On 12 March 1918, the Bulgarian Military Council announced the new division of military districts, personnel appointments and troop deployments, including the final disarmament programme.

According to the plan, the whole of Bulgaria will be divided into ten military districts, three of which are in the Balkans, namely:

the Transylvanian Military District, which was responsible for the defense of the northwestern territories of Bulgaria, with a total strength of about 65,000 troops;

the Belgrade Military District, which is responsible for the territorial defense of the southwest, including the Bosnia and Herzegovina region, with a total strength of about 48,000 troops;

The Sofia Military District is responsible for the defense of the entire territory from the Black Sea coast to the Mediterranean, including the former Bulgaria, Constantinople, the Greek peninsula, Albania and other regions, with a total strength of about 85,000. (Note: 100,000 Guards are not counted.) ）

In the Asian region there are four military regions, which are:

The Military District of the Asia Minor Peninsula is mainly responsible for the defense of the Asia Minor Peninsula, and its main task at present is to keep an eye on the Ottomans in Ankara, with a total strength of about 96,000 troops.

the Transcaucasian Military District, which is mainly responsible for the defense of Georgia, with a total strength of about 32,000 troops;

The Persian Gulf Military Region, which is mainly responsible for the defense of Iraq, Iran, and the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf, with a total strength of about 68,000;

The Middle East Military Region is mainly responsible for the defense of Syria, Jordan, Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula, with a total strength of about 88,000 troops (including Somalia)

There are also three military regions in the African region, which are:

the Libyan Military Region, responsible for the defense of the Libyan region, with a total strength of about 23,000 troops;

the East African Military Region, which is responsible for the defense of Tanganyika, Rwanda and Burundi, with a total strength of about 28,000 troops;

The West African Military Region, responsible for the defense of the Namibian region, has a total strength of about 22,000 troops.

The total strength of the army in Bulgaria is still as high as more than 655,000, and if you add the navy (76,000) and air force (more than 68,000), the total strength of the country is as high as 799,000!

This total strength was still considered high among the great powers, far exceeding that of Britain and France, but Ferdinand still approved it.

There is no way, no matter how little army there is, it will not be enough, unless you learn from Britain and France in the colonial areas and form colonial troops to maintain order, but it will not work in Bulgaria.

Unless Ferdinand renounced the indigenization of the colony, any increase in the local armed forces of the colony was forbidden, and the current British and French colonial forces were also the main force to overthrow their colonial rule in the future.

Out of this consideration, Ferdinand decided not to teach the locals to use guns, even if there was a rebellion in the future, the police could suppress the riots of the rebels with big swords and spears!

There is no doubt that the chiefs of this era had very few firearms, and they could not produce them themselves, so they could only buy a small amount of equipment for the use of their cronies, which posed no threat to the regular army.

Maybe after the colony is cleared, the Bulgarian army will be disarmed again, the navy and air force will not move, but this disarmament is limited to a matter of tens of thousands of people, and the total strength of the country in the end is still not less than 700,000, without Ferdinand will not be able to sleep!

The distribution of the navy is simpler, and the main fleet is directly divided into three: the Persian Gulf Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet, and the African Fleet.

The main fleet is still the Mediterranean Fleet, with half of the capital ships, followed by the Persian Gulf Fleet, and the African Fleet is only responsible for playing soy sauce.

This is determined by geographical location, for example, Libya will not need the African fleet to be responsible, the Mediterranean fleet will be responsible for their security.

The same is true for Somalia, where the Persian Gulf Fleet is responsible for maritime security, and the African Fleet's final purpose is to defend Namibia and Tanganyika, several African port cities that are still being planned!

Compared with the navy, the air force is much more active, and airports are all over the country, anyway, the requirements for aircraft in this era are not high, and hardening a plain is an airport.

Even in order to strengthen the control of the locality, Ferdinand was considering equipping each company with aircraft, when the military district called for a meeting, the officers could be called together in a few hours, and if there was a local rebellion, it could be quickly extinguished.

This idea was made by Ferdinand in combination with the actual situation in Bulgaria, first of all, there are still a large number of aircraft in the hands of the Bulgarian Air Force, and as soon as the war is over, these aircraft can only be decommissioned, and after decommissioning, these aircraft can not find a better use except for scrapping.

