"Besides our existing heavy and light industries, we should also strengthen our cooperation with the British and introduce a batch of new chemical and military industries from the United Kingdom." Prime Minister Kent continued:


    "The British Empire’s leading position in the navy is an absolute advantage. Relying on our good rtionship with the British Empire, this advantage can be transformed into our advantage.


    At present, we have mastered aircraft carrier technology, but it cannot be determined whether this technology canpletely rece the existing battleships.


    Research on battleships by the British Empire is still ongoing. We can more easily acquire the world’s most advanced battleship technology and maintain our leading position in battleship technology before aircraft carrierspletely rece battleships.


    In addition to this, we should continue to increase investment in our already advantageous aircraft and tank technology to maintain our lead.


    Both weapons have proven to have tremendous impact on the battlefield. They are the guarantee of our absolute advantage in the future wars."


    Prime Minister Kent said with determination.


    Investment in military technology is essential in both peacetime and wartime, even as the top priority of national fiscal budgets.


    Although Austrsia is not that kind of extreme country that advocates military force, it attaches great importance to the investment in military research. Every year, the military budget ounts for about 20-30% of total fiscal expenditure, and itsprehensive military power ranks among the top five in the world.


    It seems difficult to find a country that can lead Austrsiaprehensively in its army and navy forces, except for Britain and France.


    Germany’s post-war restrictions have been too severe, and it is impossible for the country to rise again without a long recovery period.


    As for Russia, its current internal turmoil has also damaged its strength. Neither Tsarist Russia nor Soviet Russia can necessarily defeat Austrsia on its own.


    Besides, perhaps the only ones that pose a threat to Austrsia are the Ind Nation and the United States.


    After all, the Ind Nation has a poption of more than 50 million, which can form millions of armies, and it is troublesome for Austrsia.


    However, the good news is that the Ind Nation’s navy has been greatly restricted. As an ind-type country, the Ind Nation is unlikely to pose a threat to Austrsia solely through its army advantage.


    As for the United States, its military power did not expand significantly during World War I, and its army has been reduced to about 100,000 after the war.


    Moreover, thebat effectiveness of American troops is definitely at the bottom of the world powers. American soldiers have neither the outstanding military qualities of the Germans nor the fearless spirit of the Inders with their disregard for death. Their weapons and equipment are also inferior to the British and French forces.


    They joined World War Ite, and their performance in the final battles was not very good.


    The size of the United States Navy is also decent, but there is a certain difference in the naval guns installed on the main warships of the United Statespared to those of Britain.


    Now, the United States is definitely among the top three in the world in industry and economy, even pressing Britain and France, and iming to be the world’s first industrial and economic superpower.


    However, in terms ofprehensive strength, the American military power is obviouslygging, and the current threat to Austrsia is not that high.


    However, thest influenza crisis made Americans realize the threat from Britain and France, especially the threat from the World Alliance ruled by the British.


    It also stimted the Americans to build battleships at a rapid pace, as fast as putting dumplings in water, which isparable to a new naval arms race.


    In order to cope with the threat from the United States and improve Austrsia’s ownbat power, it is necessary to expand the army and navy in a new round.


    Under the watchful eyes of the cab ministers, Prime Minister Kent took out a pre-prepared expansion n and handed it to Arthur.


    Austrsia’s regr army is currently very small, far less than the exaggerated one million expeditionary forces during World War I.


    The main force of Austrsia, that is, the armyposed entirely of Austrsians, consists of only two guard divisions and four regr divisions totaling 104,000 regr troops, and 12,000 guard troops stationed in the colonies, with a total of 116,000 troops.


    Because all the indigenous troops were disbanded, Austrsia lost nearly 100,000 troopspared to before.


    However, this is inevitable. After all,pared to the armiesposed entirely of native soldiers, the regr armyposed of Austrsians will be the main force in future wars.


    the shortest period of poption shortage in Austrsia has passed, and 20 million people can arm millions of forces at any time.


    Moreover, Austrsia’s poption will at least maintain a growth rate of one million per year, which means that the current 100,000-strong regr army is no longer sufficient for this country.


    The battlefields of World War I had already proven that the number of participants in such a world war was absolutely in the tens of millions. What could an army of 100,000 do? It would only be enough for two days of consumption in arge battle.


