Chapter 150: Romania

Advanced chapter until 350+ at patreon.com/caleredhair

After World War I, all the countries of Eastern Europe were in a hurry to incorporate the lands that their ancestors had supposedly ruled into their own nations. Poland and Romania were typical examples. Because these two countries were close to the Soviet Union, they received “special attention” from Britain and France. In order to strengthen the new Eastern European nations against the Soviet Union as much as possible, Britain and France supported Poland and Romania in expanding their territories. They did not expect that this would actually weaken these two small countries.

Post-war Romania acquired the entire region of Transylvania, which was predominantly inhabited by Hungarians and Germans; the regions of Bukovina and Bessarabia, predominantly inhabited by Rusyns and Ukrainians; and Southern Dobruja, a region predominantly inhabited by Bulgarians. The result of this “frenzied” expansion was that Romania gained three enemies right on its doorstep: the Soviet Union, which had been severely wounded but whose framework remained and which was plotting revenge; a resentful Hungary; and a disgruntled, grumbling Bulgaria. Eventually, these three “neighbors” would “help” Romania complete a “transformation” that would be etched into its memory…

After the war, Romania’s economic reconstruction (especially in oil extraction) was rapid, but its political situation fell into a pathetic state. Although it established friendly relations with Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, and the so-called “Little Entente” emerged, in 1924, the former student movement leader Corneliu Codreanu founded the Iron Guard.

The Great Depression of 1929-1933 was an opportunity for all radical or slightly radical organizations—such as the Nazis and the Greater German Party. The same was true for Romania’s Iron Guard. Its slogan of “one acre per person” caused many landless peasants to turn to it, and it also won the support of some in the cities who were dissatisfied with the status quo. However, in parliamentary elections, the Iron Guard’s influence remained negligible for a long time.

But the threat was growing more serious. The Hungarians and Bulgarians next door were one thing, but on the other side of the Dniester River, the Soviet Union, with the help of German engineering, was gradually recovering its strength. Its massive army, in particular, while perhaps still limited in terms of efficiency, was undoubtedly stronger in terms of scale and equipment. Romania’s own rearmament, however, was still proceeding at a leisurely pace. But the Soviets were temporarily unwilling to make a move against Romania, which had the backing of Britain and France, especially as they had to worry about the Germans snatching it away.

But just because the Soviet Union was worried didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. The speed of Germany’s post-war rise shocked the Romanians, and its determination to intervene in foreign affairs was also greater than the Romanian king had imagined. When the Romanians welcomed the German special envoy, Merkel, many politicians in their hearts were perhaps already prepared to make concessions if they were forced to.

As it turned out, before Merkel could even begin his diplomatic maneuvering in Romania, an unexpected country defected: Hungary. This country had originally been supported by Britain and France, but at this time, it inexplicably sided with Germany. It was unknown whether the country’s leaders were overly fanciful or truly possessed great wisdom.

Merkel’s trip to Romania was not an unprepared surprise attack, but the culmination of two years of painstaking efforts by dozens of German agencies. They had helped establish a key man for Germany in Romania: Ion Antonescu.

With the help of this Antonescu, Merkel persuaded His Majesty the King with almost no effort, making the fatuous Romanian monarch a thorough fence-sitter. He sold eighty percent of Romania’s oil reserves to the British at twice the Middle Eastern price, while secretly selling the remaining twenty percent and the purchase rights for the next two years to the Germans.

The British had made an effort for this, swallowing their pride in the hope of maintaining their alliance with Romania, even paying a huge sum for the oil. But it was clear they had failed; they only found out at the last moment that they had been sold out by Romania. Enraged, the British refused to pay for the cargo and seized the first few tens of thousands of barrels of oil Romania had shipped to Britain. The Germans generously paid this sum on behalf of the British, much to the delight of the Romanian king.

The Germans did not remain idle either. They seized the two British-commissioned battleships that were being fitted out in the Kiel naval port and threatened that the British government must provide a reasonable explanation for the recent series of provocative actions against Germany.

In the end, the British compromised. Having profited from the Middle Eastern oil, they needed time to digest the fruits of their victory. They also saw Germany’s move into Romania as confirmation of its eastward ambitions and actions, which they wanted. So this time, they chose to back down. Britain declared it would absolutely not interfere in Romania’s internal affairs and expressed its apologies for the incident of the sunken German ship.

