The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 480: Chapter 380: Taking Over the German Colony

After Brigadier Fritz officially took over the City of HerbertsHera, he realized the truth of Mayor HerbertsHera's words.

At least within the scope of HerbertsHera, the number of German garrison troops was pitifully small, totaling less than twenty people.

The reason these twenty remained in the area was to protect the HerbertsHera City Council.

After all, this colony had a population of millions of indigenous people who harbored great hatred towards European colonists.

If a certain number of soldiers were not left to protect the city council, the indigenous people would discover that the German garrison had been reduced, and the HerbertsHera City Council and all German residents in the city would be in danger.

The Germans' transfer was swift, not only withdrawing most of the colonial garrison but also transporting some of the population away.

According to the explanation given by the Mayor of HerbertsHera, the population that was transported back to Germany in advance were mostly die-hard loyalists who did not want to join the rule of Australasia.

Most of the remaining German immigrants and European immigrants had their own property in German New Guinea.

Their property was here, their families were here, and they had settled down here.

For these people, it was not important who ruled this area; what was important was whether their property and safety could be protected.

Following Arthur's instructions, after taking control of HerbertsHera, Brigadier Fritz urgently posted notices outside to announce the implementation of temporary military control in HerbertsHera.

However, the announcement also specifically mentioned that the Australasian Government recognized the property of these people in the New Guinea area.

If these people were willing to join Australasian nationality, their personal safety and property security would also be protected by the Australasia Army.

For Australasia, Germany's early withdrawal of some immigrants from German New Guinea was tantamount to helping Australasia screen immigrants.

Those who left might not all be unwilling to join Australia, but most of those who remained should be willing to join Australasia.

With Australasia so close, there was no resistance to incorporating German New Guinea into their rule.

Therefore, for the citizens of HerbertsHera to ensure their lives and property security, throwing their support behind Australasia, the strongest country in the region, was a good choice.

It was also because most of those who stayed were willing to follow Australasian rule that the militarization management of HerbertsHera proceeded smoothly.

On the second day of Division Two's arrival in HerbertsHera, August 20, 1914, the first batch of supplies shipped by Australasia arrived at the port of HerbertsHera and were distributed to the citizens by Brigadier Fritz.

The types of supplies in this batch were actually quite simple, mostly consisting of grain, weaponry ammunition, medical supplies, and clothing.

Other than the weaponry ammunition being specifically supplied to the First Division and Second Division, all the remaining supplies were shared among the citizens of HerbertsHera.

When each citizen of HerbertsHera lined up to receive these supplies, their faces could not help but show smiles.

At least their lives were guaranteed, and they did not have to worry about losing their supplies as a result of the war cutting off their logistics.

It was also because of the change in mood that the citizens of HerbertsHera became very welcoming to the Australasia Army.

Such an army that would not harm civilians would not provoke hostility from the people wherever they went.

In fact, this was also due to the good relations between Germany and Australasia in the past, and the fact that there were a considerable number of German immigrants in Australasia, that Arthur did not intend to make the relationship with Germany too rigid.

Even after the war, Australasia would still need to acquire more people, equipment, and scientific research talent from Germany, which required the Germans to at least not be hostile to Australasia so that Australasia could better absorb these talents.

On August 20th, Brigadier Fritz successfully contacted Brigadier Silvio of the First Division, telling him about everything that had happened in HerbertsHera and the German advance withdrawal.

Brigadier Silvio, puzzled about why no German garrison was seen in the New Guinea area, ordered some troops to move into the border of German New Guinea and Dutch East Indies, while the main force went to HerbertsHera to join Division Two.

According to the information provided by the Mayor of HerbertsHera, all of Germany's Pacific colonies should be like German New Guinea, with some immigrants and the majority of the troops withdrawn early, leaving mostly those willing to join Australasia.

If this piece of information was true, the speed of Australasia's absorption of these colonies would be much faster, and unnecessary casualties could be avoided.

Brigadier Silvio ordered the main force to quickly move to HerbertsHera, intending to assemble as soon as possible and move to other German Pacific Colonies, and smoothly take over the local government.

On August 21, 1914, the First Division successfully arrived in HerbertsHera, and the news of the military successfully taking over German New Guinea was also transmitted back to Australasia.

