Rise of Australia

Chapter 409 The Fall of Constantinople

Although the Bulgarian people are brave and good at fighting, it does not mean that they are simple-minded and well-developed idiots.

On the contrary, when the Allied forces were only a few kilometers away from Sofia, the Bulgarian people who were still angrily criticizing and accusing the prime minister finally began to panic, and suddenly, more people supported the prime minister.

Ferdinand became very smart at this time, and did not participate in the current measures in Bulgaria. He looked like he had nothing to do with himself, and waited for the development of the situation in Bulgaria.

In fact, this is indeed the most sensible choice.For the current Bulgaria, both the main war faction and the main peace faction are wrong.Only by getting out of the abyss that Bulgaria is currently in, will it be possible to survive wisely and survive the war.

Without the seat of Ferdinand, the Bulgarian government appeared to be more chaotic.The pressure brought by the army to the Bulgarian government, as well as the quarrel between the main war faction and the main peace faction, Bulgaria missed the last opportunity to defend Sofia.

On June 1915, 6, the Bulgarian army that had stood firm for a day officially announced its surrender, and the Allied Forces officially entered Sofia and took control of the city.

Almost at the same time, the Bulgarian government also announced its surrender and ordered troops across Bulgaria to stop resisting.

Without the resistance of the Bulgarian government and army, the takeover of all Bulgarian cities became very smooth.

And the Bulgarian army was also confiscated with all their weapons, and they were scattered in several places and held in different places to prevent these Bulgarian troops from accidents.

When the Balkan front troops passed through Sofia with lights and festoons, the news of Bulgaria's formal surrender also spread to Europe and the rest of the world.

For the Allies, the surrender of Bulgaria boosted the morale of the entire Allies.

As a country that joined the war relatively late in World War I, Bulgaria publicly announced its surrender in just a few months, without even waiting for support from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany.

This represents one thing, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany are already overwhelmed, and the victory of the Allied Powers is coming.

People, always value the first time you see it.Although Bulgaria is not that important in the entire Allied Powers, after all, it is the first Allied Power country to surrender. The news of Bulgaria's surrender was widely reported by the major media of the Allied Powers and became the biggest news in June.

After nearly 40 troops were deployed from Serbia, Romania, Greece, and Montenegro to control Bulgaria, Commander Martin took the remaining [-] troops and set off from southern Bulgaria all the way to Constantinople.

The history of Constantinople can be traced back thousands of years ago. Since the Eastern Roman Empire, it has been one of the strongest castles in the world.

Of course, with the rapid development of artillery of various calibers, Constantinople does not seem to be so strong anymore.

In order to conquer this hard fortress, Commander Martin dispatched a total of 2000 artillery pieces with a caliber of 150 mm or more from the Balkan countries, Russia, Britain, France, and Italy to carry out large-scale bombing of Constantinople.

Of course, in addition to storming Constantinople, Commander Martin also decided to use part of the army to land from the Asia Minor Peninsula controlled by the Ottoman Empire, cutting off all logistical supplies leading to Constantinople from the rear.

The glorious history of the Ottoman Empire goes back hundreds of years, and it was once a powerful country across Europe, Asia and Africa.

Of course, the current Ottoman Empire is not even considered a great power, and its strength among the second-strongest countries is not very strong.

But at present, the territory of the Ottoman Empire is still huge. A small number of European territories including Constantinople, and most of the Middle East are also under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

Of course, this is mainly because the oil in the Middle East has not been discovered, and the role of oil is not as important as it will be in the future.

The Ottoman Empire didn't know that there was a lot of wealth in its land, a wealth that was enough to ruin the entire Ottoman Empire.

Among other things, oil will definitely be one of the most important energy sources in the world for at least 150 years, and it is a resource that all major countries are vying for.

Australasia does not lack mineral resources, but there are not many oil resources in Australasia, and it is not worth mentioning compared to the oil reserves of the entire Middle East.

