The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1134 - 852: Elegy of Spain

From the outbreak of the war to the signing of the contract, it took just over two months.

If we only consider the duration of Germany's combat operations against Poland, it was even less—just one and a half months.

The fact that a nation with millions in its military could be eradicated in one and a half months was unimaginable for all countries.

Keep in mind that no major wars had erupted after World War I, and the primary combat strategies of nations had remained entrenched in those of the World War I era.

Poland, for example, deployed massive infantry to dig trenches and engage in defensive combat, while positioning a large cavalry on the flanks, ready at any moment to encircle and attack—the prevalent tactical thinking of nations.

But the Germans changed this status quo, showing new ways of warfare to the entire world, including Britain and France.

Utilizing large numbers of tanks and motorized troops for rapid assaults, enemy lines could be torn apart. If the scale of the mobile units was large enough and their advancement swift enough, the main goal of flash warfare could be accomplished before the enemy could react—seizing the enemy's capital.

Of course, such flash warfare has its own flaws.

First, the targets of flash warfare have to be countries with not-so-vast territories, like Poland.

If targets were set as vast as the Russian Nation or Australasia, such tactics would severely test the logistics supply and the scale of motorized troops.

Second, to achieve a rapid and effective flash war, you must have a sufficient number of armored forces that are also very powerful.

Apart from countries like Poland, which skewed too heavily on cavalry, other countries, including Britain and France, placed considerable emphasis on the development of tanks.

Had Poland been replaced with France, it is doubtful that Germany could have completed a flash war in less than two months; this is also why the Frenchmen could stay calm in the face of crisis.

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Nonetheless, there's no denying the terror brought about by the Germans' military exploits did unsettle Britain and France.

Britain and France withdrew, in part, because they feared the German military, dreading the Germans could rapidly collapse Poland in so short a time.

Before the outbreak of the German-Polish war, France's military was on par with Germany's.

But, having held several meetings in the Ministry of Defence, they came to an unwelcome realization: the French Army simply could not defeat Poland within two months.

According to multiple simulations by the General Staff, it would take at least six months for the French Army to defeat Poland, and that would be under full force.

Moreover, to crush the over a million-strong Polish military, the French would have to suffer casualties in the tens of thousands.

This means that, as of now, the German Army has surpassed the French Army. Once again, the French Army has fallen behind Germany in tactical thinking and warfare concepts.

After Germany and Russia Nation jointly partitioned Poland, the most embarrassed weren't Britain and France but the international organization once believed to easily manage the world, the World Alliance.

From the start of the war, the meetings held by the World Alliance were constantly denouncing the actions of the Germans.

Even in the middle of the war, many countries proposed intervening; however, due to Britain's neutrality and France's withdrawal, the proposal did not pass, leading to the current outcome—Poland being partitioned.

This significantly diminished the prestige of the World Alliance, and its international status became extremely awkward.

If they couldn't manage the powerful nations, then what was the point for small and medium-sized countries to continue in the World Alliance?

What truly broke the World Alliance was the Germans' series of aggressive actions against other countries after the German-Polish war.

After the war against Poland ended, Germany and Italy refocused on the war in Spain.

By now, the situation of the Spanish Civil War had already become clear.

Without the intervention of other powers, the Spanish Republic could last at most six months before the Spanish National Army would seize power.

Clearly, neither the ambitious German Empire fresh from annexing Poland nor the envious Italy, which had expanded greatly, were willing to wait another six months.

For the expansion plans devised by the German government, Spain was an extremely important element.

Gaining control of Spain sooner would mean Germany could gain a greater advantage in the confrontation in Western Europe.

After Christmas, Germany and Italy accelerated their assault on the Spanish Republic.

The military force they sent to Spain quickly grew from a total of 50,000 to over 150,000.

Together with the Spanish National Army, which exceeded 500,000, the combined forces were far greater than the 400,000 held by the Spanish government.

In order to quickly eliminate the Spanish Republican Government, Germany and Italy carried out indiscriminate heavy bombings on cities controlled by the Spanish Republican Government.

Italy, without any pretense, mobilized a large-scale navy to annihilate the Spanish navy under the control of the Spanish Republic.

