In early February 1914, Arthur traveled by airship to St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, to attend the third conference of the Allies since its founding.

It stands to reason that the third meeting should have been held last year. But last year, due to the illness of Prince Alexei, the meeting was postponed by Nicholas II, and finally delayed until now, a few months later.

Fortunately, this did not affect anything, and the attitude of the allies to expand their armaments frantically made the four major powers of the Entente very close.

The Entente Conference was attended by the monarchs, presidents and some senior government officials of the British Empire, France, the Russian Empire, and Australasia, with the aim of discussing the tasks and objectives of each country in the coming period.

This includes not only the expansion of the armaments of the navy and the army, but also the direction and tasks of the armies of various countries after the outbreak of war.

Specifically, the annual Allied Conference is a meeting for the Entente to discuss pre-war preparations, wartime plans, and the distribution of benefits after the war.

On February 21, 1914, a secret meeting of the Entente was held in St. Petersburg.

The meeting was kept secret, but the meeting itself was public. Not only was the Entente a way to demonstrate to the Allies, but it was also a way to tell the world that the four great powers of the Entente were closely united, and that the Entente had no fear of any enemy.

Of course, in addition to the external demonstrations, the presence of a large number of spies in major European countries is also the reason why it is impossible to keep a meeting secret.

What the four Entente powers were able to do was to keep the contents of the conference highly confidential on the premise that the conference itself was made public.

The four major powers of the Entente attached great importance to this meeting, but they all chose to travel away from the German seas.

No one knew whether the Germans would attack the Allied ships attending the meeting in a frenzied manner, and for their own safety, it would be better to stay away from the Germans for the time being.

Arthur's chosen mode of travel is an airship, and after a long period of verification of multiple flights, it has been determined that the safety performance of Australasian airship is relatively reliable, and the probability of accidents is extremely low.

Of course, in order to ensure his own safety, Arthur's airship this time is equipped with a large number of parachutes, which can ensure that in the event of an accident on the airship, the members of the airship will have a greater probability of survival.

At the same time, around the airship that Arthur was riding, there were more than a dozen armed airships to escort him. These airships also carried hundreds of guards, who were responsible for keeping Arthur safe on land and in the air.

If it weren't for the fact that the planes could not be exposed for the time being, Arthur even planned to call in a few fighter jets to escort himself.

Arthur still attaches great importance to his own life safety, and the reality is not like the TV series, even if Arthur does not pay attention to it, Australasian government officials will never allow Arthur to travel without more than 100 guards.

For Australasia, Arthur's personal safety is also a symbol of national and government stability.

Arthur and Australasia are currently in a state of both prosperity and loss, and it is only natural that Australasian government officials attach great importance to Arthur's safety.

Although I took a much faster airship, when I arrived in St. Petersburg, it was already half a month later on February 18.

With three days to go before the meeting, Arthur and his party were arranged by Nicholas II to stay at a royal estate and enjoy a small amount of leisure time.

Around the same time, the French diplomatic team arrived in St. Petersburg without incident.

As for why the French were slightly faster than the British, it is necessary to ask George V, who came to St. Petersburg with great fanfare.

The four major powers of the Entente attached great importance to this meeting, and the meeting was attended not only by King George V of England, King Arthur of Australasia, Tsar Nicholas II, and the President of France, but also by British Admiral Secretary Winston, Foreign Secretary Edward, French Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs, Australasian Secretary of State Roger, and Secretary of State Raul.

As for Russia, because the meeting was held in St. Petersburg, Russia could be regarded as a national battle, and wherever it was needed, it would be transferred.

On February 21, 1914, after friendly exchanges between officials of the four countries, the Allied Conference was officially convened.

Because Australasia was the first to participate in a formal Entente conference, at the beginning of the conference, the four great powers emphasized the importance of the Four-Power Entente, reaffirming the alliance between Great Britain, France, Russia, and Australasia.

What the four great powers value each other more highly is the covenant for any one country.

The conference proceeded quickly, and on the first day alone, the Quad Alliance was quickly established, reaffirming the military responsibilities of each of the four great powers.

First, the British, who had always been somewhat aloof, took on more military responsibility. If any member of the Entente is attacked by the enemy, the four major powers of the Entente should enter a state of war with the enemy at the same time.

This agreement directly eliminated the possibility of the British becoming-stirring sticks, and the British had to stand firmly behind the Entente and firmly and effectively fulfill the alliance with the other three major powers in order for the Entente to maintain.

The specific treaty states that if any one of the four major powers is attacked by another country for any reason, including but not limited to border provocations, sneak attacks, and creating crises, the other three powers must immediately stand behind the provoked country and, after consultation, take joint action to maintain world peace.

Judging by the current strength of the Entente, this treaty was purely aimed at Germany and the Central Powers behind it.

