The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1156 - 869: Australasia, Declaration of War!

Chapter 1156: Chapter 869: Australasia, Declaration of War!

On June 10th, 1936, after a night of lengthy discussions between Arthur and ambassadors from the United Kingdom and France, Australasia finally declared war on Germany and Italy the following day.

This was absolutely a bolt from the blue for both Germany and Italy. According to the original world rankings, the Axis Powers would now be directly challenging the three strongest powers of the world, and the British and the French would have an extremely powerful logistical support force.

At noon that day, when Arthur faced an interview with the European media, he addressed the question posed by the European media: why would Australasia, located far away in Oceania, interfere in Europe’s war?

Arthur answered, “I do not consider this to be Europe’s war. Look at the countries and regions involved in the war; they are spread across Europe, North America, and Africa. This is another global war that spans the world.

Moreover, whether it is in accordance with the wishes of my grandmother, Queen Victoria, or upholding the alliance treaty with the United Kingdom, we should join this war to protect the borders of all nations from invasion and to shield their peoples from the ravages of war.”

“But, Your Majesty the Emperor. Due to your orders, Australasia is about to face the two great powers of Germany and Italy. Even if we eventually win the war, the heavy casualties that will be incurred are inevitable. Is it really worth it?” the Italian journalist still asked unwillingly.

“Of course, it is worth it,” Arthur said with a serious face, his eyes radiating determination. He looked around at the gathering of Australasians and spoke deliberately, word by word, “Australasia does not wish for war, but we have never been afraid of it.

If we wanted peace, Australasia could very well be a superpower that remains aloof from the European Continent and avoids the great casualties brought by war.

But as a responsible nation, I believe it is essential for us to intervene in this war, to prevent more families from bearing the needless casualties of this war.

Perhaps individual Australasians will fall in this war, but Australasia will not shirk from battle; we will be the steadfast guardians of world peace.”

Along with the interview, Arthur’s words were quickly printed as major news and were swiftly published and shared by major media outlets around the globe.

The news of Australasia’s entry into the war was definitely a shock to Europe and even the entire world.

This also meant that of the superpowers that had remained neutral, only two remained: one was Russia Nation, which had participated in the division of Poland, and the other was an Island Nation that had a treaty with Germany and Italy and was a competitor of Australasia.

Beyond the shock of how swiftly Australasia had joined the war, the European Countries were also curious whether the Island Nation would fulfill its treaty obligations to Germany and Italy by declaring war on Australasia directly.

In fact, this question was not only one of curiosity for the neutral nations but also of great interest and concern for Germany, Italy, and the British and French.

The participation or not of the Island Nation was also very important for Europe.

If the Island Nation were to go to war, it would surely tie up a considerable portion of the Australasian military forces. Australasia could then naturally reduce the number of troops supporting Europe, making the European conflict once again a war between the Anglo-French-Austrian alliance and Germany and Italy.

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But if the Island Nation stayed out of the war, the situation in Europe could become a united front of the Four Great Powers beating up on Germany and Italy. The Britain-France-Australia Three Nations would be responsible for containing the German Empire, allowing Austria to slug it out with Italy.

Although Austria was already in a weakened state, based on the combat power displayed by the Italian army, holding their own against Italy was still entirely possible.

Even with the vast amount of advanced weapons supplied by the British, French, and Australians, it would not be strange for Austria to suppress Italy.

Because the Island Nation’s entry into the war was so important for Europe, the German and Italian Governments reached out to their ambassadors on the Island Nation, initiating lengthy discussions with the government there.

In an effort to sway the Island Nation, Germany and Italy spared no effort. If one had a map of the influences of the great powers, one would see that Germany and Italy were not just challenging the Anglo-French-Austrian alliance; they were essentially challenging nearly half the world.

With the addition of already involved Australasia, Germany and Italy could be said to be challenging half the world.

The territories of the enemies that Germany and Italy needed to confront included the native lands of the British, French, and Austrians in Europe, the majority of North America, a small part of South America, the majority of Africa, the entirety of Oceania, and parts of Asia.

Apart from the ice-covered, uninhabited Antarctica, every other continent has regions or governments that are enemies of Germany and Italy.

Were it not for the exaggerated potential for war possessed by Germany, this war would actually be unequal.

The discussions between Germany, Italy, and the Island Nation were not kept secret, and Arthur too was paying attention to whether the Island Nation would join the war.

