Fareit was a little surprised when faced with Edel's words.
Seeing Freit's expression, Edel knew that his chief of general staff might have thought wrong. He had no plans to immediately equip and arm millions of troops. Although during World War I, various countries mobilized millions of people in a few months.
Army. However, the combat situation at that time was very different from the future World War II.
First of all, there are many skills that need to be mastered. During World War I, a soldier only needed to know how to operate weapons, shoot, and basic tactical movements before he could go on the battlefield. Because there were fewer tactics in World War I, and he could basically learn while watching.
As for the future World War II, soldiers will need to master many skills. At the very least, you need to know the advantages and disadvantages of new weapons so that you can prescribe appropriate medicines and countermeasures.
This is the soldier who has the least ability to master, and officers need to learn more. Taking ordinary infantry officers as an example, they at least need to know and use infantry-artillery coordination, infantry-tank coordination, understand the actual situation on the battlefield, and know the independent aspect.
Have the ability to independently respond to the enemy's situation, truly understand the situation of soldiers, be able to mobilize their emotions, etc.
These are just the skills that front-line infantry officers need to master. As for officers in other technical arms, they need to learn more. As for senior officers, this comes down to talent. Because there is no chance for you to make mistakes on the battlefield, and every mistake will be given to you.
The subordinates caused huge harm. And senior officers have no capital to make mistakes, so this is why senior military officers are paid so high.
The battlefield does not give you enough learning time and capital for mistakes, unless you can endure the learning costs of huge casualties. And Romania does not have that much capital for officers to squander, so the requirements for officers have always been very high.
Edel also knew this very well, so he explained to Freit. "My chief of general staff, please rest assured, I have no intention of immediately expanding the army to one million. And I want you to spend four
In five years, the number of troops will be increased from the current 310,000 to more than 1 million."
It needs to be explained here that what Edel is talking about is the army's strength. Currently, the Romanian Navy still has 100,000 people. In addition to the 16,000 people currently training in the two marine brigades, the rest are naval combat and logistics personnel.
Among them, ship combat and naval aviation personnel have grown most rapidly. The former has grown from 7,548 at the end of World War I to more than 43,000 now, and the latter has grown from 474 to more than 8,000 now.
And as the navy further expands, the number of its officers and soldiers will continue to grow, especially the Marine Corps, which will surely become its new growth point.
After hearing Edel's explanation, Ferreit felt much better because if the expansion took four to five years, he would be well prepared.
However, Freit immediately thought that expanding so many troops could only be an act of war. So who would Romania fight at that time, the Soviet Union in the east, Greece in the south, or Yugoslavia in the west?
To deal with the Soviet Union in the east, a million troops are useless. As for Greece in the south or Yugoslavia in the west, with Britain and France standing behind them, they are also a thorny problem.
Freit's thoughts did not last long, because Edel told him the answer.
"Regarding this military expansion, on the one hand, the domestic economic growth is sluggish, and I plan to develop the military industry. On the other hand, the current situation in Europe is becoming more and more confusing, and we need to build equipment early."
Regarding Edel's words, Ferreit couldn't help but have an idea in his heart. "Your Majesty, are you saying that there is a possibility that Europe will fall into war again?"
Faced with the speculation of his chief of general staff, Eder did not deny it. "Yes, you are right."
Seeing the somewhat surprised Freit, Edel further explained, "What is the basis for maintaining peace in Europe at present?"
Edel didn't wait for Admiral Freit to answer before giving the answer himself.
"It is the Versailles system. Its main target is Germany, and its biggest beneficiaries are Britain and France. But now as the strength of Britain and France fades, our country and the Italian team are dissatisfied with this system."
Ferreit understands what Eder said. As for Romania, which had greatly increased its strength after World War I, it has basically digested the newly occupied territories. After its national strength increased, it became more and more concerned about its position in the Versailles system.
Dissatisfied. Although Britain and France have also provided many benefits in other aspects, in general Romania's current strength and status do not match. As the head of the military, Freit also understands this deeply.
Edel ignored the thoughts of his chief of general staff and continued, "This is not the most serious matter. What is more important is the hatred of the Treaty of Versailles in Germany. This is the biggest source of disaster."
Eder's words shocked Freiit. "It's impossible. Germany hasn't done anything outrageous so far."
The words of his Chief of General Staff made Edel smile, and he asked the most critical question. "Then let me ask you, how long has it been since Germany paid reparations?"
Freit is still aware of this. “Since 1931, Germany has stopped paying reparations due to economic problems.”
"I just received the news that Hitler, the head of Germany, no longer intends to pay this compensation."
Edel gave the latest information he had obtained.
"It seems that Germany is unwilling to continue paying reparations."
Freit knew the seriousness of the problem at this time, and combined with Germany's current military cooperation in Romania, its intentions were already very obvious.
For this reason he admired Edel's insight.
Edel didn't know that the chief of general staff was looking at him inwardly and continued to ask, "What do you think about the military expansion?"
Returning to the field he is most familiar with, General Freit said without hesitation. "This year, we will first complete the organizational changes of each division. From next year, we will add 7-9 divisions every year to complete the target tasks."
.”
Yes, Freit plans to complete the reorganization of each division this year. Of course, this is also the confidence brought by Romania's economic development in recent years.
Moreover, Freit also has his own ideas about the future expansion of the army. He does not plan to use the previous method of forming new troops. The future expansion of the army will directly split the current divisions, and one division will be divided into
three divisions, and then replenish troops and equipment to complete the army expansion work.
The reason for this is that it is convenient and conducive to military expansion, and the combat effectiveness of its troops will not have an excessively different impact. Unfavorable factors will lead to a decline in the combat effectiveness of the Romanian army during the military expansion period.
However, the current environment in Romania allows enough time for slow expansion.
After a while of discussions between Edel and General Freit, the matter of army expansion was decided.
According to this army expansion plan, Romania will complete the reorganization of all current army divisions in 1935. Then it will begin to expand the army from 1936, including the expansion of 2 motorized infantry divisions and 5 standard infantry divisions in 1936. In 1937, 1 expansion
Armored division, 1 motorized infantry division, 6 standard infantry divisions. In 1938, 2 armored divisions, 1 motorized infantry division, and 5 standard infantry divisions were trained. In 1939, 1 armored division, 2 motorized infantry divisions were trained.
Chemical infantry division, 6 infantry divisions.
After the expansion is completed, the Romanian Army will have 7 armored divisions (original three armored divisions), 8 motorized infantry divisions (original 2), 40 standard infantry divisions, and 3 mountain divisions (all original)
Its establishment will reach more than 1.1 million troops.
In order to cope with such an expansion, the government has provided 5.12 billion lei in funding. It can be said that a cannon is worth ten thousand taels of gold. This is a lot of money just for military expansion.
