Chapter 441 Chaotic Order
If Arthur remembers correctly, Britain's first real aircraft carrier should have been built in the late period of World War I in history, around 1917 to 1918.
The British aircraft carrier at that time was still transformed from a cruiser, but the main gun at the front was removed and replaced with a downward-sloping wooden runway.
This design has too many flaws, which is why aircraft carriers gradually became the first choice for warships in various countries during World War II.
However, the second aircraft carrier design of the Royal Sydney Dockyard can well solve the shortcomings of aircraft carriers transformed from cruisers or battleships.
Under Arthur's decision, in addition to a new round of construction of two super-dreadnoughts, Australasia also built two more Giant-class aircraft carriers.
The Giant-class aircraft carrier is a brand-new warship design, not the British aircraft carrier that was transformed from battleships and cruisers.
According to the preliminary design of the Giant-class aircraft carrier, the standard displacement of this new warship is about 11,500 tons, and the full-load displacement exceeds 13,000 tons, which is far behind the tonnage of current battleships.
You know, the current mainstream super-dreadnought ships have a full load displacement of nearly or even more than 20,000 tons.
This also makes the Giant-class aircraft carrier smaller in size than the Hope-class battleship, and it does not even have the numerous main guns of previous warships.
The Royal Sydney Dockyard has designed a full flight deck for the Giant-class aircraft carrier, which allows aircraft to take off and land better on the aircraft carrier.
At the same time, this aircraft carrier also has a closed bow, which can better resist wind and waves and enhance the strength of the all-through deck.
As a result, the length and width of the Giant-class aircraft carrier are 180 meters and 21.5 meters respectively, with a draft of 5.7 meters, and can carry a full 20 aircraft.
Because all the main guns were abandoned and only a few anti-aircraft weapons were equipped, the Giant-class aircraft carrier lost a considerable amount of weight and increased its speed while having the same power system as the super-dreadnought.
The estimated speed of the Giant-class aircraft carrier can reach 25.5 knots, which is relatively fast among large warships.
Of course, although it has been decided to build two Giant-class aircraft carriers, Arthur and the Australasian government will not take the initiative to disclose information about the aircraft carriers before other countries expose the aircraft carriers.
Arthur would not do this stupid thing of strengthening other countries, although Australasia has already achieved a considerable lead in aircraft.
You know, the combat effectiveness of an aircraft carrier basically depends on the number and performance of carrier-based aircraft. Australasia's aircraft are all the most advanced in the world, far exceeding the aircraft research and development progress of other countries.
It also means that even if Australasia's aircraft carrier research and development progress is the same as other countries, the actual aircraft carrier combat effectiveness is far superior to other countries.
Along with the official start of the aircraft carrier's construction, it also began a three-month inspection trip to the states and regions of Australasia.
The purpose of this inspection trip was to check whether the states and colonies had been affected by the war, as well as the current living standards of the people.
There is also a need to urge state governments to improve their reserves of strategic materials, medical supplies, etc. If Arthur remembers correctly, the famous Spanish Flu will come within a few years.
Arthur's memory of this influenza was too profound. Firstly, such epidemic viruses were making a comeback, and secondly, the number of infections and deaths caused by the Spanish Flu was quite exaggerated.
Arthur still clearly remembers that the Spanish Flu caused the tragic ending of at least 500 million infections and at least 20 million deaths.
Until that time, the world's total population was only about 1.7 billion people. One in every three people was infected with the Spanish Flu, and one in every 100 people died from the Spanish Flu.
What’s even more frightening is that the death toll from the Spanish Flu is not exact, but it is definitely higher than the number of people reported and counted by various countries.
If Arthur remembers correctly, the time when the Great Influenza spread in Japan happened to be the end of World War I and the time when soldiers from various countries returned home.
Because of the long and tiring war, all countries were spreading the good news of victory in the war, and did not spread news that was enough to panic the people like the Spanish Flu.
Spain, as the first country to honestly report the outbreak of influenza in the country, was naturally blamed by other countries around the world. Therefore, the pandemic was named Spanish influenza, which is also the famous Spanish influenza.
But in fact, the earliest recorded Spanish flu occurred in a military camp in Kansas, United States, followed by cases of influenza in France, the United Kingdom and other countries.
It can only be said that Spain has taken the blame, otherwise this flu would have been named the American Flu or the European Flu.
