Rebirth: Romania Rising

Victor talked eloquently: "After the last Balkan War, I finally understood that Bulgaria is different from the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire is thousands of miles away and has hundreds of thousands of troops. However, it has generations of feuds with its neighboring countries. The feudal system is backward and decadent. So it will collapse as soon as you hit it.”

"Bulgaria was facing the danger of national subjugation, so they mobilized farmers and encouraged them to join the army to increase the number of troops. The people worked hard to farm to increase food production. The workers worked overtime to produce the weapons needed by the troops. The architects worked hard to strengthen the city. Although the Tsar was cruel and corrupt They are corrupt, indecisive, and self-willed. But their generals and soldiers are not afraid of death. They can barely be considered as one heart and one mind, and they work together..."

"This is even the case for Bulgaria, which suffered a lot of bleeding after the defeat. Romania should prepare for war and give Bulgaria a severe blow. So I guess that His Majesty intends to expand its armaments, and if he doesn't send troops, he will use all his national strength and go all out. Otherwise, I'm afraid he won't be able to defeat easily. Bulgaria!"

Mihai was still puzzled: "Having said that, how could you know that the number of soldiers I proposed to the king was 60?" Even in the capital palace, there were no more than 20 people who knew this specific number.In addition to the king, prime minister, several ministers, royal family members and other people present, there were also important ministers on the side who knew about it.

As a "French faction" prince, Mihai was valued by the king and decided to let him participate in the military discussions, so he knew about this.Although Eric was the minister's son, he was not aware of it because he had not reached the corresponding height.

So when Prince Mihai heard the figure of 60 reported by Victor, he was surprised.Eric didn't even know why the army was expanding or why he wanted to promote new officers. He once suspected that he was a fake high-ranking official.

Victor said confidently: "This is what I deduced."

"infer?"

Mihai didn't believe it: "Victor, you were far away in the military camp and far away from the palace, how could you make such accurate deductions out of thin air?"

Victor smiled: "I really can."

The sky was getting dark, the oil lamps in the hall were lit, and all the servants were kicked out. In front of Eric and Mihai, Victor started his "deduction" seriously. ".

"According to the consistent "Laws of War", any expansion of the army by tens of thousands, military expeditions, the expenses of the people, the expenditure of the country, the daily cost is countless, and the internal and external turmoil caused is even more unbearable..."

During World War I, Romania's productivity was low, but the food and grass consumed every day by people eating horses and chewing horses would not decrease, so the recruitment rate was also very low.

"Today Romania encourages farming, and the yield per acre is much higher than before. I heard an official lament a few months ago that the population in Romania has exceeded 800 million... So after a rough calculation, I know that the maximum number of soldiers recruited is only 60. To 80 people!”

Romania has not yet achieved reunification and only has a population of over 800 million. If there are 60 people, the recruitment rate will be 8% - 9%. Is that too low?But the fact is that the conscription ratio of most countries in this era is not much higher than this number.

Victor read an article in his previous life, saying that when Germany's military strength was at its strongest during World War II, the recruitment rate was between 11.5% and 14.7%. The total population of Germany at that time was about 8000 million, and including the servants of the national army, it was probably over 1000 million. , under the technological level of modern industrial powers with fertilizers and factories, the army that a society can support is the same, let alone the agricultural country of Romania.

60, this is the limit of Romanian conscription. Any more will greatly affect the production in the rear, and the people's lives will be difficult. The soldiers on the front line will be hungry, and several people will share the same rifle.

During World War I, Bulgaria's conscription and mobilization rate reached an astonishing 30%. As a result, the domestic economy almost collapsed. The country's agricultural production and industrial processing were all dependent on Germany and Austria. The whole country could not feed the frontline soldiers and had to Borrow food from Germany and Austria.Later, under the blockade of the Allied Powers, they could not borrow a grain of food, grass, or ammunition, and they were quickly defeated and surrendered. This was a bloody lesson.

"So, the Romanian army must have 60 people!" After the deduction, a burst of applause sounded in the room, and it was Mihai who was praising: "Well, Victor, your calculation is almost different from my original intention. Not much!"

Eric also changed his disapproval and sighed at Victor's deduction ability. He no longer dared to underestimate this ordinary-looking officer. He immediately sighed with emotion: "I have been studying the art of war before, and I am not satisfied with what I said above. 'Know yourself' I have always responded with a skeptical attitude. I thought that I could already know all aspects of Romania. But today I heard Victor's deduction, and then I realized that the so-called "know yourself" seems to be true after actual combat and without actual combat. It’s different, I still have a lot to learn in the future!”

