Chapter 385: Freedom Leading the Bulgarian People
Chapter 385: Freedom Leading the Bulgarian People
On April 1872, 4, the siege of Sofia continued.
After more than a month of preparation, the Ottoman Empire drew troops from various provinces, regrouped and launched a second encirclement and suppression campaign against rebellious Bulgaria.
This time, the Ottoman Empire was determined and mobilized all its national strength, gathering an army of 400,000, still led by the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Muzafer Pasha.
After all, Muzaffar Pasha already had experience fighting the rebels, and he was actually quite capable.
Pasha was originally a Pole, his original name was Vasdilaw Tchaikovsky, he graduated from the French Saint-Cyr Military Academy, after serving Türkiye he made many military achievements and was promoted to the rank of Imperial Marshal.
As for not being able to beat the Russians, that's not a shame. Just lie down and rest where you fall, and then you can get beaten up again.
Muzaffar Pasha reviewed the process of the first campaign against the rebels, carefully studying every detail, and finally came to the conclusion that it was not because of my inability, but because the enemy was too cunning and we did not pay enough attention to it.
The last time we failed to encircle and suppress the enemy, it was just because we didn't have enough soldiers. We chased after the enemy and they escaped. This time, I have more soldiers and more generals. We will use the fortress tactics, encircle them with iron walls, and search them with a dragnet. Let's see where you can run.
On April 4, the punitive army arrived at Harmanli. Muzaffar Pasha established a solid logistics base here and left 30 troops to garrison there to see who would dare to come and rob.
At the same time, all the Winchester repeating rifles and Schneider breech-loading rifles in the army were eliminated and replaced with Martini bolt-action rifles that were urgently purchased from Britain with loans a month ago. At the same time, a large number of artillery pieces were added.
On May 5, 15 troops arrived at Sofia. Along the way, there were special troops to defend against guerrillas and guard the food route, so the main force was not delayed and arrived smoothly as planned.
The rebels fled and the siege of Sofia was easily lifted.
The able-bodied men and security forces in the city are unreliable. They can defend the city but dare not attack. It doesn’t matter. Leave a hundred thousand troops to garrison. Do you still have the strength to surround it?
In the small town of Buhovo, the 52,000 main forces of the Bulgarian Restoration Army passed by during their strategic retreat.
After the first encirclement and suppression by the Turkish devils, how could the army still have 52,000 soldiers? The 700,000 guerrillas were the reserve of the regular army. The main force of the Restoration Army could be supplemented at any time and was always fully staffed.
The 50,000-man army had more than 100,000 horses. The Russians were good at this, and they had plenty of horses. The Russians had 20 horses for every 100 men. The Russians had more than 60 million people at that time, and they raised more than 10 million war horses across the country.
The number of horses is linked to national strength and war needs. Mongolian horses are not the most numerous. The ranking of the number of horses in this era is Russia, the United States, Argentina, and European countries. Mongolia is far behind.
The three main leaders of the Restoration Army, Garibaldi, Potowski and Shao Quanxiao, stood side by side, and the red-haired military supervisors continued to boost morale.
"Comrades, today we are taking a big step back in order to take a big step forward in the future. We will definitely fight back. The Turkish devils have committed many evil deeds and will not have a good end!"
Soon, the morale of the retreating troops began to rise and they began to sing loud military songs, this time the Marshal's Training Song.
After the baptism of war, Shao Quanxiao's face began to have tough lines like those cut by a knife or an axe.
An instructor who only knew how to teach, with the Ottoman Empire, a bad chess player, as his sparring partner, has evolved into a famous general who will go down in history through practice.
A war horse came galloping over, and a heroic female officer jumped off the horse. The rank of lieutenant colonel was hung on her shoulders, which was awarded by Garibaldi, the commander-in-chief of the Restoration Army.
War is the best way to train people. The guerrilla fighter who was originally a flower girl grew up step by step to become a guerrilla leader, and now he is the leader of an independent local force in the guerrillas.
Of course, the fact that so many of her comrades sacrificed their lives and she was lucky enough to survive was also the main reason for her rapid promotion.
The main Cossack forces engaged in mobile warfare and suffered few losses. The local guerrillas harassed the enemy's regular army and paid a heavy price.
In times of war, human life was precious and uncertain, so the flower girl became more cautious about what she had.
Sophie's Chinese was halting, but she finally managed to speak, "Shao, your main force is leaving. I want to stay here and continue my guerrilla warfare, fighting the Turkish devils."
