Chapter 322： Battle of Bulgaria (3)

? In the second month after the declaration of war, the Battle of Bulgaria, which both Romania and the Allied powers were concerned about, finally began. The 3rd and 7th Divisions, which started from Ruse, acted as the vanguard and took the lead in the operation.

Under the crush of superior forces and equipment, they took the lead in attacking the border city of Carmen. This border city, 40 kilometers from Ruse, 50 kilometers from Luman, and 45 kilometers from Veliko Tarnovo, is only defended by a militia. As the forward commander, Lieutenant General Mandiv only arranged a brigade-level assault and won it in a battle.

Standing in the Carmen City Hall, which had been empty, and looking at the messy ground, Lieutenant General Mandiv instructed the staff around him. "Report to the commander that we have taken Carmen and failed to meet the enemy's resistance."

Asked the young communications staff incomprehensibly. "Sir, didn't we meet resistance outside the city?"

Faced with the staff's question, Lieutenant General Mandiv spoke with disdain. "A battle that collapses with a charge can also be called resistance?"

After finishing talking, Division Commander Mandiv ignored the little staff officer and wanted to talk about a general who wears the rank of major general next to him. "Major General Foktor, I will lead the third division first, and your seventh division will follow. We will meet outside the city of Veliko Tarnovo."

Major General Foktor was a little surprised by the words of Lieutenant General Mandiv, and he couldn't help but say it. "This is very likely to be dangerous."

"The danger is not great."

Mandiv spoke his plan. "The enemy even Carmen gave up directly. They must be shrinking their forces to defend Veliko Tarnovo. It is impossible to have a line of defense behind. So I bet there are no major enemies along the way from here to Veliko Tarnovo. military."

Facing the confident Mandiv, Major General Foktor is not good at dissuading him, after all, the commander of Vanguard is also the opponent. "Okay, you go first. I will leave a battalion to meet the group army, and then follow."

Seeing that Foktor agreed to his action, Lieutenant General Mandiv immediately went to prepare for the march of the third division. In fact, Lieutenant General Mandiv still has a careful thought in his heart. He intends to use the forward position of the third division to lure the Bulgarian army to attack, and then give the group army a chance to eat the enemy. The incentive for him to have this idea was Lieutenant General Ankodar of the First Division of the Guards. Everyone was jealous of the benefits that the commander of the First Division of Guards had gained after that battle, so he wanted to give it a try.

Then the third division, under the leadership of the commander of the division, Lieutenant General Mandiv, began to march towards Veliko Tarnovo, while the seventh division began to move half a day late. The Bulgarian commander, Lieutenant General Kudingchev, who has been following the battle, soon knew about this trend, but he was in Veliko Tarnovo but he was not at all interested in it.

Holding the latest intelligence of the Romanian army in his hand, he spoke with disdain. "This kind of trick can be embarrassing."

Hearing the words of the commander, several Bulgarian division commanders gathered in the headquarters also spoke up.

"Lieutenant General, do we give them some color to see."

"We can send a small group of troops to take advantage of the familiar terrain to harass their march."

"Lieutenant General, we..."

Seeing that he was talking about his advice to the Taoist teachers, Lieutenant General Kudingchev raised his hand to signal to listen to him. "As you all know, we have been fighting the enemy for a month in Thessaloniki, which consumes a lot of money. Moreover, it seems that we have no possibility of drawing troops from the front of Thessaloniki, so now we are resisting the Romanians. The only army. I cannot risk putting the country in any danger for this."

Lieutenant General Kudinchev’s words and the commanders present all understand that they are Bulgaria’s last capital, and if they lose, they will withdraw from the battle.

After waiting for the division commander to digest these words, Lieutenant General Kudinchev immediately stated his own combat plan. "Furthermore, according to my plan, both Veliko Tarnovo and Norwich will gradually resist and be abandoned. We will lengthen the enemy's supply line, and finally in Pleven we will block the enemy's attack, and then it will be the time for us to counterattack."

"What will the people do if the city is abandoned like this?"

