The Rise Of Australasia

At this moment in the White House, President Hoover was sitting at his desk, cursing vehemently.

Unfortunately, this did nothing to alleviate the dire situation that the United States was facing, even though President Hoover had already smashed several antique collectibles in his office.

Hoover had hoped to capitalize on the shortcomings of Calvin Coolidge’s administration by leading the American people out of the economic crisis, thereby sculpting himself as one of the greatest Presidents in American history.

But unexpectedly, shortly after assuming the presidency, he found himself in an unprecedented, dreadful predicament that no other American President had faced before.

The most difficult times for the United States should have been during the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. But back then, the strongest enemy was Britain, and they had the help of the French.

Yet now, not only did Britain and France stand against them, but nearly 30 other countries had joined the war against the United States.

Although only a small fraction of their armies had been deployed, the combined land forces of these 30 countries exceeded 800,000—over ten times the size of the United States Army.

What’s more, the United States Navy, which the American people took pride in, seemed insignificant before the combined fleets of these nations.

Britain’s Royal Navy had mobilized with full force, clearly intending to crush the United States Navy and then move freely across American territory.

Another piece of bad news was that the United States was not at its zenith. The economic crisis had left the nation’s finances in dire straits, and it was uncertain whether they had sufficient funds to invest in the war.

More importantly, the various chaotic conflicts within the country were like ticking bombs, threatening to destroy the nation at any moment.

In the face of such severe internal and external troubles, not just President Hoover, but even if George Washington, the founder of the nation, were resurrected, he would be helpless.

"What are those Islanders doing?" President Hoover yelled, "Tell them they must uphold our alliance and join this defensive war.

Otherwise, once we extricate ourselves from this war, the Island Nation will face the full brunt of American retaliation."

"Mr. President, the Envoy from the Island Nation already left yesterday; I’m afraid they won’t be helping us in this war," the Foreign Minister said heavily. Stay updated via Freewebnovel

"What? How could you let the Island Nation Envoy leave?" President Hoover truly exploded in anger. Had his aim been any better, the antiques would not have hit the desk but rather the Foreign Minister beside him.

"Mr. President, could we even detain the Island Nation Envoy? Forgive my bluntness, but doing so would only give us one more enemy," the Envoy retorted with a slight irritation.

Although he was appointed by President Hoover, that did not mean he had to follow the President’s orders unconditionally.

After all, they were all part of the American political upper echelons, each supported by capital; who was to fear whom?

Hearing the Foreign Minister’s words, President Hoover finally realized his own unseemly behavior and softened his tone, "I apologize, Thomas, I lost my composure."

"No problem, Mr. President," the Foreign Minister Thomas said with a smile, "Just the thing I wanted to tell you—I’ve recently contracted a serious illness and can no longer fulfill the duties of Foreign Minister. Please allow me to resign."

Hearing this, President Hoover’s expression changed, well aware of the Foreign Minister’s intentions.

The situation the United States faced was now a dead end; staying in government would mean only becoming Hoover’s scapegoat, bearing the infamy for eternity alongside President Hoover.

Leaving early might not shake off all the blame but at least would avoid being held responsible for the war’s failure.

After all, the Allied Army’s intentions surely went beyond merely imposing reparations on the United States; there was a high probability that they intended to carve up the country.

A government causing the division of the United States would surely bear eternal infamy; leaving early could actually be a way to preserve one’s political reputation.

Although understanding the Foreign Minister’s intentions, President Hoover had no solution. He surely couldn’t forcibly reject the resignation, could he?

Even if he could forcefully keep the Foreign Minister, it would only create panic among the members of the current United States government, possibly leading to self-destruction even before the enemy arrived.

In the following few days, several important ministers within the American Government tendered their resignations, and President Hoover consented to each one.

The majority of those who remained were Republican officials, that is, from Hoover’s own party.

It was not that Republican officials were prepared to advance or retreat with President Hoover. Rather, Hoover being Republican was an unalterable fact, and it was too late for the party to pull out.

Instead, they might as well give it their all to see if the unity of the United States could be preserved. Reparations were secondary; maintaining the unity of American territory was paramount, even if it meant paying more in reparations, compared to witnessing the fragmentation of America during Hoover’s tenure.

