44) The War Started

They could not halt a war between the Ottoman Empire and Greece now. The conflict of interests, the ethnic conflicts, the public opinion leading, this series of factors pushed the two countries into the abyss of war!

Ferdinand could have sworn in the name of God that this war was definitely not his fault! Wasn't the Ottoman Empire and Greece still fighting at this time in history?

The creation of the Balkan League was certainly another point of strength for the Greeks.

Historically it was still Prince Geórgios himself who brought an army of 1,500 men to support the Cretan revolt!

In the face of the collective opposition of the Great Powers, the under-prepared Greek government was still bent on launching a war against the Ottoman Empire, and it knew the power of the pro-war faction in Greece!

Compared to the international environment at that time, it was a much better situation for the Greeks now! The attitude of the Great Powers now varies, but diplomatically there is still support from the Russians, the British, and Austria-Hungary; at the same time, there are still two allies in the Balkans, Bulgaria, and Montenegro, so the chances of winning are much better any way you look at it!

Historically, as both sides were unprepared for war, they fought a war that was worse than lousy, but the Greeks still sucked a little more, making it a joke of Greece in the history of modern warfare.

The Greeks took the lead in provoking the war and ended up losing because the army was too inefficient, and from the declaration of war to the signing of the peace treaty, it took only thirty or so days to get it done!

What's even funnier is that these 30 days are less time to spend on fighting, and a good part of that time is spent on negotiating!

It is the hilarious 'Thirty Days' War'! The Greeks have shown the world what it means to be a fool!

This time is no better. On April 15, the Greek government gave an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire, demanding that they recognize Greece's union with Crete and pay an apology to the Greek people for its former colonial rule and compensate for economic losses of thirty million pounds!

At this moment, everyone knew that war was coming! The Greeks had no sincerity in negotiating, and their previous moves were nothing more than stalling for time!

Early in the morning of April 17, the Greek government formally handed over a declaration of war to the Ottoman Empire; the Sultan's government, in a rare display of efficiency, also handed over a declaration of war to the Greek government at noon!

The Greek-Turkish War officially broke out!

Slightly different from history, the Greeks in this realm were a bit more prepared. Before the outbreak of war, the Greek government had already completed the national mobilization, mobilizing up to 240,000 troops!

On the same day, the Greek army began to attack the Macedonian region, opening the door to the Balkan Wars!

After receiving this news, Ferdinand's suspended heart was finally completely relieved. History has turned at this point, where the future will go. Everything has become a puzzle!

Ferdinand has nothing to do but is busy making a baby in the palace. They have been married for more than three years. There is no child, and he can not help but worry about this.

We know Knyaginya Xenia in history, is the mother of seven children, in this regard is no problem! The historical Ferdinand also has several children, and he did not prevent conception. No reason for more than three years without a child, huh?

While Ferdinand was thinking about it, Geórgios I of Greece was not feeling well on the other side. At the beginning of the war, the performance of the Greek army can not be said to be outstanding. It can be considered moderate!

The Ottoman strategy in the Balkans was focused on the defense against Bulgaria and Serbia.

Geographically, the Serbs threaten the Kosovo and Albanian regions, and the Bulgarians threaten the Macedonian and Istanbul!

Everything has changed, and Bulgaria's military power is still the strongest among the Balkan countries. But after the end of the Bulgarian-Serbian war, the Serbian threat no longer exists!

Therefore, the main enemy of the Ottoman Empire is now Bulgaria, and the main forces are also focused on the borders of this Bulgarian land!

Montenegro was too small to be in the eyes of the Ottoman Empire, and with Greece devoting much of its resources to the navy, the Ottoman Empire ignored the threat of a Greek land army.

At the beginning of the war, the Ottoman Empire was unprepared for it, and they placed not many troops on the Greek front. On the border of 700 to 800 kilometers, the Ottomans only had a garrison of more than 30,000 men!

There is no doubt that if the 30,000 defenders are concentrated, there is still some combat power distributed on the 700 to 800 kilometers of the border, then everywhere is a loophole!

