The Rise Of Australasia

As time entered the 1930s, Arthur couldn't help feeling a bit more tense.

Although the United States had been divided, the world situation had not calmed down as a result. Without mentioning the wars in Eastern Europe for the moment, the situation in Germany was also very chaotic.

Beyond that, the French had been making incessant minor moves recently, and even seemed to be on the verge of sparking another naval arms race.

Island nations in Asia were also far from peaceful, not only frantically building navies but also repeatedly expanding their army sizes.

All signs already pointed to the likelihood that war might well occur in the 1930s. Although it was unclear exactly which year, it was certainly necessary to prepare in advance.

In order to ensure Australasia's advantage in the sea, land, and air, Arthur decided to undertake a new round of military expansion, increasing the size of forces in all three areas and securing Australasia's military strength among the world's top three.

First was the size of the military.

Currently, Australasia had a total of 15 regular infantry divisions, 2 guards infantry divisions, 4 regular cavalry divisions, 1 guards cavalry division, 6 regular artillery divisions, and 3 regular tank divisions, with a total number of soldiers exceeding 400,000 for both the regular army and the guards.

Just looking at the size of the military, Australasia's total army personnel were already considerable, roughly on par with France and the island nations.

However, the territories that Australasia needed to defend were simply too vast, which inherently consumed the number of troops that could be mobilized.

If war broke out, Arthur could at most mobilize 300,000 troops, a number that would only be a drop in the bucket for a large-scale war.

In terms of the army, Arthur had no plans for a large-scale expansion. After all, the army reform had only been implemented for a little over a year, and there was no need for significant changes for the time being.

What needed to change in the army was to enhance the scope and number of the reservists. As previously mentioned, there was a two-week military training for university students every year.

This military training focused mainly on discipline and marksmanship, along with some military posture and physical training, to ensure that these university students could be combat effective once they joined the battlefield.

Moreover, for adult citizens under the age of 30, the government called for military training every two years.

The training for these individuals was relatively lenient, generally involving familiarization with firearms and military discipline, among other things.

This group made up the planned reservist forces of Australasia. Should war erupt, by calling up these reserve forces, Australasia's army combat troops could instantly surge past 1.5 million.

This time, the focus of expansion was on the navy and the air force.

Let's start with the air force.

Following proposals from the General Staff, the current Australasian Air Force was divided into the Persian Gulf Defense Zone, Homeland Defense Zone, Southeast Asia Defense Zone, Pacific Defense Zone, and North American Defense Zone.

Each defense zone established an Air Force Command and stationed various numbers of air force units.

Each air force unit had corresponding fighter squadrons, reconnaissance squadrons, strategic bomber squadrons, and strategic transport squadrons.

The number of aircraft in the Australasian Air Force had already exceeded 2,200, with fighters and bombers being the most numerous, exceeding 900 and 500 respectively.

In theory, the current Australasian Air Force should be considered the world's strongest. The published data from various air defense zones only included fourth and fifth-generation fighters, but the real trump card, jet planes, was kept strictly confidential.

As soon as war broke out, jet planes could be deployed immediately to annihilate the enemy's air force at an extremely fast rate, securing adequate air superiority for ground troops.

Of course, this number did not include the aircraft carried on aircraft carriers.

The navy also had planes, and not a small number at that.

More than a decade had passed since the end of World War I, and the size of Australasia's navy had seen significant changes.
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The current scale of Australasia's navy could only be described as intermediate, possessing 6 dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, 6 aircraft carriers, 2 pre-dreadnought battleships, and over a hundred medium and small warships.

Since the end of World War I, more than five years had passed without building any dreadnoughts, which also indirectly showed Arthur's previous reluctance to stir up competition in the naval arena.

But now things were different.

According to the previous Naval Limitation Treaty, Australasia's naval size had yet to reach the treaty's specified upper limit.

In other words, Australasia could legally and legitimately construct its new battleships without worrying about drawing other countries' attention.

Regarding the construction of new battleships, the Naval Command quickly came up with a plan under Arthur's orders, and submitted it for General Staff and Ministry of Defense review.

By the time this naval expansion plan reached Arthur's desk, it was already the third day of internal discussions at the Ministry of Defense.

Arthur frowned upon seeing the naval expansion plan, momentarily unsure whether to approve it.

In the navy's expansion plan, at least 4 aircraft carriers need to be built, along with at least 4 of the latest dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, 10 latest medium-sized frigates, 15 small destroyers, 22 light patrol boats, 17 coastal defense ships, and 12 nearshore gunboats.