"We are parting now, and I don't know if we will ever meet again. If I die, please remember to visit me and bury me in your Shao family's ancestral tomb, okay?"
Sophie turned around, took out a rose wreath from the mattress on the horse's back, and put it on Shao Quanxiao's head.
It was only the second time they met. The flower girl admired Shao Quanxiao, the handsome and tough general chief of the general staff, and dared to love and hate him boldly. Quanxiao, like his father Shao Shucai, was a rather passive and slow man.
His eldest brother took the initiative to seduce Rong Hui when he was 20 years old. If his younger brother had not had an arranged marriage, he would probably have been single for the rest of his life.
Now that a beautiful woman is actively pursuing him, Shao Quanxiao is trapped without knowing it. Sophie stepped forward and boldly pecked Quanxiao on the cheek, then turned around and mounted her horse, "Shao! See you after the victory! You must come to Sophia Rose Valley to marry me."
Garibaldi and Potoschi clapped behind him, "Young man, catch up, we can definitely catch him now!"
Quan Xiao was quite tempted, but he didn't chase her in the end. He watched the female officer's horse move slowly for a while, turned back and waved, then suddenly accelerated and disappeared from his sight.
Garibaldi shook his head and coughed twice. "It's great to be young. When I was young, if I met someone like you, I would definitely chase you."
Shao Quanxiao took off the wreath from his head, and suddenly his hand was pricked and a drop of blood burst out.
Potowski sighed, "Please pray that this heroine can survive the war, otherwise I doubt that this foolish guy Shao will never marry."
When the main force retreated to the Pleven Fortress, the pursuing Turkish expeditionary force suddenly encountered a guerrilla attack that was several times more intense than before.
On the guerrillas' flag was a painting of a heroic woman holding the Bulgarian flag high, with her comrades following behind her.
This was drawn by an artist in the guerrillas in imitation of a famous French painting and printed on the flag. However, in this painting, there is an additional handsome oriental general wearing a rose crown and standing side by side with a woman.
The original lion on the white, green and red tricolor flag of the Kingdom of Bulgaria was also replaced with a rose wreath.
"Freedom leads the Bulgarian people", and as many as 700,000 guerrillas have an idol to follow.
As a result, both Sophie and Shao Quanxiao were wanted by the Turkish authorities with a huge reward.
Nine days later, the 200,000-strong expeditionary force, which encountered the guerrillas' fierce attack like moths to a flame, was chased to the Pleven Fortress in a panic.
The main force of the Restoration Army did not hold out here, but retreated all the way to the border city of Ruse.
Muzaffar Pasha left 100,000 troops in the Pleven Fortress, forming a stable triangle with Sofia and Harmanli.
The 300,000-strong army suppressed Bulgaria and firmly controlled the strategic points. They tried to turn Bulgaria into a steel position and never let the Restoration Army have the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.
Pasha personally led his most elite 100,000 troops to pursue the main force of the Restoration Army, vowing to drive the main force of the Restoration Army out of Bulgaria.
Six days later, the expeditionary force, having experienced even more intense guerrilla attacks, finally reached Ruse.
The main force of the Restoration Army abandoned Ruse and crossed the river to retreat into Romania. The retreat seemed very urgent, and a large amount of captured materials and more than 5,000 Don River horses were left on the shore.
The expeditionary army announced the liberation of all Bulgaria.
The Ottoman Empire officially warned Romania not to shelter the rebels who had fled into its territory, and an army of 100,000 crossed the Danube into Romania to pursue the rebels.
In Bulgaria, 300,000 troops carried out brutal retaliation and suppression against the guerrillas.
Bulgaria was filled with the sounds of explosions caused by landmines stepped on by the expeditionary army, and the number of casualties and disabilities among the expeditionary army rose sharply.
But ordinary people could not always escape the encirclement and suppression, and entire villages were massacred from time to time.
On June 1872, 6, Garibaldi, the commander-in-chief of the Restoration Army, was betrayed by a traitor and was unfortunately arrested and sacrificed.
When the news came out, the whole of Italy was in mourning. Crowds of people protesting against the Ottoman Empire were everywhere, demanding that the government declare war on the Ottoman Empire, but the government remained silent.
The red, white, star and crescent flag was flying in Bulgaria, the expeditionary army was showing off its might, and tall poles with guerrillas hanged on them were erected on both sides of the road.
Terror shrouded Bulgaria, and the vigorous Bulgarian restoration movement fell into a low ebb.
(End of this chapter)