Rise of Australia

Chapter 432 Various changes and anxious battles
On December 1915, 12, after spending a happy Christmas with his family, Arthur began to visit several military factories and shipyards, inspecting and expressing condolences to the current conditions of these military factories.

Compared with Europe, the impact of the war on Australasia is minimal, and even the development of Australasia is still in a relatively stable growth range.

Because it was the end of the year, Arthur also got the development data of Australasia in 1915.

The first thing the Australasian government disclosed to the public was the number of casualties of soldiers so far.

So far, Australasia has dispatched more than 60 combat troops to Europe, with 13.5 dead and 22.3 injured.

At present, the number of soldiers in Europe is only in the early 30s. Nearly [-] indigenous people have completed their obligation to join the army and have been sent to other regions with their families.

In the new year, 1916, Australasia expected to send 50 combat troops to Europe, including 48.4 Aboriginal soldiers and 1.6 regular soldiers.

Neither the Australasian government nor Arthur felt distressed about sending aboriginal soldiers, and it could also play a role in the war of attrition in Europe, which can be said to be a win-win situation.

The aboriginal soldiers who survived the war did receive the treatment Arthur promised, which led to these aboriginals not rejecting joining the army, because at least their families could be guaranteed to regain their freedom and live in other areas.

It has been more than a year since the outbreak of the war, and most of the weapons, equipment and ammunition that Arthur had stored before the war were consumed.

At present, the major military factories in Australasia are already working overtime to produce, but they still cannot meet the weapons and equipment needed in the European battlefield.

It can be expected that with the development of time and the continuation of the war, the European battlefield will only become increasingly short of weapons, equipment and ammunition, and the expansion speed of military factories in various countries will only become faster and faster.

Especially in the Russian region, there is at least a shortage of millions of rifles, hundreds of millions of bullets, thousands of artillery pieces and millions of shells.

Australasia alone has exported at least 200 million rifles, which is enough to show how huge the consumption of this war is.

Of course, the war still had a certain impact on Australasia.If you have to say one of the most influential aspects, it must be the number of immigrants in Australasia.

As of now, the total population of Australasia is more than 1645.49 million, an increase of about 108.4 million over the previous year.

Although it seems that the population growth is still at the level of one million, among the newly increased population of 108 million, the number of newborn babies in China has reached 45.7.

Subtracting those newborn numbers leaves Australasia with only about 64.3 migrants this year, just over half of last year's migration.

This proves a more serious problem. With the war in Europe, the number of European immigrants has been greatly reduced.

Even the Russian immigrants who were very reliable before, because of the civil strife in Russia, the number of immigrants has also been greatly reduced. At present, it can only maintain the scale of 50 million immigrants per year, and there is even a risk of further reduction.

There are even fewer immigrants from other countries. The vast majority of European countries add up to only a little over [-] immigrants, which is enough to show how serious the impact of this war is on Europe.

It is not even an exaggeration to say that countries that have been severely affected by the war, such as Britain, France and Germany, have closed immigration channels by default.

For civilians in these countries, it is not easy to flee the country during war.

Once the number of immigrants from Russia continues to decline, the annual population growth of Australasia is likely to drop below 100 million, breaking the new low of population growth in recent years.

Of course, this is also impossible.We can only look forward to a short period of peace after the war, which will also be a period of immigration outbreak.

In fact, in the final analysis, another main reason for the decline in Russian immigration is the strict review of Russian immigration by the Australasian immigration department.

At present, there are a frightening number of revolutionaries among Russian immigrants. These people who may have an impact on the stability of the country must go through a review, and only after a long assessment period can they truly obtain Australasian citizenship.

As for the per capita income, the per capita income of Australasia has grown to 53.1 Australian dollars, and it is still under the premise that the Australian dollar has not depreciated much.

In 1915, when the currencies of European countries generally depreciated and the per capita income of residents generally declined, such a performance in Australasia was still rare.

Of course, it is not just per capita income that is growing steadily.

So far, the GDP of Australasia this year has reached 18.12 billion US dollars, equivalent to 3.624 million pounds, 7.248 million Australian dollars. The growth rate is 2% higher than last year, reaching about 8%.

However, this is due to the overexpansion of the military industry and the large export of food and other resources by European countries.

As a result, Australasia has made a lot of profits, and these funds have been used in domestic development and construction, which has led to the rapid economic growth of the country.

For the same reason, under the premise of negative economic growth in European countries, Australasia's economy can achieve relatively good and substantial growth, which is definitely the only one for Scorpion Baba.

This is also reflected in the fiscal revenue.

In 1915, the total fiscal revenue of the Australasian Government was approximately A$1.245 million, an increase of nearly 16% over the previous year.

After all, a large amount of materials and resources were exported, and the sharp increase in fiscal revenue was justified.

You know, even Arthur's royal consortium paid more than 1915 million Australian dollars in taxes to the government in 2000.

The income of the royal consortium is even more exaggerated. The total income in 1915 was about 1.075 million Australian dollars, and the financial income was not much different from that of the government.

Of course, for larger factories and enterprises, Australasian taxes are still relatively heavy.

