Mediterranean Hegemony Road

The Battle of Transylvania ended with the disastrous defeat of Germany and Austria. The Allies not only lost the Transylvanian Plateau, but also burned the Great Hungarian Plain, and the situation on the southern front underwent a subversive change.

At this time, the pressure on Marshal August von Mackensen greatly increased, there is no reason in the war, failure is failure! For politicians, the process doesn't matter, the means doesn't matter, they only care about the result!

Fortunately, now that Germany has the military in power, the military government headed by Hindenburg has given a full understanding of what happened on the southern front.

After all, this is caused by the unequal strength of the two sides, and the power invested by Germany on the southern front is only two layers of the strength of the German army. In addition to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which has suffered a great loss of vitality, it is normal for it to fail!

Without air dominance, bombing is inevitable! Unless all the Luftwaffe can be transferred to the southern front, it is inevitable that the Austro-Hungarian air force will suffer!

Even so, it wasn't easy for August von Mackensen. Understanding is understanding, but if he really lost the battle on the southern front, he would be a sinner of the German Empire.

The Hindenburg government did not replace him. Could it be that he is highly respected and everyone trusts him? I am afraid that anyone with a little political common sense would not think so!

August von Mackensen knew that the reason why he kept his current position was that no one wanted to take over this mess.

Anyone who has the ability knows that the southern line is not easy to fight, don't forget that the bear is still eyeing it? Even if they win the battle on the southern front, they can't really defeat Bulgaria, and the polar bears will definitely stab them in the back!

This is determined by its geographical location. For the hairy bears, Bulgaria now not only controls their most important maritime transportation line, but also their largest foreign trade partner. More than 80% of Russia's current trade is with Made in Bulgaria.

This is also something that can’t be helped. The war has continued until now, and the Russians’ grain exports have long stopped, leaving only industrial raw materials for export. If they don’t sell to Bulgaria, who else can they sell to?

If you want to sell it to others, at least they have to ship it out! Of course, even if it is shipped out, it can't be sold. Britain and France don't need it. Their biggest buyers were Germans, and it is definitely impossible to continue trading now!

Similarly, due to the outbreak of the World War and the rampant Allied submarines, the price of industrial products in the international market has also risen to the sky.

For the Russians, in addition to buying cheap goods produced in Bulgaria, the impoverished tsarist government simply cannot afford high-priced goods, nor can they afford the high shipping costs!

Unless the strategic materials are in short supply, the two countries will only purchase from the outside world. Otherwise, the two countries usually cooperate behind closed doors as much as possible, and minimize the dependence on the outside world, in order to save huge war costs and minimize the cost of war. The mastery of the initiative in the war!

In this case, Bulgaria has naturally become the largest industrial production base for the Russians, and Russia has also become the largest supplier of raw materials to Bulgaria. Therefore, at this stage, Bulgaria and Russia are now interdependent. Follow the vitality!

This is also one of the core reasons why Ferdinand is now desperately expanding his territory, in order to obtain enough resources, so that Bulgaria can get rid of the resistance to the raw materials of the bear and become a real big country!

This unique relationship between the two countries,

Naturally, the commanders on the southern front of the Allied Powers suffered a great headache. They were only fighting on the southern front. It was clear that the work of the eastern front was also crowded, and they only increased tasks, but did not increase their troops!

Of course, during the battle on the Eastern Front, Falkenham also felt this way, but at that time Bulgaria's strategic focus was on the Asia Minor Peninsula, and the German army was strong enough.

The most important thing is, of course, that the Allied nations are pitting teammates, and the Russians are losing so fast that it is too late for Ferdinand to help!

Although Mao Xiong is not in the state now, it is very unlikely that they will take the initiative to participate in this battle, but there must be necessary precautions, right?

Otherwise, if the tsarist government suddenly changed its mind, or if the Allied countries completed an internal interest transaction in exchange for Mao Xiong sending troops, wouldn't they be miserable?

In this context, smart people will naturally not jump into the pit. They are already at a disadvantage, and they have to add a hairy bear that may break out at any time. This is simply a sinkhole, and there is absolutely no hope of winning!

As for the idiots, some of them want to be the commander. Unfortunately, the Hindenburg government is stupid. How could it be possible to let a few idiots make the current situation on the southern front worse?

At least the ability of Marshal August von Mackensen is obvious to all. He is in charge of commanding the troops, and may not achieve a big victory, but it will not make the situation worse!

