Chapter 269: Bulgaria and the Locomotive
Bulgaria had a new ambassador who was fully pro-German, which was also expected by the Germans, and if they did not know how to advance or retreat at this time, then the fate of Poland was an example.
Bulgaria is a standard Slavic nation-state, and because of its geographical location, few European countries have paid attention to it, except for the old Balkan enemies around it.
Historically, Bulgaria was a wall-riding faction, and in that year Bulgarian Tsar Boris III (in 1908 the third Bulgarian kingdom became independent, the Bulgarian prince was promoted to Bulgarian Tsar, Boris III was the second generation. The reason for agreeing to surrender to Nazi Germany was that the latter had already taken the Balkans and was willing to return the territories occupied by Bulgaria in the previous wars to Bulgaria. Historically, Hitler did fulfill his promises, and Boris III was given the title of "Liberator".
However, when Bulgaria joined the Axis powers, it sent only a limited number of troops and participated in several German military campaigns, and for most of the time only opened its borders and railways for the use of German troops. And when the war broke out on the Eastern Front, the tsar refused to send troops to participate in the German invasion on the grounds that the Bulgarian people were also Slavs. At the end of the war, after the Soviet army began a full-scale counteroffensive on the Eastern Front, in the face of the Red Army crossing the defense border, the Bulgarian army only resisted in a few areas, and the majority of the people chose to welcome it, and then there was a bloodless coup d'état in the capital, and the Bulgarian army did not hesitate to turn its guns and start a war against its original ally Germany. So in Xu Jun's strategic layout, this country is a weak point in a pile of Balkan scum that needs close attention.
Witnessing Germany's victory in the European war, it can be said that the attitude of the top level of the Bulgarian government towards Germany has changed 180 degrees at this moment. The Tsar once said, "My officer corps is pro-German, my people are pro-Russian, the middle class is pro-English and French, the queen and prince are pro-Italian (Queen Anna is an Italian princess), and only myself and the parliament support Bulgaria." ”。 Now that the political will of the Bulgarian officer corps, the middle class and members of the royal family has been united, it is to join the German-led European Union, and several Bulgarian interest groups have been bound together, something that Hitler has not been able to do in history.
Just by the performance of the Bulgarian government now, to call them hardcore lackeys of Germany, that is not at all moisture. However, compared with the government and the military, the attitude of the Bulgarian people towards Germany is relatively flat, and the Bulgarian people's tradition of being close to Russia cannot be reversed in a year or two.
This is an agricultural country in the traditional sense, and even weapons cannot be produced indigenously, and most industrial products need to be imported from abroad, and the payment for goods is offset by rich agricultural products. But it was such a country that was almost entirely dependent on Germany economically, and had been colluding with Britain and the Soviet Union throughout its history, that Xu Jun was surprised that Hitler could tolerate this country for so long and not stew it with Romania.
This time, the ambassador came to the Prime Minister's House with an envoy sent by the king, a colonel of the Bulgarian army who looked a little premature, named Christopher. Petrov. The envoy brought sincere greetings and blessings from the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III to the Reich, and the Tsar said that he was honored to receive the invitation of the Führer, and that he and his wife, Queen Joanna, would attend the victory celebrations in Berlin on time for the New Year.
The King of Italy signed a secret pact with Xu Jun, and I don't know what he wrote in his letter to the princess, and now the Bulgarian queen is full of affection for the new German Führer, and of course the Führer's handsome appearance has added a lot of points to herself.
Boris III is an avid train fan, not the kind of train house that squats in the backyard of his home to play with model railroads, but the kind of high-end player who likes to operate real things on the spot, and it is said that the king once got the "Orient Express" company to issue a special notice that the king should not approach the wheelhouse when international trains pass through Bulgaria. In addition to driving the train himself, he also likes to collect locomotives, but for a king, this is also a harmless hobby.
Xu Jun prepared a gift for the king, a brand-new RB50 locomotive, and in order to match the other party's royal status, the locomotive was also carefully decorated. Xu Jun hadn't seen the real thing, but he had seen the photos, and anyway, he felt that there were parts with precious metal coating and polishing everywhere.
