The Rise Of Australasia

Although the war was going very unfavorably for him, Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria did receive some good news — that among the Four Great Powers of the Allies, two of them belonged to the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Family, like himself.

Although neither King George V of Britain nor King Arthur of Australasia were closely related to Ferdinand, they were still his kinsmen from the same family, so there should have been no need for complete extermination.

With such expectations, Ferdinand began attempting to contact the Allies, discussing how to end the war with smaller losses.

Yes, although a large number of Bulgarian troops were still fighting bravely on the front lines to defend their country, Ferdinand, who was in Sofia at that time, was already thinking about how to protect his own and the royal family's interests and how to stabilize his position after the war.

Ferdinand successfully played the spirit of "only the layman dies, not the royalties", as long as his power and position were not compromised after the war, anything could be abandoned.

For this reason, when Ferdinand contacted the Allies, he deliberately did not inform the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, so that after agreeing with the Allies, the Prime Minister would bear the responsibility for launching and participating in the war.

Although the military was more proactive and held greater responsibility before the war, Tsar Ferdinand still needed the military to maintain stability in Bulgaria and his position after the war, and so he could not afford to offend the military no matter what the situation.

Ferdinand fully exerted the spirit of prioritizing the heavy when two powers benefited him and prioritizing the light when two powers harmed him. He had no hesitation in abandoning any advantage, and had even already decided on the range of land to cede after the defeat.

If the Bulgarian troops on the front lines knew of Ferdinand's actions, they might have to say, "Your Majesty, why are you surrendering when we are prepared to die fighting?"

Of course, Ferdinand's confidentiality work was very well done, at least the Bulgarian soldiers in the front line had not learned that Ferdinand was already planning to surrender.

Piles of supplies were transported to the front lines, not only bearing the government's ardent expectations for the war, but also the longing of the Bulgarian people for victory in the war.

May 30, 1915, on the front line borders.

Tsar Ferdinand initially contacted Britain and France because it was with Russia's support that the Balkan Nations had launched the Second Balkan War. As a result, Ferdinand never considered contacting Russia first.

As for Australasia, although it was one of the Four Great Powers of the Allies, along with Britain, France, and Russia, it was too small and too far from Europe to play a crucial role in the European situation.

However, to Ferdinand's surprise, the unified position of Britain and France was that Brigadier General Martin of Australasia was the supreme commander of the Balkan Front, and Australasia had independent command of its troops.

This meant that unless Australasia and Brigadier General Martin agreed, the war in the Balkan Region would continue, and the Balkan Nations would only agree to sit at the negotiating table with Bulgaria after obtaining satisfying benefits.

This made Ferdinand nervous in an instant. If the Balkan Nations were allowed to divide Bulgaria, the losses suffered by Bulgaria in this war would be enormous, and the Bulgarian people would not accept such a war outcome.

Even if the Prime Minister was pushed to the forefront to take responsibility afterward, it might not hold up. The angry Bulgarian people might overthrow the government and even the royal family behind it.

Subsequently, Ferdinand sent his trusted aides on an airship to quickly reach Australasia, striving for an agreement and forgiveness from Australasia and an end to the war in the Balkan Region.

It was already mid-June when Arthur received the representatives sent by Ferdinand in Sydney Palace.

Although the telegram was faster than the airship as a means of communication, Ferdinand did not dare to risk being discovered by the government and civilians, so it was undoubtedly safer to send trusted representatives to communicate in private.

"Your Majesty, please, in view of the relationship between our Tsar and your family, let your army stop the attack on the Balkan Region. To show our sincerity, we are willing to surrender to Australasia and accept a reasonably fair peace treaty," Ferdinand's representative pleaded pitifully as soon as he saw Arthur.

There was no doubt that it was impossible for Ferdinand's aide to form a bond with Arthur. Not to mention that Arthur's soul was not very familiar with the people of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family, even if they were familiar, private interests could not have influenced them when representing the interests of their respective countries.

Just like Arthur's Queen Mary, who came from the Russian monarchy, it was impossible for Arthur to save the Russian monarchy by using all of Australasia's resources for Mary's sake.

At most, for the sake of Australasia's interests, they would allow Tsarist Russia to exist longer, but only on the premise that Australasia did not suffer any losses.

Therefore, Ferdinand's attempts to get closer were simply laughable in Arthur's eyes. King George V and Kaiser William II were closer cousins, and they all went to war for their respective countries' interests, right?

