The Rise Of Australasia

In an unremarkable residential building on the outskirts of Manila, Philippines, a meeting that could determine the fate of the Philippines was underway.

There were, in fact, very few attendees for this meeting. Apart from John, the intelligence agent from Australasia, there were only the lead figures of the three current major independent forces in the Philippines: Manuel, the leader of the Philippine Independence Revolutionary Army; Wade, the leader of the Philippine Liberation Army; and Sandro, the leader of the Philippine Independence Legion.

A prominent trait of those who could emerge as leaders of the Philippine independent forces and be approached by Australasia intelligence was their reputable standing within the Philippine revolutionary forces or political circles.

Wade, the leader of the Philippine Liberation Army, came from the political circles and was deputy speaker of the Philippine Senate, making him one of Manuel’s main competitors in the political sphere.

Sandro, the leader of the Philippine Independence Legion, like Manuel, hailed from the Philippine revolutionary forces and was similarly supported by them.

It could be said that united, these three individuals carried significant influence over both the Philippine revolutionary forces and political circles. They could determine the course of all local forces in the Philippines.

If it weren’t for the Americans, these three would undoubtedly be the three most powerful figures in the Philippines.

However, unfortunately, the Philippines is currently in the hands of Americans. While Manuel and the others do hold some prestige among the locals, they are not in favor with the Americans.

"Gentlemen, I believe you’re all acquainted with each other, so let’s avoid further introductions. What I want to say is that currently, there is a great opportunity for the Philippines. Looking at the whole world, all victorious countries are overwhelmed with their own challenges.

There is not much international interference in the Philippines’ independence right now." John, the person in charge of the intelligence service in the Philippines for Australasia, clapped his hands, turned his gaze towards Manuel and the others, and said with a smile. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Manuel scanned the room. Although he considered the other two people to be friends, their relationship had become somewhat awkward.

"Mr. John, how much support will Australasia provide us? And when we initiate our war of independence, will Australasia promptly support us internationally?" Manuel was the first to stand and voice his concerns.

Regardless of the number of American troops stationed in the Philippines, based on the comprehensive strength of the two countries, the Philippine war of independence is nearly impossible to win with their own strength.

This is to say, how much help Australasia could give is the key to whether the Philippine war of independence can continue smoothly and whether the Americans can be defeated successfully.

Meanwhile, the support of Australasia also carries significant importance internationally. Forcing the Americans to retreat diplomatically, or simply restraining part of the Americans’ strength, will be beneficial for the Philippines.

The other two men also nodded in agreement. As smart men, they all shared these concerns around the success of the war of independence.

"First, about the degree of support," John laughed and began to say: "A batch of weapons and equipment, including 50,000 rifles, 30 machine guns, 25 firearms, 5 million bullets, 150,000 machine gun bullets, and 15,000 shells, will soon arrive in Manila. This is a token of our sincerity from Australasia.

With this batch of equipment, I believe you can effectively deal with the American troops stationed in the Philippines. Moreover, after the war of independence is launched, you can quickly control the whole Philippines."

Due to arms trade with Russia, military industries in Australasia remained in constant production.

It is extremely easy to provide a batch of weapons and equipment for the Philippine revolution, and most of the weapons and equipment given to the Philippines are second-hand equipment discarded by the Australasia military, they are even easier to gather.

The number of weapons and equipment John mentioned was satisfactory to both Manuel and others.

All said and done, the American troops stationed in the Philippines were no more than 3000 people in total. But the batch of weapons and equipment provided by Australasia could arm an army of 50,000 people.

Even if they rely on sheer number, they could easily wipe out the 3000 American troops stationed in the Philippines. After all, Australasia also provided machine guns and artillery, and the armed forces of the Philippines did not lag far behind that of the American troops in terms of weapons and equipment.

However, Manuel looked at the other two men and slight unease began to creep into his mind on the topic of distribution of this batch of weapons and equipment.

This batch of weapons and equipment are critically important for the Philippine revolutionary forces. It can greatly increase the military power of any faction.

It suggests a problem: no faction will give up this batch of weapons and equipment. After all, it could revolutionize their military strength, offering a head start in gaining an edge over other factions.

Imagine if Manuel could obtain the majority of this batch of weapons and equipment, the other two factions would not pose a threat to him. Manuel could smoothly gain control over the Philippine government leadership in the future.

But the problem is that Australasia will not let this happen. The reason why they didn’t mention how to distribute these weapons and equipment was that they wanted to see potential issues arise between the three Philippine factions, affecting the future unity of the Philippines.