It is impossible for the civilian market to eat these more than 30,000 aircraft, and the civilian airlines have just started, and in addition to transport aircraft, fighters and bombers have no way to deal with them, and the capitalists will not buy them, and Ferdinand will not dare to sell them!

Secondly, the maintenance cost is simple and cheap, the performance of the aircraft in World War I is not good, and the operation is also solid and durable, and the driving technical requirements are not high.

In addition, fuel is cheap, Bulgaria is unlikely to be short of fuel anyway, and the government can purchase fuel at a very low price, and this cost is not much higher.

……

Field Marshal Imia Dimitev has been having a headache lately, since His Majesty the great Ferdinand, at a meeting of the General Staff, inadvertently proposed the idea of equipping the company with aircraft, the generals of the army have come to the door one after another.

There is no doubt that the army will definitely support it, and the air force will naturally oppose it, and once this plan is completed, there will be nothing to do with the air force in future colonial wars.

Against the indigenous rebels in the colonies, any plane is black technology, and there is no need to worry about anti-aircraft fire at all.

A company has an airplane, a regiment is a flying squadron, and a division has a flying group, and in future wars, they don't need to call for air force support, and they can kill the enemy just by numbers.

……

War Minister Popov asked unhappily: "Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, what are your staff still hesitating about to equip each company with planes?"

Did the Air Force put pressure on you? It's impossible, Imiya, you're not a coward, and those little boys in the Air Force don't dare to threaten you, right? ”

Imia Dimitev's face sank, and he wanted to say that there would be no one else who dared to threaten the Chief of the General Staff besides the War Department?

Imia Dimityev was unhappy and asked rhetorically: "Enough is Popov, am I still thinking about it?" Do you think I don't want to equip the aircraft to the company?

But is the question that simple? What about logistical maintenance? What about the crew? What about the cost? As long as these problems can be solved, the planes are ready-made, piled up in warehouses, and I will mention them to you right away! ”

Popov said calmly: "Our army is not picky, as long as it is an aircraft, whether it is a fighter or a bomber, even a transport plane."

Crew, aren't they all ready-made? You can fall from the Army to the Air Force, why can't you transfer from the Air Force back to the Army? It's all Bulgarian troops, but there is no law that stipulates that internal transfers cannot be carried out!

As for logistical supplies, don't we have oil fields? Can't you just buy it at direct cost? It's a big deal that I'll do their work myself, and I'm sure the capitalists will support our work! ”

Imia Dimitev searched his forehead and said: "Impossible! None of the air force crews can be moved, the personnel of the army cannot be increased, and military spending cannot be increased.

You don't have to worry about the aircraft, what we have is ready-made, all of them are produced by our own military enterprises, the quality is guaranteed, you can find someone if you want after-sales service, and the rest will be done! ”

Popov gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, anyway, our army is going to decide on this batch of aircraft, so it's always okay for the air force to help us do the training, right?"

We don't ask for fighter pilots to be trained, as long as they can fly planes, Lao Tzu is not good, and among so many people in our army, there are still more than 10,000 pilots! ”

Imia Dimityev asked worriedly: "What about the logistics staff?" Do you want each company to train a crew out? ”

Popov smiled and said: "Why do you want such a complicated plane?" We only need the simplest planes, send the repairmen in the army for training, isn't it the same to repair cars and repair airplanes?

As for the rest of the crew, of course, ordinary soldiers are allowed to work part-time, learn a little more knowledge, what's so bad? Don't forget that the level of knowledge of our army officers and men is very high! ”

Imya Dimityev had to admit that Popov's idea was still somewhat feasible, and now the level of knowledge of the officers and soldiers in the active military in Bulgaria is indeed not low, at least they have graduated from primary school, and even lower have retired and returned home.

If you let them study, it is really not difficult to train a group of logistics personnel, and the only troublesome problem is funding.

The problem of pilots is automatically ignored, and with the huge base of the army, it is really not a problem to train 8,000 people.

Imia Dimitev said helplessly: "Well, I agreed!" ”

Anyway, if you don't increase military spending or increase the number of troops, let the War Department toss it up on its own, because if it fails, it will waste a batch of aircraft, and if it succeeds, it will make a lot of money.

