Chapter 408 Transaction

Although the war was extremely unfavorable, there was also good news for Tsar Ferdinand, that is, two of the four major powers of the Allied Powers were from the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family like him.

Although neither King George V of the United Kingdom nor King Arthur of Australasia had a close blood relationship with Ferdinand, they were relatives from the same family after all, so there should be no need to kill them all.

With such expectations, Ferdinand began to try to contact the Allies to discuss how to end the war with less losses.

Yes, although a large number of Bulgarian troops were still fighting bravely on the front line to defend the country, Ferdinand in Sofia was already thinking about how to protect the interests of himself and the royal family and how to stabilize his position after the war.

Ferdinand successfully demonstrated the spirit of "a friend would die but a poor man would die, a civilian would die but a royal family would die". As long as he could ensure that his power and status after the war were not lost, he could give up everything.

For this reason, Ferdinand deliberately did not inform the Bulgarian Prime Minister when contacting the Allies, so that after reaching an agreement with the Allies, the Bulgarian Prime Minister would be blamed for starting and participating in the war.

Although the military leaders were more proactive and had a bigger share of the blame before the war, Tsar Ferdinand still needed the military to maintain Bulgaria's stability and his own status after the war, so the military could not be offended in any way.

Ferdinand fully demonstrated the spirit of choosing the heavier of two powers and choosing the lighter of two powers. He never hesitated when he should abandon it, and even decided on the scope of land to be ceded after the defeat.

If the Bulgarian front-line troops knew of Ferdinand's behavior, I'm afraid they would have to say: "I am about to fight to the death, why did your Majesty surrender first?"

Of course, Ferdinand did a good job of keeping secrets, at least the Bulgarian soldiers on the front line did not know that Ferdinand had planned to surrender.

Truckloads of supplies were sent to the front, which not only reflected the government's high expectations for the war, but also the Bulgarian people's desire for victory in the war.

May 30, 1915, front-line border.

Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand first contacted Britain and France, because the Balkan countries launched the Second Balkan War with the support of Russia, so Ferdinand never thought of contacting Russia first.

As for Australasia, although it was one of the four major powers of the Allied Powers along with Britain, France and Russia, Australasia was still too weak compared to the size of the other three countries, and it was too far away from Europe to play a vital role in the European situation.

But what Ferdinand did not expect was that the unified statement of Britain and France was that Martin, the division commander of Australasia, was the supreme commander of the Balkan Front, and Australasia had independent command over its own army.

This also means that unless Australasia and Commander Martin nod, the war in the Balkans will continue. The Balkan countries will agree to sit at the negotiation table with Bulgaria only after they have obtained satisfactory benefits.

This made Ferdinand nervous instantly. If the Balkan countries were allowed to divide Bulgaria, I am afraid that Bulgaria would suffer huge losses in this war, and the Bulgarian people would not accept such a war result.

Even if the prime minister is pushed to the front to take the blame in the future, he may not be able to bear it. The angry Bulgarian people cannot overthrow the government, or even the royal family behind the government.

Then, Ferdinand sent his confidant to Australasia by airship as soon as possible to seek Australasia's consent and understanding to end the war in the Balkans.

It was already mid-June when Arthur met Ferdinand's confidant at Sydney Palace.

Although the telegraph is a faster way of communication than the airship, Ferdinand did not dare to risk being discovered by the government and the people. It is undoubtedly safer to send his confidant to communicate privately.

"Your Majesty, please stop the army's attack in the Balkans for the sake of our relationship with the Tsar. To show our sincerity, we are willing to surrender to Australasia and accept a peace treaty that is not too excessive." As soon as Ferdinand's representative saw Arthur, he cried and pretended to be pitiful.

There is no doubt that it is impossible to build relationships with Arthur. Not to mention that Arthur's soul is not familiar with the people of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family. Even if they are familiar with each other, they will not be swayed by personal interests under the premise of representing national interests.

Just like Arthur's queen Mary came from the Russian royal family, Arthur could not give up everything in Australasia to save the Russian royal family for Mary.

At most, for the benefit of Australasia, Tsarist Russia will exist for a while longer, and it must be on the premise that Australasia will not suffer any losses.

Therefore, Ferdinand's behavior of building closer relationships is simply ridiculous in Arthur's view. George V and William II are still closer cousins. Did they go to war for the sake of national interests?

