The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 407: Chapter 340: British-Australian Agreement_3

This kind of assistance was different from the patronage that came before. The scale of assistance laid out in the treaty was sufficient for Australasia to advance even further.

It also meant that Australasia had to provide satisfactory returns in military cooperation for the British.

As the saying goes, "true hearts reciprocate true hearts." In order for both parties to jointly fulfill their obligations under the treaty, besides the mutual conditions, it is also crucial for both parties to have the motivation to uphold the agreement.

Since March 12th, the talks between the British Empire and Australasia had turned into Minister Grey proposing terms while Prime Minister Kent and the Cabinet haggled over them.

The first condition proposed by Minister Grey was that in the event of a European War, Australasia would dispatch at least three main battleships to assist Britain in maintaining the situation in the Indian Ocean Region.

India's coastline is of great importance to the British Empire, as are the British colonies in Africa, and crucial strategic locations like the Malacca Strait.

Therefore, patrolling this region has become vital, particularly in wartime, when a sufficient number of warships must protect the area's security.

If the Australasian Navy could join the Indian Ocean patrol system, it would enable the Royal British Navy to save a few main battleships and deploy them in potential naval battles in Europe.

This would also further widen the gap between the Royal Fleet and the High Seas Fleet, reducing the likelihood of the two allied fleets converging.

Prime Minister Kent immediately agreed to Minister Grey's first request without much thought.

Dispatching three main battleships to assist the British in patrolling the Indian Ocean after the outbreak of the European War was not a harsh condition, and it was entirely acceptable to Australasia.

The second request from Minister Grey was for Australasia to send at least 200,000 troops to participate in the war if the European War broke out, with at least a quarter of them being regular troops.

In return for the military contributions of the Australasians, Minister Grey also promised to take responsibility for the logistics of Australasian troops in Europe and to bear half of the wartime military spending for Australasia.

In fact, it was not just Australasia that received such terms. The British Empire also put forward such conditions to its two other allies, France and Russia Nation.

In case of a European war, the British Empire would take on part of the military costs for France and Russia to alleviate their financial stress.

This is especially true for Russia Nation, whose domestic political situation was already unstable, and whose industry and economy were relatively far behind, which madeBritain's support all the more necessary.

Moreover, Russia already owed France a significant amount of debt, and its financial situation was already quite precarious.

Maintaining the largest army in Europe, if the British Empire did not provide some financial support, Russia might fall into massive debt and even face bankruptcy risk even before the start of the war due to huge military spending.

Prime Minister Kent could not make unilateral decisions about Minister Grey's requests.

Only after consulting with Arthur did Prime Minister Kent agree to the terms, but he also made some changes to Minister Grey's requests.

Regarding the dispatching of troops, Australasia would send at least 250,000 troops to Europe following the outbreak of the European War.

While the number of troops had increased, Minister Kent also set limits on the timing of dispatching regular troops.

The Australasia Ministry of Defense would send a total of more than 50,000 main forces to Europe during the entire war.

However, the requirement was that the ultimate command of all dispatched combat troops would be in the hands of the Australasia Ministry of Defense. Britain, France, and Russia could request the assistance of the Australasian Army, but they could not issue compulsory orders.

Arthur's idea was quite simple. Although he had confidence in the combat capability of his army, troops that had not experienced major wars were ultimately not at their peak fighting capacity.

If they could utilize the European War to train the main force of Australasia by participating in the battle in batches, it would not only satisfy the British but also improve the combat capability of Australasian regular troops.

However, Arthur had no intention of turning his troops into cannon fodder for Britain, France, and Russia, fighting on their behalf.

Whether it was non-main forces or main forces dispatched to Europe in rotation, the final command must be in the hands of Australasia itself.

The small number of main forces are the foundation of the Australasian Army. While Arthur had prepared for casualties when planning to send them to Europe, he couldn't accept large-scale losses. If the British, French, and Russian forces were to command the Australasian Army, it was highly likely they would be sent to brutal meat-grinder battlefields like Verdun after the start of World War I.

Bear in mind that there were several large-scale battles like Verdun during World War I, each involving millions of troops and resulting in millions of casualties.

Even if Australasia could send 250,000 combat troops, such large-scale battles would only see them being depleted, and ultimately, it is Arthur and Australasia who would suffer the consequences.

Therefore, Arthur would rather send an additional 50,000 combat troops to ensure that the command of the troops is firmly controlled by Australasia itself.