The Rise Of Australasia

"My citizens, I must announce a very grave message. This morning in the early hours, our Pacific Squadron base harbor was attacked by an unknown fleet and aircraft, resulting in the sinking of several of our warships, destruction of dozens of airplanes, and the deaths of over a hundred navy soldiers."

"After investigation and evidence collection, these fleets and aircraft that attacked us all belong to the Island Nation Army, it is these damnable Islanders, who launched a sudden attack on us."

"As of now, in this attack we have lost a total of 147 outstanding navy soldiers, and an additional 322 navy soldiers are injured, 55 of whom are severely injured."

"This is a declaration of war against Australasia, a serious infringement on the national security and the interests of the people of Australasia. I announce that as of this moment, Australasia is in a state of total war with the Island Nation."

"I despise such a nation that commences war without declaration, and I abhor such culprits who resort to despicable methods of attack. Let the flames of vengeance burn even fiercer!"

"I, as the Emperor of Australasia, demand that you, from this moment on, regardless of status, as long as you are Australasian, have an obligation to commit yourself to the nation's war and give everything for this war!"

"We must let everyone know that the dignity of Australasia shall not be infringed, that the status of Australasia shall not be provoked!"

On the evening of June 17th, at half-past eight, all wireless radio stations in Australasia broadcast Arthur's speech.

The people were initially surprised by Arthur's sudden speech, but after understanding the reasons behind it, they became furious with the undeclared war waged by the Islanders.

The next day, Australasia officially publicized the number of casualties they suffered in the attack.

In the assault by the Islanders, the Australasian Pacific Squadron altogether had 1 battlecruiser, 3 destroyers, 2 cruisers, and 1 submarine sunk, with 1 aircraft carrier and 1 battleship damaged.

On the aviation front, nearly 200 airplanes were involved, with over 40 crashing directly, and more than half of the aircraft damaged.

Out of 200 airplanes, fewer than 10 remained completely undamaged; the rest suffered more or less damage in that air battle."

The details regarding personnel were precise to each individual. According to the announcement by the Australasian government, this attack resulted in 501 casualties for Australasia."

"Among them, soldiers suffered 469 casualties, with 147 dead and 322 injured."

"The public suffered 32 casualties, with 4 dead and 28 injured."

"Why are there ordinary citizens among the injured when the attack was on a naval base?"

"This inevitably brings the air battle to mind. An unfortunate Islander airplane, after being hit, got lost in the pitch-black night sky and ultimately crashed into a residential area in Hawaii due to a malfunction."

"This explosion caused a building to collapse and ended up bringing great misfortune to 32 ordinary citizens."

"Even before Arthur's speech the previous day, the people of Australasia were very angry about the Islanders' attack without a declaration of war."

"Upon seeing the damage report the next day, the rage of the Australasians grew even more intense."

"The casualties from this attack exceeded 500 people, a loss that Australasia has not suffered since its establishment."

"What's more important is that it was the Islanders, a direct competitor, who attacked Australasia. Australasia already had a severe White Australasia Policy and a certain discrimination against non-Caucasian people."

"Faced with an attack from the Islanders whom they did not exactly respect, many extreme media outlets have already begun to propagate the evils of the Island Nation."

"That said, such casualty figures still seem quite exaggerated."

"However, at this time, the people of Australasia had no rationality left to discern the truthfulness of the data. Moreover, the people believe that the government would have no reason to exaggerate the scale of the losses."

"After all, being attacked is not a glorious event; it would be illogical to cover up such a bad thing, let alone to exaggerate it for publicity."

"Regardless, Australasia's war against the Islanders has indeed begun, and due to the attack, the hatred of the Australasians towards the Islanders keeps deepening."

"As a nation far in Oceania, before this massive outbreak of war, Australasia did not have any obvious hostile countries."

"The attitude of the government and military was basically, whoever competes with me for interests is my adversary."

"Since its founding, the Island Nation is the first to provoke Australasia actively and to cause it significant loss, so it is only natural for Australasians to harbor hatred."

"For Britain and France, the Islanders' entry into the war is definitely bad news."

"Especially after attracting the hatred of the Australasians, at least in the short term, Australasia's focus of attack will surely be on the Islanders."

"This also means that in Europe, aside from the already agreed upon 600,000 Australasian troops, Britain and France will find it difficult to receive further support from Australasia in the short term."

"If it's bad for Britain and France, it certainly must be good news for Germany and Italy."

"As long as the Islanders can tie down Australasia, the current war situation is clearly in favor of Germany and Italy."

