Chapter 1326: 962 Chapter: Chapter 1326: 962 Chapter: Regardless of whether Patricia had the money to come or not, Arthur had actually long had an answer in his heart to the question of whether to help stabilize the Swedish royal family’s throne.

But if he could win the favor of Gustav VI and the entire Swedish royal family, there was no doubt that this deal would become even more cost-effective.

Upon careful consideration, if Sweden were included, Arthur would have secured two of the Nordic Trio, which was very important for the strategic layout of the entire Mediterranean region.

After all, Australasia was aiming to vie for world supremacy after the war, and the support of these countries was quite significant.

If Australasia managed to build military bases and deploy missiles in Sweden and Finland, Australasia’s nuclear deterrence could expand to most of Europe, and it could also exert influence over the whole of Northern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe through Finland and Sweden.

Moreover, Sweden possessed considerable iron ore resources. Its overall strategic value could be said to be the highest among the Nordic Trio.

Although Arthur was prepared to support the Swedish royal family, he would not skimp on the benefits to be demanded and the conditions to be set.

In the talks with Crown Prince Gustaf, the Australasian Government laid out demands for Sweden to sign trade treaties with Australasia and deepen military cooperation, among others.

What else could Crown Prince Gustaf do?

To preserve the Swedish royal family, the Crown Prince of Sweden had no other choice at that moment.

Of course, the British could perhaps also safeguard them. But the British were even greedier than Australasia, and moreover, due to the lack of kinship, there was no guarantee that the British would help them.

After all, the current King Gustaf V of Sweden was a flagrant supporter of Germany. Moreover, with the Queen Consort coming from German Nobility, they were entirely on the opposite side of the British Royal Family.

On June 27, 1938, the Australasian Military Intelligence Bureau intercepted a top-secret telegram, the contents of which shocked the entire Military Intelligence Bureau.

Because the content of the telegram was very simple, so simple that it contained just one sentence: “The provocation in Ireland has been successful.”

This telegram came from Germany, which meant that the Germans were engaged in infiltrating the Irish region of the United Kingdom.

Speaking of Ireland, the relationship between the Irish region and the United Kingdom was still quite complicated at that time.

Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom and had no autonomous military rights.

But within Ireland, there were government, parliament, and national departments, appearing in every way as a state within a state.

The reason for the current situation was inseparable from Ireland’s previous civil war.

Although with Australasia’s help they did not allow Ireland to become independent, it was clear that the British also lacked the strength to suppress Ireland completely.

Or rather, by that time, Ireland’s resistance to Britain had already taken shape; unless a tremendous price was paid, it was impossible for Britain to turn Ireland back into just an ordinary administrative region.

Current Ireland could be said to have control over all functions of a country except for foreign affairs and defense.

Adding to that the various historical issues between Britain and Ireland, the Irish People’s quest for independence had never ceased, only shifting from overt to covert activities.

Upon intercepting this intelligence, the Australasian Military Intelligence Bureau had a clear idea of the Germans’ objective: to incite Ireland to seek independence anew and to create internal trouble for the British.

One had to admit that such a plan could indeed cause considerable trouble for Britain.

Bearing the status of an essential part of the British Isles, Ireland’s significance to the United Kingdom was undeniable.

If Britain were to lose Ireland, the British Empire would lose an important agricultural area as well as millions of Irish population.

But if the British Empire were to suppress Ireland forcibly, Ireland could instead become a stumbling block at their doorstep, periodically causing troubles for the British Government.

Upon learning of this intelligence, Arthur’s mind was somewhat made up. Although Britain was an ally of Australasia, he had no intention of helping Britain with the Irish issue.

The Irish quest for independence would cause significant problems for the British, further weakening the British’s overall national strength.

After all, if the British could not control Ireland at their doorstep, how could they manage those distant Colonies thousands of miles overseas?

Once the stable colonial system collapsed, the glory of the British Empire would become a thing of the past.

This was the biggest issue with Colonial Empires, their immense strength hinged heavily on the transfusion from Colonies, making the Colonies crucial to the strength of the country.

Though Colonial Empires were mighty, compared to Native Land countries that could create behemoths, countries that relied on Colonies to become superpowers had many more vulnerabilities.

After receiving the intelligence, Arthur immediately instructed the Military Intelligence Bureau to monitor German activities, but not to contact the British for the time being.

After all, the intelligence cooperation between Britain-France-Australia was only meant to prevent Russian infiltration, and there was no expectation of close cooperation regarding German intelligence.

The issue with Ireland had already exposed the biggest weakness of Colonial Empires like Britain and France. Especially as the ideas of freedom and democracy were on the rise, such weaknesses would become increasingly fatal.

This was also the reason Arthur was not worried about battling Britain for world supremacy after the war. Should he choose to, dismantling the colonial system would be relatively easy.