The Rise of Australasia

It is worth mentioning that, besides the powerful nations, the Ottoman Empire also had a battleship purchased from Brazil, built in England, as well as a battleship directly purchased from the United Kingdom. Both battleships have now been completed and just recently underwent sea trials.

The Ottoman Empire had great expectations for these two battleships, and even placed much of their hopes for national revitalization on them.

However, the fate of these two battleships in history was full of twists and turns.

Although both battleships have now been completed and entered the testing stage, whether the Ottoman Empire can successfully receive these two battleships remains a question worth considering.

Of course, the real driving force behind the naval arms race is still the European powers led by Britain and Germany.

In fact, Australasia's naval pressure is not that great, and even the current naval size is already sufficient.

But for the sake of expanding military power and consolidating national status, it is necessary to expand the scale of the navy.

After all, the geographical location of Australasia determines that it is a country that desperately needs maritime power.

Australasia can be without a strong army, but not without a strong navy.

Currently, the good news is that Australasia's army, navy, and air force are developing in a balanced way, and there are no lagging military branches temporarily.

Although the scale of the three military branches is different, compared to the European powers and other countries, Australasia's army, navy, and air force are not too strong, but definitely not too weak.

After only a few days, good news arrived from the war in South America.

Since the allied forces of Britain, France, Russia, and Australasia officially landed on the mainland of South America, Chile's momentum has changed, and it has entered a full counterattack state.

So far, in this war, which has lasted more than three months, the situation has completely turned in favor of Chile and the Allies behind it.

As Arthur had predicted, the Americans did not dare to show their faces in this war, and could only provide assistance to Argentina from behind the scenes, praying that Argentina could hold back the limited allied forces.

However, in reality, there was a clear gap between the powers' armies and those of ordinary countries, especially in the training quality of soldiers and weapons and equipment.

Although American aid narrowed the gap in weapons and equipment, the problem was that most Argentine soldiers were not familiar with the new weapons and equipment, thus weakening the combat effectiveness of the Argentine army.

Especially after the powerful Australasian Army landed in Argentina, it swept through several Argentine positions.

If not for the fear of being cut off from logistical supply lines due to the long distance, and the danger of exposing the flank to the enemy, the Australasian Army would probably have already advanced deep into Argentine territory.

But after the arrival of reinforcements from the other three countries, the Australasian Army no longer needed to worry about their rear.

From then on, the allied forces made rapid progress. They forced the battlefront between Chile and Argentina to shift dozens of kilometers into Argentine territory, and Argentina's interior was already in jeopardy.

The consumption of both sides in this war was enormous. Even Australasia, who joined midway, had consumed tens of millions of bullets, tens of thousands of artillery shells, and a large amount of supplies so far.

Fortunately, the British Empire directly promised to cover the material costs of this war, otherwise, the consumption of weapons and equipment would be enough to make Arthur distressed.

It was precisely because the British Empire agreed to bear the costs of weapons and equipment that the Australasian Army was very bold in this war, and bullets and shells were scattered towards the enemy as if they were free.

Although the consumption of weapons, equipment, and supplies was indeed distressing, the results achieved were the greatest among the four allied forces.

So far, Australasia has killed at least 2,000 Argentine troops and captured more than 3,000.

These 5,000 people accounted for almost one-twentieth of the total number of Argentine troops, which was a severe blow to the Argentine Army's strength.

So far in the war, the casualties of the Argentine Army have reached more than 20,000 people. If we add the number of prisoners, the Argentine Army's current fighting force is no more than 70,000 people.

This also means that so far, Argentina has lost almost one-third of its army, and its morale has plummeted.

While Arthur was guessing when Argentina would surrender, on October 30, 1913, according to news from the British Empire, Argentina formally requested a ceasefire.

In order to express its sincerity, Argentina had already ordered its front-line troops to stop exchanging fire and not to fire first under any circumstances.

Seeing that their strategic goals had been achieved, the four great powers of the Allies had no desire to continue the offensive.

France and Russia did not want to waste any more energy; Arthur did not want his army to suffer losses for no reason.

And for the British Empire, it was somewhat unable to bear the crazy consumption of the Australasian Army. Although Australasia sent only one division to South America, its insane ammunition consumption was equivalent to the combined forces of Britain, France, and Russia.

