Rise of Australia

Chapter 904: Humiliating the Japanese

Just as the three Mediterranean countries were preparing for the German army, something surprising happened. The German army did not attack Yugoslavia first, but took the opportunity of conquering Vienna to go directly south to Hungary.

Yes, the Germans actually declared war on Hungary without declaring war.

But it is not surprising when you think about it. Germany has declared war on many countries without declaring war, and Hungary is not the only one.

It is worth mentioning that Hungary’s current area is still very large, occupying almost the entire Hungarian Plain, as well as Transylvania, which Romania has been longing for.

From this point, we can also see the purpose of the German attack on Hungary, which is to tie Romania firmly to their chariot.

Why does Germany attach so much importance to Romania, a small Balkan country?
Because Romania has oil resources that Germany urgently needs, this is absolutely an irreplaceable and valuable asset for Germany and Italy.

After all, neither Germany nor Italy has sufficient oil reserves, and the armored forces and air forces, which are very important to the war, require a lot of fuel every moment they are deployed.

It is no exaggeration to say that the strategic reserves of fuel oil determine the direction of the war. Without Romania's oil, the oil reserves of Germany and Italy would not last long.

Without oil, tanks and planes are just useless metal frames. This is also the reason why the Allies are ahead of the Entente. The Allies occupied numerous areas with large oil reserves, including the Middle East, a region with relatively developed oil reserves.

It is obvious that Germany's attack on Hungary was planned in advance with Romania. The moment the German army appeared in Hungary, the Romanian army also marched westward and quickly surrounded the Hungarian border city of Brasov.

Brasov was not only the easternmost city in Hungary, but also the front line of resistance against the Romanian army in the whole of Transylvania.

If Brasov falls, it will be a complete disaster for Hungary.

Of course, a greater disaster has already struck, and Brasov’s safety is not so important for the time being.

The German army once again demonstrated its powerful combat effectiveness and entered Hungary as if it were an empty land. It reached the Hungarian capital Budapest in just two days.

The biggest problem for Hungary was that, as a neutral country in the war, although Hungary also expanded the size of its army, it did not mobilize for war.

After the war broke out suddenly, it was too late for Hungary to mobilize.

Hungary, with a population of only over 1000 million, was simply unable to gather millions of troops in a short period of time.

In addition to the two German army groups, Hungary is currently facing a Romanian army of up to 30.

With such a large enemy, not to mention the current Hungary, even the Hungary during the Austro-Hungarian Empire would have no way to cope with it.

After all, for this tragic and suffering country, Hungary had been greatly weakened after World War I.

During the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary was intact, with 32.5 square kilometers of land and a population of over 2000 million. It was also a state with a very strong voice in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was a great power.

Even the reason why the Austrian Empire became the dual Austro-Hungarian Empire was because of Hungary's strength and wealth.

Before the outbreak of the war, Hungary's army had a strength of about 14 people, which was the result of Hungary's expansion of two infantry divisions after the outbreak of World War II.

These 14 troops were scattered throughout Hungary, and there were only two infantry divisions defending the capital Budapest.

Although Hungary tried to mobilize urgently in the capital Budapest and other areas after the German raid on Hungary, the effect was poor.

In two days, only a few thousand people responded to the mobilization, not even enough to form an infantry division.

Relying on these two and a half divisions, half of which consisted of new recruits without any combat effectiveness, to defend Budapest was simply a pipe dream.

The result was obvious. After the German army surrounded Budapest, it first launched a fierce attack for a period of time, and then began to distribute a large number of letters of surrender in Budapest.

Germany promised to retain the Hungarian government and allow Hungary to retain its autonomous administrative power on the premise of establishing a government with similar ideas.

The result was obvious. After resisting for a few days, Hungary directly announced its surrender and accepted the Germans' opinions.

On December 1936, 12, the German army marched into Budapest in a mighty force, and this ancient city was occupied by the enemy again after many years.

Just one day later, the Romanian army also successfully captured Bolasov. A large number of Romanian troops poured into Transylvania and headed towards the central city of Cluj.

On December 12, Germany, Romania and Hungary held trilateral talks to discuss how to deal with the Hungarian government.

