Rise of Australia

Chapter 920: Post-War Planning

Although he sympathized with the Russian army, Arthur, at least for now, had no intention of supporting the Russians.

The Russians were a large country with a large army, so the loss of hundreds of thousands of troops was not considered a heavy loss to Russia. Of course, if one were to calculate the loss in terms of face, Russia was actually suffering heavy losses at this time.

As early as the Tsarist period, that is, the reign of Nicholas II, Russia had gradually lost the title of Europe's bulldozer.

Although Russia had a population of over 100 million at that time, the combat effectiveness of its army was very weak, and it could only barely fight back with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At that time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a multi-ethnic country, and the ethnic issues in the country almost ignited the existence of the entire country.

This led to the fact that after entering the 20th century, the combat effectiveness of the Russian army was always despised by mainstream powers including Britain, France and Germany, and even the islanders could step on it.

After the loss of the Western Front, this impression became even more profound, and the combat effectiveness of the Russian army became a complete laughing stock among European countries.

This is a serious loss of reputation for the current Russian government and will also have a profound impact on the spread of their ideas.

After all, the combat effectiveness of the army under this concept has been fully demonstrated in the war between Germany and Russia.

"Your Majesty, Ambassador Enrique reports that the British have begun contacting the Russian government and may sign a large arms purchase agreement." At the cabinet meeting, Foreign Secretary Wellington reported with a serious face.

The British had private contacts with Russia, which also meant that the British did not completely trust Australasia.

For Australasia, this may not only affect the relationship between Britain and Australasia, but also Australasia's diplomatic decision-making in this war.

After all, before the outbreak of this war, the relationship between Britain and Australasia was relatively friendly, and it could even be said to be close cooperation.

Arthur nodded, having anticipated the contact between Britain and Russia.

In fact, long before Germany launched a surprise attack on Russia, Arthur had told Churchill and asked Churchill not to tell the Russian government about the German surprise attack for the time being.

But Churchill only delayed for a few days, and eventually told the Russian government the news. Fortunately, the Russian government did not believe the British news, which made Arthur's goal come true, causing Russia to quickly lose an army under the German sneak attack.

But this was still just an appetizer for Arthur. Russia had a population of over 100 million, and Arthur would not feel at ease unless it lost at least tens of millions in this war.

Arthur would also be worried if Russia's industry was not occupied or even partially destroyed by Germany.

This also means that Arthur will not truly support Russia unless Germany has occupied most of Eastern Europe.

Arthur originally thought that the British would also support him, but judging from Churchill's current actions, the British still choose to follow the previous regional balance policy, and even include Australasia in the regional balance policy.

Perhaps it was because of seeing how Australasia crushed the island nations that the British began to fear Australasia, a superpower that was about to occupy the entire Pacific Ocean.

Churchill chose to support Russia not only because he did not want to see Germany occupy the whole of Europe, but also because he wanted to preserve Russia's strength as much as possible so that Russia could balance Australasia after the war.

If Australasia defeats the island nation, its sphere of influence will naturally expand to the island nation's mainland, which also means that Australasia will come into conflict with Russia.

The British goal was simple: after the war, they wanted to let Russia and Australasia fight among themselves, thus giving Britain a chance to restore its strength.

Arthur naturally saw through Churchill's intentions. To be honest, Arthur would find it strange if the British government did not respond to Australasia and believed in Australasia without any reservations.

Again, there are no permanent allies in politics, only permanent interests. Before Australasia became completely powerful, Britain and Australasia had the same interests.

But after Australasia became completely strong, the conflicts between Britain and Australasia were greater than their interests, and the British government had to take corresponding measures to prevent Australasia from affecting Britain's world hegemony.

This is equivalent to the struggle for imperial power in ancient times. The emperor would naturally be cautious of anyone who threatened his imperial power, unless he was willing to give up the power in his hands.

How many emperors throughout history have voluntarily given up their power? At the national level, in the face of the public opinion of tens of millions of British people, the British government will certainly not give up its hegemonic status.

Although he understood the British's fear and even hostility, Arthur did not intend to respond to the British's actions for the time being.

Firstly, it would undermine the cooperation between Britain and Australasia in the war, and secondly, could any reaction at this time prevent the cooperation between Britain and the Russians?
Not at all.

