Truckloads of supplies departed from Britain and were transported to the Persian Gulf via the Suez Canal, and then overland through Persia into the Ottoman Empire.

The arrival of international aid directly stimulated the Ottoman resistance. The Sultan erupted with unprecedented enthusiasm as if he had been beaten with blood.

The front-line officers and soldiers felt it most obviously, the enemy's resistance became more and more stubborn, and even the old and weak women and children picked up guns and fired at them.

Prior to this, the Ottoman Empire had limited weapons and was somewhat inadequately equipped with regular troops, and some soldiers were still using primitive flintlock muskets.

The people's equipment is mainly cold weapons, and occasionally a few antique shotguns appear, which are all treasures and pose little threat to the coalition forces.

With the help of the British, the situation was different, and the embarrassing situation of the Ottomans with insufficient weapons and equipment was changed.

Perhaps Britain's military production capacity was insufficient, and the new rifles in the Ottoman army did not increase much, but the old weapons and equipment increased significantly.

It can be seen that the British have cleared their stocks this time. There are a wide variety of weapons, some of which date back to the last century.

Regardless of the century, these thermal weapons fell into the hands of the Ottomans, and under special geographical conditions, they were still able to exert a lot of power.

As a result, the pressure on the coalition forces on the battlefield increased greatly. The first to stand it was not the Duchy of Montenegro, but Greece, which had more troops.

There was no way, the Duchy of Montenegro could not afford to die, and Maxim Trentiev inherited the combat traditions of his ancestors, adhering to the principle of inflicting maximum casualties on the enemy.

The war lasted for more than a month, the ports were almost flattened by the Austrian navy, and the landing of the Montenegrin army was unsuccessful.

Greece was different, and after the successful landing, it had been fighting the Ottoman defenders to the death, and every step forward had to pay huge casualties.

The "dream of the Great Greek Empire" made it impossible for Publius to be passive and slack off, and although the Ottoman Empire was in decline, its territory was not small at all, with more than 1.4 million square kilometers.

Such a big piece of meat, Russia and Austria eat meat, they can always drink soup with it, right? Not to mention much, a fraction of the odds is enough for Greece to go further.

You must know that there are still hundreds of thousands of Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, and if you get these people back in pieces, Greece's national strength can be directly multiplied, which is the last hope of Greek nationalists.

Originally, the anti-war faction in the Greek government had the upper hand, and it was not prepared to participate in the war at all, but the sudden "minister case" stimulated the Greek people, and they joined the war only at the instigation of nationalists.

Even Publius was not an orthodox soldier, and his other identity was that of a Greek nationalist leader.

It may have been that the war slogan was shouted too loudly, or it was so talented that King Ludwig I took it seriously and received the "national hero" with the highest standards.

Before he could react, he was appointed as a "temporary marshal" and was ordered to command the troops to the battlefield.

It is not excluded that there is a suspicion of murder with a knife, after all, Ludwig I was born into the Lombard royal family, has not been influenced by Greek nationalism, and has no interest in reviving the Greek Empire.

Not only Publius, but also the nationalists who were stirring up in Greece were basically sent to the battlefield by Ludwig I under the banner of national righteousness.

As the saying goes: "Patriotic" is to fight for the country, what is the matter of hiding in the rear and shouting?

Therefore, the combat effectiveness of this Greek expeditionary force is particularly touching. If it weren't for the landing, it is estimated that many people would have deserted if they couldn't swim back.

A middle-aged man complained: "Marshal, go on like this. It's only been a little over a month since the war began, and we've lost more than 5,000 people.

Russia and Austria wanted to annex the Ottomans alone after the war, and the coalition command deliberately assigned a mission to the death to consume our strength. ”

Publius glared at him fiercely: "Shut up, McKendos!" ”

"You idiot, can you use your brains to speak. It was our own request to be in charge of operations in the Sea of Marmara theater of operations, and the coalition command meant that we should stay home with our children.

We make the battle plan, we command the battle, and we can still hold others responsible for heavy losses?

Besides, have we lost a lot? You have also read the war report, Austria suffered 10,000 casualties, Russia suffered 18,000 casualties, which one did not suffer greater losses than us?

If you lose the battle, you have to admit defeat, complain about the world and shirk responsibility here, are you still a soldier? ”

Don't blame Publius for being angry, doubt for doubt, can these words be said?

Even if it was true, it would only be to blame them for their lack of strength. People use Yangmou, and since they took the initiative to take over the task, they must swallow this bitter fruit.

Admiral McKendos defended: "But Marshal, the enemy's resistance is far more stubborn than we expected, and it is no longer appropriate to continue with the previous plan.

The coalition command also ......"

Publius slammed the table, "That's enough, McKendos." Now I'm completely sure that you're a big idiot.

