"My citizens, I must announce a very grave message. This morning in the early hours, our Pacific Squadron base harbor was attacked by an unknown fleet and aircraft, resulting in the sinking of several of our warships, destruction of dozens of airplanes, and the deaths of over a hundred navy soldiers."
"After investigation and evidence collection, these fleets and aircraft that attacked us all belong to the Island Nation Army, it is these damnable Islanders, who launched a sudden attack on us."
"As of now, in this attack we have lost a total of 147 outstanding navy soldiers, and an additional 322 navy soldiers are injured, 55 of whom are severely injured."
"This is a declaration of war against Australasia, a serious infringement on the national security and the interests of the people of Australasia. I announce that as of this moment, Australasia is in a state of total war with the Island Nation."
"I despise such a nation that commences war without declaration, and I abhor such culprits who resort to despicable methods of attack. Let the flames of vengeance burn even fiercer!"
"I, as the Emperor of Australasia, demand that you, from this moment on, regardless of status, as long as you are Australasian, have an obligation to commit yourself to the nation's war and give everything for this war!"
"We must let everyone know that the dignity of Australasia shall not be infringed, that the status of Australasia shall not be provoked!"
On the evening of June 17th, at half-past eight, all wireless radio stations in Australasia broadcast Arthur's speech.
The people were initially surprised by Arthur's sudden speech, but after understanding the reasons behind it, they became furious with the undeclared war waged by the Islanders.
The next day, Australasia officially publicized the number of casualties they suffered in the attack.
In the assault by the Islanders, the Australasian Pacific Squadron altogether had 1 battlecruiser, 3 destroyers, 2 cruisers, and 1 submarine sunk, with 1 aircraft carrier and 1 battleship damaged.
On the aviation front, nearly 200 airplanes were involved, with over 40 crashing directly, and more than half of the aircraft damaged.
Out of 200 airplanes, fewer than 10 remained completely undamaged; the rest suffered more or less damage in that air battle."
The details regarding personnel were precise to each individual. According to the announcement by the Australasian government, this attack resulted in 501 casualties for Australasia."
"Among them, soldiers suffered 469 casualties, with 147 dead and 322 injured."
"The public suffered 32 casualties, with 4 dead and 28 injured."
"Why are there ordinary citizens among the injured when the attack was on a naval base?"
"This inevitably brings the air battle to mind. An unfortunate Islander airplane, after being hit, got lost in the pitch-black night sky and ultimately crashed into a residential area in Hawaii due to a malfunction."
"This explosion caused a building to collapse and ended up bringing great misfortune to 32 ordinary citizens."
"Even before Arthur's speech the previous day, the people of Australasia were very angry about the Islanders' attack without a declaration of war."
"Upon seeing the damage report the next day, the rage of the Australasians grew even more intense."
"The casualties from this attack exceeded 500 people, a loss that Australasia has not suffered since its establishment."
"What's more important is that it was the Islanders, a direct competitor, who attacked Australasia. Australasia already had a severe White Australasia Policy and a certain discrimination against non-Caucasian people."
"Faced with an attack from the Islanders whom they did not exactly respect, many extreme media outlets have already begun to propagate the evils of the Island Nation."
"That said, such casualty figures still seem quite exaggerated."
"However, at this time, the people of Australasia had no rationality left to discern the truthfulness of the data. Moreover, the people believe that the government would have no reason to exaggerate the scale of the losses."
"After all, being attacked is not a glorious event; it would be illogical to cover up such a bad thing, let alone to exaggerate it for publicity."
"Regardless, Australasia's war against the Islanders has indeed begun, and due to the attack, the hatred of the Australasians towards the Islanders keeps deepening."
"As a nation far in Oceania, before this massive outbreak of war, Australasia did not have any obvious hostile countries."
"The attitude of the government and military was basically, whoever competes with me for interests is my adversary."
"Since its founding, the Island Nation is the first to provoke Australasia actively and to cause it significant loss, so it is only natural for Australasians to harbor hatred."
"For Britain and France, the Islanders' entry into the war is definitely bad news."
"Especially after attracting the hatred of the Australasians, at least in the short term, Australasia's focus of attack will surely be on the Islanders."
"This also means that in Europe, aside from the already agreed upon 600,000 Australasian troops, Britain and France will find it difficult to receive further support from Australasia in the short term."
"If it's bad for Britain and France, it certainly must be good news for Germany and Italy."
