After attending Dmitry's coronation, Arthur chose to travel to nearby St. Petersburg and take Queen Mary back to her parents' home.

In any case, the Russians are a large part of the population of Australasia, and the relationship between Australasia and Tsarist Russia is worth maintaining.

Today, unlike in the past, the current position of Russia and Australasia has undergone a sea change, and the Russian government attaches great importance to Arthur's visit.

In the East Palace, Arthur finally met Nicholas II, whom he had not seen for more than ten years. Nicholas II looked much older, and although only ten years had passed, he looked at least twenty years old.

Queen Mary took a few of the little ones to catch up with the Russian royals, while Arthur and Nicholas II entered a conference room.

"Arthur, long time no see!" Nicholas II looked at Arthur, who was in the prime of life, and said with emotion.

"Long time no see, cousin Nikolai." Arthur also said with emotion.

The last time they met, Nicholas II was even higher in status than Arthur, and now Arthur has surpassed Nicholas II in the European royal family.

Although Arthur and Nicholas II are the same generation, Nicholas II is much older than Arthur, and the difference in status between the two also makes the two feel the emotion brought by the change in the situation.

"Thank you for your help before, otherwise, it would be a question of whether the Romanov family can maintain their rule." Speaking of which, Nicholas II was still very grateful to Arthur.

If it weren't for Arthur's strong support for him during the previous revolution, I am afraid he would not have had a chance to turn the tables, and now Russia would have become a republic.

Although the situation in Russia is now chaotic, a large number of countries have become independent from Russia.

But in the end, the essence was still under Tsarist Russia. If it develops with peace of mind for 20 years, Russia will still become the bulldozer of Europe, after all, the land area and population are still ahead of the rest of Europe.

"This is what I should do, Cousin Nikolai. Either way, the preservation of the monarchy is the common goal of all European royal families. Arthur said with a smile.

Nicholas II nodded, still believing what Arthur had said.

After all, he and William II were able to keep their throne, and Australasia contributed partly.

Otherwise, there would have been two more powerful republics in Europe today, and the Hohenzollern and Romanovs would have become the history of European dynasties.

"Arthur, the recovery of the Russian economy still needs the support of Australasia, and I hope that we can establish further cooperation to help Russia recover its economy and industry faster." After some emotion, Nicholas II put forward conditions for Arthur and said quite sincerely.

Although Russia could also receive support from Britain and France, the support of Britain and France required Russia to pay a greater price, and the sincerity was not very good.

Although cooperation with Australasia was an exchange of interests, at least Nicholas II understood that Arthur had no other demands and would not covet Russian lands.

This is actually determined by the distance of Australasia. Because it is far away in Oceania, Australasia does not pose much threat to European countries, and it is also the reason why Australasia can gain the trust of many European countries.

But Britain and France are different, even if they do not have a positive land claim, they will do everything possible to control a country, which many European countries do not want to see.

"It's nature." Arthur smiled and said, "Of course I would like Russia to regain its industry and economy, after all, Russia is one of Australasia's most important allies. ”

"However, Australasia's help is still a little weak, and Russia still needs to get the support of Britain and France in order to better restore the post-war order."

Nicholas II also nodded, and was very approving of the proposal to obtain the support of Britain and France.

At present, the two most powerful countries in Europe are Britain and France, and if they want to restore order better, they must also have their consent.

"Arthur, I would like to invite some Australasian officers to help us train the army, and I will form a completely new army, and even promote military reform throughout Russia." At the end of the conversation, Nicholas II made his final proposal, speaking to Arthur.

Arthur was not surprised by Nicholas II's proposal for military reform, given that the Russian army had not fared well in previous wars and civil wars, and could even be described as a mess.

Poor logistics, chaotic command, poor cooperation and uneven weaponry were the true portrayals of the Tsarist Russian army from World War I to the Civil War.

It is precisely because of this that Tsarist Russia suffered huge losses in World War I, and also caused Tsarist Russia to barely compete with Soviet Russia in the civil war.

Increasing the combat effectiveness of the army was the first thing that Nicholas II decided to change.

