Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 269: Bulgaria and the locomotive

Bulgaria has changed to a new ambassador who is fully pro-Germany. This is what the Germans expected. If you don’t know how to advance or retreat at this time, then Poland’s end will be an example.

Bulgaria is a standard Slavic nation-state. Because of its geographic location, apart from the Balkan enemies around it, very few European countries have paid attention to it.

Bulgaria in history is a fencer. In that year, the Bulgarian Tsar Boris III (the third Kingdom of Bulgaria became independent in 1908, the Prince of Bulgaria was upgraded to the Bulgarian Tsar, and Boris III was the second generation.) It fell to Nazi Germany because the latter had already taken the Balkans and was willing to return Bulgaria's occupied territories in previous wars to Bulgaria. Hitler did fulfill his promise in history, and Boris III also won the title of "liberator".

But when Bulgaria joined the Axis, it only sent a limited number of troops and participated in several German military operations. Most of the time, it only opened its borders and railways for use by the German army. And when the Eastern Front War broke out, the czar refused to send troops to participate in the German invasion, citing the Bulgarian people as the Slavs. At the end of the war, after the Soviet army on the eastern front began a full-scale counterattack, the Bulgarian army only resisted in a few areas when the Red Army crossed the national defense border. The majority of the people chose to welcome it, and then a bloodless coup took place in the capital. , The Bulgarian army did not hesitate to switch its guns and wage war on its original ally, Germany. Therefore, in Xu Jun's strategic layout, this country is a weak point in a pile of Balkan **** that needs to be paid close attention to.

Seeing Germany's victory in the European war, the attitude of the top Bulgarian government towards Germany at this moment can be said to have changed 180 degrees. The tsar once said, "My army is pro-Germany, my people are pro-Russia, the middle class is pro-British and French, and the queen and prince are pro-Italian (Queen Anna is an Italian princess). Only I and the parliament support Bulgaria. ". Now the political will of the Bulgarian army, the middle class, and the members of the royal family has reached a unity, that is, joining the German-led European Union, and several major interest groups in Bulgaria have been tied together. This is something Hitler has not been able to do in history.

Based on the performance of the Bulgarian government, calling them hard-core lackeys in Germany, that is not at all watery. However, compared with the government and the military, the Bulgarian folk's attitude towards Germany is relatively flat. The Bulgarian folk's tradition of being close to Russia cannot be reversed in one or two years.

This is an agricultural country in the traditional sense. Even weapons cannot be produced on their own. Most of the industrial products need to be imported from abroad, and the payment is deducted by rich agricultural products. But it is such a country that is almost completely dependent on Germany economically. It has been hooking up with the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in history. Xu Jun is surprised that Hitler could tolerate this country for so long and did not sip it with Romania.

This time, I came to the Prime Minister's Palace with the ambassador, and there was also a special envoy sent by the king. This is a Bulgarian colonel named Kristol Petrov who looks a little premature. The envoy brought the sincere greetings and blessings from Bulgarian Tsar Boris III to the head of state of the empire, and the czar expressed his honor to receive the invitation of the head of state. He and his wife, Queen Joanna, will participate in the victory celebration in Berlin on time during the New Year.

The King of Italy signed a secret agreement with Xu Jun. I don’t know what he wrote in his letter to the princess. Now this Bulgarian queen has a good impression of the new German head of state. Of course, the handsome appearance of the head of state also added to her. Less points.

Boris III was an avid train fan, not the kind of train house that squatted in the backyard of his house to play railway models, but the kind of high-end players who like to operate real objects on the spot. It is said that the king once got the "Orient Express" company A special notice was issued to prohibit the king from approaching the cab 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 an innocuous hobby.

Xu Jun prepared a gift for the king, a brand new RB50 locomotive, and in order to conform to the other's royal status, the front of the car was also carefully decorated. Xu Jun has not seen the real object, but after seeing the photos, he feels that there are precious metal coatings and polished parts everywhere.

