Rise of Australia

Chapter 243 Expansion of Assets
A standing division and two colonial divisions will be expanded by the Australasian military. Naturally, their commanders can only be drawn from the existing army.

Fortunately, the two deputy division commanders of the first and second divisions made great contributions in the war, and they were promoted to brigadier generals to command the two newly formed divisions.

Then the deputy commander of the third division was transferred to the remaining colonial division, and the commanders of the three newly formed divisions were also selected.

As for the newly formed artillery regiment and infantry regiment of the Guards Division, there is a high probability that their regiments will be concurrently served by the two deputy commanders of the Guards Division.

In fact, compared to the commander of the Colonial Division, several deputy commanders of the [-]st, [-]nd and [-]rd Divisions found the commander of the Guards Division more attractive.

Among other things, the Guards Division is Arthur's direct line of troops. Not only do they enjoy far more weapons, equipment, ammunition, and logistical supplies than the regular divisions, but even the welfare system is much better than that of the regular divisions.

To give the simplest example, the current per capita income in Australasia is around A$41.According to regulations, the salary of ordinary soldiers in the standing division will barely exceed this level, generally reaching around 43 to 45 Australian dollars.Even with some holiday benefits and subsidies, the final annual income will not exceed [-] Australian dollars.

The salary of ordinary soldiers in the Guards Division has reached 48 Australian dollars, which is almost the sum of the salary plus benefits and subsidies of soldiers in the Standing Division.

Moreover, the status of soldiers in the guard division is much higher than that of soldiers in the regular division.Almost every soldier from the Guards Division was selected from the regular division.

This award ceremony has added two major generals, two brigadier generals, three colonels, two lieutenant colonels and four majors to the Australasian army. Other non-commissioned officers and lieutenants have also increased a lot, further enriching A reserve of mid- and low-level officers in the army.

More importantly, taking the opportunity of this award ceremony, Australasia also officially gave birth to three new nobles.

The first is Prime Minister Evan, who worked hard in the previous government.After seven years of service to the Australasian government, Arthur also bestowed upon Evan the title of Sir Ex-Prime Minister.

The future former Prime Minister Evan can also be called Sir Evan, who is a real nobleman recognized by the government and royal family of the Kingdom of Australasia.

Of course, the title of jazz has no territory and cannot be inherited, it is just an honorary title of nobility.

But after all, this is considered to have stepped into the threshold of nobility. In Australasia, where there are no nobility other than the royal family, jazz is currently considered a true nobility.

Although there is no real territory, the title of jazz can still earn a certain amount of income every year, which is at least three times the average annual income of Australasia (the medal is ten times).

Together with the former Prime Minister Evan, the commanders of the first and second divisions were also awarded the title of knight.Of course, the reason why Mr. Silvio Lonnie Rodling and Mr. Fritz Reiner won the title of knight is because Arthur wanted to promote the recognition of military achievements in Australasia faster, so that Australia The people of Greater Lasia understand that Arthur will never treat heroes badly.

In this way, after the next war, for titles, honors, medals, awards, military ranks and other countless rewards, the Australasian army will definitely go forward.

This is also one of the benefits brought by the monarchy. The monarch can entrust the highly recognized nobles. This is the ladder for the common people to step on the road to the top, and it will naturally attract the sensation and fanaticism of the vast majority of people.

However, Arthur still strictly controlled the reward of the title.It has been more than seven years since the development of Australasia, but it is only the first time that nobility has been entrusted, and they are all titles that are more inclined to honorary titles like jazz.

The future nobles of Australasia are bound to become a major force in Australasia, but Arthur is also very strict about the selection of future nobles.

Except for those who have made great contributions to the country, if you want to become a nobleman, you can only rely on great military exploits.

As for the real nobles who can inherit like the baron and earl, apart from a war that bets on the level of national fortune, they can only rely on their qualifications and contributions, and they may be able to touch a little bit.

On November 1907, 11, accompanied by government officials, Arthur went to inspect the newly built reservoir in New South Wales.

Because of the unique climate of Australasia, many parts of the Australian mainland are in a state of water shortage.

Fortunately, the population of Australasia is not too large. Even though the demand for industrial water is increasing rapidly, there is still no major water problem.

But this is also a hidden danger after all. As early as several years ago, Arthur ordered the construction of large-scale reservoirs in suitable areas of Australasia to meet the future population water needs of Australasia.

These reservoirs are also divided into industrial water reservoirs and civil water reservoirs in detail according to different geographical locations and sizes.

The water in industrial water reservoirs basically flows to major factories and industrial areas to meet the water demand of industrial areas.

The functions of civil water reservoirs are various. In addition to the water needed for people's daily life, the planting of crops, animal husbandry, and even the booming electricity industry in Australasia also require a lot of water resources.

Of course, the electricity industry does not actually use water, but uses the water level difference between reservoirs to cooperate with hydroelectric generators to generate electricity.

