Arthur adhered to the principle that the European War was the best time for Australasia to develop, and when Europe opened the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme, Australasia's development was not delayed.

The first is that the third phase of construction of the Leonora Industrial Base has been fully completed and is in production, which is great news for Australasia.

The total construction area of the third phase of the entire Leonora industrial site is tens of thousands of acres, which can accommodate more than 500 super-large factories, nearly 2,000 small and medium-sized factories and hundreds of large storage areas.

This industrial base alone will create at least 550,000 jobs for the country and enhance the development of Australasia's industry, mining, economy and livelihood.

With the support of the Australasian government, the Leonora Industrial Park is almost full, with nearly 3,000 large and small factories occupied.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Leonora Industrial Base is the Ruhr area of Australasia, which is the center of gravity and heart of Australasia's current industry.

According to the Australasian Government's projections, throughout 1916 the total production capacity of the Leonora industrial base would account for more than a third of Australasian industry, much more than all the industrial output of the non-Australian regions combined.

Thanks to the completion of the third phase of the Leonora Industrial Base, Australasia's total steel production has reached nearly 7 million tons, and it has grown rapidly in the past two years.

In addition to its industrial growth, Australasia's total arable land has reached 34.45 million acres, with 2.09 acres per capita, and has remained above two acres.

Of the 34.45 million acres of total arable land, 31.13 million acres are in Australasia (Australia plus New Zealand) and 3.32 million acres are owned in colonies and territories.

Australasia's annual grain production has reached more than 16 million tons, and the annual grain export has reached a terrifying 10 million tons.

That's not a small number. As the war deepened, the per capita food distribution in European countries had been greatly reduced.

10 million tons of food, if saved, is enough for 50 million people to feed for a year. Even in previous peacetime, it was enough to feed at least 40 million people for a year.

Australasia's grain is exported to Western Europe and Eastern Europe, and it is an important food supply area for Britain, France and Russia, as well as a supply area for meat, cattle and sheep.

Since the start of the war, Australasia has been able to export more than two million cattle and sheep to Europe every year, plus canned food made from wild rabbit meat, camel meat, kangaroo meat, etc., Australasia's annual export of meat food to Europe has reached a terrifying million tons.

It is no exaggeration to say that Australasia was an important supplier of food and meat to Europe, providing vital supplies to millions of troops.

Arthur was very pleased with the growth of Australasian agriculture. If the newly acquired colonies were to be exploited, Australasia's annual production would have to increase even more.

Not to mention the current population of more than 16 million, even if the population triples, it is fully capable of feeding.

In addition to the development of industry and agriculture, Arthur was probably most satisfied with the construction of transportation in Australasia.

After the industrial, railway, and northern railway, the construction of the eastern railway has also been completed for the most part.

Construction has been completed for the Western Railways in Western Australia, as well as for the Eastern Territory of Australia, connecting Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria.

All that remains is the South Australian railway line from Darwin to Port Augusta, which is expected to be completed by the end of 1917.

For Australasia, the railways in the most important western industrial regions and the eastern developed regions have been completed, and the total length of railways in Australasia has exceeded 30,000 kilometers.

In addition to the completion of the Central Railway, there is one more important thing for Australasia, and that is the increase in train speed.

Thanks to the painstaking research of engine specialist Diesel Diesel, Australasian Transport's new locomotive is capable of stabilizing speeds of more than 62 miles (100 km) and breaking 70 miles (115 km) downhill with a dual power of steam and internal combustion engines.

After many tests, it has been determined that the locomotive of this power mode has a strong stability, and it is immediately purchased in large quantities by the transportation department and used in railway transportation.

The breakthrough in train speed was a very important outcome for Australasia. Australasia is a very large country, and the most important home country, Australia, is also very large.

The Australian region has thousands of kilometers of distance, whether it is longitudinal from north to south or east-west horizontal.

As a result, if you travel from the far west to the easternmost part, it will take at least a week or more to arrive at the previous train speeds.

But with the new locomotive, it would theoretically take as little as two days to get from the westernmost to the easternmost part of Australia.

This can greatly facilitate the communication between the various states and regions of Australia, and also facilitate the transportation of goods between the government in Australia.

With Australasia in the top six in the world in terms of total rail mileage, Australasia's transport capacity is already world-class and can handle any accident that breaks out in any region.

In the next step of the construction plan of the transportation department, in addition to the thorough improvement of the construction of the central railway, a large number of railways will be built in the newly occupied areas, including the island of New Guinea, Sulawesi and the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf, to strengthen the dominance of these areas.

At the same time, Australasia, along the Murray River, New Zealand, etc., will also build further railways to ensure that the army can quickly reach every inch of the country.

Of course, the major military factories in Australasia are not idle. The independent Royal Aircraft Factory is capable of building more than 500 aircraft per year, while the Agricultural Machinery Plant has built more than 500 T-14 tanks.