On December 12, Germany, Romania and Hungary signed the Treaty of Budapest, in which Hungary ceded the entire Principality of Transylvania, two-thirds of the Banat border state, and the Maramureș region at the foot of the Northern Carpathians to the Kingdom of Romania, with a total area of ​​8 square kilometers, even larger than the remaining territory of the Kingdom of Hungary (103093 square kilometers).

More importantly, the land had a population of 525.7, of which 165.8 were Hungarian-speaking Magyars and Szeklers.

After Romania acquired this land, not only did its territory increase dramatically, but its population also increased significantly.

Of course, it is very easy to occupy these areas, but it is very important to manage these areas effectively and localize them.

If these areas cannot be localized, it is likely that Transylvania will remain beyond Romanian control for some time to come.

After the division, only a small part of the Kingdom of Hungary remained, but the good news was that Hungary could continue to exist as an independent country instead of being directly annexed by the Germans like Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

But it is actually easy to understand. The three territories of the Austrian Empire all had a large number of Germans, and the Germans had no burden in annexing them, but could strengthen their own strength.

But Hungary is different. Hungary also has a long history, and it is very difficult and unnecessary to assimilate Hungarians.

If Hungary were to remain independent, it would have become the front line against Yugoslavia.

In this way, Hungary's remaining population of millions can be utilized to arm an army of hundreds of thousands.

Although doing so is a bit cruel to Hungary, competition and war between countries are cruel in themselves. As the weaker party, Hungary can only be forced to accept this cruelty without daring to resist.

Hungary's rapid demise was astonishing. Even if Britain and France wanted to rescue it, they could not mobilize their troops in just a few days.

From this perspective, it can be proven that the current German army is strong. When facing these small countries, the German army can exert a stronger combat effectiveness, and even make people think that they are unable to resist at all.

In addition to the territorial changes, the Hungarian government also underwent a major reshuffle. The cabinet government was completely replaced by pro-German officials, and the military generals were all young and more radical officers.

Then, the remaining 100,000 Hungarian troops became the best weapon in the hands of the Germans.

Just a few days after the changes in Hungary, the German offensive against Yugoslavia had already begun.

In addition to the German, Italian and Romanian armies, the Hungarian army also joined in this attack.

Although the Hungarian army participating in the attack consisted of only tens of thousands of troops, they were, after all, regular armed troops, and Yugoslavia needed to also devote tens of thousands of troops to defend itself.

The largest battle in the Balkans took place in Slovenia, with five parties involved: Germany, Italy, Hungary, Britain, and Yugoslavia.

The Italians sent more than 30 troops to besiege Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. There were also 30 British troops here, plus a small number of Yugoslav troops, and the battle was quite a bit of fighting.

In Maribor in the north, it was a simple contest between the German army and the Yugoslav army.

Germany dispatched two army groups with more than 40 troops, while the Yugoslav side had only 30 troops.

Although at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, support from the Yugoslav allies was on the way.

Three Albanian infantry divisions are rushing to Maribor via the railway in Yugoslavia.

If all goes well, these nearly 50,000 troops will most likely arrive in a week.

Similarly, a colonial army group transferred from India by the United Kingdom and several Egyptian infantry divisions have been prepared in Egypt.

As long as Yugoslavia can delay the German army for half a month, these troops can land in Yugoslavia and join the defensive battle.

As one of the largest countries in the Balkans, Yugoslavia faced the greatest pressure among all the Balkan countries.

After all, Yugoslavia borders Germany, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, which means that Yugoslavia's borders may be attacked by these countries at any time.

Romania, which has recently become the largest country in the Balkans in terms of land area, is in a much better situation than Yugoslavia.

Romania's neighbors also include Russia, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, but only Yugoslavia is its enemy. Although Russia is powerful, it did not participate in the war at this time.

Romania only had to face pressure from Yugoslavia, which was naturally easier for it. Moreover, Romania was closest to Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia. With Germany and Italy already tying down a large number of Yugoslav troops, Romania was likely to be the first country to break through Belgrade.

Although the situation in the Balkans seems dangerous, Yugoslavia is not completely without chance.

The German army looked strong, but the scale of their operations was too large.

In Northern Europe, hundreds of thousands of German troops are attacking the three Nordic countries. Because it is winter, the attack is somewhat slow. In Western Europe, more than 200 million German troops are fighting back and forth with the British, French and Australian troops. The French have established a defensive line based on Tours. It will take the Germans a long time to break through this defensive line.

