Chapter 343 Military Expansion and Loans

1. Under the witness of Arthur, Minister Gray and Prime Minister Kent signed the agreement respectively, which also officially represented the official signing and implementation of the "Anglo-Australia Agreement" that had been negotiated for more than a month. new

This is an agreement on comprehensive cooperation in diplomacy, economy, military and other aspects. Australasia has also officially become an ally of the British and joined the Allied camp.

On the day the Anglo-Australian Agreement was signed, it caused quite a stir in Australasia and Europe.

This also means that Australasia will officially join the Entente, and the number of great powers owned by the Entente has also come to four, ahead of the three of the Allies.

Although Australasia's great power status has only been recognized by European governments and media in recent years, it also has competitors such as island countries.

But no one can deny Australasia's great power status. Even the eighth great power is much stronger than non-great powers.

If we look at the current paper strength of the Entente and Central Powers, the Allied Powers have an even greater advantage.

Italy and Australasia are both the bottom powers, and Australasia's military strength is even stronger than Italy's to a certain extent. (Mainly reflected in the army, the navy of both sides is balanced)

And Russia was more powerful than the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The combined strength of Britain and France is also greater than that of Germany.

Coupled with the advantages of land area and population, the balance of the war seems to have tilted towards the Allied Powers.

On the day Australasia announced the signing of the treaty with Britain, William II sent a telegram to Arthur to inquire about the situation.

During the reign of Edward VII, the relationship between Arthur and William II was obviously better.

But there is no way, the relationship between the country does not rely on Arthur's personal relationship to maintain. For Australasia, joining the Entente can gain more benefits and status, making it one of the top five powers.

But if Australasia joins the Allies, there will be no hope of victory unless Australasia exhausts its last drop of domestic blood and uses all its cards.

But exhausting Australasia's potential and efforts for Germany's victory is unacceptable to both Arthur and Australasia.

Therefore, joining the Entente was the best outcome, at least for Arthur and Australasia.

Although this is somewhat immoral for the relationship between Arthur and William II, the development of the country is like this, and it is not up to people.

Regarding William II's inquiry, Arthur could only explain it with the thoughts of the majority of the British population.

However, Arthur also assured William II that Australasia would never use any illegal weapons in the war.

You know, there were many illegal weapons on the battlefield of World War I. In order to win the war, both sides used various tricks in an endless stream.

In addition to the Maxim heavy machine gun, one of the weapons that caused the most casualties in World War I, chemical weapons, flamethrowers, etc. were also emergency weapons that made all soldiers blush in World War I.

Needless to say, chemical weapons are of course a variety of poisonous gases that can blind, suffocate, infect, and even kill soldiers.

The flamethrower, which doesn't seem to be that lethal, is actually very cruel when it causes damage.

Although flamethrowers are useless against strong fortresses, extremely high-temperature flames can rush into the fortress from the observation openings and ventilation openings of the fortress, causing painful burns to enemies at close range.

If you are unlucky, you may even be directly roasted to char by the flamethrower, which is much crueler than other ways of death.

Even if you are lucky and are far away from the observation port, the high temperature will quickly consume oxygen and water, leading to suffocation and dehydration.

Moreover, the extremely high temperature can easily ignite ammunition and artillery shells inside the fortress. For those without any bunkers inside the fortress, this is a close encounter with death.

Although Australasia joined the Allied Powers, it directly became a potential enemy of Germany.

But at least the relationship between Arthur and William II did not change much, and the two could still talk happily in telegrams.

However, William II also had the pride of being the monarch of a top power, and William II would not try to retain Arthur's behavior, which could be regarded as betrayal.

In William II's view, victory on the battlefield should be used to tell Arthur that the entente between Britain and France was just an empty shell and was vulnerable to the powerful German Imperial Army.

I have to say that many Germans were quite arrogant during this period.

Because the founding history of the German Empire was founded by France, the hegemon of Western Europe at the time, and now it is facing France and Britain again. This feeling of facing defeated generals has made the German military and many senior officials gradually become more confident and will not push the French army Put it in your eyes.