"Of course, whether the Axis Powers or Germany is really in an advantageous position is another matter to discuss."

""

The Island Nation's entry into the war also signifies that the widely circulated idea of a World War has clearly become a reality.

What's more, this World War is obviously far more intense than the last one.

The main battlefields of the last World War were in Europe, only affecting the colonies of the European Nations.

But now, with Australasia and the Island Nation fully entering the war, it represents the opening of the Pacific Battlefield of World War II.

World War II, with the establishment of a second battlefield, can truly be called a global superwar.

On the evening of June 17 at half past eight o'clock, following Arthur's speech, Australasia officially declared war on the Island Nation.

On the morning of June 18 at six o'clock, the Island Nation first called a diplomatic meeting, engaged in multiple evasions, and then reluctantly declared war on Australasia.

At eight o'clock in the morning on June 18, the Philippines and Kalimantan declared war on the Island Nation in succession.

At noon, the United Kingdom of the West Coast and the Kingdom of California each declared war on the Island Nation, igniting the Pacific hegemony war.

The perspective shifts back to Australasia Domestic.

With war already erupting against the Island Nation, Arthur's plan also officially entered another phase.

Observing Arthur's demeanor, it was clear he was not as angry as he had been during last night's speech.

Indeed, that was the case. His display of anger was for the public, intended to sway the people's emotions, and to encourage them to participate more actively in the war.

As for the actual outcome of the attack, it was not as bad as what the Australasian Government had announced.

Boasting missiles and more advanced airplanes as their trump cards, the Australasian Navy couldn't possibly lose that battle.

While at the outset two cruisers were indeed sunk due to negligence, it had little overall impact on the strength of the Pacific Squadron.

Before five o'clock, the sky remained pitch black, when the fleets of the Island Royal Navy and the Australasian Pacific Squadron were almost evenly matched.

But after five o'clock, the sky had begun to brighten, at least enough for one to discern the distribution and movements of the enemy airplanes.

It was also from five in the morning that the tide of battle underwent a tremendous shift. The Australasian Air Force quickly secured an advantage and successfully repelled the Island Nation's navy.

The true outcome was that for the cost of one battlecruiser sunk and one battleship heavily damaged, the Australasian Pacific Fleet sunk two Island Nation aircraft carriers, one battleship, and two submarines.

If the Island Nation's aircraft carriers had not swiftly started fleeing Hawaii upon sensing danger, the Australasian Pacific Fleet's victory could have been even greater.

Naturally, it was also because those four aircraft carriers fled first that left hundreds of Island Nation airplanes in the sky as easy targets.

With 400 Island Nation airplanes against 200 Australasian airplanes, Australasia had only about 30 airplanes destroyed and approximately 110 damaged.

The Islanders fared far worse. Though missiles were not highly accurate, they were still lethal to airplanes.

Indeed, due to the influence of missiles, over half of the 400 plus Island Nation airplanes were destroyed, with less than 200 managing to escape Hawaii.

Looking at the results of this assault, although Australasia was the party attacked, it was the Island Nation who suffered greater losses.

However, to meet Arthur's strategic objectives, the Australasian Government exaggerated the Island Nation's achievements and their own losses, presenting themselves as the victim from every perspective.

At this point, the Island Nation had no way to argue. After all, they were the initiators of the attack; it couldn't be that after being attacked, Australasia could still win the naval battle with fewer airplanes, could it?

Such an argument would be the most illogical for other international media.

Since war had already been declared on the Island Nation, Arthur naturally needed no courtesy.

On June 18, the second day after declaring war on the Island Nation, Arthur convened a Ministry of Defense meeting to discuss plans for large-scale operations against the Island Nation.

Those attending the meeting included commanders and senior generals from the navy, army, and air force, high-level officers from the General Staff, Ministry of Defense, and a few crucial Cabinet Ministers.

Arthur, from the start, expressed a dislike of the Island Nation, an attitude that influenced the entire country, making most people harbor a strong dislike for the Island Nation.

Currently, in this war against the Island Nation, there is no faction of peace advocates in Australasia, everyone is staunchly pro-war.

"Your Majesty, I believe we should retaliate for this attack," said Navy Commander-in-Chief Daniel, standing up first and speaking with conviction: "Based on the outcome of this attack, our navy is clearly stronger than that of the Island Nation.

Moreover, the Islanders lost two aircraft carriers and one strategic battleship in this attack, which means their naval strength will only be weaker.

As long as we gain absolute superiority at sea, defeating the Island Nation is only a matter of time."