Except for the Central Powers, not even the United States had the courage to attack any of the Entente countries.

In addition to this requirement of military responsibility, the four great powers also signed the Statement of Naval Imperatives, which stipulated the respective naval tasks of the four powers.

This statement was limited to the time of war, when Britain assumed the defense of the Atlantic coast of France and France assumed the defense of the British colonies in the Mediterranean.

The Russians joined the encirclement of the German High Seas Fleet, and Australasia sent at least four capital warships to help the British Empire patrol the Indian Ocean.

At the same time, in the event of a war, the French Mediterranean Fleet, together with the Russian Black Sea Fleet, would quickly take control of the entire Mediterranean.

As a precaution, part of the British fleet on the Atlantic coast, as well as the Australasian fleet patrolling the Indian Ocean region, were to take joint action after consultation to block the entire Mediterranean, especially the Strait of Otranto, at the first opportunity, and prevent the convergence of the Italian and Austro-Hungarian navies.

Australasia has taken on the least of the naval obligations, in fact, because the Australasian navy has only five capital warships so far.

However, this also has the advantage that even if the naval damage in the war is relatively large, it is acceptable for Australasia.

Anyway, there were only three dreadnoughts and two battle cruisers when it was full, and even if they were all sunk, Arthur would only have heartache.

Not only the navy, but also the army, there is also a preliminary division of the obligations that each country should bear.

Britain and Russia were responsible for working together to deal with the German High Seas Fleet, and Britain needed to send land forces to support France and help France hold its lines.

The French, on the other hand, were to take on the German offensive on the Western Front, where a large number of the main German forces would be gathered. In addition to this, the Mediterranean route was also the task of the French, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet, part of the Australasian fleet could be assisted.

The main goal of the Russians was to deal with the haters Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. Of course, it was also necessary to open up a battlefield in eastern Germany and force the Germans to fight on two fronts.

In view of the problem that the Russian army has sufficient troops but insufficient weapons and equipment, Britain, France, and Australia have successively promised to provide Russia with weapons and equipment at lower prices in the war.

At that time, if Russian support on the Western Front is cut off, Australasia will transport large quantities of weapons and equipment to Russia from the Far East.

The mission of Australasia, first, is to send at least 300,000 combat troops to support France.

Second, the Australasian navy, with the exception of retaining a certain size of garrison, was dispatched to cooperate with the movements of the British, French, and Russian navies.

Third, given that Australasia's military industry is still relatively good, Australasia will be responsible for providing Russia with a large amount of weapons and equipment, and the price should not be too high.

If Britain and France lack weapons and equipment, they can also buy them from Australasia.

The preliminary division of combat missions is basically like this, and it is preliminarily decided by the four countries in accordance with their respective geographical locations.

In fact, there is no division, and the situation after the outbreak of war is like this. The geographical location determines the war policy of each country, and it is impossible for Australasia to go to the decisive battle with the German navy, right?

If you want to say that the heaviest task in the preliminary division of combat missions, it is probably the French.

According to the division of combat missions, at the beginning of the war, the French had to resist a joint attack from the two powers, Germany and Italy, and the navy had to fight against Italy and Austria-Hungary.

Although Italy's military strength is not so strong, France can't beat Germany!

The good news was that on the army side, the French had support from Britain and Australasia.

According to the agreement between the two sides, the number of troops supported by Britain and Australasia will be about 600,000.

Coupled with France's own soldiers, after the outbreak of the war, it was no problem to get two or three million.

On the naval side, the blockade of the Mediterranean looks difficult, but with the support of the British, Russian Black Sea Fleet and Australasian Fleet, the likelihood of completing the mission is still very high.

If the war really developed according to the battle plan, it would be good news for the Entente.

After all, there was nothing wrong with the Entente's battle plan except for attrition, and the Entente basically had a big business and were not afraid of that little attrition.

As for the distribution of benefits after the war, the negotiations were not so smooth. In the end, it was Arthur's proposal to distribute according to the losses and losses of the four great powers in the war, which was agreed by France and Russia, and the British finally nodded.

It is actually normal for France and Russia to agree. The French had the heaviest tasks in the operational distribution, and their contribution in the war was definitely not small.

And the Russians, there is no advantage, that is, there are many people. If you compare the losses, the Russians are really not afraid of anyone.

If millions of peasants could be killed or injured in exchange for Russia's huge post-war benefits, the Russian government and top brass would have raised their hands and feet in favor of it.

As for the British Empire, both France and Russia agreed, and the British naturally could not drag it all the time.

Not to mention, the British also had confidence in the navy. If it can defeat Germany's high seas fleet and send land forces to achieve certain results, Britain may also become the country that pays the most.

And Arthur, who proposed such a distribution of benefits, actually agreed with such a distribution of benefits.