The scariest thing about the Spanish Flu was that it killed more than 20 million people.
Even the First World War, which lasted several years, had only more than 10 million deaths in history.
When such a disease causes more human casualties than a world war covering the entire globe, it is enough to prove how terrifying this influenza is. Arthur cannot guarantee that he can completely resist the disease. He can only ask the government to prepare enough medical supplies in advance and be ready to close national borders during the epidemic to survive this disaster as much as possible.
As for the life and death of other countries, Arthur can't control it for the time being.
While Arthur's nationwide inspection was in full swing, the war in Europe once again became very anxious and intense.
As time slowly came to October 1916, Germany, Britain and France once again engaged in fierce fighting in the Verdun and Somme areas. The number of casualties in various countries continued to increase every day, even jumping in steps.
But the most difficult country to endure is probably the Russian Empire, which has now entered the cold.
Although it is only October, most of Tsarist Russia has become cold, and St. Petersburg and Moscow in the north have turned into a country of ice and snow, covering this ancient city with a layer of white.
Normally, Russians would have been used to such cold weather. But things are different now. Due to the consumption of the war, the people at the bottom lack coal, food and daily necessities, and their lives are extremely difficult.
In fact, Russians are not short of money. Their salaries have increased compared to before the war, and their per capita income has even increased by several percentage points.
But the problem is that compared with the increase in Russian wages, the increase in Russian prices is even more exaggerated.
Due to the inherent shortage of supplies, most of the large amounts of supplies shipped from Britain, France and Australasia were transferred to the front line.
Some supplies that are not in short supply on the front line have been sold at sky-high prices in China, and are in the hands of capitalists. It is impossible to buy them without spending a lot of money.
Even the coal resources, which the Russian people are in urgent need of for heating, have increased more than five times in just two years.
Russian civilians at the bottom faced a difficult choice, either to buy coal for heating or to buy food to fill their stomachs.
They can only choose one of the two options, because the salary in their hands can only buy one of them.
Forced to have no choice, many Russian people huddled together next to each other, relying on each other to keep warm, to resist the coming winter.
Many families even pooled their money to buy coal, and then dozens of people crowded into a small room of more than ten square meters. The red light from the cracks in the stove illuminated everyone's face, but it could not cover up the sadness on people's faces.
Not to mention heating, even for cooking, Russians share a stove with several families in order to save on the damn extravagant coal costs.
You know, this is still October. When winter really comes in January and February, who knows how many people will freeze to death in Russia?
Perhaps those who froze to death this winter were probably these Russian civilians with sad faces.
What's even more terrible is that in addition to coal, the prices of various daily necessities, industrial products, food, medical supplies and even salt and condiments are increasing.
The price of grain has more than tripled, and that of industrial products has increased fivefold. Even if it is common daily necessities, just buying one of them will cost a Russian a month's salary.
There are many reasons for the current situation in Russia, including inflation, rebellions and strikes that broke out in various factories, huge consumption on the front line, capitalists' hoarding of goods, making it difficult for the country to make money, etc.
Anything can give a country a headache, but Russia has experienced it all.
If it were in other European countries, people's demonstrations would attract the attention of the government, and the opposition parties would take the opportunity to attack the government, and the media would follow up and report on it.
But in Russia under the Tsarist dictatorship, no one cared about the lives of these civilians. There is no way, who allowed Russia to have a population of more than 100 million.
In other European countries, the loss of millions of people may be painful. But in Russia, the loss of population does not exceed 10 million, and the top Russian officials do not know what it means to feel distressed.
But the current situation in Russia does not stop there. The civilians of St. Petersburg were okay. After all, it was located in the capital of the empire, and the government would not make the situation in St. Petersburg too embarrassing.
But in Russia's remote villages and cities, the rise in supplies is extremely exaggerated. There are even rumors that for every 10% increase in civilian wages, food prices will double.
If a small number of Russians before the war were hungry, then only a small number of Russians now are not hungry.
If we conceal the status of the Tsarist Empire as a great power and just look at the remote villages and cities of Tsarist Russia from the perspective of a bystander, we will be surprised to find that the current living environment in these areas is no different from the colonies of the great powers, and even the government exploits the people. will be more serious.
When a country cannot even guarantee the most basic living needs of its people, it is time for the country to be subverted.
In the darkness of seemingly peaceful Russia, an extremely turbulent wave is being planned.
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(End of chapter)