For civilians and low- and middle-income groups, government taxes are relatively low, which is why Australasians appreciate the government so much.

It didn't matter to Arthur either.After all, whether it's the royal consortium or the government's finances, Arthur can move them at will, but in fact, he just turns his left hand over his right hand.

The government could even exempt the crown consortium from tax if Arthur wanted to.But this is not too necessary. On the contrary, because of the special status of the royal consortium, the royal family has suffered some criticism.

Just imagine, when the people get such reports, even the monarch and the royal family are unwilling to pay taxes to the government, so how can the people willingly pay taxes to the government?

At that time, there will be a lot of tax avoidance, tax evasion, and tax evasion, which will cause trouble for the stability of the government and society.

Under the premise of high government fiscal revenue, the increase in fiscal expenditure is actually quite a lot.

In 1915, the total government expenditure was about 1.12 million Australian dollars, and the financial surplus was as high as 1250 million Australian dollars.

This year's fiscal expenditure has increased by nearly 1500 million Australian dollars compared to last year. After all, a new round of warship construction plans has started, plus various expansions of armaments and consumption of wars.

If it weren't for half of the military expenditures borne by the British, I am afraid that fiscal expenditures will increase, and they may even face financial losses.

In addition to the military industry, the growth rate of other industries in Australasia is not slow.

At present, the best-selling industrial products in Australasia include steel helmets, activated carbon gas masks, custom-made military uniforms, cotton coats, military boots, mouse traps, etc. in addition to military weapons and ammunition.

Yes, mouse traps are also one of the most urgently needed supplies for European frontline troops.Because the war in Europe has entered a war of attrition, and the war of attrition is dominated by trench warfare.

The trenches dug by each side would harbor large numbers of rats and other animals, including fleas, which were a headache and annoyance to many soldiers.

Because of this, mouse traps and flea medicines have become one of the most scarce supplies on the frontline battlefield, and even have a higher priority than weapons and ammunition.

Australasia also seized this opportunity to study rat poison enough to kill most rats, as well as special flea medicine, and gained a part of the market.

Almost every batch of rat poison and flea poison that arrived at the front line was immediately divided up by combat troops.

During the non-combat period, what soldiers want to do most is to take a good bath and then deal with these fleas on their bodies.

While most rats and fleas are not fatal, fleas hopping around and biting you can be extremely itchy.

Rats are even more terrifying. If there are no protective measures and there are many rats, it is very likely that the ears will be bitten off by rats in their sleep. Such cases happen from time to time.

Therefore, some soldiers in the trenches used barbed wire to surround themselves with a fence, which could prevent the approach of mice.

In any case, the existence of these rats and fleas not only caused great distress to the soldiers fighting on the front line, but also made these soldiers physically and mentally exhausted, and even had no intention of fighting.

It is precisely because of this that rat poison, flea medicine and other items are so popular, and they are loved by frontline soldiers.

Arthur looked at the report on the whole year of 1915 in his hand, and he was still in a very good mood.

But at this time, the belligerent countries far away in Europe are not in such a beautiful mood.

More than a month has passed since the Battle of Verdun. Both the German and French troops suffered heavy casualties, but neither side dared to issue an order to retreat.

In fact, in the early stage of the offensive and defensive battle of Verdun, Germany's progress was relatively smooth.

It took only a few days for the German army to successfully complete the first task set by the German General Staff, which was to occupy the area around Verdun and capture the first defensive position on the periphery.

Through the bombardment of a large number of artillery, when the French were dazed by the artillery fire and did not react, the Germans quickly advanced their position by two kilometers.

Even if the Germans had achieved a partial victory, the French staff at this time still hadn't figured out Germany's true intentions, and there was no way to formulate the next battle plan based on this.

This also caused the French commander-in-chief Joffre to only maintain the average defensive strength of Verdun in all directions, so that he can effectively resist the German main attack in any direction.

Some French soldiers in the Verdun Fortress area were natives recruited from the colonies. They had not experienced the severe cold weather in northern France. Coupled with the low morale, some native troops were vulnerable to combat.

Some native soldiers even turned around and ran away, but were directly shot dead by the French supervisory team behind them.

No matter who escaped, at such an important moment in the offensive and defensive battle of Verdun, all escaped people must be killed without hesitation.

Otherwise, if these native soldiers learn from others, there will only be more soldiers fleeing in the future, and it will even directly affect the fighting desire of the main French army.

As the German army attacked step by step, Germany captured the main fort on the east bank of the Verdun Fortress and several high grounds near the fort.

Langer, commander of the French Army Group Center, had to order the withdrawal of the Second Army to the Heights of Maas, while the Waver Valley, where the Second Army was stationed before, was occupied by the German troops who followed the trend.

Only then did Joffre realize that Verdun was the main target of the German attack and decided to take emergency measures immediately.

In order to stabilize the morale of the Fortress of Verdun, Joffre sent the French chief of staff, Castelneau, to supervise the battle in the Fortress of Verdun, and sent new reinforcements to the Fortress of Verdun.

