Rise of Australia

Chapter 125 Naval Expansion
"Your Highness, there is still one problem, which is the naming of the imitation artillery. Please, Your Highness, choose a name for our new artillery to show the power of this artillery." The Australian expert said with a smile.

Naturally, the naming of artillery can only be done by Arthur, and this is also a good opportunity to flatter Arthur.

"Since the artillery was jointly imitated by German experts and Australia, it is better to call him the GA-1902 artillery. I hope that the GA series of artillery can be successfully famous all over the world with the efforts of all German and Australian experts." Arthur thought After a while, he spoke.

Australia now has two types of rapid-fire artillery that can be independently produced, one is the CA-1 cannon developed during the Duke Arthur period, and the other is the GA-1902 artillery that it currently has.

If the CA series and GA series can be successfully introduced to the world and have a great reputation, it will prove that Australia's military industry is truly successful.

"The sooner the production line is built, the better. I will ask the Ministry of Defense to hand over the procurement list to you as soon as possible. The next task of the military factory is to master the construction technology of the GA-1902 artillery proficiently as soon as possible, and equip our army with this kind of artillery in large quantities. Artillery," Arthur ordered.

Now that the artillery has been researched and imitated successfully, it is time to make a purchase list for production.

At present, the Australian artillery forces still rely on the CA-1 machine guns for training, and it is time to show them something better.

"Yes, Your Highness!" The Australian experts quickly replied.

Arthur acted very quickly. Within a few days after leaving the military factory, he summoned the Minister of Defense Kent and confirmed the detailed procurement list of the Ministry of Defense.

Because Lee Enfield rifles, Maxim machine guns and small-caliber artillery have been purchased before, the purchase list this time is very brief, with only more than 100 GA-1902 artillery pieces.

Although it doesn't look like much, it definitely takes a lot of time to produce these artillery pieces, and it may even take at least four or five months.

If you add at least one month to build the production line, it will take at least half a year before the production of this batch of artillery is completed.

Fortunately, the Australian army can afford to wait now. Whether it is the reorganization of the First Division or the Guards Division, it will take half a year or even a year.

Before the manor was free for a few days, Arthur received another piece of good news that is definitely good news for Australia, that is, after more than a year of study and research, the experts at the shipyard finally mastered the first step. The theory and construction techniques of the Brunswick-class battleships.

Of course, building a complete battleship in this era was not so simple.Even under the guidance of many German experts, these Australian experts have only mastered the construction technology in the first step.

Unless the entire construction process is under the command and guidance of German experts, these Australian experts are still a long way from building a complete battleship independently.

But this is also very good news. Aren't these German experts working now?As long as one or two ships are successfully built under their command and help, Australia will completely master the construction technology of the Brunswick-class battleship.

But Arthur didn't want Australia to purchase two battleships now.When the dreadnoughts were born a few years later, the current battleships are no different from scrap iron lumps.

Now spending nearly several million pounds to buy two scrap iron lumps, Arthur is not so stupid.

In order for these experts to master more capabilities, and even master the ability to independently build battleships.

Arthur formulated a plan to send these experts to Germany in batches for study. With the good relationship between Australia and Germany, these experts can also master the ability to actually build large warships in German shipyards.

Of course, more experts still stay in Australia.Although Australia has no plans to build large warships in a short period of time, there are still some small and medium warships.

Although it will not allow them to master new abilities, it will also make them more familiar and prepare for the plan to build dreadnought ships in the future.

At present, Australia's navy is very weak, and the most powerful warship is only a light cruiser with a tonnage of more than 4000 tons built more than ten years ago.

Most of the Australian Navy consists of coastal defense ships and small frigates. Most of these warships have a tonnage of less than [-] tons. It may be useful to patrol the coast at ordinary times. Can hole up in the port.

After comprehensive consideration, Arthur signaled the government to order two armored cruisers and three frigates from the shipyard to expand the size of Australia's navy.

These two armored cruisers were modified by the shipyard based on the British Orlando-class armored cruiser. The Duke-class armored cruiser is 93.5 meters long, 17.63 meters wide, 7.01 meters high, and has 6500 horsepower. The conventional speed has reached 18 knots. Top speed reached 19 knots.

In terms of firepower, the Duke-class armored cruiser has two 234mm main guns, ten No. 152 guns, and several small six-pounder and three-pounder guns.

The Duke-class light cruiser has a tonnage of [-] tons, far surpassing the current largest warship in the Australian Navy.

After ordering these two light cruisers, the main force of Australia's navy can also usher in a considerable increase, at least in terms of guarding coastal security, it can be more at ease.

The two Duke-class armored cruisers were named "Australia" and "Duke Arthur" respectively. The estimated construction time is seven months, just in time for Australia's next National Day launch.