At present, thermal power is the most commonly used in Australasia, and hydropower is only in the testing stage.

Of course, the reason for all this is that Australasia has sufficient coal resources. Australasia does not have the shortage of mineral resources that other countries face. The word shortage of mineral resources does not even exist in the dictionary of Australasia. superior.

The reservoir inspected by Arthur is located on the Tumut River in New South Wales, so the name of the reservoir is also called Tumut Reservoir.

This is a large reservoir to solve the water problem near New South Wales and Sydney, and it is also equipped with hydroelectric power generation device, which is also the first hydropower station in Australasia.

As early as when the Electric Energy Research Office was established, the Australasian electricity standard had a clear indicator, that is, the voltage was 220 volts.

Coupled with other standards for industrial electricity consumption, Australasia has established a relatively complete electricity consumption system, and electric lights and electric energy have gradually entered thousands of households in Australasia.

Among other things, Arthur's Sydney Palace is definitely one of the palaces with the most complete power laying.

At present, you can see all kinds of crystal lamps carved with crystal in the Sydney Palace. The lights at night are colorful and look very beautiful.

Thanks to current growth in per capita income, Australasians are no strangers to electric lights.

The vast majority of industries in Australasia have been established in recent years, and all of them use new types of industrial equipment.

This also led to Australasian industry requiring a lot of electricity, rather than the industry of the British Empire, which was still steam equipment before the Industrial Revolution.

At present, large and small thermal power plants have been established in all states of Australasia to generate electricity for major cities.

Even Australian Timor already has plans for the construction of small-scale thermal power plants, but it will not be completed until next year at the earliest.

If you want to say that the area with the most complete power laying at present, it must be the capital territory where Sydney is located.

There are two thermal power plants in the Capital Territory. A large thermal power plant is dedicated to supplying electricity to industrial areas, and a medium-sized thermal power plant is used to supply electricity to civilians.

The Tumut Hydropower Station is the first step in the exploration of hydropower in Australasia.

At present, street lights in major cities in Australasia have been gradually replaced with electric street lights. Although this is a test for the power system, it is not too much of a burden.

Australasia's electricity system consists of the National Electricity Corporation and the Electricity Research Office.

The national power company is jointly owned by the royal family and the government, with the government holding 50.01% and the royal family holding 49.99%.

The Electric Power Research Office is completely controlled by the royal family and is part of the royal consortium.

After several years of hard work, the royal consortium has grown into a giant in Australasia, controlling Australasia's finance, industry, military industry, shipbuilding, mining, electricity, petroleum, investment, medicine, food and so on.

It can be said that even if Arthur's military power and reputation are discarded, the various industries controlled by the royal consortium are enough to stabilize the status of the Australasian royal family.

This is also a hole card left by Arthur to his descendants. Even if the future ruler loses his military power, as long as he does not die, he can still become a real ruler.

As long as the future successors can value the prestige among the people like Arthur, and continue to operate and maintain it, it is impossible for the royal family of Australasia to lose its status.

Of course, there must be other meanings for Arthur to come to inspect the Timmert Hydropower Station in person.

The large reservoir where the Tumut Hydropower Station is located is a water guarantee for the Capital Territory and some cities in New South Wales, and it is also a solution to the water resource problem in Australasia.

At present, the government expects to build at least ten large reservoirs like the Tumut Reservoir, plus other large and small reservoirs, which can fully meet all the water needs of Australia's population of 4000 million or less.

The current population of Australasia is just 700 million, which is still a long way from the population of 4000 million.

After inspecting the reservoir, Arthur rushed to the military factory without stopping to watch the military factory test the improved model of the MA-96 Maxim machine gun and the MA-107 Maxim heavy machine gun.

After 11 years, the military factory finally made some improvements to the Maxim machine gun in terms of machine guns, slightly increased the output frequency of the Maxim machine gun, and at the same time reduced the weight of the machine gun to a certain extent, which can be regarded as a logistics burden.

More importantly, the slightly smaller Maxim heavy machine gun can be better installed on motorboats and aircraft as the main attack weapon of motorboats and aircraft.

Moreover, since Arthur started the research on tanks, the weapons of tanks in the future will also be a headache for the Mechanical Research Office.

Future tanks must have a cannon and a heavy machine gun, in order to meet Arthur's expectations for its high firepower.

Just imagine, if big guys like tanks appear in advance on the battlefield in the future, they are covered with thick armor and equipped with artillery and machine guns.

What a spectacular scene for such a big guy to face the enemy's infantry and cavalry charge?When the enemy's cavalry slashes at the tank with cold weapons, they will understand how desperate the revolution brought by technology crushing to the army is.

This scene actually happened in World War II in history. The Polish cavalry performed well in World War I, which also made the Poles very superstitious about their own cavalry.

When their cavalry faced German tanks, they realized how fragile life is in the face of technology.

Because of the two wars before, the military factory not only expanded in size, but also officially entered a profitable state.

