In December 1911, as the year 1912 approached, Arthur went to the National Stadium again to inspect the construction of the National Stadium.

After two years of construction, the National Stadium is more than half completed, and all that remains is some finishing touches.

During this time, Australasia has also received applications from up to 20 countries around the world to participate in the Games.

Compared to the previous London Olympics, there were some changes to the previous rules, with a maximum of seven people per country participating in each competition, and three people are recommended.

At the same time, some relatively new technologies, such as electronic timing and finish camera equipment, will also be added to the Olympic Games, making the timing of the Olympic Games more accurate and more reasonable to solve some ranking disputes.

What's more, because the timing is more accurate, even to a tenth of a second, and Arthur has invested a lot of money, the International Olympic Committee announced that it will record the results of athletes at this Olympics and publish the corresponding world records.

In other words, the excellent results of the Sydney Olympics will directly enter the world record.

This has made some athletes who want to win glory for the country and gain a reputation for themselves look forward to this Olympic Games, and it has also made the Sydney Olympics hotly discussed around the world.

The medals for this Olympics have already been prepared, and the gold medals are made up of gold and jade, and each medal is estimated to be worth at least 2,000 Australian dollars, which can be said to be really valuable.

Don't underestimate the two thousand Australian dollars, according to the perspective of one pound equal to 7.33 grams of gold, two thousand equal to one thousand pounds equal to 7,330 grams of gold.

If it is estimated according to the approximate gold price of later generations, the value of this medal is even more than three million yuan.

Of course, this is only a proportional calculation of the price of gold. If we take into account factors such as the depreciation of the currency, I am afraid that this price will have to increase several times.

The silver medal is slightly on the low side, valued at around $600, just over a third of the gold medal's value.

The third-place bronze medal has the lowest valuation, with a valuation of only about 150 Australian dollars, which can only be said to be a decent participation award.

Of course, the Sydney Olympics also have fewer events than the previous London Games.

According to negotiations with the International Olympic Committee, there were only about 40 events in the Sydney Olympics, and the start time was expected to be between June and July 1912, and it would take up to two months to finish.

In addition to the cost of building stadiums and organizing competitions, Australasia will also provide round-trip ferry tickets and food and accommodation in Australasia for all athletes from participating countries, and send a professional medical team to ensure the safety of all participating athletes.

But it's worth it, because after this one, the next one is destined to be held much later.

Judging from the current tense situation in Europe, Arthur even prayed that the situation in Europe would not deteriorate to ensure that the Sydney Olympics could be held smoothly.

It is worth mentioning that although only 20 countries have signed up for the Games, the number of athletes who have signed up has exceeded 2,000, of which Australasia has contributed 500.

These 500 people are also the remaining after the previous athlete training team has been carefully selected, and after a period of hard training, they should also be able to achieve certain achievements.

In addition to Australasia's 500 participants, the second largest number of participants was the United Kingdom, with 293 participants. The third largest number is Norway, with 207 people. The fourth largest number is Sweden, with a total of 199 people.

After that, Finland 186, Germany 185, Russia 178, and the United States 174, are also the countries with the largest number of participants in this Games.

Arthur's goal is to bring the number of countries participating in the Games to 30 before the Games.

At the same time, it is best to have more than 3,000 athletes participating in the Games, after all, it is not easy to hold an Olympic Games, and the larger the scale, the better the effect.

The construction of the stadium should be completed by March 1912, and it was perfectly fine to be ready for the Olympic Games in June.

The hotel and various ancillary constructions supporting the stadium and the construction of roads have been basically completed so far.

Arthur visited the hotel and training facilities for the athletes, as well as the road connecting the stadium to the city, and then ended his trip to inspect the stadium construction with satisfaction.

The construction of the stadium has so far not only spent the initial budget of $6 million, but also the reserve budget of $2 million.

This resulted in the construction of this stadium costing $8 million, or nearly four dreadnoughts.

However, judging from the current construction of the stadium, Arthur believes that the money is still well spent.

If the National Stadium can be used for tens or even hundreds of years, the historical heritage and culture it represents will definitely be more valuable than the millions of dollars that are being used now.

After the inspection of the National Stadium, Arthur rushed to the agricultural machinery factory without stopping.

Hidden here is the weapon of mass destruction prepared by Arthur, and it is also one of the weapons that the Australasian Army will focus on in the future.