"Mr. Kosnov, I am pleased that your country has found its way back, but the war in the Balkans cannot be decided by Australasia alone. We must notify our allies Britain, France, and Russia, and inform the various Balkan nations to obtain the consent of all countries and forces involved.

If your country is truly sincere, as long as we can obtain approval from all the aforementioned nations, we will gladly allow the Balkans to enter a state of peace and end this war through peaceful negotiations." Arthur said with a smile.

Hearing that Arthur was not impressed by the relationship, Kosnov quickly continued, "Your Majesty, to demonstrate our sincerity, we are willing to offer 50 billion leva in compensation to your country and the Balkan nations, cede the West Sevres region, and guarantee no further contact with the Allied Nations.

We hope that Your Majesty will consider the connection between the Bulgarian royal family and the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family, and bring peace back to the Bulgarian people." Find your next read at m_v l|e-NovelBin.net

When Arthur saw that their real conditions had been laid out, he nodded and said, "Your country's compensation will still need to be discussed in future peace negotiation meetings. If you truly desire peace, then tell Ferdinand to order all Bulgarian troops to cease resistance, and the Allied forces will officially take over Bulgaria.

Considering our joint signing of the European royal family declaration, I will persuade other countries to allow Ferdinand to remain on his throne."

Arthur knew very well that Ferdinand's true purpose was not to promote peace talks for Bulgaria, but to ensure his position as king after the war.

For Ferdinand, it was not important whether there was war or peace; what mattered was that his kingship was protected.

If the war were won now, Ferdinand would be thinking about how to carve up the land of other countries to secure more benefits for himself.

Hearing Arthur expose the purpose of his visit, Kosnov immediately nodded his head without any hesitation.

Although Ferdinand was much older than Arthur, there was nothing wrong with Arthur, in his current position, addressing Ferdinand directly by his first name.

On the contrary, Kosnov heaved a sigh of relief. As long as Ferdinand's kingship was protected, the issue of Bulgaria ceding territory and paying compensation would be handled by the prime minister, and the public anger would be directed toward the government and the prime minister.

Upon achieving his goal, Kosnov immediately went to the Bulgarian embassy in Australasia and sent a classified telegram to Ferdinand.

The content of this confidential telegram was very simple, and ordinary people would not be able to decipher any secrets, but Ferdinand knew at a glance that Kosnov's mission had been successful.

On June 11, 1915, the Bulgarian army had already been retreating, and they were not far from their capital, Sofia.

Although Ferdinand had already decided to surrender to the Allies, it would absolutely not be him who would take the initiative to do so.

After all, the people of Bulgaria were originally warlike, and most of them were belligerent.

In World War I, Bulgaria had a population of only over 4 million but mobilized more than 1 million troops, showing the fierceness and belligerence of the Bulgarian people.

Today's Bulgaria is not much different, with a similar population of over 4 million, mobilizing more than 400,000 troops, averaging one in three Bulgarian men joining the army. This shows the extent of the Bulgarian people's madness for war.

At a time when frontline troops were still fighting fiercely, if Ferdinand were to publicly surrender, his prestige among the common people would undoubtedly be greatly diminished.

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

Without a doubt, the Bulgarian prime minister is the most suitable choice. As the prime minister handpicked by Ferdinand, his loyalty to Ferdinand is still very high.

In order to make the prime minister disregard his reputation and work for himself, Ferdinand has used various methods to eventually make the Bulgarian prime minister agree to take the blame.

On June 12, the Bulgarian prime minister delivered a public speech, stating that Bulgaria had reached a dead end and that it was better to take the initiative to surrender in order to protect their interests rather than be defeated by their enemies and have their country divided.

This speech caused an uproar among the Bulgarian people, and even during the prime minister's speech, many Bulgarian people tried to rush to the stage to beat up this shocking prime minister.

Had it not been for the police and the military guarding the scene, the Bulgarian prime minister might not have even lived to see the judgment of justice, as he would have been beaten to death by the enraged Bulgarian people.

Of course, the prime minister's speech could not have been without impact on the Bulgarian people.

A few Bulgarian people looked back and sadly realized, as the prime minister had said, that there seemed to be no hope of victory for Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, at Ferdinand's behest, the government began to control the withdrawal of the army one after another, and the Allied forces easily reached Sofia, surrounding the capital of Bulgaria.