Chapter 618 The scientific expedition team returns

In line with the principle of localizing the colony as quickly as possible, after Arthur returned to Sydney, the government announced the localization of the New Guinea colony within a few days. {What? You don’t know yet|Read COM, read the chapters without mistakes|Hurry up and Google them}

The specific changes are as follows:

First, the original colony of New Guinea was transformed into the direct state of New Guinea, whose capital remained in Port Moresby.

Secondly, the colonial government was reformed into a state government, the colonial parliament was reformed into a state house, and Governor John became the first governor of New Guinea.

Next came massive immigration to New Guinea. For New Guinea to exert its economic value, the population must increase to at least 2 million.

The current state of New Guinea is still far away from this population requirement. The government still needs support in immigration to quickly increase the population size of New Guinea.

The official localization of New Guinea is good news, and another good news is the successful return of Charles Putel and his team.

The last time this name was mentioned was three years ago. He was the head of the Australasian Antarctic scientific expedition team appointed by Arthur himself, and he was also the leader in exploring the Antarctic Pole.

Since the 1st Pole plan began, Charles and his team went to the edge of Antarctica for a year and a half of adaptive training.

There is no way around this. After all, except for Charles, none of the five members of the scientific expedition team have been to Antarctica. Without adaptive training, they cannot adapt to the cold climate of Antarctica.

Of course, there are also a logistics team of hundreds of people training with them. The scientific expedition team of these five people is the team exploring the Antarctic pole, and the remaining hundreds of people are members of the Australasian Antarctic scientific expedition team.

It is impossible to explore Antarctica without casualties. Arthur had been prepared for casualties before they set off. Some of the logistics personnel also included medical personnel, and various medical supplies were also properly supplied.

In just one and a half years of adaptation training, more than ten people in the scientific expedition team of hundreds of people were injured.

Fortunately, the adaptive training took place on the edge of Antarctica, where a large force was located, and no unnecessary deaths were caused.

After a year and a half of adaptive training, the troops began to move towards the pole of Antarctica.

As they penetrate deeper and deeper into the center of Antarctica, some scientific expedition personnel also begin to suffer frequent casualties.

Although adequate preparations have been made, the severe cold and unfamiliar terrain of Antarctica can kill people at any time.

After half a year of hard work, the entire expedition team is not far from the Antarctic Pole, which is also the closest range that a large-scale team can reach.

Going forward, logistics will be a big problem, which also means that from this moment on, the number of people exploring the Antarctic Pole will be reduced to five.

Fortunately, two years have passed now. The five members of the scientific expedition team have fully adapted to life in Antarctica, and their experience has become much richer.

With dozens of dogs, a considerable amount of logistical supplies, some equipment and warm items, the five-person scientific expedition team officially embarked on the journey to the Antarctic Pole.

After breaking away from the big team, the five-man team almost relied on these dogs to transport their supplies.

The tractors and horses used by large armies are not suitable for small-scale transportation. Tractors are unreliable in extremely cold environments, and the huge noise and vibration can even cause avalanches.

Needless to say about the horses, although they are cold-tolerant ponies, they are still too big and not as nimble as the cold-tolerant dogs that Charles carefully selected.

Once the ponies got stuck in the snow, it was a delay for the journey to the Antarctic Pole, so Charles gave up decisively.

The good news is that the journey to the Antarctic pole is relatively smooth. Charles was not the pioneer to explore the Antarctic Pole. There were many explorers who had successfully reached the Antarctic Pole before him.

This also means that he has too many cases to refer to, which can also serve as his experience in exploring Antarctica to prevent the same accident from happening to his scientific expedition team.

The most famous are actually the two famous explorers Robert Scott and Roy Amundsen.

Amundsen's successful case is certainly worth learning from, but Scott's failed case is the most valuable experience that can prevent the same accident from happening to the scientific expedition team.

It is worth mentioning that the purpose of the scientific expedition team's exploration of the Antarctic Pole this time is not just to reach the Antarctic Pole. They also carried several Australasian flags, including some proof that the Australasian scientific expedition team had reached the Antarctic Pole and Antarctica. information files, etc.

As long as they successfully reach the Antarctic Pole, the Australasian flag will be planted at the pole, which can be regarded as an alternative declaration of sovereignty.

This may not have any effect in normal times, but as long as Australasia begins to substantively claim Antarctica, these documents and flags can also prove Australasia's occupation of Antarctica.

