Rise of Australia

Chapter 406 Issuance of Pensions

While the Allies were planning a major counteroffensive on the Eastern Front, the Allied Powers camp was also planning to give Russia new support 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 the waters controlled by the Germans.

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

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

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

At the moment when Serbia and Russia assumed most of the forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for the Balkan countries, the attention of Greece, Montenegro, and Romania was on attacking Bulgaria and Turkey.

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

Of course, there is still a need to fight against Bulgaria, and most of Serbia's troops 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 Allied Powers want to transport supplies to Russia as soon as possible, they must remove the nail of Constantinople.

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

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

After communicating with Australasia, Commander Martin will be in charge of the Balkan front. He will lead the Second Guards Division, the Third Division, the Colonial First Division, the Second Division, the Third Division and the Fourth Division with more than 10 troops to form the Balkan Expedition Army, which will unite Greece, Romania, Montenegro and Serbia to attack Bulgaria and Ottoman Turkey and protect the Mediterranean route.

After the elimination of Bulgaria and Turkey, the Balkans will send troops to join forces with Russia to directly encircle Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the east, west and south.

In this way, Germany and Austria are like a turtle 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 counterattack is, they will be exhausted after round after round of consumption.

It is also known that the Australasian army will support Arthur of the Balkan countries.In fact, Arthur also supported such a plan.

At present, the Western Front has entered a stalemate, and the Germans are desperately defending. Even with the joint forces of Britain, France, Australia and Italy, there is nothing they can do about the Germans in a short time.

The current battlefield on the Western Front is already like a harvesting machine. Apart from harvesting the lives of soldiers from the Allies and Allies, the line of fire between the two countries has 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 aimed at Bulgaria, known as Balkan Prussia, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, which could be called a great power decades ago.

Compared with Germany, there is a big gap in the combat effectiveness of these two countries, and it happens to be able to demonstrate the combat capabilities of the Australasian army to the outside world. At the same time, they can make enough contributions in the war and get more benefits in the future.

1915 5 Month 25 Day.

Just as the Australasian Expeditionary Force arrived in the Balkans to prepare for the first wave of offensive, Australasia was also carrying out the first military rank promotion ceremony since the war, and it was also a compensation ceremony for wounded and dead soldiers.

No one knew how long the war would last, so Arthur decided that every time the army retreated, a military rank promotion and pension ceremony would be held.

Only by handing over the pensions to the families of the dead soldiers as soon as possible, and compensating and rewarding all soldiers who participated in the war, can the soldiers be worthy of their charge on the battlefield and their contributions to the country.

At around 1:[-] noon, the Sydney Palace Square was filled with crowds, and more than [-] soldiers of the Fourth Division were standing there.

"Gentlemen and ladies. On this special day, we stand together in solemn and sorrowful memory of the more than 1 soldiers who have lost their lives in war.

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

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

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

I declare that for all soldiers who died in battle, their families can receive 10 times the country's per capita annual income as a one-time compensation, and their children will be provided free of charge by the royal family for their adulthood or high school graduation.

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

All wounded soldiers can have their salaries doubled during the recuperation period, and those who are disabled can receive 5 times the country's per capita annual income as compensation, and the treatment of all wounded soldiers is borne by the state and the royal family. "

Hearing the pension policy mentioned by Arthur, 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 also very firm.

You must know that the casualties in Australasia are considered to be few among the major participating countries, which is also the basis for Australasia's firm implementation of the pension policy.

Take Russia as an example. At present, the 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 for one hundred rubles, the total will be as high as hundreds of millions of rubles, or more than 1000 million pounds.

The compensation figure for 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 dead 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 battle, with millions of casualties.

But among the millions of casualties of Russian soldiers, very few can receive pensions.

Under the premise of sacrificing an adult, many Russian peasant families even face higher taxes, not to mention compensation.

This is not over yet. Many Russians are still facing factors such as job loss, lower income, rising prices caused by inflation, and shortage of supplies.

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

Soldiers, the Royal Family and the Government will never forget what you did in the war, and neither will I.

May Australasia become stronger and stronger under your guardianship, and may all Australasians live in peace, health and happiness without worrying about war, hunger, poverty and disease. " Arthur said to all the soldiers with a smile.

These pensions and incentives can cost a lot.Judging from the fact that more than 2000 people were killed and more than 6000 people were injured in the Fourth Division, the cost of pensions and rewards for the Fourth Division alone has exceeded 200 million Australian dollars, which is close to one-fiftieth of the current annual income of the Australasian government.

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

All pensions and rewards for soldiers are all funded by the royal family and awarded to every soldier or soldier's family in person.

This also makes every soldier more loyal to the royal family, and the families of the soldiers who died in battle are also grateful to the royal family without any complaints.

According to Australasia's pension policy, soldiers who died in battle 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 property in the center of 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.

According to the 7.33 grams of gold per pound before the war, more than 500 Australian dollars is equivalent to nearly 3.66 kilograms of gold.If you look at the prices of later generations, this pension is equivalent to more than 100 million.

Of course, if the price gap formed in the past 100 years or so is taken into account, I am afraid that this figure will be multiplied several times, or even more than ten times.

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

In addition, the government will also undertake the education of the children of soldiers who died in battle, saving their families a lot of money.

In order to reassure all soldiers, Arthur even directly promised that he could go to the Royal Bank to obtain pensions and rewards today.

As long as the soldier's personal information and family information can be provided, he can choose to pay by check or cash.Or continue to deposit in the royal bank, you can enjoy the highest interest on savings.

For Arthur, since pensions and rewards were to be given to soldiers, it was naturally best to get them on the same day.

Saying that it can't be done will only arouse public resentment. Anyway, Arthur has already earned the 200 million Australian dollars from the military trade with Russia, and has even earned several times.

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(End of this chapter)