Discussion and discussion went and discussion, and in the final analysis, it was back to square one - money!

It costs money to expand the army, it costs money to weapons and equipment, and it costs money to fight a war! But the Serbian government is short of money right now!

Alexander I asked in distress: "How much do we need for the war?" ”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer thought for a moment and skillfully calculated: "According to the calculation of the expansion of the army of 200,000, it will cost at least 30 million dinars to buy weapons and equipment alone, (note: the Serbian currency dinar is equivalent to lev, about 2.9 grams of gold, 2.5 dinars ≈ 1 pound) may actually be more;

Every month's military expenditure will not be less than seven million dinars, and if there is a war, this consumption may increase several times! The exact amount of money will depend on when Bulgaria will be defeated. ”

In the face of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's dismissal, the Chancellor of War decisively chose to ignore it, don't look at him clamoring for war, in fact, now the Serbian military is not ready at all!

The so-called 300,000 troops are still numbers on paper, and now the Serbian army is only 110,000.

Who knows when the Bao Hui will attack? What if the war breaks out earlier? Bulgaria is not a fool, it has to wait for Serbia to be ready before attacking!

Whether it can win or not is unknown, how much it will cost, this can only be known to God! Anyway, he knows the situation of the Serbian army, and according to the most optimistic estimate, he can fight when the expansion is completed!

Looking at the silent crowd, Alexander I's face was pale, after all, he had just been in power for a long time, and his prestige had not yet been established, these ministers still didn't give him face, just like the current situation, he could only write it down first and settle the accounts after the autumn!

Glaring at everyone, he continued to ask, "What are the plans of the military?" How long does it take to win the war? ”

Seeing that he couldn't hide, the Minister of War stubbornly said: "Your Majesty, the war has not yet begun!" We are not God, so how do we know how long it will take? Bulgaria has not yet mobilized, maybe another ten or eight years before they start a war!

Of course, I'm just using an analogy, now Bulgaria is already preparing for war, and it is expected that in the next two to three months, war will break out! ”

The prime minister gasped, he now regretted that he was greedy for power and did not retire sooner. Before the war started, tens of millions of dinars would be gone, and if the war broke out, I am afraid that there would be no one or two hundred million I am afraid that it will not be able to fight!

You must know that in the last Bulgarian war, Serbia's military expenditure was only 60 or 70 million dinars, mainly because it was lost too quickly and the war lasted too short, and it was too late to do national mobilization!

He asked, "So, to be sure, we have to prepare 200 million dinars?" ”

The Secretary of State for War affirmed: "Yes! ”

The prime minister did not buy it, and said in a very firm tone: "You know this is impossible!" How the government's finances are, everyone is clear, if it is one or two million, it can barely be scraped together by smashing the pot and selling iron!

200 million dinars, this is our financial income for five years! It's not something we can take out if we want to, your military must find a way to keep military spending down! ”

The Minister of War thought for a moment and said: "I also know that the government is in financial difficulties right now, but you all know that our army is not as strong as Bulgaria's, and it is difficult to win without superior forces!"

Therefore, the number of troops cannot be reduced, and daily training cannot be reduced, and we have lowered the standards of weapons and equipment. The only way is to compress the time of the war, and now we can only speed up the mobilization and start the war before the mobilization of Bulgaria! ”

The words of the Minister of War should not have been heard by anyone except King Alexander I. This is not a strategy at all, it is entirely hoped that Bulgaria will be stupid!

The prime minister sighed and said fiercely~ "One hundred million dinars!" This is the highest limit, and we can't come up with anything beyond that! ”

The Minister of War was shocked, this price reduction is too ruthless! Directly halved, angrily said: "No! Without enough military spending, what will we do to fight? ”

The prime minister said coldly: "Just fill it with human lives!" From now on, the government will stop spending all and all the money will be invested in the war, which is already our greatest effort! If it can't win, then the government declares bankruptcy!

In addition, a nationwide mobilization will be carried out immediately, and all young people over the age of 15 and under the age of 60 will be recruited to join the army, and 200,000 will be selected to join the regular army, and everyone else will be used as reserves! ”

Alexander I couldn't sit still, he was desperate, you can think that once the war is lost, his throne will definitely be done! His father, the King of Milan, is the best example of this!

He hesitated and said: "Prime Minister, do we have to think about using diplomatic means!" Whether we win or lose this battle, we will all be greatly injured! ”

The Prime Minister explained: "Your Majesty, we will fight for it, but we must not relax our preparations for war, and they will only return to the negotiating table if the Bulgarians see our determination!" ”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, it turned out to be just a deterrent! The ginger is still old and spicy, they don't dare to think about it, if they really want to do this, what will be the consequences? Do you know that the rebellion in the country has not been quelled?

……

Serbia began the most frantic mobilization, and the whole country was in turmoil. One by one, there were long queues at the recruitment points.

It's good that this is the Balkans, and the population is used to war! Fathers and sons, brothers bring their own equipment, enlist in the army at the same time, and join the sacred mission of protecting the family and defending the country!

The rebels, who had been suppressed, were the first to suffer, and the government forces began to attack regardless of casualties, and shells were vented to their positions without money!

The habitual drilling ravine is no longer feasible, the government army is ruthless, directly fire and burn the mountain, and the rampant rebels are scattered and flee under the unpreparedness!

The rebels were suppressed, but the Minister of War could not laugh, the losses were too heavy! Within a week, 6,000 soldiers were killed and more than 20,000 were wounded, mostly minor wounded, and could recover! Despite the brilliant results of the battle, killing more than 30,000 rebels, he still couldn't be happy, this is a civil war!

Before the war with Bulgaria began, more than 10,000 people were forced to withdraw from the fighting! Veterans with combat experience, not recruits who have just enlisted in the army, can be compared!

The civil strife was suppressed, Alexander I breathed a deep sigh of relief, and the civil war that lasted for two years saw Serbia lose at least 200,000 people, spend 50 million dinars, and the economic losses were incalculable!

But Alexander didn't know that despite the heavy casualties of the government army, in the spirit of reporting good news and not bad news, the military chose to hide the losses!

Due to the attention attracted by Bulgaria, everyone consciously or unintentionally ignored the head of the rebel army, which left a hidden danger for the future!