Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 133: Grand Detour

Just as Dante Cristov was preparing to start a decisive battle, the stalemate loomed on the lower South Morava River!

The Middle Army broke the southwestern defense line of Serbia!

Most of the main forces of original Bulgaria are concentrated in the Middle Army, which has watched the scenic battle of the Left Army and the Right Army. The Middle Army officers who are slow to break through have long been anxious!

One should know that the southwestern side of Serbia's garrison is only 80,000 'mobs', with Bulgaria's elite Middle Army unable to break through, not knowing how many people are watching the joke!

There is no way the Serbian commander Ivan Li, with a sharp mind, knows the gap between the two sides' combat power and simply does not intend to make a decisive move-out!

The infamous wave was played to the extreme, using all available terrain entirely. Everywhere was a simple fortification, and they did not expect to be able to block the Bulgarian army's attack, simply to stall for time!

From a purely tactical point of view, it wasn't very good! Spreading the army over many improvised lines of defense was a total headache! They often broke through a line of defense after a barrage of artillery fire and a charge, and they broke a line of defense!

But the price paid is all worth it, one line of defense is held up for a few hours or a day, and the strategic objective is achieved anyway!

But since the two regiments of the Royal Army completed the thrust, Ivan Li's attempt was shattered! After being forced to pull a division from the front in order to save the rear, which became the last straw that overwhelmed the defenders, disaster struck!

More critically, due to a strategic miscalculation, Ivan Li thought that the Middle Army would join the Left Army in the Ni area and had set up a new defensive line on the road to Ni, neglecting the defense of the northern bank of the South Morava River!

Of course, it was useless even if he was aware of it, troops were limited, and it was impossible to defend both sides! The Serbian southwestern front had been routed, and Ivan Li had retreated again, all the way to the Leskovac area, before stopping!

The Middle Army crossed the river, entered the northern bank, quickly captured Pristina, and continued its march to Kraljevo!

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The grand detour strategy developed by the staff was in full swing. A large encirclement against the main Serbian forces was closing its pockets!

There are now only two paths ahead of the Serbs:

Either give up the vast area south of the Morava River, including Ni and prepare to fight a battle to defend the capital!

Or, they could concentrate their forces and eliminate Dante Christov's troops at once, enter Bulgarian territory, take Sofia, and 'surround Wei to save Zhao'1)!

Ivan Li has understood that the war has come to this point. Serbia has been unable to return! The northern flank of the army has long been drawn out. It simply can not cause the slightest hindrance to the enemy!

But he can not do anything now. He can only pretend to be confused, a traitor's name he does not want yet, and it can not mention the proposal to give up the country!

The war has come to this point. There is always a need for someone to be responsible, and as the commander-in-chief of the southwest army, not holding the line is one of the best unlucky!

But Ivan Lich is not afraid now. His own main troops are with him, plus some other units. There are still nearly 20,000 people! As long as there are soldiers in his hands, he believes that King Aleksandar can not do anything to him!

There is no rule of law, and so far, no unit has won anyway. Everyone is pretty much the same. At least his mission is accomplished! Thanks to his efforts, the southwestern Bulgarian army was stalled and did not proceed to the Ni to regroup, never mind the details!

Many people can see clearly, but everyone is too smart to say it! Even if they know that the correct way now is to withdraw the defenders in the Ni area to the north side, but no one dares to bring it up!

It means that nearly one-third of the territory was lost directly to Bulgaria, and they will not take the traitor's hat off for a lifetime!

Everyone played dumb, which made Subrovich, as the commander in chief of the Nis region, now unable to move in or out!

The situation on the north side is clear to him, not to mention the main force of tens of thousands of Bulgarians, even if only one regiment can rampage!

It is also said that there are no small countries, no strategic buffer, perhaps a week, or maybe ten days and a half months, to start a war to defend Belgrade.

Subrovich hesitated, the orders sent to him from home were to wait for the right time, and they placed the fate of Serbia in his hands in such a ridiculous way!

People do not want to take responsibility. It is clear that they want to throw the blame on him for actively giving up the country! Anyway, it has come to this point. Advance is death, and retreat is also death. Why not make a big gamble!

Subrovich decided to bury the future of Serbia: "Order all units to attack with all their might from now on, regardless of all losses, we must annihilate the enemy by tomorrow! The military court will punish those who do not move forward!"

That's right. He decided to gamble and win the battle. He is the hero of Serbia! If he loses, it is better to die than to be killed by his own people with the hat of the traitor!

...

Charge, charge, charge again! The Serbs began a frantic attack, breaking through the line several times and being recaptured by the defenders. The line was in danger!

Dante Christov, who inspected the front line, looked out over the battlefield with binoculars, and flesh and blood, corpses and rivers of blood, was the accurate picture of the battlefield now!!!

The Maxim machine gun was as lethal as ever, six hundred rounds per minute, fluttering like a fire serpent! One Serbian soldier fell, and another Serbian filled in as they advanced one after the other to the front!

The machine gun was already hot, and one machine gunner quickly tore a piece of cloth from his uniform, wrapped it around his hand, wet it with water, and continued firing!

Suddenly the machine guns jammed, and the Serbs had their chance, charging through a hail of bullets! After paying dozens or perhaps hundreds of casualties, they finally rushed into position, met short, and began a brutal fight!

When he saw this, Dante Christov could not stand to see it. He could watch the enemy's flesh and blood but could not watch his own soldiers die and do nothing!

"Let's put the reserves on! The Serbs have gone crazy!"

...

The brutal battle continues, and the price paid by both sides exceeds the previous total in just one day!

Night has finally fallen, but it does not matter to the two sides who have been fighting 'blind'! The casualties are already just a number, and no one has the effort to care. The only idea is to kill, kill, kill!

Translator:

1) Surround Wei to save Zhao is an idiom that first came from the book "The Records of the Grand Historian" by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty. It originally refers to the tactic used by Qi during the Warring States period to besiege Wei to force Wei to withdraw its troops and save Zhao. Later, it refers to the tactic of attacking the enemy's rear positions to move the attacking enemy to retreat.