Bulgarian Empire

In any case, under the urging of Ferdinand, the Military Council, the General Staff, the Ministry of the Army, and the Ministry of the Navy jointly formulated a draft of homeland defense!

That's right, this is a purely defensive plan, intended to create a strong tortoise shell, which can be said to be extremely conservative.

The defense was mainly based on the favorable terrain in the Balkans. From the front line to Sofia, there were six areas with the fewest lines of defense. Even in the face of an attack by tens of millions of troops, these lines of defense were enough to last a year or so.

Oh, this is not bragging of the staff. Due to the terrain of the Balkan Mountains, there are too many troops and it is impossible to use them. In a sense, there is not much difference between an attack of 10 million troops and an attack of two or three million troops. Anyway, the number of troops that can be directly involved in the war is very limited.

In history, the reason why Serbia and Montenegro dared to declare war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire was that they occupied a favorable terrain and could slowly consume the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When the Allied Powers won, they would win.

Of course, they overestimated the Allies and underestimated the Allies. They did not expect that this European war would be a protracted war! Although they successfully delayed the Austro-Hungarian Empire for a year or two, and finally became the victorious country, the price they paid was very painful!

Naturally, Ferdinand would not make the same mistake. As long as Bulgaria makes preparations in advance, according to the current situation, the whole country can mobilize 3 million troops after the war breaks out. The attack is not sure, but the defense is still more than enough!

Well, the reason why Ferdinand deployed so many lines of defense was mainly because of this factor.

Constrained by the terrain, it is impossible to put 1.8 million troops on one line of defense. In addition, Ferdinand was influenced by his previous life, and he was worried that the Allies would give him a blitzkrieg.

Of course, it is impossible for Germany to attack France in the Balkans. There are still mountains behind the mountains, and we can always buy time to react!

However, as long as the Allied forces come in, Bulgaria will inevitably suffer heavy losses. The locality where the war took place and the damage caused by it outside the country are completely different concepts!

Therefore, the first line of defense in Bulgaria is the strongest, and the following lines are equivalent to backup lines of defense, which will only be activated after the first line of defense is breached.

Oh, this first line of defense does not mean a trench, or a line of defense for a fortress! This line of defense is also one or two kilometers wide along the narrowest point, and many of them may have to pass through several hills. It is impossible to break through the line of defense if you want to charge!

Of course, learning from the French in World War II to build a "Maginot Line of Defense", Ferdinand is not so crazy. Except for fortresses built in particularly important locations, most other areas are still dominated by trenches.

Ferdinand also knew that after the war broke out, most of the plans would not be used. According to the previous plan, the first step was to capture Belgrade at the beginning of the war.

As long as this step is completed, Bulgaria will have the upper hand strategically. If you advance, you can look down on the Hungarian plain, and if you retreat, you can stick to it.

...

In addition to military deployment, Ferdinand did not forget to reserve strategic materials. After all, modern wars are fought with materials. Whoever is better prepared will be able to last longer in this war.

"Prime Minister, how much is our national food reserve now?" Ferdinand asked at the cabinet meeting

With food in hand, don't panic! So the first thing Ferdinand asked was food. As long as food can be guaranteed, Bulgaria will not collapse in the war!

Constantine thought for a while and said: "Now the national wheat reserves are about 3 million tons; rye reserves are 4.8 million tons; soybean reserves are about 500,000 tons; corn reserves are about 800,000 tons; rice reserves are about 300,000 tons." Ton."

There is no doubt that Bulgaria is also a country that mainly interviews. The staple food is bread and scones. Naturally, the food reserves are mainly rye and wheat!

Ferdinand nodded in satisfaction. The grain reserve figure,

In normal years, it can basically guarantee the consumption of the people of Bulgaria for a year. (Remarks: Due to the living standard in the 20th century, people had a relatively large appetite)

However, for the upcoming world war, this food figure may not be enough. Once the war breaks out, there is no doubt that everyone's energy will be devoted to the war, and food production will inevitably be affected.

If Bulgaria keeps defending, as long as it is not attacked by the enemy and causes a devastating blow to the main food producing areas, even if the production capacity is reduced, it can basically be self-sufficient.

Obviously, Ferdinand's goal is not just to keep defending. Once he takes the initiative to attack, he will have to mobilize a lot of manpower and material resources, which will further increase the consumption of food, so he can only rely on food reserves for support.

After thinking for a while, Ferdinand said, "Well, from now on, we need to increase our grain reserves by 3.5 million tons every year to prepare for war!"

It's not that Ferdinand didn't want to add more, the main reason is that the Bulgarian government's fiscal revenue can't support it, otherwise, if it could have unlimited reserves, the Germans would not have surrendered so quickly in World War I!

Even so, Chancellor of the Exchequer Kennedy said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, I am afraid this cannot be done, as the current food reserves are already the limit of fiscal expenditure.

The current government debt has exceeded 40 levs (approximately 160 million pounds). It is estimated that when the third five-year plan is completed, the government's debt will reach 9 billion levs (approximately 360 million pounds). It is really unable to continue to increase ! "

Ferdinand was also in a bit of a dilemma. The increase in expenses was not even a star, and he didn't know whether he should stick to his point of view.

Now the price of grain in the international market has exceeded 400 levs per ton. Even if the domestic grain sales price in Bulgaria is around 360 levs per ton, even if the government directly purchases from state-owned agricultural companies, the price cannot be lower than 300 Leva per ton.

Even if calculated on the basis of the lowest figure, 3.5 million tons of grain reserves each year will require 1.05 billion levs (about 42 million pounds), which is almost 40% of Bulgaria's current fiscal revenue!

