On March 8, 1940, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the withdrawal of its ambassador to Britain and Germany, and also publicly issued a declaration of retaliation to the outside world, and on the same day, the Permanent Council of the Eastern European Union made a decision to impose a material embargo on Britain and Germany.

Everyone knew that the countdown to the war had begun, and various countries had issued evacuation orders one after another, and the shrewd people had already sensed that the atmosphere was wrong and ran away in advance.

At this time, what is left is basically stupid and bold. If only the war ends in a short time, it is fine, if it drags on, just wait and cry!

On March 9, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense issued a notice of military exercises, preparations were being made throughout the country, and the colony's forces were rapidly expanding in a short period of time.

The institutional advantage of the whole army is now manifested, and there is no need to increase troops to the African colonies at all, and it is enough to recruit directly from the local immigrants.

Weapons and ammunition, which began to be transported from the country a year ago, are now ready for a long time.

At the command of Ferdinand the younger, the African colonies mobilized 500,000 troops, which was an inconspicuous number on the European battlefield, but it was staggering on the African continent.

"Your Majesty, the Air Force has assembled more than 3,800 warplanes and plans to take off from the mainland and Libya at the same time on March 12 to bomb Sicily, destroying the logistics supply capacity of the Mediterranean Fleet in one fell swoop!" Christophe said

"Oh, why not destroy the Mediterranean fleet?" Little Ferdinand asked suspiciously

"Your Majesty, we can't hide such a large-scale military operation from the eyes of the British, and the Mediterranean Fleet has long been prepared and will not wait for us to bomb.

However, warships can go, but military ports cannot be moved, as long as these ports are destroyed and the British's material reserves are blown up, the Mediterranean fleet will have to risk rushing out of the Mediterranean! Christophe explained

"Well, is the rest of the place ready? Once we take military action and war is about to break out, what happens to our overseas assets? Little Ferdinand asked with concern

"Your Majesty, overseas industries are difficult to deal with, and the capitalists are taking advantage of the fire to rob at this time, and economists suggest that they simply give up these industries first, and then let them spit out with profits after the war is won!" Prime Minister Tolsky replied

"What does the government mean?" Little Ferdinand asked with a frown

"Your Majesty, we agree with this point of view, this war will not last too long, and it is too much of a loss to sell the property now!" Tovsky replied

Little Ferdinand nodded, as long as the war did not last long, not many people would dare to pay attention to Bulgaria's overseas industries.

Even if it is eaten, few countries can withstand the diplomatic pressure exerted by the government after the war, and if necessary, they can still make an example of chickens and monkeys.

……

March 12, 1932, Weather: Fine.

"Enemy attack!"

The air raid sirens whined, waking up the British, who were still asleep.

Although they knew that Bulgaria was going to retaliate, no one expected that it would come so violently, and this was not revenge.

Who could have imagined a sortie with a few thousand planes to retaliate?

Sicily's air defense facilities are very good, but this is only for the scale of the First World War, for example, now, beyond the limits of their air defense.

"Order the Air Force to take to the air to intercept it, otherwise you won't be able to fly if you want to fly for a while!" The One-Eyed Dragon General roared

As a hero of the war in Southeast Asia, Lieutenant General Adrian Caton de Viat was clearly not well received by the London government.

No way, he performed too well on the battlefield in Southeast Asia, and he suppressed the colonial rebellion in three strokes, five and two, which is embarrassing.

His record is based on the incompetence of the prime minister, so the hellish copy of the Mediterranean theater fell to him. This was not just after taking office, and the war broke out.

Sicily is indeed quite a small island, but there are only a few military ports and so many airports, and if he is patronized by the Bulgarian air force, he can only enter the island to fight guerrillas.

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

……

The British reacted quickly and quickly launched a counterattack, but unfortunately the gap in strength could not be smoothed out by reacting.

With the help of anti-aircraft artillery, the British Air Force scored 1:1.05 in the first round of confrontation, shooting down 133 Bulgarian fighters at the cost of 127 aircraft falling by itself.

On the surface, in the face of the world's No. 1 Air Force, they can play this record, they are proud enough.

But General One-Eyed Dragon was not happy at all, looking at the burning ports and cities, he really couldn't find a reason to be happy.

The war has never been a matter of looking at the exchange ratio alone, do not look at the Bulgarian downed planes by 5 more, and think that they have suffered a loss, on the contrary, this strategic bombing will be successful.

This is only the first round? Adrian Caton de Viat did not think that Bulgaria would bomb it once and be done.

"Have you counted it, how many fighters can still take to the skies to fight?" Adrian asked, frowning

"Your Excellency General, of the 1,387 warplanes deployed in Sicily, 127 were down, 238 were wounded, and 23 were blown up before they could take off.

After preliminary overhaul, 28 fighters have failed, and 987 fighters can now maintain combat effectiveness. The commander of the Air Force, Major General Winston, replied

"Hell, that means we lost more than a quarter of our combat strength in the battle just now, right?" Adrian Caton de Viat asked with a frown

"Your Excellency General, the enemy's losses will only be greater, and in such a high-intensity operation, they will only need more fighters for overhaul than us!

Against the world's No. 1 Air Force, we can play at this level, which is already the current world record! Rear Admiral Winston explained

General Adrian said helplessly: "Okay, Major General, I won't talk to you about losses, now the second round of enemy bombardment is coming again, and your task now is to block them!"

The fate of the British Empire is now in your hands, holding off the enemy's attack, and we can wait for reinforcements from home.

If it can't be stopped, you can also see the smoke in the port, the Mediterranean fleet will be in danger, and we will have to retreat to the island to fight guerrilla attacks with the Bulgarians! ”

The conversation between the two was not over, the air raid sirens sounded again, and apparently the second air raid began again.

Without waiting for Adrian's order, Major General Winston had already gone to prepare air defense.

It's just that the mood is not so optimistic now, and a quarter of the combat effectiveness is reimbursed in one round of battles, if you do it again, do you still need to consider the result?

……