In any case, Australasia, as one of the four major powers of the Entente, was at least the fourth largest in the post-war world in terms of the distribution of benefits.

Even if a great power like Italy was to defect, its role and post-war status would definitely not be comparable to that of Australasia.

Moreover, it is a question whether Russia will survive unharmed until after World War I. If Russia were to split in World War I, Australasia would have one less competitor after the war, and the distribution of benefits would come to third place in the world.

The distribution of interests of the third place in the world, Arthur is already very satisfied. At least for a short time, Australasia did not have the strength to compete with Britain and France, even after being weakened by World War I.

If Australasia can become one of the world's top five or even four powers by virtue of the distribution of benefits after the war, Australasia will have greater confidence to seek greater status and interests.

Not to mention, after the victory of the war, Australasia directly became the fifth power in the world after Britain, France, Russia, and the United States.

Historically, the Entente powers, especially France, exploited Germany brutally, which also severely limited Germany's military strength.

If we can take this opportunity to absorb a lot of factory equipment and experts in Germany, and absorb part of Germany's industrial strength and heritage, Australasia can be regarded as having the foundation to wrestle with the United States.

Don't underestimate the current United States, although its military strength is so ugly, it can barely be regarded as beautiful in terms of industry and economy.

At least compared to Australasia, which is not so strong in industry other than heavy industry, the industrial power of the Americans is still much stronger.

Of course, if we talk about military strength alone, the current United States is no match for Australasia.

If Australasia shares a border with the United States, it is not impossible to eliminate the United States judging from the military technology currently in Australasia's possession.

Of course, the current agreement on the distribution of benefits is almost just a draft.

When the war is actually over, it will be distributed not only according to the actual extent of each country's actual contribution, but also according to how much meat can be cut from the Central Powers.

However, after a few days of negotiations, the four great powers reached some agreements in principle.

The British would receive all the trophies of the German Navy after winning the war, and would receive the largest share of all the Allied colonies.

In order to compensate several other countries, the French would be allowed to recover Alsace Lorraine and receive some compensation from the nearby territories of Germany and Italy.

On the Russian side, Austrian Poland, German Poland, and Great Britain formally renounced their alliances with the islands.

As for the last Australasia, it was allowed to fully accept the German colonies in the Pacific, and the expansion of Australasia in Southeast Asia would be turned a blind eye by the Allies.

Of course, Southeast Asia refers to the Dutch East Indies. Further north, the British Empire and the peninsula of Southeast Asia, as well as the very important Strait of Malacca, are not yet accessible to Australasia.

Of course, in order to show their support for Australasia, Arthur's mediation led to the Allies' request for Australasia to accept some of Germany's factories and talents after the war.

The attitude of these Germans towards Britain, France, and Russia after the war can be imagined, and Britain, France, and Russia had no interest in receiving these German experts.

These divisions in principle also basically contain the more important core interests of each country.

Although the British Empire received the largest share of all post-war naval colonies in Germany, the compensation given to the other three countries was barely enough to satisfy the three major powers.

As for Australasia, there was no interest in the African colonies, so the permission for expansion in the Dutch East Indies, and the opportunity to receive German factories and talents, was much more important than the African colonies.

In addition to these core interests, such as reparations, property cedes, and some important land cessions, transfers, and restrictions on other Allied treaties, will depend on the specific circumstances of the post-war period.

As long as the core interests of each country are respected, the Entente will be able to maintain, not before the outbreak of war, because of the internal division of interests, which leads to contradictions.

In addition to these, the Entente also concluded a treaty within the Entente that had little to do with Europe, namely the Pacific Treaty of Britain, France, Russia, and Australia.

The treaty stipulated that Russia would have supremacy in the Pacific Northwest and Australasia would have supremacy in the Southwest and South of the Pacific.

The four major powers of the Entente respected the hegemony of Russia and Australia, and Britain and France enjoyed a special status in the Pacific.

In addition to respecting the rights of the two major Entente powers in the Pacific region, the Pacific Treaty also stipulates that if a non-Entente country asserts its interests in the Pacific region, it is considered a provocation to the Entente Powers.

The Entente as a whole should provide assistance to the provoked countries and, if necessary, send troops to do so.

If the previous agreement was aimed at the Allies, then this agreement is concisely aimed at the United States.

The only threat to the hegemony of Russia and Australasia in the Pacific is the United States, which is also a great power and located on the other side of the Pacific.

Although Britain and France will most likely not directly send troops to the United States after the war, this treaty is completely sufficient as a deterrent to the United States.

As long as the Entente does not break, Arthur can also rely on this Pacific Treaty to obtain more assistance from other allies and gain more strength to confront the United States.

The third update of 5,000 words, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

Late update, 1,000 more words to compensate everyone, ask for support, ask for a monthly pass!

(End of chapter)