The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 930 - 695: Public Opinion Attack

Under the premise of a large-scale military deployment, the garrison of 500 soldiers could hardly have any effect on the situation in Samoa.

The bombing began on July 5, and American Samoa fell on the same day.

Some might say that the bombing couldn’t possibly kill all the American soldiers, wouldn’t the survivors resist?

If the Washington Massacre (the slaughter of veterans) hadn’t happened, perhaps some hot-blooded youths would have sacrificed their lives for their country.

But in the current United States, even soldiers would choose to save their own lives first, after all, the American government wouldn’t treat their families well in return for their sacrifice.

After the war, statistics showed that the bombing resulted in the death of more than 100 American soldiers and injured over 200.

Only a few dozen American soldiers were killed by the bombing; the others died due to the collapse of air defense works or excessive bleeding from their wounds.

One shouldn’t expect to receive proper medical treatment in the small territory of American Samoa.

Minor wounds and illnesses are manageable, but in the case of severe injuries like broken arms or legs, either transportation back to mainland United States for treatment was necessary, or they could only wait for death along the way.

This is also why the American soldiers surrendered so quickly; after all, the journey to the mainland United States was too long, and if they were seriously injured, it was likely they would die en route.

On the afternoon of July 5, Silvio looked on with satisfaction as numerous American soldiers raised their hands to formally surrender to Australasia.

There were many journalists from media newspapers frantically taking photos, and the images of American soldiers surrendering would become their hottest selling point for news.

By July 6, newspapers and media across the United States had already published many photos of the American soldiers surrendering.

Accompanying these photos was an official document drafted by the World Alliance, "Persuasion to the Americans."

This was essentially a formal piece of propaganda, which stated, "This war is entirely due to the sins of the United States during the influenza, it is a just war brought on to judge the sins of the United States."

The persuasion piece also specifically mentioned, "The current actions of the United States amount to making enemies with the entire world, and the World Alliance believes this is not the will of the American people.

If the American people value their lives and are unwilling to give their precious lives for the evil American government, please stay away from urban cities, train stations, harbors, factories, and coastal ports, because these are the areas that will be bombed next.

The World Alliance even advocates that the American people take up arms against the villainous government, to fight for the peace of humanity, for the people of the whole world."

At the end of the persuasion piece, the World Alliance also specifically mentioned that anyone who joined the American army would be subject to indiscriminate attacks by the forces of the World Alliance.

In light of this, the World Alliance hopes that the American people will see the true situation and not fight for a mistaken government.

Such persuasion letters and photos of American soldiers surrendering are without a doubt the current focus and were quickly reproduced and reported by media around the world.

Some media, aiming to sell more newspapers, even came up with even more eye-catching headlines, such as

"The nation belongs to the capitalists, but life belongs to oneself!"

In addition, the government has various subsidies for soldiers’ families, including but not limited to the distribution of grain and economic crisis relief subsidies, etc.

I refuse to believe that this will not attract new recruits. Surely, there will be people who are tempted by money and immediate benefits, right?"

This method was indeed a choice made out of desperation. Since propaganda alone can no longer attract recruits, the only choice left is to lure them with tangible benefits.

After all, the population of the United States is over one hundred million. There will always be people tempted by these conditions. If only one in a hundred people is interested, the American army could easily muster a million soldiers.

"Yes, President Sir!" The Commander-in-Chief heaved a sigh of relief and quickly responded.

He feared President Hoover would be unwilling to pay any price, and it was clear that mere words would not bring in the soldiers.

At least now, with President Hoover willing to spend a large amount of funds, doubling or even tripling the size of the army should be no problem.

After all, there are tens of millions of unemployed in America, and it would be easy to find several hundred thousand young people willing to join the army from among them.

Although many people are already dissatisfied with the nation, on the premise of not having enough to eat, joining the army is still an attractive employment opportunity, isn’t it?

"President Sir, perhaps what we need to guard against first is the opposition of the states to this war," the newly appointed Secretary of State said gravely across the conference table to President Hoover.

"From our current intelligence, a significant portion of the Federal States have expressed dissatisfaction with this war, and some governors have even made it clear they will not support the war and have urged the public to refuse to join the army.

From the looks of it, if the enemy launches indiscriminate mass bombing, there’s a high likelihood that these states would betray us," Secretary of State Lestes said with a somewhat pallid face.

The American Federal system, put simply, is just various states united together, aiming to live well in unison.

Under normal circumstances, this system wouldn’t pose any problems, and minor issues wouldn’t be a big deal at all.

But in times of national crisis, it’s inevitable for states under a federal system to have other ideas. Even blood brothers can turn on each other, not to mention the states in America’s forcibly cobbled-together federal system.

"Fuck! These damn bitches are just adding to the chaos!" President Hoover couldn’t help but curse out loud, then seemed to lose spirit as he gave his feeble instructions, "Have the Army Department keep a close watch on these Federal States. If necessary, I’ll allow the Army to take tough measures against these state governments, even directly imposing military control."

It seemed President Wilson and President Coolidge bore heavy criticism, but in reality it was just because of "minor issues" like influenza and economic crisises, which did not impact the foundations of America so gravely.

But the war that President Hoover now faced was different. If this war were lost, or if the states found an opportunity to declare independence, it would directly threaten America’s nationhood, and it might even be questionable whether the United States would continue to exist.

In such circumstances, even the usually confident President Hoover had already realized the gravity of the situation.

For President Hoover, it would be better to fall out with these states than to have them declare independence in advance.

"That won’t be easy," Secretary of State Lestes said with a bitter smile, "According to the constitution, taking such actions would give the government a bad reputation. More importantly, our army’s numbers are not sufficient to control all the states; some will inevitably be omitted.

If some states are prepared in advance for rebellion, even a mere number of police and militiamen would pose a major threat to us.

"Moreover, President Sir, we might face a civil war before the enemy actually reaches our homeland!"