Mediterranean Hegemony Road

If the world war that broke out in 1914 shattered the world economic order and destroyed the European Big 6; then 1913 was the last carnival feast before the destruction!

There is no doubt that the theme of 1913 was still the arms race, and if the Allies were still thinking about financial affordability, the Allies were insane!

Germany's fiscal deficit has even exceeded its fiscal revenue, and Ferdinand was trembling with fear, as did Austria-Hungary and Italy.

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

After investing at all costs, the military power of all countries has improved by leaps and bounds. First, the Germans started construction of six battleships and four battlecruisers in one go, and the British started the construction of eight battleships and six battlecruisers tit for tat. \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

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

It was followed by the French who started construction on four battleships and six battlecruisers in one go. Who told the French to respond slowly?

When the era of dreadnoughts came, France did not keep up with it immediately. In 1912, the French started to build two dreadnoughts. Facing the aggressive Italian navy, it is impossible to keep the Mediterranean Sea without effort!

However, the Italians were tough enough this time, probably due to the aftereffects of Ferdinand's butterfly effect. Britain and France did not offer a price that would satisfy them.

The main reason is that the French were supposed to give loans to the Italians, but they were cut off by Ferdinand. Against the backdrop of bursting French nationalism, it takes courage to dare to lend to the Allies, especially with Ferdinand watching! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

As soon as the two sides negotiate,

Radical groups in France will receive the news, and in an era when the whole people are clamoring for revenge, the capitalists will not dare to take the lead.

No way, the French's funds are not unlimited, if Bulgaria wants to take more, someone must take less! And vice versa, in order to get more loans and pay less, Ferdinand had to kill some competitors first.

Without the loans of the Allied countries, the promised benefits are not large enough, and of course Italy will not be so easy to reverse!

In 1913, the Italians started to build 3 dreadnoughts and two battlecruisers. The five-year shipbuilding plan was completed at one time. In addition, they had already started two dreadnoughts before, and after completion, there were five dreadnoughts. Ship!

The two dreadnoughts announced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1912 have now been launched and are expected to be commissioned in early 1914. \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

This time, the Vienna government once again decided to increase its investment and started the construction of two dreadnoughts and two battlecruisers.

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.

In this context, what did Ferdinand do?

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

But it is clear that in the era of large-scale military expansion together, this is obviously not enough. In order to save expenses, even the plan for the battle cruiser Ferdinand was cut off.

The current Bulgarian navy is still a conservative navy, and it does not have high requirements for ocean-going decisive battles, and even the planned combat scope is only the large bathhouse of the Mediterranean Sea. \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

Navy 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 we let it go, the naval dominance of the future Allies in the Mediterranean will be gradually lost, and we will be in danger at that time!

By 1915, we had only three dreadnoughts, and even if we added the French's six, there were only nine, while the Allies had 2 Ottomans, 5 Italians, and 4 Austro-Hungarians, which was eleven. The gap between the two sides was eleven. Very obvious!

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

Oh, Romania can be ignored. As soon as the war breaks out, Romania will have to experience the power of the Russian gray animals first, and they will probably have nothing to do with them! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

For the sake of strategic security, Bulgaria had better go to the 6th Asia Minor Peninsula as soon as possible and not give the Ottomans any chance.

At the same time, the Otranto Strait must also be blocked to prevent the Austro-Hungarian navy from coming out, in order 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 entire Mediterranean battlefield of the Allies will be alive.

Is it possible to block the Otranto Strait? Ferdinand didn't know about this either. After all, the Italians of 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 directly board 6 Italy under the cover of the navy and air force. Anyway, there are only forty nautical miles. It is the safest way to deploy shore artillery on both sides of the strait, drop some more torpedoes, and deploy some more air force! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

Of course, this is actually very difficult to do. The Italians are not stupid. How could they be stupid enough to fight the French Navy?

Before defeating the Italian Navy, let the Bulgarian 6th Army start the 6th war. This is a very crazy thing. If the Italian Navy rushed over regardless of the loss, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy killed it again, the Bulgarian 6th Army would feed the sharks. !

Unless the entire Allied fleet in the Mediterranean is concentrated, there is a possibility of realization! After all, the combat effectiveness of aircraft in this era is not as sharp as later generations.

At present, the Bulgarian Air Force can only carry light torpedoes to attack, which is ok against cruisers, but it is not enough to deal with battleships, ten or eight may not be able to sink, and the hit rate of torpedoes in actual combat is still very low!

No matter how cheap the planes are, it is impossible for Ferdinand to use hundreds of planes to deal with a battleship, right? So to deal with a fleet, wouldn't it use thousands of planes? \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

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

Of course, Ferdinand didn't want the French to expand their naval shipbuilding plans, but to urge the French to make progress. In fact, as early as 1912, the French government had already formulated a plan for the construction of 12-class dreadnoughts. Let's get started!

In the naval arms race, Bulgaria can never participate without restrictions. This is not a problem of one or two dreadnoughts. Each battleship must have a series of supporting ships, and the combined cost is not much lower than that of battleships!

According to the current situation, in 1913 Bulgaria's military expenditure exceeded 30 million pounds is just around the corner.

Now Ferdinand understands why the world war must break out. The arms race is too expensive. As long as someone can't hold on to it, then it can only be started! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

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

Of course, even if there is no military loan, Ferdinand would have to expand his army.

After all, Bulgaria still got a low-interest military loan of 1.8 billion levs provided by Britain and France. Ferdinand felt the pressure now, not to mention the allies.

Because it was a two-front battle, the military expenditure of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to be far behind the historical period. The Germans could not help them in this regard. After all, the Germans were not rich now.

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

Interest is always the best motivation! \u00261t;i\u003e\u00261t;/i\u003e

In this naval arms race, the major European powers are all very crazy, and 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 19o9, the Russians have been preparing to build their own dreadnoughts, and it has been delayed until 1913. Ferdinand is very skeptical that Nicholas II has a chance to receive it. To the news of the completion of the warship!

For Ferdinand, these are not problems. Anyway, the Allies still have the advantage in the Mediterranean in a short time.

Although the number of allied dreadnoughts in the Mediterranean is not large enough, the quality is not enough to make up for the quantity!

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

No, the dreadnoughts of the Allied countries have not yet had time to serve. At present, only the Bulgarian Sofia is swaying in the Mediterranean Sea, but the first dreadnought of the Italians will be in service by the end of this year.

By 1914, another dreadnought of the Italians will also be in service, and at the same time two dreadnoughts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will also be in service, plus the two dreadnoughts purchased by the Ottoman Empire from Germany, then the Allies will be in the Mediterranean Sea. 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 available until the end of 1914 or the beginning of 1915 at the earliest. Done.

During this period, there is at least a small gap of half a year, and the number of dreadnoughts of the Allied countries will be double that of the Allied countries.

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

Thinking of this, Ferdinand was taken aback. This situation is really possible. As long as the main force of the French navy is severely damaged, the naval advantage of the Allied countries in the Mediterranean Sea will cease to exist.

So are the British going to split up the Mediterranean? If the troops are divided, can the British continue to suppress the Germans' high seas fleet?

If there is no division of troops, can the Allied countries be able to support it without the Mediterranean route?

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