Facing the question, Lieutenant General Kudingchev answered. "I will organize the evacuation of personnel and materials, among which young adults, women and children will be the priority evacuation targets."

In the face of Lieutenant General Kudinchev, none of the teachers present was a moral person and knew that this was the best way. It is the most sensible way to evacuate materials and useful personnel and leave the elderly who lack food and clothing to increase the pressure on the other party to supply them. But they are more or less obstructed in their hearts. After all, they are also humans, not machines, and they have feelings. Who makes Bulgaria's supplies tight now.

In fact, Bulgaria is the country with the most shortage of supplies in the League. Over the years, one million troops have overwhelmed this mountainous country not known for its food production. Even starting last year, the Bulgarian military had to send a group of soldiers back to help with farming during the busy farming season.

However, these still cannot solve the food and clothing problem of the people, and there are still a large number of old and weak dying due to various injuries and diseases caused by hunger. The domestic civil grievances have already made Bulgaria a little uncontrollable, but relying on a strong patriotic national plot, it can barely be maintained.

After a glance at the teachers in front of him, Lieutenant-General Kudingchev continued. "The next thing we have to do is to block the Romanian attack for the people."

Someone asked at this moment. "What if you can't stop it?"

"Then guarantee your strength and save it for the next counterattack."

Seeing the teacher who was quiet and a little depressed, Lieutenant General Kudinchev knew that this was his own point, so he remedyed it. "I have discussed with the commander-in-chief before that, as long as he resists the attack of the Allied forces outside the city of Thessaloniki, he will be deployed for reinforcements."

The commander-in-chief mentioned by Lieutenant General Kudingchev is not Ferdinand I, who is conventionally served by the king, but also by Admiral Zekov.

The full name of this Admiral Zekov is Nikolai Dzekov, who was born in Sliven in 1865. He graduated from the Sofia Military School and volunteered to join the Reserve Corps in the Serbian-Bulgarian War of 1885. In 1886, he participated in the military coup against Alexander. After the conspiracy failed, he was demoted to a cadet and sent to serve in the 12th Infantry Regiment. Soon, he received an amnesty and graduated from the military academy.

In 1887, he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to Schumann's Second Artillery Regiment. In 1894, he was promoted to captain and sent to Italy. In 1898, he graduated from the Turin Military Academy. After returning to Bulgaria, he served in the Third Artillery Regiment and Army Staff. In 1901, he was promoted to a major and taught at the Sofia Military School. In 1912, he became the principal of the school. In the meantime, he gained the trust of King Ferdinand I, and from 1910 to 1912, he also served as the commander of the Infantry Regiment.

During the First Balkan War, Colonel Zekov served as the Chief of Staff of the Second Army, responsible for the initial siege of Edirne. Later, he led a team to raid the fortress in Edirne and made achievements in battle. He was unable to participate in the Second Balkan War due to illness. After the war, he was appointed commander of the Bulgarian Thracian troops.

After the Balkan War, King Ferdinand I refused to continue to command the Bulgarian army as commander-in-chief and supported Nikolai Rekov in this post. Zhekov supported Bulgaria on the side of the Allies in the war, so when he decided to join the war, he assumed the post of commander-in-chief on September 24, 1915.

After taking over the post of commander-in-chief Zekov is committed to solving the problem of bloated command and lack of materials in the Bulgarian army. He performed very well, not only reducing the command staff to supplement the grassroots troops, but also letting Germany and Austria-Hungary provide no less than assistance.

Moreover, he pays attention to the morale of the soldiers, and has been to the grassroots companies many times to understand the situation, which is deeply loved by the soldiers. In addition, he also made a lot of credit in the flanking Serbia campaign.

One more thing here, when Romania joined the war in the original space-time, he also led the Bulgarian army to join the army group led by Marshal Mackensen, and performed quite well in the occupation of Romania.

Therefore, after Lieutenant General Kudinchev said that he had discussed with General Zekov, the division commanders present were relieved a lot.

It's just that they need to face it seriously in the next battle. With the Romanian army that defeated Bulgaria and quit the war, it's up to them to stop it.

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