"In addition to the existing heavy and light industries, we should also strengthen cooperation with the British and introduce a number of new chemical and military industries from the British." The Prime Minister of Kent continued:

"The British Empire's naval lead is an absolute advantage, and with our good relations with the British Empire, this can also be converted into our advantage.

At the moment, we have mastered the technology of aircraft carriers, but we are not sure that this technology will completely replace the current battleships.

The British Empire's research on battleships continues, and we can more easily obtain the world's most advanced battleship technology, and maintain our battleship technology ahead of the curve until aircraft carriers completely replace battleships.

In addition, we have achieved a clear advantage in aircraft and tank technology, and we should continue to invest more to stay ahead of the curve.

The battlefield has proven that these two weapons are of great use, and they are also the guarantee of our absolute superiority in future wars. Prime Minister Kent said with a firm face.

Whether in peacetime or wartime, investment in military science and technology is a must, and even the top priority of the national budget.

Although Australasia is not the kind of extreme country that advocates force, it also attaches great importance to investment in military scientific research, and its annual military budget is maintained at about two to three percent of the total financial expenditure, and its comprehensive military strength has ranked among the top five in the world.

With the exception of Britain and France, it seems difficult to find a country that can lead Australasia across the board in terms of land and navy.

Germany suffered too much after the war to re-emerge without a long period of recovery.

And the current civil strife in Russia has also damaged Russia's strength, and Tsarist Russia and Soviet Russia alone have really not necessarily fought Australasia.

In addition, the only threats to Australasia may be the island countries and the United States.

After all, the island nation has a population of more than 50 million, and it can form an army of millions, which is also a problem for Australasia.

However, the good news is that the navy of the island nation has suffered from greater constraints, and as an island country, it is unlikely that the island nation will threaten Australasia with only its land superiority.

As for the United States, the United States did not expand much in military power during World War I, and the number of troops was reduced to about 100,000 after World War I.

And the combat effectiveness of the American army is definitely the tail of the crane among the great powers. The American GIs did not have the excellent military qualities of the Germans, nor did they have the crazy spirit of the islanders who were not afraid of death, and their weapons and equipment were not as good as those of Britain and France.

The U.S. Navy is also not bad in terms of size, but there is still a certain difference in the naval guns carried by the main warships of the United States compared to the main warships of the United Kingdom.

The current United States is definitely among the top three in the world in terms of industry and economy, and can even stabilize the injured Britain and France, claiming to be the world's number one industrial and economic power.

But in terms of overall strength, the military strength of the United States is obviously lagging behind, and the current threat to Australasia is not so high.

However, the last flu crisis also made Americans aware of the threat from Britain and France, especially the threat of the world alliance under British rule.

This also made the stimulated American man-made ships very fast, and the speed of building battleships was like dumplings, comparable to a new naval arms race.

In order to deal with the threat of the Americans, and to improve Australasia's own combat effectiveness, a new round of expansion of Australasia's army and navy is necessary.

Under the watchful eye of the cabinet ministers, Prime Minister Kent came up with a plan for the expansion of the army that had been prepared long ago and handed it into Arthur's hands.

Australasia's current regular army is actually very small, far less exaggerated than the million-strong expeditionary force of the First World War.

The main army of Australasia, that is, the army composed entirely of Australasia, had only two Guards Divisions and four regular divisions with a total of 104,000 regular troops and three guards stationed in the colony with 12,000 men for a total of 116,000 men.

Because all the indigenous armies were disbanded, Australasia lost nearly 100,000 troops compared to before.

However, it is also inevitable, after all, compared to those armies composed entirely of indigenous soldiers, the regular army formed by Australasian people will be the main force in future wars.

Australasia's population shortage has passed, and its population of 20 million is ready to arm an army of millions.

What's more, Australasia's population will continue to grow at least one million per year, which means that a regular army of 100,000 is no longer enough for the country.

The battlefields of the First World War have proven that the number of participants in such a world war is definitely in the millions, and what can an army of 100,000 do? That's just two days of consumption in a huge battle.

In the Kent Prime Minister's expansion plan, the existing 4 regular divisions were fully upgraded to 12 infantry divisions, 4 artillery divisions, 2 cavalry divisions and 1 tank division, a total of 19 divisions and more than 250,000 combat troops.

