Chapter 370 The Entente’s War Preparations

In early February 1914, Arthur took an airship to St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, to attend the third meeting of the Allied Powers since its establishment.

According to common sense, the third meeting should have been held last year. But last year, due to Prince Alexei's illness, the meeting was postponed by Nicholas II, and it was finally postponed until now a few months later.

Fortunately, this does not affect anything. The Allies' attitude of crazy expansion of armaments has made the four major powers of the Allied Powers unite very closely.

The meeting of the Allied Powers was attended by the monarchs, presidents and some senior government officials of the British Empire, France, the Russian Empire and Australasia. The purpose was to discuss the tasks and goals of each country in the future.

It not only includes the expansion of navy and army armaments, but also includes the direction and tasks of the armies of various countries after the war.

Specifically, the annual Allied Powers Conference is a meeting where the Allied Powers discuss pre-war preparations, wartime plans, and post-war benefit distribution. This meeting has only one target, and that is the Allied Powers, the Allied Powers' greatest enemy.

On February 21, 1914, a secret internal meeting of the Allied Powers was held in St. Petersburg.

The contents of the meeting were kept secret, but the meeting itself was public. It was not only a way for the Allied Powers to demonstrate to the Central Powers, but also to tell the world that the four major powers of the Allied Powers were closely united and that the Allied Powers were fearless of any enemy.

Of course, in addition to external demonstrations, the large number of spies in major European countries is also the reason why it is impossible for a meeting to be kept secret.

What the four major powers of the Entente were able to do was to keep the contents of the meeting highly confidential on the premise that the meeting itself was made public.

The four major powers of the Allied Powers attached great importance to this meeting, but they all chose to stay away from German waters.

No one knows whether the Germans will frantically attack the Allied ships participating in the meeting. For their own safety, it is better to stay away from the Germans for the time being.

Arthur's chosen mode of travel is an airship. After a long period of verification on multiple flights, it has been determined that the safety performance of Australasian airships is relatively reliable, and the probability of accidents is extremely low.

Of course, in order to ensure his own safety, the airship Arthur is riding this time is equipped with a large number of parachutes, which can ensure that the members on the airship have a greater chance of survival when an accident occurs to the airship.

At the same time, there were more than a dozen armed airships escorting the airship that Arthur was riding on. These airships also carry hundreds of guards, responsible for protecting Arthur's safety on land and in the sky.

If it weren't for the fact that the plane couldn't be exposed for the time being, Arthur even planned to call in several fighter jets to escort him.

Arthur still attaches great importance to his own life safety. Reality is not like the TV series. Even if Arthur does not attach importance to it, Australasian government officials will never allow Arthur to travel without more than 100 guards.

Arthur's personal safety also symbolizes the stability of the country and government for Australasia.

Arthur and Australasia are currently in a state of both prosperity and loss. Australasia's government officials naturally attach great importance to Arthur's safety.

Although we took a much faster airship, it was already half a month later on February 18 when we arrived in St. Petersburg.

At this time, there were still three days before the meeting. Arthur and his party stayed in a royal manor under the arrangement of Nicholas II and enjoyed the few leisure time.

Almost on the same day, the French diplomatic team also successfully arrived in St. Petersburg.

As for the reason why the French are slightly faster than the British, you have to ask George V who came to St. Petersburg with great fanfare.

The four major powers of the Entente attached great importance to this meeting. The meeting was attended by not only the three emperors, King George V of England, King Arthur of Australasia, Tsar Nicholas II, and the President of France, but also the British Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill. Foreign Minister Edouard, French Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for Australasia Roger, Minister of Defense Raul, etc.

As for Russia, because the meeting was held in St. Petersburg, Russia could be regarded as an all-people battle. Which ministers were needed were transferred to them.

After officials from the four countries had friendly exchanges with each other, on February 21, 1914, the Allied Powers Conference was officially convened.

Because Australasia participated in a formal Allied Powers Conference for the first time, at the beginning of the meeting, the four major powers emphasized the importance of the Quadruple Entente and reaffirmed the alliance between Britain, France, Russia, and Australasia.

The four major powers value each other more, that is, the alliance with any country.

The progress of this meeting was very fast. In just the first day, the four-nation alliance was quickly established and the military responsibilities that each of the four major powers needed to bear were reiterated.

First, the British, who had always been somewhat at home, assumed greater military responsibilities. If any member of the Allied Powers is attacked by the enemy, the four major powers of the Allied Powers should enter a state of war with the enemy at the same time.

This agreement directly eliminated the possibility of the British becoming a troublemaker. The British must stand firmly behind the Allied Powers and resolutely and effectively fulfill their alliances with the other three major powers. Only then will the Allied Powers be maintained.