Obviously, the other two figures had also sensed this issue; tacit understanding flashes in their eyes suggested they had their own ideas of how these weapons and equipment should be allocated.

"As for supporting you internationally, rest assured, we’ve already won the support from Britain and France. The World Alliance will recognize the Philippine war of independence at the earliest and express its support. With the support of the World Alliance, the Americans aren’t bound to act rashly." John continued with a smile.

Manuel and the other two would have naturally heard of the formidable reputation of the World Alliance.

At the time when influenza was severe, the World Alliance forced the United States to admit its guilt and made it pay a large sum of compensation to all member countries of the World Alliance.

The words of John were fairly believable to Manuel and the others. As long as Australasia could garner the support of the British and the French, it would mean securing the backing of the entire World Alliance.

Even the powerful United States would have to retreat and admit defeat when faced with the combined strength of the entire World Alliance.

Keep in mind, the World Alliance is not just a few nations. At present, the strongest several powers, coupled with about ten small and medium-sized European nations, have jointly created an entity far surpassing the former Allies. No single country could resist it alone.

If the support of the World Alliance could be obtained, it would be a great boon for the Philippine independence war.

Clearly, John’s words have left Manuel and the others greatly satisfied, raising their expectations of winning the Philippine independence war by quite a bit.

"Mr. John, when can we expect the arrival of these weapons and equipment?" asked Sandro, the leader of the Philippine Independence Legion, expecting an answer.

At the moment, the armament strength of the three was still pretty weak. The strongest among them, Manuel, only had about 2,000 men in the Independence Revolutionary Army under his control.

With these 50,000 rifles as weapons and equipment, the military power of the three would have to be expanded to at least 10,000. Therefore, it’s necessary to expand the size of their army timely.

However, the expansion of the army also needs the support of corresponding weapons and equipment. They can’t let the newly-recruited soldiers train with sticks and kitchen knives.

Leaving aside the effectiveness of such training, even visually, it would make their army appear weak.

"This batch of weapons and equipment had departed yesterday and will be delivered to Manila within a week. You can now begin recruiting. The weapons and equipment will be smoothly transported to you before recruitment is completed." John said with a smile.

The expansion of the three’s military forces was conducted in secret from the Americans, hence not making a show of it.

This also resulted in the need for more time for their military power to expand; extending even to the scale of 10,000, would require several months and secretly finding more training places.

Fortunately, the American grip over the Philippines wasn’t so strong. Finding an uninhabited, large open area for training in the vast Philippines is still quite easy.

Since there was no technology like satellites in this era, if the Americans wanted to track these armies, they would either have to deploy a large number of reconnaissance planes to search day and night, or simply rely on luck.

As long as secrecy is well maintained without alerting the Americans, it would be almost impossible for the Americans to discover anything.

"How should we deal with the American fleet in the Philippines? Mr. John," Wade, the leader of the Philippine Liberation Army, raised his own question.

Compared to the American fleet in the Philippines, the stationed American troops on land are easy to deal with.

But how to deal with the American fleet in the Philippines is a very tricky problem. Find more to read on empire

While most of the warships deployed by the Americans in the Philippines are medium to small-sized warships, and even include some surplus products no longer needed by the American mainland navy,

The problem is that the Philippines, in its current state, doesn’t have any navy at all, meaning it would be impossible to pose any threat to the American fleet.

On the contrary, the American fleet could cause considerable damage to the Philippine coastline, a problem which the current Philippine revolutionary forces find hard to solve.

"As long as you successfully obliterate the American garrison, we will handle the American fleet for you." John said, smiling: "His Majesty the King is very concerned about the situation in the Philippines. The Australasia fleet can be dispatched at any time to help the Philippines, our oppressed neighbor."

Mentioning Arthur was pretty effective; Wade didn’t have any doubts and certainly believed in what John said about Arthur being concerned about the situation in the Philippines.

In fact, this was normal. Considering the activities of Australasia in the Philippines, it would have been impossible for Arthur, the monarch of Australasia, to not know about it.

If one thinks about it, perhaps the actions of Australasia in the Philippines were directed by Arthur himself.

This is the power a real monarch possesses. A monarch can easily change a country’s foreign policy, controlling a small country like the Philippines easily.

Hearing John’s answer, Manuel distinctly sighed in relief. The American fleet was the hardest issue to deal with. If Australasia could step up, it would signify that the most challenging aspect of the independence war had been solved in advance.

As for the American retaliation that was to follow, with the endorsement of Australasia and the World Alliance, it would be questionable whether the American reinforcements could even land in the Philippines. There’s no need to consider other issues too much now.