In the Balkans, hundreds of thousands of German troops were attacking Yugoslavia. Although they had already taken Hungary, they also had Romania and Bulgaria, two Balkan countries, as allies.

But the strength of Yugoslavia and Greece itself was comparable to that of Romania and Bulgaria, and with the intervention of the British, it was impossible to win in a short period of time.

Although it seems that the Germans have advantages in these three battlefields, they are just advantages. It will take a long time for the Germans to resolve the war in any battlefield.

What Germany lacks most at this time is time, which seems to be an unsolvable proposition for the Germans.

More importantly, the German army looked strong, but they did not have sufficient reserve forces in a short period of time.

Germany has deployed more than 300 million troops on three battlefields. In addition, a large number of troops are needed to garrison the occupied areas, so the more than 400 million combat troops are almost gone.

You know, Germany has mobilized nearly 600 million troops in total, which is a very scary scale considering Germany's population of over 7000 million before the war.

If the Germans wanted to gain a greater advantage on the three battlefields, they had to mobilize more troops into the war.

But if the army continued to be mobilized, it would cause terrible consumption and damage to Germany.

Moreover, the troops being mobilized now are definitely not as elite as those mobilized previously. The troops that are truly suitable for mobilization have already been mobilized by the Germans.

The new troops mobilized at this time had already declined a level in terms of military quality compared to the previous batch, and the combat effectiveness of the army formed was certainly not as good as that of the previous army.

This is similar to the A, B, and C divisions of an island country. The first type A division to be formed will definitely have the strongest combat power, and the combat power of the type B division formed by the reserve soldiers who have undergone military training can also be guaranteed.

As for those Type C divisions that have not undergone much military training, or even those that were directly converted from ordinary civilians into soldiers, their combat effectiveness is naturally weaker.

Moreover, for Germany at present, the biggest problem is not the combat effectiveness of the new recruits, but that while they are mobilizing new recruits, Britain and France are also recruiting large numbers of troops.

Compared with history, Britain and France are more powerful. What makes them stronger? Of course, it is the population and industry they gained after dividing the United States.

Although the Great Lakes Republic is currently in a neutral state, because its territory is completely surrounded by the sphere of influence of Britain, France and Australia, if the Great Lakes Republic wants to trade with foreign countries, it can only go through these three countries.

And these three countries are all in the Allied Powers, which also means that the Great Lakes Republic is actually leaning towards the Allied Powers.

The change brought to Britain and France is that both Britain and France have greater war potential in this war.

The several countries that the United States split into all have a certain industrial scale. These countries can not only produce a large number of weapons and industrial products for Britain and France, but also become a source of funds for Britain and France.

As mentioned before, the intact United States is already the most industrially and economically powerful country.

Although it was divided into several small countries, the economies of these countries are still quite good and can provide considerable assistance to Britain and France.

In this regard, the two countries occupied by Australasia are slightly inferior. Although California's economy is still good, it is no longer of much help to Australasia.

Needless to say, the West Coast United Kingdom's economy is already very good enough to ensure its own domestic development, and it has no way of exporting economic output.

But looking at the areas occupied by Britain and France, the economic situation is much better than that of the Australasia occupied areas.

Especially New York, which is controlled by the British. It is the most prosperous metropolis in the United States and has countless original American consortiums. Naturally, the British can obtain a lot of funds.

Of course, it is impossible for these American consortiums to give funds to the UK for no reason.

The way Britain and France were able to obtain funds was actually to obtain sufficient funds from North American consortiums through large-scale borrowing.

Compared to history, this approach is undoubtedly safer for Britain and France. Although the economy on the east coast is particularly developed, these countries on the east coast of the United States are not too powerful. Even if they can have an impact on the economies of Britain and France, they are unlikely to pose a threat to Britain and France.

But the United States in history was different. The United States itself was a unified and powerful country. After controlling the European economy, it could naturally influence the policies of Britain and France.

Of course, in addition to providing sufficient funds to Britain and France, these countries controlled by Britain and France can also provide sufficient manpower.

The entire American population is already at the same level as Russia. Although it has been divided into several countries, the populations of the countries occupied by Britain and France are relatively good.

Within the area controlled by Britain, the population of the East Coast United Kingdom reached 1600 million, and the population of the Kingdom of Virginia also reached 1400 million.

