On 21 February 1902, after several days of discussions with German military experts, Australia's military expansion began.

Of course, this round of military expansion is not a preparation for any military action, but simply an expansion of Australia's military power to ensure control over its own territory and its colonies.

It's also very helpless to say. The reason why Australia chose to expand its army was entirely because the small and poor army could no longer meet the needs of the colonies stationed in Australia and New Guinea, and the Guards, as an important army to protect the royal family, could not be stationed elsewhere.

Under such circumstances, it is necessary to expand the existing army.

Australia has a population of nearly 4 million people, and with conservative estimates, expanding the army to 40,000 to 50,000 is no problem.

Of course, the first round of expansion plans will not be so crazy, Arthur's goal is to recruit 15,000 men to complete the plan to reorganize the active army.

According to the change plan developed by the Ministry of Defense, those soldiers who have completed their training will be expanded to become the backbone of the 1st National Defense Division.

The establishment of the First National Defense Division is mostly based on the establishment of German divisions, and a full division is as high as 16,000 people.

Compared with the slightly bloated establishment of Germany, the establishment of the Australian army has been changed to a certain extent, abolishing the brigade establishment and replacing it with three infantry regiments plus an artillery regiment and a cavalry battalion to form an infantry division.

In terms of armament, Arthur has high hopes for the new defense division, and the Ministry of Defense has spent a lot of money on it.

In terms of heavy machine guns, the 1st Division had five heavy machine gun companies, each of which was equipped with six MA-96 Maxim machine guns, for a total of 30 heavy machine guns.

In terms of artillery, the 1st Division had one artillery regiment plus three artillery batteries, for a total of four artillery battalions.

Ideally, each artillery battalion of the artillery regiment would be armed with eight CA-1 machine guns plus five M1897 automatic guns and three 105-mm howitzers with the technology provided by German specialists.

The artillery batteries of the three infantry regiments were armed with four CA-1 machine guns and two M1897 automatic guns.

In this way, the open firepower of the 1st Division had reached a level of parity with the German army, and even slightly exceeded it.

Especially after a large number of semi-automatic artillery pieces were equipped, the number of artillery and the output of fire of the 1st Division were definitely not weaker than those of the German army.

Of course, the cost of such a first division will also be very huge. The cost of 30 heavy machine guns and dozens of artillery pieces alone exceeded 30,000 pounds, plus the cost of soldiers and rifles, it would take at least 50,000 pounds to form this infantry division, and the cost of training and maintaining weapons and equipment would be as high as tens of thousands of pounds per month.

Such an army formation is completely against Germany, and even if it is placed in the future European theater, it will be an army with strong firepower.

Not to mention Oceania. Counting the surrounding enemies, the number of people who can defeat this army is probably the number.

It is worth mentioning that after this conscription, the theoretical number of Australian troops reached 25,000 people.

Among them, the Guards will be expanded to 8,000 people, and the number will be directly doubled. These 8,000 men will form a mixed Guards Division, consisting of an infantry regiment and a cavalry regiment, as well as an artillery regiment.

The number of soldiers left for the 1st Division was as high as 17,000. The reason why there are 1,000 more people than the planned establishment is that these extra people will become reserve officers of the 2nd Division, as well as instructors for the 2nd Division's recruitment in the future.

There is absolutely no difference in the combat effectiveness of a division composed entirely of new recruits and a division with a mixture of veterans and recruits.

Veterans have significantly improved the combat effectiveness of the troops, and can also be used as reserve officers for future expansion of the troops.

For this reason, under the deliberation of the Ministry of National Defense, the officers of the First Division will have one more deputy post, and the candidates for these deputy posts are very likely to be dropped to the second division as full-time officers in the future.

For the existing soldiers, this also boosts their hopes of promotion in disguise.

Even if you are not capable enough to be an officer in the army now, you can still strive for the position of deputy.

After a period of training, when the army expands in the future, won't it still be the same as an officer?

It may take a little longer, but it's better than getting promoted without any hope.

The Australian Department of Defence's military expansion plan has been welcomed and enthusiastically participated by a large number of Australians.

No sooner had the word spread than the recruitment offices set up in New South Wales and Victoria were packed.

As for the other states, because of their small population, they are not considered for the time being.

As Australia's capital, Sydney's enlistment office has a neat and long queue.

Not even a single street could accommodate the people who signed up, and several nearby streets were filled with people.

While Arthur did not personally go to see the recruiting scene, the Victoria and Australian Daily reports at least did so.

It is difficult to say how many of them really joined the army to serve the motherland, because the welfare of Australian soldiers is very high, even ordinary soldiers, the annual salary is generally as high as about 12 pounds, far exceeding the per capita income level of Australia.

What's more, the conscription was only 15,000, but it was carried out simultaneously in Australia's two most populous states.

This also led to a drastic reduction in everyone's chances of being selected, which is why the recruiting office was so full in the first place.

After all, if you work hard in a factory, you can only earn ten pounds a year. As soon as you enter the army, you can get a salary of at least twelve pounds a year, and once you become an officer, it will be even higher.

Australia is surrounded by islands of major powers, and there are no direct enemies. Under such circumstances, Australia should not go to war, right?

Many people are holding such a fluke mentality, thinking that even if they join the army, they will be very safe, and under the temptation of high salaries, they have chosen to come to join the army.

Of course, this scene is also what the Ministry of Defense and Arthur want to see. No matter what the reason for these people to join the army is, as long as they join the army, all kinds of ability training and ideological education will make them understand what it means to be loyal to the monarch and patriotism, what it means to serve the motherland, and what it means to sacrifice their lives for righteousness.

Australia's recruitment office was so full that it won the favor of German experts. In the words of German experts, even if it is the whole of Europe, I am afraid that Germany is the only one.

This is not to be braggadocio by German experts. The history of the founding of the German Empire is the history of wars with the surrounding powers.

As a sword to break Austria and step on France, the German Empire successfully unified into one country after conquering two great powers one country, its military capabilities are absolutely world-class.

Since the beginning of the Kingdom of Prussia, the Prussian army and the Junker aristocracy have always been one of the overlords of the European Army, and after defeating the traditional powerful France, the identity of the European Army fell directly on the German army.

This also led to a burst of recognition and pride in the German people, and every time Germany expanded its army, the enthusiasm of the Germans was unmatched by other European countries.

The first is to ask for support!

(End of chapter)