According to the data of later generations, the oil reserves in the Middle East alone account for nearly [-]% of the world's total oil reserves.

This also means that as long as the Middle East can be controlled, the oil price in the entire world can be controlled, and all oil exporting countries can be checked and balanced, including Russia, which also has abundant oil and natural gas reserves.

Therefore, occupying part of the region in the Middle East and owning at least part of the oil reserves is currently the most important thing for Australasia.

Fortunately, the current competitors in the Middle East are only the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire, and the real competitor is only the United Kingdom. It is no problem to obtain at least part of the region.

As for occupying more areas, the real decline of Britain may not be realized until after World War II.

The reason why Mr. Martin landed on the Asia Minor Peninsula was precisely to realize Arthur's strategy of occupying a part of the Middle East.

After all, if the army does not land, the occupation of the area is even more nonsense.

From the current situation map in the Middle East, it can be seen that Kuwait, Oman, and Yemen are occupied by the United Kingdom, and other areas are controlled by the Ottoman Empire or local indigenous people.

Saudi Arabia, an important oil-producing area in later generations, was still a barren desert at this time, with few people.

This also means that Australasia still has a lot of room for choice, choosing land with rich oil reserves and favorable control.

On June 6, the Allied forces successfully landed on the Asia Minor peninsula, and soon launched a fierce attack.

Bulgaria, which is closest to the Ottoman Empire, has surrendered, and the Ottoman Empire has become the worst country among the allies, without any allies to support it.

Of course, there are currently only three countries left in the Allied Powers. Except for Germany, which still has a certain combat capability, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire are already in a situation where they cannot protect themselves.

What's more, there are more than [-] Ottoman troops in Constantinople, guarding the capital of the empire.

As a result, the Ottoman Empire is currently in a state of two-front war, the European battlefield and the Asian battlefield, which makes the Ottoman Empire, which is not strong in the first place, exhausted.

If you want to elaborate, the Ottoman Empire also has Russian cavalry troops wandering around the border between the Caucasus and Russia from time to time.

Although no offensive was launched, the Ottoman Empire did not dare to gamble. The defenders in the border area were waiting for the battle, but what was waiting was a piece of air.

The area bordering the British colonies in the south also faces attacks from the British army from time to time.

Although these attacking troops are all local indigenous people, they are better equipped with advanced equipment and are far away from the Ottoman Empire's homeland. The logistics and transportation are very troublesome, which has brought a lot of trouble to the Ottoman Empire.

The Caucasus region and the southern border contained nearly 40 troops of the Ottoman Empire.Coupled with the more than 100 troops besieged in Constantinople, nearly half of the Ottoman Empire's total army of more than 50 million was pinned down, and only about [-] troops were available.

In order to express support for the landing campaign on the Asia Minor peninsula, at the request of Commander Martin, Britain launched a feint attack on the Ottoman Empire from Egypt, Yemen, and Oman, and the Russians also mobilized part of their troops in the Caucasus.

Although it was a false attack, the garrison of the Suez Canal plus the indigenous Egyptian army also had a scale of nearly 30, far exceeding the more than [-] garrison deployed by the Ottoman Empire in this area.

Coupled with the sunshine from Oman and the Caucasus region, the Ottoman Empire was horrified to discover that the empire is currently in a state of five-front warfare, which is worse than the situation faced by Germany.

You know, in the first Balkan War, the Ottoman Empire didn't even fight the Balkan Alliance.

Although it is restrained by the Italian army, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is far behind that of the Australasian army.

At present, what the Ottoman Empire is facing is not only the Balkan Alliance and Australasia, but also a small number of Russian and British armies.

This situation is not to mention the current Ottoman Empire, even the Ottoman Empire, which is in a state of complete victory, has to show the determination to fight to the death to have a chance to win.

As for the current Ottoman Empire, Arthur can actually think of the final result with his eyes closed. The Ottoman Empire cannot even defeat Italy, let alone the nearly 50 troops on the Balkan front and the help of Britain and Russia.

