The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 300

Chapter 300: Chapter 264: Parade in New Zealand

Although preparations have been made for a nationwide tour, Arthur also needs to go through a meticulous preparation process before embarking on the journey.

After all, as a ruler of a country, one must settle domestic affairs before setting out, right?

Firstly, due to the half-year absence while accompanying Queen Mary, Arthur spent half a month processing all the tasks accumulated from the neglected government affairs. He also held a meeting with the Cabinet Government to review their progress.

He then arranged matters at the royal palace. Leaving Hunter Steward in charge and most of the royal guards and security forces remained at the palace.

The First Guards Infantry Division will be responsible for escorting Arthur on this trip, so there are enough guards and security forces left in the kingdom.

This tour will cover several regions of Australasia, starting from the capital Sydney, first taking the fleet to New Zealand, and commencing a half-month inspection.

After leaving New Zealand, the fleet will go to the New Guinea Colony for inspection and review.

Next is Australian Timor. After leaving there, they will head south to West Australia to inspect the construction progress of the Leonora Industrial Base, then take the industrial railway to Adelaide and Melbourne before returning to Sydney.

This is equivalent to circling the entire territory of Australasia. Including the time spent on inspections and reviews in each area, this tour is estimated to take about two months.

Departing in mid-October signifies that after this tour, 1909 will be coming to an end.

On October 12, 1909, Arthur, accompanied by Prime Minister Walter, Secretary of State Kent, Defense Minister Raul, and a host of government officials, once again visited the Royal Shipyard located at Sydney Harbour after more than a year.

The real reason for the gathering of Arthur and Cabinet Officials at the Royal Shipyard is that the three battleships in Australasia’s Five-Year Shipbuilding Plan have all been completed after more than a year.

Actually, the first battleship, HMAS Australasia, was already completed in February this year.

At that time, Arthur attended the launching ceremony but hurried back to the palace after the ceremony ended.

This time, the completion and launching ceremony of HMAS Australia and New Zealand battleships carry extraordinary significance for Australasia.

The Monarch-class battleships are cutting-edge battleships made by Australasia themselves, representing that Australasia’s current shipbuilding level has reached a world-class standard.

These three battleships are the beginning and the signal for the expansion of the Australasian navy. With the acquisition of three dreadnoughts, the Australasian navy can undoubtedly enter the world’s top ten.

Of course, if only considering dreadnoughts, Australasia is currently third in the world and is the fourth country to have a dreadnought.

The historic leap in naval size is a memorable event for both Arthur and Australasia.

On the day Australia Battleship and New Zealand battleship launched, a large number of Australilarasian newspapers and foreign media gathered at the port, writing news about Australasian battleships for the people of Australasia and the rest of the world.

Although dreadnoughts are common for major powers like Britain and France, both sides have already engaged in a fierce arms race, and their shipbuilding plans even reached several vessels.

However, for other countries around the world, dreadnoughts are still unattainable, powerful warships.

Not to mention the dreadnought’s exorbitant cost of around 1.2 to 2 million pounds, in order to build a dreadnought, first, the ability to build old battleships must be mastered, as well as all the various new technologies of the dreadnought. This eliminates virtually all non-great power countries from the competition.

Don’t even talk about dreadnoughts; less than fifteen countries currently master the technology to build more advanced battleships, let alone acquiring various new technologies of dreadnoughts and designing and building their own dreadnoughts based on these new technologies.

HMAS Australia and the New Zealand battleships are built entirely according to the design blueprints of the Monarch-class battleships, and they are equipped with Germany’s latest 45-caliber 305mm main gun.

And the original 283mm main gun of HMAS Australasia has also been replaced, all changed to the 305mm main gun.

Since ample room was reserved for the main gun replacement at the time, the task of replacement was not too burdensome.

Only with the 305mm main guns, the Monarch-class battleships can truly be considered the real dreadnoughts worthy of comparison with the Dreadnought-class battleships.

Looking at the three giant warships drifting in the near-sea, and the ferocious gun muzzles on them, Arthur nodded proudly and satisfactorily with a smile.

These three battleships not only serve as further evidence of the rise of Australasia’s navy but also as a symbol of hope and a call to arms for the navy.

