LIGHTNOVELONLINE Vol. 1 Chapter 119: The Rebellion Quelled?
In the end, it comes back to the original point - money!
The expansion of the army needs money, weapons and equipment need money, and the war needs money! The Serbian government is now short of money!
Aleksandar I asked bitterly, "How much do we need to finance the war?"
The Minister of Finance thought about it and skillfully calculated: "Based on the expansion of the army by 200,000, the purchase of weapons and equipment alone will cost at least 30 million Dinars, and may actually be more.
Each month's military spending will not be less than seven million dinars, and if we go to war, this spending may increase several times! It depends on when Bulgaria can be defeated and how much funding is needed."
In the face of the Minister of Finance's throwback, the Minister of War decisively chose to ignore, not to mention his clamor for war, but in fact, now the Serbian military is not ready at all!
The so-called 300,000 troops are still numbers on paper. The Serbian army is now only 110,000.
Who knows when the Bulgarians will attack? What if war breaks out early? Bulgaria is not stupid enough to wait for Serbia to be ready before attacking!
Whether you can win is an unknown, how much it will cost, this can only be God knows! Anyway, he knows the situation of the Serbian army, and he can make the most optimistic estimate when the expansion of the army has completed the battle!
Looking at the silent crowd, Aleksandar I looked pale. After all, he was not long in power. He had not yet established prestige. These ministers still do not give him face, like the present case, can only be written down to solve problems after the autumn!
Glaring at the crowd, he continued, "What is the military's plan? How long will it take to win the war?"
Seeing that he could not avoid it, the Minister of War said stiffly, "Your Majesty, the war has not even started yet! We are not God. How can we know how long it will take? Bulgaria hasn't mobilized yet. Maybe another ten or eight years before they start the war!
Of course, I'm just using a metaphor, now Bulgaria is preparing for war, and it is expected that war will break out in the next two to three months!"
The prime minister took a cold breath. He regrets that he was greedy for power and did not retire earlier. He had lost tens of millions of dinars before the war started. If the war broke out, it is feared that no one or two hundred million would be unable to fight!
In the last war for Serbia, Serbia's military expenditure was only 60 to 70 million dinars, mainly because the defeat was too fast and the war lasted too short to do national mobilization!
He asked, "So, to be sure, we have to prepare 200 million dinars?"
The Minister of War affirmed, "Yes!"
The Prime Minister did not buy it and said in a very firm tone: "You know this is impossible! The government's finances are clear to everyone. If it's 10 or 20 million, it can barely come out of the trash!
Two hundred million dinars, that's five years of our coffers! It's not something we can get just because we want it, and your military has to find a way to keep the military costs down!"
The Minister of War thought about it and said: "I also know that the government is now in financial trouble, but you all know that our army is no match for Bulgaria in terms of combat power, and it is very difficult to win; without having a superior force!
That is why we cannot reduce the number of troops, we cannot reduce the daily training even more, and we have already lowered our standards in weaponry. The only way is to compress the wartime. Now we can only speed up the mobilization and start the war before the Bulgarian mobilization!"
The words of the Minister of War were ignored by all except King Aleksandar I, who saw a glimmer in his eyes. It was not a strategy at all, and they entirely hoped that Bulgaria would be foolish!
The Prime Minister sighed and ruthlessly ~ said, "One hundred million dinars! That's the maximum limit, we can't get more than that!"
The Minister of War was shocked. This price is too bad! He cut it in half and said angrily, "No! How can we fight a war without enough military funds?"
The prime minister said coldly: "Just fill it with human lives! From now on, the government will stop all spending. All the money is put into the war. It is already our biggest effort! If we can't win, then the government will declare bankruptcy!
In addition, we should immediately mobilize the whole country, recruit all the young and strong people over the age of fifteen and under the age of sixty to join the army, and select 200,000 people to join the regular army. At the same time, the rest will be used as reserves!"
Aleksandar I could not sit still. He is desperate and can think that his throne is certainly done to his head once he loses the war! His father, King Milan, is the best example!
Hesitantly, he said, "Prime Minister, should we not consider using diplomacy! Whether we win or lose this battle, we will be greatly wounded!"
The Prime Minister explained, "Your Majesty, we will fight for it, but we can't relax in our readiness, and only if we show the Bulgarians our resolve will they return to the negotiating table!"
The crowd breathed a sigh of relief in unison, so it was just a deterrent! They dared not think about the consequences if they really did this. Knowing that the internal rebellion has not been quelled yet?
...
The most frantic mobilization began in Serbia, and the whole country was in a state of chaos. There were long queues at the recruitment points.
Luckily this is the Balkans, and the population is used to war! Folk also have the habit of hiding guns, fathers have brought their own equipment, and sons and brothers have enlisted at the same time to join the sacred mission of defending their country!
The rebels, which they had already pinned down, were the first to suffer as government troops began to attack regardless of casualties, shells raining down on their positions at no cost!
The usual drill trench is no longer feasible, the government forces are ruthless, directly burning the mountain with fire, and the rebels were scattered under the fear of defeat!
They suppressed the rebels, but the Minister of War couldn't smile. The losses were too heavy! Within a week, six thousand soldiers were killed and more than twenty thousand wounded, most of them minor and could still recover! Despite the glorious results of the battle, killing over 30,000 rebels, he couldn't be happy. It was a civil war!
The war with Bulgaria hadn't even started yet, and already more than 10,000 men were forced out of the fight! Veterans with combat experience are no match for new recruits who have just joined the army!
Aleksandar I was deeply relieved that the civil war, which lasted for two years, had cost Serbia at least 200,000 people and 50 million dinars, and the economic losses were beyond measure!
However, Aleksandar did not know that despite the heavy casualties of government troops, although it is the line of good news, the military chose to conceal the losses!
With Bulgaria drawing attention, everyone consciously or unconsciously ignored the rebels' leaders, which in turn left hidden dangers for the future!