Rise of Australia

Chapter 891 Desire for Gibraltar

Although the landing battle delayed the Kalimantan and Philippine armies for more than 20 days, the more than indigenous troops landed on the Ryukyu Islands with great momentum.

With these indigenous troops, the order of the Ryukyu Islands can be completely guaranteed. More importantly, some island soldiers hiding secretly in cities and villages can also be eliminated with these indigenous soldiers.

After landing on the island on July 7, it took Australasia only two days to basically completely clear the order of the Ryukyu Islands and eliminate all the island troops on the Ryukyu Islands.

As of 7:26 pm on July 6, a telegram sent by Commander Christie of the Ninth Army to Arthur contained the following information: “Your Majesty, the Ninth Army has been ordered to complete the clearing mission and can ensure the Ryukyu Islands. There is no enemy on board.

At present, the naval and air force base construction tasks are in full swing, and the 9th Army can enter the next battle at any time. "

In this telegram, Commander Christie also attached a copy of the casualties of the 9th Army.

Because the Philippines and Kalimantan troops participated in the main landing battles, the casualties of the 9th Army were actually not high.

由4个步兵师、1个骑兵师和1个炮兵师组成的第9军，真正有大伤亡的只有参与空降的1.2万名伞兵。

These paratroopers are composed of 4 infantry divisions. The average casualties of each infantry division are only just over 2000 people. Each division still has sufficient combat effectiveness.

Arthur's reply to Division Commander Christie praised the 9th Army's combat performance and ordered the government to prepare more supplies and funds to go to the Ryukyu Islands.

Of course, the most important task is the statistics and reporting of achievements. The merits in these wars are not only related to the rewards of soldiers and officers, but also related to whether they can rely on this war to directly become the middle and upper classes of the country.

Arthur also specifically told many times that when counting and counting the merits of soldiers, statistics must be based on facts and sternly put an end to fraud.

In addition to preventing someone from maliciously exaggerating their own merits, it also prevents officers from taking the credit of soldiers.

As for the specific merits of the soldiers, in addition to the lists reported by each army, specific war simulations will also be conducted through the staff department to prevent false phenomena from occurring.

At the same time, the staff also issued the next combat mission to the 9th Army.

The combat mission is very simple. In summary, it can be summed up in one sentence, which is to fully occupy the Ryukyu Islands.

Although it currently controls the main island of the Ryukyu Islands, there are still a large number of affiliated islands and other large islands under the control of the islanders.

These islands that are still under the control of the island countries are the next tasks of the 9th Army and more than Filipino and Kalimantan troops.

After fully occupying the Ryukyu Islands, the staff's vision for the 1936 combat plan was almost completed.

The island country must be defeated and even fully occupied.

But the problem is that the time to defeat the island country must not be now, at least not in 1936.

Because in Europe, the war at this time was quite intense. Once Australasia defeated the island nation, it had to send its troops to Europe to fight a super war with the Germans.

Compared with attacking island countries, attacking Germany is obviously more difficult and will cause greater casualties to the Australasian army.

Since attacking the island country and Germany both complete the mission, it is natural to choose the easier one, such as the soft persimmon of the island country.

This may not be in line with the impression of later generations, but it is so natural in this era. The strength of island countries is for countries with backward industries. For industrial powers like Australasia, island countries have nothing strong except for their population.

The thing is, Australasia already has nuclear weapons technology, and the disparity between the populations isn't that deadly.

If Arthur hadn't wanted to expose nuclear weapons prematurely, Australasia could easily use nuclear weapons to close the population gap with the island countries.

Due to the large population of island countries, the population of a large city often reaches hundreds of thousands or even millions.

Needless to say, just bombing 20 cities with atomic bombs can easily close the population gap between the island nation and Australasia.

As for whether dropping 20 atomic bombs would be a bit tragic, this is not something Arthur should consider. Whether it is out of his own heart or out of interests, this kind of thing is what Arthur should and must do.

Speaking of the battlefields in Europe, nearly ten days have passed since the Dunkirk evacuation, and the situation on the European battlefields has become even more anxious.

As the most miserable great power, Austria is now the only one left, and even Vienna is in danger.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have been occupied by German troops, and Italian troops are also eyeing areas such as Innsbruck and Klagenfurt.

If it were not for the various weapons and equipment from Britain and Australasia that were transported to Austria through various channels, I am afraid that the Austrians would have surrendered by now.

But this still does not change the dire situation in Austria. Once Vienna is captured, the Austrians will most likely be the first great power to surrender, which will also completely change the situation on the European battlefield.

Without Austria to worry about, Germany and Italy can concentrate on attacking France. Even if the European structure of Britain, France and Austria changes, Spain is likely to decisively join the war and carve up the huge cake of France.

You know, what attracts Spain is not only the vast mainland of France, but also the large African colonies occupied by France.

As an old colonial power, France's colonies can be said to be second only to the British Empire, ranking second in the world.

For Spain, most of France's colonies in Africa were what they wanted.

Northwest Africa, in particular, is a fatal temptation for Spain. If it can acquire a large area of ​​northwest Africa, Spain's comprehensive national strength will be greatly strengthened, and it is possible to become a super empire spanning two states like the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Coincidentally, the Ottoman Empire occupies the very important Strait of Constantinople, and Spain's European and African territories are also separated by the very important Strait of Gibraltar.

This also means that for Spain at this time, they were naturally on the opposite side of Britain and France.

