The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 1124: Chapter 842: Final Preparations

Actually, according to common sense, it is basically impossible to hide the large-scale mobilization of a country’s military from other nations.

Mobilizing the military is not as easy as one might imagine, and to completely conceal such information is even more impossible. Even though there are no satellites to spy with intelligence, such large-scale military movements can still be quickly noticed by other countries.

For example, during World War I, the troop movements of Germany and the French Army were basically clear to both parties. Although it was unclear exactly where the opposing troops had been moved to, a certain level of guesswork could still be made based on the existing situation.

Logically speaking, the movement of the German Army could not be hidden from the French, and naturally, the French would also understand the true intentions behind the Germans’ actions.

However, one important factor was that the Germans had just peacefully obtained the Polish Corridor, which they had previously ceded, via peace talks.

Deploying troops to take back control of their own territory seemed like a very normal move. This was what the French believed, and they did not pay much attention to the mobilization of the German Army because there were not many movements in the military at the German-French Border.

In order to launch an attack without any worries, the Germans decided to resolve the issues with Spain and Australasia before initiating their offensive.

After a meeting of the Tripartite Pact of Trie Island, Germany and Italy increased their support for the Spanish Nationalist Army and launched a final assault on Madrid, which was still under the control of the Spanish government.

The war had escalated, and the Spanish Civil War had truly become a large-scale conflict.

The total number of the Spanish Republic and Nationalist forces within Spain alone was already close to one million men.

For Spain, with a population of only 25 million, the impact could not be overstated. In other words, out of every 25 Spaniards, there was one who had personally experienced the civil war as a soldier.

Taking into account the large number of enterprises and Factories serving this civil war, it can be said that this was the largest military scale Spain could muster.

Beyond the nearly one million Spanish troops, there were also more than 80,000 volunteers from Germania on the Spanish battlefields.

Although it may seem like there were only 80,000 people, during the period of the Spanish Civil War, at least 300,000 troops from Germany and Italy had been rotated through.

This also means that over 300,000 German and Italian soldiers had received a certain level of experience on the Spanish battlefields. Compared to the French Army, which had not experienced war, the German and Italian forces were at least more seasoned in terms of wartime experience.

In order to fully capture Madrid, Germany and Italy prepared tens of thousands of Firearms and more than 300 Airplanes to carry out over a week’s bombardment of Madrid.

The Spanish Nationalist Army along with the German and Italian forces, together deployed over 400,000 men.

After more than a month-long siege, they finally occupied Madrid, Spain’s most important Urban City and Capital, on September 11th, 1935.

Following the fall of Madrid, the territory controlled by the Spanish Republic was basically reduced to a small coastal area in the east.

Although the eastern coastal area was the most developed and populous region of Spain, the Spanish Republic was clearly no match for the Nationalists at this time.

Even without German and Italian aid, the Spanish Nationalist Army could gradually erode the Republic’s territory, ultimately achieving their goal of rebuilding Spain.

What’s more, German and Italian assistance not only did not cease, but due to the impending German plan to attack Poland, the support was significantly increased.

Under Franco’s suggestion and to ensure that the Spanish Republic was completely isolated and without support, the Spanish Nationalist Army devised a crucial campaign for the civil war in Catalonia.

As is well known, Spain and France are neighboring countries. Because of the barrier of the Pyrenees, in reality, only the eastern and western ends of the mountain range can connect with France.

The western part of the Pyrenees was already under Nationalist control, leaving only the Catalonia region for communication with the French.

Franco’s plan was to occupy Catalonia and completely cut off any connection between the Republican Government and the French.

Without French aid, the Republican Government would lose a significant supportive force. Even though there was still support from the Russia Nation, due to the great distance, such help was not very effective for the already disadvantaged Spanish Republic.

Moreover, conquering Catalonia would allow the Nationalist Army to achieve a complete encirclement of the Republic.

In this way, the Spanish Republic would be trapped, with its defeat only a matter of time.

While the Spanish Nationalist Army was busily preparing for the offensive on Catalonia, on the other side of the Earth, the Island Nation, an ally to Germany and Italy, was also preparing their own actions with the help of Germany and Italy.

Of course, Germany and Italy were not so insane as to have the Island Nation declare war directly on Australasia.

After all, this would directly involve Australasia in the conflict, and could even prompt action from the originally neutral British.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Germany and Italy’s aim was very simple: to have the Island Nation engage Australasia in an endless arms race.

Because they were aware that the Island Nation could not compete with Australasia in terms of industry and economy, Germany and Italy also provided a series of aids to the Island Nation.