If the country were to split during Hoover’s presidency, the Republican Party would likely become the scourge of the United States, chased down by all.

Officials and candidates from the Republican Party were destined to be unwelcome. Without the support of the people, a political party already loses its foundation.

In full response by the Republican Party, the American Government developed numerous strategies, which included the mass construction of submarines, attempting to block the news as much as possible, erecting a large number of turrets along the coastline, rapidly expanding the size of the army, putting the navy on war alert, and military factories producing weapons and equipment at full capacity.

On June 28, the American Government launched a nationwide conscription. The scale of this conscription was even larger than during World War I, with the goal of recruiting at least 2 million soldiers.

Almost at the same time, major civilian military factories also received orders from the military. Various military supplies were being produced frantically, as the entire nation had entered a state of war.

In addition, the United States had strengthened patrols along its borders with Canada and Mexico. Aside from the possibility of the Allied Army landing on the American coastline, they could also land in the United States’ neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and directly enter the United States by land.

Compared to an amphibious assault, this type of land warfare was what the current United States feared most.

The American people were already regretting not thoroughly unifying North America, as now the remaining northern and southern neighbors had become the greatest threats.

But whether it was Canada or Mexico, the United States could not eliminate them in a short time and could only continue to strengthen border defense forces, praying that the enemy would not attack by land in the short term.

On June 29, 1928, nearly 30 countries led by Britain, France, and Australia formally declared war on the United States and immediately expelled American envoys from these countries.

Almost at the same time, the United States also declared war on these countries, expressing its resolute stance.

Even before the declaration of war, that is, after the end of the spoils conference, the armies of Britain, France, and Australia had already been mobilizing.

Everyone knew that attacking the United States by land was the simplest, and the direction of the three nations’ troop movements was Canada, intending to eradicate the United States from north to south.

The good news was, at the subsequent World Alliance meeting, Mexico decisively joined the combat column against the United States.

This allowed the Allied Army to achieve a situation of encircling the United States from the north and south, increasing the land pressure on the United States. @@novelbin@@

The previously celebrated geographical advantage had now become a disadvantage that restricted the United States.

If faced with a pincer attack from north and south, the American army became trapped with no place to escape. The navy, with its superior Allied Army, could also easily block the East and West Coasts, making the country like a turtle caught in a jar, with no possibility of receiving aid from other nations.

Of course, now the United States had to make a difficult choice, and that was whether to gather the navy together.

After the outbreak of war, the Panama Canal, vital to American life, was definitely impossible to hold onto.

The Panama Canal was too far from the United States, which could not possibly use a large number of ground forces to protect it.

This also meant that after the outbreak of war the communication routes between the East and West Coasts of the United States would be blocked.

After losing the Panama Canal, the United States Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet would be stuck fighting separately.

The navy was already at a disadvantage, and if it were divided into two parts, there would be no hope of victory.

The Allied Army only needed to hold off either the Atlantic or Pacific fleet and use the main force to surround the other fleet, easily defeating the entire United States Navy by dividing and conquering.

But the United States didn’t have a good solution. Gathering the Atlantic and Pacific fleets could indeed strengthen the power of a single fleet, but at the cost of significantly weakening the defense power of the other ocean.

If the defense were focused on the Atlantic, there would be formidable enemies like Australasia in the Pacific. But if the defense were all in the Pacific, the European Union Army in the Atlantic could easily breakthrough Washington.

How to deploy the navy had become the biggest dilemma because any decision seemed wrong, and no strategy appeared to give the navy an advantage.

When the navy was at a disadvantage, the actual situation for the United States became one of being attacked from all sides, and the outcome of this war was already predetermined before it even started.

Without the ability to hold onto the Panama Canal, any action taken by the Americans was futile, merely delaying the inevitable end of the war.

But for the current Allied Army, time was the least of their concerns. After all, defeating the United States would bring plenty of money and a large population to exploit; they were not in a hurry to spend quickly.

While it appeared that Panama was still under American control, its defense forces could not even withstand the army of Central American countries, let alone the Allied Army.

As expected.

Under the signal from Britain, France, and Australia, nearly fifty thousand soldiers of the Central American countries assembled an army and marched toward the Panama Canal with clear intent.

On July 1st, 1928, the flames of war were finally ignited near the Panama Canal.