Chapter 191： The battle for oil (part 1)

When Romania showed economic prosperity due to orders from European countries, the European battlefield continued. After Germany captured Belgium, its five armies and one million troops invaded northern France, intending to capture Paris in one fell swoop to force France to submit. The British and French forces, led by the French commander-in-chief, Xiafei, blocked the German attempts in the Marne River.

The quality factors of the generals and troops of both sides were deducted in this Marne battle. Among them, the automobile used as a means of transportation also performed well. Among them, the 12,000 trucks used by the British and French troops will be scattered in Verdun to Paris. The troops will quickly assemble on the Marne River to counterattack the first and second German armies.

And the German army was unambiguous. 14,000 of the 21,000 transport trucks assigned to the right wing were mainly used to reinforce the First and Second Army, mainly to support its limited ammunition to withstand the British and French attacks.

In this battle that killed 600,000 soldiers on both sides, trucks on both sides became the busy focus. Transport personnel and ammunition on the front line, transport the wounded back to the rear, let the truck become the bee in this battle has been busy until its end. Although 10,000 of the 26,000 trucks owned by the two sides after the war could not be used due to the lack of spare parts, they were destroyed by enemy forces and other reasons, but they were still much higher than the current main storage transportation of the two sides.

After the battle, the commanders of the two fronts asked the rear to replenish their trucks as much as possible. In the rear, the government could only collect domestic trucks and hand them over to the army. Volkswagen Dongfeng, which has almost become synonymous with trucks, 90% of the trucks in this battle are Volkswagen Dongfeng trucks. Moreover, Volkswagen’s truck orders have changed from being scheduled to March to half a year later.

In a short period of time, the number of trucks owned by the two parties cannot be changed, and the oil as the fuel has also become the target of the two parties' competition. After Germany and Austria's overseas transportation was cut off, the only Romanian oil that can now be used by Germany and Austria became the focus.

Inside the Romanian palace, Edel is listening to a report from Prime Minister Bretianu. Before the British and French ambassadors found the prime minister, he wanted to discuss the purchase of the entire export share of Romanian oil, and the price was not low. The Prime Minister, of course, dare not make a decision privately, and can only discuss this matter with the Crown Prince.

Sitting behind his desk, Edel asked the Prime Minister in front of him with interest. "You mean that Britain and France agreed to buy all the refined oil we export at a price of £8 per ton?"

Looking at the crown prince sitting in front of him, Prime Minister Bretianu replied. "Yes. At that time, the British ambassador Richardman and the French ambassador asked Bud to say it personally, and it was authorized by the government. So I think it can be considered."

The annual oil extraction volume in Romania is about 3 million tons of crude oil, and 1.8 million tons of refined oil can be obtained after refining. In addition, solvents and petrochemical products can be obtained from the rest of refined oil products, so the Romanian petrochemical industry is also at a good level in Europe.

After leaving 400,000 tons of refined oil for personal use, there are also 1.4 million tons of refined oil, which is more than 11 million pounds at a price of 8 pounds. Faced with this huge sum of money, it is no wonder that the Prime Minister could not help but hurriedly came to discuss with the Crown Prince. You must know that the government also owns 15% of the shares of oil companies. This is not a small amount for the government whose fiscal revenue has been eased because of the outbreak of the First World War.

Edel said, looking at the prime minister who was obviously tempted. "Now we are not in a hurry to reply to the ambassadors of Britain and France. Let the news go and say that Britain and France want to pack all of Romania's exported refined oil."

Prime Minister Bretianu is also not stupid. Hearing the words of the crown prince, he knew that he was waiting for answers from Germany and Austria-Hungary. And now the two countries do not produce oil, and now Germany and Austria can only rely on Romania's oil to guarantee their own consumption. So in the face of this news, Germany and Austria will definitely rush over to stabilize Romania. It is the two countries that are most willing to see all the oil exports exported by Romania can be packaged back to the country.

As expected, the day after Edel asked the Prime Minister to release the news. German ambassador Baslob and Austro-Hungarian ambassador Bailey came to see the crown prince. Edel, who had been waiting for the two ambassadors in the palace, immediately asked the guards to invite them in.

"His Royal Highness, may I ask if there were rumors that Britain and France wanted to buy all the refined oil exported from Romania. I wonder if this happened?"

After the necessary diplomatic etiquette, Austro-Hungarian Ambassador Bailey hurriedly asked the crown prince.

Facing the question of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, Edel did not hide his generous confession. "Yes, the British and French ambassadors came to the Prime Minister before and wanted to buy all the refined oil exported from Romania. Now we are considering it."

After hearing Edel’s reply, the German Ambassador Baslober stepped up and spoke. "His Royal Highness, Germany still owns 12.5% ​​of the shares in the Romanian Petroleum Company. It also contributes a lot to the development of Romania, and now has a loan of more than 200 million marks. So I hope that Your Highness can take into account the deep friendship between our two countries and refuse The British and French demand maliciously. You must know that there is no shortage of oil in their two countries, and the world's oil can be provided to them for use."

Edel also sneered at what Ambassador Baslobb said. When are we still talking about friendship, the only thing we can talk about between countries is interest. In this regard, the current hegemony, Britain, is a positive example. As long as you need you, even unshakable class enemies can talk about the long-standing relationship between the two countries, even if most of them are dying.

But of course he would not say that when facing the two ambassadors, but changed his rhetoric. "However, the conditions given by Britain and France are so good that it is difficult for us to choose."

Hearing what the crown prince said, Ambassador Baslob, who was mainly in charge of this meeting, knew that the main story was coming He didn't have any hope of the previous rhetoric, mainly to see if Edel would look like it. Like his own Majesty, he agreed to be confused for a while. It just seems that the savvy Crown Prince of Romania has always been IQ online.

Facing the crown prince’s remarks, Ambassador Baslob also stated the conditions given by the two countries. "We think that the current oil price is unreasonable. We intend to increase the Romanian oil price to ensure the interests of both parties.

He glanced at the Austro-Hungarian ambassador Berli and continued after receiving a signal from the ambassador. "Our two governments have decided to increase the price of petroleum products exported to us from Romania to 9 pounds."

Regarding Ambassador Baslob's remarks, Edel did not give a specific answer, but just talked about it. "Thank the two countries for their support to Romania. I still need to discuss this matter with the government, so I can't answer you directly now. I hope the two masters will forgive me."

Regarding the crown prince's words, both masters said. "No problem, we will understand the difficulties of your country."

Ambassadors Baslob and Belle knew that it was only now that the two camps began to compete for this oil-producing country that is vital to Germany and Austria. They are here now in a hurry just to stabilize Romania and prevent it from agreeing to the conditions of Britain and France in advance. Moreover, the governments of the two countries have not only given them this price, they also need to slowly release in order to gain sufficient benefits for their own countries.

PS; According to the data, the price of Romania’s oil exported to Germany and Austria is 35 pounds per ton, and it only accepts precious metals such as gold. Considering that the demand for Germany and Austria has increased, then this price is obviously impossible, but how to write in the future? Speak slowly.