Chapter 871 Medal Reform

After Australasia joined the war, France immediately placed a large number of aircraft orders with Australasia.

There is no way. In the current European war, in addition to the normal consumption of bullets and shells, the consumption of aircraft is also very huge.

Before the outbreak of this war, the total number of aircraft owned by European countries did not exceed 3,000.

But now, the number of aircraft owned by Germany alone has exceeded 3,000, not to mention Italy, France and Britain, which also have thousands of aircraft.

Although the exact number of aircraft in each country is unknown, it is still no problem to accumulate nearly tens of thousands.

In the war that broke out in Europe, only the war between Germany and France and Belgium in Belgium and France would crash double-digit aircraft every day.

Even if the aircraft of both sides meet on a large scale, the number of crashed aircraft may increase several times.

However, the war has been fought to this point, and countries are no longer too distressed about the crash of aircraft. Compared with the aircraft, countries pay more attention to the survival of the pilots who fly the aircraft after the crash.

It doesn't matter if the plane is broken, the pilot can still fly it as usual with another plane. But if the pilot is gone, it is very difficult to train an excellent pilot.

Even for an ordinary pilot, it takes at least several months of training to go from knowing nothing to being qualified.

But the current European war obviously will not give countries so much time to train pilots. Therefore, the air forces of various countries have also formed an open agreement that the importance of pilots is far greater than that of aircraft.

In addition to normal reconnaissance missions, a large number of reconnaissance aircraft also need to take into account the search and rescue and transfer of crashed pilots.

If it falls in an area controlled by one's own side, the safety of the pilot can still be guaranteed. But if it falls in an area controlled by the enemy, it is likely that the pilot will be captured or killed.

With the advent of war, Arthur also officially announced that this year's cabinet elections would be cancelled and the Australasian government would enter a wartime state.

In the palace, Arthur was asked by William a question that many countries are curious about: what made Australasian choose to declare war on Germany and Italy?

Arthur smiled and asked William, "What conditions do you think would be enough for us to declare war?"

William was stunned for a moment, and after thinking carefully for a long time, he said, "Straits Settlements and Madagascar?"

Straits Settlements represent absolute control over the Strait of Malacca, while Madagascar represents influence over the Indian Ocean.

Moreover, through Madagascar, Australasia can expand its influence to Africa, which is very helpful for Australasia's plan to become the world hegemon after the war.

"Maybe." Arthur still kept smiling and did not refute William's point of view, but continued to ask: "Do you think we can get these two colonies from Britain and France now?

Moreover, once we get these two colonies, it means that we have successfully aroused Britain and France's defense, thus losing the opportunity to gain greater benefits in the war.

However, if we set our targets on Germany, Italy and the island countries at the beginning, Britain and France's defense would not be so intense.

When the war enters a crisis, we can ask for more benefits, and Britain and France will not agree."

In fact, it can be seen from the map that although Australasia has unified the entire Oceania, it has completely lost the direction of expansion.

In the north is the British Straits Settlements, and there are vast oceans on both sides of the east and west. Even in the land of North America, the neighbors are powerful forces such as the Commonwealth of Britain and Russia.

But if the British Straits Settlements are obtained, it will open a gap for Australasia to continue to expand northward.

Australasia can influence Siam, that is, Thailand, to the north through the Straits Settlements. Importantly, Siam and the British Indian colonies are adjacent, which also means that Australasia can exert influence on India.

With the Straits Settlements, the British can temporarily rest assured about Australasia. As long as India is not threatened, Britain and Australasia are firm allies.

But if Australasia can exert influence on India, or even threaten Britain's rule in India, it is time for the British to start to guard against Australasia in an all-round way, and even turn against each other.

After all, the biggest reliance of the British Empire is India. Once India is lost, the throne of the British Empire as the world hegemon is not so stable.

In order to make Britain and France fight against Germany and Italy with all their strength and not be too defensive, Arthur has also made great efforts.

Arthur's requirements are not harsh, and can be roughly divided into two categories: territory and economy.

In terms of territory, Arthur directly expressed that he had no interest in Italy's two major colonies. But Arthur asked that on the premise of supporting Britain and France to fully annex Italian colonies, he would exchange the British colonies in Oman.

