Bulgarian Empire

The thing that Ferdinand was most worried about did not happen after all. The dreadnoughts that the Italians were supposed to serve in early 1914 skipped tickets. Of course, the battleship Dante Allegri they planned to serve in 1913 had already been completed.

The main parameters of the Dante-Aligari:

Displacement: 19552 tons

Length: 168.1m

Width: 26.6 meters

Draft: 8.8m (average)

Main engine: 3 sets of Parsons direct drive steam turbines/4 shafts

Main boilers: 7 Brechington oil-fired water tube boilers, 16 co-fired water tube boilers

Power: 32300 horsepower

Speed: 23 knots

Endurance: 4800 nautical miles at 10 knots

Armament: 4 triple-mounted 305 mm 46-caliber guns (one at the front and one at the rear, two at the midship), 4 120 mm 50-caliber single-mounted guns, 12 same single-mounted guns, and 76 mm 40-caliber single-mounted guns 13 doors, 4 450mm underwater torpedo tubes

Armor: 254mm broadside, 38mm deck, unknown gun mount, 254mm front turret, 305mm conning tower

Crew: 981

Remarks: This class of ship is the first warship in the history of shipbuilding to use triple turrets. The range of the main gun is 18,000 meters.

In addition, the ship set a speed record of 24.2 knots during its trial voyage, making it the fastest battleship in the world at that time.

Now the postponement is the Julio Caesar, which was supposed to be in service in February, but it is still not completed in May, but it is estimated that it will be completed soon.

Since the Italian shipbuilding industry was lagging behind, Ferdinand guessed that the allies' surprise attack on the French Mediterranean Fleet naturally did not happen.

Of course, the most important thing is that the two dreadnoughts ordered by the Ottoman Empire from the Germans were stopped by the British on their way back to the country. With the strength of the Italian navy to attack the French fleet, most of them are meat buns beating dogs, shrewd The Italians naturally won't do it.

The action of the British to block the Strait of Gibraltar directly triggered the "warship crisis". The war between the Allied Powers and the Allied Powers was on the verge of breaking out again!

Well, Ferdinand thought that the two sides would fight directly, and Bulgaria carried out national mobilization, but the Germans retreated directly!

Thinking about it is right, everyone knows that the European war may break out at any time, but if the Germans say that a war breaks out now, these two dreadnoughts will be finished first, which is very detrimental to the Germans militarily!

Besides, the warship launched by the Germans last year has not had time to serve? Just wait a few more months for the German Navy to add four more dreadnoughts, plus the two dreadnoughts here will make six, which will further narrow the gap with the British!

As for the Allies, are you still not ready? If war breaks out now, the French will be miserable. Prepare to stand alone against the Germans for a month or two!

Obviously this is not the result everyone wants. Although the British want to weaken France, the prerequisite is to defeat the Germans first! Otherwise, if the French are disabled by the Germans in advance, how will they fight after this war?

...

The interception of these two warships was mainly because the British did not want the two dreadnought ships of the Ottomans to return home, breaking the current naval dominance of the Allied Powers in the Mediterranean Sea and affecting the sea dominance of the Mediterranean Sea, so they blocked the Strait of Gibraltar to prohibit the passage of warships. It means that the British are ready for war.

And the Germans are short of warships now. No matter how they break out, the gap with the British is still so huge. The German Navy has always had the idea of ​​requisitioning these two dreadnoughts, but it was stopped by the German government because of its allies.

The current practice of the British is as good as they want, and the Germans naturally took over the two dreadnoughts. Although the two dreadnoughts could not change the situation where the German navy was still at a disadvantage, they finally narrowed the gap between the two sides!

Of course protests are indispensable, why should we give the Ottomans an explanation, right?

Yingde's actions stunned the people who eat melons.

And this kind of operation!

In order to appease the Ottoman Empire, the Germans said that since the British blocked the way, the warship would definitely not be able to be delivered, so they might as well rebuild it in Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire respectively, and the price would remain the same, and the configuration would be upgraded, and two more cruisers would be sent. !

The problems of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were naturally resolved by the Germans. The Ottomans only had to wait two more years before they could obtain the dreadnoughts. The Ottoman government had no choice but to accept the Germans’ words up.

...

Many people were disappointed that the two major alliances did not fight, such as the Americans on the other side of the ocean and the Japanese in the Far East.

Ferdinand knew that at this point, the two sides were only close to each other. He originally thought that the return of the Ottoman navy to the Congress would be the fuse for both sides. He did not expect that the British and German sides had their own ghosts, and this matter just passed away. up.

...

No matter how the international situation develops, what Ferdinand has to do now is to prepare for war, reserve enough strategic materials in advance, and recruit enough cannon fodder are the top priorities of the Bulgarian government now!

