Chapter 420 Colonial Deployment

October 1915, Australasia.

Arthur has been in a very good mood recently. The army has been victorious on the front line. Through peace talks, it has also obtained the Persian Gulf coast area from Kuwait to Qatar.

This is vital to Australasia's future oil reserves and economic development.

If the truce states can be exchanged from Britain in the future, Australasia will control at least a quarter of the world's oil reserves, and even be infinitely close to one-third.

It is not difficult to exert influence on some countries and regions in the Middle East and control the pricing power of international oil.

The importance of oil is self-evident. At least for 150 years, oil will be the most important energy source, and there will be no one.

Although Europe was at war, the impact of this large-scale war on Australasia was still small, and the social order of Australasia was not affected in any way.

All occupied areas in Australasia are currently under wartime control, and Arthur has no intention of integrating them until at least the end of the war.

In fact, this is also easy to understand. If these newly occupied areas were war zones, then militarized management would be a matter of course and no one would object.

But if these areas are formally integrated, they will serve as Australasian territories or colonies, and some shady plans will not be implemented.

The first was German New Guinea. During the period of occupying German New Guinea, the Australasian army expelled more than 400,000 indigenous people in this area and deliberately let go of some indigenous people who opposed Australasian rule. and residents, allowing them to abscond to Dutch-controlled areas.

If there is a current administrative map, it can be clearly seen that the entire island of New Guinea is cut into two pieces from the middle, with the west part belonging to the Dutch East Indies and the east part belonging to Australasia.

New Guinea is the second largest island in the world, second only to Greenland, which is located in the extremely cold zone.

Although Greenland is larger, its development potential is lower because it is located in the Arctic Circle, and even now there are not many people living there.

But New Guinea is different. New Guinea is located in the tropics, with sufficient rainfall and flat land, suitable for development.

The entire New Guinea peninsula covers an area of ​​786,000 square kilometers, which is larger than the total area of ​​France and the three lowland countries (only counting the mainland).

More importantly, the entire island of New Guinea is rich in mineral resources, including oil, natural gas, copper ore, gold ore, chromium ore, nickel ore, aluminum ore, etc., with huge potential value.

This island alone can accommodate up to tens of millions of people and is an excellent food-producing area.

Compared with Australia, which does not have sufficient water resources, New Guinea is very rich in water resources. Arthur's previously planned north-south water diversion was intended to transfer water resources from New Guinea Island to the Australian region.

Moreover, the distance between New Guinea and Australia is closer than that between New Zealand and Australia. It is an excellent land that is easy to master and suitable for development.

Half of such excellent land is in the hands of the Dutch. This is something Arthur does not want to see, and I believe Australasians do not want to see it either.

Therefore, Arthur felt that it was necessary for Australasia to solve this problem for the Dutch, find an excuse to take over the Dutch-controlled island of West New Guinea, and unify the entire New Guinea.

This is why some rebels in Australasia escaped from German New Guinea and headed for Dutch-controlled areas.

When the opportunity comes, Arthur will angrily declare that there are a large number of forces resisting Australasia in the Dutch East Indies and plotting to overthrow Australasia's rule in New Guinea.

Then it was time for the Australasian Army to perform. European countries are busy with wars. This is Australasia's best opportunity for expansion. No country will oppose Australasia's expansion.

Of course, expelling the indigenous people was also Arthur's purpose. The entire German New Guinea region was home to at least one million indigenous people, which was not a good thing for the future rule of Australasia.

It happened that while German New Guinea was still under militarized management, these indigenous people were forcefully expelled.

For some indigenous people who are unwilling to leave German New Guinea, we can only ask them to stay in this land forever.

The forceful expulsion of these indigenous people was not as gentle as the family members of the indigenous people who joined the colonial army.

The families of the colonial troops would also provide severance pay and arrange for transport ships to be transported to their destinations in person.

For these forcibly expelled indigenous people, the military often only had one sentence to leave within a week, otherwise they would face serious consequences.

For such a long time, it was not without challenges to the Australasian army, but what they faced was a more brutal massacre.

Judging from the sophistication of the equipment of the Australasian army, these indigenous people have no contribution other than increasing the KD of the Australasian army.

