Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Chapter 53, the arms race that was dragged into the water

"Your Majesty, the Germans have announced their new shipbuilding plan, adding 3 more dreadnoughts from 1912 to 1917, adding to their existing 2, and the previous 3 already under construction, and the planned 4 , by 1917 the number of dreadnoughts in the German Navy will reach 12!" Foreign Minister Metev said cautiously\u00261t;/p\u003e

Just after returning from St. Petersburg, Ferdinand received this good news. That's right, it's definitely good news for Bulgaria! \u00261t;/p\u003e

The more the Germans invested in the navy, the less pressure on Bulgaria on the Western Front in the future. As for the German navy, it was John Bull's trouble, so Ferdinand wouldn't bother. \u00261t;/p\u003e

Well, Romania to the north was automatically ignored by Ferdinand. In fact, even if the Germans are willing to help, Romania's strategic position is very unfavorable, sandwiched between Bulgaria and Russia. \u00261t;/p\u003e

If you want to attack from Romania, it is estimated that the enemy commander has water in the mind! Obviously, as soon as the war broke out, Romania would be attacked by the two fronts of Bulgaria and Russia, and it would be difficult to defend without an army of 1.8 million! \u00261t;/p\u003e

"What did the British do? Are they going to build six?" Ferdinand asked directly without thinking\u00261t;/p\u003e

"For every warship the Germans build, the British build two!" This sentence was a domineering declaration made by Haldane, the former British Minister of the Sixth Army, when he visited Germany. \u00261t;/p\u003e

Oh, and earlier, Ferdinand was still in London, shouting this to the Ottoman Empire. It's just that the Ottomans are the real poor. After ordering two dreadnoughts from Germany, they expressed their silence! \u00261t;/p\u003e

But the Germans are now clearly demonstrating against the British, don't you want to build double the number of warships? Well, come on, whoever counsels who is the grandson! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Foreign Minister Metev replied directly, "Your Majesty, yes! In March 1912, Churchill, the British Secretary of the Navy, submitted the Naval Bill to Parliament, and now it has been passed. According to the bill, the Germans did not build a warship, The British built two.

The London government has announced an increase of 6 dreadnoughts in the next five years! \u00261t;/p\u003e

And just now, the British and the French have reached an agreement. The British will transfer the Mediterranean fleet to the North Sea to suppress the Germans. The French will transfer the Atlantic Navy to the Mediterranean region to take over defense. The two countries have reached an agreement! ”\u00261t;/p\u003e

Ferdinand smiled slightly. Obviously, this is in the information. It seems that the next step is to watch the performances of the British and German dumplings. \u00261t;/p\u003e

As for Bulgaria's big navy plan? Oh, that's just a plan. Although the momentum is huge, what we build now are basically cruisers and destroyers. It's not bad to use them to deal with submarines. Let's forget about the main battle! \u00261t;/p\u003e

"What about the 6th Army? I remember that the French arrogantly announced that they would expand by 500,000. What step has it taken now? What is the reaction of the Allies?" Ferdinand asked concernedly\u00261t;/p\u003e

Obviously, needless to say about the situation of the Russians, Ferdinand just returned from St. Petersburg, Mao Xiong is ready to expand the army by 450,000, plus their standing army of one million, this number is already amazing. \u00261t;/p\u003e

Metev thought for a moment and said, "The French government has submitted to Congress to amend the military service law to increase the compulsory military service from two years to three years.\u00261t;/p\u003e

And the age of enlistment for soldiers has been relaxed from the current 21 to 45 years old to 20 to 48 years old. \u00261t;/p\u003e

The atmosphere of the French civil war is very strong now, and from the current situation, it is only a matter of time before it is passed in Congress. It is estimated that after the revision of the military service law, the French military expansion will begin. \u00261t;/p\u003e

The Germans are now tit-for-tat announcing an expansion of the army by 500,000, but they have a mature reserve mechanism and can complete the expansion at any time as long as they need it. \u00261t;/p\u003e

The expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has already begun, but the Vienna government is still worried about the composition of the 300,000 troops. The Hungarians are unwilling to allocate additional funds, and the two sides are still wrangling. \u00261t;/p\u003e

By the way, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also plans to build two new dreadnoughts. The Hungarians asked one of them to be named after Budapest. The Vienna government agreed. However, the Hungarian government has to bear 7o of the construction cost of this warship. This time the Hungarian government is refreshing. accepted. \u00261t;/p\u003e

The Italians are also very active in this military expansion. According to their announced plan, not only will the 6th Army be expanded by 300,000, but the navy will also be expanded by 30,000, and three new dreadnoughts are planned to be built in the next five years. ”\u00261t;/p\u003e

Ferdinand was stunned for a moment. The French behaved normally. It was obvious that they had reached an agreement with the British, and the two sides had divided the labor. The British were in charge of the navy and the French were in charge of the 6th Army. \u00261t;/p\u003e

As for their revision of the military service law, Ferdinand was not surprised. Whether they extend their years of service or relax the enlistment age for soldiers is not surprising in this day and age. \u00261t;/p\u003e