"Mr. Kosnov, I am glad that your country has come to the right path, but the war in the Balkans is not something that Australasia can decide alone. We have to notify our allies Britain, France and Russia, and we can inform the Balkan countries to obtain the consent of all countries and forces. If your country is really sincere, as long as we can obtain the consent of all the above countries, we will of course agree to allow the Balkans to enter into peace and end this war through peaceful negotiations." Arthur said with a smile.

Hearing that Arthur was not interested in trying to build ties, Kosnov quickly continued: "Your Majesty, in order to show sincerity, we are willing to provide 50 billion leva in compensation to your country and the Balkan countries and cede Western Thrace. And he promised not to have any contact with the Allies. I hope that for the sake of the fact that the Bulgarian royal family belongs to the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family, the Bulgarian people can regain peace."

Seeing that the other party had offered real conditions, Arthur nodded and said: "Your country's compensation will still need to be discussed at the future peace talks. If your country really wants peace, then you can tell Feidi South, order all Bulgarian troops to stop resisting, and the Allied forces will officially take over Bulgaria. For the sake of co-signing the European Royal Declaration, I will persuade other countries to try to keep Ferdinand on his throne."

Ferdinand's real purpose was clear to Arthur, which was not to promote peace talks in Bulgaria, but to protect his throne after the war.

For Ferdinand, war or peace was not important, what was important was that his throne was protected.

If the war is won now, what Ferdinand wants to do is how to carve up the lands of other countries and seek more benefits for himself.

After hearing Arthur reveal his purpose of coming, Kosnov nodded quickly without any hesitation.

Although Ferdinand is much older than Arthur, with Arthur's current status, there is nothing wrong with calling Ferdinand directly by his name.

Instead, Kosnov breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Ferdinand's throne can be guaranteed, the Prime Minister will be responsible for the cession of Bulgaria's territory and compensation. The government and the Prime Minister are also to blame for the public anger.

After achieving his goal, Kosnov immediately went to the Bulgarian Embassy in Australasia and sent a confidential telegram to Ferdinand.

The content of this confidential telegram was very simple, and ordinary people could not see any secret at all, but Ferdinand knew at a glance that Kosnov's operation had been successful.

On June 11, 1915, the Bulgarian army had retreated again and again, and was not far from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

Although Ferdinand had decided to surrender to the Allies, it could not be Ferdinand who took the initiative to surrender.

After all, Bulgarians are inherently brave and good at fighting, and most people in the country are militants.

Historically, Bulgaria had only a population of more than 4 million during World War I, but it mobilized more than 1 million troops, which shows the fierceness and bellicosity of Bulgaria's people.

Today's Bulgaria is not much different. It also has a population of more than 4 million. Bulgaria has mobilized more than 400,000 troops. On average, one out of every three prime-age Bulgarian men joins the army, which is enough to show how crazy the Bulgarians are about war.

While the frontline troops are still fighting to the death, if Ferdinand surrenders publicly, his prestige among the people will definitely be greatly reduced.

Therefore, it would be best to find someone, someone with enough weight in the government, to be the first to call for surrender.

There is no doubt that the Prime Minister of Bulgaria is the most suitable choice. As the prime minister of the government promoted by Ferdinand, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria is still very loyal to Ferdinand.

In order to get the Prime Minister to work for him regardless of his reputation, Ferdinand used various methods, and finally got the Bulgarian Prime Minister to agree to take the blame.

On June 12, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria publicly delivered a speech, stating that Bulgaria has reached its end so far. Rather than being defeated by the enemy and having its territory divided by others, it is better to surrender voluntarily to protect its own interests.

This speech caused an uproar among the Bulgarian people. Even during the Bulgarian Prime Minister's speech, many Bulgarian people wanted to rush to the stage and beat up the prime minister for his shocking words.

If it were not for the police and military guards arranged by the government, the Bulgarian Prime Minister would have been beaten to death by the angry Bulgarian people before he could receive justice.

Of course, the Bulgarian Prime Minister's speech cannot but have an impact on the Bulgarian people.

A few Bulgarians looked back and sadly discovered that, as the Prime Minister said, Bulgaria no longer saw any hope of victory.

At the same time, under Ferdinand's instruction, the government began to control the troops to retreat one after another. The Allied troops easily reached Sofia and surrounded the Bulgarian capital.

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