Don't bring any of your external perceptions to the army, an order is an order, and there are not so many conditions to talk about.

If the enemy's resistance is stubborn, it can become an advantage for not carrying out orders, and then the war will not have to be fought. ”

On the battlefield, military orders are like mountains, and there is no price to talk about.

Moreover, they still made their own battle plan and submitted it to the coalition command for approval, and now the command has made them have to complete the task, and no one can say that it is wrong.

……

Not only did the Greeks have a headache, but Albrech, the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, was also distressed by the increasing number of casualties.

Casualties do not equal death, the Austrian army's medical aid system is basically perfect, and most of the soldiers can still return to the army after they have recovered.

But the number of casualties is growing fast, especially in the last week, the number of casualties in the Austrian army has increased by 21% compared to last week, and the casualty figure of the coalition army has increased by 31.4%.

Despite the staggering exchange ratio on the battlefield, the Ottomans paid an even heavier price for the casualties paid by the coalition forces.

Including civilians, the war has so far exceeded 500,000 casualties on the Ottoman side, and the coastal areas have been largely white-cut.

This was only the beginning, after penetrating deep into the interior, the fire support of the Austrian navy could not be counted on, but the Ottomans occupied the geographical advantage, the people.

The deeper the battle line, the more obvious the geographical advantage that the Ottomans could play, but fortunately the Asia Minor Peninsula was not large, and the width from north to south was only about 600 kilometers.

The coalition forces attacked from both sides, which is equivalent to a depth of more than 300 kilometers on one side, and the battle line is not too long, otherwise the Ottoman Empire may really be able to hold out until the international situation changes greatly by exchanging space for time.

After looking at the map, Albrech made a decision: "Send a telegram to Vienna and report on the situation on the battlefield."

It was suggested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put pressure on the Persians to close the trade route with the Ottomans and cut off the Ottoman lifeline.

In the name of the Allied Command, an order was given to the Caucasian Theater and the Middle East Theater to march towards the valley of the two rivers and cut off the connection between the Ottomans and Persia. ”

The free trade system, that is also targeted.

When the British sold goods to the Ottomans, it was free trade; Persia did business with the Ottomans, and it was not free trade, but an enemy of Austria.

Watching people serve is the essence of international politics, and the same thing happens to different countries, and the effect is completely different.

Austria could not help the British, and even protests did not do much; It was different with the Persians, who were within their reach.

……

The brilliant performance of the British, the Vienna government seemed to be collectively blind, unable to see anything, with an attitude of indifference.

Naturally, it is not that the Vienna government cannot see it, nor that the Vienna government has no way to interfere, there is only one truth, which was suppressed by Franz, the emperor.

Including Albrech's telegram, which was also suppressed by Franz, and incidentally vetoed the battle plan to cut off the Ottoman lifeline.

Franz asked: "Has the cannon fodder unit been formed?" ”

War Secretary Fislav: "The Afrika Korps is not full, the number of natives in the colonies is limited, only 70,000 men.

The War Department has already drafted 50,000 people to fill the shortfall, which is expected to be full next week. ”

The casualties of soldiers at the front line increased, and the Vienna government, naturally, would not be invisible. To destroy the Ottomans, a large number of cannon fodder will be needed to fill the pits.

The main force Franz was reluctant, so he could only let the cannon fodder troops go.

Originally, the African Colonial Corps was the first choice, but the colonial government tossed too much, and the high poll tax directly caused the indigenous population to fall into negative growth, and now the number is seriously insufficient.

Originally, the Viennese government could have conscripted cannon fodder troops from other colonies, but unfortunately the transportation cost was too high and it was not economical at all.

Then you can only make up the number with "criminals", anyway, the 150,000 cannon fodder troops will be full, and they will fight for their lives with the Ottoman Empire.

This is only the first wave, and it is not enough to continue later. Allowing the British to give blood transfusions to the Ottomans was essentially to solve the hidden dangers more thoroughly.

The more stubborn the Ottoman government resisted, the smaller the hidden danger left after the war, and by the way, it could also help the Vienna government to consume the cannon fodder troops that had lost their value and could become hidden dangers.

As for the pit to the allies, it was a complete windfall, and Franz was not prepared to pit his teammates in the original plan.

After all, Greece and Montenegro are too weak to be worth Franz's shot; The Russians themselves are so badly wounded that there is no need to bleed them again.

Franz nodded: "Once you have gathered the number of people, you will send them to the battlefield as soon as possible, the casualties on the front line are getting bigger and bigger, and the commanders are about to be unable to withstand the pressure."

The Foreign Ministry sent a nonsensical protest to the Persians, focusing on the fact that they had colluded with the Ottomans and meddled in the war in the Near East.

Grasp a degree, don't intimidate the Persians, we also need them to be the captain of the transport brigade Osman. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

……