Therefore, Arthur had no intention of responding to the British's actions from the beginning, and would even pretend that nothing had happened. Although he would not take any action now, the British's gradually alienated attitude also made Arthur decide to start accepting British property.

Don’t the British want to maintain world hegemony?
Okay, then let Britain and Germany fight.

Australasia will still fulfill its obligations as an ally, but will never take any additional actions beyond this.

If Britain could unite with Russia to defeat Germany at this time, Arthur could only say that it was destiny and the British should continue to sit on their seat as world hegemon.

But if Britain and Russia cannot unite to defeat Germany, then Britain will lose its last hope and can only use its own land area in exchange for the intervention of Australasia to win the war.

"How is our navy being built? If the island nation's navy attacks us, can the navy successfully respond and repel the island nation's navy?" Arthur ignored Britain's actions in Russia and focused his attention on the confrontation with the island nation's navy.

Because the air force is already ahead of the island countries in all aspects, this has also created a trend of Australasia crushing the island countries.

This has a prerequisite, that is, the strength of the island nation's navy will not surpass that of Australasia in all aspects.

Once the island nation's naval strength surpasses that of the rest, its military will likely break through the Australasia coastal blockade and even counterattack the Ryukyu Islands and the Philippines.

Hearing Arthur's question, Defense Minister Thomas stood up quickly and replied with a smile: "Our naval construction plan is going very smoothly at present. We expect to build two aircraft carriers, six destroyers and 2 light cruisers this year.

Considering the heavy burden of our navy in the Pacific, except for two destroyers and three light cruisers, the remaining ships will all be assigned to the Pacific Fleet.

By then, our Pacific Fleet will have 10 aircraft carriers, 4 super dreadnoughts, 3 dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, 8 heavy cruisers, 24 light cruisers, 49 destroyers and 222 submarines, and our naval strength will still be ahead of the island countries in all aspects.

If the island nation's navy dares to attack the Pacific Fleet, our navy has the confidence to defeat the island nation's fleet at any time and annihilate any invading enemy. "

After hearing the report from Defense Secretary Thomas, Arthur nodded and expressed satisfaction with the work on naval construction.

In addition to confronting the islanders, the navy currently being built may also engage in naval arms competition with the British in the future.

Of course, if the war ended, there would also likely be a naval struggle with the Russians.

This also means that the size of the Australasia navy is very important both during and after the war.

Unless it can be confirmed that other countries have suffered heavy losses in this war, Australasia must prepare for the post-war period in terms of the construction of its navy, army and air force.

Even whether Australasia can sit on the throne of world hegemony after the war must rely on the size of Australasia's navy.

Of course, the construction of the air force is also very important. After the war, the size of the army will be greatly reduced.

However, the size of the navy and air force will basically not be reduced. After Australasia gains world hegemony, they will even be expanded and deployed accordingly based on their influence on various regions.

"What about the construction of the Air Force? How many aircraft can we build at present? How many aircraft do we have?" Arthur continued to ask.

At present, the importance of the Air Force has become prominent. It is not only not inferior to the Army and Navy, but is even more important in some battlefields and battles.

As the first country to research and develop military aircraft, Australasia's importance to aircraft and air force is naturally needless to say.

“Your Majesty, we have contacted Boeing and Douglas, and both companies have converted their production lines and have the capabilities of the Raptor fighter and the Falcon bomber.

At present, our annual output of military aircraft is about 2600. If Boeing and Douglas are allowed to fully enter the production of military aircraft, the annual output is expected to increase to about 5000.

In addition, in terms of the production of Sop-34 transport aircraft, our annual production has exceeded 220. We currently have 317 Sop-34 transport aircraft, which can transport at least one division of troops at a time. "Industry Minister David reported.

Although there are many small private airports in the field of civil aircraft in Australasia, the current Royal Aircraft Factory is still a well-deserved giant in the field of military aircraft.

However, Boeing and Douglas have also made some achievements in the field of military transport aircraft, and their production lines can also be converted into fighter and bomber production lines, which is of great help to the Australasia aircraft industry.

　The second update of 3000 words, please vote for me and support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)