The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 811 -607: Secret Agreement_1

Among the powerful nations, the existence of the United States is definitely the most unique and the most complex in terms of its comprehensive national conditions.

As an immigrant country, especially as the most popular destination for immigrants before World War I, the United States has a diverse array of ethnicities.

Although collectively referred to as American people, there are distinctions among British descendants, French descendants, German descendants, and so on.

Furthermore, the previous slave trade, along with immigrants and stowaways from East Asia, resulted in a population in the United States that comprised Black, Caucasian, and Asian races.

More crucially, the famous Lincoln granted civil rights to Black people, and although this helped the United States win the Civil War, the conflict between Black and Caucasian people became a significant factor affecting the stability of the country.

It is no exaggeration to say that if one day the United States were to ultimately head towards division, the contradictions and conflicts between races would undoubtedly be one of the most important reasons.

At this point in time, compared to later generations, the civil rights of Black people were not that stable; there were still a lot of Caucasians who discriminated against Black people, and even didn’t regard them as human beings.

Nevertheless, several decades had passed since the Civil War, and Black people were demanding more civil rights, even to be recognized as normal American citizens.

Stirred by the media bombardment from Australasia and the United Kingdom, protests in the United States grew increasingly intense. The demands shifted from the withdrawal from the Central American war to issues of civil rights between Black and Caucasian people, the revolt against the American government’s atrocities against Native Americans, and opposition to the current US President Coolidge, and so on.

Without going into other matters, the current conditions in the United States had certainly become much more chaotic. These issues were not easy to handle and could worsen the situation in the United States at any time.

The biggest dilemma facing the United States at the moment was how to deal with the media bombardment from Britain and Australasia?

If a counterattack were made, influencing Australasia’s media was out of the question. Australasia had strict control over media propaganda, and it was nearly impossible for the United States to sanction Australasia in this regard.

Britain, currently, didn’t fear an American backlash either. The issue with Ireland had become a tired topic and had already been resolved, stirring no significant uproar.

The oppression of Africa and Indian colonies was a fact well-known to the entire British public, most of whom considered it normal and it was unlikely to impact the British government.

What else was there to propagate? It surely couldn’t be suggested that the policy of massacring Native Americans originated during British colonial rule, as the United States once was a British colony, could it?

While shifting some of the blame could indeed be achieved using that angle, the issue is, wouldn’t that be a self-demotion?

If the media bombardment was only the first step in the threat to the American people, then increasing support for the Philippines was Australasia’s second step in threatening the United States.

As a new batch of weapons and equipment was shipped to the Philippines from Australasia, the Filipino offensive grew fierce and no longer maintained a tacit understanding with the American army.

The Philippine Army’s attack even showed a trend of driving the Americans into the sea, no longer tolerating the presence of American soldiers stationed in harbors, nor having the patience to engage in a performative war of attrition with the United States.

On the first day the weapons and equipment arrived, the Philippine Army launched a full-scale attack against the American garrison in Manila.

The Philippine Army suffered over 1,500 casualties, but they also inflicted at least 300 deaths and 600 injuries on the American army, resulting in a brutal situation.

Although the casualties didn’t seem equivalent, considering the American army controlled the advantages in firepower and defense, such a casualty ratio was normal.

What’s more important, the American army had only a few thousand soldiers, while the size of the Philippine Army had surpassed 100,000.

The first day of the war was just a minor attack by the Philippine Army. In the following days, the American army had to confront even more troops from the Philippines; whether they could hold Manila Harbor was questionable.

If the Philippines were lost before the end of the negotiations, the Americans would be giving up an essential bargaining chip, inevitably leading to payment of a much higher price.

This was an outcome the Americans did not wish to see, but they could not openly send more assistance to the Philippines. They could only hope desperately that the American army in the Philippines could hold out, at least throughout the entire negotiation period.

However, the development of events was clearly beyond the expectations of the Americans. Australasia’s assistance was mainly in terms of ammunition, especially shells for firearms, where they provided an aid of over 500,000 in one fell swoop.

Arthur had only one demand of the Philippines, which was to launch a comprehensive offensive against the American army in a short time, ensuring the bullets and shells were plentiful and the firepower as intense as possible.

The Filipinos dared not defy Arthur’s directive, and though it was painful, they still launched a consumption of over 150,000 shells in just three days.

