Oscar's expression was grave. In recent years, the Island Nation's military strength had indeed expanded at an astonishing pace. It had already become a tremendous threat to Germany.
"With our Pacific Fleet and Indian Ocean Fleet, the four army groups deployed in the South Seas and Australia, plus the Colonial Army we have raised locally, is it possible to defeat the Island Nation head-on?" Oscar asked.
"Your Majesty, the Island Nation's Army now has a standing force of as many as forty divisions, over one million men. With the Island Nation's current population of more than seventy million, if it fully mobilizes, raising an army of four or five million would be easy. If it carries out extreme mobilization, it could even arm around eight million troops. Given the Island Nation's industrial level, it would certainly be difficult for it to equip so many troops. But with American support, it would be different; at the very least, it could ensure those forces were all armed with light weapons. Although the Imperial Army has four army groups in the South Seas and Australia, along with more than a million Colonial Army troops, those colonial troops are simply unable to withstand a single blow. In the end, we can only rely on our own forces. Once the Island Nation launches a full-scale offensive against the South Seas and Australia, we will likely lose most of those regions and can only hold fast to a small portion, waiting until victory or defeat is decided in the European theater before dispatching reinforcements," Field Marshal Manstein said.
Germany might have been powerful, but it had too many enemies. That was undoubtedly its fundamental problem. Furthermore, the South Seas and Australia were too far from the German homeland, limiting the military strength Germany could commit there.