Chapter 746 Combat Preparation Plan

As time entered the 1930s, Arthur couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Although the United States has been divided, the world situation has not calmed down. Leaving aside the war in Eastern Europe, the situation in Germany is also very chaotic.

In addition, the French have been making small moves recently, and they even have the intention of starting another naval arms race.

The island countries in Asia are not peaceful either. Not only are they frantically building their navies, they are also expanding their armies repeatedly.

Everything has shown that war may be what will happen in the 1930s. Although it is not clear which year it is, it is necessary to prepare in advance.

In order to ensure Australasia's advantages in sea, land and air, Arthur decided to carry out a new round of military expansion, increase the size of the troops in sea, land and air, so that Australasia's military strength would stabilize Top three in the world.

The first is the size of the army.

At present, Australasia has a total of 15 conventional infantry divisions, 2 Guards infantry divisions, 4 conventional cavalry divisions, 1 Guards cavalry division, 6 conventional artillery divisions and 3 conventional tank divisions. The conventional army plus the Guards The total number of soldiers in the army exceeds 400,000.

Judging from the size of the army alone, the total number of Australasian army troops is quite large, almost at the same level as France and island countries.

However, the territory to be defended in Australasia was too large, which invisibly consumed the number of troops that could be mobilized.

If a war breaks out, Arthur can mobilize up to 300,000 troops, which is only a drop in the bucket for a large-scale war.

In terms of the army, Arthur did not plan to expand the army on a large scale. After all, the army reform has only been implemented for more than a year, and there is no need to make major changes for the time being.

What the Army needs to change is to strengthen the scope and quantity of its reserves. As mentioned before, among college students, there is a two-week military training every year.

Military training mainly trains discipline and marksmanship, plus some military posture and physical strength training, which can ensure that these college students can exert their combat effectiveness after entering the battlefield.

Secondly, for adult citizens under the age of 30, the government will call for militarized training every two years.

The training for these people will be relatively loose. Generally speaking, they will be exposed to and familiar with firearms, and then familiar with military disciplines and so on.

These groups were the planned reserve forces for Australasia. If war breaks out, by calling on these reserve forces, Australasia's Army combat forces can exceed 1.5 million at any time.

What needs to be focused on expansion this time is the navy and air force.

Let’s talk about the Air Force first.

After the proposal of the Staff Department, the current Australasian Air Force is divided into the Persian Gulf Defense Area, the Homeland Defense Area, the Southeast Asian Defense Area, the Pacific Defense Area and the North American Defense Area.

Each defense zone has an air force headquarters and a varying number of air force units stationed there.

Under each air force unit, there are corresponding fighter units, reconnaissance units, strategic bombing units and strategic transport units.

At present, the number of Australasian Air Force aircraft has exceeded 2,200, of which the number of fighters and bombers is the largest, with more than 900 and 500 respectively.

Logically speaking, the Australasian Air Force should be considered the strongest in the world at present. The data released by each air force defense zone is only the fourth and fifth generation fighter jets, but the real trump card is the strictly confidential jet aircraft.

As long as a war breaks out, jet aircraft can enter the war at any time, destroy the enemy's air force at an extremely fast speed, and gain sufficient air superiority for the ground forces.

Of course, the number of aircraft does not include the carrier-based aircraft carried on the aircraft carrier.

The Navy actually has aircraft, and there are quite a few of them.

More than ten years have passed since the end of World War I, and the size of Australasia's navy has still undergone great changes.

At present, the size of Australasia's navy can only be said to be neither high nor low, with 6 dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, 6 aircraft carriers, 2 pre-dreadnoughts and hundreds of small and medium-sized warships.

Since the end of World War I, no dreadnought has been built for more than five years. This actually shows that Arthur did not want to cause competition in the navy.

But things are different now.

According to the previous naval limitation treaty, the size of the Australasian navy has not yet reached the upper limit stipulated in the treaty.

In other words, Australasia can build its own new warships legally and compliantly without worrying about attracting the attention of other countries.

Regarding the construction of new warships, under Arthur's order, the Naval Command quickly proposed a plan and submitted it to the General Staff and the Ministry of National Defense for review.

By the time this naval expansion plan was delivered to Arthur's desk, it was already the third day of internal deliberations within the Ministry of Defense.

Arthur frowned when he saw the naval expansion plan, and for a moment he didn't know whether to approve it or not.