The RB50 is the best steam locomotive in Germany at present, and it is the main force of railway transportation in the Third Reich, and since its birth in 39, Germany has produced thousands of such steam locomotives by this time. Historically, a total of 3,164 standard locomotives of this model were produced, and in the late forties they were used all over the railways of Europe and the Soviet Union, and in the GDR until the end of the seventies, and its improved version was even sold to China by Romania.
Xu Jun put forward some opinions on the German railway system, but this system is too big and too precise, which can really affect the whole body, so it can only be improved step by step and step by step. Germany's rail transport system is quite developed, but historically, there has been a shortage of rail capacity in Germany, often in a state of overload.
The railway gauge problem on the Eastern Front severely limited Germany's railway capacity in the Soviet Union, which even directly affected the German army's campaign operations. This must change, or history will not repeat itself.
Germany needed to produce as soon as possible the historically proven war locomotive RB52, which simplified the structure of the vehicle, used a large number of cheap materials, reduced the difficulty of the process, and in addition to reducing a lot of valuable man-hours, it also made it possible for ordinary skilled workers to participate in the processing. One of the most important and special advantages of this locomotive is that it can withstand the terrifying low temperature of the Eastern Front, and can operate normally in extreme temperatures of minus thirty or forty degrees, so that after the end of the war, a large number of German RB52 locomotives were retained by the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.
In addition to the locomotive, the Germans needed a universal freight chassis that could quickly replace the load-bearing axles to suit the unique gauge used by the USSR (the USSR adopted a broad gauge of 1520 mm, while the European universal gauge was 1435 mm). This practice is very common on future international trains, and with the help of special machinery, it only takes ten minutes before and after. In this way, when the German army counterattacked into the territory of the Soviet Union, it could directly use the Soviet railway network without laying new tracks, which could save a lot of resources.
The Soviets could also destroy the railway system after a defeat, as they have done historically, and Germany would have to rebuild the tracks. As a result, Germany needed to prepare a complete set of modern railway machinery that could quickly lay railways on the front line and repair lines damaged in battle. Germany could also make some improvements in building materials, such as the use of prefabricated cement sleepers, which can be standardized on the front line and can be replaced after damage.
Seeing off the Bulgarians, the Führer walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window on the north side of the office, and the secretary quickly pressed the switch on the wall. The heavy curtains slowly pulled aside with the faint sound of an electric motor, a fashionable invention at the time, and the Reich Führer had always been at the forefront of his time.
It was almost lunchtime, and the Führer did not leave the Bulgarians to eat in the restaurant of the Führer's capital, but they were invited to a dinner at the Foreign Ministry that evening. The sun shone on the yellowing lawn, and a team of guards led huge military dogs patrolled the garden path. Xu Jun didn't think anyone had escaped a bunch of outposts and sneaked into the heavily guarded building, unless it was a guy in a blue leotard with a round shield.
The Führer put his hands behind his back and looked at the pool in front of the office in a daze.
"Weierle." He suddenly summoned his staff.
"Yes, my Führer." The lieutenant general immediately replied.
"It's okay this afternoon, let's go out into town." The Führer exhaled a long breath and then spoke in an indifferent tone.
"Yes, I'll arrange it at once, my Führer." Wierle nodded his head to the order.
"Huh?" Xu Jun turned his head in some surprise, the other party agreed so happily, could it be that the posture of the usual opening was wrong.
"Anything else? My Führer. Weirle looked into the Führer's eyes.
"Aren't you going to dissuade me?"
"Will it work, my Führer?"
"No, Werle." Xu Jun nodded to the chief of staff with an elegant gesture, and then turned his gaze back to the garden.
"Then just wear plain clothes, Weirle."
"Okay, no problem, my Führer." Weirle looked at the Führer's back and respectfully agreed.
PS : Thank you for your support, the author will continue to work hard.
Let's add a chapter name today.,Just get the meaning there.,Right?。