Chapter 564： Ottoman crisis (1/2)

Compared with the ancestors who ravaged Eurasia, Africa, and three continents, Abdul-Aziz I was a good baby. Since his succession, he has been good to his neighbors. He has been cautious in diplomacy to avoid conflicts with European powers as much as possible.

Except for the Russians being killed in the Russian-Prussian war, Abdul-Aziz I did not initiate a war. It can be said that there are few pacifists in Sudan in the past.

Moreover, the last war was also full of inside information. If it was not for the powers to secretly encourage it, Abdul Aziz I would most likely choose to be a spectator.

Of course, he is not a voluntarist. It is completely because the enemies around it are too powerful. They can only choose peace if they cannot win.

When you come out, you always have to pay back. When the Ottoman Empire was strong, you set up enemies everywhere, and now you have to pay the price.

You can't just let you bully people and not let others retaliate? This is not the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Austria and Russia have come to take revenge. If it is not for the strength, Persia next door will probably intervene.

Now Persia and the Ottoman Empire are bad brothers and brothers, and they are both declining. Because of its geographical location, the Ottoman Empire was a neighbor of two great powers at the same time, so the tragedy was earlier.

In contrast, the Persians in the east are much better, just need to face the British. Anyway, there is hope for victory, and the Persians smashed a British invasion more than a decade ago.

”Hum” with a cold drink, Abdul Aziz I tore the battle report in his hands to pieces. There is no doubt the bad news, these days Abdul Aziz I is going crazy.

”Yesterday, the Austrians just besieged Jerusalem, and today the Bosporus is again under siege. Isn't the Lianyin Dardanelles lost in a few days, waiting for the enemy to parade in Ankara?”

Everyone bowed their heads and said nothing. It was not that the Ottoman army did not work hard. The Russians were not blindly fighting. In the month after the outbreak of the war, the Russian army landed from five ports.

Before the reinforcements sent by the Sudanese government passed, the landing Russian troops had already evacuated and the port continued to attack.

It seems that not much has been achieved, but in fact the damage to the Ottoman Empire is not small. A scorched earth policy was implemented all the way, and a large number of people in the coastal areas were forced to migrate to inland areas.

While fighting the enemy, the Sudanese government also has to shoulder the heavy task of locating war refugees. Don't look at the fierce clamor of Abdul Aziz I. If all the people and enemies are to die to the end, this is not the case in practice.

After the Russians conquered a place, they started to destroy it at the first time, such as destroying farmland, burning houses, smashing iconic buildings, and expelling local people into the inland areas.

The coastline of the Ottoman Empire was too long to be fully focused on defense, and areas with weak troops let the enemy penetrate.

Every time the Russian army makes a successful landing, the Ottoman Empire will have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of war refugees. The law does not blame the public in the Ottoman Empire, and the Sudanese government cannot hold so many people responsible for fleeing.

People always have to eat, and within a short time hundreds of thousands of refugees appeared in the Ottoman Empire. To relieve so many victims, the Sudanese government, which had not prepared in advance, was in a hurry.

All other supplies are just fine. The Ottoman people are not demanding, just stuttering is enough. The simplest request made the Sudanese government embarrassed.

Seeing that the stock of food was dwindling, Abdul Aziz I was watching and anxious. The fall of the Bosphorus now means that war refugees will increase again.

It can hold up two days a day. If the war lasts one year or two, the Ottoman government will not have so much grain reserves.

The Minister of War, Elmold, replied: ”Your Majesty, the enemy has a sea advantage and is going up and down the battlefield. Before our reinforcements arrive, they evacuate early, and they will not fight against us at all.”

This explanation obviously does not satisfy Abdul-Aziz I: ”There are indeed some of these problems in other regions, but the Bosphorus was hit by the Russian army. Don't tell me, you don't have time to mobilize reinforcements? ”

The number of Ottoman troops stationed in the Bosphorus area exceeded 200,000, while the offensive Russian troops were only about 100,000. On the surface, the Ottoman troops had absolute strength, but unfortunately they were defeated.

War can't just look at the quantity, but more depends on the deployment of troops. It seems that the number of Ottoman troops is larger, but in fact they have to be stationed in various places, and when fighting the Russian army, their strength is not dominant.

Elmed explained hastily: ”His Majesty, although the Bosphorus fell, it also severely damaged the Russian army. The Russian army that landed in a short period of time has lost its ability to continue the war.

We are mobilizing heavy troops and preparing to drive them to the sea.