. It did not matter if they had vision or not. With the accumulation of the British Royal Navy for hundreds of years, it was not difficult to determine a relatively accurate position within a few dozen nautical miles based on the compass and speed. Once the Russians were targeted, there was no possibility of escape.
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