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i io THE BALKAN WAR, 1912 [chap. ix.
There is no doubt that this hope of a reconciliation
with the Holy See (and with his own conscience into the
bargain) was one of the mainsprings which incited
Ferdinand to the taking of Constantinople. And there
is also no doubt that—from the moment that such
incredible prospects unfolded themselves to the King of
the Bulgarians—he at once realised that he had but one
real competitor and enemy, and that this enemy was
Russia.
Onward then! onward! whate’er the cost, towards
these sacred walls, while Europe has not yet realised the
whole importance of the success of the Serbian and
Bulgarian arms. The King’s headquarters sent off an
order to Sofia to dispatch at once all the grand uniforms
of the Royal Guard, the gala-coaches, and six white
horses: perhaps it would be as well to include even the
costume of the Byzantine Basileus in which, shortly
before, the King had posed to a French painter and a
Viennese medallist; this costume would surely be found
in the Royal wardrobe! The ceremonial of the entry
into Constantinople of the new Tsar Simeon—for
Ferdinand intended to adopt this name in the event of
eventual success—was thought out in every detail.
"Bulgar-Vilayet! Eh what? Who would have thought
it ? Bulgar- Vilayet!’’
But the floodgates of heaven which were opening
over the Balkan Peninsula prevented, this time at least,
the realisation of all this phantasmagoria. It was not
till a week after the victory of Lule-Burgas that the
Bulgarian troops, by the King’s express order, resumed
their march on Constantinople, and a week went by
before they could approach the lines of Chataldja. In
the interval Berlin had pulled herself together, and so
had the German military instructors of the Ottoman
Army. The Baron von Wangenheim and the German
generals in Constantinople united their efforts to infuse
some energy into the broken and wavering spirits of
the Young Turks. The fortifications of Chataldja were
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