In fact, Commander Martin had only expected the Russians to contain the Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus.

However, there was a feud between Russia and the Ottomans. After the Ottoman Empire showed weakness, the Russian army attacked more fiercely, as if opening up the Caucasus front.

From this point of view, the siege of Constantinople was the slowest progress.In just a few days, the Allied Powers achieved great victories in the Middle East. The Ottoman army was beaten to pieces, and the Allied Powers marched tens of kilometers in a few days.

The Ottoman Empire could no longer support it at this time, but every area was very important to the Ottoman Empire. If it was easily given up, it might face more serious consequences.

Leaving aside the Arabian Peninsula, most of this area is desert, and the population is not too large. The Ottoman Empire has retreated strategically and announced its abandonment.

But further north in Syria, the Ottoman Empire did not dare to give up.It is no exaggeration to say that if the Ottoman Empire dared to give up, the British army could control Syria at any time and establish a British Syrian colony.

In the Caucasus region, the Russians' desire to fight is already very strong.Even if the Ottoman army surrenders now, I am afraid that the Russians will still kill them.

The Iraqi region cannot be given up. There are a large number of people and supplies here. Once it is given up, only the Turkish part of the land controlled by the Ottoman Empire will be left, and even the status of the second strongest will be lost.

As for the Asia Minor peninsula, this is the most important area of ​​the Ottoman Empire except Europe. The Ottoman Empire deployed hundreds of thousands of heavy troops here for defense, but it still could not resist the Allied forces.

The situation of the Ottoman Empire at this time was worse than that of Russia.Because all parts of the country have been occupied, the Ottoman army not only lacks weapons and ammunition, but also lacks clothing and food. Of course, there is no need to say more about medical supplies.

In just a few days after the Allied forces launched their offensive, they brought more than 2 casualties to the Ottoman Empire, and the death toll has exceeded [-].

It doesn't look like much, because the Allied forces have not yet mobilized a large number of heavy weapons.When heavy weapons were transported to the major battlefields, the casualties of the Ottoman Empire would only skyrocket.

The situation in the Ottoman Empire is so difficult, and the situation faced by the defenders of Constantinople can be imagined.

Although Constantinople reserves a large amount of materials, in addition to more than [-] defenders, it also has a large population, which shows the speed of resource consumption.

The current Constantinople is already very short of food, weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies have become very scarce. Some people even ask for medicines, but there is nowhere to find them.

From June 6 to June 17, under the order of Commander Martin, the Allied forces launched a six-day bombing of Constantinople, consuming a total of 6 million rounds of ammunition in six days, and also exhausted the artillery reserves of the Balkan countries and the entire Balkan front.

Of course, such a long-term bombardment has also achieved very good results.The solid Constantinople has already had many cracks, and the bombardment of artillery fire has caused the death of a large number of Ottoman civilians and troops.

The real war will not be so merciful, and will not stop the attack just because there are a large number of Ottoman civilians in Constantinople.

Of course, the major Allies did not take these Ottoman civilian casualties seriously.Although they will not take the initiative to massacre these Ottoman civilians, they will not care about their lives or deaths.

It is worth mentioning that in this bombing, the Allies not only used a large number of airships, but also used hundreds of aircraft to bomb.

Although airplanes have accompanied airships in many wars, the Battle of Constantinople was the first time that airplanes were considered a more important weapon than airships.

Although the development of aircraft in other countries of the Allies is very slow, this does not mean that other countries have no aircraft.

Since the aircraft entered the war, it has also evolved into types such as reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets and bombers.

Of course, the difference between the three is now very small, even just the same aircraft, and the difference in the number and type of weapons carried leads to their different classifications.

As the first country to have militarized aircraft, Australasia naturally dispatched a large number of aircraft, but they were the earliest first-generation military aircraft.

