Chapter 145
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Balkan War (1)
1912, March.
While Robert Scott of Britain had finally reached the South Pole—the first in human history—at the cost of his life and those of his men, and Roald Amundsen, arriving late, recovered Scott's expedition bodies and returned to receive acclaim across Britain and Europe...
In Libya, fierce battles raged between Ottoman and Italian forces.
"The Italians still plan to hold out in Derna, it seems. Has the Arab cavalry arrived yet?"
"They're due any moment now, Ismail Enver Bey."
Ismail Enver, who had earned the title of "Bey"—denoting a military commander—spoke while staring at a map amid reports from his aide at the Ottoman camp near the Libyan port city of Derna.
"...The last battle was a close call."
On March 3, Ismail Enver had attempted to retake Derna with 1,500 Libyan volunteers and artillery before the Italians could dig in, but they fell just short and had to withdraw.
Though their forces outnumbered the enemy, the Italians' superior weapons had allowed them to barely defend Derna until reinforcements arrived.
But Enver was not one to be discouraged by a single defeat.
The war situation wasn't unfavorable for the Ottoman Empire anyway, and with the right opportunity, they could turn it around.
After all, the Italians had succeeded in seizing coastal cities like Derna and Tripoli by aggressively employing new technologies such as wireless communication, armored cars, and airplanes in this war. But they hadn't advanced a single step inland.
It wasn't just Ottoman counterattacks; local Libyans, sharing a Muslim bond with the Ottomans despite everything, had turned hostile toward the Italians and aided the Ottoman forces.
"We can win this time. We can win."
This was no joke or empty hope.
From what Ismail Enver had seen, the Italians were inferior to the Ottomans in every way except weapons.
Their fancy new toys were still limited by technology and hadn't significantly impacted the war effort.
This time, they could claim a true victory instead of another frustrating loss.
And defeating Italy would not only spread his fame across Europe but also strip the Ottoman Empire of its humiliating nickname, the "Sick Man of Europe."
"Enver Bey."
As Ismail Enver smirked, dreaming of his ambitious future as always, a young officer approached and saluted.
"Ah, if it isn't the hero of Tobruk."
"...I told you not to call me that."
"Haha, playing shy? Anyway, what is it, Kemal?"
At Enver's words, the officer called Kemal relaxed his stance.
Mustafa Kemal.
The man who would later become Atatürk, the architect of Churchill's "Mr. Gallipoli" fiasco, hero of the Turkish War of Independence, and founding father of the Republic of Turkey.
Currently an Ottoman major, he served under his military academy classmate and friend Enver, proving his future glory was no fluke with standout performances against the Italians.
Especially in the Battle of Tobruk on December 22, 1911, where he led 200 Ottoman troops to victory over 2,000 Italians, adding to Italy's string of blunders and thwarting their inland push.
"Reports from various fronts say the Italians are acting suspiciously."
"Suspiciously?"
"Yes. They're halting offensives and pulling back to strongholds."
"Hm. Seems too early for the Italians to give up on the war."
"I agree."
To Enver and Kemal, the Italians still had plenty of fight left.
Besides, considering how much national prestige they'd lost from their Ethiopian debacle, admitting defeat and withdrawing just didn't add up.
"What's their game?"
"Maybe abandoning fruitless inland pushes to focus on coastal defenses while awaiting reinforcements."
Or they could move their navy.
The Italians were abysmal on land but dominated the seas against the Ottoman navy.
Indeed, the Italian navy had crushed the Ottomans at Beirut on February 24, and when the war stalled, seized the Dodecanese Islands including Rhodes to pressure the empire. Kemal's concerns were well-founded.
"Damn it. If only Germany and Britain weren't just standing by, the Italian navy wouldn't be rampaging like this..."
"Sigh. That again?"
Kemal sighed worriedly at his friend's recurring gripe.
Since ousting the Sultan in the revolution and seizing power, Ismail Enver had grown increasingly vocal about how Germany and Britain—once friendly—now chased resources and concessions while ignoring the Ottoman Empire.
Mustafa Kemal felt uneasy watching his friend change.
"Enver, even if Germany and Britain intervened aggressively here, it'd just complicate things. Britain aside, isn't Germany trying to mediate between us Ottomans and Italy?"
"Ha! Trying, sure. Just trying."
Italy was Germany's ally to begin with.
And Germany was letting its ally attack the Ottomans, who professed outward friendship.
In truth, Italy had started the war unilaterally before Germany could act, amid complex undercurrents Enver didn't grasp. He simply saw it as Germany deceiving him and the empire.
"Enver, you aren't thinking of turning against Germany and Britain now, are you?"
Far more level-headed than Enver, Mustafa Kemal rejected such notions outright.