The 1st Army, 13th Army, 21st Army and several artillery divisions were mobilized to the Verdun battlefield by Xia Fei, and they barely stabilized the situation in Verdun.

It is worth mentioning that when Verdun was in extreme danger, Joffre appointed the commander of the Second Army, General Henri Philippe Pétain, as the commander of the Verdun theater.

Speaking of Petain's great reputation, it can be said to be well known in the history of World War I in later generations.

But now, Petain is only a powerful commander of the group army, and has just been appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Verdun theater.

After receiving the appointment, Pétain immediately went to the headquarters of the Verdun fortress.

General Petain, who is now nearly 60 years old, graduated from the famous Saint-Cyr military academy in France in his early years, but he had never fought a war before this war, and only served as a military instructor and regimental commander.

However, because of several successful commands in the war, he was appreciated by Joffre and Chief of Staff Castelno. Within two years, he was promoted from regimental commander to brigade commander, division commander, army commander, and The current commander-in-chief of the army group.

After arriving in Verdun, General Petain realized that two urgent problems must be solved as soon as possible. One was to prevent the disorganized rout of the French army, and the other was to deliver reinforcements and supplies to the frontline positions as soon as possible to restore the combat effectiveness and morale of the frontline troops.

First of all, Bei issued a death order, forcing all troops not to retreat beyond the prescribed red line.

According to Pétain's original words: "It is better to sacrifice the lives of all soldiers, and absolutely not to lose any inch of French land!"

Because the first and second positions have all been lost, the fort on the outermost line has become the support point of the forward position.

Therefore, Petain ordered decisively that the fort on the outer line was the unified resistance position of the French army, and all defenders must use all available means to hold on to this position and withstand the German offensive.

The batteries were only allowed to evacuate if they were completely surrounded by German troops and were unable to fight.

Of course, Petain was not a commander who only pressed but did nothing.Immediately afterwards, Petain divided the entire Verdun defenders into four groups, readjusted the defense of the Verdun area, and sent certain reinforcements to some groups that lacked troops.

Under Petain's one-pass operation, the French army barely held its position, but only temporarily.

If the reserve forces and ammunition supplies urgently needed in the Verdun theater cannot be resolved, this situation is only temporary, and the Germans may regain their advantage at any time.

Verdun is located in a dead end, its salient bisected by the Meuse River, with a standard gauge railway and a narrow gauge railway often severed by German artillery fire.

Since the start of the war, the railways and roads leading to the Verdun area have been severely damaged by German artillery fire.

The railway from Auberville to Verdun is the main railway line leading here from the French interior, but at that time it was completely within the range of the German large-caliber artillery attacking south, from the city of Verdun to Saint Mier The road to Paris was cut off by the German invasion of France two years ago.

General Pétain found that the only available transportation line at that time was a 7-meter-wide second-class road from Verdun to the city of Baleduc, about 65 kilometers southwest.

Since the road was 20 kilometers away from the forward position, and most of the German artillery had limited range at that time, General Pétain believed that it was feasible to rush to repair and maintain the transportation of this road.

He immediately ordered that the 65-kilometer-long road in the war zone be divided into six sections, and concentrated manpower to repair the road, so that it was quickly widened and reinforced, and smooth flow was restored.

In order to mobilize supplies urgently, General Petain collected nearly 4000 vehicles and organized all the vehicles into 200 squads with 20 vehicles in each squad.

At that time, there were as many as 9000 French officers and soldiers performing transportation tasks and guard duties on this lifeline.

Day and night at the end of February, on this second-class road, cars kept coming and going day and night.

The use of automobiles to undertake such a large-scale logistics delivery task has never been seen in the history of previous wars.This should be mainly attributed to General Petain's innovation in logistics.

This road was later revered as the Holy Road by the French. During the entire Battle of Verdun, about 50 troops and 17 dragged livestock were transported to the front along this sacred road, contributing to the victory of France. made an indelible contribution.

It is precisely because of Petain's timely adjustments and effective measures for logistics that the resistance of the French frontline troops has been significantly strengthened.

The batches of materials and equipment transported on the sacred road, like the fruit that can restore blood in the game, allowed the French soldiers on the front line of Verdun to quickly recover their combat effectiveness.

Coupled with the French staff attaching great importance to Verdun, the strength of the defenders in the Verdun area doubled in half a month, greatly reducing the pressure on the French defenders in the Verdun area.

At the same time, the German army only sent about one-tenth of its troops to this area, which also gave the French defenders an advantage in terms of strength and laid a good foundation for the French to hold this fortress.

On December 12, the French army re-attacked the outer forts, trying to return to the outer forts in the Verdun area.

After a period of adjustments, the French army has recovered a certain degree of combat effectiveness and is full of fighting spirit.

After a fierce battle, the French army took advantage and recaptured the Douaumont Fort in one go.

When the French flag flew again on this fort, many French soldiers began to cheer sincerely: "France will win! Long live France!"

After regaining the Fort Douaumont, Petain immediately strengthened the original defenders of the fort to prevent the fort from falling into German hands again.

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(End of this chapter)