British people really didn't expect that the total number of troops dispatched by the four great powers of the Allies would be only a few tens of thousands. They believed that the consumption of weapons and resources would not be too large.

Who could have expected that Australasia would be the exception? After all, it was their own bluff, and they had to fulfill their promises with tear-filled eyes.

Finally, the Argentinians formally requested to surrender, and the British could not sit still anymore and gratefully said, "Argentina, you really are a good person!"

On November 7, 1913, representatives from the British Empire, France, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Australasia, Chile, and Argentina gathered in Sydney, the capital city of Australasia, to discuss a perfect ending for the ongoing South American War.

The reason for choosing Sydney as the location for the negotiations was that firstly, Australasia was the closest allied power to the South American battlefield.

Secondly, the capitals of the other three allied powers were all located in Europe, which made it difficult to guarantee that the Central Powers would not interfere or cause trouble.

In a meeting room at the Sydney Administrative Court, the negotiations opened smoothly.

Firstly, both parties expressed their demands.

Chile requested Argentina to pay 10 million pounds in compensation and acknowledge that all disputed areas were under Chilean sovereignty. Argentina would abandon its sovereignty over these areas.

Meanwhile, Chileans requested Argentina to cede Tierra del Fuego Province, which encompassed all regions south of the Magellan Strait.

The southern part of Argentina, Tierra del Fuego Province, and Santa Cruz Province were separated by Chilean land and the Magellan Strait.

This would make it difficult for Argentina to reclaim these regions in the future if Chile gained control of them.

With the backing of the Four Great Powers of the Allies, Chile's appetite was quite big. Apart from demanding compensation and cession of territories, Chile requested that the total strength of the Argentine army not exceed 40,000, with the number of land troops not exceeding 30,000.

If Argentina accepted this condition, it would lose its right to compete for hegemony in South America in the short term.

The demands of the Four Great Powers of the Allies were quite simple. France and Russia did not have high territorial demands in South America, and after signing secret agreements with the British Empire, they only requested war reparations from Argentina.

As for Australasia's demands, they requested that a jointly managed area be drawn within Argentina's Black Land to guard against the possibility of Argentina launching another war in the future once it grows stronger.

The British Empire had no major demands since vast territories in the British Empire were not interested in Argentina's land.

In order to get the Four Great Powers of the Allies to agree to their demands, Chile started to engage with the foreign diplomats of the Four Great Powers and made numerous undercover moves.

Argentina's demands were straightforward. As the only defeated country, Argentina knew that it had no strength to resist and had no outrageous demands.

Argentina was willing to pay about 1 million pounds in compensation and restore the borderlines between the two countries to their pre-war positions while giving up the disputed areas with Chile.

As for Chile's demands for limiting the military scale, ceding Tierra del Fuego Province, and Australasia's request for a jointly managed area within the Black Land, Argentina stated that it could not accept these terms.

Although Argentina's attitude of admitting its mistakes was good, the terms Argentina agreed to seemed somewhat perfunctory in the eyes of the Four Great Powers.

The Four Great Powers sent troops from a distance, and the total cost definitely exceeded 1 million pounds.

In addition to Chile's domestic losses, 1 million pounds was a drop in the bucket for Chile and the Allies.

Isn't it the obligation of a defeated country to give up disputed islands?

As a defeated country, do you, Argentina, still want to keep your sovereignty over disputed areas?

Because opinions differed, the negotiations came to a standstill.

However, the Allies and Chile were not in a hurry to negotiate. At least the current war expenditures were bearable for the Allies and Chile, and the balance of power in the war had long tipped in favor of Chile.

Even if the Argentine government was now biting back, refusing to agree to more compensation for land and funds, when the Argentine frontline could no longer hold, the demanded compensation would not be so small.

It is believed that the Argentine government also understands this principle. The current refusal to comply may just be a show of stubbornness by Argentina.

On November 11th, after four days of negotiations and without any results, Chile declared that it would resume a state of war with Argentina and ordered frontline troops to deploy for an immediate attack.

Although the powerful nations did not express their position, the expeditionary forces sent by the Allies began planning an attack on the Argentine army when Chile announced the resumption of the state of war.

Later that evening on the 11th, the South American battlefield witnessed renewed warfare, and the sound of gunfire, which had only been silent for a few days, rang out again in the region.

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