This included but was not limited to a large amount of interest-free or low-interest loans, exports of petroleum and other mineral supplies that the Island Nation most needed, and German-Italian technologies and expertise related to military equipment, among others.

Because war had not yet broken out in Europe, Germany and Italy were still able to purchase enough petroleum.

This was also of great convenience to the Island Nation. Without having to go through Australasia, the Island Nation was able to buy enough oil from Germany and Italy to somewhat meet its domestic petroleum needs.

However, the problem of oil scarcity still existed. This also resulted in the greatest difference between the Island Nation Army and the Australasia Army—the degree of military mechanization completion.

In the Australasia Army, one could see a large number of military vehicles. Tanks and airplanes were all major consumers of petroleum resources.

Although the Island Nation also had military vehicles, tanks, and airplanes, it did not have as many as Australasia, a major oil-producing country.

But compared with Germany and Italy, currently the most extreme and military-focused countries, the Island Nation actually had quite a lead in the number of airplanes over many European nations.

According to rough intelligence estimates, the number of airplanes the Island Nation had before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War was about 870, which had already exceeded that of the British Empire at the time.

After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the Island Nation further increased the production of airplanes.

As of now, their number of military aircraft should have exceeded 1,200, making them the country with the second-highest number of planes after Australasia.

Of course, the Island Nation’s second place was somewhat deceptive.

Even though among these 1,200 aircraft a good number had considerable combat power, nearly half of them were outdated models with far less impressive fighting capabilities.

Moreover, the airplane numbers of the European powers have also begun to surge, which amounts to an international air force arms race.

The United Kingdom, while maintaining neutrality in affairs, always maintained a high level of growth in air force numbers.

The reason is simple. The United Kingdom continued to build aircraft carriers, which naturally required a large number of airplanes.

Based on the intelligence Arthur had about the United Kingdom, the British had already exceeded 1,000 airplanes and were growing at a steady rate of about 300 per year.

In fact, given the industrial level of the British, if they chose to produce airplanes disregarding everything else, the annual output would be an astonishing figure.

But before entering a state of war, the financial burden created by mass production of airplanes was also a huge problem for the British.

Although the mainstream airplanes are still made of wood, which is not so expensive to produce.

Yes, wooden airplanes.

Although seen as somewhat inconceivable from the perspective of later generations, to the countries of the current world, airplanes made of wood were not so special.

The first issue is the high manufacturing cost of all-metal airplanes. Currently, the cost of building a single airplane in Australasia is about 15,000 to 25,000 Australian dollars, accounting for the most expensive military aircraft in the world.

Such a cost is not exaggerated and is the normal cost for current military aircraft.

This is also why Australasia did not manufacture airplanes in large quantities. The financial costs that would arise from manufacturing thousands of airplanes would be enough to cause headaches for the Finance Department.

Compared to the costly all-metal airplanes, the cheaper wooden airplanes were the mainstream of current global airplane development.

According to data on the manufacturing cost of airplanes from various countries, a moderately common wooden airplane had a manufacturing cost of only about 5,000 Australian dollars, with the most expensive not exceeding 10,000 Australian dollars.

Considering the composite costs of both types of airplanes, the funds needed for one all-metal airplane could be used to manufacture 2 to 3 wooden airplanes.

If Arthur were not aware of the advantages all-metal airplanes had in combat far surpassing those of wooden airplanes, it’s likely that Australasia’s current airplane design would also be primarily wooden.

This is also the reason Arthur remains unflustered upon hearing about the mass production of airplanes by various European countries. Apart from the significant advantage from jet engines, the superiority of all-metal airplanes over wooden ones is another reason for Arthur’s calm demeanor.

Of course, wooden airplanes have their advantages. Besides the lower cost, wood airplanes, due to being lighter in weight, are quite maneuverable in the sky.

But in front of all-metal airplanes equipped with jet engines, this advantage of maneuverability is mostly negated.

Although lighter, jet planes are certainly faster than wooden ones. And wooden airplanes almost cannot withstand the speeds of jet planes, which determines that the limit of wooden airplanes falls far behind that of all-metal planes.

This means that for Australasia, the mainstream wooden airplanes of other nations had no other advantage except perhaps the fact that they were indeed cheaper.

Without the influence of external factors, wooden airplanes indeed could withstand relatively high-speed flight.

But if they were hit by large caliber bullets or more powerful weapons, it would be no surprise for the more fragile wooden airplanes to completely disintegrate.