The Rise of Australia

In fact, according to normal principles, the large-scale mobilization of a country's military cannot be hidden from other countries.

Mobilizing the army is not as easy as imagined, and it is even more impossible to completely conceal the news. Even if there is no satellite spying intelligence yet, this large-scale military mobilization can still be quickly noticed by other countries.

For example, in World War I, the mobilization of German and French armies was basically clear to both sides. Although it is not clear where the opponent's troops have been mobilized, it is still possible to make certain guesses based on the existing situation.

Logically speaking, the mobilization of German troops cannot be hidden from the French, and the French will naturally understand the real intentions behind the Germans.

But one factor is also very important, and that is that the Germans have just peacefully obtained the Polish corridor that they once ceded through peace talks.

Sending troops to regain control of their own territory seems to be a very normal trend. This is exactly how the French feel. They do not pay much attention to the mobilization of German troops, because there are not many movements of troops on the German-French border.

In order to have no worries about their attack, the Germans decided to solve the two problems of Spain and Australasia before launching the attack.

After a meeting of the German-Italian Triple Alliance, Germany and Italy strengthened their support for the Spanish National Army and launched a final general attack on Madrid, which was still under the control of the Spanish government.

Since the outbreak of the war, the Spanish Civil War has turned into a truly large-scale war.

The total number of government troops and national troops in Spain alone is close to one million.

This has a huge impact on Spain, which has a population of only 25 million. In other words, 1 in 25 Spaniards personally experienced this civil war as a soldier.

Considering that there are still a large number of companies and factories serving this civil war, it can be said that this civil war is already the largest army size that Spain can produce.

In addition to the nearly one million Spanish troops, there are also more than 80,000 German and Italian volunteers on the Spanish battlefield.

Although it seems that there are only 80,000 troops, during the Spanish Civil War, Germany and Italy rotated at least 300,000 troops.

This also means that more than 300,000 German and Italian troops have received some training on the Spanish battlefield. Compared with the French army, which has not experienced war, the German and Italian armies are at least more experienced in war.

In order to completely capture Madrid, Germany and Italy prepared tens of thousands of artillery pieces, and more than 300 aircraft bombed Madrid for more than a week.

The Spanish National Army and the German and Italian armies invested a total of more than 400,000 people.

After more than a month of siege, finally on September 11, 1935, the most important city in Spain, the capital Madrid, was fully occupied.

After Madrid was captured, the territory controlled by the Spanish Republic was basically limited to only a few areas along the eastern coast.

Although the eastern coast is the most developed and populous region in Spain, the Spanish Republic at this time is obviously no match for the National Army.

Even without the assistance of Germany and Italy at this time, the Spanish National Army could gradually encroach on the territory of the Republic, and eventually achieve the goal of occupying the magpie's nest and rebuilding Spain.

What's more, the aid from Germany and Italy not only did not stop, but also was greatly increased because the German government's planned attack on Poland was approaching.

In order to make the Spanish Republic completely isolated and isolated, at the suggestion of Franco, the Spanish National Army formulated the Catalonian Campaign, which was crucial to the civil war.

As we all know, Spain and France are neighboring countries. Because of the barrier of the Pyrenees, only the east and west ends of the Pyrenees can actually be connected to France.

Currently, the western part of the Pyrenees is controlled by the National Army, leaving only Catalonia to communicate with the French.

Franco's plan was to occupy Catalonia and completely cut off the connection between the Spanish Republican government and the French.

Without the assistance of the French, the Spanish Republican government will lose a major support. Although there is still support from Russia, because the distance is too far, such assistance does not have much effect on the Spanish Republican government, which is already at a disadvantage.

Moreover, as long as Catalonia is captured, the Spanish National Army can achieve a comprehensive encirclement of the Republic.

In this way, the Spanish Republic has become a turtle in the urn, and it will only be a matter of time before it is eliminated.

While the Spanish National Army is nervously preparing for its offensive against Catalonia, on the other side of the world, the island countries that are allies of Germany and Italy are also preparing their own actions with the help of Germany and Italy.

Of course, Germany and Italy are not so crazy as to let the island countries directly launch a war against Australasia.

After all, doing so would bring Australasia to an immediate end, and even cause the originally neutral British to take action.

Therefore, from the beginning, the purpose of Germany and Italy was simple, that is, to let the island countries contain Australasia and let the two countries enter an endless arms race.

Because it is clear that island countries cannot be Australasia's rivals in industry and economy. Therefore, Germany and Italy also provided a series of assistance to the island countries.