The three frigates are coastal protection frigates, with a tonnage of only a little over [-] tons.Their primary mission was to patrol and guard the coasts of Australia and the colonies of New Guinea, and it was enough to be able to do that.

The cost of two Duke-class light cruisers and three frigates is actually not high, and the total cost is only a little over [-] pounds.

Among them, the cost of two light cruisers accounted for nearly [-] pounds, and the cost of the three frigates was not even half of that of the light cruisers.

After the construction of five warships is completed and the troops are successfully launched into the water, Australia's naval strength can also usher in a certain increase.

Although it cannot fight against European countries, at least it is not as bleak as before.

A year later, Australia's naval strength will also be able to enter the top five in Asia. Although it is not enough, it is indeed more than enough.

The happiest thing about the expansion of the navy is Minister Kent.As a talent from the British Empire, Minister Kent put forward the idea of ​​attaching importance to the navy early on, believing that the navy is more important to Australia than the army.

This is actually true. As a large island country, Australia also has overseas territories like New Guinea, as well as many islands.

Under such circumstances, the importance of the navy has greatly increased, and it is indeed more important than the army.

If you want to maintain the stability of the country, you must ensure that the navy is strong, not only to defend the coastline, but also to ensure that any overseas territories are safe and stable.

Of course, such things should also be known to all Australians.

At this time, the importance of controlling public opinion is reflected. In just a few days, the whole of Australia learned of the navy's expansion plan, and most people agree and agree very much.

Most Australians are of British descent, and Britain is the number one power and the number one naval power in the world today.

Australians still have different feelings and favors for the navy.When they learned that the government was going to expand the navy and purchase new warships, many Australians spontaneously took to the streets and raised banners to support the government's actions.

There are even Australians whose income has just improved have asked the government in various ways whether there are any vacancies in funds or something.

They even claim that if the government has financial difficulties, they can spontaneously organize donations to help the government.

Arthur naturally refused their request.First, the procurement of warships only cost [-] pounds, even for the Australian government, it is only a small sum of money.

However, the love of these Australians for the country still gave Arthur the hope of making Australia rise.

If it can be ensured that most Australians have such deep recognition and love for Australia, then Australia can definitely grow into a strong country.

As the saying goes, what the people want, where the victory goes, the road can be achieved.Any country with the hearts of the people has terrible potential. Even if the country is still in a state of backwardness or even decline, as long as the hearts of the people want it, it will definitely be able to grow into a strong and prosperous country.

Shortly after Australia announced the expansion of its navy, it received congratulatory news from New Zealand.

Under the agitation and propaganda of the Coalition Party, New Zealanders are now very concerned about the state of Australia.

Even the Coalition Party can generate a considerable amount of income by selling newspapers with news about Australia.

The expansion of the Australian Navy was the envy of the New Zealanders.The same nation is composed of British people who value the navy. New Zealand's navy is still very small. Like the previous Australian navy, it is almost composed of small coastal defense ships and frigates, and the construction years are not young. , Some warships are even older than Arthur.

Time flies, and May will soon be over.

In addition to the birth of the GA-1902 artillery and the expansion of the Australian Navy, two more important events have also occurred worldwide.

One is the independence of Cuba. On May 1902, 5, on this rather special day, Cuba officially "independent" from the control of the United States. With the support of the United States, the Republic of Cuba was established.

It's a pity that Cuba is still under the control of the United States, and even a year later, the United States will forcibly lease two naval bases.

The second thing has to do with the British Empire, which is the end of the Second Boer War.

第二次布尔战争从1899年10月11日开始，截止结束日的1902年5月31日，整整持续了两年半的时间。

This is a war about the British and the descendants of Dutch immigrants competing for territory and resources in South Africa, which ended in a disastrous victory for the British Empire.

The British Empire invested a total of more than 40 troops, and even recruited part of the Australian army before Australia became independent.

A total of more than 2 people were killed in this war, the largest loss in the recent war of the British Empire.

Even the end of the war was not a complete victory for the British Empire. Under the huge losses caused by the war and the pressure of international public opinion, the British Empire hastily signed a contract with the Boers.

How much was the loss of the British Empire in this war?The two-and-a-half-year war cost the British Empire 2000 million pounds in war expenses, and the loss of other weapons, equipment and resources was even more incalculable.

After this war, the British Empire united the southern African colonies and controlled the corridor leading to the Great Lakes region in the heart of Africa.

But this war also marked the end of the history of British overseas expansion. The high cost of modern warfare made British politicians abandon the idea of ​​expanding and defending overseas territories and the homeland, and also gave up the isolation policy.

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(End of this chapter)