Vol 4 Chapter 54: , Military loans

The arms race is easy to start, but difficult to end. Ferdinand originally announced an expansion of 300,000 troops, just for political needs, that is to say.
Anyway, it didn't specify the specific time. It is completely feasible to delay the expansion of the army for two or three years, but the reaction of the Allies cannot help Bulgaria not move!
Once all countries have completed their military expansion, Bulgaria will have greater military pressure.
By then: The total strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will reach 768,000, and the total strength of the Italians will also be 589,000. If you add Romania and the Kingdom of Montenegro, once the war breaks out, Bulgaria is likely to face millions of enemy forces. Siege.
Even with the number of Bulgarian troops, it is obviously difficult to defend national security, and it will be divided into many places. As long as any place is breached, Bulgaria will suffer heavy losses.
Oh, don't expect too much from the Russians. If the war breaks out suddenly, when the bear reacts, it is estimated that the daylily will be cold!
Well, in the face of the current international situation, the Bulgarian government is under great pressure, especially the Minister of Finance is even more worried, which means that Bulgaria's military expenditure may directly double in the future!
"What's the plan of the War Department?" Ferdinand asked concerned.
The Secretary of the Army Popov replied without hesitation: "Your Majesty, we must also take action whenever the Allies move. The expansion of the army cannot be delayed!
At present, our country's standing army is only 286,000, and it is already difficult to undertake our national defense tasks. In addition to expanding the army by 300,000, we think it is also very important to increase training for the construction of the Corps.
In the Second Balkan War, it was proved that although the combat effectiveness of the Construction Corps was not as good as our regular army, it was still possible to deal with the armies of the Kingdom of Romania and Montenegro! "
Ferdinand nodded his head as acquiescence, and didn't bother to pay attention to Popov's act of sticking gold on his face!
They are also temporarily recruited troops. Well, everyone puts down their hoes and resists guns. It was half a catastrophe. The construction corps has been trained anyway, and there is nothing to say about bullying a group of militias!
In fact, the combat effectiveness of the standing armies of European countries is very good, but as the scale of the battlefield in the later period expands and the army snowballs, the combat effectiveness naturally declines.
Because the German reserve service system is the most perfect, so in the First World War, the German army was able to dominate the group.
But it does not mean that there are no garbage troops in the German army. In fact, in the middle and late stages, the quality of German soldiers also dropped very seriously, and the combat effectiveness naturally declined!
Many people wondered why the bullish German army was often slammed by the Allies, and its combat effectiveness in many places failed!
This situation is common in European countries. Limited by the number of populations, they cannot provide soldiers of sufficient quality indefinitely. In the end, they can only reduce the quality, and the quality of the soldiers will naturally decrease as well!
In contrast, the pressure on the Bulgarian Army is not the greatest! Anyway, the Balkan Mountains can rely on defense, no matter how bad it is, it can buy enough time for domestic mobilization!
But the navy is hard pressed. The army Ferdinand can mobilize tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands every day, but the navy has nothing to do!
The army only needs to send a rifle to the battlefield. The navy must have warships?
Even the simplest destroyer, a ship takes at least a few months! If it is a Dreadnought, no matter how fast it is, it will take more than a year, right?
Is the Navy important to Bulgaria now? The answer is obvious. If the Allies control the sea dominance in the Mediterranean, then the weakness of the Bulgarian navy is okay. On the contrary, the Allies control the sea dominance. In order to protect the lifeline at sea, the Bulgarian navy will go on its own!
"Where is the Admiralty?" Ferdinand asked again
When asked this, Ferdinand himself did not have the confidence. The three navies of Italy + Austro-Hungary + Ottoman empire would work together. Let's look at Britain and France!
"Your Majesty, this is probably very difficult. What we can do now is to suppress the Ottomans in the Aegean Sea, and to ensure the safety of all our seas, unless our navy expands it five times!" Navy Minister Petrov smiled bitterly. Say
After listening to Petrov's words, everyone's complexion changed drastically, which almost tells everyone that the navy could not guarantee the safety of the coastline when the world war broke out!