Of course, everything depends on strength. As long as Australasia's navy can continue to grow stronger and secure its position as the hegemon of the Southern Hemisphere, it will be easy to occupy most of Antarctica.

Although the resources in Antarctica may not be exploitable for a long time, it can be regarded as leaving a way out for Australasia in the future.

Who can guarantee that Antarctica’s resources will not be exploited in dozens or hundreds of years? If in the future there is enough technology to exploit Antarctica's resources but there is no land in Antarctica, wouldn't this be the biggest regret?

It's better to have nothing than nothing. This is also Arthur's purpose. It is still necessary to plan for Antarctica in advance.

Otherwise, after World War II ends and large-scale peace begins around the world, it will be unrealistic to occupy most of Antarctica alone.

The current world situation is the best time for Australasia to make trouble. With the support of the British, it is not afraid of other powers including the United States and France.

Charles meticulously carried out Arthur's request, planted the Australasian flag at the Antarctic pole, and buried some documents and items under the flag to prove the arrival of the Australasian scientific expedition team.

After that, the scientific expedition team spent more than half a month to complete the exploration of the terrain near the Antarctic Pole and record it. They also mined some rocks and soil around the Antarctic Pole and prepared to bring it back to the country for scientific research. .

After that, the scientific expedition team officially embarked on its return journey. Successfully reaching the Antarctic Pole does not mean that the mission is completed. It only counts when you safely return to base camp and return to Australasia.

Scott's failure was not that he failed to reach the Antarctic Pole, but that he died on the way back after reaching the Antarctic Pole.

The biggest danger in Antarctica is not the cold climate and unfamiliar terrain, but the unpredictable cold weather.

With luck, we may not encounter too big a storm for a long time, and the scientific expedition can proceed smoothly.

But if you are unlucky like Scott, you are only a dozen kilometers away from the main supply point, but you are blocked by the sweeping blizzard. In the end, all the supplies are exhausted, and you can only die one after another. In Antarctica.

Human explorers like Scott are great, but such great people are not worth mentioning in the face of the harsh weather in Antarctica.

Even the famous Captain Scott, in the face of the powerful Antarctic blizzard, is still just a normal ordinary person, an ordinary person who will die without supplies.

Like other Antarctic expeditions, Charles and his team had already written a suicide note to their families at the base camp when they were sprinting to the Antarctic pole.

But it was obvious that Charles and his party had no need for this suicide note. Their journey back to the base camp went smoothly. Although they were blocked by snowstorms for several days, Charles' advance planning and emergency preparation, as well as the slaughter of several dogs for food reserves, allowed the scientific expedition team to pass smoothly. We survived the blizzard, arrived at the next supply point, and finally returned to the base camp smoothly.

This actually comes from Scott’s experience. Scott was blocked 18 kilometers before the supply point. The real reason why he eventually ran out of supplies was that he was unwilling to carry too many dogs.

When the ponies got stuck in the snow and were forced to give up, Scott's expedition was already short of emergency food reserves.

Although this doesn't sound good, it is indeed true. Only carrying a sufficient number of dogs can ensure that the expedition team will have emergency food reserves when they are trapped in a certain area.

The Antarctic expedition team that lasted more than three years finally returned, bringing with it a large amount of Antarctic soil and rocks.

Arthur also fulfilled his promise and personally attended the celebration ceremony of the Antarctic expedition team, and rewarded all members of the expedition team at the celebration ceremony. Each member of the expedition team received a check of more than 1,500 Australian dollars. Those who made special contributions You can also get additional checks for a higher share.

Although 1,500 Australian dollars is the income of ordinary people for more than 20 years, the reward given to these members of the Antarctic expedition team is not much at all, or even a little less.

You know, these members of the Antarctic expedition team risked their lives to go to Antarctica. If they were unlucky, they would end up dead.

It is impossible for Arthur to forget and bury these people who risked their lives to contribute to the country.

In addition to these financial rewards, everyone will also receive due merit, which will eventually turn into other rewards including land and titles.

Scott's failed attempt to explore the Antarctic pole also earned him a British knighthood. Charles and his team successfully returned from the Antarctic and successfully completed Arthur's mission. The reward for the leader to receive a knighthood is not excessive at all.

On the day of the celebration banquet, Arthur awarded Charles a knighthood. The other four members of the five-member team also received their own medals and an additional check of AUD 1,500 to reward their outstanding contributions.

That’s it for today, take a break.

I wrote more than 200,000 words this month, which is the month I have written the most. Thank you all for your support. We will continue to work hard next month.