Chapter 265: Chapter 241: Military Rank Reform and Awarding Medals_2

The Australasian colonial division was very simply organized, with a colonial division consisting of four infantry regiments. This meant that the colonial division was purely an infantry division, with very few machine guns and firearms.

With the addition of the infantry and artillery regiments of the Guard Division, the four regular divisions, and two colonial divisions, Australasia’s army expanded by nearly sixty thousand people this time. Even without counting the indigenous soldiers of the colonial divisions, the expansion would still amount to more than thirty thousand people.

As a result, the total number of Australasia’s army would reach 120,000, with a usable troop strength of 80,000-90,000 in the event of war.

Workers and leaders of Arthur’s Arms Factory were happy during this time.

The previous war and the current expansion had increased the scale of Australasia’s arms factories, as well as its growing military industry.

Arthur’s Arms Factory now has more than two thousand employees and is certainly a major military industry enterprise on an international level.

Compared to the high-profile expansion of the navy and army, the expansion of Australasia’s air force has been much more low-key.

Airships are an open secret in technology, so they were placed out in the open.

After winning the last war, Arthur announced with great fanfare that at least twenty airships would be built to meet the transportation needs for some supplies and to establish an Australasian air force.

Although airplanes have taken shape in various countries, their reliability is much lower than that of airships, and their practical value is far less than that of airships.

Moreover, the performance of airships in the last war led the European powers to follow suit and research airship technology.

In addition to the twenty airships, Australasia also expanded its air force once again in secret.

Previously, Australasia had a total of 15 Phantom-3 bombers and 15 Eagle-3 reconnaissance aircraft.

After conducting real-life tests of bomber and reconnaissance aircraft performance in the last war, Arthur promptly placed orders for thirty bombers, ten fighter aircraft, and twenty reconnaissance aircraft.

With the establishment of the Royal Military Academy, the selection and training of pilots has become more standardized.

At present, the Royal Military Academy’s Aeronautical College can train at least one hundred and fifty qualified pilots for Australasia each year, allowing Arthur to aggressively expand its air force.

It will take at least half a year for the Aerospace Laboratory to build the sixty aircraft in this order.

By 1908, Australasia will have at least ninety military aircrafts. In terms of both scale and combat power, Australasia’s air force currently ranks first in the world and is still a groundbreaking world leader.

In fact, the practicality of these aircraft is already on par with those of various countries during World War I.

If Arthur insists, they could now establish a powerful air force with thousands of aircraft.

However, the rate of aircraft upgrading is still quite fast, and there is no need to spend too much on models that may be outdated.

At least according to the Aerospace Laboratory’s response, the fourth generation of military aircraft is already taking shape, and all three types of military aircraft in the fourth generation will see significant performance improvements over the third generation.

This is one of the reasons why Arthur has not established a large-scale air force at present. Firstly, the air force has no opponents, and Australasia currently has an overwhelming advantage in the air force field.

Moreover, the birth of the fourth-generation aircraft is not far off, so it would be better to wait for the new aircraft to be born before expanding the troops, rather than spending money on possibly outdated aircraft now.

In addition to expanding the army, rewarding the soldiers and officers who contributed to the previous war is also a very important issue.

The army is Arthur’s trump card, and it is essential to firmly grasp the military’s morale.

As soon as the war was over, Arthur and Minister Kent discussed together the issue of rewarding soldiers and officers.

Without a doubt, the most significant contributions were made by the First and Second Divisions, the former fired the first shot of the war, perfectly playing the role of the vanguard and occupying Portuguese Timor with relatively low casualties.

The Second Division not only occupied Portuguese India and other colonies but also successfully defended against and eliminated the threat from Portuguese reinforcements.

As the commanding officers of the First and Second Divisions, Generals Silvio Lonnie Rodlin and Fritz Leiner, are also likely to advance in their military ranks.

Currently, Australasia’s military ranks are basically inherited from the British Empire, as is the case with the navy.

Even the design of the military rank insignia is essentially consistent with the British Empire. Now is a good opportunity to issue new military ranks unique to Australasia during the awards ceremony.

After lengthy discussions with Minister Kent, on November 1, 1907, Australasia’s new military ranks were officially announced.

Starting from the newly enlisted soldiers, Australasian military ranks are divided into three levels for soldiers (new recruits, second-class soldiers, first-class soldiers), three levels for non-commissioned officers (junior, middle, and senior sergeant), three levels for warrant officers (Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Captain), three levels for field officers (Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel), four levels for general officers (Brigadier General, Brigadier, Major General, Lieutenant General), and the highest rank, Marshal.

This set of military ranks applies to the Australasian Army, Navy, and Air Force, and soldiers from each branch will have their affiliation added in front of their military rank.

Above the Marshals of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, perhaps there is only Arthur’s position as the Supreme Marshal of the Three Services.

Of course, Arthur’s previous title was the Supreme Marshal of the Australasian Army and Navy. Now that there is an Air Force, he naturally becomes the Supreme Marshal of the Australasian Army, Navy, and Air Force, simply referred to as the Supreme Marshal of the Three Services.

However, Arthur’s title as Supreme Marshal of the Three Services is mostly an honorary one.

Still, this title grants Arthur the legitimate power, in special and wartime periods, to legally and rationally mobilize all Australasian military forces, including government national defense forces.

Besides Arthur’s title as Supreme Marshal of the Three Services, the highest military rank is currently held by Minister of Defence Kent, a Lieutenant General.

As for people like Major Fritz and others, their military ranks are all Brigadier Generals. Firstly, it is for the convenience of the Ministry of Defense to manage, and secondly, there has been no significant conflict in Australasia since its founding. Awarding these commanding officers too high of ranks without merit would devalue Australasian military ranks.

Moreover, awarding too high ranks early on might lead to a situation where there is nowhere left to promote later on.

If marshals eventually become a dime a dozen, then the military rank system will truly become worthless.

On November 5, 1907, the Australasian military awards ceremony officially began.

The awards ceremony can also be called a medal ceremony, and while most participants are from the previous Australasian war forces, the venue is still located outside Sydney Palace’s square.

This has also led to many Australasian commoners being able to watch, as medal ceremonies are not considered classified information.

The largest promotions in this ceremony were naturally for the commanding officers of the First and Second Divisions.

The commanding officers of Division One, Silvio Lonnie Rodlin, and Division Two, Fritz Leiner, both successfully advanced from Brigadier General to Brigadier, which may be their highest military rank in their position as commanding officers.

If they want to advance further in military rank, they might have to either join the Ministry of Defense or wait for the birth of larger units in the Australasian military.

After all, a Major General is considered a high-ranking figure in a nation’s military forces. It wouldn’t be appropriate to let such high-ranking personnel lead an ordinary regular division, as it would inevitably create many issues down the line.

Currently, the Minister of Defence, Kent, holds the rank of Lieutenant General. If another Lieutenant General is appointed as a commanding officer, who should listen to whom, considering they share the same rank?

Other than the two Division Commanders who successfully advanced to Brigadier, the Deputy Commanders of the First and Second Divisions were also successfully promoted to the position of Brigadier General.

This was to prepare for the expansion of the Fourth and Colonial Divisions, as their promotions also meant that they would become the commanding officers of these units.