It should be noted that the duration of this naval expansion treaty is only six years. Once Arthur approves this plan, the size of the Australasian navy will reach the top three in the world after six years.

With Australasia's dominance in the air force, the naval power at that time will be competing for second place only after the British.

Under normal circumstances, Arthur might worry about arousing the British's suspicion. However, at this moment, the Frenchmen already seem keen to provoke an arms race, and the Islanders are also frantically building their navy; Arthur's thoughts truly wavered.

After all, the Island Nation is also considered a potential formidable opponent for Australasia, and it is impossible not to be prepared.

Only if the naval power can firmly suppress the Island Nation, will Australasia gain an advantage in the wars of the future.

The logic is simple: either the Islanders blockade Australasia's coastline or Australasia blocks the Islanders' coastline; the two island countries' lifelines depend on it.

However, the reality is that the island Australasia occupies is just larger, but this still does not change its nature as an island.

What made Arthur hesitate was the financial cost that this naval construction plan would entail.

Although Australasia's annual financial revenue has reached 370 million Australian Dollars, the financial expenditure has also remained above the 300 million Australian Dollars threshold.

Especially after the eight-year construction plan started, financial expenditures had surpassed revenues, with a financial deficit of more than 20 million Australian Dollars annually, and the likelihood of even larger deficits.

Looking at this naval construction plan, every item is a significant expense.

The cost of building 4 dreadnoughts and 5 battlecruisers alone has already exceeded 65 million Australian Dollars. Plus the construction of 4 aircraft carriers, the expense on main battleships is nearly reaching 90 million Australian Dollars.

Although the remaining medium and small warships aren't as expensive to build, the funds needed for navy expansion would still require at least 120 million Australian Dollars.

Is it really worth it to invest one-third of a year's income into massively funding the navy at a crucial moment when the whole country is engaging in major construction?

After careful consideration, Arthur still felt it was worth it.

Australasia does not have much time left. If it can't elevate its military power to a level that sufficiently ensures national security during this period, it will inevitably cause greater financial loss and personnel casualties to Australasia.

A hundred million plus Australian Dollars; the government can bear it if they grit their teeth.

Of course, for democracy, this naval construction order must be approved by the Cabinet Government before it can be executed.

Since Arthur had already decided to reduce royal authority, he definitely could not approve this plan arbitrarily at this point.

Otherwise, future monarchs such as William or even William's son might act just as arbitrarily, which would not be conducive to the development of the government or the continuation of royal authority.

After all, not every monarch will think as long as Arthur does when making decisions. They also lack the experience from later generations that Arthur possesses. If they choose the wrong direction in some aspect, they face not only a significant financial loss but also a high probability of damaging the prestige of the royal family.

Regardless, the navy is definitely going to be expanded.

Arthur still expressed his concern for the latest dreadnoughts in the naval construction plan.

This might be the last class of dreadnoughts Australasia will build; thereafter, the focus would shift to the system of aircraft carriers and destroyers.

Therefore, Arthur had very strict requirements for the tonnage and combat capability of the dreadnoughts; they must be at the most advanced level in the world.

The design of the dreadnoughts was left to the shipyards. Whichever shipyard's design of the dreadnought gains the favor of Arthur and the Naval Command, will easily secure the dreadnought construction order.

In the entire naval construction order, the building of dreadnoughts takes the biggest share, which has made several major shipyards very keen on designing dreadnoughts.

The shipyards currently capable of designing and constructing the latest dreadnoughts are those holding the royal title, namely Sydney Shipyard, Melbourne Shipyard, and Oakland Shipyard.

Due to these three shipyards belonging to the Royal financial group, their technological levels are actually quite similar.

Regardless of which shipyard produces an outstanding warship design and eventually wins the dreadnought order, the outcome for Arthur would be similar.

As for the remaining government-built shipyards and civilian shipyards, they currently lack the capability to build the latest battleships.

Although the government has already given comprehensive encouragement to the civilian shipbuilding industry, the progress of shipbuilding is not something that can be achieved quickly.

However, in the civil ship sector, Australasia currently does maintain a certain level of capability.

From small boats of several tons to large civil ships of several thousand tons, there are still quite a number of shipyards able to build them.

After all, as a country of many islands, if the shipbuilding industry is not strong, communication and interaction between different areas of the country itself can be problematic.