Even though the weapons on the battlefield have undergone drastic changes, the infantry is still the mainstream of the current war and one of the most important armies among the major branches of the military.

In addition to the largest infantry division, the expansion of the four artillery divisions will also make the Australasian army more powerful.

At present, Australasia is already researching tracked artillery, applying tank chassis technology to artillery to improve the transportation capacity of artillery.

If this technology can be realized and used stably, the importance and role of artillery divisions on the battlefield will be greatly enhanced.

As for why two cavalry divisions are still being formed when there are tanks, it is because the performance of the current tanks is not stable, and the nesting rate is relatively high.

Second, the tanks before the arrival could not adapt to all battlefield environments, some deserts, hills and mountains, and even areas with potholes, so that the cavalry division could play a better role.

At least until the stability of the tank is fully guaranteed, the role of the cavalry division is still useful.

As for the last fully formed tank division, it is a respect for the newly developed tank technology in Australasia.

Although the stability of the tank cannot be completely guaranteed, after all, it is a new weapon that has been tested on the battlefield and can play a huge role on the battlefield, and it is still necessary to equip it in large quantities.

With the advancement of tank technology, countries will also pay more and more attention to the construction of tanks. Australasia was heavily equipped with tanks ahead of time, and while it seemed like a big gamble, Arthur knew it wasn't a loss.

The mechanization of the armed forces is a necessity for the development of science and technology and the times, and it can also greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the armed forces.

When the technology of tanks is completely mature in the future, the corresponding tracked artillery, armored fighting vehicles, etc. will also come to the fore, enriching the weapon system of Australasia and improving the mobility of the Australasian army.

Although he is Arthur's absolute confidant, he can greatly influence Arthur's decision. But Prime Minister Kent was still very intrigued, and in the expansion plan did not mention the Guards under Arthur's control, only the regular army under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense.

This expansion plan will allow Australasia's regular army to directly exceed 250,000 people, and counting the current 40,000 guards and more than 10,000 garrisons, Australasia's army will exceed 300,000 people, reaching the conventional level of a medium power.

You must know that before the outbreak of World War I, there were not many standing armies in European countries, and only Russia broke through 1 million people.

The German Empire, known for its fighting power, did not even exceed 500,000 troops around 1910.

However, with the development of military science and technology in various countries, it is also an inevitable trend that the number of armed forces will gradually increase.

With the advancement of weapons of mass destruction such as machine guns and artillery, the number of casualties in a battle is definitely not what these countries could have imagined before.

In fact, this also means that the damage to the country caused by the war is extremely serious, and it is almost impossible for any country to survive the war.

Arthur looked at the military expansion plan submitted by Prime Minister Kent, and he was still very satisfied.

However, in order for the government to have its own ideas, it is important to give these cabinet members the opportunity to express their opinions.

Motioning to the guards to hand over the expansion plan to all the cabinet members for circulation, Arthur instructed: "You all take a look, and if you have different suggestions and opinions on this expansion plan, you can put it forward." ”

After everyone had read the expansion plan, Arthur first looked at Defense Secretary Raul and asked, "Minister Raul, is it difficult to expand the regular army to 250,000 men?" Is the impact on the combat effectiveness of our existing army severe? ”

At present, the conventional army has only four divisions of 64,000 people, and it has been expanded to 250,000 people, which is equivalent to about four times the size.

The impact of such a huge scale of military expansion on the combat effectiveness of the existing armed forces is inevitable. Even if the military academy in Australasia and the previous war had already reserved enough reserve officers for the new army, there was a large number of veterans who had to be mobilized into the new army to ensure that the new army had a certain combat effectiveness.

"Your Majesty, we have rotated all armies in previous wars to ensure that all armies are involved in the war. Judging from our existing reserve officer reserves, the expansion of the regular army to 250,000 will not have too serious an impact on the combat effectiveness of the existing army. Minister Raul replied.

"But the combat effectiveness of the new army is always a problem, and if they do not go through the training of real war, it is difficult to ensure that they have enough combat effectiveness by training alone." Minister Raul continued.

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(End of chapter)