The specific treaty is that if any of the four major powers is attacked by another country for no reason, including but not limited to border provocations, sneak attacks, crisis creation, etc., the other three major powers must immediately stand behind the provoked country and After consultation, take joint actions to maintain world peace.

Judging from the current strength of the Allied Powers, this treaty is purely aimed at Germany and the Allies behind it.

Except for the Allied Powers, not even the United States has the guts to launch an attack on any country in the Allied Powers.

In addition to this requirement of military responsibility, the four major powers also signed the "Statement of Naval Priorities" to agree on the respective naval tasks of the four countries.

This declaration was limited to the war period, with Britain assuming the defense of France's Atlantic coast and France assuming the defense of the British colonies in the Mediterranean.

The Russians joined the siege of the German High Seas Fleet, and Australasia sent at least four main battleships to help the British Empire patrol the Indian Ocean region.

At the same time, if war breaks out, France's Mediterranean Fleet will join Russia's Black Sea Fleet to quickly control the entire Mediterranean.

Just in case, some of the British fleets on the Atlantic coast and the Australasian fleet patrolling the Indian Ocean region will take joint actions after consultation to block the entire Mediterranean, especially the Strait of Otranto, to prevent the U.S. from rebelling. Convergence of the Italian and Austro-Hungarian navies.

Australasia bears the least amount of naval obligations. This is actually because the Australasian navy only has five main battleships so far.

However, this also has an advantage. Even if the navy suffers relatively large damage in the war, it is still acceptable to Australasia.

Anyway, there are only three dreadnoughts and two battlecruisers in the full calculation. Even if they are all sunk, Arthur will only be heartbroken.

Not only in the navy, but also in the army, the obligations that each country should bear have also been initially divided.

Britain and Russia are responsible for working together to deal with the German High Seas Fleet, and Britain needs to send its army to support France and help France hold its defense line.

The French need to bear the German offensive on the Western Front, where a large number of Germany's main forces will gather. In addition, the Mediterranean route is also a task for the French, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet and part of the Australasian fleet can provide assistance.

The main objective of the Russians was to deal with their enemies Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. Of course, it is also necessary to open a battlefield in eastern Germany and force the Germans to fight on two fronts.

In view of the problem that the Russian Army has sufficient manpower but insufficient weapons and equipment, Britain, France, and Australia have successively promised to provide Russia with relatively low-cost weapons and equipment support during the war.

At that time, if Russia's western support is cut off, Australasia will transport a large amount of weapons and equipment to Russia from the Far East.

As for the Australasian mission, once it comes, at least 300,000 combat troops will be dispatched to support France.

Second, in addition to retaining a certain size of garrison force, all Australasian navies were mobilized to coordinate with the mobilization of the navies of Britain, France, and Russia.

Third, given that Australasia has a pretty good military industry, Australasia will be responsible for providing Russia with a large amount of weapons and equipment, and the price cannot be too high.

If Britain and France lack weapons and equipment, they can also purchase them from Australasia.

The preliminary division of combat tasks is basically like this, and it was initially decided by the four countries based on their respective geographical locations.

In fact, regardless of division, the situation after the outbreak of war is like this. The geographical location determines the war policies of various countries. It is impossible for Australasia to go to a decisive battle with the German navy, right?

To say that the French are probably the ones with the heaviest task in the preliminary division of combat tasks.

According to the division of combat tasks, in the early days of the war, the French had to resist the joint attacks from Germany and Italy, and the navy also had to fight against Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although Italy's military strength is not that strong, France cannot defeat Germany!

The good news is that for the army, the French have support from Britain and Australasia.

According to the agreement between the two parties, the number of troops supported by Britain and Australasia will be approximately 600,000.

Coupled with France's own soldiers, after the war broke out, it would be no problem to raise two to three million.

In terms of the navy, blocking the Mediterranean seems to be difficult, but with the support from the United Kingdom, the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the Australasian Fleet, the possibility of completing the task is still high.

If the war really develops according to the battle plan, it will be good news for the Allied Powers.

After all, there is nothing wrong with the Allied Powers' combat plan except for consumption, and the Allied Powers basically have big businesses and are not afraid of even a tiny bit of consumption.

As for the distribution of benefits after the war, the negotiations were not so smooth. In the end, it was Arthur who proposed that the distribution be based on the losses and contributions of the four major powers in the war, which won the agreement of France and Russia, and the British finally nodded.

It is actually normal for France and Russia to agree. The French had the heaviest task in combat distribution, and their contribution in the war was definitely not small.

The Russians, on the other hand, don't have any advantages except that they have a lot of people. If it compares with losses, the Russians really have no one to fear.

If millions of peasants could be killed and injured in exchange for huge benefits for Russia after the war, the Russian government and senior officials would agree with it with both hands and feet.

As for the British Empire, France and Russia agreed, and the British naturally could not keep delaying it.

