Bulgarian Empire

If the world war that broke out in 1914 shattered the world economic order and destroyed the European continent; then 1913 was the last carnival feast before destruction!

There is no doubt that the theme of 1913 is still the arms race. If the Allies are still considering financial affordability, the Allies are already crazy!

Germany's fiscal deficit has even exceeded its fiscal revenue, and Ferdinand is frightened. Austria-Hungary and Italy are not far behind, and their fiscal deficits have broken historical records.

Well, in fact, the Allied countries are not much better. At least Bulgaria’s fiscal deficit is as high as 50% of its fiscal revenue. At this time, it is no longer the time to consider financial affordability.

After investing regardless of cost, the military strength of all countries has been greatly improved. First, the Germans started construction of six battleships and four battlecruisers in one go, while the British started construction of eight battleships and six battlecruisers tit for tat.

Oh, now even the British have not kept the ratio of 3:2. It can be seen that the Germans have gone crazy, and the bottom line of the British is getting lower and lower.

Immediately afterwards, the French launched four battleships and six battlecruisers in one go. Who could tell the French to react slowly?

When the era of dreadnoughts came, France did not follow up immediately. In 1912, the French started to build two dreadnoughts. Facing the aggressive Italian navy, it is impossible to keep the Mediterranean Sea!

However, the Italians behaved tough enough this time, probably due to the sequelae caused by the Ferdinand butterfly effect. Britain and France did not offer a price that satisfied them, which meant that they followed the Allies all the way to the dark.

The main reason is that the French were supposed to give loans to the Italians in history, but they were cut off by Ferdinand. Against the backdrop of overwhelming French nationalism, it takes courage to dare to lend money to the Allies, especially with Ferdinand watching!

As long as the negotiations between the two sides start, the radical groups in France will receive the news. In the era when the whole people are clamoring for revenge, the capitalists dare not take the lead.

No way, the funds of the French are not unlimited. If Bulgaria wants to get more, someone must take less! Vice versa, in order to make more loans and pay less, Ferdinand had to kill some competitors first.

Without the loans from the Allies, and the promised benefits are not big enough, of course Italy will not be so easy to jump back!

In 1913, the Italians started construction of 3 dreadnoughts and two battlecruisers. Dayou completed the five-year shipbuilding plan at one time. In addition, they had already started construction of two dreadnoughts before. After completion, there would be five dreadnoughts. ship!

The two dreadnoughts announced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1912 have now been launched and are expected to enter service in early 1914.

This time the Vienna government decided to increase investment again, and started to build two dreadnoughts and two battlecruisers. It seems that it has the meaning of turning the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a naval power!

And the two dreadnoughts ordered by the Ottomans from Germany are about to be completed and are expected to be delivered by the end of this year.

Against this background, what did Ferdinand do?

At present, the Bulgarian Navy has only one dreadnought ship in service. During the arms race in 1912, two dreadnought ships were also started in line with the times, and should be completed by the end of the year.

But it is obvious that in the era of large-scale military expansion, this is obviously not enough. In order to save money, even Ferdinand, the battlecruiser plan, was cut off.

The current Bulgarian navy is still a conservative navy. It does not have high requirements for ocean-going decisive battles, and even the reserved combat range is only the big bathhouse of the Mediterranean Sea.

Naval Minister Petrov said anxiously: "Your Majesty, all countries are building ships now, if we don't follow up immediately, we will be very disadvantaged in the future!

If left unchecked, the Allies will gradually lose their naval dominance in the Mediterranean in the future, and we will be in danger by then!

By 1915,

We only have three dreadnoughts, and even if we add six of the French, there are only nine, while the Allied Ottomans have two, the Italians have five, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire has four, which is eleven. The gap between the two sides is very obvious! "

Ferdinand nodded, he knew all of this. More importantly, Bulgaria's geographical location is sandwiched between the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Romania, the Kingdom of Montenegro, and Italy. Once a war breaks out, it will be truly enemies on all sides!

Oh, Romania can be ignored. Once the war breaks out, Romania must first experience the power of the gray cattle of the Russians. Probably nothing will happen to them!

For reasons of strategic security, it is best for Bulgaria to land on the Asia Minor peninsula as soon as possible without giving the Ottomans any chance.

At the same time, it is necessary to block the Strait of Otranto to prevent the navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from coming out, so as to ensure the dominant position of the Allies in the Mediterranean region.

Create an opportunity for the French to attack Italy. Once France defeats the Italian navy, the Italians are likely to defect, and the Mediterranean battlefield of the Allied Powers will be alive.

Could blocking the Strait of Otranto do it? Ferdinand didn't know about this either. After all, the Italians on this plane fell to the Allies, and the combat effectiveness of the air force remains to be tested!