The news of Australasia joining the Entente also caused considerable repercussions in the country.

Supportive crowd. Naturally, they were immigrants from England and Russia. Because of the basic proportion of British immigrants and the high growth of Russian immigrants in recent years, the total number of British immigrants and Russian immigrants combined account for more than 85% of the total population of Australasia.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Australasian people, Australasia's joining the Allied Powers was what the people wanted.

As for the German population, which accounts for less than 10%, they naturally do not want to see this scene.

However, the proportion of German immigrants was not high to begin with, and Arthur had the foresight to disperse them among the many British and Russian immigrants. It was destined to be impossible to make waves.

Moreover, most of those who can immigrate cannot survive in their original country or their life is not good. new

If you are living a good life in your original country, who would be willing to travel thousands of miles to a foreign country just to make a living?

These German immigrants think they are living a good life in Australasia. For them to stand up and oppose the government's decision-making regardless of the stability of their current lives is to overestimate their feelings for their original country.

Unless someone deliberately brings these Germans together and incites them, it is impossible for German immigrants in Australasia to have an impact on the situation in Australasia.

Moreover, with the Royal Security Intelligence Service monitoring the domestic situation, even with the support of other countries, it will be difficult to bring these scattered German immigrants together.

Arthur spared no effort to maintain domestic order in Australasia.

Arthur also strongly supports and values ​​the expansion of the Royal Security Intelligence Service.

So far, the total intelligence personnel of the Royal Security Intelligence Service has exceeded tens of thousands.

If you include those lurking in other countries and some informants, this number may increase several times.

In Australasia alone, there are more than 5,000 intelligence officers of the Royal Security Intelligence Service, buried in cities and villages of all sizes in Australasia.

This also allows Arthur to grasp the first-line intelligence in Australasia at any time. Arthur can also keep track of the movements of his officials and subordinates at any time.

The Royal Security Intelligence Service's foreign intelligence layout is mainly concentrated in Europe, the United States, East Asia and other places.

The largest number of intelligence personnel sent to Europe was more than 4,000 people. Coupled with the local recruitment and recruitment of spies, etc., there are more than 10,000 intelligence personnel in Europe.

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The number of intelligence personnel in the United States is slightly smaller, but including various informants, the total number is more than 4,000.

There are approximately more than 3,000 intelligence personnel in East and Southeast Asia, approximately 1,000 in South America, and approximately 1,000 in Africa and other regions. This is the current distribution and layout of the intelligence personnel of the Royal Security Intelligence Service.

The first benefit of joining the Entente was that it directly became allies with the three major powers: Britain, France, and Russia.

Because Australasia has promised to send a large combat army in future European wars, Arthur can also shamelessly ask for more benefits and assistance from Britain, France, and Russia.

Of course, the Allied Powers' assistance mainly came from Britain and France, and Russia was also a recipient of assistance.

On the day when the government publicly announced that it would join the Allied Powers, Arthur motioned for the government to get in touch with the French government and establish good diplomatic relations first.

The French also welcome the addition of Australasia, because the combat troops sent by Australasia will relieve some of the pressure on the French Army.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to contact the French, Arthur also made his own request, that is, he wanted to purchase French submarine technology.

Although Australasia already possesses Germany's mature submarine technology, the development of German submarine technology is still one step behind Britain and France.

Of course, even if Germany's submarine technology is comparable to that of Britain and France, learning more about additional submarine technology will be beneficial and harmless to Australasia's submarine development.

In addition, Arthur also instructed the Australasian government to obtain a large number of low-interest and interest-free loans from the British and French governments and the private sector.

The excuse is that in order to reserve enough military power, Australasia needs to invest more budget in the military.

After World War I, all currencies will depreciate. Whether it is an interest-free loan or a low-interest loan, it will be a sure profit for Australasia.

Even with the large amount of mineral resources and food supplies sold to Britain and France during the war, these loans could be repaid easily.

Perhaps because of their emphasis on their new allies, the French readily agreed to Australasia's request to purchase submarine technology.