Victor quickly returned the courtesy and was humble, but secretly muttered in his heart: Once you know the result, then you can work backwards, it all depends on how my mouth blows. As long as there are no big problems with the logic, of course there will be nothing wrong...

Now that he was convinced by Victor, Mihai no longer had to hide it, so he told Eric and Victor the whole story of what was discussed in the parliament last month.

"You two may not know that on the eve of the Balkan War, the King asked the Parliament and the officer corps to remain calm. The General Staff insisted on expanding the army, saying that if Bulgaria could not be defeated at once, it would be better not to fight. Later, the military saw that Bulgaria was besieged, and the army He immediately changed his mind that the existing 20 troops were enough. So in the Second Balkan War, 20 troops were used to attack Bulgaria."

“When the new king took office, since he wanted to defect to Britain and France, and he had to protect the long national border with Bulgaria and several Carpathian mountain passes bordering Austria, Romania had to expand its army, so I was promoted. Although our country and Bulgaria have ceased fighting, there is definitely no permanent peace. There are still [-] troops on the front line, and Bulgaria is ready to move and may continue to march north at any time. The Balkan War is not over yet!"

Mihai still has lingering fears. If Bulgaria's northern defense had not been empty at that time and was contained on three sides, Bulgaria might have been able to win the multi-front war.So he asked the king for permission to expand his army.

Victor did not know the detailed dialogue, he only knew that Romania would expand its military in the end.But 60 people cannot be gathered at once, and the food to feed these people must be slowly stored in granaries.So the top management decided not to rush into recruiting troops this time, but to lay a solid foundation.

After listening to Mihai's description of the national strategy, Victor felt a big stone in his heart. He was worthy of being the new king. From before the war started, he had two words:

One is "change" - changing Romania from being half a foot on Germany's pirate ship to being close to the Three Kingdoms Agreement with Britain, France and Russia.

The second is "stability" - compared with the Allies, the Allies now have an absolute advantage in terms of national strength, population, politics, and economy. If they are impatient, they will give others the opportunity to overtake. As long as the Allies are united, Germany can Even if the Austrian coalition is a genius, it cannot reverse the situation.

Therefore, as soon as Mihai took office, he promoted Victor immediately in order to prepare and carry out recruitment work early. After a victory in the Balkan War, he was full of confidence in the Third Army.

"As Victor just calculated, there are 800 million people in the country, and there is no problem in feeding 60 soldiers. After calculation, there are so many counties in the country, each county must send at least a few thousand soldiers, and a county with a large population must send tens of thousands. Really It is a collective mobilization, and it is not easy just to gather people, let alone training and other matters. It is really not an easy task."

"But the recruitment will not be until after the spring plowing. You two gentlemen, you should go and repair the arranged houses first." Victor and Eric stood up and agreed, but Mihai stopped Victor again and said that there was one more thing to do. ask him.So Eric said goodbye to Mihai, nodded to Victor, and left the hall.

When he walked to the door, looking at his luxurious car and Victor's humble bus, Eric couldn't help but sigh:

"Previously, I thought it was unnecessary for Mihai to recommend a country commoner in person. Today, when I met him in person, I found that Victor was indeed a human being. No wonder Mihai trusted him so much! My father was right. He can climb to the top of the mountain. No one in the center can be underestimated!"

……

In the hall, Victor asked: "I didn't have time to ask just now, what is the purpose of promoting me, sir?"

Mihai smiled and said: "The king asked me to manage the third legion, but Victor's medical skills are so good that the disease was cured." Upon hearing this, Victor roughly guessed what Mihai was going to say to him. what.

Sure enough, Mihai pointed at Victor with his hand and said with a smile: "Well, Victor, when the army was giving me advice, you asked me to take charge of the promotion. I didn't take it seriously at the time, but you know what? On the day I went to the palace to meet the king after promoting the promotion, I mentioned your achievements in helping me rectify it, and the postal department officials immediately presented a proposal to the king!"

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be about envelopes."

Mihai nodded and said: "Yes, that proposal is exactly what you asked me to promote and implement about establishing a regular letter system and reforming the postal service so that soldiers can train with peace of mind. After hearing this, the king was very shocked, and the ministers also You are praised! Do you know what the king said about you?"

"What did His Majesty say?"

Victor couldn't help but straighten his body. He had a little expectation in his heart. This was a comment from the leader of a country.Mihai looked at the palace from a distance with reverence on his face and said: "The king said that Romanian civilians are as useful as Victor if they join. How can they not be strong? They should be reused and rewarded heavily."

"A useful person? Now I have finally caught the eye of the king..."

Victor laughed at himself in his mind.