For the Australasian government, one of the most important goals in this war has been accomplished, and the next step is to receive the remaining German Pacific Colonies, and then they can sit back and watch the European War play out.

For the civilians of Australasia, especially the German immigrants, there is not much conflict between Australasia and Germany, which is good news.

After all, casualties mean hatred, and if Germany and Australasia become enemies, the fate of these German immigrants living in Australasia can be imagined.

At present, the peaceful takeover of colonies has advantages for both sides: Germany can gather more troops on the European battlefield without having to waste energy on the Pacific colonies.

At the same time, Australasia can achieve its strategic goals, making it a win-win situation for both sides in this war.

On August 22, 1914, the Australasia Army arrived in the capital of German Samoa, Apia. Just like in German New Guinea, they quickly took over Apia and implemented military rule.

The actions of the First and Second Divisions were quick, and by August 26, 1914, they had successfully taken over all of Germany's Pacific Colonies in less than a week.

At present, all the German colonies are under military control, and local residents are temporarily not allowed to go in and out freely. Living and other supplies are provided by the military.

Most immigrants accept Australasia's military control. As for the immigrants who do not accept Australasia's rule, they are either forced to submit, or receive enough travel expenses from the military and then abandon all their properties and board the ship back to Germany.

However, the problem is that since the European War is currently raging, the ships that Australasia uses to repatriate these immigrants will only send them to Germany's African Colonies.

As for their lives in Africa, it is beyond the Australasian government's ability to guarantee.

Luckily, after the previous round of screening by Germany, most of the remaining immigrants are more submissive.

Almost no one chooses the second option of being repatriated because their life in the African colonies may not be as good as it is now, at least the current supplies are guaranteed.

All of Germany's Pacific colonies together have a population of more than 300,000, which has truly pushed Australasia's population to exceed 15 million.

However, population growth is still ongoing, so to find out the exact number of population growth this year, one has to wait for the annual report meeting at the end of the year.

After the successful completion of Australasia's battle mission, Arthur's focus successfully returned to Europe.

Compared to Australasia's skirmishes in the Pacific battlefield, the Allied Nations and the Axis Powers in the European battlefield are really putting up a fight.

According to the intelligence from the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, by late August, the number of troops invested by the Axis Powers and Allies in Europe had exceeded 2 million, of which Russia had 610,000, Germany had 730,000, France had 550,000, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had 390,000, and Serbia had 150,000.

At present, the number of people on the Westline and Eastern Front battlefields is about the same, both maintaining a size of just over 1 million.

But this is only a short-term situation. With the progress of the military mobilization of European countries and the transfer of troops from other regions, the number of soldiers in the European battlefield will only increase, even with the expectation of breaking through 3 million in a short period of time.

Speaking of the current war situation between the Axis Powers and the Allies, it is necessary to mention the most important country in the European War, Germany's strategic choice.

Decades before the outbreak of the war, Germany had already drawn up a war plan for fighting France and Russia.

During the period from 1871 to 1879, Germany's military power dominated the whole of Europe. At that time, Marshal Moltke (Old Moltke), the then German Chief of Staff, believed that due to the convergence of France and Russia, Germany would have to face the crisis of fighting on two fronts, which would be a difficult and protracted war.

But due to the development of railway transportation, Old Marshal Moltke keenly recognized that using railway lines could quickly mobilize most of the troops, first dealing with the enemy who was ready to attack at any time, and then dealing with the slow-mobilizing enemy.

For Germany, the enemy that was always ready to attack was naturally France. The slow-mobilizing enemy was naturally the crumbling Tsardom of Russia.

Because of France's increasing military strength and the strong fortress on the German-French border, the Germans believed that among the two countries of France and Russia, France was the most dangerous enemy.

Furthermore, Germany's third Chief of Staff, General Sherwood, devised a more detailed plan for fighting France and Russia.

General Sherwood believed that Germany must avoid fighting France and Russia at the same time, because the combined strength of these two countries had already surpassed Germany.

"Germany must throw its full strength onto the strongest, most powerful, and most dangerous enemy, and that enemy can only be France." This was the theory put forward by General Sherwood in the 1905 "Memorandum on the War against France" and was also the strategic crystallization of General Sherwood.