The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 151: Chapter 146: The Parade Plan

On December 23,1902, after a week of preparation and sailing, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew departed from the Hamburg port in Germany and headed for a port within the Russian Empire, where he was warmly received by the Russian Empire.

Of course, it was actually the relations with the German Empire that warranted the Russian Empire’s grand reception, not Minister Andrew and his entourage.

Australia did not deserve too much attention from the Russian Empire, but the German Empire was different. Although the Allies organization that the Russian Empire currently belongs to and the Axis organization that the German Empire belongs to have carried out fierce arms race in Europe, there are occasional frictions between them.

But this cannot change the fact that the German Empire currently ranks first in army strength and second in overall strength.

In the absence of war between the two major European military blocs, anyone with relations with the German Empire would receive attention in any region.

Although the Russians did not fully believe that the island nation had already started some actions against them, they still accepted the loan worth 5 million pounds from Germany.

Although these loans must be used to purchase military weapons and equipment from Australia, after all, the money is not paid by the Russian Empire itself, so they do not have to worry about the financial burden.

As for the repayment issue later, isn’t there a guarantee from France? Moreover, in the event of a war between the two major military blocs on the European continent, the Russian Empire might not even have to repay the German Empire’s loan.

It is precisely because of this mentality that the Russians’ intention to purchase weapons and equipment became more obvious and intense after obtaining military loans from the German Empire.

Of course, one cannot deny that it was only after Minister Andrew admitted that Australia had a full set of German light weapons production technology that the Russians became interested in Australia’s military industry.

But anyway, as long as the final result is good, no one cares about the twists and turns of the process.

On the third day of arriving in the Russian Empire, which is December 26,1902, Minister Andrew reached a preliminary arms purchase treaty with the officials of the Russian Empire.

Of course, the funds for this treaty are within the scope of the German loans, and the Russians will not spend their own money to purchase additional weapons, even if it is to maintain the power and advantage of the Russian Empire in the Far East.

The detailed treaty includes 10,000 German Gew98 rifles, one million bullets, hundreds of heavy machine guns, and more than ten 105 mm howitzers.

The Russian Empire has no plans for the expansion of the Far East fleet for the time being, so the arms purchase treaty only contains various types of weapons for the army.

However, such a number of weapons can slightly enhance the combat effectiveness of the Russian Empire’s far-eastern army, and even give a heavy blow to the island nation’s army without any preparation.

In order to ensure that Australia is not at the forefront, and also to carry out the German Empire’s wooing plan secretly, after friendly consultations with the Russian Empire, the arms trade between the two countries and Germany’s aid are carried out privately and will not be made public.

Even in a country like the Russian Empire with certain intelligence capabilities, it may not be clear what the specific treaty between Australia and the Russian Empire is.

Not to mention a country like the island nation in Asia, they are completely ignorant of it, and still immersed in their so-called secret development, defeating Russia and seizing the dream of East Asian hegemony.

While Minister Andrew was working hard on diplomatic missions in Europe with the diplomatic visiting team, Australia was also preparing for a major plan.

Actually, it is not a secret matter. As the Australian National Day approaches, and the five new warships of the Australian Navy have been launched one after another, the government, after consulting with Arthur, will hold a grand parade on National Day.

Of course, unlike the previous Army Grand Parade, this parade’s focus is more on the navy.

Not only will the five warships built by Australia in half a year make their debut, but the previous navy warships will also appear one by one.

Of course, this was a relief to Australia’s smaller naval size.

If it were a fleet as large as the British Empire Royal Navy, a string of inspections would take half a day or even more than a day.

Because the parade involves different troops and services, the venue has also changed, becoming the Sydney Harbour in Australia.

To better prepare for this naval grand parade, the Australian government began preparations near the harbor two months in advance.

Not only did they widen the road connecting the city and the harbor to ensure that more people could reach the harbor smoothly, but they also built a sturdy area near the harbor, which will be the best viewing platform for all those who visit the naval parade.

To ensure that more people can watch the naval parade ceremony, the entire National Day and even the previous two days will have special patrols in this area to ensure that there will be no behavior of occupying the venue for sale.

In order to enhance the enthusiasm of Australians to participate in the parade and even the country, this navy parade ceremony will randomly select hundreds of lucky viewers, allowing them to ride on new warships of the Australian Navy and watch the Australian Navy’s strategic target shooting scenes in the nearby sea.

Although the current scale of the Australian Navy is not large, it is definitely enough to bring a strong shock to an ordinary person.

Of course, this link is actually a review of the combat effectiveness of the Australian Navy. If there is a deviation in the timing of the strategic target under the scrutiny, it will undoubtedly greatly reduce the Australians’ goodwill towards the Navy and even indirectly reduce trust in the government and the royal family.

After all, can a navy that has spent a lot of money on national construction but cannot even accurately hit the target effectively protect all citizens?

Especially for an island country, the importance of the navy is unique. People can accept that the army is not very strong, but they absolutely cannot accept that the navy is always weak, or even corrupt and useless.

Like the previous National Day, even though it is only close to National Day, the nearby streets of Australia have begun selling Australia’s national flags made to scale.

These national flags are not from the hands of the officials, but from the numerous small and medium-sized private workshops in Australia.

Australians have a high degree of recognition for their country, which also leads to a surge in sales of the Australian flag during this time of the year, which is a good opportunity for small and medium-sized private workshops and craftsmen to make money.