The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 273

Chapter 273: Chapter 247: Inspecting the Western Australia Industrial Base

As time entered 1908, Australasia gradually regained its tranquility and returned to its usual development.

After more than two months of restructuring and training, the expanded new army was formally formed. After being conferred with military ranks and numbers, the regular Fourth Division, First Colonial Division, and Second Colonial Division went to their new stations and started a process of both garrisoning and training.

Among them, the First Colonial Division went to the New Guinea Colony, and the Second Colonial Division went to Australian Timor for garrison duty.

After all, the Colonial Division is currently only in its embryonic form, and the actual soldiers will only be recruited after they head to the colonies.

Nevertheless, once the two Colonial Divisions undergo initial training, both New Guinea Colony and Australian Timor are expected to have stronger defensive forces.

After the change of defense with the Colonial Divisions, the forces stationed in Australian Timor and New Guinea Colony officially returned to the native land of Australasia.

Therefore, the current defense deployment of Australasia has become clear, with the Australian region having the regular First to Fourth Divisions stationed, and the New Zealand region having the previously stationed New Zealand Garrison and the 6,000-person New Zealand Garrison transferred from New Guinea.

Arthur’s Guard Division is not included in this. The Guard Division takes direct orders from Arthur, and its duty is only to guard the palace and protect Arthur.

In addition to these defensive forces, Arthur also has thousands of royal guards and sentinels, who are usually stationed in the palace, serving as the palace’s defense force.

The protection force for Arthur’s general travels and international visits is mainly the royal guards, after all, moving the Guard Division of several thousand to tens of thousands of people is a problem, and it is too conspicuous.

The weapon of Arthur’s guard is not the common Lee-Enfield Rifle in the army but the Cassadine Submachine Gun independently developed by the military factory.

As for why it is called this name, it is necessary to mention the inventor of the Cassadine Submachine Gun, Cassadine Nelson James Kenway.

Besides the Cassadine Submachine Gun, royal guards are generally equipped with the self-developed As-1898 Semi-automatic Pistol.

As for heavy weapons like machine guns and firearms, they are reserved in the palace’s armory, but the guards will generally not use them.

After all, the primary responsibility of the royal guards is to protect Arthur, not to carry heavy weapons to fight wars.

Looking at it now, the land force of Australasia is not too strong, but it is barely enough.

As an island country composed of large and small islands, if the navy of Australasia can defend its territorial waters, the army can actually maintain its current size without major problems.

This is also the reason why Australasia’s defense funds have gradually been biased towards the navy.

In fact, there are some similarities between Australasia and the strategic environment of the United States.

The United States is surrounded by sea on both the east and west sides, and the strength of its northern and southern neighbors is relatively weak. This results in the United States having an excellent geographical location, allowing it to develop in peace away from the conflict in Europe.

Looking closely at Australasia’s geographical environment, the east and west are the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, the south is the uninhabited Antarctica, and the north is the weak Dutch East Indies.

Although there are colonies of powerful nations nearby, most of them are small islands in the Pacific Ocean, and they are not so important to the Powers.

The really important colonies are in the Malacca Strait and India, but due to the separation between Australasia and a Dutch East Indies, and the fact that they are both British colonies, there is no conflict of interest between them and Australasia.

As a result, Australasia currently has an excellent development environment, capable of avoiding conflict from the European side and becoming a disruptor that influences the surrounding situation after quietly developing.

After the various departments reported their own situations, Arthur was very satisfied.

Overall, although the Cabinet Government experienced significant changes in mid-1907, the development of the country did not stop, and Australasia was still in rapid development.

Even in 1907, the growth rate was higher than in previous years. Australasia has begun to show a semblance of a strong country in terms of both population and economy.

The next task of the Ministry of Civil Affairs is still to attract a large number of immigrants from Europe and other places to fill the population of Australasia.

Under various medical, educational, and immigration policies in Australasia, as well as policies guaranteeing welfare treatment for workers, Australasia’s attractiveness to immigrants has greatly increased and has become the second most preferred destination for immigrants after the United States.

Attracting a large number of immigrant populations, guaranteeing the welfare policies of the current population, and focusing on and resolving civil affairs are the most important tasks for Australasia’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Minister of Civil Affairs Henry solemnly took on the task and promised to set a new high for the number of immigrants in 1908.

The task of the Ministry of Transportation is simple. Apart from the Northern Railway, other road and railway constructions have been basically completed.

If the construction of the railways must be mentioned, it may be the railways related to the two colonies.

However, colonial affairs are generally under the responsibility of the Governor, and even the ministers of various departments cannot participate.

Construction of the Northern Railway is now in a stable phase, with more than 60,000 indigenous people already invested and the number is still increasing steadily.

If the construction progresses smoothly, it is estimated that the Northern Railway will be completed and opened in 1914. However, if the construction progress is not smooth, the timing may be delayed to 1916.