The soldiers of the Guards also reorganized their equipment and joined the landing army.

Although the country's fiscal revenue is still in deficit, the annual military expenditure is not small, and it is growing steadily.

Of course, this is also due to Arthur's attitude towards military training. Arthur believed that good soldiers were fed on bullets and a lot of training, so that both the Guards and the Wehrmacht consumed a lot of ammunition per day for training, with the average person firing at least thirty rounds a day.

The luxury of the Australasian army can be seen in the equipment of the Guards soldiers, and not only did each person carry multiple spare magazines, but also grenades and pistols.

Although it will cause everyone to carry a lot more weight, for already well-trained Guards soldiers, these have become accustomed to it.

The way the Australasian army advanced was a bit too lavish, and any place where pirates might be hiding was bombarded with several grenades.

This also made the pirates completely incapable of resisting, their muskets had to be close to deal damage, and their muskets took longer to reload.

This also led to the fact that when the surviving pirates had just fired a shot and were not sure of casualties, they were exposed to fire netting and grenade bombardment from the Australasian army.

With such luxurious firepower coverage, not to mention these pirates with very poor equipment and training, even the regular armies from European countries may not be able to withstand it.

Seeing that there was no hope of resistance, the pirates hoped more that they would hide and wait until they left the island.

Some people may have regretted the looting of Australasia's merchant ships, but now no one will give them a chance to do it again, and they will have to pay the price for angering Australasia.

The operation continued until dawn, and after ensuring that none of the islands were alive, Minister Kent was satisfied enough to order all the fleets to return.

April 9, 1907, Port of Sydney, Australasia.

The news of the successful completion of the Minister Kent had already reached Australasia, and Arthur and the Australasian Government had made the good news public.

All the people of Australasia who followed the pirate raid were cheered by the victory of the army.

Many have spontaneously assembled in the harbour of Sydney, ready to meet their brave army, an army that can really defend their safety.

In order to show the importance of this operation, Arthur also came to the port of Sydney before the fleet returned, and waited with the government officials.

It didn't take long for the fleet to approach the port of Sydney and dock at the pier.

Under the protection of the soldiers, more than a dozen captured Australasian people re-boarded the harbor with a happy face.

"Your Majesty!"

Seeing Arthur and his party waiting on the port, these people who survived the catastrophe hurriedly stepped forward respectfully, saluting very sincerely and enthusiastically.

They also naturally understood that Arthur was the only one who could mobilize troops on a large scale in Australasia.

In other words, they were able to survive the pirates and return to Australasia only thanks to Arthur's mobilization of troops to rescue them.

For these people who almost experienced life and death, their attitude towards Arthur has turned into fanaticism, and they will become Arthur's diehards.

Arthur smiled and nodded, a faint smile that looked like a warm embrace of God in the eyes of these people.

"Your Majesty, this operation has successfully completed its mission. All pirates were executed, and all their dens destroyed. There were no casualties in the operation, except for the consumption of some weapons and ammunition. Minister Kent stepped forward and reported respectfully.

Arthur nodded again, his gaze not at Minister Kent, but at the crowd of onlookers at the harbor.

"Folks, this pirate raid is a wake-up call for the whole of Australasia. We have too little control over the ocean around us, and that's what allows pirate raids to happen right before our eyes. Fortunately, it was not too late for us to act, so that all the people who were arrested could be rescued smoothly. My loyal soldiers, the protectors of all peoples, will defend all the people of Australasia at all costs. Arthur said slowly in a serious tone.

"Long live Your Majesty!"

"Long live Australasia!"

"Long live the kingdom!"

The cheers of the people with all their might were the best response to Arthur.

"But we also can't act as an afterthought. I am announcing that the Government will send more fleets and patrols of all kinds to protect the safety of all our people in our vital shipping lanes. No country or force may attack a ship flying the Australasian flag, otherwise it will be regarded as a threat and a declaration of war against Australasia. My army and I will prove by deeds that the Kingdom will always protect its people. Arthur solemnly announced.

This piracy incident gave Australasia an excuse to send various patrol fleets to control the nearby seas.

The Inland Seas of the Dutch East Indies, which were under Dutch control, would also be the target of naval patrols in Australasia.

No way, who let pirates appear in the Dutch East Indies, and these pirates happened to plunder the merchant ships of Australasia, didn't they just happen to be sent to the muzzle?

The reaction of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Arthur was not worried. As long as the other powers did not participate, in the vicinity of Southeast Asia, the Netherlands was no longer an opponent of Australasia.

Even if in a few years, when Australasia's warships start to launch frantically, the Netherlands will not even be qualified to be Australasia's opponent.

All of Arthur's decisions in port were published the next day in two official Australasian newspapers.

Not to mention the sensation caused by Australasia, these decisions have caused quite a stir in Europe.

Of course, the most difficult to accept is definitely the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The best part of Australasia is located in the southeastern part of mainland Australia and the North Island of New Zealand.

If these regions want to go to Europe or East Asia, they must go through the Dutch East Indies, either west through the Strait of Malacca across the Indian Ocean to Europe, or north to East Asia.

This also meant that part of the Dutch East Indies was also within Australia's patrol range, and if left unchecked, the Dutch East Indies would be the gateway to Australasia.

But the question is how to stop it? It was basically impossible to use the Dutch forces themselves.

Although the Netherlands had more than 100,000 troops, the army in the Dutch East Indies was only 50,000, which was not comparable to the Australasian army in terms of training and equipment.

