The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 614 - 470: The Role of the Army

At the start of the tense and quarantine actions in Australasia due to the wartime state, regions outside of Australasia remained unaffected.

For European countries, the most important issue at present is the transition of the post-war economy.

During the war, material shortages led nearly all participating countries to implement material distribution and a material rationing system.

Even in a resource-rich country like Britain, the amount of materials each person could buy was limited.

While this limited the rise in prices and ensured that more people could purchase materials, it indeed affected the economic development.

The war is over now, and for countries like Britain, the most important thing is to remove material restrictions and distributions, and to restore the pre-war free market.

The British, compared to the French, were at a disadvantage in the distribution of post-war benefits. Even Belgium gained a small part of the territory, but due to the waters separating Britain from the European continent, territorial expansion was impossible for the mainland.

Therefore, the British turned their attention more to the colonies and German warships.

Since the last naval battle, the German fleet had hardly been deployed, and the main force was still retained.

According to agreements with other Allies, Britain could obtain around six main battleships and more than 20 new mediums and small battleships, almost taking away most of the main force of the German High Seas Fleet.

This would strengthen the power of the Royal Navy and maintain the naval advantage of the British Empire as another form of compensation.

The British Empire even prepared a welcome ceremony for these German warships, waiting to formally receive these German warships and strengthen the Royal Navy’s strength in a short time.

Almost all victorious nations reaped rewards after the war, and even countries like Belgium were preparing various celebrations to divert the public’s attention.

The flu news from Australasia paused the festive atmosphere for one or two days, but soon the atmosphere resumed due to the explanations given by governments of various countries.

European countries generally reported festive news and staged a golden age scene.

The various news reports from Australasia seemed a bit out of place, not only frequently using words such as crisis, necessity, and immediate, but also seemed to restore the atmosphere to wartime.

Thanks to Arthur’s popularity among the people, within just three days, hundreds of symptomatic Australasians volunteered for quarantine, and various supplies were urgently mobilized and distributed to the public.

Arthur specifically emphasized that in addition to guaranteeing people’s daily life supplies, it is essential to ensure the supply of important materials such as masks and disinfectants during the flu period.

At the same time, for all material sales points, the principle of not raising prices and even reducing prices if possible must be upheld. The government can provide subsidies to them, with only one requirement, that no shop or sales point may raise prices, and must even reduce prices appropriately to ensure that every Australasian can afford supplies at any time.

The "no price increase" principle was specifically instructed by Arthur and required the government to implement it. If achieved, it would be credited, if not, it would be a fault.

Under Arthur’s tough attitude, although the order in the Australasia was somewhat tense, the prices of various supplies remained the same as before the wartime state.

For voluntary quarantined Australasians, the government must maintain an encouraging attitude, guarantee the supply of all materials to these people, and try to meet their demands as much as possible.

For special cases within this group of individuals, such as students, they should also try their best to ensure the study needs of these people to make sure their education is not delayed for too long.

No one could guarantee how long this epidemic would last, and if it dragged on for one or two years, they could not go without studying for such a long time in quarantine, right?

In any case, Arthur took the current flu very seriously and issued more stringent requirements to the government than during wartime.

Wars could not threaten the Australasian mainland, but this flu could. Arthur’s emphasis on loving the people would be fully demonstrated during this flu.

Although Arthur had made advance preparations, some problems still arose according to the government reports.

At the new round of emergency cabinet meetings, Arthur frowned, looking at the Minister of Civil Affairs Philip with some dissatisfaction and asked, "Minister Philip, why are there still some areas not receiving enough supplies? I remember that the national material reserves are still abundant and completely sufficient for the consumption of the entire population for more than two years."

It was not long after the end of the war, which was also good news for Australasia.

The government still had sufficient material reserves to implement this quarantine and wartime state while ensuring that the people had enough supplies.

"Your Majesty, we have enough materials, but we are short of manpower and cannot deliver the materials to everyone’s hands in a short period of time." Minister of Civil Affairs Philip stood up and hurriedly explained.

It could only be said that the people of Australasia were too obedient. After Arthur suggested that everyone stay home for five days of quarantine and only go out normally after ensuring that no symptoms appeared, more than 60% of Australasians chose to stay home for quarantine.

As the majority of the population stayed home, although sufficient materials were sent to various stores and sales points, people did not go out to make purchases and naturally did not obtain the supplies.