For the people of Austrsia, 1913 was definitely a surprising year.


    Apart from Arthur''s announcement to expand the navy, Austrsia also received many colonial territories in the Pacific from the Powers that year.


    Indeed, in thest month of 1913, Austrsia once again began its effort to receive the British and French Pacific colonial territories.


    The reception of the Solomon Inds has been progressing smoothly so far, which has prompted Arthur to elerate the reception of these colonies, in hopes of fully receiving the colonial territories of the Powers in the Pacific region before the outbreak of World War I.


    For this colonial transfer, Arthur specially sent an entire division to the inds of the Pacific and dispatched the navy to patrol the waters.


    On December 11, 1913, Austrsia announced that it would rename British Fiji, which it took over from the United Kingdom, to the Australian Fiji Colony, with Georges Valerianos as its Governor.


    Thend area of Australian Fiji covers more than 18,300 square kilometers and is a regionposed of hundreds of inds and archipgos.


    Like the Solomon Inds, although the poption is up to 150,000 people, the core European immigrants are only about 20,000, and the others are local indigenous people.


    The most important thing for Austrsia''s newly received colonies is to maintain stability.


    Therefore, before order in these colonies is genuinely stable, Arthur does not intend to deal with the indigenous poption of these colonies for the time being.


    Australian Fiji is treated simrly to the Solomon Inds, with a 1,000-strong garrison and state-level administrative divisions.


    Although the totalnd area of these Pacific colonies does not match a single state of Austrsia, the poption is mostly only around 100,000.


    However, these colonies are rtively dispersed and not suitable for unified management. Breaking them down into various colonies can not only alleviate the pressure of colony management but also improve the government''s control over individual colonies.


    Australian Fiji was just the beginning. In a few days, the French also started their actions.


    This time, the French transferred the region of French New Caledonia, which is currently surrounded by Austrsia''s territory.


    Thend area of French New Caledonia is simr to Fiji, covering 18,575 square kilometers.


    But the poption in this region is much smaller; even counting all indigenous people, the total poption of French New Caledonia would not exceed 100,000 people.


    In addition to French New Caledonia, the New Hebrides Inds in the north of New Caledonia were also transferred to Austrsia.


    New Hebrides Inds, with and area of about 12,200 square kilometers and a poption of only around 70,000 people.


    This region is unique because missionaries from Britain and France are widely distributed, so a few years ago, Britain and France signed a treaty to dere joint management of the area.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity to transfer colonies, Britain and France directly transferred this colony to Austrsia, also saving much trouble.


    It should be noted that the Pacific colonies are far from the homnds of Britain and France, and most of them have not achieved food and resource self-sufficiency.


    This also means that in many cases, Britain and France need to send supplies and food to the troops and residents on the inds, which often represent a considerable expense.


    Losing these colonies is not a big deal for Britain and France since they both have colonies in Southeast Asia, and Britain also has the extensive colony of India. Naturally, they do not care about the small inds in the Pacific with a poption of just over 100,000 people.


    Therefore, transferring these colonies may seem like a loss ofnd for Britain and France, but in fact, it is also an opportunity for them to reduce the burden of their governments.


    After studying, the Austrsian government has decided to merge the two colonies of New Hebrides Inds and French New Caledonia to form Australian New Caledonia due to their proximity.


    After the merger, the poption of the new Australian New Caledonia will also reach more than 100,000 people, on par with the Solomon Inds and Fiji.


    From the map, it can be seen that the Royal Territory, Australian Timor, Australian New Guinea, Australian Solomon Inds, Australian New Caledonia, Australian Fiji, and New Zend form a chain of ind defenses that start from the north of Austrsia and are continuously wrapped around to the southeast.


    After thoroughly integrating these regions, Austrsia can rely on these inds and colonies to prevent any enemy from the Pacific from invading the ind defense chain.


    As for the western and southern sides of Austrsia, where there is no ind defense chain, one is the cold Antarctic, where enemies are highly unlikely toe. The other is the vast Indian Ocean, currently controlled by Australian allies Britain and France, and there is no threat for the time being.


    This also means that the current security of Austrsia is very stable. As long as these colonies are well managed, they can defend the enemy outside even in the face of powerful foreign enemies.