Though this rate of consumption was far behind that of the Australasia Army, it must be acknowledged that the Philippine Army’s weapons and equipment differed, and the quantity of their firearms was far less. Such a rate of consumption was acceptable.

The American army, holed up in the harbor and military base, was once again subjected to such relentless bombing after several years.

Do not place too much faith in the military discipline of the American soldiers; the moment the bombardment began, they would take refuge in their defense bases, and whether or not to retaliate was no longer the main concern.

Even some American soldiers, to rigidly fulfill their duties, fired bullets indiscriminately in all directions as if they cost nothing, just to prove they expended ammunition and retaliated against the enemy.

As for whether the enemy was in the sky or underground, anyway, there was no supervision during the bombing, so naturally, no one could make a practical assessment.

On the third day of the full-scale offensive in the Philippines, the American army had been frantically sending telegrams to the American Government for three days.

But obviously, the Philippine harbors were under martial law, and the British and Australasia fleets were patrolling. They would not allow the American support troops to get close to the harbors.

Without reinforcements, it was only a matter of time before the American army would not be able to last a few days and would be defeated.

Under such pressure, America finally made concessions, agreeing to Britain’s demands for more Central American countries, but still unwilling to give up the Panama Canal.

The territories America was willing to give up included not only Nicaragua but also the Republic of Guatemala, which was closer to Mexico and Honduras.

Although Guatemala had a larger area, it was one of the Central American countries farthest away from Panama.

The Americans were unwilling to give up Costa Rica, which was relatively close to Panama. This served as a buffer zone between Panama and Nicaragua and was America’s first defense line against the influence of Central America and Britain.

The American stance on the Panama Canal was indeed firm, they even made it clear they were ready to go to war for it.

Perhaps noticing America’s final bottom line and realizing that obtaining the Panama Canal was no longer possible, the British gradually gave up their demands for the Panama Canal.

In the end, an agreement was reached between Australasia, Britain, and the United States. The US would withdraw from Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador and evacuate all troops stationed in Costa Rica.

Furthermore, the US permitted the independence of the Philippines, allowing them to form any type of government on their own and withdrawing all military forces from the Philippines, relinquishing sovereignty over the Philippines and its affiliated islands.

As compensation to America, Panama and the Panama Canal continued to be managed by the United States, and Britain was not to interfere for any reason.

As buffering nations between Panama and Nicaragua, the three signatory countries were not allowed to build any military bases in Costa Rica, only allowed civilian economic development and collaboration.

The American people specifically requested that the contents of the agreement not be disclosed for a short period and to halt all public opinion dissemination in America.

This was of course agreed to by Arthur and Britain since further conflict would have led to war, and starting a full-scale war with the US at present did not suit anyone’s interests, as no one could afford such losses.

Having achieved their objectives, both Britain and Australasia were quite happy.

Although they did not acquire direct control over the Panama Canal, their expansion of influence in Central America was tantamount to weakening the United States.

Of course, Australasia was the happiest. Having successfully acquired the Philippines and El Salvador, Australasia’s expansion policy on both sides of the Pacific Ocean was now more than halfway complete.

As long as the Philippines was well-managed, it would be an important boost to Australasia.

Especially the relatively abundant population of the Philippines, which could provide a multitude of cannon fodder for Australasia in the wars to come.

However, if part of the Philippine army was trained to be more elite, they could provide considerable combat power.

As the saying goes, the bullets fired by soldiers and children have the same killing power, and a well-equipped Philippine army’s firepower is also guaranteed.

Although the American Government was the only country to suffer heavy losses, for the current Coolidge Administration, such an outcome was still acceptable.

After all, Panama and the Panama Canal were preserved, and America did not face too severe a crisis.

Furthermore, since the agreement was kept secret, America could also claim to have voluntarily exited these areas to gain public favor.

Retreating from these areas was in line with public sentiment. Under the premise of ensuring the safety of the Panama Canal, what could the people say if these areas were evacuated?

However, after this incident, President Coolidge realized the importance of public opinion for the national government.

After the agreement was signed, relieved, President Coolidge also requested that the Propaganda Department impose stricter restrictions on newspaper publications, adopting a stance as serious as that taken for prohibition.

This was not an exaggeration. President Coolidge was truly frightened by the pressure of public opinion.

Political crises can arise in America just through some public opinion offensives from other countries, which is an unacceptable situation for any president.

President Coolidge feared another such media attack from Britain and Australasia. He did not want to experience days filled with anxiety and dread ever again.

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