Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Chapter 10. Allied Strategy

After being busy for more than half a month, Ferdinand finally finalized the main outline of the "Three-Five Plan", but after seeing the final total investment, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy was in a frenzy!

"Your Majesty, is this number too large? 800 million leva, this is to invest all of Bulgaria's fiscal revenue in the next five years!" Kennedy said in horror.

Ferdinand's expression remained the same, all of which were within his expectations. In terms of Bulgaria's current fiscal revenue, let alone 800 million leva, even if it was halved, the government would not be able to take it out!

Even in 19o7, Bulgaria's fiscal revenue reached 18.6 levs, but as revenue increased, so did expenditure!

After thinking about it, Ferdinand made an account with Kennedy and said, "We know this very well! Judging from the current economic situation in Bulgaria, the fiscal revenue in 19o8 will probably be the same as in 19o7, which means that the After the Russian War, our economic transformation went well!\u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

Under normal circumstances, according to our economic growth estimates, the fiscal revenue in 1909 will at least exceed 200 million leva, and in 1914 it will exceed 300 million leva, which is normal!

On average, it is not difficult for the government to spend 500 million leva from fiscal revenue each year and put it into the "Third Five-Year Plan", right?

This is 2.5 billion levs, and we can also release a batch of national debt! Given the current domestic situation in Bulgaria, a dozen or two billion levs can always be sold, right? In the international market, it is not a problem to sell a dozen or two billion levs in five years, right?

With an optimistic estimate, this has more than 6 billion levs of funds! With the remaining funding gap of 12 billion levs, can your Ministry of Finance borrow money from foreign consortia? The English and the French must be happy now - to do this business! "

Compared with ten years ago, the situation is much better now! At that time, the Bulgarian government had to worry about the expenditure of tens of millions of levs, which is not the same number for any project now! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

I used to put tens of millions of levas in debt,

It has to be calculated accurately, and now Ferdinand speaks billions, not without reason!

In terms of economic aggregate, Bulgaria's economic aggregate in 19o8 was more than a dozen times that of 1888. This is the benefit of a larger basic market!

Population increased, resources increased, market capacity increased; imported resources decreased, Ottoman exploitation disappeared; traffic conditions improved, industrialization completed...

Under this series of comprehensive factors, Bulgaria has formed a virtuous circle, and now it has formed an independent "small economy" capable of self-hematopoiesis!

In fact, is it really as simple as Ferdinand said? Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy can say with certainty that no!

Let's talk military spending! In addition to daily routine expenses: 270 million leva (about 1080 million pounds) for the 6th Army, 6ooo million levies (about 240 million pounds) for the Navy \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

These only include a series of expenses such as daily training, personnel wages, equipment maintenance and a small amount of replacement, as well as the research of new weapons!

In this five-year plan, in order to cope with the changes in the international situation, the 6th Army will expand its army by 200,000 within five years, with a financial allocation of 860 million leva (about 3.44 million pounds); the Navy will also expand by 5,000, plus the planned new Two dreadnoughts, 4 destroyers, 2 cruisers, 8 submarines, financial allocation of 300 million leva (about 1200000 pounds).

These are all ideals. Once the arms race escalates, the Navy can let them stop and make soy sauce, but who dares to let them stop in the 6th Army?

Where will the money come from then? These are all questions for the Treasury Department to consider. What if Kennedy wasn't worried?

"Your Majesty, in this way, our finances, which have just improved, will soon be burdened with a huge amount of foreign debt. Every year, the interest is a lot of money? Can't we slow down any more?" Kennedy continued to fight for it without giving up. ;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

"Hey!"

Ferdinand sighed and said, "I can't wait for the time! Let's do this, let's release the news of our military expansion first, and then delay it on the grounds of insufficient military spending!

When the situation in Europe further escalates, the British and French will take the initiative to come to the door, and they should be able to save a fortune at that time! "

Oh, Ferdinand still decided to learn from the Russians. Historically, the expansion of the Russian army was limited by finances, and he came up with rogue moves.

If Britain and France do not give loans, Lao Tzu will not expand the military, and the French will fight against the military pressure on the European Big Six!

Anyway, due to the conflict between Germany and France, the first unlucky people are the French. The Russian Empire has a vast territory as a strategic buffer. Even if the war breaks out, they can still afford it!

The situation in Bulgaria is even better now. Anyway, there is no need to face the Germans directly. Ferdinand can also be a rogue. We will not expand our army without money! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

Even if the war breaks out immediately, Bulgaria is not the key offensive direction of the Allies. In the history of defending the attack of a partial division of the Austria-Hungary Empire, the Serbs have withstood it!

As far as the current strength of the Bulgarian 6th Army is concerned, once it is mobilized, it will not be troublesome to kill this partial division. What should Ferdinand be afraid of?

Although the British have now joined the Allied Powers, the pressure of the Germans on the French on the ground has not been reduced, and the Royal Navy cannot go ashore!

Moreover, the British did not undertake military obligations to the Entente. After a period of time, the politicians in France will definitely react, and the French will naturally come to the door and ask for the protection of France and the two countries!

Anyone who knows Ferdinand knows that this kind of thing will happen more often in the future!

He has already made up his mind, to use the loans from Britain and France to expand the military and prepare for war, so as not to resort to military force and affect the domestic economic development! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

As for the loan owed due to this, as long as the war is won, it should be paid with the reparations of the defeated country. Ferdinand will not have any moral pressure in this regard!

