29) Choice

In the end, it was all said and done by Ferdinand, and the crowd just had to decide whether to do it or not!

In fact, the Bulgarian government has no choice between the two paths before it.

There is no free lunch in the world. How is it possible to get the benefits without paying the price?

The Russians have been fighting the Turks for over two hundred years over the Bosphorus, and now they will support Bulgaria for nothing to get Constantinople, forget about it!

Ferdinand drew up a strategy that never hit Constantinople from the beginning to the end. Who could not help but call the Bosphorus the Russian lifeline to the Mediterranean?

By holding Constantinople, one held the Bosphorus, and of course, there was a Dardanelles, also a major route for the Russians into the Mediterranean.

The Russians now had the obvious goal of seizing the Turkish Straits and taking control of the Marmara Sea while Britain was busy fighting with the Germans over South Africa and the French over North Africa.

Once they achieved this strategic goal, the Russians would have been unbeatable in the Mediterranean Sea: they would have been able to attack and retreat!

If Bulgaria rejects the Russian offer, it is the same as breaking the Russian strategy in the Mediterranean, and the end speaks for itself!

In the same way, the Russians' Mediterranean strategy is in the French's interest. If the Russians enter the Mediterranean, they will not focus their efforts on the Far East strategy or even abandon it, which will help relieve the pressure on France on the European continent!

Bulgaria now has no choice, a plow, and a harvest!

In Ferdinand's opinion, the Russians did a pretty good job this time, and despite the huge price Bulgaria paid, the gains were huge!

Even at the expense of others, Bulgaria would still have access to more than 100,000 square kilometers of land, including the Istanbul region, the Macedonian region, Eastern Thrace, Albania, etc.!

In his opinion, all this can be compromised, and anyway, when the World War is over, all these rights will return to Bulgaria, and it is perfectly possible to trade a short-term compromise for the growth of Bulgaria!

After being silent for half a minute, Prime Minister Konstantin sighed and said, "Gentlemen, we simply don't have a choice now! By agreeing to the Russian conditions, Greater Bulgaria is essentially complete, and the dream of several generations is barely realized in our hands!

As for the future, we can only take one step at a time. As long as Bulgaria is strong enough, none of this is a problem!"

It is clear that Prime Minister Konstantin is rational and not overwhelmed by anger and knows what is in the best interest of Bulgaria!

The Russians are stuck at the right point with their conditions. The Bulgarian navy should be more suitable to be called the marine police. To master the Marmara Sea is a complete joke!

In that case, it would be better to give it to the Russians. After all, if the Ottoman Empire cut off the connection between Europe and Asia, Bulgaria's chances of winning would also increase greatly.

As for the future military ports in the territory, which the Russians will control, it does not matter. Anyway, it is still Turkish territory. Even if they sold out more interests, we could not feel the pain of the cut.

It is the same as Bulgaria providing the army and the Russians providing the navy to attack the Ottoman Empire jointly and then share the spoils, and the people do not have to worry about carrying the reputation of traitors!

Minister of Foreign Affairs Metev also spoke: "The international situation is now very favorable to us. The British are bound to South Africa, and the Germans are unwilling to let go. They are fighting in South Africa by backing the Boers and the British, have the support of the European community, and will not be divided in a short time!

At the same time, because of the Egyptian issue, the British and the Turks have nasty things going on, leaving aside the Russian Empire, and they are anxious for us to be able to weaken the Ottoman Empire in order to protect their interests in Egypt.

Austria-Hungary had long had plans for the Balkans, and they wanted to annex the Bosnia-Herzegovina region, which they had not realized before due to strong resistance from the Turks and opposition from the Russians.

Well, now there's a Serbia to add, and we can work together on that, and I'm sure the Russians are willing to make that deal with them!

As for the other Great Powers, they have limited strength in the Balkans and are unable to interfere with our actions!

Moreover, it is still the weakest time for the Turks, with a mess at home and endless national uprisings depleting the last reserves of the oldest empire!"

Ferdinand was stunned and did not expect that the usually obscure Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is still a downright liberal, was starting to agitate for action.

And his proposal, again, exactly was what Ferdinand needed right now. He succeeded in diverting the crowd's attention, and now many of them are intent on it.

Of course, Ferdinand also knows this is based on the premise that there is no damage to the core interests of Bulgaria. Now Bulgaria is a time of high nationalism, and the crowd can not help but be affected, for the national interest is particularly important.

Still, Ferdinand broke the crowd's illusory dreams.

"Okay, just have your minds back! We are not ready at all, and the weapons and ammunition are still a pile of raw materials right now. Even if the chances are good, we can't follow the Serbian example and let the soldiers go straight to the battlefield to die with a bunch of rustic iron!"

With Serbia as a counter-example, Bulgaria will not be caught in the 'courage to win' theory. After all, the Serbian soldiers, brave but on the battlefield, are still beaten by the Bulgarian army to the ground!

The crowd secretly lamented that they missed a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Ferdinand, however, did not think so. The Ottoman Empire's domestic conflicts have been a long time, and how can be cleared up overnight.

It is not a day or two for the international situation to change. South Africa's value is so big that all of Europe is jealous of the point, and Britain intends to kick out the Germans alone, not give them more. It is still Wilhelm II?

Even if the British could pacify the Germans at great cost, what about the French, the Spanish, the Dutch ...? It can't all be laid to rest, right? As long as there is the support of the Great Powers, the Boers are not so easy to handle!

Is history not just three years of fighting? It is still based on the premise that the British set up the Germans, pulled in the Portuguese, and smoothly pitted the Spanish in the Spanish-American War, gaining the Americans' support.

Now? The Americans are still the vanguard of the anti-British. It is not the courage to go directly, but they have sent volunteers to bring their dry food to help the Boers.

Historically, the U.S. government supported the British, but private citizens still donated money and organized volunteers to go and give the British a hard time.