"Or cozying up to the Franco-Russian Alliance? Come on, Enver. I trust you're not foolish enough to ally with those incompetent, brazen Russians—even if France is whatever."
"That's not what I meant. I just..."
"Enver Bey!"
Just then.
As Enver trailed off under Kemal's sharp point, a soldier burst into the tent.
"What's all this commotion?"
"You have to come outside, sir! Something huge just happened!"
Enver and Kemal exchanged glances at the soldier's ashen face.
murmurs rising
As the two hurried out, Ottoman soldiers clustered around a German-made radio, faces grim without exception.
"Hey, what the hell is..."
Enver's question was cut off by the radio.
And it delivered news more shocking than anything to every Turk present.
"Those bastards!"
BAM!
Forgetting his gripes about Germany and Britain, Enver kicked a chair in uncontainable rage.
As the innocent chair skidded across the ground, Kemal urgently restrained him with a frantic expression.
"Enver, you can vent later. We need to head back to the homeland now!"
All Balkan states bordering the Ottoman Empire had drawn swords against it.
Moreover, much of the empire's European population were Christians, making conscription difficult, and Greek naval dominance hindered mobilizing Anatolian and Middle Eastern troops.
They had to withdraw while they still could.
"But what about Libya..."
"We have to abandon Libya. We can't fight in both Libya and the Balkans at once."
As Mustafa Kemal said, the Ottoman Empire no longer had time or resources to tangle with Italy in Libya.
No—Libya was the least of their worries now.
Their homeland, the Ottoman Empire, faced an unprecedented crisis.
BOOM! KABOOM!!
As Ismail Enver, Mustafa Kemal, and the Ottoman forces in Libya rushed to prepare withdrawal, the Balkan League launched relentless invasions into Ottoman territory alongside their declaration of war.
First off was Bulgaria—the "Prussia of the Balkans"—mobilizing nearly 600,000 troops as boasted.
"Sons of Bulgaria, advance, advance, keep advancing! Mercy for Turks is a luxury—crush them mercilessly!"
"Glory to Greater Bulgaria!"
Under Major General Mikhail Savov's command—standing in for Tsar and supreme commander Ferdinand I—the Bulgarians roared and surged across the border into Thrace and Macedonia.
The Ottomans hastily formed about 110,000 Eastern Troops to counter, but outnumbered and facing the best-trained, best-equipped force in the League, holding ground was no easy feat.
Moreover, this war blindsided the Ottomans, already fighting Italy.
They might have thrown everything at Bulgaria alone, but alas, the empire had multiple foes.
Serbia and Greece followed from north and south.
"Forward, warriors of Serbia! Reclaim our lost holy land, Kosovo!"
"Živela Srbija! (Long live Serbia!)"
Serbia mobilized around 250,000 troops under master strategist Radomir Putnik, advancing on Skopje and Kosovo alongside Montenegrin and Bulgarian detachments.
The Ottomans countered with about 200,000 Western Troops, but they too buckled against the Serbs, just like in the east.
"The time has come to avenge the 1897 war's humiliation. Forward, Greece! God's grace is upon us!"
Greece, fielding about 120,000—fewer than Bulgaria or Serbia—pushed into Epirus and Thessaly under Crown Prince Constantine.
The Greek army struggled somewhat from manpower shortages but seized Ottoman outposts relatively easily with aid from hostile locals.
Plus, Greece boasted a modernized navy trained directly by the British.
The Greek fleet sortied under Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis—future first president of the Second Hellenic Republic—to blockade the Dardanelles and seize the Aegean.
The Ottomans dispatched their fleet to intercept but suffered defeats at the Battles of Elli and Lemnos, handing the Aegean to Greece instead.
The Ottoman Empire was surrounded on all sides.
Too few troops, too much territory to defend.
Like in the Crimean War, they could only hope for great power intervention—but responses were lukewarm.
Setting aside Russia, which led the Balkan League, Germany, Britain, and France publicly called for talks over war—but each had ulterior motives.
Under Hans's lead, Germany and Britain worked in the shadows, using spy-planted Greece in the League to curb Russian expansion in the Balkans.
France, deeming itself unready for war, wanted no part in a Balkan dispute that could spark great power conflict.
As the powers calculated their moves, the Ottoman Empire's defeat loomed larger.
Greek naval dominance severed Europe from Asia, while on land, they lost most European territory, retreating to lines around Constantinople centered on Çatalca, barely holding against Bulgarian assaults.
Finally, in June 1912, the Ottomans accepted great power mediation and headed to London to end the war.
"Ha, peace treaty? This is surrender! I'll be damned if I let those government bastards get away with this!"
"Enver Bey, calm down!"
Of course, some still refused to end the war.