1890 King of Southeast Asia

On October 12, Zhao Erfeng led the Plateau Border Defense Army and the Plateau Local Army, totaling more than 30,000 to 5,000 people, to advance towards Nianqumai.

There were also more than 10,000 "civilian laborers" following the army. This is also an old tradition of the Qing Empire, using civilians as logistics troops.

But on the plateau, even the Seventh Division did not have the confidence to say that they did not want these "logistics teams", otherwise they would really have no food to eat.

Including the total number of civilian laborers, nearly 50,000 people, Zhao Erfeng thought about it, raised the banner of 200,000 troops, and advanced westward in a mighty manner.

This is a strategy of confusing the enemy, and it is also a threat to the pro-British forces in areas such as Tibet. Don't believe it? Anyway, with nearly 50,000 people here, who can say it is fake?

You say it is not enough for 200,000? More than 100,000 people, stretching the earth and sky, nearly 50,000 people, although not reaching the level of stretching the earth and sky, but looking at it, you can't see the end at a glance.

When there are more than 10,000 people, there is no end to the endless crowd, which is enough to scare those fence-sitters.

Moreover, it can also put great pressure on the British and force them to increase their troops.

That's right, forcing the British to increase their troops is Zhao Erfeng's purpose.

Zhao Erfeng's supply is difficult. He has to use ships to transport from Sanzhen to Shancheng or Chengdu, and then change to carts and transport them to the border of Sichuan.

When carts can no longer pass, he has to rely on horse teams, or even people carrying on their shoulders, to cross the steep snow-capped mountains and enter the hinterland of the plateau before ox-horse carts can be used.

The journey is difficult and dangerous. When transported to the plateau, the freight of a bullet is 30% more expensive than the cost of the bullet.

But are the British good?

Although Zhao Erfeng has a large number of troops, he is supported by the people of the plateau. At least the food on the plateau can be used temporarily.

What about the British? They are still building roads, but that road is exhausted to support a division. If they increase their troops, they will fall into logistical difficulties.

If the British do not increase their troops, Zhao Erfeng will use the tactic of attacking on all fronts, relying on the advantage of military strength to make them lose sight of one thing while focusing on another.

The army in his hands was not a serf soldier with backward equipment, and was even better equipped than the British Indian Army.

At least after the arrival of the Seventh Division, the number of 75mm caliber cannons of the Plateau Frontier Guard reached 42, which was more than the cannons equipped by the British Indian Army.

Moreover, in 1907, the Anglo-Russian Agreement was signed, and John Morley, the British Empire's Secretary of State for Indian Affairs, demanded a reduction in India's military budget from the perspective of cutting spending.

So from this time on, the British Indian Army stopped expanding, and did not replace weapons, etc. The artillery equipped was still a recoil cannon, and the number was not large.

Moreover, the cannons were only operated by the British, and the Indians had not been trained in modernization, mechanization, and large-scale attacks.

However, it was not without threats.

As part of the British formal army (the colonial army was also a formal army in the UK), the British Indian Army participated in British battles around the world.

Although these battles were low-intensity, low-tech, and small-scale battles, they were also combat experience, right?

Therefore, the British Indian Army can be said to be experienced.

Moreover, the British Indian Army at this time was not the Indian Army later. The Indians who joined the British Indian Army, except for the Gorkha mercenaries who had a mercenary tradition, were people who wanted to change their fate.

As we all know, India has a feudal religious hierarchy - the caste system.

Today, we are not talking about the bad nature of the caste system, but its few advantages at this time - unity.

The British Indian Army has caste corps. It is not about high and low castes, but recruiting local people to form an army based on a certain place as a standard.

Most of these armies are composed of middle and high castes, such as Brahmins, Kshatriyas and a few Vaishyas.

At that time, the profession of "warrior" was still an honor. The high castes did not exclude and were even keen to participate in the British Indian Army and go out to fight.

Because there are benefits, the British are not stingy. Having a soldier's skin in the colony can also make a lot of money.

Don't you see how comfortable the lives of the Indians leased by the British are.

These people from the same caste in the same area are a bit similar to the rural militia here. The characteristics are the same - very united.

Moreover, because of the education received by the high castes, the quality of these people is also very good, and some of them can even make battle summaries.

In World War I, many British and Indian soldiers performed better than British recruits.

(Neither of them has undergone complete modern combat training.)

Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the British and Indian Army is actually good - at least in the last era.

The plateau road is difficult to travel, let alone the movement of tens of thousands of troops. The formal battle will have to wait until winter.

…………

In the Balkan Peninsula, the battle between the Balkan coalition forces and the Ottoman Empire army suddenly became fierce.

After the Ottoman Empire obtained enough arms, it began to counterattack with full confidence.

At first, the Ottoman Empire only launched a counterattack on the front of Bulgaria, and most of the Ottoman Empire’s military forces were also concentrated here.

At the beginning of the battle, the Ottomans treated it as a decisive battle. On the hundreds of kilometers of fronts, four battlefields were opened, more than 200 cannons were used, and tens of thousands of shells were fired.

The soldiers of the Principality of Bulgaria actually knew in advance that the Ottoman Empire was about to attack.

After all, the war was not fought in vain. It was very easy for an ancient empire like the Ottoman Empire, which was full of leaks, to plant some spies.

Therefore, Bulgaria knew the time and even the target of the Ottoman Empire's attack in advance.

But Bulgaria didn't care because this was not the first time.

Since the Ottoman Empire received a loan from the South China Empire, it has stabilized the front line and pushed back a few steps from time to time.

However, each attack by the Ottomans was anticlimactic and the gains were extremely limited.

