Chapter 406 Disbursement of Pensions

While the Allies were planning their famous counteroffensive on the Eastern Front, the Allied Powers were also planning their famous new support for Russia on the Eastern Front.

There are two routes for Britain and France to transport supplies to Russia. One is from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea, but it will pass through sea areas controlled by the Germans.

The second is to start from the Mediterranean, pass through Constantinople and then arrive at the Black Sea, where it will pass through Constantinople controlled by Turkey.

The good news is that with the participation of the Italians, the Allies have absolute naval superiority on both routes, so the route to transport supplies to Russia has not been cut off.

Especially on the route from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, although Constantinople has strong coastal defense forts, it has become inevitable for the Turkish army to lose all European territory under the joint attack of the Balkan countries.

At a time when Serbia and Russia were assuming most of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's forces for the Balkan countries, Greece, Montenegro, and Romania focused their attention on attacking Bulgaria and Turkey.

Coupled with the ambitious Serbia, the Balkan countries have an absolute advantage in the Balkans. Bulgaria is struggling to hold on to its own territory. Except for Constantinople, Turkey has lost almost all of its European territory.

Of course, there is a need to fight against Bulgaria, and most of Serbia's forces are restrained by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, Turkey's Constantinople is still relatively strong, which can be regarded as a nail inserted into the interior of the Allied Powers.

If the Allies want to transport supplies to Russia as soon as possible, they must remove the nail in Constantinople.

After thinking for a long time, the Allied Powers held internal consultations and decided to open a new front in the Balkan Peninsula, accommodate the Balkan countries, establish a Balkan front, completely eliminate Bulgaria and Ottoman Turkey, and encircle Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. At the same time, Open up trade routes with Russia.

Of course, the new battlefield enemies are only Bulgaria and Turkey, and at most a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, Britain and France do not intend to send troops there.

After communicating with Australasia, the Balkan front will be in charge of Division Commander Martin, who will lead the 2nd Guards Division, 3rd Division, 1st Colonial Division, 2nd Division, 3rd Division and 4th Division with more than 100,000 troops to form the Balkan Expedition Force. Greece, Romania, Montenegro and Serbia were responsible for attacking Bulgaria and Ottoman Turkey and protecting the Mediterranean routes.

After destroying Bulgaria and Turkey, the Balkans sent troops to join forces with Russia to directly surround Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the east, west and south.

As a result, Germany and Austria will be like turtles in a urn. Not only will all foreign trade and transportation routes be cut off, but they will also not receive any resources and material support from the outside world.

To be able to complete the entire encirclement, there is hope for the end of the war. No matter how strong the German and Austrian counterattacks are, they will be exhausted in the round after round of consumption.

Arthur also knew that the Australasian army wanted to support the Balkan countries. In fact, Arthur also supported such a plan.

At present, the battlefield on the Western Front has entered a stalemate. The Germans are desperately defending. Even if the four-nation coalition forces of Britain, France, Australia, and Italy join forces, there is nothing they can do against the Germans in a short time.

The current battlefield on the Western Front has become like a harvester. Apart from harvesting the lives of soldiers from the Allied and Central Powers, the lines of fighting between the two countries have not moved at all.

For such unnecessary consumption, it is better to avoid spontaneous combustion. After the main force of Australasia went to the Balkans, it targeted Bulgaria, known as Balkan Prussia, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, which could be called a great power just a few decades ago.

There is a big gap between the combat effectiveness of these two countries compared to Germany. They can also demonstrate the combat capabilities of the Australasian army to the outside world. At the same time, they can make sufficient contributions in the war and benefit from future distribution. More.

May 25, 1915.

Just as the Australasian Expeditionary Force arrived in the Balkans and prepared to launch the first wave of offensive, the first military rank promotion ceremony since the war was also taking place in Australasia. It was also a pension ceremony for injured and fallen soldiers.

No one knew how long the war would last, so Arthur decided to hold a promotion and pension ceremony every time the army retreated.

Only by handing pensions to the families of fallen soldiers as soon as possible and providing compensation and rewards to all soldiers who participated in the war can we be worthy of the soldiers' charge on the battlefield and their contributions to the country.

At around 10 o'clock at noon, the Sydney Palace Square was filled with crowds, and more than 10,000 soldiers of the Fourth Division were standing there.

"Gentlemen and ladies. On this special day, we stand together solemnly and sadly to commemorate the more than 10,000 soldiers who have died in the war.