Looking at the population and industrial scale, Australasia has achieved a surpass of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the reason for close combat has infinitely magnified the advantage of the small point.

The biggest reason why the Dutch Kingdom was able to hold on to the Dutch East Indies was actually the support of the European powers.

But Australasia is even more so, Australasia not only has a good relationship with the German Empire, but also has an alliance of interests with the Russian Empire.

Not to mention the United Kingdom, Australasia itself was the result of the merger of two colonies of the British Empire, whose rulers were also from the British royal family.

As long as it is not a matter of vital interest in the survival of the country, it is basically impossible for Australasia and Britain to fall out.

After all, Queen Victoria's will is still vivid, and the vast majority of British people still have a lot of good feelings for Arthur.

Knowing that it would be difficult to stop Australasia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands had to bite the bullet and ask the powers to try to fix Australasia's naval patrols in Australasia's territorial waters.

But the Dutch operation was not destined to succeed. Germany and Australasia are currently in their honeymoon period, and Australasia's expansion poses no threat to Germany, and can even help Germany.

Therefore, Wilhelm II decisively chose neutrality, and Germany made it clear that it would not participate in the affairs of the two countries.

On the British side, because of the previous suitcase incident, Edward VII can be said to hate Arthur's name, and naturally he was unwilling to participate in this matter.

In addition to Britain and Germany, France was now in a difficult choice between Britain and Russia, and had no additional energy to deal with other matters at present.

Russia and Australasia had just entered into a marriage relationship, and it would be good not to support Australasia, let alone the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The remaining powers, Austria-Hungary, were Germany's little brothers, and Germany was neutral, and Austria-Hungary would certainly follow suit.

Needless to say, Italy's influence in Southeast Asia and Oceania is not even comparable to that of the Netherlands, and it is naturally impossible to offend Australasia for the sake of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In this way, there is basically no external force to rely on on this issue, and after the Kingdom of the Netherlands has searched for a circle, it can only pretend not to see it, and acquiesce to the patrol plan of Australasia.

The Dutch were also very good at soothing themselves, and after being forced to allow Australasia's patrol plan, the Dutch comforted themselves: "It's just a patrol plan that they were angry at because of the pirate raids." After the influence of the piracy incident dissipated, it was naturally impossible to maintain such a large patrol plan. ”

What the Dutch did not expect was that Ah Si not only turned this kind of patrol into the norm, but also added dreadnoughts and a large number of medium-sized warships a few years later, turning the small half of the Indian Ocean and the small half of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the territorial waters of the Dutch East Indies, into Australasian patrol areas.

This also greatly increased Australasia's influence in these regions, and even some indigenous forces in the Dutch East Indies made overtures to Australasia.

If you don't show goodwill, you can't help it, the fate of the Blanmongondo Kingdom is vivid, because of the reason of offending Australasia, the high-level of the Blanmongondo Kingdom was almost cleared, and the land was almost divided between the Manda and the Ruu Sultanate in the south.

What's more, the two massacres of Australasia in the Dutch East Indies, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies and the Kingdom of the Netherlands did not react in any way.

What does this mean? The Dutch were also afraid of the Australasian army, so they kept silent.

Since the Dutch were afraid, the natives who were forced to submit to the Dutch East Indies naturally knew who they could not afford to offend.

Arthur's operations were swift, and from mid-April onwards, Australasia's navy was frequently deployed to conduct frequent patrols along the coast and northern seas of Australasia.

Although doing so will increase the consumption of supplies, especially coal and oil. Australasia has countless coal reserves and several large oil fields, so there is no need to worry about these problems.

With the fleet patrolling and protecting, there was no problem with Australasian merchant ships, and even the fishermen and boats of the indigenous tribes basically walked around when they saw Australasian merchant ships, lest they get into trouble.

Arthur was also within the confines of the Guard, where he had a commendation with the soldiers who had previously participated in the rescue operation.

Although the medal was not awarded directly, there were also military-wide verbal awards, and a thousand dollars of money were awarded each, earning the fanatical and loyal eyes of those soldiers.

What Arthur didn't expect was that this large-scale naval and military dispatch to rescue the captured Australasian not only made him and the government more enthusiastically loved by Australians, but also gained the favor of many Europeans.

After all, there are not many monarchs like Arthur who can really care about the life and death of low-level civilians, coupled with Arthur's various tax reduction policies and benefits in Australasia, which makes Australasia's immigration attraction much more attractive.

From May 1907 onwards, it was evident that more and more people had migrated to Australasia and chose to become permanent residents of Australasia.

If the number of immigrants in Australasia has increased by more than 30% compared to 1906 figures, it is already a huge increase.

You know, Australasia now has 400,000 immigrants a year. If the growth rate can be maintained by 30%, it also means that this year's population will increase by more than 120,000 compared with last year.

Coupled with Australasia's fertility incentives, it is highly likely that Australasia's population will exceed seven million by the time it arrives in 1908.

Of course, the large number of immigrants is still a certain annoyance for Arthur. These migrants generally want to live in large Australasian cities like Sydney and Melbourne and are reluctant to travel to Western Australia and South Australia.

This is not a good sign, as Western Australia and South Australia have a lot of mineral resources and need sufficient people and labour to exploit them.

In addition, with the influx of immigrants, Sydney and Melbourne will inevitably cause insufficient planning, and there will be a certain amount of confusion for the construction of the city.

In the end, Arthur came up with a policy that if he was willing to go to the western region and small cities, he could get more than 50% more land than normal, and he could barely solve this problem.

Four thousand words today, take a leave

(End of chapter)