With a total population of 3000 million, Britain could at least have an army of 200 million. Although the combat effectiveness of these American soldiers was not that strong, they were at least one level higher than the colonial army.

Of the three countries controlled by France, Texas alone has a population of over 600 million. The population of the South Coast Confederation is about 800 million, and the population of the Florida Confederation is over 1200 million.

The combined population of these three small countries is also over 2600 million, and the size of the military they can provide is also over 200 million.

The war in Europe was intensifying, and the war in the Pacific had also undergone significant changes in the past few months.

By the end of July, Australasia had completely occupied the Ryukyu Islands. Even in early August, the temporary military airport had already launched many planes and bombed the island nation many times.

Then, throughout the entire month of August, the main task of the Australasian army was to occupy all the islands of the island nation in the Pacific, including Iwo Jima, Saipan, Marcus Island, etc.

This also allowed Australasia to occupy almost all the islands and archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean, truly dominating the entire Pacific Ocean.

Currently, there are only two islands in the Pacific Ocean that have no connection with Australasia. One is Pitcairn Island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, and the other is the Galapagos Islands belonging to Ecuador in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

After occupying all the islands and archipelagos of the island nation in the Pacific, Australasia did not rush to attack. Instead, it played air games with the island nation like Germany and Britain did.

Australasia had no intention of concealing its air strikes on the island countries, and each time it went to the island countries' mainland openly.

While waiting for the island country's air force to come and stop them, they would openly engage in an air battle with the island country. With the power of various weapons and missiles, the island country was basically defeated in air battles.

After the island nation's air force suffered a disastrous defeat, Australasia began a large-scale bombing of the island nation's mainland cities, then performed some fancy flying maneuvers in the sky, mocking the island nation, and then returned.

Such scenes have appeared many times in the island country, with the purpose of torturing the islanders.

Australasia was well aware that doing so would give the islanders time to hide in air-raid shelters, but it still waited for the islanders' air force to arrive every time, with the aim of destroying all the islanders' confidence in the war.

Given the time for the island nation's air force to prepare, they could not defeat the Australasian Air Force. This was the outcome every time, and they had to face the scene of being humiliated by the Australasian Air Force. Needless to say, this was a torture for the island nation's air force.

It is worth mentioning that Australia's actions have actually achieved the right result. The island nation's air force is facing humiliation, but the problem is that the island nation does not have a formal air force organization.

The island nation's air force is divided between the army and navy, namely the Army Air Force and the Naval Air Force.

After being humiliated by the Australasian Air Force, the island nation's naval and army aviation not only had no intention of uniting, but also held each other accountable in various military and cabinet meetings.

The island nation’s army stated that it was precisely because of the navy’s cowardice that the island nation was unable to resist the attack from Australasia.

The powerful island nation's army could not even see the Australasian army and was trapped on the mainland with no way out.

The island nation's navy is also madly blaming the army. The navy believes that it was the army's poor performance in the Ryukyu Islands that allowed Australasia to have such a close military airport to bomb the island nation's mainland.

At the same time, the island nation's navy also ridiculed the performance of the Army Air Force, because up to now, most of the planes that went to intercept the Australasian Air Force belonged to the Army Air Force of the island nation's army.

Most of the naval aviation teams are on aircraft carriers. Without the navy’s deployment, these naval aviation teams naturally cannot be deployed.

The quarrel between the army and the navy has become an eternal topic in the island nation, and the fight over the military budget almost led to a full-scale fight.

Australasia naturally had no idea what was happening in the island nation. For Australasia, there was nothing more pleasurable than torturing the island nation.

Compared to the war in Europe, the war in the Pacific was one-sided. Because of the advantage of aircraft, the island countries could not compete with Australasia at all.

What’s even more terrible is that in terms of air force, the island nation not only lacks an advantage in quality, but also in quantity.

Australasia's terrifying industrial production capacity far exceeds that of the island countries. For every aircraft produced by the island countries, Australasia can produce one and a half.

Although it seems to be only a 1.5-fold difference, it is the difference between a wooden frame aircraft and a full metal frame aircraft.

If Australasia fully devotes itself to the production of wooden frame aircraft, it will not only be able to significantly reduce the cost of aircraft construction, but will also be able to rapidly increase aircraft production. It will not be a problem to achieve several times the aircraft production of the island countries.

　A two-in-one chapter of 6200 words. Please vote for me and support me!

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(End of this chapter)