Chapter 32 Current Status of Military Factories

"How are our steel mills and military factories doing now?" As asked the same question he was concerned about.

The steel mill is fine, because of the equipment, Australia can build more and more steel mills at any time, but the employees need to be trained for a while to reach that level of proficiency.

But that military factory is different. In this era when military technology has not yet taken off, the most advanced weapons are machine guns and artillery.

As the former commander-in-chief of Ireland, Duke Arthur naturally developed a strong interest in weapons and equipment, and founded the current Connaught Comprehensive Military Factory.

What is a comprehensive military factory? It is a large military factory that integrates the research and development and manufacturing of light and heavy weapons and artillery.

Even most of the employees of this military factory were dug up by Duke Arthur from the Enfield Royal Light Weapons Factory.

The Enfield Royal Light Weapons Factory is well-known in the UK. The Lee Enfield rifle developed and manufactured by it is the standard equipment of the army in the entire British Empire.

The performance and power of the Lee Enfield rifle even surpassed another famous rifle, the Kar98k rifle.

You should know that the Kar98k rifle is the standard rifle that Germany has been using during World War I and World War II, and it is also one of the world-famous sniper rifles.

Speaking of which, the birth age of these two rifles is about the same. The Lee-Enfield rifle had a prototype in 1888, and the Lee-Metford magazine rifle was officially renamed the Lee-Enfield magazine rifle five years ago.

The predecessor of the Kar98k rifle, the Type 88 rifle, was also born in 1888, but because of its own design There are many deficiencies, Mauser developed a new rifle in 1898, namely the Mauser Type 98 rifle.

During World War II, Germany was obsessed with the development of tanks and aircraft, and did not pay attention to the development of light weapons.

Therefore, the shortened Mauser Type 98 rifle, that is, the Kar98k rifle, officially stepped onto the stage of history.

The reason why the Lee Enfield rifle is not as famous as the Kar98k rifle in history is that the British did not attach importance to the sniping tactics that were already very important during World War II, resulting in the Lee Enfield rifle, which originally had a slight advantage in sniping, being far less famous than the Kar98k rifle and the Mosin Nagant rifle after the installation of a four-fold scope.

But at this point in time, no one can deny that the Lee Enfield rifle is one of the most powerful rifles at present, and its lead can be maintained for at least another fifty years.

As a comprehensive military factory that Duke Arthur has high hopes for, the Connaught Military Factory, under the powerful influence of Duke Arthur, introduced the production line and technology of Lee Enfield, and was able to achieve the ability to independently produce Lee Enfield rifles and their supporting parts and bullets.

In terms of heavy weapons, the Connaught Comprehensive Military Factory also has remarkable achievements. After the Maxim heavy machine gun became famous all over the world, the Connaught Military Factory quickly introduced this technology and researched and produced a replica of the MA-96 Maxim machine gun.

In addition, the Connaught Military Factory also involves artillery. Although it has not mastered the research and production of heavy artillery, it has basically mastered the technology of small-caliber artillery.

For example, 37mm machine guns, 65mm cannons, 88mm howitzers, and 105mm cannons.

It is worth mentioning that the Connaught Military Factory has made remarkable achievements, especially in the 37mm smallest caliber artillery. There has been some progress in the automation of artillery, and it has independently developed a 37mm machine gun, that is, the CA-1 machine gun.

How powerful is the firepower of the CA-1 machine gun? Because of the initial realization of semi-automation, although the caliber of this artillery is very small, the rate of fire per minute is as high as more than 70 rounds, which is enough to crush other caliber artillery in terms of firepower output.

As for why the semi-automation technology of artillery is only used on 37mm caliber artillery, it is because the strong recoil generated when large-caliber artillery is fired is enough to destroy the automated device, and the current technology cannot make large-caliber artillery semi-automatic.

But the semi-automaticity of small-caliber artillery is enough to be proud of. Semi-automatic artillery in other countries did not come out until 1902, two years later, while the Connaught Arsenal was two years earlier.

"The steel plant will not be built until the government has completed the planning of the industrial zone, but before that, our wages will be paid to employees as usual." Butler Hunter explained: "The location of the arsenal has not yet been determined, and it will have to wait for Your Highness to come and decide in person."

Whether it is a steel plant, an arsenal or a shipyard, for Arthur, the most valuable thing is not only the equipment, but also the employees who followed Arthur to Australia from afar.

The employee benefits of these factories are very high, far exceeding the average level in the UK, let alone in Australia.

This is why Arthur can easily let these employees come to Australia. No one is willing to give up this stable and high-paying job, even if they have to move abroad for it.

These factories have indeed lived up to expectations and have always been in a state of loss. It was okay in the UK before, and the loss was not much every month. But now, the four factories combined are causing Arthur a loss of more than 200,000 pounds every month, which means a total loss of 2.4 million pounds a year.

But the results gained from this loss are definitely worth it. Not to mention the steel mill, the military factories and shipyards are definitely technologically advanced factories even in Europe.

These employees and equipment, as well as the technology possessed by the military factories and shipyards, are wealth that cannot be exchanged even for hundreds of millions of pounds.

Duke Arthur also relied on his own powerful power and spent decades to create these factories.

"How are the workers? Are there any who are dissatisfied with their current lives?" Arthur asked.

After all, they came to a new country. Even before the factory started, Arthur paid wages, and it was normal for emotions to fluctuate.

"Basically, it's okay, Your Highness. Our wages are paid as usual, and accommodation and nationality are arranged for all employees. At least no one has shown dissatisfaction yet, but they are all adapting to life in their new country." Butler Hunter explained with a smile.

Indeed, although they have changed their lives in a new country, they can bring their entire family with them, and they also provide accommodation for their entire family, and wages are paid as usual when they are not working.

Such treatment is much better than those greedy capitalists in Europe, and even in the whole world, such treatment is not common.

"That's good, Butler Hunter. The site selection of the military factory will soon begin. The industrial zone is expected to be in the western mining area, and the site selection of the military factory will be in Western Australia. The construction of the steel plant should be started quickly. Before the completion of the military factory, at least a certain steel production capacity must be guaranteed." Arthur ordered.

The military factory is also a big beast that swallows iron. If Australia does not have a certain steel production capacity before the military factory is built, then at that time, it can only look at the drawings of various weapons and shed tears in vain.

This chapter mainly introduces Arthur's military factory, which is the only golden finger of the protagonist. Second update, please support!