The Path to Mediterranean Supremacy/Bulgarian Empire

'Blessings do not come in pairs, an calamities never come singly!'¹A metaphor from Ming - Shi Nai'an "The Complete Biography of Shuihu" Chapter 37. It means that good things will not come in a row, but misfortunes will come one after another.

As the meeting ended, the supply officer spoke up: "Generals, our reserves are decreasing so much that the domestic resupply is simply not keeping up with consumption! If the intensity of the war continues like this, we will run out of ammunition before next month!"

The face of Subrovich changed greatly. Before, he only noticed that the attack's impact was hindered and did not think they consumed the supplies so quickly! He asked subconsciously, "Don't we have two months of reserves? How is it possible to deplete so quickly?"

The supply officer said with a bitter smile: "We underestimated the consumption of ammunition, which was based on the consumption of the last war, and has increased the reserves by 20 percent! But due to financial problems, we only completed 80 percent of the total plan! Now the actual consumption of ammunition is more than twice as much as planned!"

The faces of the people changed greatly, and they were really afraid of what would come! Before, everyone was busy fighting. There was no energy to care about the consumption of ammunition. It was only a few days of the war, and the logistics could not keep up!

His face grimaced. Subrovich said fiercely: "I don't care what you use. You must ensure the supplies to the front! The war has just begun, and you can't keep up with the supplies so soon? What is your logistics division doing?"

The supply officer said with an aggrieved look, "General Subrovich, this is impossible to do! You probably have an idea of Serbia's ammunition reserves!

These are the list of ammunition received in the last few days. You can all take a look! The ammunition produced by the domestic arsenal in a month is not as much as what you guys fire in a day!

The current weapons and ammunition are basically imported from abroad. The purchase of ammunition in our Niš war zone alone costs up to £10,000 daily!

If you add the other areas, you're now spending over £100,000 a day on ammunition!

If you add the consumption of other materials, the war costs are even more massive daily! We can calculate this expense, anyway. Even if I got shot now, there is nothing I can do!"

Hearing the helpless words of the supply officer, Subrovich choked on the spot! He took the list, looked at it carefully, and the further he looked, the more his face became sour!

The ammunition consumption was just too alarming. It was totally out of his expectation! The consumption of millions of ammunition rounds per day and thousands of shells had exceeded the limit of logistical supplies!

At this consumption rate, in another half month, the Serbian army will have to take the bayonet to the battlefield!

Subrovich rubbed his forehead. As the commander-in-chief of the front, he was thinking not only about the Niš region but also about the whole picture!

In the city of Niš as Serbia's southern key town, more than half of the country's strategic supplies converge here! Now, where the supplies cannot support the war consumption, the other areas are afraid of even worse!

He asked coldly, "Has it been reported to the authorities?"

The supply officer said honestly, "It was reported two days ago, but the authorities believe that our ammunition consumption will come down once we wipe out this enemy force along the way!"

Subrovich glared deadly at the supply officer and asked coldly, "Why didn't you report to me in advance?"

The supply officer said in confusion, "We have organized the daily amount of ammunition that the troops receive into a document and sent it to you!"

Subrovich is silent. The supply officer really could not be blamed for this. He was busy with the war daily. Who cared about what documents!

After thinking about it, he said in a tone that could not be denied: "In that case, then all the troops should start saving bullets at the back, and from now on the supply is limited at the supplies office! I will try to urge the country to think of a way, but this all takes time, even if imported from abroad, the fastest will take more than a month! No matter what..."

...

The Minister of War, far away in Belgrade, was now on the verge of collapse! The war has only just begun, and the troops on the front lines are asking for their supplies in return!

There was also an appetite for more than one, Ivan Lić's division on the southwestern front; Subrovich's main force in the Niš region; there was no sign of them reaching out on the southeastern front, but the Minister of War would rather they did!

And then what is better than the total defeat, although now in the southeast front, there are still troops that are resisting, the Minister of War also knows that it is not a good time!

With the letter of request for help in hand, the Minister of War once again approached the Prime Minister, and before he could say anything, the Prime Minister snapped at him and asked, "Has there been another defeat on the front line, or is there another deficit of supplies somewhere?"

The Minister of War said with a bitter smile, "Commander-in-Chief Niš, Subrovich is pressing for supplies and reinforcements!"

After a moment of silence, the Prime Minister roughly swept through the documents and said, "This is a difficult matter! Our reserves have been depleted, and now the main supplies are imported from Austria-Hungary!

Tell General Subrovich that if he can finish off the Bulgarians in front of him, I'll get it all for him even if I have to break the bank!"

The Minister of War asked doubtfully, "But Your Excellency , it is simply impossible for us to bring out another 150 artillery units, and 50,000 troops, to reinforce us now?"

The Prime Minister coldly explained, "Of course I can't take it out, not to mention the artillery and troops, even those ammunition, we have no way to get it together in a short time!"

The Minister of War looked at the Prime Minister with a blank face, overwhelmed and hoping for an explanation!

The Prime Minister sighed: "Quite simply, the situation now, we would like to have a decent end. There must be a good fight on the battlefield! In the current situation, apart from the Niš region, where we still have the advantage and hope to break the game, do we have any other choice?

As long as Subrovich can win in the Niš region, he will be allocated all the troops that have retreated from the southeast and southwest and then send the three divisions that have just been formed there, not to mention 50,000, even 100,000 troops!

Then negotiate with the Bulgarians with the prestige of a great victory and obtain a decent end!"

The Minister of War asked with some fear, "Don't we have any other options? Once we have won in the Niš area, we will march immediately to the southeast and disrupt the rear of this partial division, we have a great chance to win this war!"

The Prime Minister said coldly: "This is all based on assumptions! The Bulgarians are not stupid. Wouldn't they mobilize the whole country?

Another option is not to fight with each other but to exhaust ourselves. It does not take long to make a small fuss every day, a few months to drag us to death!

There is no way out! The amount of money consumed daily is now massive, and to raise funds, even the currency reserves have been used, and if the war does not end within this month, we simply will not be able to support it!

And another Bulgarian partial division, which has already broken through the southeastern defenses, their target is still uncertain!

What do we do if they get bold and don't care about logistical supplies and choose between Kragujevac and Belgrade?"