No one knows how long the war will last, and no one knows how many more soldiers we will sacrifice. But the belief in protecting the country makes these brave and fearless soldiers charge against the enemy again and again. They are not afraid of death, and in exchange for our peaceful and stable life in the country.

All our soldiers are great. They may be your fathers, husbands, sons, friends, or they may be people you don't know at all.

But for the country, for the royal family, and for all the people, they bravely sacrificed their lives.

I declare that the families of all fallen soldiers can receive 10 times the country's per capita annual income as a one-time compensation, and their children will be provided for free by the royal family until they reach adulthood or graduate from high school.

These fallen soldiers will be buried at the Sydney Heroes Cemetery and enjoy the worship and remembrance of people across the country.

All injured soldiers can have their wages doubled during their recovery period. Those who are disabled can receive five times the country's per capita annual income as compensation, and the treatment of all injured soldiers' injuries is borne by the country and the royal family. "

After hearing what Arthur said about the pension policy, some soldiers in the audience couldn't help but raise their heads proudly.

Australasia's current pension policy is relatively complete among countries in the world, and its implementation is very firm.

You must know that Australasia's casualties were relatively few among the major participating countries. This is also the basis for Australasia's firm implementation of the pension policy.

Take Russia as an example. The current number of deaths in Russia has reached hundreds of thousands, and the number of casualties has already exceeded one million.

For such a large number of casualties, even if each person is only compensated with one hundred rubles, the total amount is as high as hundreds of millions of rubles and more than ten million pounds.

The compensation figure of one hundred rubles is only a little over ten pounds, which is undoubtedly just a drop in the bucket for the families of injured and killed soldiers.

This is actually one of the reasons why Russia collapsed relatively quickly in its original history. Russia mobilized tens of millions of troops into the battle and suffered millions of casualties.

But among the millions of Russian soldiers who were injured or killed, very few received pensions.

Many Russian peasant families have to face higher taxes, let alone compensation, even after sacrificing an adult.

This is not over yet. Many Russians are still facing job losses, reduced incomes, rising prices due to inflation, material shortages and other factors. It is reasonable for people to be dissatisfied and rebel.

In addition to the above compensation for casualty soldiers, all soldiers of the Fourth Division will also receive twice the national annual income as a reward in addition to their salary in recognition of their meritorious service in the war.

Soldiers, the Royal Family and the Government will never forget your contribution to the war effort and neither will I.

May Australasia become stronger and stronger under your protection, and may all Australasians not have to worry about war, hunger, poverty and disease, but live in peace, health and happiness in Australasia. Arthur said to all the soldiers with a smile.

These pensions and incentive policies cost a lot. Judging from the scale of the Fourth Division's more than 2,000 killed and more than 6,000 injured, the pension and reward expenses for the Fourth Division alone have exceeded 2 million Australian dollars, which is close to 5% of the current Australasian government's annual revenue. one tenth.

Of course, Arthur would not let go of such an excellent opportunity to win over the people and the military.

All pensions and awards to soldiers are entirely funded by the royal family and awarded personally to every soldier or soldier's family.

This also made every soldier more loyal to the royal family, and the families of the fallen soldiers were grateful to the royal family without any complaints.

According to Australasia's pension policy, fallen soldiers can receive 10 times the per capita annual income and more than 500 Australian dollars as compensation.

This income is actually quite a lot, enough to buy a house in downtown Sydney, open a small-scale factory and become a small capitalist.

Or buying a large amount of land in the suburbs and becoming a farmer or rancher is a good choice.

Based on the pre-war price of 7.33 grams of gold per pound, more than 500 Australian dollars was equivalent to nearly 3.66 kilograms of gold. If we look at the price of goods in future generations, this pension is equivalent to more than one million.

Of course, if we take into account the price gap formed in the past 100 years or so, I am afraid that this number will increase several times, or even more than ten times.

In any case, this pension is not a small amount, it is enough for the families of the fallen soldiers to live a better life.

In addition, the government will also bear the education of the children of fallen soldiers, which can save their families a lot of expenses.

In order to make all soldiers feel more at ease, Arthur directly promised that they can go to the Royal Bank to get their pensions and rewards today.

As long as the soldier's personal information and family information can be provided, you can choose two payment methods: check or cash. Or continue to deposit it in the Royal Bank and enjoy the highest interest rate on your savings.

For Arthur, since he wanted to pay pensions and rewards to soldiers, it was naturally best to get them on the same day.

Speaking of not being able to do it will only arouse public resentment. Anyway, Arthur has already earned the 2 million Australian dollars from the military trade with Russia, and has even earned several times.

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