On 3 February 1913, the Australasian Military Service Act was enacted.

The Military Service Act stipulates that all male legal citizens who have reached the age of 18 and are under the age of 30 are required to participate in militarized training twice a year, except for those who work in important fields such as students, medical workers, scientific researchers, and educators.

Theoretically speaking, the annual militarized training is basically carried out in July and October, with a duration of half a month each.

In this half-month of militarized training, everything from queue training to marksmanship training was involved.

While it is not possible to train a trained person to become a qualified soldier in a short period of time, at least compared to a civilian without any training, these people who have participated in militarized training can quickly become a qualified soldier.

For the current Australasia, Arthur will not mobilize millions of troops in a big way.

This will not only cause damage to the country's development potential, but also a large army will burden the government's finances.

But there is no way, allowing yourself to have sufficient reserves is also a hole card and means to ensure national security.

In an era when other great powers often have hundreds of thousands of standing armies and millions of reserve troops, if the number of Australasian troops is too scarce, how can Australasia's homeland be safe.

Even if the security of the mainland can be guaranteed, all colonies and territories outside the mainland, as well as Australasia's external influence and status, will need sufficient military strength to maintain.

Although in Arthur's estimation, Australasia had succeeded in reaching the status of a great power in terms of industry, economy and military.

But even between the great powers, the gap between them is huge. Australasia has achieved the status of a great power, but it is just a goalkeeper of the great powers, like a low-ranking power like Italy.

It seems to be a great power, but compared to the top powers like Britain, France and Germany, the two Australasias are no compare.

The enactment of the Military Service Act did not suffer much opposition in Australasia.

In fact, this is normal, after all, anyone who participates in militarized training can receive a salary equal to the average annual income level at that time.

And they don't have to worry about losing their jobs because of militarized training.

If a company does fire an employee for such an excuse, then don't worry, the Australasian government and the royal family will find justice for the employee.

In fact, from the militarized training time in Australasia, it can be seen that the government has long expected such a thing.

In most parts of Australasia, January to June is the busy season for farming, as well as for wheat and other food crops.

July to October is the growth period of wheat, and it is also the slack period. For farmers and pastoralists in Australasia, there was plenty of free time for militarised training.

November and December are the time when the wheat is harvested, and this time is the busy season.

Therefore, the Ministry of Defense deliberately placed the time of annual militarized training in July and October, which are relatively close.

The period from August to September coincides with the sheep shedding and shearing stage, which also makes the militarized training time in Australasia almost perfectly miss the busy time of farming and herding.

As for the financial burden of the annual militarized training on the Ministry of Defence, Minister Raul gave a rough figure of about six million Australian dollars after calculations.

Among them, about 1 million male Australasian citizens are between the ages of 18 and under the age of 30.

Excluding students and some of the more important positions, the number of people participating in militarized training is about 800,000 per year.

A total of two militarized trainings meant that the 800,000 people would be paid a month's salary, about $4.2 per person, for a total of $3.31 million.

Although 800,000 people participated in the training, this does not mean that the government will provide weapons to all 800,000 people.

In fact, the training can also be carried out in a split way, and these 800,000 people only need to provide about 10 to 200,000 rifles, so that everyone can consume dozens of rounds of ammunition to find their feel during militarized training.

The total cost adds up, and Minister Raul gave an approximate figure, which is around $6 million.

This funding is also not too high for the Ministry of Defense and can be afforded.

Of course, Arthur, on behalf of the royal family, could not do nothing, and therefore directly stated that the royal family would bear all the salaries of those who trained in military affairs.

In this way, the annual militarized training in a short period of time is about 3 million Australian dollars for the royal family and about 3 million Australian dollars for the government.

For the Ministry of Defense, the newly increased military budget this year does not end there.

The first was Arthur's report on plans to expand the number of colonial divisions. Arthur demanded 15 colonial divisions by 1915, as well as a certain combat capability.

