Greece to roman road

Bulgarian Consulate in Thessaloniki

Since learning that the Ottoman army had retreated to Salonika, Johnkovic, the Bulgarian consul in Salonika, had been paying close attention to the news in Salonika.

Johnkovic opened the silk curtains and stood on the second floor, observing the scene on Thessaloniki Street from a high position. From time to time, he could see a few Ottoman soldiers walking carelessly on the street.

Ottoman soldiers were easily identifiable by their appearance, as they usually wore turbans.

The goods in the street shops, as long as the soldiers liked them, were put directly into their pockets. The faces of the Jewish or Greek businessmen turned red from holding back, but looking at the rifles carried on the shoulders of these Ottoman soldiers, what exactly were they? Dare to be angry but dare not speak.

These undisciplined soldiers were walking in twos and threes on the streets. Their discipline was lax and their morale was low.

Johnkovic was surprised by the lax military discipline of the Ottoman army. As we all know, the Greek army had won consecutive battles and was now approaching the outside of Salonika.

According to Johnkovic's expectation, the Ottoman army should be preparing for war intensively as if they were facing a powerful enemy.

But what puzzled Johnkovic was that these Ottoman soldiers still had time to wander around the streets, looking carefree and without any intention of preparing for war.

Although Johnkovic was not aware of the secret negotiations between the Greeks and the Ottomans on Salonika, he was also keenly aware of the unusual performance of the Ottoman army.

On the morning of January 8, Johnkovic went to visit Aitsa Pasha and inquired about the attitude of the Ottomans.

Looking at the cautiously probing Bulgarian consul in front of him, Etesa Pasha, who was determined to sow discord in the Balkan alliance, was naturally not polite and said frankly and without any concealment: "The Macedonian Army has negotiated terms with the Greeks. We use Saloni Calgary, in exchange for Greek troops, allow the remaining troops of our army to withdraw from Thessaloniki."

Aitsa Pasha quietly watched the changes in the Bulgarian consul's expression, wondering how Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria) would react when he learned the news.

This shocking answer made the anger in Johnkovic's heart like a raging flame, and he felt the annoyance and gnashing hatred of Bulgaria being betrayed by the Greeks.

The 400,000 Bulgarian troops sacrificed their lives to fight the Ottomans in Thrace. They were almost single-handedly fighting against the power of an empire. Johnkovic believed this.

Whether it was the Greeks or the Serbs, their military operations in Macedonia were able to proceed smoothly not because the Bulgarian army firmly attracted the attention of the Ottoman Empire in the frontal war, leaving the Ottomans with no time to pay attention to the war in Macedonia.

To put it bluntly, most of the elite troops of the Ottoman army were handled by Bulgarian soldiers.

But these despicable Greeks are leaving Bulgaria alone to benefit from it.

"Etesa Pasha, I have to say, this news really shocked me. How could you go behind Bulgaria's back and negotiate with the Greeks privately?" Johnkovic asked in disbelief.

"As the main participant in the Balkan Alliance, Aitsa Pasha, I strongly urge you to surrender to the great Kingdom of Bulgaria. Two divisions of our army are rushing towards Salonika at an extremely fast speed." John Ko Viktor heard this from Aitsa Pasha, the highest commander of the Ottoman army in Salonika, trying to save this terrible news for Bulgaria.

Seeing Johnkovic's chest heaving violently with anger and his face flushed, Atesa Pasha did not forget to add fuel to the fire: "We have reached an agreement with the commander-in-chief of the Greeks, Crown Prince Constantine, last night. protocol"

Having said this, Aitsa Pasha spread his hands flat and looked helpless: "Unfortunately, I only have one Salonika."

I took a few deep breaths to calm down all the negative emotions. After thinking for a while, I roughly understood the thoughts of the pasha in front of me.

Since the situation in Salonika is irreversible, there is no need to act like a clown here and let people laugh at you.

"I really envy your military qualities, Pasha. As a soldier, you can hand over an important city of your country to another country without any mental obstacles. I really admire you. I can ask you for advice. , is there any secret to this?”

Without waiting for Aitsa Pasha to react, he asked and answered: "Oh, no need for it. Anyway, I will never use this kind of experience."

After that, without even looking at Aitsa Pasha's reaction, he turned around and left in a hurry.

After returning to the consulate, he hurried to the communications room and asked the telegraph staff to inform the country and the army of the news.

In the afternoon, the Greek army officially entered the city of Salonika. The entire process was safe and orderly and did not encounter any resistance.

In accordance with the secret agreement signed, the Ottoman army withdrew from the city of Salonika in the morning.

That night, in the official residence that originally belonged to Etesa Pasha, Constantine invited the upper-class people in Salonika to hold a banquet to celebrate Greece's recovery of Salonika. The Greeks had already Cities lost for hundreds of years.

In the quiet back garden, Constantine met with Johnkovic, the Bulgarian consul in Salonika.

In the pavilion in the garden, Constantine sat and talked with two guests from Bulgaria.

"His Royal Highness, congratulations on leading the Greek army and bringing a brilliant victory to the Balkan Alliance," Johnkovic complimented.

Johnkovic has a slim and tall figure, wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, has a clean complexion and a calm demeanor.

As for the guest sitting next to him, his back is straight, he has thick beard, his actions are orderly, and his expression is serious. It is obvious at a glance that he is a soldier.

"Your Royal Highness, this is General Christo. After hearing the news that the Greek army's attack on the city of Salonika was not going well, General Christo immediately led his 12th division and quickly came to support the Greek allies." Johnkovich saw Constantine looking at the two of them and introduced them.

In fact, after Johnkovic spread the news back to the country that the Greek army was about to enter Salonika, both the Bulgarian government and the army were caught off guard.

According to Bulgaria's expectations, the Greek offensive, even if it goes smoothly, will take more than ten days.

After all, the Ottoman army stationed in Salonika not only had complete fortifications as support, but also had 100,000 soldiers.

The private agreement between the Greeks and the Ottomans was not expected at all.

Therefore, after learning about Johnkovic, King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria directly ordered the troops of Christo, who were closest to Salonika, to immediately go to Salonika.

After learning the news, Christo's infantry division hurriedly rushed forward. Seeing that the Greeks had entered the city, Christo had no choice but to lead a company of cavalry into battle with light equipment and ran continuously for more than four hours before they were able to reach the city. Catch the banquet of the Greeks.