Compared with aircraft from other countries, Australasia's first-generation military aircraft still have considerable advantages in terms of performance, which also means that Australasia has a huge lead over other countries in terms of aircraft.

Under the bombardment bombarded by planes dropping a large number of overhead, the Ottoman army soon couldn't hold on.

In order to break through this strong city as soon as possible, the planes of the Allied Powers also dropped a large number of leaflets on Constantinople, declaring that after the surrender of the Ottoman Empire, the Allied Powers would not harm Ottoman civilians.

This act was effective, largely breaking the resolve of the Ottoman populace to defend Constantinople.

1915年7月7日，坚持了大半个月的君士坦丁堡终于告破。协约国付出20万人的伤亡和350万发炮弹，终于攻破了这座有名的城市。

Aside from the breaking news of Constantinople, Australasian military aircraft are also of interest to other nations.

Compared with the slightly backward military aircraft of other countries, the military aircraft of Australasia has obvious advantages in design and better performance.

Almost on the second day after Australasia dispatched military aircraft, Britain and France sent a telegram asking whether Australasia's aircraft could sell technology, and at worst they would sell hundreds of them.

The Russians were also very interested in the technology of Australasian aircraft. Nicholas II sent a private message to Arthur, wanting to buy military aircraft technology.

Arthur of course welcomed this and agreed to sell military aircraft technology, but Britain, France and Russia could not transfer each other, nor could they sell aircraft technology to other countries within five years.

In order to obtain Australasia's advanced aircraft, Britain, France and Russia immediately agreed without even thinking about it, and said they would send a team to negotiate prices with Australasia.

Arthur didn't need to think about their purpose.The current war consumes a lot of money for all countries. Britain, France and Russia just want to lower the selling price of technology and aircraft.

Arthur directly stated that Australasia has spent a lot of money in the research of aircraft, and paid a lot of research funds to develop the most powerful aircraft currently.

In view of being close allies with Britain, France and Russia, I agreed to sell them to them, and I could not make too much concessions in terms of price.

The price Arthur offered was 2000 pounds for an aircraft, and a complete set of military aircraft technology including reconnaissance aircraft, fighter jets and bombers cost [-] million pounds.

For Britain and France, 2000 million pounds is not an unacceptable figure.Compared with their huge military expenditure, if a large number of aircraft can be used to speed up the war, 2000 million pounds is a good deal.

For Russia, it is unrealistic for them to buy aircraft to research technology on their own.Russia's scientific research technology does not support it, and Russia has no time to wait for domestic experts to study aircraft technology.

Therefore, Britain, France and Russia agreed to purchase the technology of the aircraft.After a lengthy haggling, it was finally agreed to buy a set of skills for £1850m, for which Australasia made a profit of £5550m.

Of course, it will take a while to master the technology and build a production line.Therefore, Britain, France and Russia have also generously placed orders for 100 aircraft each from Australasia.

Based on the price of an aircraft of 300 pounds, with a total of 600 aircraft, Australasia can harvest a total of 300 million pounds, of which the cost is about [-] million pounds, and the profit and cost are similar.

The total revenue from the sale of aircraft and aircraft technology has exceeded 6000 million pounds.However, the cost of researching and manufacturing aircraft in Australasia does not exceed 1000 million pounds at most, and it is still the cost of researching the most advanced fourth-generation military aircraft.

In exchange for nearly 6000 million pounds in income with the technology of the backward first-generation military aircraft, Arthur smiled at this, saying that he earned blood.

Although 6000 million pounds is not much for the European countries to spend on the war, it is a huge income for Australasia.

Even if super dreadnoughts are built, the 6000 million pounds is enough to build [-] ships, bringing the number of super dreadnoughts in Australasia to the top two in the world.

Of course, Arthur wasn't that crazy either.But in any case, the 6000 million pounds is very beneficial to Australasia's future military expansion plan. In a word, it means that you have money in your pocket and don't panic.

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(End of this chapter)