Massacre

From top to bottom, each level passed the order down to the next. The Stam Cabinet's resolution was relayed in a muddled, half-understood fashion.

Hoover, who had long been watching hungrily from the sidelines, naturally wouldn't let this heaven-sent opportunity slip by. Ferdinand's order to him was to use someone else's hand to kill and eliminate the threat.

The time was ripe. Hoover activated the informants he had long ago planted in the police force. They had just one task: "Make the situation as widespread as possible"!

Laurenwell was in a foul mood. As the head of the Sofia police, he rarely had to put up with anyone making trouble for him!

But lately had been an exception. Yesterday, a shocking assassination had taken place in Sofia. As the chief of the Sofia police, the fact that he hadn't been fired was already thanks to God's protection. Naturally, life wasn't going to be easy.

He had just received a secret order from the Ministry of Interior, putting him in an even worse mood. Its core message was simple: he was to "execute the ringleaders of the rebels immediately." But there was no specific list, and Laurenwell was baffled.

"Who exactly am I supposed to kill? I've got a whole heap of rebels in custody. Surely they need to give me a specific target! Do they expect me to execute every last one of them?" The thought terrified Laurenwell. There were several thousand people!

Unable to make sense of it, Laurenwell could only pace back and forth in his office. Just then, his secretary Conrad suddenly said, "I think I know what's going on!"

"Oh, thank God! Conrad, tell me quickly—what on earth are the people upstairs thinking?" Laurenwell asked, overjoyed.

Conrad gave a wry smile. "Chief, put together what happened in Sofia yesterday, and you'll understand right away!"

Laurenwell's face turned deathly pale. "Yesterday... Oh, God! I've gotten myself into serious trouble. This is no easy job! It could easily lead to a huge disaster. No wonder the people at the Ministry of Interior didn't dare say it outright!"

Conrad complained, "That's right, Chief! The people upstairs want revenge, but they don't want to be branded as butchers. The Ministry of Interior doesn't want that reputation either, though their reputation was already bad enough!"

Laurenwell said furiously, "Damn them! They're making me the scapegoat! So what do we do now?"

Conrad suggested, "Chief, in that case, why don't we learn from the Ministry of Interior and leave it to the people below us?"

Laurenwell's eyes lit up. He slapped the desk and said loudly, "Good idea! Let's do that! At least it'll lessen our responsibility. Oh, and don't forget to give the people below us a few hints. Otherwise, that bunch of idiots probably won't get anything done!"

Conrad immediately chimed in, "Yes, Chief. It'd be best to have them act tonight, before things get more complicated!"

"Fine, I'll issue the order right away!" Laurenwell said after a moment's thought.

Even now, Laurenwell had no idea how great an impact his order would have. Tonight, the streets of Sofia would run with blood.

Clearly, Conrad had given him a terrible suggestion. With Ferdinand's informants fanning the flames, everyone came to believe that the Cabinet wanted revenge in blood. And so the massacre began!

In fact, plenty of other people were just as baffled at the same time. Everyone who received a secret order was in much the same state of mind.

Just then, there was always someone ready to step forward with advice, bringing the assassination back to mind. Many clever people thought they understood: the boss wanted revenge, so naturally the more people killed, the better!

The Cabinet's original plan had been to execute a dozen or so ringleaders. By the time the order reached the Ministry of Interior, the target had expanded to dozens. After the informants fanned the flames, the people below interpreted it as "the more killed, the better." Some even slaughtered every rebel in their custody to curry favor with the Cabinet!

A vague and unclear secret order, misinterpreted by subordinates, brought about an accidental massacre. It became known as the "Secret Order Massacre," an event with a profound impact on Bulgaria!

Because those tasked with carrying it out couldn't tell who should be killed and who shouldn't, they blindly raised the butcher's knife. Later generations would call it the "Bulgarian Mihu Massacre"!

Ferdinand had successfully concealed himself behind the scenes, leaving not the slightest trace. On the surface, he appeared to know nothing.

The blame landed squarely on the Stam Cabinet. After all, one more burden didn't weigh much when they already had plenty. First they were labeled a "dictatorial government," then a "police state," and now they had acquired the title of "butcher government." Later generations of media would even name them Bulgaria's worst cabinet.

Meanwhile, the opposition, still in the dark, had no idea the butcher's knife was about to fall on them.

On May 5, officers led by Major Panitsa launched an uprising at a military camp outside Sofia. Unfortunately, their organization was too lax, and the uprising was exposed as soon as it began. The Sofia garrison commander, Sava Mutkurov, led men in to suppress it, and Panitsa was killed on the spot.

At the same time, the opposition's strongholds across the country were exposed one after another. The enraged police stormed straight inside, and the opposition was almost completely wiped out!

With everything going smoothly, the Stam Cabinet still had no idea that the death knell had already sounded for them. They were immersed in the joy of crushing the rebels—or perhaps basking in the thrill of having their revenge!

With gunshots ringing out one after another beyond the city, Bulgaria's prison cells gradually fell silent, once again growing empty.

By the end of that night, the Stam Government had finally wiped out the opposition completely. Even if a few slipped through the net, they would have no chance to regain their strength, because their supporters were gone.

According to later figures, more than twelve thousand people were killed across Bulgaria that night.

"Blood ran like rivers, bones piled up like mountains. The sky was bleak, the earth dim. Dark years, a horror beyond words!" The famous Bulgarian writer Nikolai Haitov used these lines to describe the atrocity.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Bulgarian bourgeoisie was still weak. The dominant force within it was instead the landowning class—the evolved agricultural capitalists—while the emerging industrial and commercial bourgeoisie was extremely frail.

The Stam Government's main supporters were precisely this emerging class of industrial and commercial capitalists, who had close ties with capital from Austria-Hungary and the United Kingdom.

Although the Stam Government had now succeeded in eliminating its rivals, it had also lost its fragile foundation of power.

Originally, the vast majority of Bulgarian peasants, the urban petty bourgeoisie, most missionaries, and intellectuals were pro-Russian. They opposed the government's policy toward Russia and gave the Stam Government very little support.

The Stam Cabinet's reign of terror had already made the people resent it. Now this horrifying massacre would inevitably provoke public opposition. The moment Ferdinand had waited so many days for had finally arrived.

Two updates done!! I did my best.

I haven't written the early-morning chapter yet, so I'll publish it a few hours late!

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