The current Australasia has already gained a certain reputation in East Asia and South Asia, and the weapons produced in Australasia have gradually been exported to these regions.

Of course, the bulk of arms sales each year are actually Russia and Australasia themselves.

The Russian Far East army is purely due to logistics and transportation problems, and the quality of German-made weapons produced in Australasia is really good, and it does not have any ties with Russia, so the arms trade with Russia has never been broken.

Although Australasia does not need too many weapons, the consumption of various ammunition and shells is really a lot.

Coupled with the expansion of the army this time, these orders are enough for the munitions factory to produce for a period of time.

Military factories and shipyards have transformed from the previous gold-sucking beasts into gold-sucking beasts.

Needless to say, the profitability of the shipyard, the order with Russia alone has allowed the shipyard to earn nearly 100 million pounds, plus the order from Australasia itself, not only has the scale of the shipyard expanded a lot, various Construction has never stopped.

Of course, among all of Arthur's assets, Benz's car is currently the most profitable.

Although Arthur hadn't cared about the income of the automobile factory for a long time, the monthly income of the automobile factory would still be transferred to the royal bank on time and handed over to the Kent housekeeper for review.

I don't know, I don't know, Arthur was really shocked when I found out.

Although the car sales of the Benz Automobile Factory were not as exaggerated as they were initially released, they have also entered a stable stage.

Moreover, there is currently no car manufacturer in the world that can have an impact on the Benz Automobile Plant, not even the Ford Automobile Plant in history.

So far, Benz one has only been on sale for more than four years, and it has sold more than 200 million vehicles.

Although the Australasian factory produces only one-sixth, this is a net profit of 2000 million pounds.

Not to mention the share from other factories, plus the net income of the American factory, over the past four years, Benz Motors has brought Arthur an income of 620 million pounds, which even reached 5000 pounds in Australian dollars. One hundred and fifty million two million four hundred and twenty thousand.

You must know that Australasia has just formulated a shipbuilding plan that will allow Australasia's navy to enter the top ten in the world, and only used a budget of 2000 million Australian dollars.

If all the more than 5000 million Australian dollars were spent on the navy, it would not even be an exaggeration to build a top three navy in the world.

After all, if a dreadnought ship is calculated based on 400 million Australian dollars, these funds can build a full 37 dreadnought ships.

In history, the total number of dreadnoughts built by the British Empire from 1906 to 1914 was only 29, and Germany rushed to catch up with only 17 ships, which is enough to show the huge amount of funds.

Of course, the actual naval investment cannot be calculated in this way.

Although the cost of the dreadnought ship is indeed true, it is also a huge expenditure to make the warship truly form combat effectiveness, the training of naval soldiers, the maintenance cost of the warship in the later stage, and the maintenance cost of various problems.

But in any case, 5000 million Australian dollars can definitely build a top four navy in the world, and it can even touch any other country except Britain and Germany.

As far as Arthur's current personal property is concerned, it is absolutely incomparably rich.

At present, Arthur's private property is as high as more than 3 million pounds. Although [-] million pounds is loaned to the government, and the remaining half is real estate, he can still take out hundreds of millions of pounds of available funds at will.

And the royal consortium can bring Arthur nearly 700 million pounds in after-tax income every year, which is even more terrifying than the Australasian government.

Arthur's property contributes as much as 300 million pounds in taxes to the Australasian government every year. Coupled with the growth of various economies, Australasia's fiscal revenue this year is even expected to exceed 3000 million Australian dollars.

After field tests, the improved MA-107 Maxim heavy machine gun is indeed more stable and cooling than the previous MA-96 Maxim machine gun.

Coupled with the reduced weight of the new machine gun, it is more suitable to be equipped with troops.

Therefore, under the witness of Arthur, the military and the military factory signed an order, striving to replace all the heavy machine guns in the army with new heavy machine guns within two years.

As for those old Maxim heavy machine guns that have been replaced, they can be sold to other countries and regions at a lower price.

After all, although the MA-96 Maxim machine gun is a bit behind for Australasia, in the eyes of some Asian countries, it is still a powerful, unprecedented heavy firepower weapon, and it is worth buying for the national army and equipment.

The quality of the weapons produced in Australasia is guaranteed, and Arthur doesn't have to worry that no one will buy them.

At least in the whole of Asia, in addition to Russia, there are still three or four countries that are interested in Australasian weapons.

Especially the Qing Dynasty, after the last study abroad exchange with Australasia, it became one of the countries that wanted to buy Australasian weapons.

Although this country is relatively backward, there is still no shortage of money to squeeze out.

Coupled with other small and medium-sized countries in East Asia and South Asia, I believe that the batch of heavy machine guns that have been replaced will be released soon.

It is also fortunate that the improvement of machine guns is relatively timely and can be equipped with troops before the official expansion of the army.Otherwise, wait until the army is ready to reload, then it will be necessary to reinstall hundreds of heavy machine guns, which is also a big loss.

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(End of this chapter)