After the warship crisis broke out, Ferdinand convened a cabinet meeting to speed up Bulgaria's preparations for war.

"Prime Minister, start to increase food reserves from now on, and let the media release rumors that the grain harvests in Ukraine and Romania will be in short supply in the next two years, and international food prices will soon rise. It is recommended that the public stockpile food in advance! If necessary, the government will also We can come forward to cooperate and let the people store as much food as possible.”

Ferdinand has worked hard to build the credibility of the media, and now it is time for them to work. If it is said that Bulgaria's domestic grain harvest is in short supply, this may not deceive people, but it is different when it comes to foreign countries. There is no Internet in this era, and it is almost impossible for ordinary people to check news!

Even if someone swears that the news is fake, it won't do anything! Everyone knows that as long as there is a newspaper in Bulgaria that publishes fake news, in addition to the closure of the newspaper, the relevant personnel will be jailed!

From the point of view of ordinary people, it is impossible for all the newspapers in Bulgaria to collectively be overwhelmed and publish this fake news together, right?

Besides, Ferdinand is no longer spreading rumors. As long as war breaks out, grain shortages are inevitable. The most important thing now is to seize the last time and search for another batch of grain!

Although the General Staff has vowed to guarantee that the Wallachia Plain in Romania will be captured at the beginning of the war, and the domestic food supply can be guaranteed.

However, Ferdinand couldn't believe it completely. It was not a big problem to win the Wallachia Plain. It was originally flat and bordered with Bulgaria. Romania couldn't even defend it!

As for whether it can guarantee the domestic food supply in Bulgaria, it is difficult to say. The military can at most guarantee that the area will be captured, and the resumption of production has nothing to do with them.

Theoretically, after taking down the Wallachia Plain, Bulgaria's total grain production will directly increase by one-third on the current scale, enough to meet domestic demand, and there is still a lot of wealth.

In fact, as long as the local Romanians do not cooperate, it will not take two or three years to restore food production, and it will be impossible at all!

"Yes!" Chekov replied.

The Information Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology are also in charge of Chekhov, otherwise the name of the Minister of Education alone is not enough to make him the second person in the Bulgarian cabinet!

"Prime Minister, how many young men have we imported from Russia so far?" Ferdinand asked again

Konstantin thought for a while and said: "Originally, there were more than 800,000 Russian laborers in the country. Since last year, we have stepped up the introduction. Now there are more than 700,000 Russian young and strong workers who have arrived in Bulgaria. They are in Russia. There are about 200,000 youths who have already been organized, and if war breaks out at the end of the year, we can bring in another 700,000 to 800,000!"

Ferdinand calculated that even if the war broke out immediately, Bulgaria would have added 1.45 million cannon fodder. It would be even better if it could be delayed until the end of the year. The 2.2.3 million cannon fodder is basically enough for a world war. Of course, if there are more, the result will be more perfect!

"Keep working hard. We can't relax our work in this area. Once the war breaks out, the Russians will definitely recruit more troops. It will not be easy to recruit people!" Ferdinand said lightly.

"Okay, Your Majesty! Let's speed up!" Constantine replied affirmatively

In order to make the battle preparation work go smoothly, Ferdinand has been staying in Sofia to take command. He didn't even personally participate in the commissioning of the two super dreadnoughts that were just built.

The two dreadnoughts were named by Ferdinand: Constantinople and Balkan.

The political meaning in it is very strong. The Constantinople is Ferdinand's contribution to the recovery of the holy city of Constantinople; It sank during the war, and the people strongly demanded reconstruction, so Ferdinand naturally had to go along with the public opinion!

Judging from the literal meaning of the Balkan, everyone knows that this is Ferdinand's oath of sovereignty over the Balkan Peninsula; the deeper purpose is to tell the Allies that this is our previous agreement, and everyone must abide by it!

The specifications of the two warships are the same, the parameters are as follows:

Displacement: 26500 tons

Length: 189.7m

Width: 27 meters

Draft: 8.3m

Main engine: 2 sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines/4 shafts

Main boilers: bamp;w type (Hercules is Yarrow type) 22 mixed-fired water boilers

Power: 34000 horsepower

Speed: 22.5 knots

Endurance: 4000 nautical miles at 10 knots

Armament: 7 305mm 45-caliber double-mounted guns (two in front and three in the rear, one on each side), 20 150mm 50-caliber single-mounted guns, 4 47mm single-mounted guns, 450mm 4 underwater torpedo tubes

Armor: side 270mm, deck 70mm, gun mount 270mm, turret front 320mm, conning tower 310mm

Crew: 1046~1126