Chapter 203 Military Integration and Expansion

In early October, after a voyage of more than a month, Arthur successfully returned to Sydney, the federal capital, and re-entered the busy political affairs.

During the four months that Arthur was away, most of the political affairs were handled by the cabinet.

There are still some more important things that need to be reviewed by Arthur, after all, telegrams are not very safe.

Fortunately, Australia is currently very stable, and most of the political affairs are just some minor problems facing national development, which can be easily handled by the cabinet.

This also made Arthur relatively relaxed, after all, the people in the cabinet were appointed by Arthur, and they were not able to disobey Arthur's orders.

After all the political affairs were handled, the elite German soldiers promised by William II also officially arrived in Australia.

These German soldiers will live in Australia for a period of time to help the Australian army to better train and expand.

Yes, that's right. Australia's army will usher in another round of expansion.

In fact, this is also inevitable. At present, the size of Australia's army is still too small. Even with the 3,000 New Zealand troops, the total number is only 28,000.

Such an army size is too small to be deployed in the federal region, let alone going abroad to fight overseas wars.

After Arthur and the Ministry of Defense held a meeting, the Australian and New Zealand federal defense departments officially issued an announcement to Australia and New Zealand, and the federal government officially expanded its army. The number of recruits this time reached 35,000, and the total number of federal troops after the expansion will reach 63,000.

Of course, this expansion is mainly for the expansion of regular divisions.

This time, two regular divisions will be added, namely the Second and Third Divisions of the Federal Defense Force.

These two divisions also follow the previous organization of the First National Defense Division. Three infantry regiments plus an artillery regiment plus a cavalry battalion form a regular division, and the total number of each division is as high as 16,000.

Thanks to the previous expansion of the First Division, 1,000 more people were recruited as veterans and officers. There are enough veterans and reserve officers when expanding the army this time.

After the expansion, Australia's regular army will have three divisions of 48,000 troops, plus 12,000 people after the Guards added a regiment, and more than 3,000 garrisons in the New Guinea colony (one regiment), the total number is just about 63,000.

In order to solve the problem of insufficient officer reserves caused by the expansion, Arthur started training soldiers in the Australian army very early, and even had a small-scale officer school to select those who could become officers from the vast number of soldiers and train them.

This conscription caused a great sensation in Australia and New Zealand, and conscription offices in various places also attracted a large number of federal citizens to participate.

Of course, although the current population of the entire Australian Federation is only more than 6 million, the conscription requirements this time are still very strict.

First of all, you must be a legal citizen who has lived in the Australian and New Zealand Federations for at least five years.

Secondly, you have not participated in any illegal acts and can officially sign up for this conscription after passing a simple test of loyalty and patriotism.

Of course, signing up does not mean that you can be successfully selected. In addition to the simple background test, the recruits also need to be tested physically and mentally, not only to ensure the combat capability of the soldiers, but also to ensure the loyalty of the soldiers.

Australia's population has now reached 4.91 million, making it one of the main areas for this conscription.

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New Zealand's population is currently only 1.1 million, and the conscription target this time is only 5,000 people.

Needless to say, the New Guinea colony is not reliable at all, and there are only more than 40,000 federal residents in the New Guinea colony, so there is no conscription target.

Since the announcement of the conscription, the conscription offices across Australia have been full for more than a month.

This conscription has been welcomed by the majority of federal residents. After all, even if the Australian army is just an ordinary soldier, its welfare benefits are definitely rare in Australia.

Australia's current per capita total income has reached 35 Australian dollars, which is equivalent to about 17 pounds.

The annual income of ordinary soldiers in Australia has reached about 38 Australian dollars, not to mention the soldiers of the Guards Division, whose annual income has even exceeded 45 Australian dollars.

This does not include the various benefits and subsidies for soldiers on holidays. If these are counted, the annual income of ordinary soldiers has even exceeded 40 Australian dollars.

This is why Australia's repeated conscriptions have been welcomed by everyone.

In addition to Arthur's reputation and popularity in Australia and New Zealand, the good treatment of all Australian soldiers is also an important reason why people are willing to join the army.

Of course, in addition to the daily welfare benefits of the soldiers, the compensation and pensions for the dead and injured soldiers are also issues that Arthur and the Ministry of Defense attach great importance to.

The families of fallen soldiers can generally receive a one-time compensation of 50 times the average annual income of the area in that year, and the government will help their children study until they reach adulthood or graduate from high school.

Although there is no right to enter university directly, a high school degree is also very good in this day and age.

And when universities enroll students every year, the children and families of fallen soldiers often receive better preferential treatment. Under the same conditions, they will also be given priority when enrolling students.

This is equivalent to becoming a soldier of the country. Not only are they arranged now, but even if they accidentally die in the future, their families will receive funds and compensation.

This complete pension system is rare even in Europe. After all, the number of casualties in Europe's repeated wars is very large, and even the victorious countries cannot withstand such intense consumption.

Not to mention the first and second world wars later, the death toll in European countries even reached millions. If the pension system is fully implemented, the country will go bankrupt directly. This is why it was not until after World War II that the pension system of various countries around the world was properly established.

Australia's relatively complete pension system also allows many soldiers to have no worries.

Of course, the fact that Australia is not currently threatened by war is also a very important reason. In addition to being injured in daily training, Australian soldiers are not in any danger at present.

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