After expelling 400,000 indigenous people, the army has massacred at least 200,000 indigenous people, and is still hunting all the indigenous people.

At least in the current Australasia, Arthur does not welcome these black indigenous people. No matter how much they contribute to the country, they will only receive a bonus and then be persuaded to leave.

Even if the population of Australasia was a big problem, Arthur would never include these black indigenous people in his immigration plan.

The newly acquired lands in the Middle East are also under militarized management. Thankfully, with the exception of Kuwait, none of the other areas are overpopulated.

Of course, even if Kuwait is included, the indigenous population of the Middle East occupied by Australasia is not as large as that of German New Guinea.

Especially in Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf coast, Qatar, Bahrain and other areas, the total resident population does not exceed 150,000. Only a small amount of immigration is needed to completely control this area.

The population of Kuwait is relatively large, but only over 100,000 people. Moreover, after the Iraqi region is controlled by the British, the connection between Kuwait and the Ottomans will be cut off, and it will be easy to control a small Kuwait.

As long as there is massive immigration to this area in the next few decades and Australasians make up the majority of the population of this land, then this land will be the sacred and inviolable territory of Australasia since ancient times.

Of course, most Australasians were reluctant to immigrate to the Middle East until oil was developed in the region.

After all, this land has too many deserts and the temperature is too high for living. Coupled with the lack of water resources, it was better to live in mainland Australasia or other colonies.

But after the oil resources in this area are developed, the value of this area will increase significantly.

Oil workers, family members of oil companies, etc., these will be the first batch of immigrants to go to the Middle East.

Using the oil resources in the Middle East, we can also create some oases in the desert and attract more immigrants.

Of course, after the oil resources in this land are developed, at least one division of troops will be stationed in this area.

Even judging from the scope of the land occupied by Australasia, at least 2 to 3 divisions are needed to properly protect this area.

When the navy expands in the future, there will even be a Persian Gulf fleet, etc., in order to strengthen Australasia's dominance in this area, while influencing other countries in the Middle East, and achieving Arthur's purpose of controlling world oil prices.

In addition to the layout of overseas territories, Australasia will also receive good news, that is, two Hope-class battleships are about to officially enter service.

The battleships Hope and Dream officially started construction in January 1914, and have been built for nearly two years.

As early as the beginning of this year, the two battleships had been built almost identically. But because Arthur wanted to equip a 15-inch main gun instead of the current 13.5-inch main gun, it was delayed for two months.

The good news is that through the cooperation between the United Kingdom and Australasia, the 15-inch main gun has indeed been developed, and both the United Kingdom and Australasia have used it on their latest warships.

Because of this, Australasia's two super battleships will be equipped with 15-inch main guns for the first time, becoming veritable super battleships.

In terms of firepower, the two battleships had achieved a huge lead. Not to mention more than all, at least more than most super battleships in the world. In terms of combat effectiveness, it is definitely in the first gear of super battleships.

At present, the battleships Hope and Dream have been launched for testing in March this year and are expected to be officially commissioned early next year, that is, two or three months later.

This will greatly strengthen Australasia's naval combat effectiveness and also increase the Allied powers' hope of victory.

Since the outbreak of the war, the speed of building warships in European countries has not slowed down, except for Russia.

Therefore, Arthur also signed the next round of naval expansion plan, which still has two super-dreadnought ships, named Dawn and Sunrise.

The construction of these two super invincible ships started in October this year. The construction time is expected to be the end of 1916 and the expected service time is the end of 1917.

In addition to the two main warships, Arthur also signed an order worth 10 million Australian dollars, including dozens of small and medium-sized warships.

Some small and medium-sized warships will be built at the Melbourne Shipyard and Orange Shipyard. With the joint efforts of powerful shipyards, there is no problem in completing the construction within one year.

After the new round of naval expansion plan is completed, Australasia's naval strength will be second only to Britain, Germany, France and the United States.

Of course, this is only comparable to the current size of the navies of other countries. Each European country has its own naval expansion plan, and no one is sure about the size of each country's navy in two years.

If a large-scale naval battle breaks out on the European battlefield, it will also have a greater impact on the strength of the navies of various countries.

Unlike wars on land, wars on the sea affect the whole body, and a large sea battle can often determine the outcome.

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