Chapter 947: Cession of Straits Settlements (1/2)

Chapter 947: Cession of Straits Settlements

Following the vine of Donald MacLean, the British intelligence department soon found several other big melons and almost caught all the spies infiltrated by Russia in Cambridge University.

The good news is that because the Russian intelligence department's infiltration lasted only a few years, the British nobles headed by Donald MacLean did not sell much intelligence to Britain.

At least so far, Russia has not obtained much military technology and industrial information through the intelligence department, and things have not reached the worst point.

But no matter what the consequences are, guys like Donald MacLean who sell out British interests will definitely be subject to quite serious sanctions.

First of all, the guys who led the group, the highest was secretly executed, and the lowest was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison.

At the same time, Britain, France and Australia also agreed to strengthen the supervision of Russian immigrants to prevent Russian spies from mixing in and infiltrating all walks of life in the three countries.

There is no way. For the three countries, this completely different ideology is what they need to guard against the most.

Of course, Britain and France are not completely in line with Australasia. In terms of military deployment, Britain and France obviously hope that Australasia will mobilize more troops to support Europe, and even hope to end the war as soon as possible.

But this is exactly what Arthur and Australasia do not want to see. At present, the consumption of Britain is not too severe. If the war ends too early, the British can still maintain their position as the world hegemon.

In this way, more unknown factors will be created for the future world situation. Having Russia as an opponent is already a headache, and Arthur does not want the British to continue to be the chess player in the world situation.

However, it is impossible not to increase troops in Europe. After discussions with the British, it was finally agreed that Australasia would increase its troops to Europe by 500,000 within three months and 1.5 million within six months, so that the size of the Australasia army in Europe would reach more than 2.3 million.

In order to allow Australasia to send troops in time, the British were completely willing to go all out.

First of all, the Straits Settlements and North Kalimantan Territory, which had been vying with Australasia, were all sold to Australasia with complete sovereignty.

Although Australasia needs to use a total of 56 million Australian dollars to purchase these two colonies, it can also choose to exchange them with important materials such as weapons and equipment, medical supplies and food.

According to the current import and export relationship between Britain and Australasia, this is not much different from directly giving it to Australasia.

After all, 56 million Australian dollars is basically just the income of a medium-sized order for the current vast arms market.

This is still relatively important for Australasia. After mastering the North Kalimantan Territory and the Straits Settlements, it can have a huge impact on the economy of Asia, which is considered the most important strategic area on the west coast of the Pacific.

The land of the Kalimantan United Sultanate can also be expanded, and naturally it can accommodate more indigenous populations.

At present, the total population of Kalimantan is already an unknown number, but it is at least more than 40 million. After the merger of North Kalimantan, the population of the entire Kalimantan Sultanate is expected to increase to more than 50 million, which is also a good improvement for Australasia.

Of course, before merging Kalimantan, it is necessary to distribute the land in North Kalimantan.

There are two indigenous countries in North Kalimantan controlled by the United Kingdom, namely the Sultanate of Brunei and the Kingdom of Sarawak.

The good news is that these two countries occupy less than one-third of the territory of North Kalimantan, and the remaining land can be freely distributed to other sultanates.

In order to increase the fighting desire of the indigenous people of Kalimantan, Arthur and the cabinet government discussed and formulated a policy on military merit in exchange for land.

In short, the eight small sultanates of the current Kalimantan United Sultanate, including the Brunei Sultanate and the Kingdom of Sarawak in North Kalimantan, can exchange a certain amount of land for their merits in this war.

As long as their merits are large enough, it is not impossible to reward them with all the remaining land in Kalimantan.

Using straightforward land and population to stimulate these sultanates to fight harder for Australasia, in general, Arthur and Australasia are completely at a loss.

More importantly, through the competition for military merits among several small sultanates, the relationship between the small sultanates can also be destroyed.

This will not only completely prevent the union of the small sultanates, but also make them compete with each other and even have hatred.

In this way, the Great Sultan who is in charge of the small sultanates will be even more uneasy. As long as the Great Sultan loses the trust of Australasia, he will never be able to gain a foothold in Kalimantan, where the sultanates coexist.

This can be regarded as an open conspiracy proposed by the Australasia government. Even if the small sultanates know that it is Australasia's strategy, they will definitely take the initiative to take the bait.

After all, Australasia rewards real land and population, which can not only improve the strength of their various sultanates, but also give them more say in the United Sultanate.

The benefit of doing this is that as long as the Great Sultan's strength cannot completely suppress other countries, Australasia can firmly control the entire Kalimantan Sultanate.

The ten sultanates check and balance each other. Even if a few sultanates want to rebel, the Great Sultan and the remaining sultanates will confront them head-on and even defeat them first in exchange for credit.

By the same token, if the Great Sultan has different ideas about Australasia, the ten surrounding sultanates will teach him a lesson.

Coupled with certain economic control and technological blockade, as long as it is ensured that Kalimantan's technology will never surpass Australasia, Australasia's control over Kalimantan will be permanent.

This can also be regarded as a big tree planted by Arthur for future monarchs. According to the land area of ​​Kalimantan, it is completely possible for the entire country to accommodate a population of hundreds of millions.

A market of at least 100 million people, and a market that can be exploited at will, is a huge boost to Australasia's national development.

Coupled with the Philippines, which also has a potential population of 100 million, these two markets alone are enough for Australasia's industry to flourish in the future, without worrying about overproduction.

This can also make up for the gap between Australasia and the United States before. As long as the market unification between the mainland, Kalimantan and the Philippines is completely completed, Australasia's potential will be no less than that of the United States before.

