Chapter 903: Battle in the Sky
When the Balkan War broke out, Romania, also a Balkan country, was also in an unstable situation.
Antonescu, then Romanian Army Minister and Chief of General Staff, sought to see King Carol II of Romania after the outbreak of the Balkan War, firmly opposed Carol II's contact with Russia, and asked Carol II to authorize him to form a new Romanian cabinet government.
Such a request was naturally unreasonable in the eyes of King Carol II of Romania.
As a matter of course, Antonescu was arrested by Carol II and deprived of all positions and powers.
But Carol II obviously underestimated the importance of Antonescu in the hearts of Germany and Italy.
On the second day after Antonescu was arrested, the German ambassador to Romania sought to see Carol II, asking Carol II to release Antonescu immediately and allow Antonescu to form a new Romanian cabinet.
If it was just Antonescu's opinion, Carol II could naturally ignore it. But the problem is that the one who made this request changed from Antonescu to the German government, which forced Carol II to think carefully.
In addition to verbal threats, the Germans also gave Romania practical benefits, that is, they promised to cede Transylvania in Hungary to Romania after the war.
Transylvania is located in the east of Hungary, close to Romania. The whole of Transylvania is almost equivalent to most of Romania's current territory. If Transylvania can be annexed, it will definitely greatly improve Romania's comprehensive national strength.
With Transylvania as a big pie, Carol II was somewhat shaken about his previous decision.
On November 3, 1936, King Carol II of Romania released Antonescu and granted Antonescu the right to form a new cabinet government.
Almost at the same time, the Romanian government agreed to Germany's request and was willing to cede Dobruja, which originally belonged to Bulgaria.
In this way, Germany finally mediated the conflict between Romania and Bulgaria and pulled these two Balkan countries onto its battlefield.
On November 5, witnessed by the governments of Romania and Bulgaria, the Romania-Bulgaria alliance was formally concluded.
On November 7, Romania declared war on Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece, and joined the German-Italian alliance.
With the help of Romania, Bulgaria can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Romania is not much different from Yugoslavia in size, and is close to Yugoslavia, which can attract a large number of Yugoslav troops.
With Romania's participation in the war, Bulgaria can finally free up some troops and focus on the Kingdom of Greece in its south.
More than 200,000 Bulgarian troops launched a crazy attack on Alexandroupolis. On the Greek side, because the only neighboring empire is Bulgaria, the Greek army is all located in the line from Thessaloniki to Alexandroupolis, and Alexandroupolis alone has nearly 300,000 Greek troops.
200,000 Bulgarian troops against 300,000 Greek troops, the combat effectiveness between the two is almost at the same level.
Although the Bulgarian army has a higher overall combat effectiveness, the Greek army can hold back the Bulgarian army because of its larger number.
After Romania joined the war, Yugoslavia should be the worst among the Balkan countries.
Because Yugoslavia borders Italy, Romania and Bulgaria, Yugoslavia has to face the pressure of fighting on three fronts.
Although there is also support from the Albanian and Greek armies, most of the troops need to be faced by Yugoslavia alone.
On the Yugoslav side, the current number of troops is about 700,000. Among them, more than 300,000 troops are deployed on the border between the north and Italy. Their purpose is to defend for the time being and be delayed for more time by the attack of the Yugoslav army in the south.
The remaining 400,000 troops are all deployed in the south, and more of them are located in Leskovac, which is only a few dozen kilometers away from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
It is precisely because of the pressure from Yugoslavia that Bulgaria has to retain more than 200,000 troops in Sofia.
You know, the most important country that makes up Yugoslavia is Serbia, and Serbia's combat effectiveness is naturally beyond doubt.
Before World War I, the two most powerful Balkan countries were Serbia and Bulgaria. Although these two countries have a small population, and are not even as large as Romania, their military combat effectiveness is comparable to that of the great powers, and even stronger than that of Italy.
The record of the Balkan countries in World War I dragged down a large number of Austro-Hungarian troops. The combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian Army is also in the upper middle among the great powers, which can also prove that the combat effectiveness of the Balkan countries is indeed good.
But then again, if you are in a powder keg like the Balkans, if your own military strength is not strong, the final outcome is only one, that is, being annexed.
