Rise of Australia

Chapter 370 War Preparations of the Allies
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, because of the illness of Prince Alexei, the meeting was postponed by Nicholas II, and it was finally postponed to the present a few months later.

Fortunately, this does not affect anything. The attitude of the allies to expand their armaments crazily has made the four major powers of the Allied Powers unite very closely.

The meeting of the Allied Powers this time included the monarchs, presidents and some senior government officials of the British Empire, France, Tsarist Russia and Australasia. The purpose was to discuss the tasks and goals of each country in the future.

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

Specifically, the annual meeting of the Allied Powers is a meeting where the Allied Powers discuss pre-war preparations, wartime plans, and distribution of benefits after the war. The target of this meeting is only one, and that is the Allied Powers' greatest enemy, the Allies.

On February 1914, 2, a secret internal meeting of the Allies was held in St. Petersburg.

The meeting was kept under wraps, but the meeting itself was public.It is not only a way for the Allied Powers to demonstrate to the Allied Powers, but also to tell the whole world that the four major powers of the Allied Powers are closely uniting together, and the Allied Powers are fearless of any enemies.

Of course, in addition to external demonstrations, there are a large number of spies in major European countries, which is also the reason why it is impossible to keep a meeting secret.

What the four major powers of the Allied Powers can do is to keep the content of the meeting highly confidential on the premise that the meeting itself is made public.

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

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

The way Arthur chose to travel was the airship. After a long period of verification with multiple flights, it has been determined that the safety performance of the airship in Australasia is relatively reliable, and the probability of accidents is extremely low.

Of course, in order to ensure his own safety, the airship Arthur was riding on this time was equipped with a large number of parachutes, which could ensure that the members on the airship had a greater chance of survival in the event of an accident.

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

If it wasn't for the fact that the plane could not be exposed for the time being, Arthur even planned to call a few fighter jets to escort him.

Arthur still attaches great importance to his own safety. The reality is not like the TV series. Even if Arthur doesn't pay attention, government officials in Australasia will never allow Arthur to travel without more than 100 guards.

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

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

Although I took a much faster airship, when I arrived in St. Petersburg, it was already February 2, half a month later.

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

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

As for 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 Allied Powers attached great importance to this meeting. Not only King George V of England, King Arthur of Australasia, Tsar Nicholas II, the three emperors of France and the President of France, but also Minister of the Navy Churchill attended the meeting. Foreign Minister Edward, Russian Defense Minister, Foreign Minister, Australasian Minister of State Roger, Defense Minister Raul, etc.

As for Russia, since the meeting was held in St. Petersburg, Russia could be regarded as a country where all the people participated in the battle, and any minister was called in whenever it was needed.

After friendly exchanges between officials of the four countries, on February 1914, 2, the Allied Conference was officially held.

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

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

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

First, the Brits, who had been somewhat outsiders, took on more 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 put an end to the possibility of the British becoming a crap stick. The British must stand firmly behind the Allied Powers and firmly and effectively fulfill the alliance with the other three major powers, so that the Allied Powers will last.

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, and creating crises, the other three major powers must immediately stand behind the provoked country. After consultation, take joint actions to maintain world peace.

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

Except for the Allies, not even the United States has the guts to launch an attack on any of the Allies.

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

This statement is limited to the period of war. Britain assumes the defense of the Atlantic coast of France, and France undertakes the defense of the British along the coast of the Mediterranean colonies.

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

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

Just in case, part of the British fleet on the Atlantic coast, and the Australasian fleet patrolling the Indian Ocean, will take joint action after consultation to immediately blockade the entire Mediterranean, especially the Strait of Otranto, to prevent Italy from Confluence of Navy and Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Australasia has undertaken the least amount of naval obligations, in fact, because the Australasian navy has only five main warships so far.

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

Anyway, there are only three dreadnoughts and two battlecruisers at full count. Even if they are all sunk, Arthur will only feel heartbroken.

Not only the navy, but in terms of the army, the obligations that countries should undertake have also been initially divided.

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

The French need to undertake the German offensive on the western front, where a large number of German main forces will be gathered.In addition, the Mediterranean route is also the task of the French, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet and part of the Australasian fleet can provide assistance.

The main targets of the Russians were against their enemies Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.Of course, it is also necessary to open up 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 resources but insufficient weapons and equipment, Britain, France and Australia have successively promised to provide Russia with lower-priced weapons and equipment support in the war.

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

As for the task of Australasia, firstly, dispatch at least 30 combat troops to support France.

Second, apart from retaining a certain scale of garrison forces, the Australasian navy is dispatched to cooperate with the mobilization of the British, French, and Russian navies.

Third, in view of Australasia's fairly good military industry, Australasia will be responsible for providing Russia with a large amount of weapons and equipment, and the price should not be too high.

