Chapter 239: 223: Establishment of the Patrol System_2

Chapter 239: Chapter 223: Establishment of the Patrol System_2

Arthur was not worried about the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ reaction. As long as the other powers did not intervene, the Netherlands was no longer a match for Australasia near Southeast Asia.

Even in a few years, once Australasian warships begin to launch like crazy, the Netherlands wouldn’t even qualify to be Australasia’s opponent.

All the decisions Arthur made at the harbor were published in Australasia’s two official newspapers the next day.

Without saying much about the sensation caused by Australasia, these decisions also caused quite a stir in Europe.

Of course, the Kingdom of the Netherlands must have found it the hardest to accept. The essence of Australasia is located in the southeast of Australia and the North Island of New Zealand.

To reach Europe or East Asia from these areas, one would have to pass through the Dutch East Indies, either by going west through the Malacca Strait and across the Indian Ocean to Europe, or north to East Asia.

This also meant that part of the ocean in the Dutch East Indies fell within Australia’s patrol range. If not stopped, the Dutch East Indies would essentially be wide open to Australasia.

But the question was how to stop it? Using the Netherlands’ own power was almost impossible.

Although the Netherlands had over 100,000 troops, only 50,000 were stationed in the Dutch East Indies. Neither their training level nor their equipment could match that of the Australasian army.

When it comes to population and industrial scale, Australasia had surpassed the Kingdom of the Netherlands. And due to geographical proximity, the slightest advantage was greatly magnified.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands was able to defend the Dutch East Indies mainly because of the support from European powers.

But more than that, Australasia not only had a good relationship with the German Empire but also had a matrimonial and mutual benefit alliance with the Russian Empire.

As for the United Kingdom, Australasia was formed by the merging of two colonies of the British Empire, and its rulers also came from the British royal family.

Unless it’s a matter of national survival, Australasia and the United Kingdom are unlikely to have a falling out.

Since the Dutch were frightened, the indigenous forces that were forced to submit to the Dutch East Indies naturally knew which country they could least afford to offend.

Arthur’s actions were swift. Starting from mid-April, the naval forces of Australasia were frequently deployed to patrol along Australasia’s coast and the northern sea.

Even though this would increase the consumption of supplies, especially coal and oil, Australasia has numerous coal reserves and several large oil fields, so they naturally didn’t have to worry about these issues.

With the fleet’s patrol and protection, no further issues befell the Australasian merchant ships. Even the fishermen and vessels of the indigenous tribes typically avoided them for fear of inciting trouble.

Arthur also commended the soldiers who had previously participated in the rescue operation within the scope of the Guards.

While there were no medals awarded, there were verbal commendments across the entire army, and each person was rewarded with 1000 Australian dollars. This won the fanatic and loyal gazes of the soldiers.

What Arthur did not expect was that this large-scale naval and army rescue operation not only made him and the government more beloved by the Australians, but also garnered the goodwill of many Europeans.

After all, not many monarchs, like Arthur, truly care about the lives and deaths of the lower-class citizens. In addition, Arthur’s various tax reduction policies and benefits in Australasia have significantly increased its appeal to immigrants.

Starting from May 1907, it was noticeably apparent that more and more people were migrating to Australasia to become permanent residents.

If compared to the data of 1906, the number of immigrants to Australasia has increased by more than thirty percent, which was a considerable increase.

Please note that Australasia now has an annual immigration of four hundred thousand people. If it can maintain a growth rate of thirty percent, this means that this year’s population will increase by more than one hundred and twenty thousand compared to last year.

Furthermore, with Australasia’s policy to encourage fertility, it is highly probable that Australasia’s population will exceed seven million before 1908 arrives.

Of course, the large number of immigrants did pose some problems for Arthur. These immigrants generally prefer to live in large Australasian cities like Sydney and Melbourne, and are unwilling to move to Western Australia and South Australia.

This was not a good phenomenon as Western Australia and South Australia have abundant mineral resources and need ample population and labor for excavation.

Furthermore, with the influx of a large number of immigrants, Sydney and Melbourne were inevitably facing planning insufficiencies which added a certain level of chaos to city construction.

In the end, Arthur introduced a policy that anyone willing to go to the western region and small towns would receive fifty percent more land allocation than normal. This somewhat solved the problem.