"As long as the Islanders can tie down Australasia, the current war situation is clearly in favor of Germany and Italy."
"Of course, whether the Axis Powers or Germany is really in an advantageous position is another matter to discuss."
""
The Island Nation's entry into the war also signifies that the widely circulated idea of a World War has clearly become a reality.
What's more, this World War is obviously far more intense than the last one.
The main battlefields of the last World War were in Europe, only affecting the colonies of the European Nations.
But now, with Australasia and the Island Nation fully entering the war, it represents the opening of the Pacific Battlefield of World War II.
World War II, with the establishment of a second battlefield, can truly be called a global superwar.
On the evening of June 17 at half past eight o'clock, following Arthur's speech, Australasia officially declared war on the Island Nation.
On the morning of June 18 at six o'clock, the Island Nation first called a diplomatic meeting, engaged in multiple evasions, and then reluctantly declared war on Australasia.
At eight o'clock in the morning on June 18, the Philippines and Kalimantan declared war on the Island Nation in succession.
At noon, the United Kingdom of the West Coast and the Kingdom of California each declared war on the Island Nation, igniting the Pacific hegemony war.
The perspective shifts back to Australasia Domestic.
With war already erupting against the Island Nation, Arthur's plan also officially entered another phase.
Observing Arthur's demeanor, it was clear he was not as angry as he had been during last night's speech.
Indeed, that was the case. His display of anger was for the public, intended to sway the people's emotions, and to encourage them to participate more actively in the war.
As for the actual outcome of the attack, it was not as bad as what the Australasian Government had announced.
Boasting missiles and more advanced airplanes as their trump cards, the Australasian Navy couldn't possibly lose that battle.
While at the outset two cruisers were indeed sunk due to negligence, it had little overall impact on the strength of the Pacific Squadron.
Before five o'clock, the sky remained pitch black, when the fleets of the Island Royal Navy and the Australasian Pacific Squadron were almost evenly matched.
But after five o'clock, the sky had begun to brighten, at least enough for one to discern the distribution and movements of the enemy airplanes.
It was also from five in the morning that the tide of battle underwent a tremendous shift. The Australasian Air Force quickly secured an advantage and successfully repelled the Island Nation's navy.
The true outcome was that for the cost of one battlecruiser sunk and one battleship heavily damaged, the Australasian Pacific Fleet sunk two Island Nation aircraft carriers, one battleship, and two submarines.
If the Island Nation's aircraft carriers had not swiftly started fleeing Hawaii upon sensing danger, the Australasian Pacific Fleet's victory could have been even greater.
Naturally, it was also because those four aircraft carriers fled first that left hundreds of Island Nation airplanes in the sky as easy targets.
With 400 Island Nation airplanes against 200 Australasian airplanes, Australasia had only about 30 airplanes destroyed and approximately 110 damaged.
The Islanders fared far worse. Though missiles were not highly accurate, they were still lethal to airplanes.
Indeed, due to the influence of missiles, over half of the 400 plus Island Nation airplanes were destroyed, with less than 200 managing to escape Hawaii.
Looking at the results of this assault, although Australasia was the party attacked, it was the Island Nation who suffered greater losses.
However, to meet Arthur's strategic objectives, the Australasian Government exaggerated the Island Nation's achievements and their own losses, presenting themselves as the victim from every perspective.
At this point, the Island Nation had no way to argue. After all, they were the initiators of the attack; it couldn't be that after being attacked, Australasia could still win the naval battle with fewer airplanes, could it?
Such an argument would be the most illogical for other international media.
Since war had already been declared on the Island Nation, Arthur naturally needed no courtesy.
On June 18, the second day after declaring war on the Island Nation, Arthur convened a Ministry of Defense meeting to discuss plans for large-scale operations against the Island Nation.
Those attending the meeting included commanders and senior generals from the navy, army, and air force, high-level officers from the General Staff, Ministry of Defense, and a few crucial Cabinet Ministers.
Arthur, from the start, expressed a dislike of the Island Nation, an attitude that influenced the entire country, making most people harbor a strong dislike for the Island Nation.
Currently, in this war against the Island Nation, there is no faction of peace advocates in Australasia, everyone is staunchly pro-war.
"Your Majesty, I believe we should retaliate for this attack," said Navy Commander-in-Chief Daniel, standing up first and speaking with conviction: "Based on the outcome of this attack, our navy is clearly stronger than that of the Island Nation.
