Chapter 265: Tour of New Zealand

Although he was ready to tour the country, Arthur still needed to make careful preparations before he could travel.

After all, as the ruler of a country, he had to settle domestic affairs before traveling, didn't he?

First of all, because he had been accompanying Queen Mary for more than half a year, he had been somewhat slack in government affairs. Arthur spent more than half a month to deal with all the accumulated tasks, and also held a meeting with the cabinet government to check the progress of the cabinet government's work.

Then he settled the affairs of the palace, leaving Butler Hunter to look after the palace, and leaving most of the guards and guards in the palace.

The First Infantry Regiment of the Guards Division will be responsible for the escort work for Arthur's trip, so the guards and guards will have enough strength to stay in the kingdom.

The destinations of this tour will be spread across several regions in Australasia, starting from the capital Sydney, first arriving in New Zealand by fleet, starting a half-month inspection.

Then he left from New Zealand by fleet and went to the colony of New Guinea for inspection and review.

Next is Australian Timor. After leaving Australian Timor, they went south to Western Australia to inspect the construction of the Leonora Industrial Base, then took the industrial railway to Adelaide and Melbourne, and finally returned to Sydney.

This is equivalent to a full circle around the territory of Australasia. Including the time for inspection and review in various regions, it is estimated that this study tour will take about two months.

Arthur set off in mid-October, which also means that after this tour, 1909 is almost coming to an end.

On October 12, 1909, Arthur came to the Royal Dockyard in Sydney Harbour again after more than a year.

Accompanying him were not only Prime Minister Walter and Secretary of State Kent, but also Defense Minister Raul and a group of government officials.

The real reason why Arthur and cabinet officials were able to gather at the Royal Dockyard was that after more than a year, the three battleships in the Australasia Five-Year Shipbuilding Plan had all been built.

In fact, the first battleship, the HMS Australasia, had already been built in February this year.

Arthur also attended the launching ceremony at that time, but hurried back to the palace after the ceremony.

This time, the battleships Australia and New Zealand were built at the same time, and both had their launching ceremonies, which is of great significance to Australasia.

The Monarch-class battleship is an advanced battleship built by Australasia itself, which also means that the current shipbuilding level of Australasia has reached the world's first-class level.

And these three battleships are also the beginning and horn of 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 only dreadnoughts are counted, the number of Australasia's dreadnoughts has already reached the top three in the world, and it is also the fourth country in the world to have dreadnoughts.

The historic leap in the scale of the navy is a memorable event for 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 news about Australasian battleships and battleships for the entire Australasia and other people in the world.

Although dreadnoughts are already common for powers such as Britain and France, the arms race between the two sides on dreadnoughts has been launched fiercely, and each has even formulated plans to build several ships.

But dreadnoughts are still a powerful battleship that is out of reach for other countries in the world.

Not to mention the expensive cost of dreadnoughts, which is more than one million pounds or nearly two million pounds. If you want to build a dreadnought, you must first master the ability to build old battleships, and then master various new technologies of dreadnoughts, which almost excludes all non-powerful countries.

Let alone dreadnoughts, there are 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 completely according to the design drawings of the Monarch-class battleships, and the guns they carried were also the latest 45-caliber 305mm main guns provided by Germany.

The original 283mm main guns of the battleship Australasia were also replaced with 305mm main guns.

Because enough room had been reserved for the replacement of the main guns at that time, the task of replacement was not heavy.

The Monarch-class battleships equipped with 305mm main guns can be called true dreadnoughts that can be compared with the Dreadnought battleship.

Looking at the three behemoths drifting near the coast and the hideous muzzles on the behemoths, Arthur smiled proudly and nodded with satisfaction.

These three battleships are not only further proof of the Australasia Navy, but also the hope and horn of the rise of the navy.

As a country composed of many islands, sea power is the most important thing for Australasia at present.

After the construction of the next two battlecruisers was completed, Arthur decided to start the next construction plan without stopping, striving to increase the size of Australasia's navy to at least five dreadnoughts, four battlecruisers, fifteen submarines, and dozens of small and medium-sized warships before the start of World War I.

If Australasia could have such a large navy before World War I, it would not only be able to protect its own security in World War I, but also seek more expansion and benefits.

After all, such a naval scale is definitely at the level of the great powers. For such a strong country far away from Europe, European countries can only choose to win over.

The successful launch of the two battleships is another good news for Australasia, that is, the next two battlecruisers will also start construction soon.

However, the completion time of these two battlecruisers will have to wait until at least the second half of next year, which also means that before 1911, Australasia's navy will basically not have a large expansion.

On October 17, 1909, after everything was settled, Arthur took the First Infantry Regiment of the Guards Division, Defense Minister Raul, First Division Commander Thomas Johnson, and Propaganda Minister Grant Wilson, and officially started a cruise lasting at least two months.

The fleet responsible for escorting Arthur this time was luxurious. Because the two battleships that had just been launched also needed to undergo sea navigation tests, they were directly incorporated into the escort team.

This also led to the escort fleet having three dreadnoughts, a submarine and ten frigates, which was a national effort for Australasia.

Arthur's first stop was Wellington, the capital of North New Zealand. In fact, Wellington is not too far from Sydney. If you take a warship at the fastest speed, it only takes more than a day to arrive.

But after all, this time the main purpose is to cruise, Arthur came out to relax, not to rush to do official business.

Therefore, the fleet's sailing speed is not fast, and the average speed is only about fifteen knots.

As a result, when Arthur arrived in Wellington, it was already the evening of October 19.

Wellington and North New Zealand officials had already received the news of Arthur's arrival. Even though Arthur arrived at night, they still organized a large number of officials and citizens to wait at the port.

On the first night of arriving in New Zealand, Arthur did not perform any official duties, but lived in the room prepared by the Wellington City Government.

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

The overall animal husbandry in Australasia is very developed, and New Zealand's animal husbandry accounts for more than 20% of Australia's total animal husbandry.

According to the report of the North New Zealand State Government, the entire North New Zealand has at least tens of thousands of large and small ranches, and the total number of cattle, sheep and other livestock raised is as high as more than 15 million.

Arthur is also convinced of this. After all, there are many large and small ranches around Wellington alone, and cattle and sheep of different colors can be seen everywhere, which is completely unpredictable.

It is worth mentioning that, at least in North New Zealand, the industrial area, livestock area and agricultural area are relatively separated, 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 something that is good for the environment.

However, in this era, if you want to make the country strong, it is necessary to develop industry.

Developing industry will inevitably damage the environment. Who makes the industry of this era so distinctive?

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

This day can be regarded as a bit busy, at least Arthur thinks so.

In the next few days, Arthur's life in Wellington was almost spent on eating, drinking and having fun. The only official time was used by Arthur to understand and investigate the living conditions of residents in North New Zealand, especially in the city of Wellington.

The results of the survey are quite encouraging. Although the life of Wellington citizens is not very good, they can still meet their basic needs.

Let all the people have enough food and have a good life. This is Arthur's first wish when he succeeded to the throne.

At present, it seems to have been initially realized. At least in the areas that Arthur can understand, the people of Australasia basically will not go hungry.

After all, in addition to the various welfare policies promulgated by the government, the Royal Relief Committee also provides assistance to 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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