The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 623 - 474: Establishing the Charge_2

Some news agencies have exaggerated even further by declaring that Australasia had secretly been researching biological weapons and that the influenza was one of Australasia’s creations.

Australasia was providing free flu treatment because they allegedly possessed an antidote for this engineered bio-weapon, which was intended to prevent the death of Australasians due to the virus.

President Wilson allocated a substantial sum of money for this and within just two days, hundreds of American media outlets were publishing these reports.

Domestic protest rallies in the United States instantly changed direction, shifting from expressing dissatisfaction with the government and President Wilson, to demanding an investigation into the truth and appropriate punishment for Australasia.

Seeing the successful deflection, President Wilson was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. At least for the short term, his position was secure. As long as domestic supplies and medical situations were ensured, he would not have to worry about impeachment from the opposition.

At this time, Europe and Australasia also learned about the reports and situations from the United States.

Arthur was well-prepared for this, as it was impossible for anyone to assume responsibility for letting the flu run rampant. Not only would this cost anyone their current position and reputation, it could even make them the sinners of all humanity, remembered by all with an extremely negative reputation.

Arthur had been withholding news reports, but now was the time to play his trump card, a fatal blow for the Americans and President Wilson.

On October 8th, 1918, a majority of the media in Australasia and Europe simultaneously published a report that included a photo of the American military cordoning off a chemical factory in Kansas State due to a leakage.

The fatal detail was that this incident in the photo had occurred just three months prior. It was right after the leak in this chemical factory that the flu outbreak occurred in the Kansas State military camp and subsequently spread across the world.

The report only introduced the location and the time of the photo, with a prominent headline addressing the United States: "Wilson, please give an explanation!"

Now things were looking horrible for the Americans. This photo was solid evidence, and at a time when photographic technology was not advanced, there was no such thing as a photoshopped image.

This implied that the photo was 100% authentic, suggesting that the influenza virus was likely to have leaked from an American chemical factory.

Suddenly, the European people and nations depressed by the flu found a place to vent their frustrations. Europe saw an unprecedented massive outbreak of protests, all under the unified banner: "Sanction the USA!"

A flu outbreak happening after a chemical factory leak, it was clear as day that this factory couldn’t escape responsibility.

When this report reached American shores, the U.S. government didn’t have time to suppress it because the World Alliance, led by the Allies, was already condemning the United States.

The public condemnation from the World Alliance undoubtedly confirmed the guilt of the Americans. News reports might sometimes be misleading, but surely the World Alliance, composed of dozens of nations, wasn’t targeting the United States alone?

Sure enough, after the World Alliance voiced its position, what the European public demanded in the protests changed from sanctioning America to declaring war on the USA. Their demand for U.S. compensation had also morphed into a call for eliminating the United States, the root of the calamity.

American scientists promptly stood up to refute the rumors, stating that the substances researched in the Kansas chemical factory had no relation to the flu, and America bore no responsibility in this viral outbreak.

But Europeans, blinded by their rage, were in no condition to believe the explanations provided by these American scientists.

A flu outbreak occurring shortly after a chemical factory leak, with the first to show symptoms being the soldiers who cordoned off the factory, how could there be no connection? Who would believe such a statement?

This statement from the scientists failed to convince not only the European public, but even the American people themselves.

The American public only now realized that the previous reports were false, and the responsibility for the flu was truly on their side.

Suddenly, large numbers of American people also took to the streets, starting to denounce their own government and President Wilson.

Under the alliance of Britain and France, public opinion dealt the United States the final, fatal blow.

The British research lab responsible for studying medicines publicly presented a set of data to the European media, indicating that the earliest strain of influenza was different from any virus found in nature, suggesting that it could be an artificially cultivated new virus.

Not only that, the French research lab also released a set of data saying that the natural virus strains couldn’t possibly have such frequent variations. The current strain of influenza, having thousands of variations, could largely be the result of artificial cultivation.

Although the accusations did not directly point at the United States, it is without a doubt that the Kansas Chemical Factory in the United States was the prime suspect.

The statements from these two research labs directly confirmed the suspicion that the United States was researching biological weapons in chemical factories, causing the United States to be despised by most European commoners.

You should know, the current death toll in European countries due to influenza isn’t small and the economic loss can only be described as immeasurable.

Based on the death toll reported by various countries, Russia has the most deaths in this influenza outbreak, with the number of infections impossible to estimate, but the death toll is at least 800,000+.

This was inevitable, considering that compared to the medical conditions in Western Europe and Central European countries, Russia is relatively underdeveloped among European countries.

Furthermore, Russia has a large number of low-income farmers who are helpless against influenza and don’t have enough funds for treatment.

Following Russia, the country with the second highest death toll is France, with at least over 3 million infections, and deaths surpassing 400,000.

The figures for Britain are quite similar to those of France, with over 3 million infected as well, and the death toll around 400,000 (domestically).

Next, the death tolls are respectively 370,000 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 350,000 in Germany, 320,000 in Italy, 200,000 in Spain, 100,000 in Serbia, 80,000 in Romania, 50,000 in Belgium, 50,000 in Portugal, 50,000 in the Netherlands...

All European countries have deaths due to influenza, and even neutral countries like Switzerland and the Netherlands have lost tens of thousands of people due to the impact of influenza.

Without exaggeration, the impact of this influenza outbreak on Europe’s population is enormous. Unlike the previous wartime, the impact of influenza on every country is fair. No country can escape it.

This is even before counting the death toll in African and Asian colonies. It’s definitely a horrifying number.

However, the colonial deaths won’t matter to each country and would definitely not be reported. After all, the colonial death tolls start from the millions, which would not only increase the public’s panic about influenza, it would also intensify the government’s responsibility for the influenza outbreak.

After all, the casualty figures from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions are really not the same, and the responsibilities are quite different.

The loss to the Americans this time is certainly immense, and those who despise America are definitely more than just European nations, even including a large number of native countries in Asia.

While Arthur isn’t clear about the death toll in Asian countries, Dutch East Indies was also suffering.

When the influenza spread to the Dutch East Indies, the situation there became messy. Even Arthur is not clear about the exact death toll in Dutch East Indies, but a conservative estimate would be at least 5 million people.

Such huge casualties in various European countries as well as countries around the world, it is impossible not to pin the blame on a suitable figure.

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It’s not to mention the huge responsibility the United States does indeed bear at the moment. Even if the United States has no responsibility at all, as long as the United States is tainted, European countries will absolutely give them a push

Take this retaliation against the Americans as an example: Arthur only showed the photographs, the rest was lead by the British and French.

In this case, the success was overwhelming and the flu was officially named the Great American Influenza and all responsibilities were shifted onto the Americans by the European countries. The World Alliance is now discussing how to sanction the United States.