Moreover, the Islanders lost two aircraft carriers and one strategic battleship in this attack, which means their naval strength will only be weaker.
As long as we gain absolute superiority at sea, defeating the Island Nation is only a matter of time."
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"Now is not the time for a decisive battle with the Island Royal Navy," said Lieutenant General Andrew Wilson, former Commander-in-Chief of the navy, who was currently the Chief of Staff. He shook his head in dissent and argued,
"This clearly does not align with our plan. Quickly defeating the Islanders at this time is not in our best interest, as we still have to face an even stronger Germany.
Moreover, an Australasia that has defeated the Islanders and seized hegemony over the entire Pacific Ocean, would that be less of a threat to Britain and France than Germany?
In order not to worry our allies, we should continue playing with the Islanders for a bit longer."
Although both the Commander-in-Chief of the navy and the Chief of Staff hold the rank of Lieutenant General, there is still some difference in their status.
The military structure in Australasia is slightly different from other countries. As a monarchy, the military's primary loyalty naturally lies with Arthur.
This leads to the highest military institution being the Ministry of Defence, which is commanded by Arthur, as opposed to the General Staff or other organizations in other countries.
Under the Ministry of Defence, there are the three military branches' headquarters, the General Staff, and smaller departments like the Logistics Department.
During the promotion of senior officers, the staff of the three military branches are promoted to commanders, and the commanders are in turn promoted to Chief of Staff.
The position of Minister of Defence is similar to that of a Commander-in-Chief of the military; it is the highest-ranking military position and carries the highest military rank.
Upon hearing Andrew's mention of the plans from the General Staff, General Daniel suddenly calmed down.
The so-called plan is to use war with the Island Nation as a way to turn the war in Europe into a conflict of attrition between the British-French and the German-Italian blocs.
In the absence of the United States, Australasia, as the strongest power outside of Europe, stands to be the biggest beneficiary in the event of European self-destruction.
As long as Europe weakens, Australasia could attain a substantial heritage from the European nations and seize the opportunity to dominate the world.
Of course, this approach is not without its risks.
Firstly, a fine balance must be struck between the British-French and German-Italian military blocs. Australasia has always been biased towards Britain and France, which implies that the victors of the war can only be the British and French, not the German-Italian alliance.
Secondly, while Britain and France must win, they must also be significantly drained by Germany and Italy.
Judging by the current combat capabilities of the British and French armies, achieving this goal is fraught with difficulties.
Only by sufficiently weakening Britain and France, especially the British, can Australasia obtain more land in a relatively peaceful manner.
Places like Britain's Strait Colony, the centrally located Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and Mauritius on the western side of the Indian Ocean are not of utmost importance to the British.
At least in the face of large-scale wars that threaten national survival, these lands are not considered particularly crucial.
To win the war, Britain will inevitably have to make some concessions of interest. What Australasia demands are precisely these lands with significant geographical positions, including the post-war distribution of resources and so on.
Historical experience suggests that there will likely be no large-scale wars for nearly a hundred years following the end of this conflict.
Of course, history is only a reference, not a definite answer.
But this does hint that once the major countries of the world possess powerful nuclear weapons, those countries with ulterior motives will have to rein in their ambitions.
After all, you might search and even annihilate a country on the suspicion that it has nuclear weapons, but you certainly wouldn't do so because a country actually possesses them.
Suspicion and possession lead to two different outcomes on the diplomatic stage.
Since World War II is the largest conflict in a hundred years and the one most likely to change the global situation,
it is not unjustifiable for Australasia to strategize in this war. After all, if Australasia does not emerge as the world's supreme power following the conclusion of this global conflict, it is doomed not to do so in the coming decades.
Throughout world history, ever since the age of exploration began, the succession of world leaders has often been accompanied by war.
It's nearly impossible to become the world's leading power through peaceful means; after all, no country is willing to watch itself slowly descend from its pedestal.
The British Empire's status as the world's leader has been sustained for nearly a hundred years, and the British naturally do not want to see Britain become a mere powerful nation, even if the new world leader is Australasia, a country almost identical in origin to Britain, sharing virtually the same royal family.
Therefore, the only way for Australasia to become the world's supreme leader is to weaken Britain as much as possible during the war so that the British themselves realize they are no longer powerful.
"So what should we do? Are we to have no response to the Islander's recent attack?" Navy Commander Daniel looked towards Chief of Staff Andrew Wilson with the question.
