Ming Zuo

Facing the crisis, the Ottomans made two-handed preparations.

If you fight first, you can say anything if you win.

If you lose, surrender.

Would the Allies accept the surrender of the Ottoman Empire?

This is the job of the Grand Vizier.

While Muhammad IV led the army to help Constantinople, the Grand Vizier also led the peace mission to the Third Marine Division.

In Bursa, Grand Vizier met Chang Ying.

"Ottoman can cede Egypt, and there is no unresolved hatred with the empire. If the empire can withdraw its troops, the two countries can become brothers. From now on, the merchants of the empire can freely enter and exit Ottoman and enjoy the same treatment as the Ottomans. "

The great vizier was uneasy and kind, and wanted to drive a wedge between the allies as soon as he came up.

Of course, Chang Ying wouldn't be fooled by this flamboyance.

"I am a soldier, and I am only responsible for fighting according to orders. As for the peace talks, please wait for the representatives of the empire to arrive."

Chang Ying put the mission aside and directed the Second Army to move forward.

Seeing the second army advance to the front line of Sapanca, the Ottomans felt like they were sitting on pins and needles.

As an experienced general, Chang Ying's action was equivalent to hitting the Ottoman's waist and eyes all at once.

The reinforcement striker led by Mohammed IV has arrived in Sakarya not far away. The distance between the two sides is only fifty miles, and friction has already occurred between the reconnaissance troops.

In this case, the Ottomans would certainly not be able to move on to reinforce Constantinople.

Going west from Sakarya is a long and narrow land, which can easily be cut off by the second army.

Once Mehmet IV went straight to Constantinople regardless of his care, and the second army captured Sakarya, the essence of the entire Ottoman Empire would be trapped near Constantinople.

The rest of the vast territory will be at the mercy of the Allies.

The allies didn't even need to take any action against Constantinople. They only needed to besiege and then send a large army to sweep other areas, and the Ottoman Empire would really be destroyed.

Muhammad IV had no choice but to command the army to stand on the front line of Sakarya.

He must first solve the second army, and then it is possible to reinforce Constantinople.

Chang Ying fully studied the nearby terrain and decided to use defense instead of offense.

The three marine divisions defended Sapanja, Capet and other places respectively, established a line of defense around Sapanja Lake, and relied on the steep mountainous terrain around them, waiting for the Ottomans to attack.

In addition, he also established a reserve team in Gircuk in the rear, ready to reinforce various defense lines at any time.

There is a valley in the south of Sapanca that can go around to the back of the Second Army, and Chang Ying handed over this route to the rest of the army.

As long as the Allied forces guard the vicinity of Lake Iznik and prevent the Ottoman army from completing the outflanking, the Allied forces will be invincible in this battle.

Anyway, the Ottomans were eager to reinforce Constantinople, and they would definitely make mistakes in the chaos, and time was on the side of the Allies.

Chang Ying's tortoise fight made Muhammad IV scratch his head.

He tried several times, whether it was a strong attack or a false defeat, Chang Ying ignored them all, and strictly ordered all the Allied forces not to attack.

Time passed day by day, and the 40 Ottoman army could not move an inch.

But bad news from Constantinople came one after another.

The ocean-going fleet finally began to attack the Bosporus Strait.

Although the Ottomans used city defenses and terrain to deploy a large number of artillery on both sides of the strait to tightly block the sea, but this time the ocean-going fleet learned a lesson and no longer rushed into the strait rashly, but took advantage of the range of the artillery to repeatedly ravage Ottoman fortifications.

The generation difference in weapons finally caused troubles for the Ottomans.

The forts they built are still based on dealing with old-fashioned artillery.It cannot be said that it is not strong enough, but the killing effect caused by high-explosive shells and solid shells is different.

In addition, the cognitive gap also caused huge casualties to the Ottomans.

For example, the Ottoman fort, gunpowder and shells are piled next to the artillery.This is very convenient for loading and launching, and can strike enemy ships on the sea with faster firepower.

In the past, facing old-fashioned artillery, this kind of deployment was no problem.

After all, even if a solid shell hits the fort, it is just a big iron ball rolling around, which rarely threatens gunpowder.

But the ocean-going fleet used high-explosive shells. After the explosion, high-temperature shrapnel and gunpowder splashed around, directly detonating the gunpowder hoarded by the Ottomans.

Then I saw the forts near the coast exploded one after another, and countless black smoke rose into the sky, accompanied by the stumps of the Ottomans flying in the sky.

After fighting for three days, the Ottomans finally realized the danger and urgently modified their deployment.

But of little use.

They sadly discovered that their artillery range was not enough, and they couldn't beat the ocean-going fleet at high places on land.

The ultra-long-range artillery fire of the ocean-going fleet spanning a distance of more than 5000 meters can completely call the forts one by one.

Although the Ottomans built many hidden forts, they would not be exposed as long as they did not fire.But the quantity is insufficient, seriously affecting the efficiency.

And this hidden fort will be exposed as long as it fires, and then it will be buried under the concentrated fire of the ocean-going fleet.

A month later, the connection between the two sides of Constantinople was completely cut off by the ocean-going fleet.It is difficult to transport materials on the east coast across the strait during the day, and the Ottomans can only cross the sea at night against the turbulent wind and waves in the strait.

In this way, the loss can be imagined.

If the northern end of the strait was not still in the hands of the Ottomans, Constantinople would have completely become an isolated city.

At the end of November, after a fierce struggle and at the cost of 3000 casualties, the First Army finally captured the high ground outside Catalca.

Catalja, the gateway to Constantinople, was no longer in danger. The Allied forces could already overlook the entire city from the high ground, and set up artillery to bombard the city indiscriminately.

The Ottomans had no choice but to continue to retreat, sticking to the mountains and hills in the west of Constantinople.

Although the First Army suffered heavy casualties, the enthusiasm of the Europeans was high.Especially Eastern Europe, which was once enslaved by the Ottoman Empire, is eager to seize this opportunity to get rid of it.

Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and other countries raised a large number of troops and sent them to the front, which caused the first army to expand rapidly.

Under the ebb and flow, the strength of the First Army has exceeded 70.

The Ottoman defenders in Constantinople were only 30.

If the 40 army led by Mehmet IV can arrive, the Ottomans will naturally sit back and relax.It's a pity that the reinforcements were dragged behind by the second army and couldn't take care of themselves, which suddenly made Constantinople no longer so safe.

Just as the Grand Vizier and others in the Second Army saw the whole situation, they finally realized that the defeat of the Ottoman Empire seemed inevitable.

"Dear General Chang, please allow us to send representatives back and let the Sultan state the facts. Please believe in the sincerity of Osman, we are very eager for peace." (End of this chapter)