"What if the French can suppress the Italians?" Ferdinand thought for a while and said
No way, now I can only believe that the Allied Powers can obtain the dominance of the Mediterranean Sea like in history! Or maybe the diplomacy of Britain and France is strong enough to make Italians neutral or turn to the other side!
Petrov thought for a while and said: "If the French can watch the Italian Navy, then our pressure will be much less.
As long as the Austro-Hungarian navy is locked in the Adriatic Sea, and they are not allowed to join forces with the Ottoman navy, they can be destroyed one by one! In theory, we only need to add three more dreadnought fleets! Note: The dreadnought fleet here refers to a dreadnought ship and a series of attached warships)
Now Ferdinand is a time when he misses airplanes. He doesn't need much performance, as long as he can carry one or two tons of bombs and fly one or two hundred kilometers!
The nearest place between the Apennines and the Balkans is only more than 40 kilometers. If you can control the air, you will land directly from the Otranto Strait and occupy Brindisi to lock the Otranto Strait.
No, Ferdinand reacted and seemed to be able to do it. By the end of the First World War, the British Handlepetti v/1500 could load up to 3400 kg.
In theory, Bulgaria can also do it. Because Bulgarian aircraft technology started early, it now has a certain practical value. Just for the sake of confidentiality, Ferdinand only took out a reconnaissance plane in the Second Balkan War!
But this idea just passed away in a flash, landing in Italy is not so fun, it is also terrible for Italians to fight for their lives!
Ferdinand thought for a while and said: "Well, let the French know our situation. As the world's second largest naval power, how can we be absent in this naval arms race?
Tell the French that if their navy cannot suppress the Italians, we are willing to take this responsibility for them, as long as they are willing to provide military expenses! "
The tense atmosphere suddenly eased, whether it was the French navy suppressing the Italians or the French providing military expenses to Bulgaria are acceptable.
Oh, it’s best to provide military expenses. Loans don’t matter. After all, the stronger the military, the greater the distribution of benefits after the war!
As for loans? Isn't there a defeated country? Use their war indemnities to offset it, UU Read www.uukanshu.com As for whether the French will agree, this question is not the time to consider!
In fact, Ferdinand is already very dissatisfied with the French reaction. The Italians are all making dumplings. How can your Gallic chicken be compared?
If it weren't for the low-interest loans of the French, Ferdinand would have gone wild a long time ago. Isn't this a pitfall for his teammates?
The Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy suddenly said: "Your Majesty, we can continue to ask for loans from Britain and France. After all, we have previously announced the construction of four dreadnought ships and plan to expand the army by 300,000. If we seek help from them on the grounds of insufficient financial resources, The possibility is great!"
In fact, Bulgaria is not unable to borrow from Britain and France, but they all require mortgages. Normal commercial loans must also be settled at international interest rates, so the pressure on interest on funds will be great.
If diplomatic means can be used, the loan interest is usually much lower, but there will be additional conditions!
That's why the Chancellor of the Exchequer would have thought of it when the arms race was at its peak. The most important thing is that the Russians had just been counseled in the Moroccan crisis, and Britain and France had to make Bulgaria stand up! Otherwise, politically, it will cause disastrous consequences!
Ferdinand thought for a while and said: "Well, as long as Britain and France agree to provide loans, we can promise to complete the expansion of the army in the next three years. Even if they want to monitor the use of loans, it is not impossible to agree!"
Well, the big deal is to expand the army! Anyway, it will be sooner or later. Now that the world war is not far away, the most important thing at the moment is to get more loans from Britain and France, otherwise it will be difficult to handle a lot of things when the world war breaks out!
How can the loans released by Britain and France add up to hundreds of billions of levs? Bulgaria needs 8 billion at most, and it is not without collateral. For British and French capitalists, this is a small problem!