Greece’s Roman Road

Bulgarian Consulate in Thessaloniki

Ever since he learned of the news that the Ottoman army had retreated to Thessaloniki, Johankovic, the Bulgarian consul in Thessaloniki, had been paying close attention to the news in Thessaloniki.

Opened the silk curtains, standing on the second floor, John Cowichan looked down at the scene on the streets of Thessaloniki. From time to time, a few Ottoman soldiers could be seen walking on the street carelessly.

Ottoman soldiers are easily recognizable by their appearance, as they generally wear headscarves.

The goods in the shops on the street, whatever the soldiers fancy, put them directly in the pockets. Those Jews or Greek businessmen, their faces blushed, but looking at the rifles on the shoulders of these Ottoman soldiers, what is it? Dare not to speak out.

These undisciplined soldiers wandered the streets in twos and threes, with loose discipline and low morale.

Johnkovich was surprised by the lax military discipline of the Ottoman army. As we all know, the Greek army has been winning consecutive battles, and it is now approaching the city of Thessaloniki.

According to John Cowichan's expectation, the Ottoman army should be preparing for the battle as if it were facing a great enemy.

But what puzzled Johnkovich was that these Ottoman soldiers still had time to wander the streets, leisurely and leisurely, with no sign of preparing for war.

Although Johnkovich was not aware of the secret negotiations between the Greeks and the Ottomans on Thessaloniki, he was keenly aware of the unusual behavior of the Ottoman army.

On the morning of January 8, John Cowichan went to visit Aitsa Pasha to ask about the attitude of the Ottomans.

Looking at the Bulgarian consul who was cautiously probing in front of him, Aitsa Pasha, who wanted to provoke the Balkan alliance, naturally would not be polite and said frankly: "The Macedonian Legion has already negotiated terms with the Greeks, we will use the Saloni Calgary, in exchange for the Greek army to allow the rest of our army to withdraw from Thessaloniki"

Aitsa Pasha quietly watched the Bulgarian consul's expression change, guessing in his heart how Sofia (the Bulgarian capital) would react after learning the news.

This shocking answer made the anger in Johnkovic's heart like a flame, and he gave birth to the annoyance and gnashing hatred of Bulgaria being betrayed by the Greeks.

The Bulgarian army of 400,000 fought with the Ottomans in Thrace, fighting against the power of an empire almost alone, according to John Covic.

Whether it was the Greeks or the Serbs, their military operations in Macedonia were able to proceed smoothly, not because the Bulgarian army firmly attracted the attention of the Ottoman Empire in the frontal war, so that the Ottomans had no time to care about the war in Macedonia.

To put it bluntly, most of the elite units of the Ottoman army were dealt with by Bulgarian soldiers.

And these despicable Greeks took advantage of Bulgaria behind their backs.

"Etsa Pasha, I have to say, this news really shocks me... how can you negotiate with the Greeks behind Bulgaria's back?" Johnkovich asked in disbelief .

"As a major participant in the Balkan Union, Aitsa Pasha, I strongly urge you to surrender to the great kingdom of Bulgaria, where the army of two divisions of our country is approaching Thessaloniki at great speed" John Coe Vicchi heard Aitsa Pasha, the top Ottoman commander in Thessaloniki, trying to salvage the bad news for Bulgaria.

Looking at John Covic, whose chest heaved violently with anger, and his face was flushed, Aitesa Pasha did not forget to add fuel to the fire: "We have reached an agreement with the commander-in-chief of the Greeks, Crown Prince Constantine, last night. protocol"

Speaking of this, Aitsa Pasha spread his hands and made a helpless look: "Unfortunately, I only have one Thessaloniki"

He took a few deep breaths and calmed down all the negative emotions. After thinking for a while, he also roughly understood the thoughts of the Pasha in front of him.

Since the situation in Thessaloniki has been irreversible, there is no need to be a clown here and let people make fun of it.

"I really envy your military literacy, Pasha, as a soldier, being able to hand over an important city of the country to another country without any hindrance, I really admire it from the bottom of my heart. I can ask you for advice. , is there any secret to this?"

Without waiting for Aitesa Pasha to respond, he asked himself and answered, "Oh, I still don't need it. Anyway, I will never use this kind of experience."

After all, without seeing Aitesa Pasha react, he turned and left in a hurry.

After returning to the consulate, I hurried to the communication room and asked the telegraph staff to inform the country and the army of the news.

In the afternoon, the Greek army officially entered the city of Thessaloniki, and the whole process was safe and orderly without encountering any resistance.

The Ottoman army withdrew from the city of Thessaloniki in the morning according to a secret agreement signed.

That night, in the mansion that belonged to Aitesa Pasha, Constantine invited the upper class of the city of Thessaloniki to hold a banquet to celebrate Greece's liberation of Thessaloniki. A city lost for hundreds of years.

In the quiet back garden ~www.wuxiahere.com~ Constantine received the Bulgarian consul Johnkovic in Thessaloniki.

In the gazebo in the garden, Constantine sat and talked with two guests from Bulgaria.

"His Royal Highness, congratulations on leading the Greek army to a glorious victory for the Balkan Alliance," Johnkovich complimented.

John Cowichan was thin and tall, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, with clean skin and a calm air.

As for the guest sitting next to him, with a straight back and a bushy beard, his actions were straight and his expressions solemn. At first glance, he could tell that he was a soldier.

"His Royal Highness, this is General Christopher. After hearing the news that the Greek army's attack on the city of Thessaloniki was not going well, General Christoll immediately led the twelve divisions under his command and quickly came to support the Greek allies." John Cowichan saw Constantine looking at the two of them and introduced.

In fact, after Johnkovich sent back the news that the Greek army was about to enter Thessaloniki, both the Bulgarian government and the army were caught off guard.

According to Bulgaria's expectations, the Greek offensive, even if it goes well, will take more than ten days.

After all, the Ottoman army stationed in Thessaloniki not only had complete fortifications to rely on, but also had 100,000 soldiers.

The private agreement between the Greeks and the Ottomans was not foreseen at all.

Therefore, after learning the news of John Covic, King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria directly ordered the division of Christo, who was the closest to Thessaloniki, to go to Thessaloniki immediately.

After hearing the news, Christo's infantry division hurriedly rushed, seeing that the Greeks had already entered the city, Christo reluctantly took a company of cavalry, lightly loaded into battle, and ran for more than four hours in a row before he was able to Catch the feast of the Greeks.