Chapter 265: Parade in New Zealand
Although he is ready to cruise across the country, Arthur also needs to go through some precise preparations before he can travel.
After all, as the ruler of a country, you have to settle domestic affairs before traveling, right?
First of all, due to the slack in government affairs caused by accompanying Queen Mary for more than half a year, Arthur spent more than half a month to deal with all the piled-up tasks, and also held a meeting with the cabinet government to check the work progress of the cabinet government.
Afterwards, they settled down the things in the palace, leaving Butler Hunter to take care of the palace, and also left most of the guards and guards in the palace.
Arthur's First Infantry Regiment of the Guards Division will be responsible for escort work during this trip, so the guards and guards will have enough strength to stay in the kingdom.
The destinations of this cruise will be spread across several regions in Australasia, starting from the capital Sydney. First, the fleet will arrive in New Zealand for a half-month inspection.
Then he left New Zealand in a fleet and went to the New Guinea colony for inspection and review.
Next is Australian Timor. After leaving Australian Timor, go south to the Western Australia region to inspect the construction status of the Leonora Industrial Base, then take the industrial railway to Adelaide and Melbourne, and finally return to Sydney.
This is equivalent to a complete circle around the territory of Australasia. Including the time for inspections and reviews in various regions, the study tour is expected to take about two months.
Arthur set out in mid-October, which also meant that after this cruise, 1909 was almost coming to an end.
On October 12, 1909, Arthur once again came to the Royal Dockyard in Sydney Harbor after more than a year.
Accompanying him were not only Prime Minister Walter and Minister of State Kent, but also Defense Minister Raul and a number of government officials.
The real reason that allowed Arthur and cabinet officials to gather at the Royal Dockyard was that after more than a year, all three battleships in the Australasian five-year shipbuilding plan had been completed.
In fact, the first battleship, USS Australasia, was built as early as February this year.
At that time, Arthur also participated in the launching ceremony, but after the ceremony, he hurried back to the palace.
This time the battleship HMAS Australia and HMMS New Zealand were built at the same time, and both also ushered in the launching ceremony, which is of great significance to Australasia.
The Monarch-class battleship is an advanced battleship manufactured by Australasia itself, which also means that the current shipbuilding level of Australasia has reached the world's top level.
These three battleships are also the beginning and clarion call for naval expansion for Australasia.
No matter what the level of Australasia's navy was before, with three dreadnoughts, Australasia's navy will definitely be among the top ten in the world.
Of course, if we only count dreadnoughts, the number of dreadnoughts in Australasia currently ranks among the top three in the world, and it is also the fourth country in the world with dreadnoughts.
This historic leap in the size of the navy is a memorable event for both Arthur and Australasia.
On the day of the launching ceremony of the battleships Australia and New Zealand, a large number of Australasian newspapers and foreign media gathered at the port to write about Australasian battleships and battleships for the whole of Australasia and other people in the world. news.
Although dreadnoughts are already very common for great powers like Britain and France, the arms race between the two sides regarding dreadnoughts has already begun, and their respective shipbuilding plans have even reached several.
But for other countries in the world, the dreadnought is still a powerful battleship that is out of reach.
Not to mention the expensive construction cost of a dreadnought, which easily exceeds one million and nearly two million pounds. If you want to build a dreadnought, you must first master the ability to build old-fashioned battleships, and then you must master various new technologies of the dreadnought. This Almost all non-powerful countries are excluded.
Not to mention dreadnoughts, there are currently less than fifteen countries that have mastered relatively advanced battleship construction technology, not to mention that they have to master various new technologies of dreadnoughts and design and manufacture their own dreadnoughts based on these new technologies. .
The battleships Australia and New Zealand were built entirely according to the design drawings of the Sovereign-class battleships, and the artillery they carried was the latest 45-caliber 305mm main gun provided by Germany.
The original 283mm main guns of the battleship Australasia were also replaced, and all were replaced by 305mm main guns.
Because enough room had been reserved for main gun replacement at that time, the replacement task was not onerous.
The Sovereign-class battleship equipped with a 305mm main gun can be called a true dreadnought that can be compared with the Dreadnought battleship.
Looking at the three behemoths floating offshore and the ferocious muzzles on the behemoths, Arthur smiled and nodded with pride and satisfaction.