Of course, the French have no objection to Australasia's loan request. After all, they have been a major lending country for decades, and one more Australasia is not too many.

With the help of diplomatic ambassadors sent by both parties, Australasia quickly signed a loan agreement with the French government.

The agreement stipulates that Australasia will borrow a total of 500 million francs (£20 million, AU$40 million) from the French government and private parties, of which 150 million francs comes from the French government and is an interest-free loan. The 350 million francs come from French private sector and are low-interest loans.

The total term of this loan is 10 years. After ten years, the Australasian government will need to repay a total of 535 million francs with principal and interest.

Of course, this 500 million francs is not a one-time payment. According to the French people's financial situation, the government's 150 million francs will be paid in two batches, respectively in the middle of this year and the end of this year.

As for the 350 million francs from the French private sector, it depends on the specific situation of the negotiations between the Australasian government and French private banks.

After all, France is a big country in terms of loans. The loan procedures were completed very quickly, and the loan agreement was quickly signed and came into effect.

If nothing unexpected happens, about 150 million francs will be received in the first half of this year, and 250 million francs will be received in the second half of this year. The remaining 100 million francs may not be paid until next year.

With the support of this fund, the Australasian government can also expand its armaments lavishly.

Even when the naval orders from Russia and Chile are over, it will be the turn of the Australasian warships to perform dumpling performances.

Now that the United States has been identified as the future target and enemy, it is essential preparation to rapidly increase naval strength.

Arthur intended to acquire the naval armaments of Australasia.

Within one to five years, Australasia’s next five-year naval shipbuilding plan will be officially implemented.

In this five-year naval shipbuilding plan, Australasia will build at least one aircraft carrier, seven main warships above super-dreadnoughts, four battlecruisers, dozens of frigates and armored cruisers, etc., which will completely enrich Australasia. Naval reserves in West Asia.

That aircraft carrier is a test product of the Navy, and whether it can be successfully constructed has no impact on the expansion of the Navy.

The real highlight is the seven absolute main warships above super-dreadnoughts, and at least three advanced battlecruisers.

If this new five-year naval shipbuilding plan can be completed, the size of Australasia's navy will reach seven super-dreadnoughts, three dreadnoughts, and six battlecruisers after the end of World War I, for a total of sixteen ships. Main battleship.

By then, if nothing else happens, the Allied navies should also have had accidents.

By then, Australasia's navy will be among the top five in the world, and may even be ranked third in the world directly behind Britain and the United States.

In fact, it can be seen from the attitudes of Britain and France that Britain and France actually attach great importance to Australasia, a newly joined ally of the Allied Powers.

France not only agreed to exchange some military technologies with Australasia, but also agreed to Australasia's request for a loan.

As for the UK, the assistance it had promised in previous negotiations was already being prepared by the British government after the Anglo-Australia Agreement was signed.

Because the original work contains a variety of things, including various technologies, drawing materials, talents, etc., preparation will also take a while.

But the British did not intend to wait. After the first batch of aid was prepared, they were already sailing on British Empire transport ships and under the protection of a fleet, heading towards Australasia, thousands of miles away.

This batch of aid contains a large amount of industrial equipment and materials, as well as talents in various fields that Arthur requested.

Of course, the British government will not directly require these talents to immigrate to Australasia. Instead, it will change the concept and use the method of sending experts to allow these people and their families to live in Australasia for a long time. .

Although on the surface, these experts only need to be stationed in Australasia for a few years before they can apply to return to the UK.

But the problem was that when they left for Australasia, they took their families and most of their belongings with them.

After living in Australasia for several years or even more than a decade, are their families really willing to travel thousands of miles to return to the UK?

If he wanted to, Arthur would only praise their love for their motherland and let them go back.

Asking for a monthly ticket! The editor-in-chief’s recommendation will start in the early hours of tonight. There will be two updates tomorrow. Please vote for me! (My father-in-law is in good health. I will stay with him for another week or so, and then the author will go back. By then, he will have a lot of money!)