Rebirth: Romania Rising

When Victor first thought about logistics, he thought of the car group in later generations. When he was watching TV in his previous life and thinking about logistics, there would be a picture of a long row of trucks driving on the road.

Victor called Eric and asked him to check the current automobile development in Romania.Since Carl Friedrich Ci built the world's first car in 1885, the automotive field has been booming. In 1904, the first car designed and manufactured in Romania came out.The car, called "Rom?0?9nia", was designed by Romanian engineer Iulius Manmani and used a 25-horsepower French engine.

直到1921年，罗马尼亚才成立了罗马尼亚汽车公司（SocietateaAnonim?0?0Rom?0?9n?0?0deAuto****le），开始生产改进版的“Rom?0?9nia“汽车。改进版汽车的引擎实现了国产，马力得到不小的提升，从原本的25马力提高至40马力。罗马尼亚汽车公司在次年引进美国汽车品牌和生产线，就比如克莱斯勒和德奇汽车。

"Prince Mihai." Victor greeted the minister.Mihai was slightly absent-minded, and then nodded to Victor. Prince Mihai was looking at the boring report that embarrassed him at the University of Bucharest symposium.

"Victor, do you have any news?" Mihai asked.

"Our army needs better logistical equipment."

"I also want to improve logistics and let the army purchase more horses, but the government's finances are tight and hope to borrow external funds."

Victor knew that this was the result of the need to reorganize the army and expand the production of firearms and the import of industrial equipment.It seems that the government finances can no longer be squeezed, Victor thought to himself but did not speak.

Seeing that Vic didn't say much, Eric also learned about the embarrassing situation of the War Department: "Secretary-General, I'll come back another day."

"Oh, by the way, did you help with Montegna's cannery?" Mihai suddenly remembered this question. He had also tasted luncheon meat in the cafeteria.

"A little bit, I just mentioned it once when chatting with the business representatives. I didn't expect that the Montenian businessmen would unite the domestic farmers and landed aristocrats and do it with such great fanfare and excitement." Mihai was still a little surprised. Compared with heavy industry, Compared with Romanian agriculture, Romanian agriculture has more potential to develop non-staple food processing.

Domestic potatoes are indeed a good thing. One-tenth of an acre of potatoes is enough for a family to eat for a whole year. However, almost all Romanian farmers grow two to three acres of potatoes. It doesn’t matter if you can’t eat them all. You can use them. To feed livestock and poultry, and livestock and poultry will provide more non-staple food, which will further reduce people’s consumption of potatoes. This is a virtuous circle. In a year or two at most, the agricultural product processing industry will be on the right track. By then In addition to wheat, various canned goods will also become another pillar industry in Romania.

Without the rapid expansion of the Age of Discovery, there would be no current British and French colonial empires. The reason why the Allies are now able to fully suppress Germany. Germany built one dreadnought, while the British Empire built two. The main reason is that the capital accumulated in the Age of Discovery was enough. , allowing the British to spend their money unscrupulously, although in the end they also compromised and gave up the so-called "two-power standard", that is, the British naval strength must exceed the combined strength of the other two naval powers.

If Romania wants to develop, it must understand its own positioning: What country is Romania now, and what country does it want to be in the future?What foundation does Romania have...

These are commonplace issues in China. As for the domestic foundation, it is quite superior: it is the winner of the Second Balkan War, has arable land on the Great Plains, has the second largest oil field in Europe, the second largest gold mine in Europe, and has coal mines and Iron ore can be regarded as the foundation of an industrial country.But how long can these wealth withstand squandering?For domestic military expansion, France has already borrowed money.

Although Romania is a close cultural relative of France, borrowing money from France still carries interest. The loan shark empire also lends money to Russia to build railways, which certainly has interest, but if it fails, it will lose everything.

Victor remembered very clearly that the current Russian Empire did not exist before the World War ended. As a result, after the World War ended, the newly born Red Russian government did not recognize the 7.5 million pound loan the Russian Empire owed Britain and France and was prepared to completely repudiate the loan. Russia can default on its debts, but Romania cannot.

"The arms race is not over yet." Victor couldn't say it directly, so he could only remind him vaguely.

The current King of Romania belongs to the Hohenzollern family and is related to William II of the German Empire.As for the Romanian side of World War I, it was of course a normal breakup and reconciliation between relatives. Victor, a common man, really couldn't say much.

Of course, Victor's meaning is also obvious: "As long as we can realize the localization of automobiles, then all the investment will be worthwhile. We have to report to the king and ask him to use royal funds."

As Minister of War, Mihai is of course a staunch supporter of the arms race, and he can't help but agree with Victor's opinion.

For Romania, the longer the arms race lasts, the better. Then Romania can sell more products, not only food and fuel, but also rifles and ammunition. By the way, it can also train a large number of skilled workers.

After the outbreak of the World War, many participating countries were forced to implement rationing systems. Even King George V of the British Empire had to set an example by cutting back on food and clothing. Therefore, the first two years of the World War were a vast blue ocean for Romania, with unlimited prospects.

Victor looked at Mihai and said, "For the logistics force, in addition to traditional horses, I also hope that Romania can build an automobile factory."

"Chinese car? Riding in a Romanian car is not as comfortable as riding in a horse-drawn carriage. It is not fast, and something may go wrong at any time. I don't dare to ride on the street in a domestic car. It would be too embarrassing if I were thrown on the road." Mihai said angrily. , listening to this, I must have encountered such a thing.

The existing domestically produced cars in Romania are really just decorations. Because the technology is immature and the practicality is not high, the cars often break down and the core engine is not fully domestically produced.In order to maintain a car and hire an engineer to repair it, the cost is not much lower than the cost of maintaining a carriage.