In fact, with the level of corruption in the Ottoman Empire, you can imagine that the only thing good about these nominal 30,000 defenders is that they can secure half the full strength!

The result speaks for itself: the Ottoman army on the Greek front had fallen, and they broke the defenses of the Thessaly region at the first shot when the Greek army was supposed to be 'marching forward'!

However, it exposed the poor logistical system of the Greek army, and due to the logistical burden, the Greek army did not seize the city of Trikala in the first place! Of course, the time wasted wasn't too long. At most, it was only a day!

It's a pity that the battlefield is often a race against time, and one day is already enough to change the whole situation!

From the outbreak of war until now, the Sultan's government has reacted, and reinforcements from the Macedonian region are on their way!

The city of Trikala, where the Ottoman Empire had placed two regiments, plus the routed troops retreating from the front, had, in theory, a division's strength. Of course, the actual strength had to be at least partially reduced.

The city of Trikala, located on the eastern side of the Pindus Mountains, can be reached via the Metsovitikos valley to the west side of the mountains to Arta. Due to its unique location, the Ottoman Empire could not continue its retreat and decided to hold on. This decision changed the course of the Greek-Turkish War!

The first nail in the coffin of the highly motivated Greek army was here! On the evening of April 18, 1897, the 88,000 Greek troops under Prince Konstantínos arrived at the city of Trikala.

Having won along the way, the Greek army, already blinded by victory, immediately launched an all-out attack upon reaching the city of Trikala! Of course, it was right, for strategically speaking, to attack right away!

But due to the tenacity of the Ottoman garrison, the Greek army in charge of the attack paid more than 1,500 casualties in just over five hours, and Prince Konstantínos halted the attack in order to cut his losses!

Only after the artillery arrived on the battlefield on April, 20 did the Greek army launch another attack, but it was too late!

One day is enough to change a lot of things! Under the leadership of commander Orhun Pasha, the Ottoman army inside the city had already completed its internal regrouping, and the routed soldiers that had come together were integrated.

If the only enemy to be faced on April 19 was the original garrison of just over 2,000 men, the integrated Ottoman garrison exceeded 5,000 men!

It was almost impossible for more than two thousand men to hold the city of Trikala, even if it was delayed for a day or two! The defenders suffered more than three hundred and eighty casualties from just one full-scale Greek attack.

It doesn't take much. Two or three more attacks like that and the city of Trikala will be overrun because of the lack of troops!

It's a pity that there is no if. Prince Konstantínos was not aware of the situation in the city and ordered a halt to the attack in order to reduce losses!

Of course, it does not exclude that there is pride and arrogance. Not putting the Ottoman army in the eyes of the situation creates a chance for the city's defenders!

On April 20, the Greek army attacked again, and the gruesome siege began again, with casualties coming down thanks to the use of artillery!

In one day, the Greek army paid more than three thousand casualties, and the defenders paid more than one thousand seven hundred casualties. The battle damage exchange ratio went from the initial four to one to the current one point eight to one!

The Ottoman defense line at Trikala was already shaken, losing a third of its troops in one day, enough to break an army!

If the Sultan's government hadn't given strict orders that it had to be defended to the death and that reinforcements from the Macedonian region were already on their way, the city's defenders would have mostly collapsed by now!

(Note: Casualties are not the same as deaths, for example, the number of casualties in some countries in the World War exceeded the number of soldiers involved in the war! (The main thing is that the lightly wounded can be put back into the war after recovering!)

On April 21, the brutal offensive and defensive battles continued. By evening, the Ottoman defenders had lost almost all of their outer defenses and, under the command of Orhun Pasha, withdrew in an orderly manner to fight an even bloodier street battle in the city!

When the war broke out on the third day, reinforcements from the Macedonian region also entered the region of Thessaly. On the evening of April 21, 100,000 Ottoman reinforcements, led by Ethem Pasha, were less than fifteen kilometers from the city of Trikala!

The Greeks, who did not yet know that reinforcements had arrived, launched another siege, no, a street battle, on April 22!

