The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 623 - 474: Establishing the Charge_2

Some news agencies have exaggerated even further by declaring that Australasia had secretly been researching biological weapons and that the influenza was one of Australasia’s creations.

Australasia was providing free flu treatment because they allegedly possessed an antidote for this engineered bio-weapon, which was intended to prevent the death of Australasians due to the virus.

President Wilson allocated a substantial sum of money for this and within just two days, hundreds of American media outlets were publishing these reports.

Domestic protest rallies in the United States instantly changed direction, shifting from expressing dissatisfaction with the government and President Wilson, to demanding an investigation into the truth and appropriate punishment for Australasia.

Seeing the successful deflection, President Wilson was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. At least for the short term, his position was secure. As long as domestic supplies and medical situations were ensured, he would not have to worry about impeachment from the opposition.

At this time, Europe and Australasia also learned about the reports and situations from the United States.

Arthur was well-prepared for this, as it was impossible for anyone to assume responsibility for letting the flu run rampant. Not only would this cost anyone their current position and reputation, it could even make them the sinners of all humanity, remembered by all with an extremely negative reputation.

Arthur had been withholding news reports, but now was the time to play his trump card, a fatal blow for the Americans and President Wilson.

On October 8th, 1918, a majority of the media in Australasia and Europe simultaneously published a report that included a photo of the American military cordoning off a chemical factory in Kansas State due to a leakage.

The fatal detail was that this incident in the photo had occurred just three months prior. It was right after the leak in this chemical factory that the flu outbreak occurred in the Kansas State military camp and subsequently spread across the world.

The report only introduced the location and the time of the photo, with a prominent headline addressing the United States: "Wilson, please give an explanation!"

Now things were looking horrible for the Americans. This photo was solid evidence, and at a time when photographic technology was not advanced, there was no such thing as a photoshopped image.

This implied that the photo was 100% authentic, suggesting that the influenza virus was likely to have leaked from an American chemical factory.

Suddenly, the European people and nations depressed by the flu found a place to vent their frustrations. Europe saw an unprecedented massive outbreak of protests, all under the unified banner: "Sanction the USA!"

A flu outbreak happening after a chemical factory leak, it was clear as day that this factory couldn’t escape responsibility.

When this report reached American shores, the U.S. government didn’t have time to suppress it because the World Alliance, led by the Allies, was already condemning the United States.

Following Russia, the country with the second highest death toll is France, with at least over 3 million infections, and deaths surpassing 400,000.

The figures for Britain are quite similar to those of France, with over 3 million infected as well, and the death toll around 400,000 (domestically).

Next, the death tolls are respectively 370,000 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 350,000 in Germany, 320,000 in Italy, 200,000 in Spain, 100,000 in Serbia, 80,000 in Romania, 50,000 in Belgium, 50,000 in Portugal, 50,000 in the Netherlands...

All European countries have deaths due to influenza, and even neutral countries like Switzerland and the Netherlands have lost tens of thousands of people due to the impact of influenza.

Without exaggeration, the impact of this influenza outbreak on Europe’s population is enormous. Unlike the previous wartime, the impact of influenza on every country is fair. No country can escape it.

This is even before counting the death toll in African and Asian colonies. It’s definitely a horrifying number.

However, the colonial deaths won’t matter to each country and would definitely not be reported. After all, the colonial death tolls start from the millions, which would not only increase the public’s panic about influenza, it would also intensify the government’s responsibility for the influenza outbreak.

After all, the casualty figures from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions are really not the same, and the responsibilities are quite different.

The loss to the Americans this time is certainly immense, and those who despise America are definitely more than just European nations, even including a large number of native countries in Asia.

While Arthur isn’t clear about the death toll in Asian countries, Dutch East Indies was also suffering.

When the influenza spread to the Dutch East Indies, the situation there became messy. Even Arthur is not clear about the exact death toll in Dutch East Indies, but a conservative estimate would be at least 5 million people.

Such huge casualties in various European countries as well as countries around the world, it is impossible not to pin the blame on a suitable figure.

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It’s not to mention the huge responsibility the United States does indeed bear at the moment. Even if the United States has no responsibility at all, as long as the United States is tainted, European countries will absolutely give them a push

Take this retaliation against the Americans as an example: Arthur only showed the photographs, the rest was lead by the British and French.

In this case, the success was overwhelming and the flu was officially named the Great American Influenza and all responsibilities were shifted onto the Americans by the European countries. The World Alliance is now discussing how to sanction the United States.