All these things made the Bulgarians paralyzed and suffered a great loss.

The Ottoman Army launched attacks on the three cities of Sofia, Pazardzhik and Sliven in three directions, with one division and two regiments stationed in these cities respectively.

The Ottoman Empire had long known the garrison forces. In the direction of Sofia, the Ottoman Empire concentrated three divisions, and one division in each of the other two directions.

In addition, there were five divisions on the entire front line making feint attacks.

With absolute advantages in manpower and firepower, the Ottoman Empire took three days to complete the breakthrough of the three cities and annihilated more than 7,000 Bulgarians.

In the Black Sea direction, the Ottoman Marine Corps, with the support of the Ottoman Navy, suddenly attacked and landed in Burgas.

The Bulgarian navy in Burgas was unprepared and was blocked in the port, unable to prevent the fall of Burgas.

On the seventh day of the battle, the Ottoman Army had completed the occupation of all strategic targets, and the Bulgarian army was in chaos and could only retreat and reorganize.

Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece, which belonged to the Balkan coalition, reacted much slower. After repeatedly confirming that the number of Ottomans in front of them had decreased, they launched a large-scale attack in the hope of containing the Ottomans.

By the end of October, the Ottomans were retreating in Serbia and Montenegro, but they were advancing all the way in Greece and Bulgaria.

In November, the Ottomans announced the recapture of the Eastern Rumelia Province, but in Serbia and Montenegro, the front line had been pushed to the Skopje line.

The Ottomans hurriedly dispatched troops to attack the Serbian flank, containing the attack of the Kingdom of Serbia. Without the cooperation of the Kingdom of Serbia, the attack of the Kingdom of Montenegro seemed somewhat powerless.

This battle made the Ottoman Empire very excited, and Istanbul even set off a wave of surrender.

The Young Turks took advantage of this opportunity to expand, completely overwhelmed the political and military forces of the Caliph and the Sultan, and consolidated their position.

After consolidating their position, the first order of the leader of the Young Turks was "attack, keep attacking, and recover the territory."

Originally, there was nothing wrong with this order. In the Balkan coalition, Bulgaria temporarily lost its combat effectiveness, and one of the four coalition forces was gone.

Serbia was pinned down by the Ottoman army, and the Ottomans could directly attack western Serbia through Eastern Rumelia. The Kingdom of Serbia had to send troops from the south to the west to resist the attack.

Whether it was the Kingdom of Greece or the Kingdom of Montenegro, they were both soft persimmons, and they would pick one and beat it.

In this way, they could force the Balkan coalition to the negotiation table with a great victory, and even increase the momentum of the Ottoman Empire and wash away the title of the sick man of West Asia.

No matter how you look at it, this is a relatively wise order.

But, this is the first time that the Young Turks have been proud of themselves, how can they only do this little bit?

Look at their name, youth!

In any country and any society, youth represents progress and radicalism!

The Young Turks are the same.

Before the war was over, the Young Turks wanted to send theocracy to the grave and put up a tombstone.

The second battle had just begun, this time it was launched by the Kingdom of Serbia, which was intended to slow down the Ottoman offensive.

The Ottomans had no problem with military mobilization, concentrating all their efforts on attacking the Kingdom of Greece, and mainly focusing on defense and harassment attacks on the Kingdom of Serbia.

On November 10, the Kingdom of Serbia began to launch sporadic attacks in a hurry, and the Ottomans had already started to attack westward from Thessaloniki.

On November 15, the Young Turks announced that they would start secularizing religion!

On November 16, an opposition rally took place in Istanbul.

Everyone in the East and the West knows what the outcome of the wartime rally is. According to official statistics from Istanbul, more than 2,000 people were arrested, more than 300 were injured, and 67 died.

The radical pace caused an uproar in the Ottoman Empire and turmoil in the army.

You must know that at this time, the army of the Ottoman Empire was not loyal to the Young Turks, but to the Sultan and the Caliph (two titles for the same person).

…………

"So, the Ottoman offensive has stagnated?" Liu Yiming felt that this was quite interesting.

"The Ottoman Empire is now in chaos, with all kinds of monsters and demons. We judge that it has basically lost its ability to fight." Jiang Wang nodded gently.

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"Do you think the Ottomans can withdraw from the war in a decent manner?" Liu Yiming asked thoughtfully.

Although the Ottoman Empire was in chaos, the army was still there, and the results of the war were also there. If mediation was accepted, it was not impossible to withdraw from the war in a decent manner.

"The Southern Army Group of Tsarist Russia has recently shown signs of small-scale mobilization."

"Our people in Bulgaria sent back news that Bulgaria suddenly had more troops. We judged that they were Bulgarian troops disguised as Tsarist Russia."

Jiang Wang had no expression on his face, but his eyes were twinkling.

The water was getting more and more turbid, which gave him more room for maneuver.

"Bulgaria? Tsar? Interesting, really interesting..." Liu Yiming was startled when he heard it, then he showed a strange smile and smiled while slumping in his chair.

"Originally I was thinking whether I should help the Ottomans, that would be more interesting."

"Now it seems that things are interesting enough without my intervention." Liu Yiming said lightly.

"If the Ottomans are defeated, what about the loans we issued?" Jiang Wang didn't know what Liu Yiming was laughing at, but he didn't ask.

"It's just a loan. If you can't pay it back, then deal with it according to the contract." Liu Yiming said indifferently.

The only import and export of the Black Sea, with this thing as collateral, a few hundred million is just a small matter.

"The fighting on the plateau is also fierce. It's time to find something for the British to do. We can't let him be idle." Liu Yiming said lightly.

Jiang Wang heard this and nodded lightly...