Germany did not press its advantage. It immediately resumed construction of the two super-battleships for Britain, and the Krupp factory worked overtime to manufacture 16 381mm cannons for them. However, not far from the docks where the two British-commissioned battleships were, the two Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers had also entered the hull assembly stage. Compared to the few lonely workers on the British battleships, the construction site over there could only be described as a hive of activity.

Of course, this transaction brought earth-shattering changes to Romania. Germany used Panzer IIs and early models of the Panzer III to pay for a portion of the oil. The rest of the oil payments were used by Romania to directly purchase the world’s most advanced high-altitude super fighter, the Me-109C, from Germany. Including the 38T tanks and machine guns and rifles imported from the former Czechoslovakia, the Romanian army instantly completed its long-awaited modernization, and His Majesty the King became even more trusting of his new allies.

Even much of Germany’s obsolete equipment—old gas masks, complexly designed armored cars, Y-strap tactical harnesses—were still the kind of upgraded products that many armies dreamed of. For example, in the distant Far East, the price of an original Mauser rifle could buy a light machine gun in the Czech Republic. So Romania did not feel at all that the equipment it received was bad.

Antonescu had already become the Minister of War in 1933. Although he was considered pro-British, he had long since joined the pro-German Iron Guard. With Germany’s infiltration and enticement, his thinking had undergone a huge change. In his view, Germany would inevitably win the future war, and only by standing with Germany could Romania be protected.

For a time, Antonescu’s Iron Guard became the only legal political party in Romania. As soon as he came to power, he signed a treaty with Germany, allowing German troops to enter the country under pretexts such as assisting in military training, thus tying Romania tightly to Germany’s war chariot.

However, even Akado was amused to discover a fact: almost all the leaders in his camp had a quirky, bizarre title. He himself was the German Führer; the friendly Japanese leader called himself the Emperor; Mussolini liked to be called Il Duce; Franco called himself El Caudillo; and now the puppet leader of Romania, Antonescu, had proclaimed himself the “Conducător”…

Soon, the British government received a piece of intelligence that made them curse out loud. Germany had shipped a portion of its stored military supplies to Romania. Under the pretext of joint operations and mutual assistance, they had replaced Romanian helmets with the M25 steel helmet and had armed the Romanian army with Mauser 98K rifles and various other infantry equipment, turning them into a replica of the German Wehrmacht from a decade ago.

Even more upset than the British was Chiang Kai-shek’s group in the Far East. Because of the large-scale re-equipment of the Romanian army, the supply of German arms to the Far East had been interrupted. The original one hundred million rounds of ammunition and various long and short guns had vanished into thin air. Chiang Kai-shek’s plan to strengthen his army was once again set back.

Because of Germany’s arms embargo, Japan, which had gotten a sweet deal, agreed to a German request. It ordered a very small destroyer fleet to sail south to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and hold a small-scale gunnery exercise there. This forced the British to divert their attention to the Far East. The destroyer HMS Courageous, with two other destroyers, passed through the Suez Canal, entered the Indian Ocean, and headed menacingly for its own Hong Kong.

Sometimes, Akado really felt that he had chosen hell mode when he transmigrated. Japan had taken three entire provinces in Manchuria while the world was in chaos, and had received little more than a scolding from the great powers. He, on the other hand, had just kicked out a military control commission and had brought this heaven-storming amount of trouble upon himself.

Thinking about it, those transmigrators who went back to fight against Japan really had it good. They either had a supercomputer or a whole base with them—they had whatever cannons and planes they wanted, and whatever metals they needed, be it oil, wood, aluminum, iron, molybdenum, or titanium. He, on the other hand, had to scrounge for a few cannons a day and worry his heart out over a few tons of oil and rubber. They were chasing girls, having relationships, and running newspapers, and they retook lost territory in a matter of minutes. Comparisons are truly odious.

Of course, on the other hand, even if Gu Changge, who had become Akado Rudolph, were given another choice, he would not choose to be reborn in Japan. There were many reasons: for example, he didn’t like bowing; he didn’t like seppuku; he didn’t like the phrase “baka,” which was full of negative emotions. Of course, if he were allowed to rename Japan as China’s East Sea Province, that would be another matter entirely.

To get back to the point, when Akado learned that Romania had finally become a German satellite state, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He did not want to rush into a world war in 1936. He needed time to make his German Wehrmacht even stronger, strong enough not only to fight a dazzling blitzkrieg, but also to withstand a brutal war of attrition.

What was gratifying was that, no matter what, the development of Germany’s army, navy, and air force would no longer be restricted by anyone. What he needed to do was to use the vision from his past life to oversee the wildly developing German equipment, and to make these war machines operate even more perfectly.