In fact, Bulgaria's military service bill is the real statement, but it was formulated during the Stam cabinet, when it was mainly set up to deal with the Ottoman Empire and seize the Macedonia region. Later, considering the factors of the world war, Ferdinand has not revised it. \u00261t;/p\u003e

It is also compulsory military service, except that the number of years of service for Bulgarians is unlimited! You understand correctly, it is life-long service, as long as the country needs you to serve, then you have to serve until the age of 65! \u00261t;/p\u003e

The service age ranges from 16 to 65 years old, which is why this country with a population of only more than 4.3 million in history was able to mobilize 1.26 million troops to participate in the war in World War I! \u00261t;/p\u003e

According to this military service law, Ferdinand can still mobilize six or seven hundred troops in theory, but of course there is no such operation in practice! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Under such extreme mobilization, it is estimated that Bulgaria will collapse on its own within two or three years. Ferdinand, the most beloved king, may have to worry about his throne at that time! \u00261t;/p\u003e

The performance of the Germans was a bit shocking to Ferdinand. When they were in the naval competition with the British, they also competed with the French in the 6-army competition. \u00261t;/p\u003e

The performance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is fairly normal. As a big country, how can it not have its own dreadnoughts? At the same time, facing the military threats from Bulgaria and Russia, if they do not expand the 6th Army, there will be a problem! \u00261t;/p\u003e

It's just that the performance of the Italians really makes Ferdinand don't know what to say! It is very normal for a country with six powers like Bulgaria to face threats from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Montenegro, and Romania. \u00261t;/p\u003e

Well, you also have a military threat from the French in Italy. It is enough to expand the 6th Army by 100,000 and 200,000. You need 300,000! \u00261t;/p\u003e

At the same time, in the naval competition between Britain and Germany, you have also joined in it carelessly. Can you build one less dreadnought, or announce it at another time? The political implication here is very obvious! \u00261t;/p\u003e

The key is do you Italians have this strength? You can't join in the first wave, and you can start watching the show later, right? \u00261t;/p\u003e

Ferdinand smiled bitterly and said, "So, we were also dragged into the water?"\u00261t;/p\u003e

Metev thought for a while and said, "Yes, Your Majesty! The Italians have expanded 6 navies at the same time. We must be prepared, otherwise they may attack the Albania region from the sea and attack us with the Austro-Hungarian Empire!" \u00261t;/ p\u003e

Ferdinand thought for a while and said, "Well, tomorrow I will convene the cabinet and the military for a meeting, and then decide on the countermeasures!"\u00261t;/p\u003e

Obviously, history has changed beyond recognition. Affected by Ferdinand's butterfly effect, governments of various countries have strengthened their control over the people, and now basically everyone's ruling power has been strengthened to a certain extent. \u00261t;/p\u003e

Correspondingly, under the threat of war, everyone's potential to explode is stronger. \u00261t;/p\u003e

And what I just said was just the war preparations of the major powers. Ferdinand didn’t believe that the Romania and Montenegro kingdoms next door would not respond! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Well, this time, he really thought wrong. The expansion of the standing army is really not suitable for small countries to play, especially small countries whose finances are about to collapse! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Due to the war, the Kingdom of Montenegro has to pay Bulgaria's war reparations and expenses during the war. The Kingdom of Montenegro, which was already very poor, is now even poorer! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Romania is not much better. Because the Bulgarian army has invaded their elite area, all the cities in the lower Danube plain except Bucharest have been looted, leaving millions of war refugees for Carol I. A headache. \u00261t;/p\u003e

As a result of joining the Allies camp, the smell of gunpowder in the European Big Six is ​​getting stronger and stronger. It is difficult for them to even borrow loans, and capitalists also have to consider risks. \u00261t;/p\u003e

Once the two major alliances break out into war, the small countries are always the first to be sacrificed, and their repayment ability is worried. Except for some loans from Germany, Austria and Italy, the financial channels of other countries have been cut off. \u00261t;/p\u003e

Even the French, who are very keen on lending, did not dare to lend to them this time. Mainly because in the second Balkan War, Ferdinand actually provided a loan to the anti-guarantee alliance from the French. Of course, this is unbearable! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Protesting to the French government, is Ferdinand not so stupid? He directly provided the news of these financial institutions to the radical war-fighting media, adding fuel to the mix. \u00261t;/p\u003e

Then the French people got angry. Someone dared to provide loans to the Allied countries. That's enough. Isn't this the enemy of capital? \u00261t;/p\u003e

Even the capitalists are wealthy and powerful, when this kind of nationalism is bursting, it is enough for them, and they have launched scapegoats one by one to survive! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Not to mention now, due to the Ferdinand Butterfly Effect, the actions of the French capitalists have been restrained a lot at this time, at least the fact that they want to lend money to the Allies as much in history is no longer clear! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Oh, their exit made it cheaper for Jewish bankers. These people have no concept of the country. Anyway, they are scolded every day as a habit. They don't make money if they have money! \u00261t;/p\u003e

Of course, low-quality customers like Romania and Montenegro don't matter. The loans they provided to the Greeks before were rejected, and no one has made a fortune for them these days! \u00261t;/p\u003e

. \u00261t;/p\u003e

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