Long live Joachim

Chapter 225: The Giant's Dusk (First) At the end of November 1934, the 10th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Southern Fleet of the Ottoman Navy was held at the port of Abbas in southern Persia. In order to showcase to the world the strong revival of the Islamic Empire spanning across the Eurasian continent during the Industrial Age, the Ottoman Empire brought their newly commissioned main ships from the Mediterranean and invited Germany, Italy, Austria Hungary, and Ireland stationed in the Persian Gulf region to send ships to participate. Japan, the only Eastern Alliance country whose power expanded to the east coast of the Bay of Bengal, was also invited to send an audience. Although Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II did not attend this grand celebration, the heir to the throne, Ahmed, who was in the limelight, personally visited Abbas Port. Grand Vizier Enver (equivalent to the Prime Minister of the government), Navy Commander Abbas, and other high-ranking officials and dignitaries also appeared one after another. As the ceremonial ships lined up in the Strait of Hormuz fired their cannons, the scene was truly spectacular. Who would have thought that such a heavily guarded political show would turn into a political disaster - during the ceremony, Ahmed's ceremonial ship, the "Suleiman I," suddenly exploded and capsized in less than 15 minutes. The heir to the empire hastily left the ship under the protection of his servants, but his lifeboat accidentally overturned during the hoisting process, causing Ahmed to fall into the water from a height of over four meters and ultimately drown. There are various opinions on the cause of the sinking of the "Suleiman I". Some believe it was a torpedo attack by a US submarine, as some surviving sailors claimed to have seen the torpedo trajectory before the explosion, while others believe it touched a mine laid by the Allies. It should be noted that in order to prevent the US and British navies from entering the Persian Gulf, the Allies laid thousands of mines in the waters near the Strait of Hormuz. After the US and British armies withdrew from South Asia, the Allies spent several months cleaning up a small part of them. Some speculate that it was a crew error. The most direct evidence is another Ottoman warship that exploded and sank in the Dardanelles in the summer. The investigation concluded that the tragedy was caused by the torpedo soldiers' careless maintenance of torpedoes. The sentence is:. Regardless of the truth of the incident, this new warship, which cost 32 million marks, ultimately sank and disappeared in front of everyone's eyes. It was not only the face of the Ottoman Empire that was damaged, but also the moment when the heart of the man named Ahmed stopped beating. This seemingly withered Islamic country suffered a heavy blow from within. Upon hearing this terrible news, the old Sultan Majid II, who was in poor physical condition, fainted on the spot and almost went to see Allah. From then on, his condition worsened and he soon fell seriously ill. The various forces eyeing the throne of the Sultan were engaged in a hidden struggle. The commander of the Imperial Guard, Vasily Pasha, supported the young son of Mehmed II to inherit the throne, and used his control over the capital Istanbul to prevent other princes and royal relatives from approaching Mehmed II. This made Mehmed II's brother-in-law, Enver, who held political power in the Ottoman Empire, and Mehmed II's cousin, Fatih, the young son of former Sultan Muhammad V, very dissatisfied. It should be noted that since the 17th century, the Ottoman throne succession law has been based on the system of male succession, which means that the oldest male member of the royal family inherits the throne of the Sultan. Majid II was still sober, and the various forces were not about to confront each other with knives and guns. As soon as the news of the old Sultan fainting again spread, all the troops immediately tore apart their faces. The Ottoman warships anchored in the Golden Horn pointed their black cannons at the palace in Istanbul, and the troops following Enver's orders rushed to the capital from various places. Vasily Pasha in Istanbul tried his best to overthrow the system of eldest son succession and restore the system of eldest son succession Taking advantage of the turmoil in the Ottoman Empire's political situation, the Soviet government, which had been holding grudges against the Allied powers for forcibly occupying the South Caucasus and dividing the Baku oil fields under the "New Baku Agreement," suddenly launched a rebellion. Before Christmas, the Soviet border guards launched a counterattack, claiming that Ottoman patrols had crossed the border and attacked Soviet sentries. In less than two weeks, they regained all the lost Caucasian territories during the Tsarist period and cut off the land contacts between the Allied forces in Baku and the rear. The German government urgently mediated and demanded that the Soviet army stop attacking and retreat to the border side agreed upon in the 1931 New Baku Agreement, but was strongly rejected by the Soviet government. The Russians have ordered all Allied forces to withdraw from Baku within three days, otherwise they will launch an attack by force. The Caucasus War has a long history, and the reason why the Allies had a certain advantage in the past was undoubtedly due to the super strong combat power of the German army. However, from any perspective, the Ottoman army was the main force in this direction to confront the Soviet Union. Nowadays, the political situation in the Ottoman Empire is turbulent, and various factions in the army are either eager to move or willing to protect themselves. Few people still have the intention to fight against the Russians, let alone whether the logistical support of the army can be maintained, which is still a big unknown. Despite this, the Germans were still unwilling to give up on Baku. They provided supplies to the Baku garrison through the water routes of the Caspian Sea, while also putting pressure on Soviet Russia from the Eastern European direction - the 1st and 2nd Armored Corps, which had returned from Britain for rest and reorganization, marched vigorously to Belarus and northern Ukraine, and thousands of fighter jets were transferred from Western and Central Europe to various aviation bases in Eastern