These three battleships are not only further proof of the Australasian Navy, but also the hope and clarion call for the rise of the navy.
As a country composed of many islands, sea power is the most important to Australasia currently. After the construction of the next two battlecruisers was completed, Arthur decided to start the next construction plan non-stop, striving to increase the size of Australasia's navy to at least five dreadnoughts and four battleships before the start of World War I. It has the size of a series of cruisers, fifteen submarines, and dozens of small and medium-sized warships.
If Australasia could have such a naval scale before World War I, it would not only be able to protect its own security during World War I, but also seek more expansion and benefits.
After all, the scale of such a navy can definitely be regarded as that of a major power. For such a powerful country that is far away from Europe, European countries can only choose to win over it.
The successful launch of the two battleships also has good news for Australasia, that is, the construction of the next two battlecruisers will begin soon.
However, the completion of these two battlecruisers will have to wait until at least the second half of next year, which also means that before 1911, the Australasian navy will basically not expand significantly.
On October 17, 1909, after everything was settled, Arthur took the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Guards Division and Defense Minister Raul, the 1st Division Commander Thomas Johnson, and the Minister of Propaganda Grant Wilson, A tour lasting at least two months has officially begun.
The fleet responsible for escorting Arthur this time is quite luxurious in scale. Because the two battleships that had just been launched also needed to undergo sea navigation tests, they were directly included in the escort team.
This also resulted in the escort fleet having three dreadnoughts, one submarine and ten frigates, which was considered a national effort for Australasia.
Arthur's first stop was Wellington, the capital of Northern New Zealand. In fact, Wellington is not too far away from Sydney. If you take a warship and travel at the fastest speed, it only takes more than a day to arrive.
But after all, the purpose of this trip was mainly for a cruise, and Arthur came out to relax rather than rush for official duties.
Therefore, the fleet does not sail very fast, and the average speed is only about fifteen knots.
This resulted in Arthur arriving in Wellington on the evening of October 19th.
Officials in Wellington and Northern New Zealand had already received news of Arthur's arrival. Even though Arthur arrived at night, they organized a large number of officials and citizens to wait at the port.
On the first night after arriving in New Zealand, Arthur did not conduct any official duties, but stayed in a room prepared by the Wellington City Hall.
After a day's rest, Arthur went to the suburbs of Wellington and the surrounding industrial areas to carry out his own inspections and inspections.
The overall livestock industry in Australasia is very developed, and New Zealand's livestock industry also accounts for more than 20% of Australia's total livestock industry.
According to a report from the North New Zealand state government, the entire North New Zealand state has at least tens of thousands of large and small pastures, raising a total of more than 15 million cattle, sheep and other livestock.
Arthur was convinced of this. After all, there were many large and small pastures around Wellington, and cattle and sheep of different colors could be seen everywhere. There was no way of deceiving anyone about this.
It is worth mentioning that, at least in North New Zealand, industrial areas, livestock areas, and agriculture are relatively separate, which greatly reduces the possibility of livestock and agriculture being affected by industry.
This makes Arthur quite satisfied. After all, the industry of this era can be seen from the thick black smoke spewing out of the chimney into the sky. This is not an environmentally friendly thing.
It's just that in this era, if you want to make the country strong, it is necessary to develop industry.
Developing industry cannot avoid damaging the environment. Who makes the industry of this era so unique?
On the second day after arriving in New Zealand, Arthur inspected the agricultural and livestock areas around Wellington and visited one of the industrial areas located around Wellington.
This day can be considered a bit busy, at least Arthur thinks so.
In the next few days, Arthur's life in Wellington was mostly spent eating, drinking and having fun. The little official time he had was used by Arthur to understand and investigate the living conditions of residents in Northern New Zealand, especially in the city of Wellington.
The results of the survey are quite gratifying. Although the lives of Wellington residents are not very good, they are still able to have enough food and clothing.
This was Arthur's first wish when he succeeded to the throne, so that all his people would not lack food and live a life of adequate food and clothing.
At present, it seems to have been initially realized. At least in the areas that Arthur can understand, people in Australasia will basically not go hungry.
After all, in addition to various welfare policies promulgated by the government, the Royal Relief Committee also assists a large number of low-income people every year to ensure that they at least have food to eat and will not starve.
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(End of chapter)