After knowing all this, it's no wonder that August von Mackensen is in a better mood. Obviously, there is no hope for the southern front in China. Naturally, there is no increase in troops. The Hindenburg government's The only hope is to make a breakthrough on the Western Front!

...

Chief of Staff Holman Reinkis said in a low tone: Marshal, this is the number of casualties, weapons and equipment, and material losses that have been counted.

In the Battle of Transylvania, the coalition lost a total of 58,346 people, of which Austria-Hungary lost 14,368 people, Romania lost 456 people, and the rest are our troops!

Equipment losses mainly include: 1,846 artillery pieces, 186,506 rifles, 8,468 light and heavy machine guns, 623 cars, 86 aircraft, 687 radio stations, 126 tanks, more than 1.2 million artillery shells, 500,000 pieces Grenades and nearly 200 million rounds!

Material losses include: 20,000 tents, 300,000 military uniforms, 50,000 tons of flour, 15,000 tons of potatoes, 8,000 tons of canned food...

Obviously, the weapons and equipment are the main ones, and a small amount of equipment such as pistols is naturally ignored.

August von Mackensen sighed and said: I am afraid that the main force of future wars will change. The Bulgarian Air Force has destroyed so many of our materials in just one week, which is enough to show that the Air Force's It's important!

In this regard, Bulgaria has come to the front of the world. Sure enough, any emerging power should not be underestimated!

If the Empire cannot make a breakthrough on the Western Front in the short term, the outcome of this war will not be optimistic!

Chief of Staff Holman Reenkis wondered: Marshal, are you too pessimistic? Even if we are at a disadvantage for a while, the strength of the Imperial Army is still enough to defeat any enemy, even if it is a temporary setback, victory In the end, it still belongs to us!

August von Mackensen said coldly: Yes, the strength of the Imperial Army is indeed enough to defeat any enemy! But the strategic materials of the Empire can no longer meet the consumption of the army!

Just like now that we have just lost nearly 60,000 troops and more than 200,000 troops' weapons and equipment, if the empire's weapon reserves are sufficient, these weapons can be taken out immediately to restore the combat effectiveness of these troops.

But now our front army has only replenished the equipment of more than 10,000 troops, and it will take a week to arrive. There are still 130,000 troops waiting to be equipped with bare hands, which means that our military production has reached its limit!

The chief of staff's face changed greatly, and he asked with some fear: How is this possible? Didn't the country say that because the traffic in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is too bad, we were asked to wait for a month?

August von Mackensen looked at him and asked: Do you believe this? How much capacity do these weapons and equipment require? Doesn't the Austro-Hungarian Empire know the seriousness of the matter?

With this little capacity, let alone railways, even by road, the Austro-Hungarian Empire can deliver weapons and equipment to us within half a month!

The chief of staff was silent, the battle on the southern front was important to the Germans, but it was fatal to the Austro-Hungarian Empire! In this context, as long as the Austro-Hungarian government is not stupid, it will definitely make every effort to meet the supply of front-line materials, let alone weapons and equipment?

After a pause, August von Mackensen added: Order the troops to save rations from now on, the main force remains the same in the combat state, and the rations are reduced by two layers in the non-combat state, and the others All three-tier rations are cut!

The chief of staff sighed and said, Has it reached this point? Even if we lose a batch of rations for more than two months this time, we won't have to cut the food supply, right?

August von Mackensen said coldly: Our current rations can only last for a month, you don't think the enemy will let us get logistical supplies so easily, right?

It is conceivable that the stations, railways, and bridges of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be patronized by enemy planes. It is impossible to maintain normal transportation!

Don't forget that Berlin has been visited by enemy planes, and it is said that the loss is not small. How is the air defense capability of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?

The chief of staff said in a roaring tone: Damn, with the strength displayed by the Bulgarian Air Force, the transportation lines of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be paralyzed soon!

Damn politics, can anyone tell me what's going on here? If the Bulgarians bombed the Austro-Hungarian Empire in advance, I am afraid that the battle on the southern front would not start at all!

August von Mackensen was also silent. The hidden things here are no longer what they can participate in. Obviously, this involves a higher-level political game!

Why isn't Bulgaria working hard? How much insider trading is there between them and Austria-Hungary? How much was the German Empire involved? Or is there any other reason?

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