I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 548 No One Can Take It Away

The strength of the Kingdom of Bulgaria is obviously stronger than that of the Kingdom of Greece, and it has the support of Germany behind it. If Thessaloniki is jointly managed by the two countries, it will sooner or later trigger a war between the two countries, which is not in the interests of the Russian Empire.

When George studied history, he actually believed that the Russian Empire established a series of countries in the Balkans in order to rescue the Slavs in the Balkans from the clutches of the Ottoman Empire.

Only now did George realize that it was not that the Russian Empire did not want to annex the Balkans, but that the situation simply did not allow it.

Think about how Napoleon failed, and you will understand why the Russian Empire did not annex the Balkans.

The Balkan countries had a complicated attitude towards the Russian Empire, one of gratitude and fear. If they got too close, they were afraid of being annexed; if they stayed too far, they were afraid of being beaten.

George believes that the Russian Empire should make full use of the complex feelings of the Balkan countries towards the Russian Empire, continue to strengthen the Russian Empire's influence on the Balkan Peninsula, and truly turn this influence into a part of the Russian Empire's strength.

This attack on the Ottoman Empire was a successful experiment.

In all previous Russo-Turkish wars, it was the Russian Empire that had always been at the forefront. Not to mention its own losses, its goal of seizing access to the Black Sea had never been achieved.

George took full advantage of the Ottoman Empire's predicament of being deeply involved in the Italo-Turkish War, and first instigated the Balkan countries to consume the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman Empire was exhausted, the Russian Empire would withdraw. George believed that this model was also suitable for fighting against the German-Austrian alliance.

Once a world war breaks out, Germany will definitely attack France first, and Austria-Hungary will attack Russia.

At that time, George would let the Balkan League consume the Austro-Hungarian Empire first, and then stop when the Russian Empire was almost done.

After defeating the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire could deal with it calmly no matter how the German and Anglo-French forces fought.

If it really doesn't work, the Russian Empire can divide Europe with Germany again. Anyway, both the Russian Empire and Germany are quite familiar with the issue of "division".

Nicholas never expected that George's ultimate goal was not the outlet to the Black Sea, but to completely overturn the table.

To achieve this, it is first necessary to ensure that the Balkan Alliance does not fall into internal strife.

Therefore, it was reasonable for the Russian Empire to teach the ambitious Bulgarian Kingdom a lesson.

In the Balkans, it is not yet your Bulgarian Kingdom's turn to be the boss.

"George, whatever you do, I won't object--"

Nicholas completely gave up and finally returned to his childhood, obeying George's words.

"——I only have one request, don't make Sunny too sad."

this--

The Tsar is begging me?
George felt a little tingling.

This would never happen to Nee-1 and Nee-2.

Nicholas did not seem to be offended at all.

George now only hopes that Alex, the Empress of the Russian Empire, will put the interests of the Russian Empire above family ties.

Valdemar is Alex's younger brother.

Nikolai and Alexei are Alex's husband and son.

For whom did George work so hard?
In the end, it all belonged to Alexei. Mehmed V was still very decisive. The negotiations with the Kingdom of Italy were concluded in just three days. The Ottoman Empire happily ceded Tripoli and Cyrenaica to the Kingdom of Italy, and then shifted all its attention to the Russian Empire.

The Ottoman Empire promised to always open the Black Sea access to Russian ships, including Russian warships, and agreed to cede Thrace to the Balkan League, but hoped that the Russian Empire would return Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire.

The negotiations with the Ottoman Empire were led by Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov. After fully communicating with Nicholas, George returned to Sevastopol.

George didn't care whether the Ottoman Empire agreed to the Russian Empire's demands. As long as the two countries did not sign, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire would be in a state of war, and George would have to fulfill his duties.

About 25 Ottoman troops surrendered to the Allied forces in the Balkans.

George would not let the prisoners gain weight in the prisoner's nutrient-rich environment. The prisoners had to earn their own food.

The bombing that lasted for several days almost caused devastating damage to Constantinople, a cultural city with a 2500-year history.

After the Russian army captured Constantinople, George finally understood why the Cossacks had such a bad reputation.

This is understandable. Imagine what would happen after Goryeo occupied Japan, and you will know why George mobilized 100,000 people to clear the ruins of Constantinople.

"Constantinople is gone. The city needs to be completely rebuilt. If we want to ensure the safety of Constantinople, we need to cross the Bosphorus and establish a safety zone of at least 100 kilometers."

Brusinov took the loss of Constantinople very seriously.

No matter how prosperous Constantinople was, it was the Constantinople of the Ottoman Empire and had nothing to do with the Russian Empire.

If one wants to turn Constantinople into a territory of the Russian Empire, then not only must the name of Constantinople be erased from the map, but it must also be rebuilt in reality, removing any elements related to the Ottoman Empire, before the city can be safely taken.

Strictly speaking, the Russian Empire only controlled half of the Black Sea outlet, which was not enough to ensure the security of Constantinople.

The other side of the Bosphorus Strait could be under the control of the Ottoman Empire, but the Ottoman Empire could not build military facilities or station troops there.

"Then let's cross the sea. Our boys really need some rewards."

George knew very well that this was a common demand of all Cossacks.

After George's military reform, the treatment and salary of Russian soldiers have been implemented, which has been significantly improved compared with the past.

The traditional skill of the Cossacks is to fight to support the war. In Russia, George can restrain the Cossacks. The Ottoman Empire is a war zone. If George asks the Cossacks not to take the people -

Bah, the Ottomans are not the same people as the Cossacks.

George was not worried about the Ottoman Empire not submitting.

While the Cossacks were crossing the Bosphorus, the Black Sea Fleet was clearing mines and the reinforcement fleet was sweeping the Ottoman Empire's islands in the Mediterranean one by one. These would become bargaining chips for the Russian Empire.

The Kingdom of Italy was more depressed.

Although the Ottoman Empire ceded Tripoli and Cyrenaica to the Kingdom of Italy, it did not withdraw its troops fighting in North Africa and the Kingdom of Italy. In the above two places, there were still at least 6000 Ottoman officers and soldiers and 2 local natives who were still fighting with the Kingdom of Italy.

The Kingdom of Italy also wanted to compete with the Russian Empire for the Ottoman Empire's islands in the Mediterranean, but was directly warned by the reinforcement fleet.

These islands of the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean all belong to the Russian Empire and no one can take them away.

(End of this chapter)