A new day began again in Bucharest. After breakfast, Ankedra said goodbye to his family and got in a special car to drive to the Ministry of War.
But before arriving at the War Department, Ankdra's work on the car began.
"Dolph, what else do I have to do today?"
Ankdra, who was sitting in the back row, asked the secretary in the front row.
Secretary Dolph informed him with the schedule. "General, this morning you need to host a meeting about expanding reserve pilots, and in the afternoon you will discuss with Colonel Troll of the Technical Equipment Division about the development progress of the new aircraft. In addition, there are
Talk to the National Dynamics Laboratory about antifreeze."
The secretary's words gave Ankdra a preliminary understanding of today's schedule.
"Dolph, remember to remind me this afternoon that today is the twenty-first wedding anniversary of my wife Linda and I. I will buy him a bouquet of roses then."
"Okay, General."
The secretary picked up a pen and jotted it down.
Lieutenant General Ankedra is the person in charge of Army Aviation, commanding nearly a thousand aircraft of Army Aviation. He has always had a wish in his heart, which is to separate the aviation forces of the navy and army and form a new service, the Romanian Air Force.
For this reason, he wrote many times to hope that His Majesty would support the establishment of the Air Force, but due to various reasons he was unable to do so.
In fact, the Romanian Air Force was established very early in history. The Romanian Air Force was established in 1913 before the outbreak of World War I.
Unlike in history, the Romanian Air Force is now divided between the navy and the army. The reason is that Romania needs to join World War I, so in order to facilitate the command of operations, the air force can better cooperate with ground operations, so there is no separation.
open.
On the other hand, the Army's hard work and achievements after World War I were due to the fact that the expansion of the Navy squeezed the Army's proportion of military expenditures. If the Air Force continues to be separated from the Air Force, the Army's proportion of expenditures will be further reduced, which will increase the dissatisfaction of the Army. Therefore.
Ankdra's wish has never been realized.
In a blink of an eye, the car drove to the War Department. After being cleared by the guards, the car arrived in front of the building.
The Army Department is a concave-shaped building, and the aviation command organization is located in the building on the left. It consists of eight departments: operations, organization, training, mobilization, intelligence, logistics, war history, and personnel.
Compared with the Ministry of War, where many rights have been usurped by the General Staff, the Army Aviation still controls enough rights due to its professionalism and independence. This can even make the Minister of the Army, General Salamik, envious. There is no way anyone can let him
His predecessor, Marshal Pulelshan, did nothing, and he replaced him with an extremely powerful Chief of General Staff.
When Ankdra walked into the room, a large number of documents that needed to be processed were piled in front of him. They were all such as reports on the development of new fighter jets, reports on the Third Air Force's application for increased training, etc.
And Ankdra needed to read every report carefully and give comments. And while he was working day and night, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Following Ankdra's greeting, Secretary Dolph walked in with a strange expression.
Ankdra didn't care about this. He looked at the clock to hold back his words. "Isn't it time for the meeting yet? What's wrong with you, Dolph?"
It was obvious that Ankdra noticed something different in the secretary's expression at this time.
"General, I just received a call from the palace. Your Majesty wants you to come."
Ankdra was also shocked by what the secretary said.
"What? Your Majesty summoned you."
Looking at the secretary who nodded in confirmation, Ankdra fell into deep thought. Could it be that the report he had submitted many times finally had results? I just don't know if it was a blessing or a curse.
"Bring over the reports I made before, and let General Morkov handle today's meeting."
Ankdra, who was in a complicated mood, was instructing his secretary while simulating in his mind what he needed to say to His Majesty. He had already gone through it many times in his heart when he met Your Majesty this time. He had always thought about it when he had not met Your Majesty before, but
When it came time to do it, I felt a little timid.
When the troubled Ankdra met Edel under the guidance of his guards, he found that several reports he had submitted before were on the table. And in His Majesty's hand, he also held a copy of the report he had made within the Army Airlines.