Arthur's goal was also very simple, that is to connect Australasia's colonies in the Persian Gulf, and immigrate a large number of people to firmly control these areas.

Including Oman, the Arab population in the Persian Gulf territories occupied by Australasia is very small.

A small population means easy management, and it also means that after migrating these people in the future, Australasia can easily and firmly control these areas.

Because there was only one Oman in the land claim, and it did not ask for an Italian colony, the British agreed to Australasia's request.

After all, in addition to its favorable geographical location, Oman's oil reserves are not actually high.

In addition, due to its vast land and sparse population and desert everywhere, its economic value is not that high, and the British did not pay too much attention to it.

Although Oman and India are across the sea, Oman, including Australasia's entire Persian Gulf territory, is also surrounded by British colonies.

At this point, Oman's threat to India has been invisibly weakened. The British were very relieved about this and agreed to it more straightforwardly.

Arthur's second request has a prerequisite.

If the island country joins the war, Australasia's offensive focus will become defeating the island country. Of course, while attacking the island country, the number of Australasia's expeditionary forces in Europe will still remain at around 600,000.

After defeating the island country, Australasia has full disposal rights over the island country. If Russia takes the opportunity to attack the island country, Britain and France should support Australasia's full right to dispose of the island country.

If the island country does not participate in the war, Australasia will have the right to prioritize the equipment of German and Italian military factories and heavy industrial enterprises.

At the same time, Britain and France should ensure that they will not interfere with Australasia's immigration within 15 years after the war.

As for the post-war interest handling and compensation, Australasia only needs to get its share.

As for how much it should get, it depends on the strength retained by each country after the war and its actual contribution in the war.

In order to increase the support and expectations of the people and the army for the war, under Arthur's instructions, the Australasia government announced the reform of the original medals and issued new medals.

Australasia originally had only three medals, namely the Victorian Medal, the Royal Knight Medal and the Australasia National Medal.

After the medal reform, the number of medals has increased significantly.

Purely military medals include: Royal Knight Medal, Silver Cross Medal and Imperial Medal.

Medals for scientific research include: Medal of Science and Medal of National Contribution

Medals for civilians include: National Medal of Australasia and Medal of Patriot

Comprehensive medals include: Victoria Memorial Medal and Order of Arthur the Great

Undoubtedly, among all nine medals, the most difficult to obtain are still the Victoria Memorial Medal and the Order of Arthur the Great.

There have also been certain changes in the rewards for all medals.

First of all, the person who receives the medal will receive a brand new title, that is, Lord.

The Lord is not a noble title and can be obtained by everyone in the world.

As long as you receive any medal in Australasia, you will be called a glorious Lord.

What is the role of the Lord? First of all, any Lord is a person who has made outstanding contributions to Australasia.

The Australasia government has the responsibility and obligation to protect every medal winner, regardless of whether they are of Australasia nationality.

Secondly, if the Lord is an Australasia citizen, he will receive all welfare benefits and policy support including education and medical care.

The children of the Lord will receive free education up to high school and have the opportunity to be admitted to universities first.

As for the financial rewards awarded to the Lord, the monetary rewards vary depending on the medals.

The most difficult Victorian Medal and the Order of Arthur the Great can receive a one-time financial reward of about 12,000 Australian dollars, and can receive a valuable subsidy from local governments every year.

The amount of the subsidy depends on the local fiscal revenue, with the minimum being 100% of the local per capita annual income.

In other words, as long as you get the Victorian Medal or the Order of Arthur the Great, you can get a one-time reward of 12,000 Australian dollars and a local per capita annual income level subsidy every year.

You should know that the subsidy for any medal is permanent. This also means that as long as you get any medal, you and your children and descendants can use this medal to receive subsidies matching the medal from the local government.

As long as the medal is still there and it can be proved that the medal was indeed officially awarded by the government, you can receive subsidies every year indefinitely.

In addition, the one-time reward that can be obtained when a medal is obtained can ensure that anyone can effectively improve their financial situation after obtaining the medal.

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