Chapter 427: Batumi Peace Conference

Chapter 427: Batumi Peace Conference

Chapter 427: Batumi Peace Conference
"According to our intelligence, the commander of the Lucia army currently stationed in Baku was urgently promoted during the pre-war military expansion."

"Because of the large number of new recruits and the shortage of officers, Lucia recruited a large number of retired officers and promoted 3000 soldiers who had never attended military academies to officers at one time."

"Vladimir Alexandrovich Sukhomlinov just graduated from the Cavalry Department of the Russian General Staff Academy last year. Due to the urgent expansion of the army, he served as the commander of the newly formed cavalry regiment."

"Then, his superiors were transferred to the Western Front, and he was responsible for recruiting soldiers locally and forming two militia reserve divisions."

"The Ottomans suddenly attacked, Armenia and Georgia fell one after another, and Baku suddenly became the front line. He, a colonel who was originally promoted urgently, was appointed as the major general division commander and acting army commander, responsible for commanding two militia divisions to defend Baku."

Everyone had no confidence in whether the Russians could defend Baku, and after listening to Emery's introduction of the situation, they became even less confident.

The militia division commander promoted by Nima on the front line was the acting army commander, and he was from the cavalry department. Could he defend the city? Even if he could, two militia divisions against the Ottoman army of 100,000?
"The Ottoman army of 100,000 is also a figment. The Ottomans only have one tank division and two mechanized divisions, both on the Thracian front."

"In the Caucasus, there is no mechanized transportation equipment, so mules and horses are needed to transport food. Therefore, out of the 112,000 Ottomans, there were only 50,000 combatants. After we attacked them in Tbilisi, there were only 45,000 left, 69,000 rifles, 60 machine guns, and 120 artillery pieces."

"But--Sukhomlinov's two militia divisions, 27,000 men, have one gun for every three men..."

"Also, according to the intelligence from Lucia Yanzi of the Huai Army Intelligence Department stationed in Mingyue Tower in Baku, Sukhomlinov is a passionate man. When he is courting women, he can ignore the most urgent military information..."

Baku of this era was extremely rich because of oil and was known as the "Pearl of the Caspian Sea" and the "City of Black Gold". There were 22 oil refineries outside the city and brand new European-style buildings in the city. Its prosperity was no less than that of St. Petersburg.

This upstart country, which was the first in the world to achieve industrialized oil production, was catching up with traditional big cities such as London, Paris and Vienna at a very fast pace, so Mingyue Tower was also built there.

Everyone was worried. The Baku defenders had 9,000 guns and 27,000 poorly trained militiamen, who had to fight against 45,000 regular troops of the Ottoman Empire's Third Army.

The leader of the defending army seems to be very unreliable. This is too far-fetched no matter how you look at it.

Moreover, the main force of the Huai Army was blocked by landmines and could not go to the rescue due to the entire Azerbaijan.

"So, after research, the General Staff decided to form a light infantry division and advance lightly. Using battalions as units, they will conduct diversionary harassment operations against the rear of the Ottoman Third Army, preventing it from launching a full-scale attack on Baku."

"This mission is extremely dangerous, and it is a guerrilla war where our firepower is inferior to that of the enemy, so—"

The three division commanders, Tian Xing, Shao Quanyi, and Xu Bangdao, stood up together and said, "I'll go!"

Zhou Shengchuan said that the artillery division commander and Song Laosan did not show up, so it was useless for them to ask for battle. It was impossible for them to go.

Grant and Emery looked at Shao Quanzhong. The General Staff had already made the tactical plan, but it was up to Shao Quanzhong to decide who to send.

Shao Quanzhong scratched his head, put his hands behind his back and stared at the map of the Caucasus for a long time. Suddenly he waved his hand and said, "You don't have to take risks. I'll take care of this."

All his generals stood up together, "General, you must not take any risks yourself!"

Shao Quanzhong glared at him, "Everyone, sit down! Who the hell said they wanted to take risks?"

"Maria! Draft a telegram. In my capacity as the General of Fuyuan of the Qing Dynasty, transfer the Kokand Governor Song Qing to lead an armored division of the Kokand New Army, carrying the equipment and ammunition of three armored divisions, to Khiva by train. The train must arrive at Bekdash City, north of Karabogaz Bay on the east coast of the Caspian Sea within half a month."

