War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

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Chapter 1407: Enough is Enough? (Part 2)

Nicholas I was really shocked when he heard the number of half a million, but fortunately, after being the Tsar for so many years, he still had the ability to control his expression in front of foreign envoys.

“Now the Holy Alliance has already dispatched one million troops, and it is not impossible to dispatch another million troops.

What about the Ottomans? They can’t even arm a million men!”

George Villiers nodded and then spoke slowly.

"Your Majesty, it seems that you have done some research. Although the Ottomans are not capable of arming an army of one million people, we in Britain can.

At this time, there were twenty ships of weapons and equipment docked in Varna, with enough equipment to arm ten divisions.

And as far as we know, the Greeks even went so far as to make women do spring ploughing, and the Austrians requisitioned almost all civilian ships on the Danube to maintain supplies.

I think the situation in Russia is better.”

Upon hearing this, Nicholas I immediately became furious and shouted angrily.

"You actually support the pagans!?"

George Villiers looked the Tsar straight in the eyes and spoke slowly.

"For peace in Europe, we can sacrifice even more."

“How shameless!”

Nicholas I squeezed out a few words from between his teeth with hatred.

"Please consider our proposal carefully. For the sake of peace in Europe and even the world, we believe you will make the right choice."

The conversation between Nicholas I and George Villiers did not last long, as the former fell into deep thought.

The situation on the Russian front was not optimistic. On the one hand, they had been unable to invade Bulgaria, and on the other hand, Britain's participation in the war had brought too many variables.

In addition, logistics was also a big problem. Before leaving, the Ottoman army burned down granaries and all the supplies they could not take away.

Even if the Russian army looted on the spot, nothing would change, unless they robbed Wallachia and Moldavia.

In fact, the Russian army had looted a lot of it when it entered Wallachia, and the oil and water were indeed much more abundant than this Dobro.

But in name, Russia had already ceded Wallachia to the Austrian Empire, and if it tried to rob it again, the consequences would probably be very bad.

But Nicholas I was still somewhat unwilling to not conquer Bulgaria. Even if Russia obtained all the land from Eastern Bosnia to Dobruja, it would still be a loss for Russia.

After all, all these lands combined are not as rich as half of the two Danube principalities.

At this time, the courier from the Austrian Empire also arrived.

The letter was written by Albrecht, the commander-in-chief of the Austrian Empire in the Balkans. After Nicholas I opened it and read it, his face was full of embarrassment.

Due to the unauthorized actions of the Russian army, the Ottoman army retreated to Bulgaria, and then discovered the intentions of the Austrian army, causing the failure of the entire encirclement plan.

The Austrian army encountered stubborn resistance from the Ottoman army in the mountains, and the army of more than one hundred thousand could not advance even a single step.

Nicholas I had recently experienced how difficult it was to attack a mountain fortress. The most important thing was that there were too many mountains to go around. So he completely believed what Albrecht said. After all, in his mind, the gap between the Russian army and the Austrian army was not big, and his level was similar to Albrecht's.

The Balkans are full of mountains. If it takes weeks or even months to conquer each mountain, how can we fight the war?

But he really didn't want to give up! This time he had to at least take over the Little Bulgaria region.

Nicholas I decided to gamble all his military strength to capture the Bulgarian plains.

Olma Pasha himself did not think that he could hold on for so long. The local Pomaks in Bulgaria joined the army very enthusiastically and were not afraid of death.

The main force of the Russian army attacked fiercely for several weeks but failed to capture even a single hill. Ahmed Yilmaz in the west also brought good news. They blew up the main road in the valley, and the Austrian army could only watch in despair.

And according to the latest intelligence from Ahmed Yilmaz, the Austrians do not seem to have any plans to launch a forceful attack.

In addition, the British sent a large amount of weapons and equipment and military personnel, and Queen Mother Shefkefza also transferred troops from Anatolia to reinforce, which greatly boosted Orma Pasha's confidence.

Orma Pasha knew very well that if he failed he would be dead, so he had to fight to the end even for his own sake.

The news that the Russians were burning, killing and looting everywhere in the Dobruja region also reached Bulgaria, further strengthening the defenders' will to resist.

A fierce battle is inevitable

Unable to understand how his predecessor had been defeated by such a ragtag army, Ibn Hassan took over a newly captured rifle.

He examined the rifle in his hand carefully, running his fingertips over the barrel.

“It’s a masterpiece.”

Such exquisite craftsmanship can probably only be achieved by the top blacksmiths in Istanbul.

Ibn Hassan looked at the black muzzle again. The three spiral rifling lines were distributed in the barrel in almost perfect proportions.

He couldn't help but sigh that the precision of the workmanship of this gun had reached a level that was beyond the reach of mortals. However, such a good gun was brutally stuffed with three bullets and failed to fire a single shot from beginning to end.

Ibn Hassan couldn't help but shake his head in sadness at the fate of the gun, but soon he felt more and more frightened.

In the Ottoman Empire, only the rich and powerful were worthy of owning such good guns. However, on this battlefield, almost all the Greek soldiers who died were equipped with such weapons.

Seeing this, Ibn Hassan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. If it weren't for the Greeks' problems with training level and tactics, the situation on the battlefield would have been one-sided.

But why didn’t the elite Greek troops who conquered Western Thrace last time show up?

At this moment a soldier shouted.

"There's a shooting star! It's a shooting star! Make a wish!"

Ibn Hassan also looked up and saw countless UFOs with long tails of flames falling into the Ottoman army's positions.

"It's a rocket!"

The screams were followed by continuous explosions, and the battlefield turned into a sea of ​​fire in a very short time.

However, the attack did not stop. The sound of artillery fire rang out again, and one shell after another accurately hit the Ottoman artillery positions on both sides of the canyon.

The hot air balloons in the sky were pointing the direction for the enemy's artillery, which made Ibn Hassan suddenly feel unreal.

“Is this still the Greek army that only knows how to use human wave tactics to fight to the end?”

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