The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1157 - 870: Medal Reform
Chapter 1157: Chapter 870: Medal Reform
After Australasia joined the war, France immediately placed a large order for airplanes with Australasia.
There was no other way, in the current European War, in addition to the normal consumption of bullets and shells, the consumption of airplanes was also extremely high.
Before the outbreak of this war, the total number of airplanes owned by the European countries combined did not exceed 3,000.
But now, Germany alone had already breached 3,000 airplanes, not to mention the thousands of planes also possessed by Italy, France, and the United Kingdom.
Although the exact number of airplanes for each country was not known, the cumulative total approaching 10,000 was not an issue.
In the European War that erupted, just between Germany and France in Belgium and the French territories, double-digit numbers of airplanes were crashing every day.
Even, if both parties’ airplanes engaged in large-scale confrontations, the number of crashed planes could multiply by several times.
However, as the war had reached this stage, countries were no longer so heartbroken over the loss of airplanes. Compared to aircraft, the countries were more concerned about the survival of the pilots flying them after a crash.
It wasn’t a big deal if an airplane was destroyed, as a replacement plane meant the pilot could still fly as usual. But if a pilot perished, training a proficient pilot was very difficult.
Even a regular pilot, with no prior knowledge, would need several months of training to become qualified.
But the current European War clearly would not give countries this much time to train pilots. Thus, an open agreement had formed among the air forces of the nations that the importance of pilots far exceeded that of airplanes.
The numerous reconnaissance aircraft, aside from their normal scouting tasks, also needed to tend to the search and rescue and transfer of downed pilots.
If it happened in an area controlled by friendly forces, the safety of pilots could be guaranteed. But if they landed in enemy-controlled areas, it largely meant capture or being shot down.
With the onset of the war, Arthur formally announced the cancellation of this year’s Cabinet election, and the Australasian Government entered a wartime state.
In the Royal Palace, William posed a question to Arthur that many countries were curious about: what exactly made Australasia choose to declare war on Germany and Italy?
Arthur smiled and asked William in return, “What do you think would be sufficient for us to declare war?”
William was taken aback, thought deeply for a long time, and then said, “The Strait Colony and Madagascar?”
The Strait Colony represented absolute control over the Malacca Strait, while Madagascar signified influence over the Indian Ocean.
Moreover, through Madagascar, Australasia could extend its influence to the African region, which would be very helpful in Australasia’s post-war global domination planning.
“Perhaps.” Arthur kept smiling, not refuting William’s point, but continued to ask, “Do you think we can now get these two colonies from British and French hands?
Furthermore, once we acquire these two colonies, it means we have successfully aroused the vigilance of Britain and France, thus losing the opportunity to gain greater benefits in the war.
However, if we initially set our sights on Germany, Italy, and the Island Nation, Britain and France’s vigilance would not be so intense.
When the war reaches a critical point, we can demand more benefits, and Britain and France would not likely refuse.”
In fact, it can be seen from the map that although Australasia had unified the whole of Oceania, it had also completely lost direction for expansion.
To the north was Britain’s Strait Colony, while on both the east and west were vast oceans. Even the land in North America had neighbors like the powerful Commonwealth of Nations and the Russia Nation.
But with the British Straits Colony, a gap opened up for Australasia to continue expanding north.
Australasia could influence Siam, also known as Thailand, through the Strait Colony. Importantly, being adjacent to the British Indian Colony meant that Australasia could exert influence on India.
With the Strait Colony, the British could temporarily be at ease with Australasia. As long as it posed no threat to India, Britain and Australasia would remain staunch allies.
But if Australasia could influence India, even threatening British rule there, it would be time for the British to fully guard against Australasia, perhaps even to the point of enmity.
After all, India was the most significant reliance of the British Empire. Once it lost India, the throne of the world’s sovereign nation would not be so stable.
Arthur had indeed made great efforts to ensure that Britain and France would concentrate on fighting Germany and Italy, without being too guarded against him.
Arthur’s requests were not unreasonable and they basically fell into two categories: territory and economics.