    In Prime Minister Kent’s expansion n, the existing four regr divisions are to be fully upgraded, expanded to 12 infantry divisions, 4 artillery divisions, 2 cavalry divisions, and 1 tank division, totaling 19 divisions, with abat force of over 250,000 people.


    Even though the weapons on battlefields have gone through earth-shaking changes, infantry is still the mainstream of war and one of the most critical armies among various forces.


    In addition to the most numerous infantry divisions, the expansion of the 4 artillery divisions would also make the firepower of the Austrsian Army more powerful.


    Currently, Austrsia is researching tracked guns, applying tank chassis technology to guns to improve their transport capabilities.


    If this technology can be realized and stably applied, the importance and role of artillery divisions on the battlefield will be greatly enhanced.


    The reason why two cavalry divisions are still formed despite the presence of tanks is that the current tanks have unreliable performance with a high rate of breakdown.


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    Secondly, the existing tanks cannot adapt to all battlefield environments; some deserts, hills, and mountains, or even areas with uneven roads, are where cavalry divisions can y a more significant role.


    At least until the stability of tanks is fully guaranteed, the role of cavalry divisions is still useful.


    As for thest fully-formed tank division, it is a tribute to the respect for the new tank technology developed in Austrsia.


    Although the stability of tanks cannot be fully guaranteed, after all, they have been tested on the battlefield and can y a significant role in the war, and equipping them inrge quantities is still necessary.


    As tank technology advances, countries will also pay more attention to tank construction. Although it appears to be a gamble for Austrsia to equip tanks on arge scale in advance, Arthur knows it’s not a loss.


    Mechanization of the army is a necessity brought about by science and the development of the times, and it can greatly enhance thebat power of the army.


    When tank technology matures in the future, corresponding tracked guns, armored cars, etc., will also emerge, enriching Austrsia’s weapon system and improving the mobility of the Austrsian army.


    Although he is Arthur’s absolute confidant and can greatly influence Arthur’s decisions, Prime Minister Kent is still very discerning and doesn’t mention the Guards controlled by Arthur in the army expansion n; he only refers to the regr army under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense.


    This expansion n will directly push the number of Austrsia’s regr army to over 250,000 people; when added to the current 40,000 Guards and over 10,000 reserve troops, the total number of Austrsia’s army will cross 300,000, reaching the conventional level of a medium power.


    Note that before the outbreak of World War I, the standing armies of European countries weren’t many, with only Russia exceeding 1 million people.


    Famous for its armybativeness, the German Empire had not even reached 500,000 soldiers in its army around 1910.


    However, as countries’ military technology develops, increasing the number of troops is an inevitable trend.


    With the progress of high-lethality weapons such as machine guns and firearms, the casualty figures of a single battle are far beyond what these countries could have imagined.


    This also means that the destruction of war on countries is already extremely severe; it’s almost impossible for any country to stay intact during a war.


    Arthur was quite satisfied with the expansion n submitted by Prime Minister Kent.


    However, in order to give the government its own thoughts, it’s crucial to provide cab members with the opportunity to express their opinions.


    Signaling the guard to hand over the expansion n to all cab members for cirction, Arthur instructed: "You all take a look; if you have any different suggestions or opinions on this expansion n, you can propose them."


    After everyone had finished reading the expansion n, Arthur first looked at Defense Minister Raul and asked: "Minister Raul, is it difficult to expand the regr army to 250,000 people? How serious is the impact on our existing army’sbat effectiveness?"


    Currently, the regr army only has four divisions and 64,000 people; expanding to 250,000 people is equivalent to increasing it fourfold.


    Such a massive expansion would inevitably affect the existing army’sbat effectiveness. Even if the military academy of Austrsia and the previous wars reserved enough reserve officers for the new army, arge number of old soldiers would have to be transferred to the new army, ensuring that the new army had certainbat effectiveness.


    "Your Majesty, in the previous wars, we rotated all the troops to ensure that all of them participated in the war. Based on our current reserve of reserve officers, the expansion to a regr army of 250,000 will not have too much serious impact on the existing army’sbat effectiveness," Minister Raul replied.


    "However, thebat effectiveness of the new army is always a problem; if they don’t experience the tempering of real warfare, relying solely on training can hardly guarantee that they have excellentbat effectiveness," Minister Raul continued.