Chapter 125 Naval Expansion

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

The naming of artillery can only be left to Arthur, and this is also a good opportunity to flatter Arthur.

"Since it is a cannon imitated by German experts and Australia, why not call it GA-1902 artillery. I hope that the GA series of artillery can be successfully famous in the world with the efforts of all German and Australian experts." Arthur thought for a while before speaking.

Now Australia has two rapid-fire artillery that can be independently produced, one is the CA-1 machine gun developed during the Duke of Arthur's period, and the other is the GA-1902 artillery now.

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

"The sooner the production line is built, the better. I will ask the Ministry of Defense to give you the purchase list as soon as possible. The next task of the military factory is to master the construction technology of GA-1902 artillery as soon as possible and equip our army with a large number of such artillery." Arthur ordered.

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

At present, Australia's artillery training still relies on those CA-1 machine guns, and it is time to let them see something better.

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

Arthur acted quickly. A few days after leaving the military factory, he summoned Defense Minister Kent and confirmed the detailed purchase list of the Ministry of Defense.

Because the Lee Enfield rifle, Maxim machine gun and small-caliber artillery had been purchased before, the purchase list this time was very brief, with only more than 100 GA-1902 artillery.

Although it doesn't look like much, it takes a lot of time to produce these artillery, and it may even take at least four or five months.

If we add the time required for the construction of the production line, which is at least one month, it will take at least half a year to produce this batch of artillery.

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

Before he had a few days of leisure in the manor, Arthur received another piece of good news that was absolutely good news for Australia. That is, after more than a year of study and research, the experts of the shipyard finally mastered the theory and construction technology of the Brunswick-class battleship in the first step.

Of course, it is not so easy to build a complete battleship in this era. 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 independently building a complete battleship.

But this is also very good news. Aren’t these German experts now? As long as one or two ships are successfully built under their command and help, Australia will completely master the construction technology of the Brunswick-class battleship.

But Arthur didn't want Australia to buy two battleships now. When the dreadnoughts are born in a few years, the current battleships will be no different from scrap iron lumps.

Arthur is not so stupid as to spend nearly several million pounds to buy two scrap iron lumps now.

In order to let these experts master more abilities, and even master the ability to build battleships independently.

Arthur made a plan, which is 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 are still staying in Australia. Although Australia has no plans to build large warships in a short time, some small and medium-sized warships are still available.

Although it will not allow them to master new abilities, it will also make them more familiar and prepare for the plan to build dreadnoughts in the future.

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

The Australian Navy is actually composed of 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, but when facing a real navy, they will either become cannon fodder or can only hide in the port.

After comprehensive consideration, Arthur signaled the government to order two armored cruisers and three frigates from the shipyard to expand the size of the Australian Navy.

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

In terms of firepower, the Duke-class armored cruiser has two 234 mm main guns and ten 152 guns and several six-pound guns and three-pound guns.

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

After ordering these two light cruisers, Australia's main naval force will also usher in a significant increase, at least in terms of guarding the safety of the coast.

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

The three frigates are shore protection frigates with a tonnage of only over 2,000 tons. Their main task is to patrol and guard the coasts of Australia and the colonies of New Guinea. Being able to complete these tasks is already satisfactory.

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

The cost of two light cruisers accounted for nearly 70,000 pounds, and the cost of three frigates was not even half of that of light cruisers.

After waiting for the five warships to be built and successfully launched and equipped, Australia's naval strength will also usher in a certain increase.

Although it cannot compete with European countries, at least it is not as bleak as before.

A year later, Australia's naval strength was able to enter the top five in Asia. Although it was not as good as the top, it was indeed better than the bottom.

Minister Kent was the happiest about the expansion of the navy. As a talent from the British Empire, Minister Kent had long proposed the idea of ​​attaching importance to the navy, believing that the navy was more important to Australia than the army.

In fact, this is indeed the case. As a large island country, Australia also has overseas territories such as New Guinea and many islands.

Under such circumstances, the importance of the navy has been greatly increased, and it is indeed more important than the army.

To maintain the stability of the country, it is necessary to ensure the strength of the navy, which can not only defend the coastline, but also ensure that any overseas territory is safe and stable.

Of course, such things should also be known to all Australians.

At this time, the importance of controlling public opinion was reflected. In just a few days, the whole of Australia learned about the navy's expansion plan, and most people agreed and agreed very much.

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

Australians still have a different feeling and goodwill towards the navy. When they learned that the government was going to expand the navy and purchase new warships, many Australians took to the streets spontaneously and held up banners to support the government's actions.

Some Australians whose income had just improved asked the government in various ways whether there was any funding gap or something.

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

Arthur naturally rejected their request. First of all, the purchase of warships only cost 100,000 pounds, which was 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 it can be ensured that most Australians have such a deep recognition and love for Australia, then Australia will definitely grow into a powerful country.

As the saying goes, where the people's hearts go, victory will go, and the road will be achieved. Any country with the hearts of the people has terrible potential, even if the country is currently in a backward or even declining state, as long as the people's hearts go, it will definitely grow into a powerful and prosperous country.

Shortly after Australia announced the expansion of its navy, it received congratulatory news from New Zealand.

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

The Coalition Party can even generate a considerable amount of income by selling newspapers about Australian news.

The expansion of the Australian Navy has aroused the envy of New Zealanders. As a nation composed of British people who value the navy, the New Zealand 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 not small. 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 worldwide.

One is the independence of Cuba. On May 20, 1902, on this special day, Cuba officially "independent" from the control of the United States, and established the Republic of Cuba with the support of the United States.

Unfortunately, Cuba is still under the control of the United States, and even a year later, it was forced to lease two naval bases by the United States.

The second thing is related to the British Empire, which is the end of the Second Boer War.

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

This was a war between the descendants of British and Dutch immigrants for territory and resources in South Africa, and ended with a tragic victory for the British Empire.

The British Empire invested more than 400,000 troops in total, and even recruited part of the Australian army before Australia's independence.

In this war, more than 22,000 people died, which was the largest loss in the recent war 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 lose in this war? The war lasted for two and a half years and consumed the British Empire's war expenses of 220 million pounds. 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 hinterland of Africa.

But this war also marked the end of Britain's overseas expansion history. The high cost of modern warfare made British politicians give up the idea of ​​​​expanding and defending overseas territories and homeland, and also gave up the policy of isolation.

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