In Ferdinand's view, the best way is to land directly in Italy under the cover of the navy and air force. Anyway, it is only about 40 nautical miles. It is the safest way to deploy shore artillery on both sides of the strait, drop more torpedoes, and deploy more air forces!

Of course, this is actually very difficult to do, and the Italians are not stupid, how could they be stupid enough to fight the French navy?

Before defeating the Italian navy, it is very crazy to let the Bulgarian army launch a landing war. If the Italian navy rushed over regardless of losses, and the Austro-Hungarian navy came out again, the Bulgarian army would feed the sharks!

Unless the fleet of the entire Allied Powers in the Mediterranean is concentrated, it will be possible to realize it! After all, the combat effectiveness of aircraft in this era is not as sharp as that of later generations.

At present, the Bulgarian air force can only carry light torpedoes to attack, which is okay to deal with cruisers, but it is not enough to deal with battleships. Ten or eight of them may not be able to sink, and the hit rate of torpedoes in actual combat is still very low!

No matter how cheap the plane is, Ferdinand can't use hundreds of planes to deal with a battleship, right? So to deal with a fleet, wouldn't it take thousands of planes?

Ferdinand thought for a while and said: "Communicate with the French, our strength is limited, and we will start construction of two dreadnoughts at most this year, and the rest is their problem!"

Of course, Ferdinand didn't want the French to expand their naval shipbuilding plan, mainly to urge the progress of the French. In fact, as early as 1912, the French government had already formulated a construction plan for 12 super dreadnoughts. Let's start!

Bulgaria absolutely cannot participate in the naval arms race without restriction. This is not a matter of one or two dreadnoughts. Every battleship must have a series of supporting ships, and the combined cost is not much lower than that of a battleship!

Judging from the current situation, Bulgaria's military expenditure exceeded 30 million pounds in 1913, and it is just around the corner.

Now Ferdinand understands why a world war must break out. The arms race is too expensive. As long as some people can't hold on, then they can only start fighting!

Bulgaria has come to this point, and it can only be said that the loans from the great powers are not so easy to get. Bulgaria has come to the present with the support of the French, and naturally it has to pay a price.

Of course, even if there is no military loan, Ferdinand will expand the army, and he dare not be cowardly in this regard!

At any rate, Bulgaria still received the 1.8 billion leva low-interest military loan provided by Britain and France. Ferdinand is now feeling the pressure, let alone the Allies.

Due to the two-front battle, the military expenditure of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to far exceed the same period in history. The Germans could not help them in this regard. After all, the Germans are not rich now.

Everyone is preparing for the war with the money of domestic capitalists. After all, for them, the main purpose of this war is to grab resources and markets for domestic industry and commerce!

Interest is always the best motivation!

In this naval arms race, the major European powers are acting very crazy. Even the Russians are now ambitiously launching three dreadnoughts, but Ferdinand is not optimistic about them.

The main reason is that the efficiency of the tsarist government is too low. Since 1909, the Russians have been preparing to build their own dreadnoughts, and they have not started until 1913. Ferdinand doubts whether Nicholas II has the opportunity to accept To the news of the completion of the warship!

For Ferdinand, these were not problems. Anyway, the Allies still had an advantage in the Mediterranean in a short period of time.

Although the number of dreadnoughts of the Allies in the Mediterranean is not enough, but the quality is not enough, you can make up the quantity!

Although the French dreadnoughts have not yet been completed, they still have a dozen old-fashioned warships, and they can pile up opponents with their numbers!

No, the dreadnoughts of the Allied countries have not yet had time to enter service. Currently, only Bulgaria's Sofia is dangling in the Mediterranean, but the first dreadnought of the Italians will enter service at the end of this year.

By 1914, another dreadnought of the Italians will also be in service, and the two dreadnoughts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will also be in service, plus the two dreadnoughts purchased by the Ottoman Empire from Germany. Six dreadnoughts.

As for the Allied Powers: the French will have two dreadnoughts in service in the second half of this year, and Bulgaria will also have two dreadnoughts in service in May and June 1914. The remaining warships will not be possible until the end of 1914 or early 1915 at the earliest. finished.

During this period, there will be a gap of at least half a year, and the number of dreadnought ships of the Allied Powers will be double that of the Allied Powers. To some extent, this period is when the Allied Powers' navy is weakest in the Mediterranean Sea.

If the Allies were ruthless enough to concentrate their forces and attack the main force of the French navy in the first half of 1914, what would happen in the future?

Thinking of this, Ferdinand was taken aback. This situation may really happen. As long as the main force of the French navy is severely damaged, the Allies' naval superiority in the Mediterranean will no longer exist.

So are the British going to divide their troops in the Mediterranean? If the troops are divided, can the British continue to suppress the German High Seas Fleet?

If there is no division of troops, can the Allies survive without the Mediterranean route?

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