The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 937: Chapter 701: Occupying Garnifornia (Two-in-One Chapter)

With Mexico’s entry, the battle along the U.S. border became even more chaotic, and the number of people injured and killed in the war climbed each day.

However, this was inevitable. It was impossible to win over a powerful nation without suffering any casualties.

The good news was that as adversaries of the United States, the Allied Army included participants from nearly 30 countries, whose military contributions were simply beyond what the United States could contend with.

It was just that the countries didn’t want to go all out; otherwise, the American government wouldn’t have lasted a few days.

The focus shifted back to the Australasia Army’s offensive. After several days of continuous bombing, on August 11th, 1928, the Australasia Army’s landing on the West Coast of the United States officially began.

The landing on the West Coast was divided into three directions, with only one infantry division in the northern forces. After landing in Oregon, they successively took control of key cities in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and then simply waited for support from the main forces.

The primary offensive was directed at the central and southern regions.

The central forces were responsible for landing in San Francisco and advancing eastward to capture Sacramento, the capital of California, and then to take control of Nevada.

The goal of the southern forces was singular, which was to quickly take control of Los Angeles, the largest city on the West Coast of the United States, and successfully spread their influence to a broader area.

From the military deployment, one could understand Arthur’s emphasis on California. Even at that time, California was undoubtedly the essence of the West Coast of the United States, its significance far surpassing the northwestern states of Washington and Oregon.

No joke, for California, Arthur could give up the offensives in Washington and Oregon.

However, it was believed that Americans did not have that many troops to dispatch; having stretched their forces to defend against the Canadian and Mexican offensives, the troops they could muster on the West Coast were already quite limited.

With the navy’s cooperation, the offensive against the West Coast of the United States went very smoothly. Since the United States Pacific Fleet was nowhere to be found, Arthur concentrated all his attention on the offensive against the various states on the West Coast.

Reports from the front line revealed that the resistance to the Australasia Army’s offensive was mostly from the National Guard of the states, with very few U.S. Army soldiers and concerning combat effectiveness.

In just three days, the Australasia Army successfully landed in San Francisco and began advancing inland along the entire bay area.

The National Guard of California had no resistance against the Australasia Army, overwhelmed by a dual pressure from superior weapons and equipment and the individual combat strength of the soldiers.

The attack on Los Angeles was not as smooth. After all, Los Angeles is the only city on the West Coast of the United States with a population exceeding one million and is very close to reaching 2 million, making it a megalopolis by world standards.

California’s defensive forces in Los Angeles were very strong, arguably second only to the state capital, Sacramento, as the region with the most robust defense on the West Coast.

A question arises here: Why would the state capital of California be in Sacramento, hundreds of miles away, when Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state?

In fact, this has to do with the history of the development of the West Coast of the United States.

It is well known that the land of North America developed after being colonized by the Powers, previously considered sparse in population and barren.

Within the United States, the eastern states were the first to be developed, with the west only growing recently.

Even now, some western states are still sparsely populated, and many areas remain remote small towns in the United States in later generations.

Why was California able to develop so quickly in a short time? Aside from the geographic advantage of being close to the West Coast, the gold rush that erupted in California was also a critical factor.

This is similar to Australia. Australia’s population could grow rapidly due to the long-lasting gold rush that attracted a large number of Gold Diggers.

Without these Gold Diggers, the populations of Australia and New Zealand wouldn’t be so sizeable, and Arthur’s development would not have been so smooth.

San Francisco was called the “Old Gold Mountain” because the discovery of large-scale goldmines here caused the gold rush.

Not far from San Francisco, Sacramento, as the central hub city of California, rightfully became the state capital.

Though Los Angeles is the most populous city in California and even stands firm as the most populous on the entire West Coast, its southern location isn’t conducive to the stability of the whole state.

Moreover, the Californian state capital hasn’t been constant. In California’s brief history, the state capital has changed several times.

Especially in the short span of 13 years from 1849 to 1862, the capital of California moved from Montley to San Jose, Vallejo, Benicia, and San Francisco, resulting in a spectacle of multiple cities holding the title of the capital.

Even now, although Sacramento has been the stable capital of California, there is still a significant voice advocating for the capital to move to the south.

As the largest city in California and even the whole West Coast of the United States, Los Angeles certainly has the clout to make that argument.