And once the government makes large-scale purchases, it will inevitably increase the domestic grain price and cause a series of troubles. Obviously, if you want to survive smoothly, you can only purchase in the international market.

You must know that Bulgaria's grain reserves are not all bought by the government, and a large part of them are military spoils.

In the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria was able to occupy the main grain producing areas of Romania and the Ottoman Empire successively, and only withdrew its troops after the autumn harvest. Naturally, it was impossible to return empty-handed.

Otherwise, it is estimated that Bulgaria's grain reserves can be half of the current level.

It's no wonder that in this era, countries don't have a lot of food reserves, it's all because food is expensive!

Restricted by productivity, half of the world's population can't get enough to eat. It's no wonder that food prices can come down!

When Ferdinand was having a headache, Chekov came up with an idea: "Your Majesty, Bulgaria now exports about 1.5 million tons of grain every year. Once war breaks out, we can completely ban grain exports. In this way Even if the food production is reduced due to the war, we can basically cope with it!

Moreover, we can call on the people to stockpile food on the grounds of famine prevention, which can also reduce the pressure on our food! "

Ferdinand nodded. This is barely a solution. It is inevitable to ban grain exports during wars!

Bulgaria did not implement it in the previous war, mainly because the duration of the war was too short, and it ended in just a few months, so naturally there was no need to implement it!

On the contrary, he called on the people to store food to prepare for the disaster year. Ferdinand thought it was very clever. Now the people in Bulgaria don't have much money in their hands, but it is still possible to store food for several months.

Generally speaking, this really doesn't matter, but it is very important during wartime. If it is not enough, Ferdinand can only buy it from the Russians!

Don't look at the fact that Mao Xiong's food supply seemed to be insufficient during the First World War, thinking that they are really short of food! In fact, this is mainly caused by their poor transportation conditions and chaotic logistics system. As the largest grain producer in Europe, their grain was very rich at least in the middle and before the war!

Oh, when the tsarist government collapsed, the workers in St. Petersburg couldn’t even guarantee basic food for survival, but the irony is that the capitalists’ granary is still full, otherwise the new Soviet Union may really starve to death up!

The big deal is that when the time comes to trade with Russia, let the Russians pay with food. Anyway, the nobles and capitalists have a lot of ways. As long as there are enough benefits, a little food will not trouble them.

Well, as long as the problem can be solved, Ferdinand doesn't care whether it is done according to his wishes. Since Chekov's method is useful, of course it must be adopted!

Ferdinand thought for a while and said: "Well, then first increase the grain reserves by 500,000 tons per year, and call on the public to keep the grain storage secret for the time being, and implement it later!

At the same time, we must also expand the production capacity of the military industry. In addition to meeting our own needs, we must also consider the needs of the Russians in case of emergencies!

In principle, at least we must guarantee our weapons and equipment in the state of extreme mobilization, and there must be a certain surplus on this basis! "

Regarding the issue of expanding military production capacity, everyone has no opinion. It may be due to the impact of the Russo-Japanese War. Everyone really didn't pay attention to the Russian military production capacity!

Besides, Bulgaria can now produce these equipment in the arsenal itself, and the cost has been reduced. If you want to expand the arsenal, you can do it at any time.

Oh, now the Bulgarian arsenal is no longer just the original one. There are more than a dozen large and small military industrial enterprises, and there is still competition among them.

However, how much production capacity needs to be increased is different from increasing food reserves. Food Ferdinand himself can estimate it based on the population, while the expansion of military production capacity requires actual investigation before making a final decision.

After all, the military industry involves a variety of weapons and equipment, and no one has more say than the military in how much each weapon is produced.

This requires the cooperation of the government and the army, and Ferdinand will not command blindly!

Otherwise, according to the information on the Internet in his previous life, he knew that the Russians lacked rifles during the First World War, so he foolishly stored millions of rifles and waited there, only to find out that due to the butterfly effect, the Russians had already prepared them. If you don't have a rifle, isn't that an idiot?

There is nothing impossible about this. Even the Black Sea Fleet in history disappeared under the butterfly effect of Ferdinand?

Even the kingdoms of Romania and Montenegro, which originally participated in the Allied Powers, are now trapped in the Allied Powers by Ferdinand?

You know, the tsarist government is busy carrying out reforms right now? Who knows if it will work this time? Anyway, Ferdinand did not dare to draw conclusions lightly!

Constantine suddenly said, "Your Majesty, the military already has its own plan for the expansion of military production capacity, and it has been handed over to the cabinet before, but due to time constraints, I haven't had time to report it to you!"

Ferdinand was taken aback for a moment, and then he realized that it was reasonable!

Not long ago, he asked the military to formulate a national defense plan. To complete this plan, weapons and equipment are naturally indispensable. It is logical for the military to submit a plan to expand armaments.

Although Bulgaria's army military production capacity is already one of the best in the world before the outbreak of the powers, but as long as Britain, France and Germany explode, they can easily complete overtaking in a few months.

Oh, if it weren't for the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria wouldn't be able to break out this wave of production capacity.

Since the strength is not as good as the first-class powers, it can only be a stupid bird to fly first, and make preparations in advance, so as not to suffer at the beginning of the war!

Ferdinand smiled slightly, and said calmly: "Well, you can study it, if there are no major problems, you can make preparations in advance!

Once the war between the two major alliances breaks out, it will definitely be protracted, and it will be difficult to tell the winner without three to five years!

This is probably the largest war in human history, but the war is also full of opportunities, as long as you grasp this opportunity..."

Having said this, Ferdinand's words stopped abruptly, leaving everyone to ponder in secret.