These include but are not limited to a large number of interest-free or low-interest loans, the export of oil and other ore materials that the island countries need most, as well as German and Italian military equipment-related science and technology, etc.

Because war has not yet broken out in Europe, Germany and Italy can still purchase enough oil at this time.

This also greatly facilitates the island country. The island country has purchased enough oil from Germany and Italy, and can barely meet its domestic demand for oil without passing through Australasia.

But the problem of lack of oil remains. This also creates the biggest difference between the island country's army and the Australasian army, which is the degree of mechanization of the army.

In the Australasian army, a large number of military vehicles can be seen. There are also those tanks and airplanes, both of which are big consumers of oil resources.

Although the island country also has military vehicles, tanks and aircraft, they are not as arrogant in number as Australasia, a major oil-producing country.

However, together with Germany and Italy, which are currently the most extreme and military-oriented countries, the island country is actually ahead of many European countries in terms of the number of aircraft.

According to rough intelligence statistics, the number of aircraft in the island country before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War was approximately 870, which was already more than the British Empire at the time.

After the Spanish Civil War broke out, the island country further increased its aircraft production.

As of now, their number of military aircraft should have exceeded 1,200, making them the country with the largest number of aircraft except Australasia.

Of course, the second place of the island country is actually a bit tricky.

Although there are many aircraft with relatively powerful combat effectiveness among these 1,200 aircraft, nearly half of them are outdated products, and their real combat effectiveness is not that powerful.

Moreover, the number of aircraft of the European powers has also begun to increase sharply. This can be regarded as a worldwide air force arms race.

Although the British remained neutral on the situation, their air force has always maintained a high level of growth.

The reason is also very simple. Britain is still continuing to build aircraft carriers, which naturally require a large number of aircraft.

Judging from the current intelligence about the UK that Arthur has, the number of British aircraft has exceeded 1,000, and is growing steadily at a rate of about 300 per year.

In fact, judging from the industrial level of the British, if they want to produce aircraft at all costs, the annual output is definitely an exaggerated figure.

But before entering a state of war, the financial burden caused by mass production of aircraft was also a huge trouble for the British.

Although the current mainstream aircraft are still made of wood, the cost is not that expensive.

Yes, wooden planes.

Although it may seem incredible to the eyes of future generations, to today's countries around the world, aircraft made of wood are actually not that special.

The first is the high manufacturing cost of all-metal aircraft. The current construction cost of a single Australasian aircraft is approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Australian dollars, making it the most expensive military aircraft in the world.

This cost is not an exaggeration and is the normal cost of current all-metal aircraft.

This is why Australasia does not manufacture aircraft in large numbers. If tens of thousands of aircraft are manufactured, the financial cost will be enough to give the financial department a headache.

Compared with high-cost all-metal aircraft, cheaper wooden aircraft are currently the mainstream of aircraft development in the world.

According to aircraft cost data from various countries, the manufacturing cost of a relatively ordinary wooden aircraft is only about 5,000 Australian dollars, and the most expensive one will not exceed 10,000 Australian dollars.

Judging from the combined costs of the two aircraft, the money required for an all-metal aircraft can be used to manufacture 2 to 3 wooden aircraft.

If Arthur hadn't known that the advantages of all-metal aircraft in combat far exceeded that of wooden aircraft, I am afraid that the current aircraft design in Australasia is also mainly based on wooden aircraft.

This is why Arthur did not panic when he heard that European countries were building large quantities of aircraft. In addition to the huge advantages from jet engines, the advantages of all-metal aircraft facing wooden aircraft are also the reason why Arthur remained calm.

Of course, wooden airplanes are not without their advantages. In addition to being relatively low-cost, wooden aircraft are relatively flexible in the sky because of their relatively light weight.

But in the face of all-metal aircraft using jet engines, the advantages of flexibility are mostly offset.

Although lighter, jet aircraft are certainly faster than wooden aircraft. Moreover, wooden aircraft can hardly withstand the speed of jet aircraft, which also determines that the upper limit of wooden aircraft lags far behind that of all-metal aircraft.

This also means that the mainstream wooden aircraft in various countries have no other benefits for Australasia except that the cost is indeed relatively low.

Without the influence of external factors, wooden aircraft can indeed withstand faster flight.

But if it is hit by a large-caliber bullet or a more powerful weapon, it is normal for a relatively fragile wooden aircraft to fall apart.

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