Chapter 125 Naval Expansion

"Your Highness, there is still a problem, and that is the naming of the imitation artillery. Please give us a name for our new artillery to show the power of this artillery." The Australian expert said with a smile.

Naturally, artillery naming can only be left to Arthur. This is also a good opportunity to flatter Arthur.

"Since it is an artillery jointly imitated by German experts and Australians, why not call it the GA-1902 artillery. I hope that the GA series of artillery can successfully become famous around 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 machine gun developed during Duke Arthur's time, and the other is the GA-1902 artillery that it currently has.

If the CA series and GA series can successfully go to the world and become famous, it will prove that Australia's military industry is truly successful.

"The faster the production line is built, the better. I will ask the Ministry of National 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 GA-1902 artillery as quickly as possible and equip our army with this kind of equipment in large quantities." Artillery," Arthur ordered.

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

At present, Australia's artillery troops still rely on those CA-1 machine guns for training, and it's time to show them something better.

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

Arthur acted quickly. Within a few days after leaving the arsenal, he summoned Minister of Defense Kent and finalized a detailed procurement list for the Department of Defense.

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

Although it may not seem 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 in the at least one month required to build the production line, then it will take at least half a year to complete the production of this batch of artillery.

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

After a few days of leisure at the manor, Arthur received another piece of good news that was definitely good news for Australia. That is, after more than a year of study and research, experts from the shipyard finally mastered the first step. Braunschweig-class battleship theory and construction technology.

Of course, building a complete battleship in this era was not that 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 absolutely good news. Aren’t these German experts here now? As long as one or two ships are successfully built under their command and help, Australia will completely master the construction technology of Brunswick-class battleships.

But Arthur does not want Australia to purchase two battleships now. When the dreadnought was born a few years later, the current battleships were no different from scrap metal.

Now spending nearly millions of pounds to buy two scrap iron boats, Arthur is not so stupid.

In order to allow these experts to master more capabilities, they can 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 the short term, there are still some small and medium-sized warships.

Although it will not allow them to master new capabilities, it will also make them more familiar and prepare for future plans to build dreadnoughts.

At present, Australia's navy is very weak, and its most powerful warship is only a light cruiser with a tonnage of only more than 4,000 tons built more than ten years ago.

The Australian Navy is actually made up of more coastal defense ships and small frigates. Most of these warships have a tonnage of less than 3,000 tons. They may be useful for patrolling the coast at ordinary times. However, when faced with a real navy, they will either become cannon fodder or just become nothing more than cannon fodder. Can huddle in the harbor.

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

These two armored cruisers are Duke-class armored cruisers modified by the shipyard based on the British Orlando-class armored cruiser. The hull is 93.5 meters long, 17.63 meters wide, 7.01 meters high, and has 6,500 horsepower. The conventional speed reaches 18 knots. In a short time, The top speed reached 19 knots.

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

The Duke-class light cruiser has a tonnage of 5,800 tons, which is far more than the largest warship in the Australian Navy.

After ordering these two light cruisers, Australia's main naval force will also usher in considerable growth, at least in terms of guarding coastal security, it will be more assured.

The two Duke-class armored cruisers are named "Australia" and "Duke Arthur" respectively. The construction time is expected to be seven months, just enough to be launched in time for Australia's next National Day.

The three frigates are shore protection frigates, with a tonnage of just over 2,000 tons. Their main task was to patrol and guard the coasts of Australia and the colonies of New Guinea, and it was satisfying to be able to accomplish these tasks.

The cost of two Duke-class light cruisers and three frigates was actually not high, with a total cost of just over 100,000 pounds.

Two of the light cruisers cost nearly 70,000 pounds, and the three frigates cost not even half of the light cruisers.

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

Although it cannot compete with European countries, at least it is not as miserable 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 compared with the previous ones, it is indeed more than enough.

The happiest person about the expansion of the Navy is Secretary Kent. As a talent from the British Empire, Minister Kent had long put forward the idea of ​​attaching importance to the navy, believing that the navy was a more important military force for Australia than the army.

In fact, this is indeed the case. As a large island country, Australia also has overseas territories like New Guinea and 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 able to defend the coastline, but also to ensure that any overseas territory is safe and stable.

Of course, this kind of thing should be made known to all Australians.

At this time, the importance of controlling public opinion became apparent. In just a few days, the entire Australia learned about the navy's expansion plan, and the vast majority of people agreed and strongly agreed with it.

Most Australians are of British descent, and Britain is the world's number one great power and naval power.

Australians still have different feelings and affection 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 held up banners to support the government's actions.

There are even Australians whose income has just improved asking the government in various ways whether there is any vacancy in funds.

They even claimed that if the government had financial difficulties, they could spontaneously organize donations to help the government.

Arthur naturally refused their request. First of all, the purchase of the warship only cost 100,000 pounds, which is only a small amount of money even for the Australian government.

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

If we can ensure that most Australians recognize and love Australia so deeply, then Australia will definitely grow into a strong country.

As the saying goes, wherever the people want, victory can be achieved. Any country that has the support of its people has terrifying potential. Even if the country is currently in a backward or even declining state, as long as the people's support is what it wants, it will definitely be able to grow into a strong and prosperous country.

Shortly after Australia announced its naval expansion, it received a congratulatory message from New Zealand.

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

The Alliance Party can even generate a considerable amount of income by selling newspapers with news about Australia.

The expansion of Australia's navy aroused the envy of New Zealanders. They are also a nation 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 years of construction are also different. Not young, some warships are even older than Arthur.

Time flies, and May has passed quickly.

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

One is Cuba's independence. On May 20, 1902, on this rather special day, Cuba officially became "independent" from the control of the United States. With the support of the United States, the Republic of Cuba was established.

Unfortunately, Cuba is still under the control of the United States, and even one year later, the United States will forcibly lease two naval bases.

The second event is related to the British Empire, and that is the end of the Second Boer War.

The Second Boer War began on October 11, 1899, and ended on May 31, 1902, lasting two and a half years.

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 tragic victory for the British Empire.

The British Empire invested a total of more than 400,000 troops, and even recruited part of the Australian army before Australia became independent.

A total of more than 22,000 people died in this war, which was the greatest loss in the recent wars 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 did the British Empire suffer in this war? The war, which lasted two and a half years, consumed the British Empire's war expenses of 220 million pounds, and the loss of other weapons, equipment and resources was incalculable.

After this war, the British Empire connected 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 war made British politicians have the idea of ​​​​giving up expansion to defend overseas territories and the homeland, and also gave up the isolation policy.

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