The Path to Mediterranean Supremacy/Bulgarian Empire

"One will make all bones dry!"¹From 'Two Poems from the Year of the Hexi' by Cao Song from the Tang Dynasty. That poem reveals the true meaning of war in human society ruthlessly. It means a general's victory results from sacrificing thousands of lives.

The ground is covered with blood, which stains the whole earth red!

It was not too late to deal with the Serbian wounded who were wailing on the ground not far away, but Popov was roaming the battlefield with no concern, none of which could stir up the slightest disturbance within him!

Nine years ago, during the first war of the Bulgarian-Serbian, Popov watched his comrades, brothers, and friends, one by one, die charging, and it was then that his heart turned cold, and revenge became a part of his life!

With one glance at the battlefield, you know the intensity of last night's war, 'broken walls and scars, corpses everywhere, is the best description.

Popov seemed displeased with the wailing of the wounded and shouted, "Scout!"

"Here!" A youth replied.

Popov said without reluctance, "Gather all these Serbian wounded and throw them far away, I'm sick of looking at them!"

"Yes!" The messenger said, then ran forward to answer the order.

Popov didn't care if the wounded were allowed to move, how many people would be killed by this order, anyway, because his troops, whose own medics were precious, could only be used to treat their own wounded!

Were it not for fear of international public opinion and to avoid getting into trouble, Popov would not have minded being a butcher.

On its face, they treated the wounded in Serbia, stopped the bleeding, and applied the bandages! War correspondents also took photos, proving that humanitarian aid, Popov, is done in place!

The only thing is that there are not enough medics, so the bandaging work is done by ordinary soldiers! Mistakes will inevitably be made, such as misusing the cotton cloth for gauze, or taking the external medicine internally, which are all minor!

In the evening, roughly the battle results had been counted, Popov swept a glance and nodded with satisfaction!

The results of last night's battle exceeded his expectations! At first count, the Serbs left about 30,000 corpses and took over 20,000 prisoners, of which more than 10,000 were wounded!

And the casualties of the Right Army, only a thousand or so, no matter how you look at it, it's a big victory!

Popov happily said to the crowd, "Send a report to the country to inform the results of the battle, it seems that our Right Army has picked up a bargain this time!"

...

Compared to Popov's good mood, Subrovich's face was terrible on the other side. Having an absolutely superior force, he was still breached by two lines of defense by the Left Army after one day.

They lured the enemy deeper than he expected! In order to make the show more realistic, it was planned that these two lines of defense, which were to block the Bulgarian Left Army for a week, just to create an opportunity for the main force to merge around!

Now in only a single day, the defensive line was pierced by the Left Army, and more than 30,000 defenders were routed and lost their combat power.

Even though he had more than 200,000 troops in his hands, he could not afford this kind of attrition, and if the Bulgarian army were really that strong, it would mean that the enemy's lure had failed!

Even if the siege is completed, the Left Army may easily break out, which is something Subrovich can never accept!

At the military meeting, Subrovich pointed his finger at the noses of the two-division commanders and scolded them, "You are all a bunch of rats! Fortifications protected 30,000 troops, and yet you were overrun in one day.

The Serbian army has lost its face because of you! Even if there were 30,000 pigs, the Bulgarians wouldn't be able to catch them all in one day!

Is there anything else you want to say? I don't think you should blame me for not giving you a chance! If not, where are the military judges to enforce military justice!"

"Wait, I have something to say!" One of them said hastily.

Subrovich had already decided to create an example and coldly said, "If you have a fart, let it go!"

"Our Fifth Division, which suffered more than half of the casualties in the previous rebel war, has been replenished with my new recruits for less than a month and cannot take up combat power!

And Zerevich's 13th Division, we all know what kind of equipment, this rout started with the 13th Division. I'm not trying to blame the 13th Division!

The key is that the Bulgarian firepower is too intense, hundreds of artillery guns are firing in unison, bombarding our positions, and we are already suffering heavy casualties before they even launch an attack!"

One staff officer jumped in and questioned, "Impossible! Even if Bulgarian firepower was superior, you could have taken shelter by relying on fortifications, how could it have caused such a large number of casualties?"

At this point, Zerevich angrily spoke up: "Gentlemen, I can swear to God that what Division Commander Saberich said is true!

The problem lies in the upper part of our fortifications; we know that the two lines of defense are not completed, and many places are not yet ready to use!

And our bomb shelters couldn't hold up to heavy artillery fire! Many of our soldiers were buried alive directly in the shelter! Also, my command headquarters, which was hit by an artillery shell, collapsed in half, and two division officers were killed on the spot!

Should we also be responsible for such problems? If we are to be held accountable, let's find those who are in charge of the construction of the fortifications and have them punished by military justice first!"

The faces of the people changed greatly. What the two said is most likely the truth! Such a problem is easy to investigate clearly, and know the situation from the returned defeated soldiers!

Looking at the expressions of the same hatred, Subrovich knew that making an example would not work. Now the most important thing is to reassure the troops!

So he spoke up and said, "I will investigate the problems you have mentioned! No matter what, this defeat so quickly, you can not escape the blame! For now, I will suspend your positions, and when the matter is clearly investigated, I will take disciplinary action."

Saberich and Zerevich both knew that even with the fortifications as a shield, it was no reason for them to be defeated so quickly! It was not easy to get back to life this time, so where would they dare to have any more objections!

Subrovich continued, "Since we lost the line quickly this time, the original plan won't work! Now we have to block the Bulgarians' front, our pocket formation is not yet ready, but it doesn't matter!

Even with the loss of 30,000 troops, we still have an absolutely superior force. Bulgaria has only 50,000 people, and now the front is pushed forward thirty kilometers. They also have to hold the rear. In fact, they can use the mobile force, but there are only 40,000 troops!

Now I don't care what your reasons are. Launch a full-scale counterattack right now! I do not ask that you be able to wipe them out, but within three days, you must crush this Bulgarian Left Army at any cost!

Otherwise, the enemy's reinforcements will come over, and at the time, the consequences are clear to everyone, this war we can not afford to lose!

If we win this battle, we still have a chance of victory! Otherwise, everyone will be a sinner in Serbia!"