While Edel was in a dilemma, the European war was still going on.
On the Western Front, in order to support the French army fighting hard at Verdun, the British army launched an attack on the German army along the Somme River. In order to prepare for this battle, the British and French forces assembled a total of 32 infantry divisions and 6 cavalry divisions.
2,189 artillery pieces, 1,160 mortars, and about 300 aircraft. Its main purpose was to break through the German positions, transform them from positional warfare to mobile warfare, and reduce the pressure on France in the Battle of Verdun.
The biggest impression of this battle on Edel is that a lot of people died. Maxim killed 60,000 British troops in one day, and the tanks made their debut on the battlefield. The British developed tanks for about the same time as Romania. After the outbreak of World War I
, Lieutenant Colonel Swinton, who was serving in the British Expeditionary Force, proposed the need to create an armored vehicle that could open roads, climb over trenches, and destroy and suppress machine gun fire on battlefields covered with barbed wire, thereby speeding up the war process. But at that time, the British
The Army had no interest in this, but Churchill, then Lord of the Admiralty, was so impressed that he immediately ordered the establishment of a "Land Battleship Committee" to personally lead the development of the "Land Battleship".
In August 1915, the world's second tank was born in the United Kingdom. Unlike Romania under the guidance of Eder, the performance of the Mark I tank produced in the United Kingdom was not outstanding. It seemed to be more of an emergency production, which is also different from the British's own
It has something to do with the positioning of the new weapons produced.
At that time, the Mark I tank had a diamond-shaped outline and rigid suspension. There were protruding gun mounts on the track frames on both sides of the vehicle body. Two tracks went around the vehicle body from the top, and a pair of steering wheels extended from the rear. The crew of this tank
There are 8 people, including "male" and "female". The "male" is equipped with two 57mm Hotchkiss 6-pound rapid-fire cannons and 4 Hotchkiss machine guns, and the "female" is only equipped with 6 Vickers machine guns.
This kind of tank, which seemed so crude to Edel, still shocked the German army. When more than a dozen huge steel monsters roared and roared, their tracks clanked, they broke through the barbed wire fence, flattened the bunkers, and fired machine guns and artillery towards them.
When the enemy fired, the German army was greatly frightened. The soldiers abandoned their positions in panic, some hid in shelters, and some ran away.
The British infantry, supported by tanks, dispersed their attacks on a 10-kilometer-wide front and advanced four to five kilometers in five hours. In the past, this victory required thousands of tons of artillery shells and tens of thousands of sacrifices to achieve. The British troops were not affected
With many casualties, they captured the lost bunkers and captured the lost machine guns and artillery. One of the tanks captured a village without firing a shot, and another tank captured a trench and captured more than 300 German soldiers.
When the German command received the report from the front line, they were greatly surprised. They were surprised that this kind of enemy could climb over trenches on the battlefield (it actually relied on piles of wood to fill the trenches, but tanks still could not climb over it) and ignored machine gun fire.
I was curious about the new mobile weapon, but the top priority was to find a solution. At this time, a staff officer mentioned an intelligence. There was such a weapon in the Romanian army, so the military sent a report to the government, hoping to obtain it from Romania immediately.
This new type of weapon. Even if you can't get the physical object, you must at least have the blueprint.
So the German government naturally handed over this task to Edel's old friend Ambassador Baslob, who is now looking at the secret diplomatic telegram sent from Berlin.
"Hey, this task is difficult to handle."
After reading the telegram, Ambassador Baslob sighed secretly.
As an ambassador who has been in Romania for several years, Baslob thinks he has some understanding of Romania's political situation. He has also heard some rumors about Prime Minister Bretianu's recent frequent contacts with the Allies, so he thinks
Romania has already begun to select a team. However, after his analysis of Romania was sent back to China, nothing happened.
However, even if it was difficult to handle, Ambassador Baslob believed that he must do his part for the motherland. So after reading the telegram, Ambassador Baslob called an embassy staff member.
"Go help me prepare the vehicle. I have to go out."
After giving instructions to the staff, Ambassador Baslob began to think about where to open the gap. It is not easy to obtain the weapons blueprints of a neutral country. The previous shooting coordinator, Ambassador Baslob thought afterwards, was Romania.
It was given to them on purpose. Otherwise, there is no way to explain why Edel agreed so readily. At that time, he almost thought that Romania had to choose sides first.
Unfortunately, in hindsight, he thought too much, and Romania still maintained its neutrality.
When Ambassador Baslob was thinking about Berlin's request, Counselor Masnow hurried over.
"Our people have just seen that Minister Ventille Bretianu went to the British Embassy again. This is the third time this week. The Romanian government must be talking about something with the Allies."
Faced with Counselor Masnow's affirmation, Ambassador Baslob had to put aside his thoughts on Berlin's requirements. He asked, "Is this true?"
Counselor Masno's affirmation made Ambassador Baslob walk back and forth in the room and think about it. For a minister or a cousin of the Prime Minister to visit the embassy of the Allied Powers frequently, there must be some unknown reason for this. Ask the Romanian side directly,
This is absolutely not possible, and Romania will not tell the truth. I get information through Romanian friends. The problem is that I do not have reliable enough friends at the top levels of the government.
Ambassador Baslobop repeatedly thought of several ways in his mind, but he rejected them all.
Counselor Masnot looked at Ambassador Baslob's thinking as he walked back and forth, and couldn't help but suggest, "How about we start from the embassy of the Allied Powers?"
Ambassador Baslob heard what Counselor Masnow said and asked, "Do you have any good candidates?"
Counselor Masno knew that this was Ambassador Baslob asking him if he had any suitable bribers. Now that he thinks of getting information about the contacts between Romania and the Allied Powers, it is currently impossible to get information about the contacts between Romania and the Allied Powers through Romania. Because the officials coming forward from Romania are all very high-level.
And their embassy cannot afford the price. However, it is much easier to bribe the staff of the Allied embassy. After all, their level is much lower, so it is much easier to bribe.
Ambassador Baslob just asked casually, but he didn't expect that Counselor Masnow actually gave him a candidate. "Currently, I have a candidate."