The year 1915 was only two years away, which meant that the expansion of the Colonial Division was imminent, and there was little time left for Minister Raul to formulate an expansion plan.

Fortunately, although the number of soldiers in a colonial division was as high as 20,000, all the soldiers and most of the junior officers in it were all composed of local natives.

This also means that as long as you have a sufficient number of natives, you can expand the colony division by 15 in a short period of time and complete the tasks assigned by Arthur.

300,000 Aborigines is not too much of a problem for Australasia at the moment, and there are millions of stateless Aboriginal people in the country, all of whom are potential Aboriginal soldiers.

On February 17, 1913, the Ministry of National Defense officially released the announcement of the expansion of the army.

It's a pity that this announcement of the expansion of the army is destined to disappoint many people, because it is only an announcement about the expansion of the number of colonial divisions.

According to the plan given by the Ministry of Defense, Australasia will expand by 6 colonial divisions in this year's time, and 5 colonial divisions next year.

With these 11 newly expanded colonial divisions, plus the four previously owned, Australasia will officially have a whopping 15 colonial divisions and nearly 300,000 indigenous soldiers.

The good news was that Australasia had two colonial garrisons in addition to the original four colonial divisions.

These two garrison regiments are fully capable of undertaking the defense work of several colonies after the transfer of colonial divisions.

In the Ministry of Defence's expansion plan, Australasian officers were all Australasian officers at the time of the colony.

Officers below the company level adopted the policy of being partly Australasian and partly Aboriginal officers after training.

As a result, the number of Australasian officers needed will plummet, after all, the number of officers in the middle and upper classes is not very large.

Judging by the current pace of training of the two military academies, within two years there will be no problem in staffing the 15 colonial divisions with Australasian officers.

As for the training of indigenous officers, the Melbourne Military Academy is also sufficient. After all, what the colonial division said sounded good was actually the cannon fodder that Arthur prepared for future wars in Europe.

The combat effectiveness of these people is actually not important, they can use weapons, and they just need to obey orders enough.

Of course, in order to make these natives obedient, some necessary measures must also be taken. For example, controlling their families and tribes, and distinguishing their treatment from ordinary natives, making them naturally antagonistic to ordinary natives, and so on.

Anyway, as long as their families and tribes were in the hands of Australasia, and with a certain team of overseers, Arthur believed that these natives would be obedient.

The successive promulgation of the military service law and the expansion plan also made the Ministry of Defense in February the busiest cabinet department in Australasia.

Different from the previous expansion, this expansion is due to the selection of indigenous soldiers, so it is necessary to go to their parts or gathering places, and select natives with families, at least families and relatives, to enter the establishment of the colonial division.

Without a family and family natives, Arthur will not be at ease to use. Only by holding their weakness into their own hands can the absolute loyalty of these natives to Australasia be ensured.

While the Ministry of Defence was busy selecting Aboriginal soldiers, the Australasian government also welcomed an extremely important guest, the British visiting team.

21 February 1913, Port of Sydney.

As soon as the fleet flying the flag of the British Empire arrived in the harbor of Sydney, it was greeted by the crowds and processions in the harbor.

Prime Minister Kent stepped forward with a smile and shook his hands vigorously with the representative of the British visiting team, British Foreign Secretary Grey.

"Minister Gray, welcome to Australasia!"

"Prime Minister Kent, long time no see." Gray said with a smile as well.

In fact, most of Arthur's henchmen are the old Duke Arthur's subordinates, that is, the Englishmen who followed Arthur to Australasia at that time.

And Prime Minister Kent, who met Gray as early as in the UK, can be regarded as friends.

"Prime Minister Kent, I wonder when I will be able to meet His Majesty Arthur?" After the two teams got to know each other, Gray looked at Kent expectantly and couldn't wait to ask.

The pressure on Britain and France was so great that the proud British had to look for additional allies.

"Minister Grey, according to His Majesty's arrangement, His Majesty will summon you tomorrow if you wish." Prime Minister Kent said with a smile.