Regarding territory, Arthur straightforwardly indicated no interest in the two major Italian colonies. However, Arthur demanded, in return for supporting Britain and France to fully annex Italy’s colonies, the British colony in Oman.
Arthur’s intention was simple: to connect Australasia’s colonies in the Persian Gulf into one piece and massively immigrate to tightly control these areas.
Including Oman, the Persian Gulf territories occupied by Australasia had a very small Arab population.
A smaller population denotes easier management, and it also means that after these people are relocated, Australasia can effortlessly and firmly control these areas.
Since the only territorial demand was Oman, and there was no claim over Italian colonies, the British readily agreed to Australasia’s request.
After all, apart from its favorable geographical location, Oman’s petroleum reserves were actually not that high.
Furthermore, with its vast, sparsely populated lands covered by deserts, its economic value wasn’t particularly high, and the British didn’t place much emphasis on it.
Although Oman and India face each other across the sea, Oman, including the entire Persian Gulf Territory of Australasia, was also surrounded by British colonies.
In this respect, the threat to India from Oman had already been indirectly weakened. The British were quite assured by this and agreed quite readily.
Arthur’s second request was conditional.
If the Island Nation entered the war, Australasia’s focus of attack would shift to defeating the Island Nation. Of course, while attacking the Island Nation, the number of Australasian expeditionary forces in Europe would still remain around 600,000.
After defeating the Island Nation, Australasia would have full authority over the disposition of the Island Nation. If Russia took the opportunity to attack the Island Nation, Britain and France should support Australasia’s full authority over the Island Nation.
If the Island Nation did not enter the war, Australasia would have priority in dealing with the military factories and heavy industry equipment of the German-Italian nations.
At the same time, the British and French must ensure, after the war, that they will not interfere with migration to Australasia for 15 years.
As for post-war benefits and compensation, Australasia only needed to take its appropriate share.
Exactly how much to take would depend on the relative strength the countries retained after the war and their actual contributions during the conflict.
To increase public and military support and anticipation for the war, under Arthur’s direction, the Australasian Government announced a reform of the existing medals and the issuance of new medals.
Australasia originally had only three medals: the Victoria Memorial Medal, Royal Knight Medal, and Australasian National Medal.
After the medal reform, the number of medals increased significantly.
Military-specific medals included: Royal Knight Medal, Silver Cross Medal, and Imperial Medal.
The scientific medals included: Science Medal and National Contribution Medal.
Civilian-oriented medals included: Australasian National Medal and Patriot Medal.
Comprehensive medals included: Victoria Memorial Medal and Emperor Arthur Medal.
Undoubtedly, of all nine medals, the most difficult to obtain were still the Victoria Memorial Medal and the Emperor Arthur Medal.
Changes were also made to the rewards for all medals.
Firstly, those who were awarded medals would receive a new title, that of a Lordship.
Lordship is not a title of nobility and can be attained by any individual worldwide.
Anyone who received any medal from Australasia would be honored as a Lordship.
What does a Lordship entail? Firstly, any Lordship is an individual who has made outstanding contributions to Australasia.
The Australasian Government has both the responsibility and the obligation to protect every medal recipient, regardless of whether they are Australasian nationals.
Secondly, if the Lordship is Australasian, they would receive all benefits and policy support available, including education and medical care, and so forth.
A Lordship’s children would receive free education up to high school and enjoy priority admission by universities.
As for the financial rewards given to Lordships, they vary with the medal received.
Recipients of the most challenging medals to earn, the Victoria Memorial Medal, and the Emperor Arthur Medal, could receive a one-off financial reward of approximately 12,000 Australian dollars and a substantive annual subsidy from various governments.
The amount of the subsidy depended on the financial revenue of each region, with the minimum being 100% of the local per capita annual income.
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In other words, by receiving either the Victoria Memorial Medal or the Emperor Arthur Medal, one could not only gain a one-of reward of 12,000 Australian dollars but also receive a subsidy equal to the local per capita annual income each year.
Such a level of reward was quite impressive. Based on the current per capita annual income in Australasia, 12,000 Australian dollars would be about the annual income of 60 people.