"Call Wang Yongxian of the Hailing Wen Group and ask him to mobilize at least 50 salt cargo ships of more than 300 tons sailing in the Caspian Sea to the dock of the Wen Salt Company in Bekdash City within half a month."

"Call the Russian Caspian Fleet at Makachimara Port on the west bank of the Caspian Sea. As the commander-in-chief of our Caucasus Theater, order the Caspian Fleet to rush to Bekdash City within half a month, escort the transport fleet, and participate in the transportation of the latest equipment of the Song Qing Division and the two divisions to Baku."

"Call Sukhomlinov, the commander of the Baku garrison, and tell him to hold Baku for half a month. If he fails, I will kill him. If he succeeds, I will promote him from acting commander to deputy commander, Lieutenant General."

"Organize the Baku Garrison Army, promote Song Qing to Lieutenant General, and appoint him as the commander of the Baku Garrison Army, commanding two Russian militia divisions. At the same time, he will be responsible for equipping and training the two divisions and upgrading the two militia divisions to mechanized infantry divisions."

"Tell Song Qing that after arriving in Baku, he is not allowed to take the initiative to attack. Defending Baku's food and grass is a great achievement."

When Shao Quanzhong's Liushuijie order was issued, all the generals felt relieved.

Song Qing was an old subordinate of Shao Quanzhong and had been the commander of the first armored brigade of the Huai Army. With the combat power of a mechanized division, it was possible to break through the Third Army of the Ottoman Empire. If they just defended Baku, they would be safe.

As for Sukhomlinov's task of guarding for half a month, as long as he is not a pig, he will definitely be able to hold it. The Ottoman Empire's Third Army has not yet arrived in Baku. It may take more than half a month to arrive, deploy troops, and launch a campaign.

Grant and Emery discussed for a while, "Then we don't need to take the risk of sending light infantry to attack, we can just clear the mines openly. The enemy may run out of food and disband before we finish clearing the mines."

If it weren't for Grant and Emery, Shao Quanzhong wouldn't have the ability. This is a question of authorization.

Grant was the Chief of Staff of the Huai Army, not the Chief of Staff of the Qing Dynasty's armed forces. He could not mobilize the Qing Dynasty's army and could only play the cards in his hand.

Shao Quanzhong was the General of Fuyuan, the nominal commander-in-chief of the Qing army. If he were to transfer troops from other provinces, such as the new troops in Sichuan, they might not actually listen to him, but there would be no problem in transferring his own people from Kokand.

…………

Two months later, on September 22, the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign, Shao Quanzhong led the Huai Army out of the Kula River Valley, and in front of them was the endless Sylvan Plain.

Because they were clearing mines as they went, the advance was too slow, so the telegraph and telephone lines were laid along the way. The telegraph line from Tbilisi to Baku was destroyed by the Ottomans, but that didn't matter. The telegraph line that the British laid across the sea from Batumi to Sochi and all the way to Sevastopol is still there.

Then the telegraph line made a big circle from Volgograd and connected to Baku from the west bank of the Caspian Sea, so we could still get news from Baku directly here.

Sukhomlinov did not have the opportunity to prove whether he was a pig or not. The Huai Army Staff overestimated the efficiency of the Ottomans.

The Third Army's march with its baggage, including the mobilization of more than 100,000 logistics personnel, was a disaster for the backward Ottoman military.

It was not until a month ago that they organized everything and launched the attack on Baku.

Then, they faced three mechanized infantry divisions that were fully equipped, high morale, well-equipped, and armed to the teeth. One of the divisions was the Kokand New Army trained by Song Qing himself, with a brigade of Shao Quanzhong's veterans from the Western Expedition as the foundation.

Under the continuous bombardment of three Krupp field artillery battalions with recoil-barreled guns and the crossfire of Maxim machine guns and Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns, the Third Army, with only 45,000 soldiers, could not move forward.

After three failed attacks and leaving behind four thousand bodies, the Ottomans were at a loss.

We couldn't capture Baku from the front, and the Huai Army had a heavy artillery division, two tank divisions, a mechanized infantry division and a mechanized infantry brigade trying to cut us off from behind. What should we do?
In the Huai Army camp, the two tank division commanders Tian Xing and Xu Bangdao were extremely excited. It was time to show their skills!
The Huai Army prepared to launch a large-scale tank attack on the plains to completely defeat the Ottoman Third Army in one fell swoop.

