African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1321 Romania joins the Allies

There is no other way to compare it with Russia, because the best reference East Africa can get is the pre-war Russian army.

Before the war, the only countries whose armies were larger than those of today's East Africa were Russia and the Far Eastern Empire. Although the Far Eastern Empire had a large army, their equipment level was too poor, their combat effectiveness was worrying, and they were divided into multiple forces.

If we ignore factors such as logistics, the combat effectiveness of the Russian army before the war was still good, and Russia's population, territorial area and other data before the war were not much different from those of East Africa. Although the area, population and other data of the United States are not bad, and even the scale of its industry is similar to that of East Africa, the United States before the war neglected the development of its military too much, especially the US Army, which can be basically ignored.

……

While East Africa was preparing for large-scale military expansion and reform, some changes once again took place on the European battlefield.

1918 8 Month 13 Day.

Romania, which had always been "neutral" in Europe, officially announced its joining the "Central Powers", which had just received support from the United States. The joy of the Allied camp was instantly dispersed. This added a layer of fog to the already unclear situation in Europe.

Romania has always been the target of the Central Powers and the Allied Powers. If Romania's support is obtained, it means that the army will have nearly 600,000 more troops. Moreover, Romania's location is also very important, located in the heart of the Central Powers, and is also an important oil producing area.

In the past, when Romania joined the Allied Powers, it posed a huge threat to the Central Powers, putting Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria in a passive position.

William II was so angry that he kicked the Romanian monarch Ferdinand I of Sigmaringen out of the Hohenzollern family tree.

However, this time history changed, Romania chose the Allied camp, and the reason for this was very simple. Facing the three million morale-filled Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian coalition forces, and the covetous German and Ottoman Empires next to them, Romania had no choice but to join the Allied camp.

The capital of Romania.

Inside the Royal Palace in Bucharest.

Ferdinand I is talking with the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Rudolf, which shows the importance that the Austro-Hungarian Empire attaches to Romania.

The Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Rudolf said to Ferdinand I: "Congratulations, Your Majesty the King of Romania, you have made the most correct choice. With your country's joining, the strength of our allies will be further strengthened, and there will be no force in the whole of Europe that can stop us."

Now Rudolf is actually the real helmsman of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Emperor Franz is basically unable to handle government affairs due to health reasons.

But this is also normal. Emperor Franz is already very old. According to the development of his previous life, Franz should have gone to meet God in 1916. However, perhaps because he did not suffer the pain of losing his son in this life and the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not decline like in his previous life, Emperor Franz has lived to this day, but his body could not resist the ravages of time.

In comparison, Emperor Franz's younger brother, Archduke Ferdinand of East Africa, may have lived longer than Emperor Franz. After all, Archduke Ferdinand is still in good health.

Ferdinand I said with a flawless smile: "Yes! Now the whole of Eastern Europe is basically dominated by the Allies. Russia is now overwhelmed by the civil war, and only a few small countries in the southwest of the Balkan Peninsula are struggling. We Romania also have the obligation to contribute more to the alliance."

Although he said this verbally, Ferdinand I was actually feeling somewhat depressed.

Before joining the Allies, Ferdinand I actually didn't want to join the war, or join the war so early.

However, the Allies had ended the war against Russia, and nearly one million troops from the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone returned from the Eastern Front to support other battlefields.

When the Allied forces were transferred from the Eastern Front to other battlefields, Germany and Austria obviously did not forget Romania, a neutral country. Unlike the previous life, this time Germany and Austria took a particularly tough stance towards Romania. If Romania did not join the Allies, the Allies would directly wipe Romania off the map.

Faced with the threat from the Allies, Romania did not have the confidence to refuse as it had in the past. The reason why Romania dared to refuse the Allies and eventually join the Allies was the poor performance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the battlefield.

In this time and space, except for the unfavorable situation in Serbia at the beginning of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire quickly put things right under the leadership of Rudolf, and with the help of armaments from East Africa and Germany, it gradually restored the combat effectiveness of its army. Today, the size of its army has reached four million.

Romania’s other neighbor, Bulgaria, also a member of the Allied Powers, also performed well on the battlefield, but its stunning mobilization capabilities were enough to astound Romania, not to mention that with the help of East African and Allied forces, the Bulgarian army was even more powerful.

Although Bulgaria is not large in size, its military strength today was also that of a powerful military power before the war.

After the end of the Eastern Front, Romania was completely surrounded by the Allies. The two neighbors were difficult to deal with, so after the Allies issued an ultimatum, Romania had no choice but to join, otherwise the former Serbia would end up like Romania.

Although the Serbian government in exile was still fighting the Central Powers with the support of the Allies, Ferdinand I had no intention of leaving Bucharest.

Not to mention that Ferdinand I did not want to live in exile, even his identity as a member of the Hohenzollern family made it impossible for him to go against the Allies at this time.

In the past, one of the reasons why Germany could tolerate Romania’s early neutrality was that the Romanian royal family itself was supported by Germany. So theoretically, Romania should have sided with the Allies. However, in the past, Romania happened to make an unexpected choice, which made William II angry and humiliated.

As for leading Romania and the Allies to fight to the end, Ferdinand I was not so stupid. He did not think that Romania could be a match for the Allied forces, which were now in full force.

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The mere fact that there were millions of Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian troops stationed on the Romanian border was enough to keep him awake at night.

Therefore, Ferdinand I was actually forced to join the Allies, so it was normal for him to be dissatisfied in his heart. However, he did not dare to show it when facing Rudolf, and even had to greet him with a smile.

At this time, Ferdinand I had no other choice but to lead Romania and the Allies to the end, so Ferdinand I could only show his loyalty in front of Rudolf.

Seeing Ferdinand I's statement, Rudolf was very happy. He said to Ferdinand I: "With your country joining, our chances of winning will be even greater. Now on the European continent, France and Britain can only hold on."

"We have to defeat France thoroughly before the Americans land in Europe. Then even Britain and the United States can only watch from across the sea, so our chances of winning are still very high."

"The German army was originally on par with the British and French coalition forces. With the participation of several other countries like us, the situation on the Western Front will change quickly, so you must be prepared."

"Romania has only been a member for a short time, so if you want to share the spoils, you must go all out. Bulgaria has already got what it wanted. If you don't work hard, then in the future, Bulgaria will be the only dominant country in the Balkan Peninsula."

The effect of Rudolf's use of Bulgaria as an example was still very significant.

Ferdinand I immediately said with a serious face: "Don't worry, Your Highness Rudolf, we Romania will not be left behind by Bulgaria. The kingdom's army is ready and ready to support the battlefield at any time."

The matter was done, and Romania's only choice was to join the war as soon as possible, perhaps hoping to get a share of the pie, especially since Bulgaria had already acquired territories in Serbia and other regions through the war.

(End of this chapter)