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

The initial division of combat tasks is basically like this, which was initially determined by the four countries based on their respective geographical locations.

In fact, whether it is divided or not, the situation after the outbreak of the war is like this.The geographical location determines the war policy of each country, and it is impossible for Australasia to go to a decisive battle with the German navy, isn't it?
To say that the task is the heaviest in the preliminary division of combat tasks, it may be the French.

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

Although Italy's military strength is not that strong, France can't beat Germany!
The good news is that, on the army side, the French have support from Britain and Australasia.

According to the agreement between the two parties, the number of troops supported by the United Kingdom and Australasia will be around 60.

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

Navally, the blockade of the Mediterranean looks difficult, but with the support from the British, Russian Black Sea Fleet and Australasian Fleet, the possibility of completing the task is still very high.

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

After all, there is nothing wrong with the war plan of the Allied Powers except for consumption, and the Allied Powers basically have great fortunes, and they are not afraid of a little consumption.

As for the distribution of benefits after the war, the negotiations were not so smooth.In the end, it was Arthur who proposed to distribute the war according to the losses and contributions of the four major powers, which obtained the consent of France and Russia, and the British finally nodded.

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

As for the Russians, what advantage they have is that there are many people.In terms of losses, the Russians are really not afraid of anyone.

If millions of farmers could be killed or injured in exchange for Russia's huge benefits after the war, the Russian government and high-level officials would agree with it.

As for the British Empire, both France and Russia agreed, and the British naturally couldn't keep dragging it on.

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

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

In any case, Australasia, as one of the four major powers of the Allied Powers, has at least the fourth largest distribution of benefits in the post-war world.

Even if a big power like Italy turned against it, its role and post-war status would definitely not be comparable to that of Australasia.

What's more, whether Russia can survive the First World War unharmed 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 world's third largest profit distribution.At least in a short period of time, Australasia does not have the strength to compete with Britain and France, even after the weakening of Britain and France after World War I.

If Australasia can become the top five powers or even the top four powers in the world by virtue of the distribution of benefits after the war, Australasia will have greater confidence to seek greater status and interests.

Among other things, after the victory of the war, Australasia directly became the fifth power in the world after Britain, France, Russia, and the United States.

According to history, the Allies, especially France, exploited Germany cruelly, which also severely restricted Germany's military strength.

If we can take advantage of this opportunity to absorb a lot of German factory equipment and experts, and absorb part of Germany's industrial strength and heritage, then Australasia will have the background to wrestle with the United States.

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

At least compared to Australasia, whose industrial strength is not so strong except for heavy industry, the industrial strength of the Americans is still much stronger.

Of course, if we only talk about military strength, the current United States is no longer the opponent of Australasia.

If Australasia and the United States border, it is not impossible to eliminate the United States from the current military technology in Australasia.

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

After the war is really over, the distribution must not only be made according to the actual contribution of each country, but also how much meat can be cut from the allies.

However, after a few days of discussions between the four major powers, they have reached some agreements in principle.

The British would receive all the spoils of the German Navy after victory in the war, and the largest share of all the colonies of the Allies.

In compensation to several other nations, the French would be allowed to recover Alsace-Lorraine, and some compensation from nearby German and Italian territories.

On the Russian side, Austrian Poland, German Poland, and the United Kingdom officially renounced their alliance with the island nation.

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

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

Of course, in order to express their support for Australasia, after Arthur's dealings, the Allies agreed to Australasia's request to receive part of Germany's factories and talents after the war.

The attitudes of these Germans towards Britain, France, and Russia after the war can be imagined, and Britain, France, and Russia are not interested in accepting these German experts.

These divisions in principle also basically include the relatively important core interests of each country.

Although the British Empire obtained the largest colony of all the German navy after the war, the compensation given to the other three countries was barely enough to satisfy the three major powers.

As for Australasia, there was no interest in the African colonies, so the license to expand the Dutch East Indies, and the opportunity to receive German factories and talents, was much more important than the African colonies.

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

It is enough to determine the core interests. As long as the core interests declared by all countries can be respected, the Allied Powers will be able to survive, instead of conflicts arising from the division of internal interests before the war broke out.

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

The treaty stipulates that Russia has hegemony in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, and Australasia has hegemony in the Southwest and South Pacific Ocean.

The four major powers of the Allies respect the hegemony of Russia and Australia, while Britain and France enjoy special status in the Pacific Ocean.

In addition to respecting the rights of the two major countries of the Allied Powers in the Pacific region, the Pacific Treaty also stipulates that if a country that is not a member of the Allied Powers asserts its interests in the Pacific Region, it will be regarded as a provocation against the Allied Powers.

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

If the previous agreement was aimed at the allies, then this agreement is clearly aimed at the United States.

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

Although there is a high probability that Britain and France will 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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(End of this chapter)