Greece to roman road

On the Aegean Fleet flagship, the cruiser Congo, Kontoriotis stood on the side of the ship, holding a telescope and observing the international fleet not far away.

Since the Greek fleet escorted 2,000 soldiers to land on Crete, it has been cruising around Crete in order to respond to the army soldiers on the island at any time.

It was not until a powerful international fleet appeared in the Aegean Sea that the combat readiness patrols of the Greek fleet were affected.

After all, the only eye-catching warships in the Greek fleet are the two Esmeralda-class cruisers.

The strength gap between it and the international fleet is too great.

However, this does not mean that Greece's weaker navy cannot make a difference.

A telegraph operator hurriedly came to Kontoriotis. After saluting, he said loudly: "Sir, I just received a secret message from the General Staff. The content is: The country will rise and fall, and we will fight here."

After hearing this, Contoriotis immediately took the telegram from the telegraph operator and personally confirmed the content.

"Commander, notify other warships to change course."

The messenger on the mast of the Congo waved the flag and conveyed the commander's orders to other warships.

At noon on November 26, the entire Aegean Fleet changed direction, including two cruisers and three destroyers, and headed straight north.

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Marine camp on the island of Aegina

2,000 Marines lined up to board four Greek Navy ships.

The captains of the four ships received the order and set off immediately to join the Aegean Fleet in the Kafirefus Strait.

At 6:10 in the afternoon, the two fleets gathered together and headed north along the coastline of the Greek Peninsula.

After the current Sultan Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire came to power, he did not trust naval generals. Officers who could work in the navy and serve as senior naval generals generally had Western study experience, high academic qualifications, and broad vision, and naturally hated the Ottomans. Imperial ****-style autocratic rule.

The two sultans before Hamid II fell from power because of demonstrations by navy warships in front of Dolmabahçe Palace.

It was precisely because of the "disgraceful" resume of the Ottoman Navy that after Hamid II came to power, he allowed the navy's warships to rot in the Golden Horn.

As a result, although the Greek Navy's Aegean Fleet was not worth mentioning before the European powers, in this war, the Ottoman Navy did not dare to sail out of the Dardanelles Strait.

The warships of the Ottoman Navy suffered from frequent breakdowns due to lack of maintenance all year round. The naval crews had long been left to fend for themselves because they had not been paid for a long time.

In this case, the Greek navy can definitely show off its power in the Aegean Sea as long as it does not provoke the warships of the great powers.

At noon on December 27, the Aegean Fleet blocked the Thermaic Gulf. Warships flying the blue and white cross flag of Greece kept cruising at the entrance of Thermaic Gulf.

The Thermaic Gulf is a bay sandwiched between the Greek Peninsula and the Chalkidiki Peninsula. The city of Thessaloniki is located in the north of the Thermaic Gulf.

After nightfall, the three destroyers in the fleet continued to patrol the entrance, while the other two cruisers and the four ships transporting 2,000 marines formed a new mixed fleet, using the cover of darkness to quietly enter The Thermaic Gulf.

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Warehouse area at the docks of Thessaloniki city

The night of December 27

Thirty or forty young special forces members were cleaning their rifles and counting their bullets.

In addition to grenades, they also have two 60mm mortars.

Mortars are the only heavy weapons for special operations team members.

These weapons have been stored in secret places in the warehouse for a long time just to complete this mission.

Volgaris walked into the crowd and laid out the detailed plan for the operation.

"We are divided into two groups. One group is led by me. The task is to blow up the ammunition warehouse in the west of the city." Volgaris said expressionlessly as he looked at everyone.

"The second group is led by Kouros. He is familiar with the terrain of the Salonika port and knows where to guide the marines to land."

As a mapmaker, no one knew better than him the places to land.

Volgaris and his group of fifteen people, carrying two mortars, disappeared into the night.

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Book landing area

In accordance with the requirements of the Intelligence Office, the landing site selected by Kouros for the Marine Corps was an open beach area, which was very suitable for assault boats to land on the beach.

Several people hid behind a rock near the beach.

"Captain Kuros, we have scouted and there are no patrols on this beach," a team member with curly hair said.

After hearing this, Kuros raised his hand and glanced at the luminous watch. The time showed 5 o'clock.

It is the time when people are most sleepy.

"Take action"

The team members acted quickly, carrying iron barrels of gasoline, and went to the beach. They scattered and piled the flammable materials, wood and quilts prepared in advance into several places, poured gasoline on them, and ignited the signal.

The burning gasoline stood out in the night.

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On the mast of the Congo, the lookout kept searching back and forth for the fire signal requested by the commander in the darkness.

Suddenly, the fire signal finally appeared in the night, and the entire fleet deck was brightly lit and busy.

The Marines worked together to lower the assault boat to the sea, and boarded the assault boat through a fishing net-like rope ladder hung on the side of the ship.

After 50 assault boats were launched, each one carried 10 Marines. Under the order of the Marine commander, Kontoriotis, they started their gasoline engines and charged towards the fire signal on the shore.

After half an hour of work, a total of 2,000 fully armed soldiers successfully landed on the coast.

At six o'clock, a deafening sound woke everyone in Salonika from their sleep.

The strong shock wave shattered the glass of all buildings in the city.

A huge mushroom-shaped red fire lit up the entire Salonika.

Ottoman stayed behind to guard the garrison camp, but the commander of the regiment, Lesailin Hassan, was awakened by the huge movement. In a panic, he grabbed his clothes, put them on his body, and quickly came to lead the soldiers to the camp.

"What happened?" Hassan grabbed a soldier passing by and asked.

When the soldier saw Hassan, he looked horrified and said: "Commander Hassan, there seems to be an explosion in the arms warehouse."

Hassan's face turned pale and he was stunned on the spot. In the armaments warehouse, one month's supplies of the frontline Macedonian legions were stored, including ammunition, food, cotton clothes, quilts, medicine and other supplies.

All that is gone now.

Ruined!

Hassan's mind was filled with this thought.

He will definitely be shot by the furious Edmund Pasha.

At this moment, a burst of gunfire was heard. After detaching part of its troops to control the dock area, the Marines began to enter the city of Salonika.

After three hours of fighting, nearly 800 Ottoman Turkish soldiers were captured and Salonika was completely controlled.

After receiving the news, Kontoriotis on board the Congo reported the news to the General Staff of Athens and the frontline command of the Thessalian Army.