"Of course not," the Chief of Staff shook his head and turned his gaze to Arthur. After receiving a nod of approval from Arthur, he continued, "
We certainly must retaliate against the Islander's act of aggression, and we must make the Islanders bear a hundredfold the loss.
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"But the time for retaliation is not now, now we have other plans," Andrew Wilson said with a smile, he pulled out a document and introduced: "Gentlemen, please look, this is the latest plan formulated by the General Staff concerning the attack on the Island Nation.
Since our allies (the Philippines, Kalimantan, the United Kingdom of the West Coast, and California) have declared war on the Island Nation, we can assemble a huge army of over 1.5 million in a short time. The closest member of our alliance to the Island Nation's native land is the Philippines, but there is still a remote distance of nearly 1,700 kilometers.
Clearly, such a remote distance has a very significant impact on our operational plans. Therefore, the first step of our plan is to rapidly land in the Okinawa region of the Island Nation from the north of the Philippines.
The northernmost tip of Okinawa is only about 300 kilometers away from the Island Nation's native land, and even some closer islands have round-trip distances of less than 500 kilometers. This also means that the planes we deploy in the Okinawa region can easily harass the Island Nation's native land areas. Next, regarding the navy, we also have a more detailed battle plan.
According to the current situation, besides the Asian continent, the main source of the Island Nation's supplies is basically the Americas and Africa. The navy's mission is to completely blockade the Island Nation's trade routes to the Americas and Africa, cutting off the possibility of the Island Nation obtaining supplies from the outside world.
If the Island Nation lacks sufficient supply of supplies, their attacks will become even more frantic. Once their attack falls into ultimate madness, our chances of victory will be greater. Additionally, Some Pacific Islands of the Island Nation, where there are not many stationed troops, are also in our first step of the capture plan.
As long as we gradually block the Island Nation's sea routes to the east and south, this island floating on the Pacific Coast is destined to become an isolated and helpless island," Andrew continued. From the Australasia's combat plan against the Island Nation, it can also be seen that the military does not take this so-called great power nation too seriously. In fact, it is indeed the case.
Due to the deficiency of mineral resources and petroleum materials, the Island Nation's great power status is somewhat dubious. Their most significant achievement in becoming a great power was defeating some of the inadequately prepared Russian forces in the Far East at that time.
However, their opponent at the time was only the Russian forces in the Far East, not the entire Russia Nation, so the Island Nation still took quite an advantage. After gaining some hegemony in the Far East, the Island Nation's industry began to grow rapidly.
But they also had to face a larger issue, which is that the mineral resources of the Island Nation's native land are very barren, this not only seriously restricts the development of the Island Nation's industry but also keeps the Island Nation's overall national power and potential at the lower levels of the great power level. This is also the reason for the nation's continuous expansion.
If they do not expand, they are destined to be at the bottom among the Powers, and even become weaker and descend from the altar of the Powers. No matter what they do, they can never change the fact that the Island Nation has a small land area and poor mineral resources.
Even if the Island Nation has a larger population than some powers of great power level, in the eyes of the more powerful European powers, the Island Nation is still just a power on the level of Italy, with mediocre strength. Australasia can easily crush the Island Nation in the industrial field. The longer the competition drags on, the easier it will be for Australasia to win.
The Island Nation is the one country that can't afford to drag things out. The Island Nation's only hope of victory is to win in naval battles and then gradually blockade Australasia's native land, attacking Australasia's overseas territories one by one.
But the problem is that the industrial scale of Australasia far exceeds that of the Island Nation, and the speed of building warships is naturally also far beyond that of the Island Nation. Under the condition that both Island Nation and Australasia are running production at full throttle, for every main battleship the Island Nation builds, Australasia can build at least 2.5.
This is one point, and the second is the economic inequality between both parties. The Island Nation, with such a huge scale of military and warships, can't avoid the predicament of the whole country tightening their belts to make a living. But Australasia is different. The economic level of Australasia is also not top-notch among the Powers, but the Government Finance is definitely relatively good.
Moreover, Australasia itself has a large amount of mineral resources and petroleum, so the cost of industrial construction is much lower than that of the Island Nation. The Island Nation, in order to maintain a certain level of industry, apart from forcibly seizing ore from other countries, can only purchase at a high price and waste more time from further away places.
This limits the fact that the Island Nation's industry can never develop to a larger scale because they simply do not have any raw materials. Wanting to build skyscrapers without cement and steel is simply impossible; you can't construct walls out of thin air!
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