The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1028 - 774: Vigorously Develop Submarines

The upcoming television exhibition soon attracted the attention of domestic and international capital, with a considerable amount of funds signing up to participate and already prepared to come to Australasia.

Australasia seemed completely isolated from the rest of the world. Peace and tranquility reigned domestically, while abroad, the chaos only intensified, to the point where it could be described as a complete mess.

This wasn't an overstatement; rather, it was the best summary of the current world situation. From the developed and prosperous Europe to the barren and impoverished Africa, rebellions and wars were breaking out everywhere.

The conflicts between colonies and their mother countries, among different ethnic groups, and between nations had created an era of turmoil.

In this chaotic era, Arthur was both a spectator and a participant.

February 27th, 1931, an Australasian Cabinet Meeting.

This cabinet meeting was extremely important for Australasia, even deciding the nation's strategic steps for the next ten years.

One decisive factor was that the Naval Limitation Treaty, signed ten years ago, was about to expire, and the attitudes of the countries regarding the renewal of the treaty varied.

"Your Majesty, from the current situation, the likelihood of renewing the Naval Limitation Treaty is almost zero, and we must prepare for this," said Wellington, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with a serious expression, casting a variety of looks among the cabinet members.

It's important to note that, no matter the original intent of the Naval Limitation Treaty, it played a significant role in limiting the development of navies and averting an arms race at sea.

If the Naval Limitation Treaty cannot be renewed, the consequence might be another round of a global naval arms race.

What's worse, Australasia would definitely be a participant and would have to spend a significant amount of funds.

Because if one were to fall behind in the naval arms competition, it could deal a significant blow to the country and might even cause it to be left behind in a future war.

"What's the current attitude of the countries?" Arthur rubbed his furrowed brow and looked toward Minister Wellington.

"The attitudes of Britain and France are ambiguous, and we still can't clear up their individual viewpoints. However, according to the intelligence we have, it's highly probable that the Islanders will not agree to renew the Naval Limitation Treaty.

They are currently heavily invested in developing super-battleships and are very likely to become the first country to tear up the Naval Limitation Treaty," replied Minister Wellington.

Arthur rubbed his brow again, not surprised that the Island Nation might break the treaty. Indeed, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they could do something even more outrageous than tearing up the treaty.

"On this matter, we don't need to make any additional statements," Arthur instructed after a glance at the cabinet members with various expressions, "We just need to quietly wait for the actions of Britain and France. If any country takes the lead in tearing up the Naval Limitation Treaty, we must immediately follow suit and spare no expense in investing in the construction of our navy.

"Moreover, pay close attention to the Islander's movements in the naval arena. I need our navy to always stay ahead of the Island Nation, whether it's submarines or aircraft carriers, destroyers or battleships, understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" responded the cabinet members as they immediately stood up, replying with grave expressions.

Arthur hadn't just made a request, but an ironclad command. In matters of great importance, if any cabinet member showed hesitation, Arthur would not be merciful.

"Your Majesty, are you saying we should expand all aspects of the navy?" inquired Defense Minister Thomas, his face alight with excitement.

The construction of a navy was never a small investment; it was definitely measured in tens of millions of Australian dollars.

If a large-scale naval arms race were to be triggered, the naval investment could amount to hundreds of millions of Australian dollars.

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This was precisely why Defense Minister Thomas was so excited. With such extensive military funding, the status of the Ministry of Defense would rise sharply, and the military's strength would see great growth.

"For now, our priority remains the construction of submarines and aircraft carriers, with destroyers and battleships being secondary," Arthur shook his head, sharing his thoughts, "But we still need to monitor the construction of foreign main battleships, especially the super-battleships the Islanders are building."

If Arthur remembered correctly, historically, the Island Nation went to great lengths in building battleships.

It seemed that the Islanders had created a behemoth called the Yamato-class battleship, with a standard displacement reaching 65,000 tons and a full-load displacement as high as 72,800 tons.

Such figures were staggering; even the term 'large' didn't adequately describe the battleships built by the Islanders.

Keep in mind that the current Hope-class battleship in Australasia had a full-load displacement of only 27,000 tons, which would look rather small in front of the Island Nation's battleships.

This was the real reason why Arthur specifically instructed them to monitor the Islander's battleship construction. Even if aircraft carriers were effective against battleships, dealing with such a colossus was not as easy as one might imagine.

When it came to the economy, Australasia was in a much better position than the Island Nation. If it came to a naval arms race with the Islanders, Arthur wasn't averse to letting the Islanders see what real investment looked like.

Actually, come to think of it, a naval arms race might not necessarily be a bad thing for Australasia.