The next day, Edel and his party came to Constanta Port and looked at the work being done to channelize the port. Millard Weiss, an engineering expert from Standard Oil Company, was guiding the work of the workers. As several oil pipelines were built for Standard Oil
For Milledweis of the terminal, the expansion of Constanta port does not have many problems. But for Romania now, Constanta port is the largest port in the entire kingdom, responsible for 90% of Romania’s maritime transport.
.Especially in today's steel plants, most of the raw materials need to be imported from the port, which cannot be missed.
"Hello, Your Highness," Milledweis said in a very American way after seeing Edel and his party. Edel didn't care about it and asked the engineering expert directly. "How is the progress now?" "Your Highness is now on the main channel.
The dredging has been completed and 30,000-ton cargo ships can enter and exit. Now the main task is to install cranes and tracks, and the cargo yard is almost completed. It is expected that the port will be fully used in another three months." Milledweis replied to Edel.
Yes, Edel was still very satisfied with Milledweis's answer.
"Your Highness, the main issue now is that the Navy has opinions on not expanding the military dock." Milledweis said about his views on the Navy, and Edel knew this. The Navy's eyes were red with regard to the reorganization of the Army, and he proposed to strengthen Romania more than once.
The navy is weak. However, it is already very difficult for the government to financially support the reorganization of the army, and the request for the navy has not been agreed.
Edel also tried his best to avoid conflicts with the navy, so he pushed the matter to the government. However, the Romanian Navy does have too few ships. The largest warship now is the unprotected armored cruiser Elizabeth. This cruiser was built by Armstrong Shipyard in 1880.
A training ship built for Romania, 73.4 meters long, 10.3 meters wide, 1,351 tons, with a speed of 18 knots, equipped with 4 5.9-inch main guns, 4 104-ton gunboats, 4 47-ton torpedo boats, and other ships
The total tonnage of naval ships is less than 6,000 tons, which is not as high as that of a large armored cruiser. Seeing these, Edel wondered whether the Romanian Navy deliberately built such a small one to avoid the Russian Black Sea Fleet, because everything can
Sailing on the Danube.
After inspecting the expanded port, Edel came to the Romanian Naval Base, which is the Navy Pier on the left side of the port. He saw Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Lomodan, surrounded by naval officers in blue military uniforms, at the naval base.
The Crown Prince and his entourage were greeted at the door. Before the Crown Prince came over, Major Midrafael, the captain of the gunboat Bratianu, was chatting quietly with Captain Balbik of the torpedo boat Bogdan.
"Do you think it's possible for the Rear Admiral to get the Crown Prince to agree to increase naval funding?" Captain Erbic asked his friend, "I hope the Rear Admiral can succeed. You know I haven't gone to sea for two months. If I don't go to sea again, I'm afraid of the crew.
Everyone will get seasick." Major Midrafael was obviously very resentful about the lack of increase in naval funding.
"You are crazy. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is coming soon. If you complain like this, you will be punished." Captain Erbic said in a low voice, looking at the crowd around him. It was obvious that he was fighting for his friend.
Cover. Major Midrafael also realized that he had made a mistake. He immediately stopped talking and blinked gratefully at his friend. At this time, someone shouted, "The Crown Prince is here." Midrafael
Like the other officers, the two of them quickly arranged their clothes and stood at the gate of the base to welcome Crown Prince Edel.
Edel saw the group of officers greeting him from a distance. The crown prince knew their intentions. It seemed that they needed to increase their military expenditures this time.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince welcomes you." Rear Admiral Lomodan, the commander of the fleet, saw Edel approaching and stepped forward to greet him. "I came here mainly to take a look at the port expansion and take a look at our Romania."
Navy fleet." Edel replied, the underlying meaning is that you don't want to open your mouth. Rear Admiral Romodan did not expect the Crown Prince to be so direct. The chief of staff next to him quickly stepped forward to remedy the situation. "This is also the Crown Prince's concern for the Navy.
Our naval colleagues are all looking forward to His Highness’s arrival.”
Rear Admiral Lomodan came to his senses and said, "This is the expectation of our navy."
Edel nodded in response. "Thank you to the Navy for having such great expectations for me."
Edel followed these two guys who cooperated tacitly and entered the naval base to visit. In fact, there are only two or three kittens in the Romanian Navy now. You can see this small fleet standing at the dock. Edel still pretended to be enjoying it.
It seems that while listening to Rear Admiral Lomodan explaining to himself the status of Romanian naval ships, there was actually nothing much to say, so Rear Admiral Lomodan finished speaking in less than half an hour.
"How about your Highness, please come and sit in my office." Major General Romodan sent out the invitation, and the Crown Prince knew that the show was coming. "I also heard that the Commander's coffee is unique, and I would like to taste it."
The two quickly arrived at Major General Romodan's office. Edel looked at the plain and simple office, with charts of the Black Sea hanging on the wall, and neatly stacked navy professional books on the bookshelf against the wall. Edel casually
Next book, I saw various notes marked in the book. It seems that the owner here has read these books a lot.
"Your Highness, your coffee." Major General Lomodan handed a cup of coffee to Edel. The Crown Prince stirred it and took a sip, then spoke bluntly. "Major General Lomodan, I know what you are thinking, but the military expenditure is only so much.
, I understand your desire to increase naval funding. But you need to note that the biggest threat to the kingdom now is Russia. There is great pressure on land and we must ensure the security of our homeland."
Faced with Crown Prince Edel's blunt remarks, Major General Lomodan nodded. As a senior officer, he is still very aware of the pressure on Romania. But as a man who has served in the navy for 20 years, fighting for his own service
Major General Philo Modan still expressed his duty to do so.
"Your Highness, we are also very supportive of the army's reorganization work, but the navy's annual funding is too small and it can no longer carry out daily patrols and training. I hope the crown prince can also understand the suffering of our navy." Rear Admiral Lomodan began to complain.
"Why can't we even do patrols and training? Wasn't it very good before?" Edel also asked Major General Lomodan in confusion. "Recently, the government said that the financial turnover cannot be met, so funds are often in arrears. Now we only have
If we can first ensure personnel wages and equipment maintenance, we cannot temporarily stop training and patrolling." Major General Lomodan also complained bitterly.
"When I go back, I will ask the government to fully pay you the arrears." Edel saw that this was not an option and could only agree. He knew that the government had recently completed the construction of various factories and had collected a tax that could be paid.
To the navy, Rear Admiral Romodan saw that the Crown Prince was too talkative and followed the stick. "Your Highness, you see that Russia has recently announced a large-scale shipbuilding plan. Our navy is under great pressure. Can we increase funds to enhance the strength of our fleet?"
Edel understands that Rear Admiral Lomodan is too weak for the navy, but now Romania does not have the national strength to expand naval ships, so he can only say sorry to Rear Admiral Lomodan. "Rear Admiral Lomodan, you must know that even if we increase naval funding,
, you can’t protect the security of the Romanian coastline. Now you can only prioritize supplying the army, which I’m sorry I can’t help you with.”
Edel talked for 2 hours in Rear Admiral Lomodan's office, and finally agreed to add a cruiser to the navy in five years. This made the officers outside cheer, and Edel felt a little uncomfortable. The navy was still too weak, and there was no need to increase the number of cruisers.
