Chapter 664： The head of the Romanian trip (1)

Latest website: The merger of Romania and Bulgaria has aroused far less repercussions in the world than the previous merger of Germany and Austria. On the one hand, the merger of Romania and Bulgaria is much less threatening to other countries. On the other hand, the merger of the Balkan countries is far less impactful than Germany and Austria.

Therefore, the world did not pay much attention to the merger of Bulgaria and Romania, and people paid more attention to the merger of Germany and Austria.

However, although other countries did not pay enough attention, there is one country that attaches great importance to this, and that is the Soviet Union.

As the Soviet Union's number one enemy in Eastern Europe, Romania's every move has made the Soviet Union attach great importance to it. As for the merger of the two countries, how could the Soviet Union ignore it. But in fact, the Soviet Union has no good way to do this, because Romania is not weak, and the relations between the two countries make any warnings from the Soviet Union have no effect on it.

Not to mention that in the Spanish Civil War, the two countries fought against each other once or twice in the air. The new equipment displayed by Romania made the Soviet Union feel heavy pressure. So unless a war against Romania is launched, it is impossible to prevent this from happening. And will the Soviet Union launch a war with Romania? From the moment Edel took the Bulgarian throne, the Soviet Union has lost the possibility of using force. So the Soviet Union yelled a few words at most, but it probably didn't say anything about starting a war.

In addition to the Soviet Union, there is another country following Romania's actions, and that is Germany.

After the German-Austrian merger triggered a fanatical adoration of Hitler among the German people, the German helm had already recovered from his ecstasy. Now he turned his attention to his next goal, the Czech Republic.

However, compared with Austria, the Czech Republic is very different. Its domestic ethnic groups are mainly Czech and Slovak ethnic groups, and the people of the country do not have a strong feeling for Germany. This is destined to Hitler not being able to march against flowers like Austria did. Moreover, the Czech military industry is developed (this is also the reason Hitler valued it), and its military combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.

However, the Czech Republic still has weaknesses, and its treatment of domestic Germans is extremely unfriendly, which gives Hitler enough excuses. Moreover, the Germans in the Sudetenland have a very close attitude towards Germany, and they also want to return to Germany.

This area was originally the settlement of the Germans for generations. During the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with Bohemia, where the Czechs lived for generations. After the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Czech Republic ignored the opposition of local residents and forcibly occupied the land. And in the subsequent Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Czech Republic’s act of occupying the Sudetai area was confirmed by the League of Nations.

Hitler intends to start with this and intervene in Czech affairs.

However, compared with the annexation of Austria this time, the risk of seeking the Sudetai region is much greater. Therefore, Hitler was also in the Chancellery, negotiating to seek more support from allies.

In the Chancellery, Hitler and the top leaders of the Democratic Party are discussing Romania. Unlike other countries, Germany has already discovered Romania’s arms expansion and war preparations by virtue of years of military cooperation and a large number of German technicians in Romania.

And this time, it was Hitler's idea of ​​closer relations with Romania.

"Everyone, what do you think about Romania at present?"

As the head of state, Hitler was the first to ask others what they thought of Romania.

"Head of State, I think Romania is strong and needs to be taken seriously by our country. Especially on the Czech and Polish issues, it is best for our country to reach a consensus with them."

As the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ribbentrop took the lead in expounding the importance of Romania to Germany from a diplomatic perspective. And Ribbentrop's speech made many people nodded silently.

At present, Germany's strength is still slowly recovering, but the fear of Britain and France still exists. So they are eager to find strong allies, and after a round in Europe, only Italy and Romania can become their allies. Italy's military strength is limited, and its army strength is questionable. The only guarantee is its navy.

In this time and space, Italy has built three super battleships equipped with 380 caliber. In order to defend Libya's oil, Italy, which was not dragged down by old battleships, started construction of two new battleships in 1936. It is equipped with the 406 gun of the same caliber as Romania, but its armor, speed, cruising distance and other data can not be compared with the new Romanian battleship, but it is still ranked No. 1 in the world.

And Italy not only started construction of these two new ships, but last year, with the income of Libyan oil, Italy started construction of two more ships. When the construction of these four super battleships is completed, the strength of the Italian navy will surely suppress Britain and France in the Mediterranean.

In response, the French government also started construction of two new battleships last year and this year. The 380-caliber main guns equipped with them are sufficient to counter the Italian navy. On the British side, in order to cope with Italy's expanding naval power, construction of two battleships with 380 main guns was started in 1937. In addition, two battleships were transferred from the local fleet to strengthen the Mediterranean fleet.

This small shipbuilding climax triggered by Italy is known as the naval race before World War II. However, compared with World War I, this naval competition is not worthy of its name.

Therefore, Italy, with a strong navy, is worthy of Germany's efforts to win over.

As for Romania, it is different from Italy. Its perennial tense relations with the Soviet Union ensured a strong army. The strength of this war-trained army is well known by the Germans that have cooperated with it for many years. Moreover, the military concepts of the two countries are very similar. They both use the air force to cover the sky and the ground to use tanks as the protagonist.

Therefore, for the powerful Romanian army, the German side privately argued that the probability of winning the battle against it would not exceed 60%. Because in the Spanish Civil War, the German side discovered that its new weapons were not inferior to the same type in Germany, and in many respects were stronger than Germany. This makes the Germans, who have always considered the number one in the world, a little unacceptable.

And Romania’s capable navy also made Germany jealous, and its five battleships, except for the Mircea, were all 406-caliber battleships. And through private understanding, the battleship of this class exceeded the standard by more than 10,000 tons (who made so many German technicians in the naval shipyard).

This gave Hitler new ideas, so he had more ideas about the Bismarck class of his navy. First of all, the main gun of this class of battleship must not be less than 406 caliber, and the speed must not be less than 31.5 knots (against Romania's Vlad-class battleship ) and then the long range and independent combat capability.

Since Romania is so powerful, it is obviously not in the interests of Germany to become an enemy. Therefore, it is generally believed in Germany that it can be discussed about cooperation, especially under the premise that Poland and Romania have a de facto alliance, breaking the alliance between the two has become an urgent need for Germany.

That's why Ribbentrop's words have won so many people's approval. However, although closer relations with Romania are conducive to solving the problems of the Czech Republic and Poland, Germany still has a jealousy about Romania's powerful strength.

Mainly in the Balkans, due to the presence of Romania, the German influence has been slow to penetrate. If you really want to get closer to it, then the sphere of influence will inevitably be talked about.

At this time, Germany did not overwhelm Romania's strength, otherwise it would make concessions elsewhere. This is a bit uncomfortable for Hitler, who is determined to bring Germany to the top of the world, but the situation is better than others, and talks with Romania are imminent.

So after thinking for a while, Hitler said. "Next I will visit Romania to discuss the above issues with King Edel of that country."