Whether it is a fourth-generation military aircraft or a T-14 tank, it is the last hole card hidden in the shadows in Australasia.

It also represents the top technology of Australasia's military science and technology, and is an important guarantee for Australasia to safeguard its national interests.

The T-14 tank Arthur does not intend to make it public for the time being, after all, this tank technology is at least ten years ahead of the level of British tanks.

At most, when the third generation of tanks is about to be born, the technology of the first generation of tanks will be disclosed to the public in exchange for sufficient funds.

Such methods are and will be used by many countries. Theoretically, no country will expose its latest technology unless it is the most critical moment.

As the saying goes, what you think is my hole card is just my regular weapon, and my regular weapon is your hole card.

In any case, it is necessary to ensure that military science and technology are sufficient to lead the vast majority or even all countries, so that they can realize their plans unscrupulously.

Another good news for Arthur is that in addition to military aircraft, the research of civilian aircraft, that is, passenger aircraft, has also made considerable progress.

Six years have passed since the development of the SF-1, the last generation of passenger aircraft, which researchers jokingly called the Big Belly One.

Through the joint efforts of the engine research laboratory, the original aviation laboratory and other factories, the big belly No. 2, which is officially codenamed SF-2, has been successfully developed and has undergone preliminary tests.

When Arthur received the news, he immediately rushed to the current Royal Aircraft Construction Factory to check.

Compared to the less stable airship, the airplane is undoubtedly the better choice for travel. Not only can it save more time than an airship, but it is also higher than an airship in terms of safety.

With a maximum weight of 3.7 tons, the SF-2 passenger aircraft is capable of carrying more than 500 kilograms of luggage, in addition to carrying 12 crew members, including the pilot.

After the engine upgrade, the SF-2 has been able to reach an average flight speed of 190 kilometers per hour, and a maximum flight speed of more than 215 kilometers per hour.

Such a speed is almost twice the speed of the improved train and more than three times the speed of the pre-improved train.

In addition, the fuel tank has been upgraded, and the maximum range of the SF-2 equipped with a larger fuel tank has exceeded 1,700 kilometers, which can greatly facilitate people's daily travel.

If you travel by train, it takes at least 2 to 3 days to travel from the westernmost to the easternmost part of Australia.

However, if you take a plane instead, it will take a little more than a day to get there.

If it is equipped with several more auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum sailing range can also be expanded to more than 2,000 kilometers, saving refueling time on the road.

Of course, the current airplane, like the airship, is just a way for the rich to travel.

Because each plane has only 12 seats, excluding one pilot, the maximum number of passengers that can carry is only 11.

As a result, the current passenger aircraft are more for governments and high-level services, and it is basically impossible to reach the middle and low-level people in a short period of time.

Even in later generations, there are still large numbers of people who cannot afford to fly, let alone more than 100 years ago.

According to the aircraft factory's estimates, such an SF-2 passenger aircraft would cost at least two thousand pounds for one flight.

This means that even if the cost is just shared, the 11 passengers will have to share almost £200, $400 each.

That's 7 to 8 times the average annual income per capita in Australasia, and it's unlikely that a lower- and middle-income person would spend nearly a decade of their salary on a flight.

While it may seem that airplanes cost less than airships, in reality they are the opposite.

At present, the ticket price of an airship around the world has been reduced to about 600 pounds, but if you use an airplane to travel around the world, it will cost at least 50,000 pounds, and it will be as high as 4,700 pounds or more for each seat.

Looking at the whole world, those who can spend nearly 5,000 pounds to travel around the world are definitely the highest level in their country.

Aircraft may not be able to achieve true civilian use until after the end of World War II.

This did not prevent Arthur from planning to build airports throughout Australasia, both to facilitate his own visits to various parts of Australasia and to facilitate domestic and foreign exchanges.

For Arthur, the royal family's special plane and his own special plane are indispensable, and even Arthur has plans to build an exclusive royal private airport near the Sydney Palace to facilitate the daily travel of the royal family.

The most obvious point is that the distance between Sydney and Lington is only more than 2,200 kilometers, and under the premise of equipping two auxiliary fuel tanks, the SF-2 passenger aircraft can reach each other in one trip, achieving 12 hours of mutual travel between Australia and New Zealand.

As the two most important and core regions of Australasia, the distance of more than 2,000 kilometers has slowed down the communication between the two regions.

With the technology of the second generation passenger aircraft, it will be useful for the high-level communication between the two regions, and will bring Australia and New Zealand closer together.

If we can wait for a faster and more convenient third-generation passenger aircraft in the future, I am afraid that it will no longer be a dream for New Zealanders to travel to Australia in ten hours.

Previously, because of the crossing of the ocean, the only way to communicate between the two regions was to choose a ship or an airship.

However, there are not many stops in New Zealand for international round-the-world voyages, so most of the routes from Sydney to Wellington are Australasia's own.