"Of course, Prime Minister Kent. Tomorrow, I haven't seen His Majesty Arthur for a long time since my last farewell in England. British Foreign Secretary Grey nodded repeatedly, and did not have any objection to the arrangement of the Prime Minister of Kent.

In fact, British Foreign Secretary Grey's attitude in Australasia is much better than in other small European countries.

Even in Italy, which is also a great power, Gray may not have such a good attitude.

This is actually quite normal, after all, the monarch of Australasia is Arthur, a ruler from the British royal family.

Disrespecting Arthur is actually equivalent to disrespecting the British royal family and the late Queen Victoria.

Not to mention a foreign minister, Gray, even the previous British king Edward VII, obviously had a bad relationship with Arthur, and he had to pretend to have a good relationship with Arthur as an uncle and nephew.

Especially under the premise that Arthur has a lot of status in the hearts of the British, if he does not give Arthur face, this is equivalent to joking about his political career.

Whether it is the important geographical location and good strength of Australasia, or the close relationship between Arthur and the British royal family, it determines Gray's respectful attitude in Australasia.

The Prime Minister of Kent prepared the most luxurious hotel in Sydney, Gray's room, for the British visiting team, and even claimed that it would cost hundreds of Australian dollars for a day of stay.

It also means that an Australasian man who worked hard for two years without eating, drinking, or spending anything, and could only earn money to live in Gray's room for two days.

Of course, the Victoria Royal Hotel, where Gray lives, is not something that ordinary people can live in.

As the most luxurious and well-equipped hotel in Sydney and even in the whole of Australasia, the Royal Victoria Hotel is only open to important people at home and abroad, even if the capitalists with a net worth of millions cannot stay without any relationship.

The main purpose of the construction of this Victoria Royal Hotel, which was built a few years ago, was to provide accommodation for the most expensive foreign guests.

Generally, they are close members of the royal family and are able to obtain the qualification to live in Sydney and work.

Foreign royal families who are estranged in relation and blood, top foreign politicians and officials, top capitalists, etc., may also be eligible to live in this hotel.

Of course, theoretically speaking, researchers who have made outstanding contributions in a certain area can also be qualified to live in this hotel.

But in general, such talents, when they arrive in Australasia, will receive a very high standard of reception.

Especially when it is confirmed that Australasian citizenship and will be given a villa and a car after working for Arthur, as well as a higher salary, the Victoria Royal Hotel does not seem to be very important.

In fact, from the name of the Victoria Royal Hotel, we can roughly analyze the behind-the-scenes controller of this hotel.

This is one of the properties of the royal consortium, currently in Australasia and Europe and the United States, the royal consortium has built a total of more than a dozen hotels, these hotels can be roughly divided into three categories, one is the Victoria Royal Hotel that receives the top guests, the other is the Victoria Hotel that receives mid-range guests, and finally the manor hotel responsible for low-end customers.

In the case of the top-of-the-line Victoria Royal Hotel, for example, any guest staying at the hotel can get a chauffeur on standby.

On-site food is served free of charge, and a limited number of private royal wines from the Duke of Arthur's Château are available.

You must know that nearly ten years have passed since the completion of the Duke of Arthur Winery, and after ten years of development, the red wine produced by the winery will occupy a large share of the European red wine market, and its reputation has already begun.

After all, this is the private tribute wine of the Australasian royal family, and it is a treasure enjoyed by the royal family in Australasia.

If it is a low-end wine, it is fine, and the highest-end royal private supply, except for being gifted by the Australasian royal family, there are few such red wines flowing out of the market.

The price of such a bottle of red wine is generally hundreds or even thousands of Australian dollars, and it is one of the first choices for many capitalists to entertain guests and banquets.

The Royal Hotel Victoria will provide customers with royal private offerings for an indefinite period of time.

Although it costs money, after all, it is a good thing with no price, and many people are willing to pay a high price to taste it.

(End of chapter)