If Spain wants to become more powerful, it must find more territory in Northwest Africa. But these lands are the sphere of influence of the French. If Spain wants to gain more territory from the French, it must have a head-on contest with the French.

Once Spain becomes strong, it is very likely that it will control the Strait of Gibraltar and even regain Gibraltar.

This was intolerable to the British Empire. The emergence of a superpower in the western part of the Mediterranean that the British Empire cannot control poses a threat to the British no less than that of Germany today. Therefore, since Spain is naturally on the opposite side of France and Britain, once Britain and France are at a disadvantage in a European war, Spain is likely to join the war.

Once Spain cannot be prevented from joining the war, France will face, in addition to Germany and Italy, the x factor of Spain.

Although Spain's comprehensive national strength is far inferior to Italy, the combat effectiveness of the Spanish army is pretty good. Especially after experiencing the baptism of the civil war, most of the current Spanish soldiers are considered qualified soldiers.

When these soldiers enter the battlefield, they naturally have certain advantages over recruits who have not experienced large-scale wars.

Coupled with Spain's strategic position, Spain's participation in the war suddenly became a factor affecting the balance between Britain, France and Germany.

So the question is, does Spain want to participate in this war?
Before the war broke out, Franco, the commander-in-chief of Spain, actually held a negative attitude.

The reason is also very simple. At this time, Spain has experienced the baptism of civil war, coupled with the Carlos War and various chaos that have lasted until now in the last century, which has made Spain exhausted.

In terms of land area, Spain's land area is not inferior to France, and even far exceeds that of the United Kingdom. But Spain had completely lost its status as a great power 50 years ago.

Long before the outbreak of the Spanish-American War and before Spain still had a certain number of colonies, in the hearts of the European people, Spain was no longer a great power.

The Spanish Empire was once so prosperous that it even established the Spanish Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, which was one of the earliest colonial empires.

However, compared with other European countries' emphasis on industrial and technological development, Spain obviously pursues a luxurious and decadent life from top to bottom.

From the royal family to the common people, people are enjoying the massive wealth and materials brought by the Age of Discovery and the colonial empire, but they have never thought of making themselves stronger to protect these properties.

The fall of Spain was inevitable, and it was also the reason why Spain did not become one of the major powers in Europe until later generations.

For today's Spain, this country is very famous and is one of the European countries with a brilliant history.

But in terms of comprehensive national strength, population, military strength and economy, no matter how Spain is ranked, it cannot enter the top five in Europe.

Even newcomers like Yugoslavia and Romania have surpassed Spain in terms of population and economy.

If Poland had not been annexed by Germany, I am afraid that Spain's current comprehensive strength ranking would not be able to enter the top eight in Europe.

What is this concept? More than half of the new countries born after the disintegration of the United States are equal to or even exceed Spain in comprehensive strength.

Judging from the comprehensive strength of various countries, Spain can only barely enter the top 15 rankings in the world. Compared with its former colony, Argentina, it seems not much better.

This is why Franco pursued stability and peaceful development. There is no way. If Spain continues to be in chaos, it is very likely that it will be surpassed by more countries in the future.

In this way, Spain's glorious history has become a joke, and it further proves the incompetence of the modern Spanish state.

But as the war progressed, Franco's mind did change to some extent.

Judging from the current direction of the war, Britain and France are obviously at a disadvantage in this war, and are even tired of dealing with Germany.

For the entire great war, Britain and France have not yet achieved relatively effective results. It seems difficult for them to stop the German army from galloping across the European continent.

After Germany successively annexed Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Slovakia, it has become the second largest power in Europe after Russia in terms of territory.

What's more important is that the combined population of all the lands controlled by Germany is almost the same as the population of Russia, and is greater than the combined populations of Britain and France.

Coupled with Italian help, it seemed that winning the war was only a matter of time.

As a result, Franco, who was in charge of Spain, had to consider the future of Spain.

If Germany and Italy win this war, Spain's position will be more embarrassing.

Although it had signed an alliance with Germany, Spain did not join the war and was naturally not a friend of Germany and Italy.

Once Germany fully annexes France, it is very likely that it will target Spain and even engulf the entire Europe.

This is a great achievement that no Napoleon has ever accomplished. Once the Germans are able to achieve it, I believe the German government will never let Spain go.

Compared with the disadvantages of not joining this war, Franco was obviously more interested in the benefits of joining this war.

First of all, by helping Germany and Italy win this war, Spain will naturally become a member of the German-Italian Alliance and can also obtain territorial allocation rights.

Secondly, with the help of Spain, Germany and Italy will naturally have greater confidence in winning this war.

Finally, for Frange himself, joining this war and winning this war can greatly improve his prestige in Spain and stabilize his dominance over Spain.

If Spain could obtain large tracts of northwest African colonies, Franco would become the hero of all Spaniards, and the civil war he launched would become Spain's just war, in order to overthrow the evil and corrupt government.

Of course, there is another thing that attracts Franco, that is, after winning this war, Spain has a high probability of regaining the Gibraltar area.

It goes without saying how important Gibraltar is to Spain. It is no exaggeration to say that as long as anyone can help Spain regain Gibraltar, he will immediately become a Spanish hero and be respected and worshiped by all Spaniards.

Even in later generations, the Spanish government still had certain conflicts and quarrels with the British government about Gibraltar, which can also prove that the Spanish longing for Gibraltar has always existed.

Faced with the possibility of regaining Gibraltar, even Franco had to admit that he was indeed moved.

　Four thousand words update sent.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)