The second giant:
August and September 1940
Also contains the first nine days of October
The war in the East brought nothing new. Every once in a while (that is, a few days) the Romanians would oust the Soviet forces in Stryj.
Several times the occupation of the province would be considered, but abandoned each time as unfeasible. The forces in the east were kept, however, well supplied with anything they could ever need - except soldiers of course.
From nearby Presov, the Hungarians observed the debacle and (I hope for their sake) took notes.
The emphasis, as summer passed into autumn, would be in the West: the Axis,
which consisted of Germany, Hungary, Italy and... Syria, demanded that Romania cede northern Transylvania to Hungary. This included Satu Mare, where the king had his HQ as commander of the First Army. As he read the ultimatum, the king's ears reddened. He phoned Budapest in a heartbeat, and demanded in no uncertain, or overly polite, terms, to speak with its head of state, Gyula Gombos de Jakfa.
"This is Jakfa," heard the king in his receiver. The voice was that of a balding, old, somewhat bloated and very bored Hungarian nobleman.
"And this is
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen," snapped the king haughtily. "I've just received a document which says you are
demanding Transylvania from us! Is this some sick joke? I'm at war with the damned Soviet Union, I have no time for-"
"Calm down, Ferdinand," the Hungarian cut in snidely. "We know whom you're fighting, and that is a very powerful argument for you to be more pliable!"
"I'll calm down when you'll explain how you imagine that I'll fold for you when I didn't for Stalin," said the king; his voice was now like steel and Jakfa, who was a politician of no small experience, understood on the spot that the king was not yielding.
"If you do not relent, it means war with Germany, Ferdinand. Think twice," he tried nonetheless.
"This matter requires no thinking," snarled the king. "I'll not come uninvited, but if you are declaring war, then I guess I'll see you in Budapest!"
"Or I you in Bucarest; war it is then." Jakfa hung up.
War it was then.
Ferdinand immediately phoned his generals all along the Hungarian border.
"Begin Operation Coasa (Scythe), variation B."
That was the codename for the planned conquest of Hungary, with Slovakia included.
Telegrams arrived from the Western Allies, who, upon the declaration of war between Romania and Germany, regarded the former nation as part of their bloc by default. France was offering blueprints, but not important ones, and the other messages were even less important (for example Churchill's very bombastic congratulation discourse).
Operation Scythe was put into play at once.
Hungary's forces were only prepared for minor border skirmishes; a full scaled Romanian invasion was far beyond their power to hold back and the Romanian High Command were confident that the four Hungarian divisions they had initially encountered could have been easily thrown aside by two Romanian. But Germany was not about to let its ally fall:
This first encounter was ill-fated for the overly speedy motorized infantry division, but as soon as the Romanians occupied Presov, they secured forward observation posts on the good vantage points that the Carpathians' foothills offered over the Polish and Hungarian plains. What they saw was two German army groups moving into Hungary.
At the same time Bulgaria's Tsar Boris III sent his most stern demand for Constanta and the Cadrilater region
(IRL they only asked for the Cadrilater, which is southern Dobrogea). He did so by telegram. The king laughed sardonically. "What the devil is the matter with all these people?" he wondered aloud, and his minister of foreign affairs, N. Titulescu, phoned for Sofia and asked for the Tsar.
"To tell you the truth, Your Highness, the king was not at all happy with your message, although he did laugh," said (in French) Titulescu, who was in a cranky mood and had no patience for Bulgarians. "So I'll make this short. We do not yield. What is your answer?"
"My ansver is a deglaration of var against the Sovied Union," answered Boris with a thick accent, and seemingly without hesitation.
"I was expecting you would - what?" Titulescu was dumbstruck.
"You would nod underztand," said Boris.
"I... I don't think I could!" said the Romanian minister after an embarassing silence. "But how do you intend to act upon this, if I may ask?"
"I do not," said Boris. "It is more ov a message that I vill have no more traffic with the bolsheviks."
"And you will lay your claim to rest?" tried Titulescu.
"Iv you survive," answered the Tsar coldly, and, after they exchanged a small measure of diplomatic niceties, he hung up.