Under the combined offensive of Germany and Italy, the Spanish Republican Government was forced to retreat continuously, suffering heavy casualties among both the military and the people.

On January 7, 1936, a representative of the Spanish Republican Government, tearfully pleaded at the routine meeting of the World Alliance, asking the powers including Britain and France to intervene in the Spanish Civil War and provided a large amount of real photos and evidence of the destruction and civilian casualties caused by the bombings of Spanish cities by German and Italian airplanes.

In the vote that day, the World Alliance meeting agreed preliminarily to support Spain's request, with over 70% of the votes firmly in favor.

However, the second day, on the proposal for whether to intervene in the Spanish War, the Dove faction emerged victorious with over 47% of the votes (43% for intervention, 10% abstentions) following the dovish stance by the French, thus succeeding in making the World Alliance give up on interfering in the Spanish Civil War.

In fact, from the voting results over the two days, it was evident that most small and medium-sized countries were in favor of intervening in the Spanish Civil War.

They were also fearful, afraid that Germany, whose ambitions were growing larger, would one day set their sights on them.

Unfortunately, even though the World Alliance is an international organization, its power of speech was held by the great powers.

As long as the great powers expressed opposition, these smaller countries had to consider the consequences of going against the powers.

Moreover, France, expressing dissent, was the European power with the most colonies besides Britain and had the support of many European nations.

After the proposal to intervene in the Spanish Civil War was rejected, the representative of the Spanish Republican Government said with sadness and anger, "One day, you will pay for your cowardice today!"

Although they had withdrawn from the World Alliance, Germany and Italy kept a close watch on this meeting.

Upon learning that the World Alliance had rejected the proposal for intervention, the German and Italian Governments derided in a message, "They (Britain and France) are just a bunch of cowards scared out of their wits, no one can stop our strides now."

Speaking of which, Australasia had voted in favor in this vote.

But unfortunately, with Britain and France disagreeing with intervention in the Spanish War, Australasia was not about to cross the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, traversing thousands of miles to aid the almost extinct Spanish Republican Government.

However, for various interests, after the regular meeting of the World Alliance concluded, the representative of Australasia approached the Spanish representative and indicated that Australasia was willing to provide Spain with a batch of supplies and military equipment.

It was for this reason that Australasia easily gained the friendship of Spain.

The dissatisfaction of various smaller nations made the outcome of this meeting big news, widely spreading among European countries.

The French's cowardly dovish attitude starkly contrasted with Australasia's willingness to assist Spain. And it was precisely due to the contrast with the French that Australasia gained favor from many European countries.

Speaking of Australasia,

Arthur felt a sense of unfamiliarity and crisis concerning the current world situation.

The development of this world was completely different from history, which meant that Arthur could not fully rely on the course of history to judge the progress of the real world.

In real history, Germany annexed Czechoslovakia and Austria one after another before setting its sights on Poland.

But now, due to the existence of the Austrian Empire, Germany had first targeted Poland.

An Austrian Empire that's still in existence after annexing the majority of Polish territory could choose to continue eastward, following the British and French ploy to instigate German-Russian conflict, or after stabilizing the rule in Poland, could the military be redirected westward?

Whether the current French could resist the German onslaught, whether the Austrian Empire, which did not exist in history, could play its role, these were uncertainties Arthur couldn't be sure of.

Since nothing was certain, the only hope lay in building one's own strength.

As 1936 approached, Arthur convened another Cabinet Meeting, aimed at preparing for war.

At this meeting, Arthur boldly predicted that the war would break out this year or the next.

To prepare for a war that might far surpass the previous European War, Arthur demanded that the military expedite its expansion, the navy accelerate production, and all sectors be ready to enter a state of war at any time.

Beyond that, Arthur also questioned the production of weapons and medical supplies.

Although Germany defeated Poland quickly, this did not mean that the European War would be resolved swiftly. Despite history's path already being completely different, Arthur still believed that this new World War II would still last many years.

In this war, the most critical aspect would still be the stockpiling of strategic materials. The more supplies stockpiled, the longer one can withstand.

For a long war of attrition, the reserves of materials and the people's yearning for victory are key to achieving success.