"In 1908, the American Ford Company had already launched the low-priced Model T car. Ford's assembly line was like a slaughterhouse for dismembering animals and conveying them on a conveyor belt. Moreover, the Model T car had a simple structure, and domestic workers should learn it quickly. We can..."

Victor thought that the earliest Model T car did not even have a fuel gauge, speedometer or door. Based on the principle that it can be driven, Romania should first solve the problem of "whether it is available", and then solve the problem of "whether it is good or not" later. The problem.

Military horses are divided into riding horses, draft horses and pack horses. The "riding horses" used by cavalry and officers require a lighter speed; while the "draft horses" used to pull field artillery, baggage vehicles, etc. need to have better pulling power; decomposition The transportation of various materials such as mountain cannons requires the use of "pack horses". This kind of "pack horse" is preferably a breed with a concave back.To accommodate these different requirements, many countries use purebred horses with corresponding characteristics.

In World War I, the armies of European and American powers used a large number of military horses.For example, the British army used 100 million military motors during World War I.By World War II, the armies of various countries participating in the war still used military horses, and there were many of them.Even the US military with advanced mechanization and automation still had two cavalry divisions when it entered the war.In other words, at least until World War II, military horses were indispensable to armies around the world.

"The horses currently used for logistics transportation in the army cost three times as much as a person per day, and it is easy to reduce the number of people during maneuvers. Now the artillery's marching speed depends entirely on the horse's daily walking speed. The most important thing is that it is slow to travel long distances. The transportation capacity is dissipating quickly, and our country has very few military horses. Cars and trucks don’t have this worry, and they can usually transport domestic supplies. If domestic ones don’t work, we will use foreign ones!”

"I will ask the Ministry of War to prepare the money, so you can go ahead and do it." Prince Mihai was persuaded. He was originally in charge of military logistics and was extremely concerned about foreign new technologies. He agreed with Vic with a wave of his hand. Lots of suggestions.

After Victor considered the current major car-producing countries, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States, he directly eliminated European countries. Their technology is good now, but they cannot produce it themselves, unlike the United States - this "A Nation on Wheels".

From Victor's point of view, if you want to find the most suitable and best company to cooperate with, Ford is the leader of the current automobile, and Ford's philosophy is very suitable for Victor. Victor urges Preacher to think about it. Think of ways to.Let Precher contact Ford on his behalf, and Romania can [trade the market for technology], and then let the university alliance and Ford jointly study the project of heavy-duty trucks and diesel engines.

Representatives of Pletcher Industries traveled across the ocean to the United States and transferred to Henry Ford's desk in Detroit.For Ford, which is still seizing the European market, this is a big opportunity, and the model of "exchanging market for technology" is novel enough.

Henry Ford did not dare to make a decision on his own regarding important matters related to the company. He called several investors to discuss the good news. Everyone was delighted with the good news. In everyone's opinion, this could bring huge profits to Ford. , there is no reason to refuse.

Within two days, Victor received a telegram from Ford himself. In the telegram, Henry Ford fully agreed to jointly build an automobile factory with the Romanian royal family.

"The king plans to invest 5 pounds to build this factory. Mr. Ford can thus open up the Eastern European and Balkan markets. This will build the largest automobile factory in Eastern Europe. Your task is to design a car that is reasonably priced, simple to maintain, easy to use, and has a load capacity of 15 tons. Model T cars and trucks, and arrange some technicians to guide workers to operate the machines. Our task is to sell the produced trucks to the army, and by the way, send people to Ford Company to learn your design concepts and management experience. I think Henry Ford Sir will not refuse this offer."

This is a surprise for Ford, which currently does not export Model T cars to Eastern Europe, and this concept is also very suitable for me. It just changes the focus of cars from carrying people to carrying cargo. Although Ford is a big company now, it is certainly not satisfied with its sales in the United States. Yes, we will definitely not refuse to establish a joint venture factory in the Balkans to continue to expand the market. Romania’s idea of ​​exchanging market for technology is also quite novel.It was a good deal from all aspects, and Henry Ford was still worried that Representative Preacher was wrong.

After the Ministry of War discussed establishing an automobile industry, it discussed with Prince Mihai a plan to switch logistics to automobile transportation.After research, the two found that replacing the logistics horses with cars would have an advantage in maintenance performance, as horses are too good to eat.Moreover, the transportation distance of artillery can also be increased. Horse transportation can travel up to 40 kilometers in one day, and people can march up to 15 kilometers.Horses are very delicate creatures. When transporting artillery, they must haul more fodder. Moreover, continuous marching will cause greater damage to the horses and cause serious fat loss.

Cars do not have the above problems. In theory, a car can travel one kilometer a day without any major problems. According to current car standards, it can be back on the road after simple repairs.Moreover, a large number of artillery, ammunition, machine guns, and various large items for logistics can be taken away by cars. It seems that each heavy artillery regiment in the army needs 15 to 20 cars.

According to the agreement between Victor and Ford, the current estimated cost of producing a truck in Romania is around US$850. If the Americans use the assembly line, it will be reduced to US$260 at most. This is a cost higher than the reorganization cost.Mihai and Eric were silent when they saw the calculated costs.

"Your Highness and the Parliament will never agree. The country really does not have the financial resources to equip the entire army with artillery." Mihai took the lead.

"I know we can only modify it and give it to the elite divisions first. The rest can only wait until the finances improve." Victor had no choice but to give up on this plan and could only work on it slowly.

At this time, the adjutant handed Victor some information. Victor was dazzled by it. The prototype of the IAR-14 had been invented and completed. The air force issues that Victor was concerned about could be partially alleviated;

The medical school of New Roman University has made progress in the fields of cells and bacteria. This is related to medical science and cannot be ignored.

Two new laws drafted by Victor at the War Department have been completed and will be promoted next month...