Because the British and French representatives were surprised by Major General Dotov's words, they quickly returned to the negotiating table the next day. It seemed that they had recovered. The only difference was that behind the British Foreign Secretary was a man wearing a general's uniform.
General. Major General Dotov knew this man through photos. He was General Haig, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force. This also shows that the British attach great importance to Romania's proposal.
General Haig stared at Major General Dotov as soon as he arrived and spoke unceremoniously. "I heard from Mr. Balfour that the Major General has objections to the use of our country's Anzac Corps?"
In his voice, the general also emphasized the tone of the major general. It seemed that he was dissatisfied that Romania had dared to interfere with the British Empire's army.
Facing the general's question, Major General Dotov remained calm. He had already prepared to deal with this situation at home, and the Romanian military had prepared several plans for him in response to this situation. "Your Excellency, General,
I have no intention of offending the British Empire's use of the military, but rather suggesting more feasible options."
Major General Dotov stopped here, took out a map and pointed at the location of Bulgaria. "Gentlemen, please take a look."
Dotov's move caused all the negotiators present to gather around, especially the two generals Petain and Haig, because they knew that the Romanian negotiator would definitely talk about military content.
Sure enough, after everyone gathered around to look at him, Dotov said his intention. "Gentlemen, Bulgaria is the easiest country to defeat among the Allied Powers, and its location is also very important. It is the railway link between the Ottomans and Germany.
The key point is that weapons and equipment from Germany are continuously transported to the Ottomans, and raw materials from the Ottomans are also transported to Germany through here, which makes the powerful fleet useless."
Hearing Dotov's words made the British and French negotiators secretly sad. The actual situation was similar to what the Romanians said. Most of the Ottoman weapons and equipment came from Germany. Especially, most of the weapons captured by the Ottoman army in the Middle East battlefield were carved.
in German. Raw materials such as wool, cotton, and copper mines from the Ottomans also strongly supported Germany's military and light industries.
Faced with Dotov's somewhat embarrassing words, French Foreign Minister Jean Pichon took over and asked. "It is indeed as your Excellency said, so what do you mean..."
Dotov cast a grateful look at the French Foreign Minister, who answered the question very well. He continued, "To be precise, what we in Romania mean is to get Bulgaria out of the war first."
"Here let me tell you what we have learned. The domestic situation in Bulgaria is currently the most severe. Domestic materials are quite tight, especially food and textiles related to people's livelihood. This is especially true in Kerdjali and Haskovo, Bulgaria.
Famine has caused famine in other places, and local people have begun to flee. Moreover, Bulgaria's military strength is also the weakest and can easily be defeated by us."
At this time, Pétain, as the commander-in-chief of the French army, raised a key question. "What should we do if our attack attracts reinforcements from the German and Austrian troops?"
Petain's words made many people who were interested in Dotov give up their thoughts. Germany and Austria will definitely not sit idly by when the Allies attack Bulgaria. If Russia withdraws from the war, reinforcements will become inevitable. Isn't this useless again?
merit.
Upon hearing Petain's inquiry, Dotov smiled and said, "Your Excellency, General, there is no need to worry about German and Austrian reinforcements. For the smooth implementation of the Bulgarian campaign, we have decided to launch an attack on the hinterland of Austria-Hungary to contain their actions."
He pointed to a point on the map and said, "The Transylvania region is our chosen target. This is not far from the Hungarian Plain, one of the cores of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As long as our Romanians attack here, Germany and Austria will definitely provide massive reinforcements."
, then the Bulgarian campaign can start smoothly."
Major General Dotov's words surprised the British and French negotiators present. They did not expect that Romania planned to attack first, and it was on the Transylvanian Plateau, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
This made General Pétain couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure you are attacking the Transylvanian Plateau? It's not easy to fight there."
Faced with Petain's kind reminder, Major General Dotov responded. "Thank you for your concern. We are still quite confident in attacking this area because most of the local people are Romanian, so we have the confidence to attack this area."
area."
Seeing that the Romanians were very confident, Admiral Pétain was unwilling to say anything. If Romania retreated, Bulgaria would not be able to start, which would be depressing. However, there were still people present who guessed Romania's intentions, but
As long as it does not affect the Bulgarian strategy, Romania's little idea has not been exposed.
It can be said that this is the skill of language. If we first say that Romania is preparing to attack Transylvania, and then say that it is attacking Bulgaria, it will inevitably be regarded as the Allied Powers providing cover for Romania. Now if we talk about it in reverse, it will be Romania providing cover for the Allied Powers.
, in fact, the effect is the same, this is the skill of speaking.
What Major General Dotov said made the British and French representatives very interested. Even Admiral Haig, who was a little concerned about launching an attack at the beginning, also carefully asked some key points about the Bulgarian campaign. This can be seen from the British Expeditionary Force Commander-in-Chief
The commander was also moved.
Watching Major General Dotov discuss matters related to the Bulgarian campaign with Generals Petain and Haig, Barnosk, as the plenipotentiary, met with representatives of the British and French governments to discuss other assistance to Romania.
You must know that Britain and France, as old powers, still have many good things that make Romania covetous, such as the new aircraft of Britain and France. It is annoying to say that Romania now has Goshawk fighter jets and newly developed Samurai bombers. Faced with Britain and France, regardless of funds,
R&D capabilities are now gradually lagging behind, so this time the military plans to introduce British S.E.5 fighter jets and French Camel fighter jets.
In addition, the most coveted thing in Romania is the French Schneider 155 artillery. The latest improved model of this artillery makes the Romanian military drool.
This French Schneider 155 howitzer is much larger than the German 150 howitzer currently equipped in Romania. Whether it is in terms of range (11,900 meters vs. 8500 meters) or muzzle velocity (450 meters/second vs. 325 meters/second), the only thing is
The disadvantage is that it is much heavier than the German artillery, but this is nothing to the Romanian army that will focus on the Ukrainian plains in the future.
The negotiations in Romania went very smoothly. Whether it was the military planning for the Bulgarian campaign or the introduction of military technology, Britain and France were not too entangled. It was obvious that they were eager for the Romanian army to join the war. Finally, after five days of negotiations
After intense negotiations, Romania, Britain and France reached an agreement on the conditions for joining the Entente camp, and these conditions were quickly sent to Bucharest.
PS: I want to say something here, I'm sorry for letting you watch my Buddhist updates for so long. As for the recommended monthly ticket, I don't have the nerve to ask for it. You can just do whatever you want. Now that I have recovered, I will try my best to guarantee two updates a day.