"Your Majesty!" Outside the Agricultural Machinery Factory, the factory director, Joel, greeted Arthur with a respectful face, and then took Arthur to the warehouse of the Agricultural Machinery Factory.

There are several newly produced tanks parked in the warehouse, and it took more than a year of experimentation and refinement since the last experiment to finally determine the first generation of tanks.

The stability of these newly produced tanks has been greatly improved compared to the previous first test period.

Although this can't change the problem of the tank occasionally dropping the chain, the big guy with armor protection and firepower output, why do you care about those small problems?

Looking at these brand-new big guys, Arthur nodded with satisfaction, looked at Director Joel, and asked, "Director Joel, what is the current production speed of such a tank in the Agricultural Machinery Factory?" ”

"Your Majesty, it's not easy to produce such a big one. If we can lay a production line, we can guarantee the production speed of one car in four days. If two production lines can be laid, it should be possible to increase the production speed to one in two to three days. Director Joel replied.

The production of tanks contains modules such as armor, artillery, chassis, power systems, tracks, etc., and the practicality and stability of the tank must also be taken into account.

Coupled with the stages of testing that each tank had to go through, the production of one tank was not fast, even if only improvements on the basis of a tractor.

Arthur nodded understandingly, and ordered: "Now the agricultural machinery factory has laid a tank production line, and the tank is produced at a rate of one every four days. The current pace of production is also quite enough, and I hope that by 1914 it will be possible to have at least two hundred tanks. ”

Australasia is still far from a large-scale war, and the role of tanks is not so high for the time being.

As he spoke, Arthur looked at Director Joel again and asked, "Director Joel, if we use the current tanks and tractors as a reference, can we design a transport vehicle that still has the ability to protect against armor and improve the efficiency of movement between our troops?" ”

"Alternatively, large-caliber guns can be mounted on tractors, making it easier to transfer and mobilize them. If these ideas can be realized, we may have to add several more secret weapons to our arsenal. Arthur said with a smile.

"It is possible, Your Majesty. These ideas you mentioned will not be difficult to realize, but it will take some time to achieve better combat effectiveness. Our factory is really understaffed, Your Majesty. Can you send us more excellent employees and some experts in the military industry to help the machinery factory better achieve this? While chatting, Director Joel suddenly began to cry poorly, and pleaded with Arthur with a helpless and sad face.

"While producing and researching tractors, agricultural machinery factories also have to study military weapons and equipment such as tanks, and there is indeed a shortage of manpower. In this case, I allow you to negotiate with the military factories and invite some military experts to sit in the agricultural machinery factories to better realize the ideas I have proposed. As for the issue of excellent workers, you go to negotiate with several major technical schools in the country and ask them to give priority to next year's graduates to be sent to agricultural machinery factories. Arthur nodded, agreeing to Director Joel's request.

In fact, there is no way to do it, after all, the production of tanks is still in a state of secrecy, which also leads to the fact that military weapons such as tanks can only be produced and researched under agricultural factories such as agricultural machinery factories.

Although the scale of the agricultural machinery factory is not small, it is still somewhat dwarfed in terms of manpower when it takes into account the development and manufacturing of tractors and tanks.

"Great, thank you, Your Majesty. Please rest assured that I will attach importance to the weapons ideas you have mentioned and strive to realize them at an early date. Hearing that Arthur agreed to his request, Director Joel said excitedly.

"The development of second-generation tanks cannot be left behind. After all, the tractor-converted tank had some limitations, and a tank scheme had to be redesigned and continuously improved to form the final tank system. Compared to the first generation tank, I hope that the second generation tank will give me more surprises, and maybe then it will be the time to equip the tank on a large scale," Arthur instructed.

After all, development still has to look forward. Although the farm machinery factory succeeded in developing and manufacturing the world's first tank by modifying tractors.

But such success was only temporary, and even more so could not be satisfied with tanks converted from tractors.

Arthur's expectation for the Australasian tank is that it is best to have good combat effectiveness before the First World War, and within the scope of the First World War, at least the second generation of tanks must be developed to avoid Australasia losing the lead in terms of tanks due to the leakage of the first generation of tanks.

3000 words for the third update, ask for support, ask for a monthly pass!

Today, 10,000 days have been changed to 10,000/10,000, ask for support, ask for a monthly pass!

(End of chapter)