38) The Rise of Victorikis

Raising the butcher's knife is easy, but putting it down is hard!1)

Slowly the insurgents, who had killed the Turkish aristocrats, the ordinary Turks, among others, also entered their eyes and became new prey.

In order to continue to expand the number of people in the revolutionary circle, Viktorikis came up with another bad idea to improve the excellent methods of 'Taiping' operations to pull the circle.

Of course, how this method specifically came, he does not know. Although Ferdinand was referred to unintentionally during the spy training and became a teaching material, Viktorikis is now considered to live and learn to use.

It's a good way to hold other minorities to join, and the way to do it is, of course, still to commit, either by killing Turks or raping Turkish girls!

Whether willingly or unwillingly, as long as you step on the ship of criminals, do not think about getting out!

With the shitty nature of the Sultan's government, will they let go of these soldiers who are being held, hostage? No need to dream. Their hands have been stained with Turkish blood, unable to be washed clean!

When the interim government was ready to negotiate with the Sultan's government through the embassies of the Great Powers, it suddenly realized that it was already too late. They could not solve the hatred between the two sides! At least tens of thousands of Turks in Constantinople had already fallen under the swords of the insurgents!

Since this is the case, let's go all the way to hell! Anyway, the strength of the rebel army is not weak. The old and the weak, the sick and the disabled have reached more than 200,000, or more than 300,000, who knows?

Anyway, it's not statistically possible now. The slow-reacting Ottoman army is, after all, here! It's a pity that Constantinople, a fortress-like city, is so easy to defend and hard to attack!

In order to prevail in the Armenian uprising and gain time for the interim government in the city, Viktorikis took over the task of defending the city!

Of course, this is only to fool the resistance. His main purpose was still to delay the Ottoman Empire's quelling time, for every day of delay, thousands of people in Constantinople would disappear!

At the same time, using the chance to defend the city, Victorious smoothly obtained the majority of troops that only answered him, a leap to become the largest real power faction of the resistance!

All these problems, of course, were overshadowed by the war! The Armenian resistance, which is working for national independence, can't welcome a rare military talent like Viktorikis enough?

At the beginning of the war, Viktorikis used the fortress guns on the walls to give the Ottoman army a head start! Then the bloody siege began, and the Turks never dreamed that the fortress they had built would become the burial place of their own troops!

Historically, the Armenian uprising in Constantinople lasted more than two months before it ended. This time was completely different. From the beginning of February until May, the majority of Constantinople was still in the hands of the insurgents.

Abdülhamid II was in a bad mood. The damn Armenians had revolted again, albeit in Constantinople.

He cursed angrily, "Stupid! What a bunch of fools! An army of more than 100,000 troops can't wipe out a small rebellion, and they still have the nerve to ask me for reinforcements!

How many Armenians were there in Constantinople? Even if they all revolted, it would only be a gang of one hundred thousand or so!

..."

Originally, the Sultan's government had plans to increase troops in Europe. Now there is no need to hesitate. Hurry up and mobilize troops to put down the rebellion! Constantinople is not only one of the capitals of the Ottoman Empire but also the most developed city in the Ottoman Empire, with millions of people!

One can say that every day, it drags on and causes incalculable damage to the Ottoman Empire. Apparently, the Sultan's government is not yet aware of the massacre that has erupted in the city!

Or rather, the Ottoman officials already knew about it and hid it on purpose! It is a common problem for bureaucrats to report good news but not bad, not to mention the corrupt Ottoman Empire.

The Armenian uprising in Constantinople always required someone to be in charge, but the Ottoman Empire was a world dominated by the aristocracy!

After the outbreak of the Armenian uprising, the city's top officials first sent the city guards to suppress it. Still, it is a pity that this group of honorable-looking lord soldiers is only routed by the enemy 'on bravery'!

Then it scared the aristocratic lords, leaving the city to run away. If resistance is organized inside and the rebel army attacks the city outside, the insurgents will be able to occupy Constantinople is like a fool's dream!

But there is no if. Otherwise, the historical Armenian uprising would not have lasted successfully in Constantinople for more than two months!

The Sultan, who received the news of the rebellion, was furious and cursed! When the Sultan had almost done with his anger, the prime minister spoke up and said: "Calm down! The most urgent task is to send troops to quell the rebellion at once! Otherwise, it will be easy to change the situation if it takes too long!

Once the Great Powers intervene, it's not so easy to solve!

And the Balkan countries, again, are on the move. If we can't solve the Armenian rebellion in a short time, it's likely to give the enemy a wrong signal, and then they'll attack us all at once, and it'll be trouble!"

Abdülhamid II, who was already enraged, became even angrier at the prime minister's words. Still, he forced down his anger and said, "Minister of War, send the troops to suppress it immediately!

Didn't you plan to send more troops to Europe earlier? Now execute it at once, transfer 100,000 troops and first go to exterminate this group of rebellious Armenians, then!

In the Asia Minor region, we should not let down our guard so as not to give the Armenians another chance to take advantage of the situation and extinguish it as soon as it happens.

We would rather kill a thousand by mistake than spare a single rebel!"

Even though he was angry, Abdülhamid II did not lose his head and knew he could not move the army in the Balkans!

After knowing the Armenian uprising, Ferdinand could hold on to his seat, and some people started to sit on their hands!

The Russian ambassador to Bulgaria, Count Pavel, was lobbying the Bulgarian government to send troops to Constantinople!

It is a pity that the Bulgarian government has a much larger appetite and knows it is not ready yet. If it starts the war early, it is difficult to accomplish many of the strategic goals previously set, and it decided to reject the Russian proposal!

Also, the Greeks and Montenegro can not sit. Still, the army has been expanded, but their finances can not stand it!

The foreign debt the government owes is already too much, now they want to borrow again, but they can't get the mortgage! For them, starting a war right away is undoubtedly a good way to get out of the crisis!

To appease the nations, Ferdinand also personally sent a telegram to Nikolai II stating that: the Bulgarian army was not yet ready. Unless the Russian Empire could first cut the link between the Turks and Eurasia or the Russians themselves came down to the war, Bulgaria was now incapable of starting a war!

A telegram was sent to Geórgios I, proposing that the Greek government should unleash its influence and encourage the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire to revolt and hold back the Ottoman Empire's forces.

And also: Bulgaria is already doing it, In the Armenian uprising, it was Bulgaria that provided the weapons, and the effect was great!

Ferdinand was not so patient with the future Kingdom of Montenegro and directly asked Nikola I how the army training was? If Montenegro is ready to start the war in advance, Bulgaria will abide by the treaty and enter the war within three months!

Due to the firm attitude of Bulgaria, the Greeks felt they could lose a lot by going it alone. Geórgios I suppressed the intention to do it, was interested in Ferdinand's proposal, and began to fan the flames in the Ottoman Empire!

Translator:

1) The original word is "Put down the butcher's knife and right away change into a Buddha" from A History of Zen Buddhism Based on Five Books of Zen Quotations.