As a nation comprised of numerous islands, naval power is essential for the current Australasia.

Following the completion of the two battlecruisers, Arthur decided to embark on the next construction project non-stop, aiming to raise Australasia’s naval scale to at least five dreadnoughts, four battlecruisers, fifteen submarines, and dozens of medium and small warships before the outbreak of World War I.

If Australasia can have such a naval scale before World War I, not only can it protect its own security during the war, but it can also seek more expansion and benefits.

After all, such a naval scale can definitely be considered at the level of major powers, and European nations can only choose to embrace a strong country that is relatively far from Europe.

The successful launch of the two battleships is also good news for Australasia, as the two battlecruisers that follow will soon begin construction.

However, the completion of these two battlecruisers will have to wait until at least the second half of next year, which means that before 1911, the naval expansion of Australasia will not be significant.

On October 17, 1909, after settling all affairs, Arthur, escorted by the First Guards Infantry Division and Minister of Defence Raul, First Division Brigadier General Thomas Johanson, and Propaganda Department Minister Grant Wilson, officially embarked on a tour lasting at least two months.

The fleet tasked with escorting Arthur can hardly be said to be anything less than luxurious. The two newly launched battleships, needing sea trials, were directly incorporated into the escort procession.

This resulted in an escort fleet consisting of three dreadnoughts, one submarine, and ten escort ships, which can be considered a national effort for Australasia.

Arthur’s first stop was Wellington, the capital of North New Zealand State. In fact, Wellington is not too far from Sydney, and if one were to travel by warship at the fastest speed, it would only take a little over a day to arrive.

But after all, the main purpose of this trip was a cruise, and Arthur was out to relax rather than hurrying to undertake official duties.

Therefore, the speed of the fleet was not fast, and its average speed was only around fifteen knots.

This meant that it was already the evening of October 19th when Arthur arrived in Wellington.

Officials from Wellington and North New Zealand State had received news of Arthur’s arrival; even though he arrived in the evening, many government officials and citizens were waiting for him at the harbor.

On the first night in New Zealand, Arthur did not perform any official duties but stayed in a room prepared by the Wellington City Council.

After a day’s rest, Arthur went to the suburbs of Wellington and the surrounding industrial areas to carry out his inspection and review.

Australasia’s overall animal husbandry industry is highly developed, with New Zealand’s animal husbandry industry accounting for more than 20% of Australia’s total animal husbandry industry.

According to the report of the North New Zealand State Government, the entire North New Zealand State has at least ten thousand large and small ranches, with a total of over 15 million cattle, sheep, and other livestock.

Arthur had no doubts about this, since there were many large and small ranches around Wellington alone, and various colored cattle and sheep could be seen everywhere – this was undeniably true.

It is worth mentioning that at least within North New Zealand, industrial, animal husbandry, and agricultural areas are relatively well separated, which greatly reduces the possibility of animal husbandry and agriculture being affected by industry.

Arthur was quite satisfied with this because the thick black smoke spewing from the chimneys into the sky in this era’s industry could clearly show that it is not environmentally friendly.

However, in this era, if you want a nation to be strong, the development of industry is indispensable.

Developing industry inevitably leads to environmental damage, but who can help that this era’s industry has such unique characteristics?

On the second day in New Zealand, Arthur inspected the surrounding agricultural and pastoral areas of Wellington and visited one of the industrial areas around Wellington.

This day could be considered somewhat busy, at least Arthur felt so.

In the following days, Arthur’s life in Wellington was mostly spent in leisure. The little official work time he had was used to investigate the living conditions of Wellington’s urban residents and North New Zealand residents.

The results of the investigation were quite pleasing; although the life of Wellington citizens could not be considered too good, they at least had enough food and clothing.

Making sure that all subjects have food to eat and are free from hunger was Arthur’s first wish when he ascended the throne.

Seeing the preliminary results now, at least in the areas of Australasia that Arthur can understand, the people are basically not hungry.

After all, in addition to the various welfare policies enacted by the government, the Royal Relief Committee also provides relief to a large number of low-income people every year, ensuring that they have at least enough food to eat and do not go hungry.