    Perhaps Britain and France had already agreed to transfer all their Pacific colonies in one go.


    As 1914 approached, Austrsia sessfully received French Polynesia, British Phoenix Inds, British Toku Inds, British Gilbert and Ellice Inds Protectorate, British Tonga Protectorate, British Cook Inds, British Kermadec Inds, British Pitcairn Inds, and other colonial territories, sessfully expanding their influence over more than half of the Pacific.


    After taking over these colonies, it is no exaggeration to say that Austrsia has upied more than half of the Pacific, truly a powerhouse in the Pacific.


    Of course, this also gave rise to a very serious issue. After the departure of Britain and France from the Pacific region, Austrsia would collide directly with the United States.


    This means that, whether it is now or in the future, the United States will always be Austrsia''s biggest enemy.


    If the United States wants to implement the Pacific strategy and expand in the Pacific area, it must confront Austrsia, which upies more than half of the Pacific.


    And if Austrsia wants to maintain its dominant position in the Pacific, it will not be able to avoid directly confronting the United States and bing enemies with them.


    Looking at it this way, Arthur understood why Britain and France were so eager to let go of their colonies.


    Rather than holding onto a few small inds of little use, it would be better to transfer them all to Austrsia, allowing Austrsia to be a fortress directly confronting the United States.


    In this way, even if the alliance of the Allies breaks down in the future, Austrsia will have to face the United States alone.


    As long as Austrsia wants to maintain its hegemony in the Pacific region, it is only natural for them to be enemies with the United States.


    This is the scheme of Britain and France, but now that things havee to this point, Arthur has no choice but to bite the bullet and go along with it.


    Austrsia has sessfully taken over the wide-ranging colonies of Britain and France in the Pacific region, and Arthur cannot possibly give up these areas.


    Fortunately, the alliance of the four great powers of the Allies is still stable, and the military strength of the United States is not yet too strong; Austrsia is fully capable of dealing with this.


    In order to better govern the newly acquired vast archipgo andbine the opinions of the Cab, Arthur divided all the new colonies, except Fiji, the Solomon Inds, and New Caledonia, into two parts.


    With German New Guinea and German Samoa as the dividing line, the areas to the north were designated as the Australian West Pacific Territories, with the capital in Tarava of the Gilbert and Ellis Inds area.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Below the dividing line, the Australian South Pacific Territory was established, with the capital in Papeete of the Polynesian area.


    From now on, Austrsia''s current political structure has been determined.


    Eight states, five colonies, and four territories havee together to form theplete and unified Kingdom of Austrsia.


    Arthur directly appoints the governors of the colonies and territories, which is good news for him.


    The loyalty of governors directly appointed by Arthur to the colonies and territories is obviously more reliable than that of the state governors elected by the State Parliament.


    Of course, even though the chief executives are directly appointed by Arthur, there are many differences between the colonies and territories.


    Colonies belong to the country but the monarch has the right to appoint officials, exercise jurisdiction, and mobilize the military.


    However, in legal terms, the territories belong directly to the monarch and can bepletely free from government control, only answering to Arthur.


    Of course, as the location of the kingdom''s capital, the Capital Territory has a special status. The Capital Territory is between a territory and a directly governed state, with its main officials appointed directly by Arthur but also subject to the control of the Cab Government.


    Aside from dividing these colonies for administrative purposes, Arthur, after talking with Minister of Defense Raul, determined the domestic defense deployments of Austrsia.


    The domestic defense deployment of Austrsia can be roughly divided into four areas. The Australian Region, centered on Austrsia''s core homnd, establishes the Australian War Zone with its headquarters in Sydney.


    New Zend is the New Zend War Zone with its headquarters in Wellington. The Royal Territory, Australian Timor, and Australian New Guinea form the Southeast Asian Theater with its headquarters in Moritzby Port.


    Finally, the Pacific Theater is formed by the major Pacific colonies and archipgos, with its headquarters in Suva, Fiji.


    The purpose of the Australian and New Zend war zones is mainly to defend the homnd and maintain domestic security.


    However, the Southeast Asia and Pacific War Zones y a crucial role in Austrsian military deployments. If everything goes ording to n, these two zones will focus on deploying the Air Force and Navy, as well as building a coastal defense system.