What's more, the British also have confidence in the navy. If it can defeat Germany's High Seas Fleet and then dispatch its army to achieve certain results, Britain may also become the country that pays the most.

And Arthur, who proposed such a distribution of interests, actually agreed with this method of distribution of interests.

No matter what, as one of the four major powers of the Entente, Australasia's distribution of interests is at least fourth in the post-war world.

Even if a great power like Italy defected on the battlefield, its role and post-war status would definitely not be comparable to Australasia.

What's more, whether Russia can survive unharmed until after World War I is a question. If Russia split in World War I, Australasia would have one less competitor after the war, and the distribution of benefits would also rank third in the world.

Arthur is already very satisfied with the profit distribution of the world's third-largest company. At least in the short term, Australasia does not have the strength to compete with Britain and France, even Britain and France after being weakened by World War I.

If we can rely on the distribution of interests after the war to make Australasia one of the top five or even the top four powers in the world, then Australasia will have greater confidence to seek greater status and interests.

If nothing else, after the victory of the war, Australasia directly became the fifth great power in the world after Britain, France, Russia and the United States.

Historically, the Allied Powers, especially France, exploited Germany very cruelly, which also caused major restrictions on Germany's military strength.

If we can take this opportunity to absorb a lot of factory equipment and expert talents from Germany, and absorb part of Germany's industrial strength and heritage, Australasia will have the foundation to compete with the United States.

Don't underestimate the current United States. Although its military strength is so ugly, in terms of industry and economy, it can barely be considered beautiful.

At least compared to Australasia, which has less strong industrial strength except for heavy industry, the industrial strength of the Americans is still much stronger.

Of course, if we talk about military strength alone, the United States is no longer a match for Australasia.

If Australasia borders the United States, judging from the military technology currently possessed by Australasia, it is not impossible to eliminate the United States.

Of course, the current agreement on benefit distribution is almost just a draft.

When the war is truly over, distribution will not only have to be based on the actual contribution of each country, but also how much flesh can be cut from the Allies.

However, after several days of discussions, the four major powers have reached some agreement in principle.

The British would receive all the spoils of the German navy upon victory and would receive the largest share of all the Allied colonies.

To compensate several other countries, the French would be allowed to recover Alsace-Lorraine and receive some compensation from nearby German and Italian territories.

As for Russia, Austrian Poland, German Poland, and the United Kingdom officially gave up their alliance with the island country.

As for the last Australasia, it was allowed to fully take over Germany's colonies in the Pacific, and the Allies would turn a blind eye to Australasia's expansion in Southeast Asia.

Of course, Southeast Asia refers to the Dutch East Indies. As for the territories of the British Empire further north, the Southeast Asian peninsula, and the very important Strait of Malacca, they are not currently within the reach of Australasia.

Of course, in order to show their support for Australasia, after Arthur's maneuvering, the Allies agreed to Australasia's request to receive some German factories and talents after the war.

One can imagine the attitude of these Germans towards Britain, France and Russia after the war. Britain, France and Russia were not interested in accepting these German experts and talents.

These principled divisions also basically include the more important core interests of each country.

Although the British Empire obtained the largest share of Germany's post-war naval colonies, the compensation given to the other three countries was barely enough to satisfy the three major powers.

As for Australasia, it had no interest in African colonies, so permission to expand the Dutch East Indies and the opportunity to receive German factories and talent were far more important than African colonies.

In addition to these core interests, such as reparations, property cession and some important land cessions, transfers and other treaty restrictions on the Allies, it depends on the specific situation after the war.

As long as the core interests are determined, as long as the core interests claimed by each country can be respected, the Allied Powers can be maintained, instead of creating conflicts due to internal division of interests before the war breaks out.

In addition to these, the Allied Powers also reached a treaty that has little to do with Europe, namely the Pacific Treaty between Britain, France, Russia, and Australia.

The treaty stipulated that Russia had hegemony in the Pacific Northwest, and Australasia had hegemony in the southwestern and southern Pacific.

The four major powers of the Entente respected the hegemony of Russia and Australia, and Britain and France enjoyed a special status in the Pacific.

In addition to respecting the rights of the two major Allied countries in the Pacific region, the Pacific Treaty also stipulates that if a non-Allied country asserts its interests in the Pacific, it will be regarded as a provocation to the Allied Powers.

The Allied Powers as a whole should provide assistance to the provoked country and, if necessary, send troops to assist.

If the previous agreement was aimed at the Allies, then this agreement is concisely aimed at the United States.

The only threat to the hegemony of Russia and Australasia in the Pacific region is the United States, which is also a great power and is located on the other side of the Pacific.

Although Britain and France will most likely not directly send troops to the United States after the war, this treaty is completely sufficient as a deterrent to the United States.

As long as the Allies do not break up, Arthur can also rely on this Pacific Treaty to obtain more assistance from other allies to gain more strength to confront the United States.

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