Chapter 224: Establishment of the Patrol System
The soldiers of the Guards also rearranged their equipment and joined the landing army.
Although the country's fiscal revenue is still in deficit, the annual military expenditure is not large and is growing steadily.
Of course, this is also due to Arthur's attitude towards military training. Arthur believes that excellent soldiers are fed by bullets and a lot of training. Therefore, whether it is the Guards or the National Defense Force, a lot of bullets are consumed in daily training. On average, each person shoots at least thirty rounds of bullets every day. .
The luxury of the Australasian army can be seen from the equipment of the Guards soldiers. In this operation, not only did each person carry multiple ammunition magazines, but everyone was also equipped with grenades and pistols.
Although it will cause everyone to bear a lot more weight, these are already accustomed to the well-trained Guards soldiers.
The way the Australasian army advances is a bit too luxurious. Any place where pirates may be hiding will face continuous bombardment with several grenades.
This also makes the pirates completely unable to resist. Their muskets need to be at close range to cause damage, and the muskets take a long time to reload ammunition.
This also resulted in the fact that when the surviving pirates had just fired a shot and the casualties were not yet certain, they were faced with fire coverage and grenade bombardment from the Australasian army.
Even regular armies from European countries may not be able to withstand such luxurious firepower coverage, let alone these poorly equipped and poorly trained pirates.
Seeing that there was no hope of resistance, the pirates hoped more to hide and wait until the people in front of them left the island.
Maybe some people have regretted robbing Australasian merchant ships, but now no one will give them a chance to do it again, and they have to pay the price they deserve for offending Australasia.
This operation lasted until dawn, and after ensuring that no one was left alive on all the islands, Minister Kent was satisfied and ordered all fleets to return.
April 9, 1907, Sydney Harbor, Australasia.
The news that Minister Kent had successfully completed his mission had already spread back to Australasia, and Arthur and the Australasian government also promptly announced the good news.
All the Australasian people who were paying attention to this pirate robbery cheered and encouraged the army's victory.
Many people have spontaneously gathered at Sydney Harbor, ready to welcome their brave army, an army that can truly protect their safety.
In order to express his importance to this operation, Arthur also came to Sydney Harbor before the fleet returned, waiting with government officials.
Not long after, the fleet successfully approached Sydney Port and docked at the pier.
Under the protection of soldiers, more than a dozen captured Australasians boarded the port again with happy faces.
"Your Majesty!"
Seeing Arthur and his party waiting at the port, these people who had survived the disaster quickly stepped forward respectfully and saluted sincerely and enthusiastically.
They also naturally understood that the only one in Australasia who could mobilize the army on a large scale was Arthur.
In other words, they were able to successfully survive the pirates and return to Australasia entirely because Arthur mobilized the army to rescue them.
For these people who almost experienced life and death, their attitude towards Arthur has turned into fanaticism, and they will become Arthur's die-hard fans.
Arthur smiled and nodded, and his faint smile seemed like the warm embrace of God in the eyes of these people.
"Your Majesty, this operation successfully completed its mission. All pirates were executed and all their dens were destroyed. There were no casualties in this operation, except for the consumption of some weapons and ammunition." Minister Kent stepped forward and reported respectfully.
Arthur nodded again, not looking at Minister Kent, but at the people watching at the port.
"Subjects, this pirate plundering incident is a wake-up call for the entire Australasia. We have too little control over the surrounding oceans, which is why pirate plundering incidents occur in front of our eyes. Okay Only if we act not too late can we successfully rescue all the captured people. My loyal soldiers are the protectors of all people and will protect all people of Australasia at all costs." Arthur said with a serious expression He said in a slow tone.
"Long live your Majesty!"
"Long live Australasia!"
"Long live the kingdom!"
People cheered with all their strength, which was the best response to Arthur.
"But we cannot act belatedly. I announce that the government will send more fleets and form various patrol teams to protect the safety of all our people on our important waterways. No country or force is allowed to attack Ships flying the Australasian flag will otherwise be regarded as a threat and declaration of war against Australasia. My army and I will use practical actions to prove that the kingdom will always protect its people." Arthur solemnly declared .
This piracy incident gave Australasia an excuse to use this excuse to send various patrol fleets to control the nearby waters.
The inland waters of the Dutch East Indies, including those controlled by the Netherlands, will also become the target of Australasian naval patrols.
There was no way, who allowed pirates to appear in the Dutch East Indies, and these pirates happened to rob the Australasian merchant ships, didn't this happen to be at the point of a gun?
Arthur was not worried about the Dutch Kingdom's reaction. As long as other powers do not participate, the Netherlands is no longer Australasia's opponent near Southeast Asia.
Even if in a few years, when Australasian warships start to launch crazily, the Netherlands will not even be qualified to become Australasia's opponent.
All the decisions Arthur made in port were published the next day in two official Australasian newspapers.
Not to mention the commotion caused in Australasia, these decisions caused quite a stir in Europe.
Of course, the most difficult thing to accept is definitely the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The best part of Australasia is located in the southeastern part of the Australian continent and the North Island of New Zealand.
If these areas want to go to Europe or East Asia, they must pass through the Dutch East Indies, either go west through the Strait of Malacca and across the Indian Ocean to Europe, or go north to East Asia.
This also means that part of the ocean in the Dutch East Indies is also within the patrol range of Australia. If it is not stopped, the Dutch East Indies will be equivalent to opening the door to Australasia.
But the question is how to stop it? It is basically impossible to use the Netherlands' own power. Although the Netherlands has more than 100,000 troops, the army in the Dutch East Indies only has 50,000 troops. In terms of training and equipment, it cannot compare with the Australasian army.
