"Your Majesty, good news has arrived from the Middle East theater. They captured Baghdad last night and are now mopping up the remaining enemy forces!" Chief of the General Staff Klosov said happily.
Baghdad lay in central Iraq, straddling both banks of the Tigris River and only a little over thirty kilometers from the Euphrates River, at a vital crossroads between East and West.
To the north, it led to Syria and Turkey; to the south, it extended toward the Persian Gulf. Its geographical position was exceedingly important. The capture of Baghdad also signaled that the Iraqi campaign was nearing its end.
Ferdinand smiled faintly. "Good. Send Popov a telegram. Tell him the World War has reached its final hour—it is time to draw in the net!"
Thanks to Ferdinand's butterfly effect, Syria was now already in Bulgarian hands, while the Ottoman Empire was also drawing its last breath. Thus, the impact of Baghdad's capture was naturally far smaller than it had been in history.
Still, Ferdinand was quite satisfied. After all, the Middle East theater was a force cobbled together from a motley rabble. Its main purpose had been to wreak havoc on the Ottoman Empire; Ferdinand had never expected them to achieve any remarkable victories!
That they had managed to fight all the way from Syria to Baghdad was entirely an unexpected windfall! Moreover, they had cleansed every place along their path, which would surely greatly reduce the difficulty of Bulgaria's future rule over these regions!
"Yes!" Chief of the General Staff Klosov replied.
After thinking for a moment, Ferdinand added, "Promote Wiki Clinton from major general to lieutenant general. Have him continue presiding over the war in the Middle East theater and eliminate the enemy remnants as soon as possible!"
Clearly, Ferdinand's order did not conform to