It is precisely because of the constant war and smoke in the Balkans that the military strength of the Balkan countries is very strong. After all, only soldiers who have experienced war can be called truly elite and have strong combat effectiveness.
In the wars between the Balkan countries, armored forces and air forces can also be seen everywhere.
Although the industries of these countries are far inferior to those of the great powers, they are more or less countries with relatively good military strength in Europe, and naturally they also have a certain number of tanks and air forces.
Among them, Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece, which are supported by Britain, France and Australia, obviously have more air forces.
Especially Yugoslavia, because it is facing a three-front war, with the help of Britain and Australasia, it currently has more than 700 aircraft.
Of course, these 700 aircraft are very limited, only one-third of which are currently mainstream aircraft, and the rest are products eliminated by Britain and Australasia.
But at least there are 700 aircraft, and the stability of these aircraft has been tested, but they are lagging behind in firepower and speed.
Used on the battlefield, especially against countries with relatively few aircraft such as Bulgaria and Romania, large-scale air forces are still very effective.
The first battle in which Yugoslavia used aircraft was actually an air strike on Bulgaria. The first target of the air strike was naturally the capital Sofia, which is very close to the border and very important to Bulgaria.
The capital and the border are separated by dozens of kilometers, which is not uncommon in the Balkan countries.
After all, the land area of the Balkan countries is not large. The largest Balkan country is Yugoslavia, which is formed by the merger of multiple countries.
Even so, Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, is only a few dozen kilometers away from Romania. Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is also a few dozen kilometers away from Bulgaria.
Similarly, Tirana, the capital of Albania, is only a few dozen kilometers away from Yugoslavia.
The only exception may be Greece. The capital of Greece is located in the south of the country, and Greece is the southernmost country in the Balkan Peninsula, which also makes the capital Athens far away from the Balkan countries.
But then again, Athens is a coastal city and faces Turkey across the sea. Among the capitals of the Balkan countries, Athens is not the safest one.
Among the three Balkan countries, Yugoslavia has more than 700 aircraft, the country with the largest number of aircraft.
Greece is second only to Yugoslavia and also has more than 500 aircraft. Most of these 500 aircraft are from the UK. After all, the relationship between Greece and the UK is relatively friendly.
Albania has the least number of aircraft. There is no way. Albania is a small country. In addition, its territory is either coastal or surrounded by Yugoslavia and Greece, so there is no need to equip too many air forces.
Yugoslavia's air force has less than 100 aircraft, which is definitely the least in the entire Balkan countries.
But the three countries combined, the three Balkan countries still have more than 1,300 aircraft, which is still a considerable number of aircraft.
Let's look at Romania and Bulgaria.
Bulgaria's military industry has suffered too many restrictions. As a defeated country in World War I, Bulgaria's number of aircraft has always been at the bottom among the Balkan countries, and even now it has only more than 100 aircraft.
Although Romania is better, it is not much better. The whole of Romania, plus the aid of Germany, can only barely get together 400 aircraft, which is far behind Yugoslavia.
But the good news is that in addition to the Balkan countries, Italy, a great power, also participated in this war.
Italy currently has more than 3,000 aircraft. Although a considerable number of aircraft are to be used elsewhere, it is still no problem to take out nearly 1,000 aircraft to fight this war.
However, Britain and France are not without means to deal with it. In order to help the three Balkan countries, Britain has specially strengthened patrols in the Mediterranean and even visited the Adriatic Sea many times.
Originally, Britain and France were relieved by the participation of the three Balkan countries in the war, but what Britain and France did not expect was that Austria, after holding on for several months, still failed to resist the joint attack of Germany and Italy.
On November 15, 1936, Vienna, the capital of Austria, was breached by the German army, and more than 200,000 Austrian soldiers were captured by Germany.
After a long war, the Austrian government controlled only two cities, both located in the south of Austria, namely Klagenfurt and Graz.
The reason why these two cities can be saved is that they are both located on the border with Yugoslavia, where a part of the Yugoslav army is stationed and can help Austria at any time.
On November 16, hundreds of thousands of German troops marched south and surrounded Graz.