Report on future aviation outlook.
Edel put down the report and looked at Lieutenant General Ankedra, who looked nervous. "I heard that you went to Italy to meet Douhet in person?"
Regarding Edella's usual words, Ankedra said truthfully. "Yes, Your Majesty. In 1925, when I led a team to Italy for military exchanges, I visited Douhet specifically and talked to him about him.
" Air Dominance and many other books."
"Then do you think Douhet's theory is correct?"
Ankdra knew that the answer at this time was extremely critical. Fortunately, he had done his homework before. "Your Majesty, what should I say? His theory is correct or incorrect."
Edel became interested when he heard this. "Then tell me."
Ankdra organized his words and said, "Your Majesty, the emphasis on the air force in Douhet's theory is correct. Because in the future, the air force will be an indispensable military force for every country. Understand
Air supremacy can limit the combat activities of enemy aviation and air defense weapons. It guarantees the freedom of movement of our own aviation, so that the combat operations of the army and navy can receive effective air cover, and important national targets are not seriously harmed by enemy aviation."
"And saying he is incorrect is also because this theory believes that the enemy can be surrendered by air force alone, which is somewhat unrealistic. Therefore, I also debated it when discussing with Douhet, but in general, neither of us was convinced.
who."
After listening to Ankdra's story, Edel continued to ask, "So what do you think the establishment of an independent air force should look like?"
Ankdra, who was ecstatic in his heart, held back his excitement and said, "Your Majesty, the current mission of our aviation force is mainly to ensure our airspace and cooperate with the operations of the navy and army. Of course, it is also one of the main tasks in the future. But this
It should not be the only mission of the future air force. I think that in addition to ensuring these goals, the future air force should also have the responsibility of bombing enemy cities, paralyzing their transportation, and sending airborne troops to occupy their key points."
What Ankdra said is also based on his years of experience, because bombing the enemy's rear can not only reduce their will to fight, but also delay the enemy's actions.
Moreover, the prototype of the airborne troops existed during World War I. At that time, two soldiers jumped off the wing of a biplane and carried some explosives to blow up the enemy's warehouse. This move caused a sensation at the time.
In 1927, the Soviet army used transport aircraft to airdrop troops in Central Asia, annihilating the Bartuma rebels and other rebels in one fell swoop. This was the first true airborne warfare.
In 1930, the Soviet Airborne Forces formally established the world's first formal paratrooper unit.
As an old rival of the Soviet Union, Romania will naturally not lag behind. At present, Romania has established the First Parachute Regiment. The whole regiment is divided into three groups (battalion level). Each group has three squadrons, and each squadron has three squads. All officers and soldiers of the regiment
There are 1,835 people, and it is still experimental in nature.
And Ankdra obviously intends to draw it into the possible formation of the air force.
As for Ankdra's little thoughts, Edel would not be clear about it. However, the establishment of the Air Force has indeed become an urgent matter, because the various aircraft currently being developed are seriously affected by the Army. For example, the fighter jets responsible for seizing air supremacy
, and dive bombers that specialize in ground attack have the most funding. Twin-engine bombers and transport aircraft come second, while four-engine bombers that have little to do with the army have the least funding and are particularly difficult to develop.
As for the Navy, it is currently mainly responsible for the research and development of carrier-based aircraft and seaplanes.
So in the face of this situation, Edel also realized that without a separate air force, the phenomenon of its aircraft's partiality could not be eradicated. Therefore, he recruited Ankdra, the head of the Army Aviation, and during the discussion, he
The vision for the future Air Force is also in line with Edel's expectations.
In the future, the Romanian Air Force cannot become a vassal of the Navy and Army, and should have its own goals. Of course, the Air Force's funding cannot reach the ratio of the Navy and Army, but it can at least lay the foundation for the future.
However, Edel also felt a little headache when he thought of having to face the opposition of the navy and land forces. Fortunately, the previous navy and land generals' huge expansion funds believed that they would be able to relax in this regard.