Having received the support of the General Staff, Popov immediately pulled Imya Dimityev to Ferdinand, who undoubtedly had to cut through the mess and settle the matter.

……

It would be Ferdinand's turn to have a headache, is it really that simple to assign planes to the company? If so, it is estimated that many countries in the future will do this, hundreds of millions of fighter jets are not worthy, and there is no shortage of millions of helicopters, right?

Ferdinand asked calmly, "What about the airport?" ”

Don't look at it as if he was the first to put it forward, they will definitely support it, in fact, Ferdinand only had this idea, but he was not sure whether this idea was correct, so he inadvertently mentioned it and let the Bulgarian military decide!

Imya Dimitev thought for a moment and replied: "Your Majesty, ordinary planes do not have high requirements for airfields, it is enough to add a few runways to the camp of the military district, the cost will not be too high!" ”

Ferdinand nodded, of course the construction cost is not high, a question of hundreds of tons of cement, but the land does not cost money?

He asked again: "Have you solved the problems of personnel, logistics, and military spending?" ”

Popov replied cautiously: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, we can train the personnel ourselves, and our army will find its own way for military expenses, but we hope that we can get the goods at cost price for logistics procurement!" ”

Ferdinand thought for a while and said: "The production of aircraft is the responsibility of state-owned enterprises, and it is not a problem to get the goods at cost price, and I can also find a way for you to purchase fuel, but you have to find your own way for other costs!"

In addition, the problem of the airport is still very troublesome, if it is in the colony, the land is vast and sparsely populated, you can enclose the land yourself, but not in the Balkans, we don't have so much land for you to use! ”

After a moment of silence, Popov replied: "Yes! Your Majesty, please rest assured, we don't need to be equipped with companies in the Balkans, as long as we are equipped with divisions! ”

Ferdinand shook his head and said, "No, I mean that the planes are equipped with companies, but they are only implemented in the colonies, and the land is vast and sparsely populated, so you can do whatever you want, but not in the Balkans, if you make something happen, it will be trouble!"

By the way, how are you going to solve some of the increased military spending? ”

Jokes aside, Ferdinand's main purpose in assigning planes to companies was to strengthen the supervision of the colonies and limit the birth of the Emperor.

But the Balkans are different, the power of the army is already very strong, if it continues to be strengthened, the air force + navy may not be balanced, anything that breaks the balance of power Ferdinand does not like!

Popov knew that the dream of the army aviation was shattered, and Ferdinand's meaning was very clear, the status of the air force would still not be shaken, and the army was equipped with aircraft only to maintain the rule of the colony.

By the way, you can also train more pilots, if it weren't for the fact that the speed of the aircraft in this era could not be freely controlled, Ferdinand would have promoted agricultural aircraft a long time ago.

Fortunately, the idea of rebuilding the Army Aviation was not very strong in the War Department, and this time it only had the attitude of giving it a try, and it was not surprising that it failed.

Popov replied honestly: "Your Majesty, our War Department plans to open up a few farms overseas, and strive to solve the food problem of the local garrison within three years, which can save a lot of military spending!" ”

Ferdinand nodded, as early as during the World War, the Bulgarian army was preparing to enclose the territory, but the places they were optimistic about in advance were sealed out by Ferdinand as a fief in the later period.

Since the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, neither the military nor the government can participate in commercial operations, and they can only wait for financial appropriations except for agriculture.

Fortunately, Bulgaria now has a lot of land, they can go overseas to enclose land, and the government can only pay attention to the Asia Minor Peninsula at most, like Africa, even if the army encloses all the land, no one will care.

In this regard, Ferdinand is also happy to see it, it is not easy to develop those areas in this era, the military is willing to open up the wasteland, and must be vigorously supported!

Ferdinand smiled and said, "Well, then good luck to you!" I personally sponsor you another 100,000 tons of fertilizer, I hope you can come up with results soon! ”

Ferdinand didn't care about how the army cleared the wasteland, anyway, he didn't think that the military would honestly go to farming, maybe soon there would be plantations in the Bulgarian colonies.

Anyway, there will be no shortage of labor in the army, and the two predecessors of Britain and France have already set an example, and they have no reason not to learn!

……