Greece’s Roman Road

On November 4, 1896, Athens welcomed a special guest.

Venizelos, one of the leaders of the Crete uprising, took a young man as his sidekick, and with the help of the destroyer of the Greek Navy, he came to Piraeus port from Crete in a dusty way.

After landing, the two looked around at Athens, a Greek city with a completely different style from Crete. It seemed that everything was novel.

On the road leading to the city center, citizens come and go, trams running in the middle of the road, bicycles ringing constantly, newsboys hawking and selling newspapers on the road, showing them two outlanders, An unfamiliar and familiar bustling city.

Venizelos looked angrily at his valet, Lederhardt, looked around, curious about everything, and said helplessly, "Lederhardt, I'm leaving."

"Mr. Venizelos, the Athenians are a little different," Leidhart said while looking around behind Venizelos, who was running fast.

Ledhardt's answer surprised Venizelos for a moment, looking at the confident and calm expressions on the faces of the surrounding Athenians, he secretly said: They are of course different from the Cretans who have lived under the rule of aliens for a long time.

........

In the Ministry of Defense building, Constantine heard that the Greek hero of Crete, Venizelos, came to visit, and together with Emanuel, received him.

In the conference room, Constantine carefully looked at this famous figure in the modern history of Greece in the original time and space.

Beard, brain gate, with a pair of silver round eyes, a thin face, a pair of piercing eyes, impressive.

After the four of them were seated, Venizelos said directly, "His Royal Highness, Chief of Staff, Crete needs your support."

"Since the Ottoman Turkish government, after its financial bankruptcy in 1875, in order to pay off the debts of foreign creditors, it has intensified its atrocities to search and oppress Christians."

"If the Cretans did not resist, they would not be able to live at all"

Leidhart also helped: "Yes, the current uprising troops on Crete are no match for the Ottoman troops stationed on the island at all."

"His Royal Highness, the people of Crete need the help of the Greek government"

Constantine and Emmanuel looked at each other, and the other party's request was also expected.

Actually, Constantine was a little surprised when he heard the news of the uprising of the people of Crete. The time seemed to be earlier than the original time and space.

Constantine ignored the fact that, in contrast, the people of Crete revolted faster because of Greek reasons.

The straight-line distance between Athens and Crete is no more than 150 kilometers, so things about Greece are naturally no secrets to the Greeks on Crete.

Over the years, Greece's economy has been running smoothly, and as a result, the income of native Greeks greatly exceeds that of Crete.

This fact naturally stimulated the people of Crete: we are all Greeks, you are free and easy, but we have to endure the oppression and persecution of the Ottoman Turkey.

With only those armed peasants in Crete, who are the opponents of the Ottoman professional soldiers.

Venizelos, as early as the Cretan uprising in 1889, was already a well-known commander of the rebel army.

He naturally understood the fact that the enemy was strong and I was weak, so after the uprising was frustrated, he hurried to Athens for support.

Emma Inur said calmly, "What do you all need?"

The assistant beside Venizelos, Leidhart, took out a document from his handbag and handed it to the two of them.

It is a list of materials: food, medicine, firearms and ammunition.

Well, almost everything is needed.

"In addition, it is best that the Greek army can send troops. The Turks stationed nearly 1,500 troops on the island, all equipped with German weapons," Venizelos continued to demand.

After hesitating for a while, Venizelos said: "Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, a territorial change such as the Crete Uprising will inevitably lead to a war between Greece and the Ottomans."

"If Greece can't resist the pressure of the Ottomans, it is impossible to achieve the goal of merging with Greece only with the weak strength of the Cretans, no matter how hard they try."

"Once the Greek army has landed on Crete, a war between the two countries is inevitable"

Emma Yinur comforted: "Mr. Venizelos, the General Staff has a plan to deal with this situation, so you don't have to worry about it."

"Let the Minister of Armaments, Giannis, be in charge of the transportation of these materials," Constantine said to the three.

"Materials can be delivered to Crete in advance. As for the army to support, we have to consider carefully."

After that, Constantine personally settled Venizelos and the two of them rested for two days, and then returned to Crete with the ship transporting supplies.

........

After meeting Venizelos, Constantine himself came to the office of Prime Minister Trikupis.

Looking at Prime Minister Trikupis who was working on documents on his desk, Constantine sighed.

Trikupis was good at handling government affairs, and in the political leadership, Constantine supported his idea of ​​developing industry and commerce and vigorously building infrastructure.

However, Greece is now facing the threat of war, and the prime minister, who is only good at government affairs, is obviously a little slow to respond.

"Mr. Prime Minister, you are aware of the current situation in Greece. Do you think it is possible to win over the Balkan countries as allies to deal with the Ottomans together," Constantine reminded.

Seeing Constantine walking in, Trikupis stopped his work~www.novelmt.com~ After hearing Constantine's suggestion, he said: "You are right, Serbia and Bulgaria are also Ottoman neighbors, and both have ambitions for the Ottoman Macedonia region.”

"His Royal Highness, do you think I should go to these two countries for a diplomatic visit now?" Trikupis asked.

Although Trikupis was a bit slow to respond diplomatically, he was, after all, the most effective mature politician in modern Greece.

Since the independence of Greece, the economic and political situation in Greece has been in a state of chaos. It is a marionette of various countries, and there has never been any diplomatic independence to speak of.

Thinking of this, it is no wonder that the Prime Minister is not good at foreign affairs.

"Yes, if possible, you'd better reach an alliance with the two countries to jointly target the Ottomans," Constantine demanded.

Constantine has confidence in the current Greek military strength, but after all, there are considerable risks.

If the three-nation alliance can be reached, then the possibility of Greece winning will be greatly improved.

If the alliance between Greece and Serbia and Bulgaria can be reached, I am afraid that under huge military pressure, the Ottomans will really make concessions to Greece on Crete.

"Of course, this is only the most ideal situation, and it is unlikely," Constantine said.

Not to mention anything else, in 1885 Serbia and Bulgaria had just fought a war, Serbia was defeated terribly, and the people of the two countries hated each other.

The friendship accumulated in the previous two countries - the friendship of jointly dealing with the Ottoman Turks and obtaining national independence, disappeared.

Now let the two countries put aside their previous suspicions and join hands to form an alliance to deal with the Ottomans, I am afraid that neither side will be willing.

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