First, there are fewer flights by airship, and secondly, the price will be more expensive than circumnavigating the world.

A single trip between the two places takes at least two days, or even three to four days.

It has also made the previous Australia and New Zealand regions always have a sense of estrangement, and there is a big gap in the development between the two regions.

Of course, Arthur will never fly until the second-generation passenger aircraft has been effectively tested.

This period will also be at least a year or so, first, to let the Royal Aircraft Factory build a special plane for Arthur and the royal family, and second, to use a large number of flights to test the reliability of the aircraft and ensure the safety of the royal family members.

In addition to the Royal Aircraft Factory's passenger aircraft, there is also good news for the Royal Shipyard in Sydney.

Six years have passed since Arthur proposed the theory of aircraft carriers, and the Royal Shipyard in Sydney has also achieved certain results after many experiments and research.

In fact, although there are no aircraft carriers in the real sense of the word in the countries of the world at present, as early as four years ago, the British achieved carrier-based aircraft flights in the real sense.

In 1912, the Englishman Charles Samson made a great attempt to take off from the battleship "Africa" in a Schott S.27 biplane, a temporary deck.

Four months later, during a naval parade in Weymouth, England, Samson again flew a biplane and took off from the foredeck of the battleship "Hibernia" at a speed of 15 knots.

This achievement shocked all the officers present, and also made countries around the world begin to pay attention to the study of water take-off platforms, that is, aircraft carriers.

The Royal Dockyard of Sydney has also found inspiration in this case and has now come up with two more mature aircraft carrier designs.

The first type of aircraft carrier design scheme is to refer to the example of the British, transforming the battleship into an aircraft carrier, using the foredeck to take off against the wind.

The advantage of such a design was that the combat power of the battleship was preserved, and as soon as all the aircraft had fully taken off, the aircraft carrier was able to immediately become a battleship and enter the battle.

But the bad news is that because the aircraft carrier is converted from the main body of the battleship, the deck is not long enough, and it needs to be headwind and have enough speed to allow the plane to take off.

Second, the deck is too short to accommodate many carrier-based aircraft, and the combat effectiveness of an aircraft carrier depends entirely on the number and performance of carrier-based aircraft, which is also destined to be a low combat effectiveness of such an aircraft carrier.

Thirdly, it is also a matter of the deck. Because the deck is too short, the landing of the aircraft is also a big problem.

Britain and France have studied such aircraft carriers to a certain extent, but they have never been able to solve the problem of aircraft take-off and landing, and too short a deck will lead to a certain probability of failure of the aircraft during take-off and landing, and even the aircraft will slide into the sea uncontrollably.

The design of the second aircraft carrier completely abandoned the design of the previous battleship.

The carrier of the second scheme consists mainly of a long deck, armor protection, anti-aircraft weapons, a power system and an airborne area.

On the premise of greater volume, on the contrary, there is no firepower of battleships. Such an aircraft carrier completely depends on the combat effectiveness of carrier-based aircraft, and in addition to a certain amount of anti-aircraft firepower that it possesses, it does not have any means of attacking the enemy.

But the good news is that the aircraft carrier can carry more carrier-based aircraft, and because it has a long enough deck, it can take off calmly in any situation.

Behind the deck, there are also interceptors. Make sure that the aircraft taxied for a distance after landing, and then was intercepted above deck by an interceptor and did not fall into the sea.

Because it has an independent aircraft-carrying area, the so-called hangar, the aircraft carrier of this design can carry up to 20 carrier-based aircraft. From the point of view of aircraft carriers, the aircraft carriers of the second design are much superior to the first in terms of combat effectiveness.

The design of both aircraft carriers has its own advantages and disadvantages, the first design is more conservative and balances the aircraft carrier and the battleship, and the aircraft carrier can at least be used as a battleship.

The second design method is more extreme, it is an aircraft carrier in the true sense, and its combat effectiveness is determined by the 20 carrier-based aircraft.

The Royal Shipyard of Sydney submitted both aircraft carrier designs to Arthur, who set the direction of the Australasian aircraft carrier.

If Arthur is not a traverser, then perhaps the first option will be chosen, after all, even if the aircraft carrier is not useful, it can be used as a battleship.

But Arthur understood that sooner or later the battleships would be replaced by aircraft carriers. No matter how powerful the firepower and armor protection of the current battleships are, their detection range and firepower coverage are far inferior to those of aircraft carriers.

The aircraft carrier can dispatch a large number of carrier-based aircraft to directly destroy the battleship from a distance of tens of kilometers.

Unless the battleship has very good air defense capabilities, there is really no good way for the battleship to face these threats in the sky.

Without much hesitation, Arthur immediately decided on a design for the second aircraft carrier, which he named the Giant-class aircraft carrier and handed it over to the Royal Dockyards of Sydney for construction.

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(End of chapter)