"Report! According to the latest reconnaissance intelligence, the Ottoman Third Army has disappeared."

"Continue investigating!"

Could it be that the enemy was scared and dispersed?
No, not really.

Five days later, the investigation results came out.

The enemy's Third Army abandoned more than 60,000 logistical men and all heavy weapons, and 41,000 people fled into the mountains of South Azerbaijan in the southern Persian Empire with the remaining food to rob the Persians of their food.

More than 60,000 able-bodied men surrendered collectively to the Baku defenders and demanded food.

Tian Xing and Xu Bangdao punched the air, feeling extremely depressed. The enemy had fled, fled abroad, and became bandits in the neutral country of Persia.

Persia is now in decline. Half of its southern territory is under the actual control of Britain. It is a typical semi-feudal and semi-colonial weakling, and it really can't do anything to the tens of thousands of regular troops of the invading Ottoman Empire.

This situation is similar to a defeated army in history running to the Golden Triangle to claim supremacy...

Moreover, the place where they were running was mountainous. Even if Shao Quanzhong ordered to chase them into Persia, it was not the tank division's task. Our two tank divisions had gone through so much trouble to get here, but it was in vain, right?

On the third day of October in the thirteenth year of the Tongzhi reign, Shao Quanzhong arrived in Baku.

His old subordinate Song Qing led the Kokand New Army and two Russian newly formed mechanized infantry divisions to welcome them.

Also coming to welcome them were Nobel’s eldest and second brothers, two big bosses of oil groups.

Looking at the densely packed oil drilling rigs, centrifugal "kowtow machines", and modern-style refineries around Baku, Shao Quanzhong was in a good mood. Large industrialized cities are my favorite. Now this is my territory!

"Report! The British and French forces failed in their attack on the Gallipoli Peninsula, with 44,000 killed and 97,000 wounded. Under the cover of the navy, they withdrew from the Gallipoli Peninsula."

"During the retreat, the British battleship HMS Destroyer was hit by a mine and ran aground. The French battleship HMS Ocean was hit by a mine while trying to tow the HMS Destroyer, and both ships sank at the same time."

Well, it wasn't that Britain and France couldn't fight, it was because they ran into Turkey's most elite Fifth Army? Moreover, it was a war of attrition in the mountains with unfavorable terrain, and Britain's equipment advantage could not be brought into play in mountain warfare.

Even the most advanced ship, the Destroyer, sank, and the British suffered a huge loss.

"Report! The Greek troops have captured half of the Thrace region and are fighting a bloody battle with the Ottoman Empire's Second Army."

"Report! The Sinai New Army led by Liu Jintang and the Tianfang New Army led by Ma Zhan'ao encountered a large number of guerrilla attacks on their way to Ankara, losing 2,000 soldiers. They finally arrived in Ankara and are now shelling Ankara and stepping up their attack."

"Report: Since the Ottoman Empire has lost most of its territory and has insufficient food and fodder to sustain the war, Sultan Abdul Hamid II has admitted defeat."

"The Ottoman Empire requests a ceasefire with the Qing Dynasty, Russia, Bulgaria, and Greece, and asks the four countries to send representatives to Istanbul for peace talks to discuss the issue of compensation for the Ottoman Empire's defeat."

Shao Quanzhong laughed up to the sky, "You can't hold on any longer, right? Call Istanbul back. We can have a ceasefire or negotiate, but we can't go to Istanbul to discuss it."

"Let the Ottomans and Greeks come to my territory and negotiate in Batumi, and I can represent the Qing Dynasty, Russia, and Bulgaria."

After several telegrams were exchanged, the Ankara and Thrace battlefields simultaneously ceased fire. Abdul Hamid II announced that the Ottoman Empire would withdraw from the European war, and the five countries of Qing, Romania, Austria, Bulgaria and Greece would begin peace talks in Batumi.

The Huai Army arrived slowly, but returned quickly. On October 20, Shao Quanzhong led the main force of the Huai Army to Batumi, a city on the east coast of the Black Sea.

The Greek and Ottoman negotiators went out of the city to welcome Marshal Shao, and the Batumi peace talks officially began.

(End of this chapter)