For Arthur, it no longer mattered whether the Island Nation joined the war or not.

The Island Nation was Australasia’s greatest competitor in the Pacific Region, which meant that a confrontation between the two countries was inevitable.

After all, the Island Nation’s ideology is extremely radical; with its narrow territory and scarce mineral resources, they have no choice but to pursue expansionism.

On June 14th, after several days of preparation, the first shipment of weapons and equipment bound for Europe was officially loaded on ships in Australasia.

These weapons and equipment were to travel from Australasia, across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, and finally reach the southern coast of France.

To protect this shipment of weapons and equipment, the Australasian Navy would accompany it through the Indian Ocean waters.

Once through the Suez Canal, the British Empire Royal Navy would cooperate with the French navy to jointly safeguard these important arms and equipment.

According to the agreement with the British and French, the first contingent of Australasian soldiers would set sail for Europe in early July.

After friendly negotiations with Britain and France, Arthur was quite magnanimous. He pledged that from July onward, he would transport 200,000 troops to Europe every two months and would maintain the number of the Australasia Expeditionary Force at around 600,000 by the time December arrived.

Britain and France were not fools; they knew that Australasia also controlled the Philippines and Kalimantan.

If the troops being transported were from the Philippines and Kalimantan, even 1.6 million of them would be but cannon fodder with little impact.

Therefore, in the agreement for dispatching troops from Australasia, the British and French made a special point that at least one-third of the expeditionary force should be Australasians.

This also meant that by December, Australasia had to send at least 200,000 local troops in addition to 400,000 colonial troops to Europe.

Since war had already been declared, Arthur was no longer secretive.

On June 10th, Arthur signed a national mobilization order, announcing a total military mobilization throughout Australasia.

The foreign media that had interviewed Arthur were also closely monitoring Australasia’s military mobilization.

On the day when the national mobilization order was announced, this foreign media discovered in shock that the recruiting points in various Australasian cities had reached full capacity.

What did this mean? The Australasians were unconditionally compliant with Arthur’s order of mobilization. They might have dissenting opinions about the war, but these would never lead them to oppose the order issued by Arthur.

A small British newspaper, out of curiosity, staked out a recruiting point set up in the suburbs of Sydney.

In the content of the newspaper the following day, this agency clearly wrote: “Although the British and Australasians are incredibly similar, their national beliefs are entirely different.

We might have to accept that under the leadership of Emperor Arthur, the Australasians have become a new and great nation.

Within 24 hours of the issuance of the total mobilization order by Emperor Arthur of Australasia, an ordinary recruiting point in Sydney registered as many as 34,000 citizens.

What’s astonishing is that there are five such recruiting points in Sydney. This represents a terrifying figure; in 24 hours, the number of people in Sydney who signed up to join the army reached around 170,000.

Apart from the admirable national belief held by the Australasians, we also have to recognize that their trust in their Emperor Arthur may have surpassed God himself.”

Because it included key terms like Australasia and Arthur, along with very exaggerated figures and novel ideas published in the newspaper, this agency instantly went from an ordinary British newspaper to one of the most famous newspapers in 1936.

This report was also disseminated throughout the British Empire’s major colonies and even to European countries and the rest of the world, along with the best-selling newspapers of the day.

In Europe, a term was increasingly gaining acceptance—bestowing the title of Emperor upon the Australasian Emperor as “Emperor Arthur.”

This not only represented people’s recognition of Arthur’s identity as Emperor but also their recognition of his achievements in Australasia.

After many years, Arthur once again became a highly sought-after figure among the British civilian populace.

Furthermore, Arthur’s mention of Queen Victoria’s will during an interview, as well as being a former member of the British Royal Family committed to protecting the safety and property of British citizens, caused the British public’s favor towards Arthur to soar immeasurably.

And with the recent example set by Edward VIII, had Arthur been the King of Britain at the moment, his prestige would have reached its zenith.

However, sadly, Arthur was the Emperor of Australasia on the other side of the Earth. The British public could only maintain a high level of favor for Arthur and regret that Arthur’s father was Queen Victoria’s youngest son, putting the right to the throne far behind that of Edward VII.

Even many British media outlets published bold conjectures. They boldly speculated what the British Empire might look like now if Arthur had inherited the throne. Would it have continued the glory of the Victorian Era or created a new Arthurian Era, or would it have failed in the war, leading to the demise of the empire where the sun never set?