In terms of population and industrial scale, Australasia has surpassed the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Coupled with the close combat, Ding Dian's advantage has been infinitely magnified.
The biggest reason why the Kingdom of the Netherlands was able to hold on to the Dutch East Indies was actually the support from the European powers.
But Australasia is even worse. Not only does Australasia have a good relationship with the German Empire, but it is also an alliance of marriage and interests with the Tsarist Empire.
Not to mention the United Kingdom. Australasia itself was the merger of two colonies of the British Empire, and its rulers also came from the British royal family.
As long as there are no major interests related to the survival of the country, it is basically impossible for Australasia and the United Kingdom to fall out.
After all, Queen Victoria's will is still fresh in our minds, and most British people still have a lot of favorable impressions of Arthur.
Although it knew that it would be difficult to stop Australasia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands still had to bite the bullet and ask for help from the great powers, trying to fix the scope of Australasia's naval patrols in Australasia's territorial waters.
But the Dutch operation was destined to fail. Germany and Australasia are currently in a honeymoon period. The expansion of Australasia poses no threat to Germany and can even help Germany.
Therefore, Wilhelm II decisively chose neutrality, and Germany made it clear that it would not participate in the affairs of the two countries.
In the UK, because of the previous suitcase incident, Edward VII hated Arthur's name and was naturally unwilling to get involved.
In addition to Britain and Germany, France is now faced with the difficulty of choosing between Britain and Russia, and currently has no extra energy to take care of other things.
Russia and Australasia have just concluded a marriage relationship. It would be good not to support Australasia, let alone the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The remaining great power, Austria-Hungary, is Germany's younger brother. If Germany is neutral, Austria-Hungary will definitely follow suit.
Needless to say about Italy, Italy's influence in Southeast Asia and Oceania is not even comparable to that of the Netherlands, and it is naturally impossible to offend Australasia for the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
As a result, there was basically no external force to rely on for this problem. After searching around, the Kingdom of the Netherlands could only pretend not to see it and acquiesced to the Australasian patrol plan.
The Dutch are also very good at consoling themselves. After being forced to allow the patrol plan in Australasia, the Dutch comforted themselves: "This is just a patrol plan that was born because they were angry because of pirate plunder. Wait until the influence of the piracy incident dissipates." After that, it will naturally be impossible to maintain such a huge patrol plan."
What the Dutch didn't expect was that Ah Si not only made this kind of patrol the norm, but also added dreadnoughts and a large number of medium-sized warships a few years later. The smaller half of the Indian Ocean and the smaller half of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the territorial waters of the Dutch East Indies, were all turned into the patrol area of Australasia.
This has also greatly increased Australasia's influence in these areas, and even some indigenous forces in the Dutch East Indies have shown favor to Australasia.
There is nothing we can do if we don't show our kindness. The fate of the Brommontgondo Kingdom is vivid in our minds. Because of offending Australasia, the top brass of the Brommontgondo Kingdom were almost wiped out, and the land was almost completely taken over by Manchu in the south. It was divided between the Dara and Ruwu Sultanates.
More importantly, there was no response from the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies and the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the two massacres in Australasia in the Dutch East Indies.
What does this mean? The Dutch were also afraid of the Australasian military front, so they remained silent.
Since the Dutch are afraid, these indigenous forces who were forced to submit to the Dutch East Indies naturally know who they can least afford to offend.
Arthur acted quickly. Since mid-April, the Australasian navy has been frequently dispatched to conduct high-frequency patrols along the coast of Australasia and the northern ocean.
Although doing so will increase the consumption of materials, especially coal and oil. Australasia has countless coal reserves and several large oil fields, so there is no need to worry about these problems.
With the fleet patrolling and protecting them, the Australasian merchant ships never had any problems. Even the fishermen and ships of the indigenous tribes basically walked around the Australasian merchant ships when they saw them, for fear of getting into trouble.
Arthur also gave a commendation to the soldiers who had participated in the rescue operation within the confines of the Guards.
Although the medal was not directly awarded, a military-wide verbal award was also given, and each person was awarded a thousand Australian dollars, which won the enthusiastic and loyal eyes of those soldiers.
What Arthur didn't expect was that the dispatch of a large-scale navy and army to rescue the captured Australasians not only won him and the government more enthusiastic love from Australians, but also gained additional favor from many Europeans. .
After all, there are not many monarchs like Arthur who can truly care about the lives and deaths of lower-class civilians. Coupled with Arthur's various tax reduction policies and benefits in Australasia, the attractiveness of immigrants to Australasia has increased a lot. .
Beginning in May 1907, it was evident that an increasing number of people had migrated to Australasia and chosen to become permanent residents of Australasia.
If compared with the data in 1906, the number of immigrants in Australasia increased by more than 30%, which is already a huge improvement.
You know, Australasia now has as many as 400,000 immigrants every year. If the 30% growth rate can be maintained, this also means that this year's population will increase by more than 120,000 compared to last year.
Coupled with Australasia's pronatalist policy, it is very likely that Australasia's population will exceed seven million before the arrival of 1908.
Of course, the large number of immigrants still caused some troubles for Arthur. These immigrants generally want to live in the major Australasian cities like Sydney and Melbourne and are unwilling to travel to Western Australia and South Australia.
This is not a good phenomenon. Western Australia and South Australia have large mineral resources and require sufficient population and labor to exploit them.
In addition, with the influx of large numbers of immigrants, Sydney and Melbourne will inevitably lead to insufficient planning, which also creates a certain degree of chaos for urban construction.
In the end, Arthur reluctantly solved the problem by introducing a plan that as long as he was willing to go to the western region and small cities, he could get 50% more land allocation than normal.
I only have 4,000 words today, please take a day off
(end of chapter)