At present, the total number of troops in Tsarist Russia exceeds one million, and Nicholas II naturally does not have such huge ambitions and wants to reform the army of millions at once.

After receiving the list of needs provided by Nicholas II, Arthur understood that Nicholas II's needs were to carry out a comprehensive reform of the current small part of the army, which is now the Russian First Army.

The current Russian First Army is a collection of Russian elite troops, with a total number of 316,000 troops, a total of 5 corps, each with 3 divisions.

It can be seen that the obvious characteristics of the Russian army are that the number of troops is relatively bloated, with an average of more than 20,000 people per division, which is a marked difference from the average size of 16,000 men per division in Australasia during World War I.

Such a large group of armies led to a sharp increase in logistical pressure, and the allocation of weapons, equipment and logistical resources to each division was not as large as imagined, which also led to the poor situation of Russian logistics throughout the First World War.

In order to carry out the reforms that broke the kettle, Nicholas II decided to completely imitate Australasia in the First Army, forming a new type of division of 16,000 men each.

In order to better learn the military establishment of Australasia, the deployment of weapons and equipment, etc., is also an important part of Russia's military reform.

This also means that after the comprehensive reorganization of this entire group army, Russia will have to spend a lot of resources and time for this, and the cost will definitely not be less.

"A complete reorganization of the entire First Army?" Arthur asked, somewhat curious.

"Of course." Nicholas II nodded, and said with a slightly serious expression: "The timing will not wait for anyone, and the situation in Russia also needs a better army." I will reduce military spending by cutting some of the army, and all of these reductions will be used in the reorganization of the First Army.

Arthur, the reorganization of the army also needs the strong support of Australasia, and Russia will definitely not forget the friendship of Australasia. At the end of his words, Nicholas II looked at Arthur and said in a very sincere tone.

Help Russia with military reforms?

This was not a problem for Arthur at all. First of all, whether Russia is strong or not is not harmful to Australasia at all, and it can even add a more reliable ally.

Second, only if Russia becomes stronger, if World War II breaks out in the future, can Germany be successfully confined to Europe.

After all, it would have been very difficult to defeat Germany during World War II if Britain and France had relied on it alone.

The development of this world has long been different from history, and the signing of the American Island Alliance also makes Arthur wonder whether the United States will join the future Allies instead of the Axis powers, as it has done in history.

Coupled with the fact that Russia is still in turmoil, it is basically impossible to use the current situation in Europe to confront the future World War II.

If Britain, France, and Russia had joined forces to confront Germany, they might have been able to suppress the Germany in history.

Although it is uncertain whether the world will develop the way it has been, the rise of Mussolini in Italy and the birth of the Nazi Party in Germany have kept Arthur on his toes.

A regained Russia will be able to contend not only with the island nations in the Far East, but also with Russia that will start a war in the future.

All things considered, making Russia stronger would be beneficial to the development of Australasia, and Arthur would not refuse Nicholas II's proposal.

"Of course, Cousin Nikolai. As an ally of Russia, I am naturally happy to see Russia strong. Arthur smiled and nodded, agreeing to Nicholas II's proposal.

"Australasia is willing to provide Russia with the weapons and equipment needed for Russia's military reform, the training of officers, and so on. We also welcome more Russian officers to study abroad in Australasia and learn more about military tactics and military thinking. ”

Helping one is helping, and helping two is also helping. Military students from Finland and Russia can also be arranged together for intensive education, etc.

Arthur doesn't have to worry about the conflict between the two countries for the time being, after all, neither Nicholas II nor Dmitry are stupid, and the two countries are also from the same royal family, so they naturally have an advantage in terms of relationship.

Even if Nicholas II had been smarter, he could have signed an alliance with Finland to increase his influence in Eastern Europe.

Finland may be abandoned for this purpose, but for Russia at present, the most important thing is to complete the reunification of the country.

For those countries that have been divided, including Lithuania, it will be very difficult for Russia to recover them if there are no special events or wars.

Even Lithuania, which was controlled by Poland, with the support of Britain and France, it was impossible for Russia to go back.

Russia's hope of regaining these states may only be placed after a powerful state destroys these independent states.

3000 words for the first update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)