Greece’s Roman Road

On November 19, Constantine took the train to Larissa, a city in northern Greece.

After the declaration of war, the General Staff recently mobilized nearly 40,000 Greeks to join the army. The original army numbered about 50,000. After the arrival of the African indigenous army, the total number reached about 130,000.

Larissa City Railway Station, Constantine, who was guarded by the guards, entered the Larissa Railway Station, only to see soldiers streaming out of the train, with luggage in hand, looking around.

The personnel maintaining order shouted loudly and commanded the soldiers.

The soldiers lined up in a long line, came to the table, and listened to the commander's assignment.

After these newly recruited soldiers get off the train, they will be directly divided into various units, supplementing the elite divisions and strengthening the strength of the standing divisions.

Larissa army headquarters, Constantine entered the meeting room of the staff, and the senior officers who were seated slammed, all stood up.

Constantine came to the main seat and looked at the main officers of the Thessaly Legion: Commander of the 1st Division of the Greek Army, Major General Emma Inur-Manugianaski, Commander of the 2nd Division, Metaxa Brigadier General Si, Commander of the 3rd Division Mavrov Charles;

The fourth division commander - Brigadier General Amans Guppe, and the commander of the four Congolese divisions, Brigadier General Brute; the regiment's chief of staff, Major General Kanaris.

He waved his hand and motioned everyone to sit down.

"At present, the total number of our Thessaly Legion has reached about 110,000 people, and the entire legion is currently being renovated and replenished." The chief of staff of the Thessaly Legion first reported to Constantine.

"Quickly prepare, we don't have much time," Constantine demanded with a blank expression.

"According to the progress, when will we be able to start the whole army?"

Everyone present leaned over and discussed each other for a while, and finally summarized it to Kanaris; "At present, we need to arrange new enlisted soldiers, coordinate logistics supplies, medical supplies, etc. At least, it will take three days for the troops to organize. It's over, Your Excellency the Legion Commander"

Three days later, the entire Thessaly army, with a total of about 110,000 people, marched toward the northern border.

The 110,000-strong Thessaly legion, with its head in front and tail in sight, swept through the rugged mountains of northern Greece.

Constantine, who was riding on a warhorse, looked at the soldiers in the queue around him, armed with rifles on their shoulders and covered with bedding rolls. Under the command of the officer, the soldiers sang songs with great interest. Hats off.

........

In the border area, the cavalry company commander, Motos, was ordered to carry out reconnaissance activities in front of the legion. Taking advantage of the night, his forty cavalrymen crossed the Os River.

The cold moon was cold and the people whose clothes were soaking wet, tied their horses to a tree after crossing the river, and found a dry place to rest for a while.

In the thick night, Soldier Willis was so tired that he leaned against a rock, lit a cigarette in a "flash", took a heavy puff, and blew out a smoke ring in relief.

Motos looked at the fire that suddenly appeared around him, and was about to open his mouth to stop it when he heard a "bump" sound, breaking the silence of the night.

Willis fell to the ground.

"There are enemies." The soldiers who were resting on the ground were in a mess, looking for stones and trees as shelters.

With his back against a rock, Motos asked in a low voice to the people around him, "Which **** dares to smoke on the front line and kill him?"

Willis, who fell to the ground, stumbled and stood on the ground, lying on the ground, not daring to make any movement, his eyes eagerly searching around the person, and his mouth responding to the company commander: "It's me, company commander, Willis"

Hearing that the other party could still reply, and his tone sounded full of energy, not like he was shot, Motos breathed a sigh of relief: "Do you understand the rules, smoking while you are on duty, and you are not shot to death. , good luck for your kid"

Willis kept groping on the ground until he touched his steel helmet, knelt on the ground, picked it up, touched the place where the bullet was hit, a deep crater, and took a deep breath. , Secretly said: Fortunately, I have a steel helmet, otherwise I will explain it here today.

The steel helmet is that when Constantine saw the soldiers in the army wearing ordinary hats, he placed an order with the steel factory and asked to assemble them to the soldiers as basic soldier equipment to improve the soldiers' survivability in the battlefield.

Although the performance of the helmet is affected due to the steel material, it does improve the soldiers' defense ability.

"Did anyone notice which direction the enemy fired from?" Motos asked his soldier in a low voice.

"Company commander, it seems to be in the direction of eight o'clock." Willis, who was lying on the ground, put on his steel helmet again, touched the position of the crater with his left hand, at the edge, and the bullet wiped a thin scratch on the helmet. , said presumably.

"Everyone, be careful, we are encountering scouts from the Ottoman army."

........

On November 22, Constantine received news that the Thessaly Legion and the Macedonian Legion of the Ottoman Empire met near the Os River in northern Greece.

After the Thessaly army crossed the river, the two sides immediately formed a formation, and the soldiers began to look for bunkers and dig trenches.

The cannons roared and the smoke filled the air. The divisions of the Thessaly Legion, which belonged to the artillery regiment, poured gunpowder towards the positions of the Ottoman army.

Under the operation of the artillerymen, the 75mm rapid-fire gun gradually suppressed the enemy artillery due to the advantage of the rate of fire.

On the first day of the battle, the two sides engaged in a fierce artillery battle, followed by small-scale feints by the soldiers of both sides, trying to find loopholes in the other side.

After the battle on the first day~www.novelmt.com~ it was getting dark and the fighting between the two sides had subsided. Constantine, accompanied by the guards, went to inspect the trenches.

Carefully changed into the uniform of an ordinary soldier, and instructed his guards: "When you get to the trenches, don't salute me, and ask the soldiers on the front line, understand?"

Seeing the Captain of the Guards, Rostock looked ignorant and could only explain angrily: "If the enemy saw the soldiers salute me, what would they do?"

The positions of both sides were devastated, the sparse forests had disappeared, and the gravel and floating soil were mixed together.

Stepping on it, with one foot deep and one shallow, the central defense line that was bombed by the front line during the day, Constantine walked into the simple fortification and saw the soldiers leaning against the bunker supported by sandbags, wearing steel helmets, half lying on the ground. There.

A soldier noticed Constantine and the guards behind him.

He stooped into the bunker, caught sight of the rank of major general on Constantine's shoulder, and said respectfully, "General, it's nice to meet you."

Constantine walked over cautiously, noting his rank: "Hello, platoon leader"

"Is there anything you need to report to me?" Constantine said mildly.

"General, the Ottoman shelling is very intense today. The trenches dug by the soldiers, plus the piled sandbags, are not enough to completely defend against the shelling."

"How about the casualties of the soldiers?" Constantine said in a low voice.

"Four died and six were wounded, mainly our simple fortifications, which have limited resistance to shelling"

After a moment of silence, Constantine asked, "Then why don't you dig deep trenches?"

Now the trench is only one meter deep.

"There are too many stones, there is no way to dig deep"

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