19) Secret Talk

"What? A secret visit from King Geórgios I of Greece!" Ferdinand said in disbelief.

I don't want to spit it out. Am I not reading too many retarded novels? At least a king of a country, playing secret visits, who can be fooled?

The Balkans are so big. Once one discovered Geórgios I did not show his face for a long time; anyone with a bit of attention would know to look into it! As soon as they confirmed George I was in Bulgaria, who he would target?

Well, it hadn't occurred to Ferdinand that the Ottoman Empire was just that retarded now or simply didn't have small countries like Greece and Bulgaria in mind. They were too busy dealing with the British to make things complicated!

Historically, before the outbreak of the First Balkan War, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Greece, four countries that prepared for war with great zeal, had not attracted the attention of the aristocratic lords until the outbreak of war was caught off guard!

In any case, Geórgios I has come, Ferdinand had to go to receive, at least they are still relatives, this point of the face or to give.

Since Geórgios I was visiting secretly, Ferdinand also decided to play along with him, pretending not to know about it as long as the Greeks did not take an active part in informing him.

And he can skip the grand welcome ceremony and can not choose even the meeting place in the Sofia Palace.

The most important thing now is to find out why Geórgios I was visiting secretly? And it came so suddenly that if intelligence agents hadn't noticed it, it is expected that he would have only been discovered when he arrived in Bulgaria.

"Minister of Foreign Affairs, I remember that George I's secret envoy arrived in Sofia not long ago, your Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in charge of contacting him, how did the talks go?" Ferdinand asked.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said with a headache: "Your Highness, nothing has come of it, the Greeks are asking too much and what they can give is too little!"

Ferdinand was stunned and then asked, "Oh! I would like to hear how big the Greek's appetite is? And what price do they intend to pay?"

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said with a smile: "The Greeks want to join forces with us against the Turks. Three hundred thousand troops from Bulgaria, 150,000 from Greece, and the Greek navy will hold the Ottoman navy in check, and there is no problem with that!

But they demand Thessaloniki and an equal share with us in Macedonia, Albania, and Eastern Thrace!"

Ferdinand was a bit speechless. The Greek navy in 1895 simply could not cut off the Ottoman Empire between Europe and Asia, which was held entirely only in the Thessaloniki region to fight some role.

Since Greece wants the Thessaloniki region, it makes sense to do it on its own, so why should it be included in the alliance's contribution? If the Greek navy, as in the Balkan Wars, could suppress the Ottoman navy, it would be more or less the same!

Macedonian, East Thrace, and Albania battles rely on decisive land battles. To get these areas, Bulgaria is the main force. Even without considering the difference in the combat power of the two armies, it is also Bulgaria to take the lead!

It is no wonder that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not like the joint with Greece. The gap between the two sides' conditions is too large. There is no possibility of talks!

In Ferdinand's opinion, Greece's 15% army on the battlefield, but also just to make up the number, is far worse than Serbia. Look at the history of the 'Greek-Turkish War' to see!

In 1897 there was an uprising in Crete, and the Greek army occupied Crete in early February. In April, the Greek army attacked the Turkish army in Thessaly, and the Greek-Turkish War began.

They defeated the Greek army at the end of April. The Turkish army was not even close to Athens before the armistice on May 20. and on December 4, a peace treaty was concluded in which Greece paid 4 million Lire to Turkey and ceded part of the territory of Thessaly to Turkey.

Well, the Ottoman Empire did not come with full force. They defeated the Greek Army. On this fighting ability, it is the same as the Italian Army!

Ferdinand's bottom line is that Bulgaria gets most of the Macedonian region, the Kosovo region, the Eastern Thrace region, and the Istanbul region. It is possible that Greece can get part of the Macedonian region, and the rest of the region, including Thessaloniki, Epirus, and Thrace, can be owned by Greece!

In fact, even with this split, Greece is already at a great advantage! The Ottoman Empire had roughly more than 250,000 square kilometers of territory in the Balkans.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's region is in Austria-Hungary's pocket, leaving out the 50,000 to 60,000 square kilometers. Montenegro will get the area of the Raška, nearly 15,000 square kilometers of territory; Greece gets part of Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaloniki, Crete, etc., more than 40,000 square kilometers of territory.

But beyond his mind, the Greek appetite directly carved away a large part of the spoils of war, nearly more than 100,000 square kilometers of territory. The Greek government could not inherit the spoils of war from Serbia because they were out of the game, could it? Then Ferdinand is not a big loser?

But Geórgios I, who was about to arrive in Bulgaria, did not think so. In his opinion, among the Balkan countries, Greece was the earliest to become independent and the earliest to build up its army. Even if it only sent 150,000 troops, its combat power would not be weaker than 300,000 Bulgarian troops!

Then it makes sense to divide the territory in this way. Greece's strength is strong. Naturally, taking on the burden of responsibility should take the largest piece of cake!

Well, before the Greek-Turkish War, the Greeks were confident in the fighting ability of their own army. Otherwise, they would not have tried to single out the Ottoman Empire.

Time passed quickly, and a week later, the disguised King of Greece - Geórgios I - arrived in Sofia.

Ferdinand had a cordial and friendly meeting with him in a royal estate on the outskirts of Sofia. The two sides agreed to strengthen the economic and commercial relations between Bulgaria and Greece!

Simply put: Bulgaria and Greece agreed on the issue against the Ottoman Empire and decided to join forces to overthrow the Sultan's evil rule in the Balkans!

As for the question of the spoils, looking at the confident Geórgios I, Ferdinand could not directly say: that the Greek army is weak and can only be used to fight for the sake of the game!

Ferdinand can only make a very creative proposal: "Geórgios, it seems that our bottom line is too far apart to be able to negotiate today!

Why don't we just bet on it? After defeating the Ottoman Empire, the territory of the Balkans will belong to whoever grabs it first, and half of the territory will go to each of us if we grab it at the same time, and those who lag will admit they are in bad luck!"

There was a moment of silence, and Geórgios I seemed to be calculating whether he would lose out! Ferdinand said in a mock dare, "How about it? Dare to come and bet?"