RB50 is the best steam locomotive in Germany at present, and it is the main force of railway transportation in the Third Reich. Since its birth in 1949, Germany has produced thousands of such steam locomotives. In history, a total of 3,164 of this model of standard locomotives were produced. In the late 1940s, the railways of Europe and the Soviet Union were full of locomotives of this series. The Democratic Republic of Germany used them until the end of the 1970s. 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 sophisticated. It can be said that it affects the whole body, so it can only be improved gradually and step by step. The railway transportation system in Germany is quite developed, but historically, the domestic railway transportation capacity in Germany has been in short supply and is often in a state of overload.

The rail gauge problem on the eastern line severely restricted the German railway capacity in the Soviet Union, which even directly affected the German campaign operations. The front lines often fell into the predicament of shortage of materials, and a large number of urgently needed parts and supplies The goods are backlogged in the military depots of various railway hubs. This situation must be changed, otherwise history will never repeat itself.

Germany needs to produce the RB52 war locomotive that has proven its worth in history as soon as possible. This is a simplified version of the RB50 locomotive in wartime. RB52 simplifies the vehicle structure, uses a lot of cheap materials, reduces the process difficulty, in addition to reducing a lot of valuable man-hours, it also allows ordinary skilled workers to participate in 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 under extreme temperatures of minus 30 or 40 degrees. After the war, a large number of German RB52 locomotives were taken by the Soviet Union. And retained by Eastern European countries.

In addition to locomotives, the German army also needed a general cargo chassis that can quickly replace the load-bearing axles to adapt to the unique gauge used by the Soviet Union (the Soviet Union uses a wide gauge of 1520 mm, while the European general gauge is 1435 mm. ), this approach is very common in the future international trains, with the help of special machinery, it only takes ten minutes before and after. In this way, when the Germans counterattacked into Soviet territory, they could directly use the Soviet railway network without laying new tracks, which could save a lot of resources.

The Soviet army may also destroy the railway system after the defeat, as they have often done in history, then Germany can only re-lay the rails. In this way, Germany needs to prepare a complete set of modern railway machinery, which can quickly lay the railway on the front line and repair the lines damaged in the battle. Germany can also make some improvements in building materials, such as the use of prefabricated cement sleepers, which can be standardized on the front line, and it is also convenient to replace them after damage.

Sending off the Bulgarian, the head of state walked slowly to the French window on the north side of the office, and the secretary quickly pressed the switch on the wall. Amid the faint sound of an electric motor, the heavy curtains slowly opened to one side. This was a fashionable invention at the time. The head of the empire has always been at the forefront of the times.

It was almost time for lunch. The Führer did not leave the Bulgarians to eat at the Führer’s restaurant, but they were invited to the dinner held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that evening. The sun was shining on the yellow lawn, and a group of guards led a huge army dog ​​and patrolled the garden path. Xu Jun didn't think anyone had escaped a bunch of outposts and sneaked into this heavily guarded building unless it was a guy wearing a blue tights and a buckler.

The head of state looked at the pool in front of the office in a daze.

"Weiller." He suddenly summoned his staff.

"Yes, my head of state." The Lieutenant General immediately replied.

"It's okay this afternoon, let's go shopping in the city." The head of state exhaled a long breath, then said calmly.

"Yes~IndoMTL.com~I'll make arrangements right away, my head of state." Weierle nodded and led the order.

"Huh?" Xu Jun turned his head in a little surprise. The other party actually agreed to be so happy. Isn't the usual opening posture wrong.

"Is there anything else? My Führer." Weierle stared into the Führer's eyes.

"Are you not going to dissuade me?"

"Will it work, my head."

"No, Weierle." Xu Jun nodded to the chief of staff gracefully, then turned his gaze back to the garden.

"Then just wear plain clothes, Weierle."

"Okay, no problem, my Führer." Weierle looked at the Führer's back and leaned respectfully and agreed.

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