The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1307 - 953 Sovereignty over Antarctica

Chapter 1307: Chapter 953: Sovereignty over Antarctica

Chapter 1307 -953: Sovereignty over Antarctica

The Germans had given everything to launch the battle of Stalingrad.

To avoid the troop disadvantage that had occurred in the Moscow campaign, the German government had even issued a total mobilization order.

This so-called total mobilization far exceeded any previous German mobilization efforts.

Germany hoped to increase the size of its military from 5 million to at least 10 million, which also meant that the numerical disadvantage of the German Army could be quickly remedied.

Of course, such a mobilization policy was not without its drawbacks.

Though the military could surge to a level of ten million, for a German population of just over eighty million, this was the equivalent of one in every eight Germans heading to battle.

It must be known that out of those more than eighty million Germans, nearly half were women, and among the remaining half, there were also a large number of elderly and children.

The reality was that virtually all of Germany’s adult males were serving the war effort. Once the new mobilization policy was fully implemented, German adult males essentially had only two choices: either enter a military factory to produce weapons and ammunition for the nation, or go to the battlefield to use those weapons and ammunition.

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Such a decision was certainly insane, but the Germans had not a word of complaint.

Or rather, for the Germans, the humiliation they had suffered after World War I was enough to fill them with anger and steadfastly march into battle.

Perhaps there were differences within Germany regarding decisions on the war, but when it came to the question of to fight or not to fight, the opinion of most Germans was remarkably unified: they were resolved to fight with their backs to the wall.

However, before this, the Germans still managed to experience an extremely unforgettable Christmas.

After the Christmas of 1937, most German adult males would be heading to the battlefield, and whether they would have another Christmas in their lives was a question worth pondering deeply.

Upon entering December, representatives from Britain-France-Australia gathered in Tours, France, to discuss the attack plan for the new year and, by the way, to reach a consensus on the distribution of interests, which was still inconclusive.

Since the victory of the Moscow campaign, Britain and France had been discussing how to intensify their offensive efforts.

After all, having seen the Germans suffer a significant setback not so easily, the character of Britain and France was such that they could by no means just sit back and wait for the Germans to recover their strength.

Especially after learning that the German government had changed its mobilization policy, the British and French governments became thoroughly restless.

If they were to wait for the Germans to mobilize an army of millions to join the war, would they also have to arm millions to confront them?

The best method was, naturally, to defeat Germany as quickly as possible, to avoid more losses for Britain and France in the war.

In the discussions, the British and French representatives inquired about the readiness of the Australasian Army.

According to the British and French representatives’ introduction to the attack plan for the new year, Australasia needed to commit at least 1.5 million troops and be prepared to mobilize at least 500,000 reserve forces to join the war at any time.

Concerning these 2 million troops, Britain and France hoped that at least half would be Australasian soldiers and that Australasia would provide more support in terms of weapons and equipment.

Naturally, the Australasian representatives could not agree to all conditions.

After all, Australasia had already committed 1.2 million troops in Europe, and with the credit for wiping out the Island Nation early, Australasia had no worries whatsoever about any questions regarding its contributions to the war.

Providing support with weapons and equipment was certainly possible, but if they were to continuously send Australasian troops to the European Battlefield to exhaust themselves against the Germans, then it was time to have a serious discussion about the distribution of interests.

Clearly, the stance of the Australasians was also quite straightforward: they sought a greater share of the spoils.

Deploying more troops wasn’t out of the question, but Britain and France also had to offer up more benefits to satisfy Australasia.

This meeting was conducted in secret, even concealed from the various national delegates attending meetings in London.

After all, only after Britain-France-Australia had hammered out a rough framework could the London meeting proceed as normal.

In terms of the influence of the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations, Australasia’s influence had already surpassed France’s and was even not weaker than Britain’s.

This forced Britain and France to make more concessions; otherwise, they could not receive more support from Australasia and thus could not carry out their own plans.

The discussion in Tours lasted three days, and in the end, Britain-France-Australia reached certain compromises.

Firstly, concerning the combat plan for the new year, in order to end the war as quickly as possible, the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations projected to commit 5.5 million troops for a comprehensive counteroffensive against Germany.

The comprehensive counteroffensive was to be divided into three battlefields, starting with the French Battlefield where France would deploy 2.35 million troops, assisted by 950,000 British troops and 850,000 Australasian troops, forming an enormous military force of over 4 million soldiers.

The French Battlefield would have three offensive directions: a northern counterattack for Paris, an eastern incursion into Italy, and the Southern Region for an advance into Spain.

Without doubt, the counterattack on Paris would be the main offensive choice on the French Battlefield, with the French alone committing 1.8 million troops. Adding the British and Australasian forces, the combined British-French-Australian forces for the counteroffensive on Paris would exceed 2.5 million. This scale was far beyond the German garrison near Paris.

Next was the attack on Spain. Situated in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea, Spain’s geographical location posed a certain threat to Britain, France, and Australia.

Moreover, with Spain’s ceaseless supply of resources, the Allied forces in North Africa had been roaming freely in the French Colony, much to the French’s chagrin.