Europe. Correspondingly, the Soviet army mobilized on a large scale in the border area of Estonia Belarus Ukraine, and all deployments shifted to a defensive posture. Military mobilization began in cities in the west and southwest - hiding their strength and waiting for 18 years, and the Russians finally revealed the flesh of a fighting nation! In the era of Bismarck and Moltke, Prussia successfully avoided fighting on two fronts, thus winning the important wars of Prussia and Prussia, laying a solid foundation for the rise of the German Empire. However, in the Schlieffen era, how to win on two fronts became a topic of study for German generals and staff. The glorious victory of World War I further boosted their confidence. Since then, the strategic thinking of the German army has been consistent with the "two strong standards" of the British Empire's peak period, which means "winning two wars at the same time". Therefore, in the summer of 1933, Germany will resolutely launch a war against the United States and Britain with only Ireland providing a guarantee of participation, at the cost of the most intense battles in Britain and the Azores. During the period of stalemate,Germany also had to retain 40% of its army's combat power and 30% of its air force in Eastern Europe to guard against the Soviet Union, which had signed a secret agreement with the United States and Britain, sending millions of troops westward. According to intelligence gathered by German spies, the Soviet Union conducted at least two secret mobilizations between September and November 1933. Based on this, the German military judged that if the US British coalition captured the Azores, the Soviet government had a probability of declaring war on Germany of over 80%. Therefore, in October 1933, Germany conducted a second wave of mobilization, with over 600000 eligible young people enlisted, and defense mobilization was carried out in the eastern region. Just over a month later, the German General Staff proposed the first batch of demobilization plans due to changes in the strategic situation, including the 600000 reserve soldiers and 200000 frontline troops on the list of disbandment. Shortly thereafter, with the participation of Italy, Austria Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Spain, the pressure on German troops stationed in the occupied territories further eased. However, due to Crown Prince William's active planning of a transoceanic attack on North America, a large number of troops began to gather in the Azores, and the first demobilization plan was temporarily postponed. At this time, the Soviet Union made a tough move, which naturally made Germany very angry. With the deployment of the two flagship armored clusters to Eastern Europe, the German General Staff also deployed seven front-line corps, four heavy artillery divisions, and six aviation corps from the mainland and Western Europe, and the border areas were suddenly shrouded in war clouds. Under the strong oppression of the German army, the attitude of the Soviet government eased. They agreed to negotiate a solution to the South Caucasus and Baku issues, allowing Allied ships to freely enter and exit Baku port. Representatives from Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and the Soviet Union immediately held consultations in Baku. However, the easing of the situation in the Caucasus did not change the internal turmoil in the Ottoman Empire. On December 27, 1934, Majid II passed away at the Istanbul Palace, and the commander of the Imperial Guard, Vasily Pasha, and several Vizier loyalists, 17-year-old Prince Mahmoud, ascended to the throne. Before the new Sultan could perform his coronation ceremony, Fatih's warships fired at the city defense forces, armed sailors landed by boat, and Enver, who was facing the city from the east, also attacked Vasily Pasha's Imperial Guard. Although the Ottoman Guard stationed in Istanbul had only over 30000 soldiers, far fewer than the army supporting Enver, and was unable to drive away the Ottoman fleet commanded by Fatih from the Golden Horn Bay, they relied on the high walls of the capital and the enemy's fear of using artillery on a large scale to block the successive attacks of the usurpers. The reason why the worldly wise Vasily Pasha dared to challenge Enver and Fatih, who held the military power of the Ottoman army and navy, seemed to be because he had never had a good relationship with the two and was worried about being liquidated in the future. In fact, he had already offered very tempting conditions to the two countries through the German and Italian ambassadors to the Ottoman Empire: as long as both countries expressed their support for Mahmoud's appointment as the new Sultan, they would hand over the newly explored oil fields in the eastern and southern regions of Persia to the two countries for free exploitation. The Italian government coveted those new oil fields and was willing to gain as much benefit as possible from this internal turmoil. The German government leaders felt that a weak and young monarch and a military and political leader willing to betray national interests were more suitable than those candidates with outstanding military achievements and more independent spirit. Therefore, before the Vasily Pasha uprising, the political leaders of both countries secretly expressed their support. However, when all sides went to war, a major change occurred on the German side: the personal inclination of the German father and son suddenly surpassed the objective and rational choice, because they supported Enver, who had a friendly and cooperative relationship for more than 20 years, and this firm pro German faction elected another cousin of the late Sultan Majid II, who was over fifty years old and had a strong sense of independence. Sulman, who has a disability, took over as the Sultan,So the German government ultimately condemned Mahmoud and Vasily Pasha for violating the rule of law, usurping power and causing chaos. Enver and Vasily, relying on the support of the German and Italian governments, continued to confront each other in Istanbul. Although the legitimacy of the new Sudan was still highly questionable, with the help of Italian diplomats, a large number of official appointment letters were sent to various places in an attempt to allow supporters to take over military and political power. The most direct consequence of this move was the nationwide chaos.