Seeing that the Ottoman garrison was about to be finished, the scouts had brought Prince Konstantínos bad news - Ottoman reinforcements were about to arrive on the battlefield!

By the time Prince Konstantínos received this news, the Ottoman reinforcements were already less than five kilometers away from him!

Upon receiving this news, Prince Konstantínos suppressed his anger and ordered him to abandon the attack while actively deploying to defend against a possible attack by Ottoman reinforcements!

At this point, the contrast in strength between the two sides had fundamentally changed. The Greek chance to fight had disappeared, and the failure to capture the city of Trikala meant that in the future war, Greece would be at a strategic disadvantage!

The Greek army paid painful casualties for three consecutive days of siege, greatly reducing morale. The spirit of patriotism has lost out to the cruelty of the battlefield!

Ethem Pasha came faster than the Greeks expected. After arriving at the front line, the Ottoman army did not make any preparations and launched an all-out attack directly on the Greek army's positions!

The Greeks were blindsided, knowing that the army had been marching for a long time and the stamina had dropped very strong. If there is not enough time to recuperate, the power of ten can play five or six points is not bad!

Prince Konstantínos intended to take advantage of the Ottoman army's initial arrival to launch a surprise attack and defeat the Ottoman reinforcements in one fell swoop!

Both armies were preparing for a surprise attack, then met by surprise in the middle of the road and engaged in a fight to the death! With superiority in strength, the Turkish army crushed the enemy in front of them, and they halted the Greek offensive!

And because of a strategic mistake of the Greeks, in order to defend the country from the enemy, they did not concentrate their superior forces to attack in one direction!

The Greek army in the region of Thessaly was forced to turn to defense in place after the attack on the city of Trikala was foiled while waiting for reinforcements!

It is a pity that Prince Konstantínos's decision did not consider the actual situation of the Greek army, which would have been completely correct if it had been a regular army! With the corruption of the Ottoman Empire, 100,000 troops were definitely not less than the number of poorly trained, and the Greek army had the power to fight!

From the time of the Greek government's national mobilization, the Greek Army began to undergo a dramatic expansion, and this army under the command of Prince Konstantínos was no exception.

Due to the blind expansion of the Greek government, they added a large number of poorly trained soldiers to the army, reducing the fighting strength of the Greek Army instead of rising!

If the war is good, new recruits become veterans after a few more fights, and the army's combat power will naturally improve!

But before becoming a veteran, something will happen when the war takes a twist! This time is no exception. Prince Konstantínos was screwed.

The Ottoman army did not put up a fight before. The attack was smooth sailing, but a fierce siege and defense broke out in the city of Trikala, and the Greek soldiers could not afford it!

As soon as the Ottoman army reinforcements arrived, the morale of the Greek army dropped to a low point! As soon as Ethem Pasha attacked, the Greek army could no longer withstand the pressure and collapsed!

Since the Ottoman army also arrived in a hurry, they could not make preparations before going into the war. Their physical strength was not very good, and after defeating the Greeks, they could not pursue them.

It gave Prince Konstantínos the false impression that the Ottoman army was no better than they were and that their combat power was not much higher than theirs!

His judgment is well-founded. The Greek and Ottoman armies' fighting abilities are indeed the same! However, it was the Greek army before the expansion. After expansion, the Greek army's combat power is far worse!

Prince Konstantínos's decision to defend on the spot could not be considered a strategic mistake! Since the Greek army had just lost the battle, the losses were not too great.

Now he still has 70,000 troops in his hands, and the actual number of Ottoman forces on the opposite side of the army is only more than 100,000 troops. The difference in strength between the two sides is not too great. Being on the defensive side is not too disadvantageous!

After all, in the late 19th century, the power of wire fences and trenches was still a great deal! Even if the Greek army lacked wire fences in their hands, there was no shortage of trenches!

It also starts with the Greek strategy, where another Greek army, led by Lord Kýrillos, had now fought its way to Ioannina.

Suppose the city of Trikala is abandoned, and they continue withdrawing to the rear. In that case, the Greek army that attacked Epirus was likely to be cut off by the Ottoman army, a consequence that the Greeks could not afford in any case!