Chapter 117 Arms Procurement (Subscribe Please!)

In the ten days from the end of April to the beginning of May, Arthur traveled almost all over the North Island of New Zealand, inspected most of the various constructions that New Zealand had before, and spent most of the funds he personally donated to the New Zealand government.

Although the colonial officials looked more and more distressed, the results achieved for New Zealand were also good.

Under Arthur's order, not only did a maintenance and restart plan start for all railways in the North Island of New Zealand, but also some important roads, public facilities and important constructions throughout New Zealand.

At the same time, the New Zealand colonial government will also invest 200,000 pounds to subsidize New Zealand's medical and education industries.

Part of this money will be used to repair existing schools and hospitals in New Zealand, and the remaining funds will be divided into two parts.

Half will be used to attract talents in education and medical care in Europe to join New Zealand, and the other half will be invested in preferential policies in education and medical care to reduce the financial pressure on New Zealanders in education and medical care.

These plans directly cost the colonial government more than one million pounds, which is more than half of all available funds.

Although the results are not yet visible, with the construction of these plans, most of the construction will be successfully completed in one to two years, and the effects of these plans will be reflected at that time.

This coincides with the two-year development plan that Arthur has formulated for the Alliance Party. Two years later, various constructions in New Zealand will be completed, and New Zealanders will be able to feel the benefits of these plans more effectively.

At the same time, with the development of the Alliance Party, more and more New Zealanders will support the union or even merger with Australia.

After arranging the affairs of the colonial government, Arthur had a final conversation and instructions with Mayor Grant to ensure that his various plans and arrangements in New Zealand can proceed smoothly after Arthur leaves.

In order to ensure that Mayor Grant can still contact Arthur after Arthur returns to Australia, Joshua Bullock, the head of the Royal Relief Committee in New Zealand, will become a bridge for Mayor Grant and Arthur to communicate with each other.

As the head of the Royal Relief Committee in New Zealand, Joshua Bullock will inevitably run between Australia and New Zealand, so it is very appropriate for him to be responsible for delivering messages.

Joshua Bullock was naturally very happy to take on this arduous task. He was very happy to do something for Arthur.

After giving instructions, Arthur went to the last stop in New Zealand, which was the headquarters of the New Zealand garrison in the South Island of New Zealand.

Although the New Zealand garrison had a total of 3,000 people, it was less than the configuration of a regiment.

But in fact, in addition to more than 1,000 people stationed at the headquarters, the other soldiers of the 3,000-man garrison were dispersed and dispatched to various parts of New Zealand to maintain order throughout New Zealand.

Especially in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, not only did General Pierce, the commander of the New Zealand garrison, have a permanent residence here, but the New Zealand garrison also stationed more than 500 troops here.

After landing at the port of the South Island of New Zealand and traveling by carriage for several hours, Arthur finally arrived at the garrison headquarters located in the mountains of the South Island of New Zealand.

Although colonial garrisons like the New Zealand Garrison were under the jurisdiction of the British Empire, in fact, most of their logistics were provided by local colonies.

Distant New Zealand naturally could not get too much support. Although the equipment of the New Zealand Garrison looked neat, in fact, the ammunition supply was insufficient, and the soldiers were not trained enough.

The New Zealand Garrison gave Arthur a good first impression. If they had not been betrayed in shooting, Arthur would really think that this was a powerful army.

Although, European countries generally do not require hit rates. Even in the brutal war in the future, an average of 10,000 bullets killed only one soldier.

But this does not mean that the soldiers' daily shooting training will be so bad. The New Zealand Garrison's shooting can't even hit one target in ten shots.

Arthur's question was soon answered.

When chatting with General Pierce, General Pierce raised a problem of the New Zealand Garrison to Arthur, that is, the New Zealand Garrison's weapons and equipment and ammunition supply are insufficient.

It is unrealistic to transport weapons, equipment and ammunition from the British Empire to New Zealand. The time and freight consumed on the road are even higher than the value of the transported materials.

When New Zealand's major factories were at their peak, they were able to produce some weapons and equipment for the New Zealand garrison.

Since New Zealand's economic downturn, major factories have generally abandoned military production with low market share and switched to civilian production or even directly reduced the number of workers on a large scale.

This also led to the New Zealand garrison wanting to obtain weapons, equipment and ammunition supplies. In addition to purchasing from Australia, which is relatively close, they can only purchase from India and British Southeast Asian colonies, which are more distant.

But now Australian military factories can't even meet the needs of the Australian military, let alone export weapons and ammunition to New Zealand.

Although India and British Southeast Asia can provide the weapons and equipment needed by the New Zealand garrison, due to the long distance, the cost is too expensive. For the New Zealand garrison with relatively clean funds, it can only solve the temporary needs and cannot eradicate the problem of logistical difficulties.

General Pierce saw Arthur's coming to New Zealand as an opportunity, an opportunity to seek logistical support from Australia.

Although Australia's military is also expanding, the demand for weapons and equipment is much greater than that of New Zealand.

But various factories in Australia, including military factories, are also expanding, and production will be increased sooner or later.

For New Zealand, Australia, which is the closest, is the best choice for purchasing weapons and ammunition. The difference in freight is enough for New Zealand to buy more weapons and equipment.

After hearing General Pierce's request to purchase a batch of weapons and equipment and ammunition from Australia, Arthur nodded in agreement without thinking.

At present, it seems that the combat effectiveness of the New Zealand garrison is indeed not good, and it is even inferior to the combat effectiveness of the previous Australian garrison.

New Zealand is bound to be annexed, and after Australia annexed New Zealand, these garrisons will also become the Australian army.

Instead of waiting until that time to train these soldiers, it is better to provide them with some weapons and equipment now and let them train in advance.

Anyway, Australia currently has a batch of old equipment, which is just right for these New Zealand soldiers to use.

As for the Australian soldiers, they will naturally use brand new weapons produced by military factories.

Second update, please support! I have finally finished the New Zealand plot. I have been having a serious writer's block these past two days, and I can barely manage to update twice a day. Let's get back to the Australian plot, and I will continue with three updates starting tomorrow. Please support me!