Since the benefits have been received, things must be done.

However, Australasia still has its own decision-making power on how to do things.

Starting from October 1937, Australasia gradually increased its troops to North Africa and Europe. However, the first batch of soldiers to the battlefields in North Africa and Europe were soldiers from Kalimantan and the Philippines. The Australasia army currently has another task, which is to take over part of the industrial equipment in the island country and empty their factories.

Yes, although the war with the island country is over, the compensation paid by the island country is definitely not as much as in the treaty.

According to the restriction treaty signed by Australasia and the island country, the scale of the army and navy of the island country, including heavy industry and military enterprises, will be subject to certain restrictions.

Let's not talk about the army restrictions for the time being, because the current situation of the island country is very chaotic, and it will take some time for them to figure out the casualties of the domestic army and the number of existing troops.

However, for the navy of the island country, the restrictions must be implemented on the day the treaty is signed.

This also means that within the time limit of the treaty, the island country is prohibited from independently developing heavy weapons, including tanks and aircraft.

No matter which force in the island country wants to have more advanced heavy weapons, it can only buy them from the outside world.

Although there is no restriction that it can only be purchased from Australasia, I believe that these forces in the island country are all smart people. For Arthur, once he finds a force that is difficult to control, the best way is definitely to directly eliminate this force.

Although Arthur does not intend to actively interfere in the situation of the island country, for the current several separatist forces in the island country, Arthur hopes that the forces controlled by Jiro Izumi can achieve the final victory.

However, it is also a good thing to let them fight a war for a while. Some of Australasia’s more backward weapons can be successfully sold, which can not only clear the inventory, but also accumulate certain research and development funds for the military factory to develop new weapons in the future.

In addition to emptying the heavy industry and military industry of the island country, Australasia has another thing to do, that is, to station troops in the island country and supervise the actions of the island country’s army.

Of course, to put it nicely, it should be Australasia sending troops to protect the island country whose strength is currently damaged.

The place where the garrison has been determined is Aomori, the northernmost part of Honshu Island, which is located in a strategic location within the island country's sphere of influence.

Aomori is located at the junction of Hokkaido and Honshu Island, and can easily disconnect Hokkaido and Honshu Island.

No matter what changes occur in the domestic situation of the island country, Australasia can cut the entire island country in half by controlling Aomori.

Because the purpose is to protect the security of the island country, 75% of the expenses of the garrison in Aomori are borne by the island country, and the remaining 25% are borne by Australasia.

However, because the island country needs to pay compensation to Australasia every year, in fact, the military expenses of the garrison in Aomori can be said to be completely borne by the island country government.

After consultations between the Ministry of National Defense, the General Staff and the government, the current size of the Aomori garrison is determined to be an army division plus a bomber formation plus a battleship formation.

In an island country without an air force and a navy, such a military organization can be completely sideways. The bombing range of the bomber formation almost covers the entire island country and the Korean Peninsula. Although the navy has only one battleship, it is definitely a huge threat to any coastal city of the island country.

For a country like an island country, it is necessary to station troops for defense. After determining the size of the garrison, Arthur immediately signed an order for the garrison and sent the newly formed army to garrison.

Whether in war or peace, the troops stationed in the island country are generally rotated once a year. This is not only to take into account the problem that the soldiers may miss their hometown, but also to take into account the frequent replacement of soldiers in the army in the future peacetime.

In the future peacetime, the service time of Australasia may be shortened to 3 to 4 years. This is done to allow more people to participate in the military service. Retired soldiers are also excellent reserves and can quickly join the army to fight at any time.

Of course, considering the high level of salary and benefits and good welfare policies for Australasian soldiers, the country will not lack soldiers no matter how long the service time is shortened.

What's more, there is Arthur's huge reputation. As long as the influence of the Arthur era is still there, there will be a steady stream of soldiers who follow the generals of the Arthur era as an example and continue to go to the army.

This is also what Arthur emphasized, about the importance of cultivating a tough image and military role models. At present, the most popular professions in Australasian are scientists and soldiers, followed by doctors, teachers and other positions, and actors and other professions can only be regarded as medium choices.

This is the most beneficial to the development of the country. Only by allowing the next generation to be more enthusiastic in scientific research and military careers can the country's strength become stronger.

In order to achieve this, in addition to Arthur's constant advocacy, effectively increasing the income of scientific researchers and soldiers is also a very important factor.

After all, only when the actual income is high, people will tend to choose high-income professions when making career choices. If it is just a passion, people also need to eat and live, right?

After completing the garrisoning of the island country, Australasia's next offensive target is North Africa.

Although Britain and France have captured Italy's Libyan colonies, Germany and Italy have counterattacked France's North African colonies and occupied a considerable part of France's colonies.

Coupled with Spain's millennium killing, the French were directly thrown into disarray.

This also has to mention the current composition of the French army.

Although the French army is as large as more than four million, there are actually very few elite troops left.

The French troops on the Tours Line can also be regarded as veterans, but they have been blocked on the line.

Although the German army is at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, its overall combat effectiveness is still higher than that of the French army.

This is vividly reflected in the defensive battle. The fact that the French army has not yet broken through the German position is the best evidence.

It is precisely because the main force of the French army is attacking Germany in the north that the French troops currently resisting Spain and Italy in the south are all recruits and indigenous troops from the colonies.

It's OK to count on these soldiers to fight a defensive battle, but their current mission is to attack the armies of Spain, Italy and Germany.

The result is also obvious. The performance of the French army in the West-France battlefield and the North African battlefield was a mess. It was just a fellow sufferer of Italy.