In the Navy's expansion plan, at least 4 more aircraft carriers alone will be built, as well as at least 4 of the latest dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, 10 of the latest medium frigates, 15 small destroyers, and 22 light patrol boats, 17 coastal protection frigates, and 12 offshore gunboats.

You know, this naval expansion treaty is only for six years. Once Arthur approves the plan, Australasia's navy will rank among the top three in the world in six years.

Relying on Australasia's air force shape, the naval strength at that time will be one of three, second only to the British level.

In normal times, Arthur might have worried about arousing the fear of the British. But at this time, the French were already very interested in provoking an arms race, and the islanders were also frantically building a navy. Arthur's idea was indeed shaken.

After all, island countries are also considered potential enemies of Australasia, and it is impossible not to take precautions against them.

Only if the navy's strength can stabilize the island countries can Australasia gain an advantage in future wars.

This is also a very simple reason. Either the islanders block the coastline of Australasia, or Australasia blocks the coastline of the islanders. This is the lifeblood of the two island countries.

It's just that the island where Australasia is located is just a bit bigger, but that still doesn't change the nature of it being an island.

What makes Arthur more hesitant is the financial cost of this naval construction plan.

Although Australasia's annual fiscal revenue has reached 370 million Australian dollars, fiscal expenditures have also remained above 300 million Australian dollars.

Especially after the eight-year construction plan was launched, fiscal expenditures have exceeded fiscal revenues, and annual fiscal losses have reached more than 20 million Australian dollars, or even more.

Looking at this naval construction plan again, each item represents a large amount of expenditure.

The cost of building 4 dreadnoughts and 5 battlecruisers alone has exceeded 65 million Australian dollars. Coupled with four aircraft carriers, the cost of main battleships has reached close to 90 million Australian dollars.

Although the remaining small and medium-sized warships are not that expensive, the funds required to expand the navy will be at least 120 million Australian dollars.

Is it really worth it to spend one-third of the year's income on the navy, or at an important moment when the country is undergoing major construction?

After careful consideration, Arthur still felt that it was worth it.

Time is running out for Australasia. Failure to increase military strength to a sufficient level to ensure national security within this period will inevitably cause greater financial and human casualties to Australasia.

It's just over 100 million Australian dollars, and the government can still afford it.

Of course, for the sake of democracy, this naval construction order must be implemented with the consent of the cabinet government.

Since Arthur has decided to weaken the royal power, he must not arbitrarily agree to this plan at this time.

Otherwise, William and even William's son will be so arbitrary in the future, which is not a good thing for the development of the government and the continuation of the royal power.

After all, not every monarch will think for a long time like Arthur when making decisions. They also do not have Arthur's experience from later generations. If they make a wrong choice in a certain direction, they will not only face huge financial losses, but also have a high probability of damaging the prestige of the royal family.

No matter what, the Navy will definitely expand.

Regarding the latest dreadnought ship in this naval construction plan, Arthur still expressed some concern.

This may be the last level of dreadnoughts to be built in Australasia, followed by the system of aircraft carriers and destroyers.

Therefore, Arthur has very strict requirements for the tonnage and combat effectiveness of the dreadnought, which must be the most advanced in the world.

The design of the dreadnought was left to a few shipyards. Whoever designs a dreadnought that is favored by Arthur and the Naval Command can easily win the order to build the dreadnought.

Among the entire naval construction orders, the construction of dreadnoughts accounts for the majority, which also makes several major shipyards very enthusiastic about designing dreadnoughts.

The shipyards currently capable of designing and building the latest dreadnoughts are the Sydney Shipyard, Melbourne Shipyard and Auckland Shipyard, which hold the royal title.

Because these three shipyards belong to the royal consortium, the technical levels they possess are actually similar.

No matter which shipyard designed an excellent warship design and finally received an order for a dreadnought, the results would be similar for Arthur.

As for the remaining government-built shipyards and private shipyards, they do not yet have the ability to build the latest battleships.

Although the government has provided all-round encouragement to the private shipbuilding industry, the development of the shipbuilding industry cannot be achieved so quickly.

However, in the field of civilian ships, Australasia currently has a certain level.

From small boats of a few tons to large civilian ships of several thousand tons, there are still many shipyards that can build them.

After all, it is a multi-island country. If the shipbuilding industry is not strong, exchanges and communication between various regions of the country will be a problem.

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