On November 17, Klagenfurt did not escape the clutches of the Germans and was surrounded by a large number of German troops. Except for these two cities, the territory of Austria was basically occupied by the German army.
On November 21, 1936, after many days of negotiations, under the witness of the German media, the Austrian government announced its surrender to Germany and disbanded all its armed forces.
On November 23, 1936, Germany announced its merger with Austria to establish a true German empire.
Austria's surrender was absolutely bad news for Britain and France, and it would even affect the situation in the Balkans.
Without Austria's obstruction, a large number of German troops could easily move south, which was a fatal blow to Yugoslavia.
More importantly, the Italian army could also free up its hands and pose a greater threat to France and Yugoslavia.
This made the situation in the Balkans even more chaotic. The three Balkan countries not only had to fight against Romania and Bulgaria, but also against Germany and Italy.
The change in the situation made Britain and France completely unable to sit still.
On November 27, Britain mobilized 300,000 troops from Libya and Egypt to the north to try to support Greece and Yugoslavia.
Although France did not support the Balkan countries, it also mobilized about 200,000 troops from its African colonies.
The 300,000 British troops went directly to Yugoslavia, and were expected to assemble in Split, and then head north to Ljubljana.
Ljubljana is a city in the northwest of Yugoslavia, and further west is the land of the Italians. It can not only guard against Italy, but also against the German army going south.
Obviously, the British are also worried that if a large number of German troops go south, it may cause too much impact on Yugoslavia.
If the German army takes control of the order in Yugoslavia, the hope of Britain and France winning this war will be even slimmer.
Especially after Germany annexed the entire Austrian Empire, Germany's population and industry will become stronger, which is not a good thing for Britain and France.
You know, in addition to its population, Austria also has quite good mineral resources. These mineral resources are a very important boost to Germany, which is currently resource-poor. This may help the Germans to reorganize their armaments and speed up the development of the military industry.
In order to stop the Germans, the British also went all out.
In the Balkan direction, the British mobilized more than 2,000 aircraft in half a month.
In the following week, these more than 2,000 aircraft launched a large-scale bombing of the Czech and Slovak regions, and the main target of the bombing was the factories and minerals in Czechoslovakia.
Now the British did not care whether they would accidentally hurt the Austrians. Anyway, Austria had been annexed by Germany, and the casualties of the Austrians had become a trivial matter.
If Germany's industrial production could not be destroyed and Germany continued to launch an unscrupulous attack on Yugoslavia, the Balkan battlefield that Britain and France had worked so hard to open up would become a joke.
Britain's continuous bombing of important German facilities naturally aroused the anger of the German government and the Prime Minister.
Following the order of the German Prime Minister, a large number of German planes began to take off, and with the purpose of revenge, they also launched a large-scale bombing of the British mainland.
Because neither Britain nor Germany can threaten each other's homeland for the time being, the current air battle has almost become the only means for the two sides to exchange fire.
This unprecedented large-scale air battle has also attracted the attention of the British and German people all the time.
Although the outcome of the air war does not represent the outcome of the final war, no one can deny that the British and German sides who can occupy the advantage in the air will have a greater chance of winning this war.
Moreover, in addition to competing for that little chance of winning, the large-scale air battle between Britain and Germany is more like mutual revenge and venting between the two countries.
However, the good news is that Britain is far ahead of Germany in terms of industrial production speed.
Because Britain not only has the help of its own domestic industry, but also the industries of various American countries and the help of Australasia.
As for Germany, they can only rely on their own industry for production. Italy's industry is not strong to begin with, and it is already very good to be able to meet the domestic military needs.
Even in most of the time, Germany's military industry production has to take care of Italy and help Italy produce some weapons and equipment.
Although the gap may not be seen in the short term, in the long run, the number of aircraft of the British, French and Australian allies will far exceed the number of aircraft of the German-Italian Allied Powers.
At present, the number of aircraft in Germany and Italy is about 7,000, while the number of aircraft in Britain, France and Australia has exceeded 9,000.
Germany cannot solve the British Air Force in a short time, and they will face a more powerful Allied Air Force.
4400 words first update, please vote for the monthly ticket, please support!
10,000 words per day, 4400/10000 have been updated today, please vote for the monthly ticket, please support!