...

When Ferdinand was trying to calculate the loan between Britain and France, the British and French were not idle. Everyone is the elite of this era, how could they not have their own plans?

Bulgaria has been able to get to this point, how could it be possible without the secret push from Britain and France?

Just look at who the Germans wanted to intervene when the Balkan War broke out, and who was holding them back!

Of course, there is Ferdinand's arrangement in advance, which provokes contradictions among all parties, but why is there no intentional cooperation between Britain and France to push the boat along?

...

In fact, after entering the 2o century, the life of the British Empire was not so easy. In addition to the challenge of the world hegemony by the later powers, due to the huge gap between the rich and the poor, domestic conflicts also began to intensify during this period! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

Since the Liberal Party came to power in 19o5, the London government has undergone an internal reform.

In 19o7, free lunches were provided in schools;

In 19o8, Asquith drafted the old-age insurance plan;

...

At this time, the Germans have replaced the French and the Russians have become the new confidants of the London government, but the Asquith government has still not forgotten the old enemy of the Russians!

At the European State Consultative Conference, the Foreign Secretary put forward:

"Mr. Xiang, despite our efforts, the Russian-Russian alliance is still unbreakable.

The pro-Russian faction within the Bulgarian government is too strong, and it may be difficult to change in the short term; and the Russian government also attaches great importance to the relationship with Bulgaria, especially after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the relationship between the two countries will be closer. ! ”\u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

Asquith frowned, and then said: "Don't worry, now our main enemy is still the Germans, and the Russians and Bulgaria have joined forces to block the expansion of the Germans in Eastern Europe, which is also what we need!

Now that the Bulgarians and the Russians have a common enemy, and the two sides have no core conflict of interests, the alliance is of course strong!

But the future is uncertain. Once the allies fall, Bulgaria and Russia will border on each other. As long as we push, no matter how good the relationship between the two sides is, it will become fragmented due to conflicts of interest!

Don't forget that our principle is that the European Big 6 cannot be dominated by one family. The current Germans are an example!

Due to our previous strategic mistakes, the Germans have grown bigger, and now they dare to challenge our hegemony. In order to suppress them, we even have to give up the isolation policy! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

We must never make this mistake again! Now in the European Big 6, the three countries of France, Russia and Bulgaria are still not the opponents of the Allies, so we have to support them!

But we all know that, although now we are trying to avoid the big 6 war in Europe, and try our best to ensure the balance of the big 6 in Europe!

But this situation is impossible to last forever. Once the big six in Europe breaks out, this situation will change!

Either the Allies beat the Allies, or the Allies beat the Allies! The latter situation is something we try to avoid. Even if we do it ourselves, we cannot make it happen. It will be a disaster for the British Empire!

And after the Allied countries defeat the Allies, they will become our new enemies, so the Russian-Belgium Alliance must be dismantled! "

...

Well, when the Germans were still planning to use the fleet to force the British to compromise, and even when some people in the German government were dreaming of an "Anglo-German alliance", the British were ready to kill the Germans! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

By the way, they are thinking about the international pattern after the World War! It is no wonder that after the outbreak of World War I, the German government could not accept the fact that the British participated in the war. It can only be said that John Bull's diplomatic deception was too strong!

...

The British have plans, why not the French? At least Ferdinand knows that there has always been a saying in France that the Allied Powers kill the Allies, and France once again dominates the European Big 6!

This is the core reason why the French government simply and neatly handed over the technology it has painstakingly accumulated to Bulgaria!

If it's just to pull Bulgaria into the water, it's a big deal for them to learn from the British to support Japan to provide money and equipment, and there is absolutely no need to enhance Bulgaria's comprehensive national strength!

At least when it comes to technical support for the Russians, the French still maintain a restrained attitude, and even require confidentiality in the technology transfer with Bulgaria! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

And Ferdinand's performance is also very in line with their expectations, decisively refused to disclose technology to Russia, as if to tell the world that the relationship between Russia and Russia is not so unbreakable!

After all, the Russian chassis is too big. If they are allowed to obtain these technologies, what will happen to the way of heaven? At least Ferdinand didn't dare to gamble!

Obviously, the more important purpose of the French is to provoke the contradiction between Bulgaria and Russia, so that the two countries are torn apart in Eastern Europe, and they are powerless to prevent the French from becoming bigger in Europe!

In order to achieve this goal, the French will support the expansion of Bulgaria, so as to block the way for the Russians to enter the Mediterranean! Before that, either Romania or part of the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire can be the bait to remove!

Only when the Bulgarians are opposed to Russia will Bulgaria need the French and the British! The premise is that the strength of Bulgaria itself is not weak, otherwise it will directly become a Russian little brother!

It can be said that none of the old empires are simple! These are all conspiracies on the bright side, but everyone didn't pick them up!

Ferdinand was sure that the St. Petersburg government also knew the plans of Britain and France, but they were still willing to enter the game, knowing that the tsarist government must have its own plans!

Now that the game has started, let's see who can come out ahead! Anyway, Ferdinand's purpose is very simple, that is to fish in troubled waters and reap the benefits! You can also be a thug, but you have to pay!

Combining the information in his hand and the trend of parallel time and space history, Ferdinand has already made up his mind, and he has made a decision. No matter what, he will swallow the bait first!

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