Chapter 291: Chapter 259: New Firearm Technology and Submarine

On August th, Arthur attded the delayed commcemt ceremony of the New Zealand battleship due to the slow progress of the Russian warship construction and couraged the workers of the Royal Shipyard.

Starting with the Australasian Battleship in January, the Royal Shipyard has now successively started working on three battleships. The fastest one, the Australasian Battleship, is expected to be completed in a March or April of the following year, 909, for the final launching test.

This is good news for Australasia, as March or April is only about half a year away.

However, ev though he was looking forward to the battleship's launching test, Arthur repeatedly instructed the person in charge of the shipyard and all workers to carefully control the quality of warship construction. What Australasia needs is a powerful, excellt warship that can withstand the actual test of war, not just a showpiece.

The good news is that Australasia's industry and shipbuilding were established with the help of the Germans, and the Germans' rigid and serious character has had a profound impact on these Australasian workers.

At least Australasia's industrial products can withstand the test. Ev if they are not as meticulous as Germany, they are definitely striving for perfection.

Currtly, the sea trials of the two Russian warships are going very smoothly, and the fastest Peter Pavlovskiy battleship can ev be officially delivered a October of this year.

Based on the performance of the Peter Pavlovskiy battleship in maritime aspects, the actual performance of the Monarch-class battleship is not much differt from its data on paper, and it is a true dreadnought that can be comparable to the Dreadnought battleship in all aspects.

It is worth mtioning that the first Nassau-class battleship of Germany has be successfully launched, but the performance demonstrated in the test cannot be satisfactory.

In history, because there was no comparison, the Germans had some confidce in the Nassau-class battleships.

However, with the advt of Australasia's Monarch-class battleship technology, the Germans compared the two warships in all aspects and ev produced one sample ship each for comparison. In the d, they had to admit that the design of the Monarch-class battleship was better than the Nassau-class battleship, and the 305mm primary artillery was definitely more powerful than the 83mm main gun.

More crucially, Germany's most intimate ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, happs to have such artillery technology. After consultations betwe the two governmts, Germany quickly introduced the technology of 305mm ship guns from the Austro-Hungarian Skoda Arsal. As a price, Germany will help the Austro-Hungarian Empire to have dreadnoughts.

This exchange is not a loss for Germany as the 305mm main gun can significantly improve the firepower level of the currt German battleship. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire has dreadnoughts, it can also increase its influce in the Mediterranean Sea, threating France's southern coastline and the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Germans kept their promise and shared a part with Australasia after obtaining the 305mm main gun technology of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Germans obtained the gun technology in July, and it was shipped to Australasia in mid-August, just in time for the day wh the cabinet candidates had be determined.

After obtaining the gun technology provided by the Germans, Arthur immediately conved all the artillery experts from the arsal and put the whole country's strgth together to quickly grasp the 305mm main gun technology.

At this time, there were fewer German experts in Australasia. This was because the aid treaty signed with the Germans at the time was only for five years. However, due to the closer diplomatic relations betwe Germany and Australasia, some experts stayed for a few more years.

From signing the aid treaty in 900 to August 908, Germany st a total of ,5 experts in various fields to Australasia, providing Australasia with a wealth of advanced industrial and scitific knowledge.

So far, there are fewer than 00 German experts left in Australasia, and the specific number is only 4.

In terms of firepower, the submarines were equipped with two torpedo launchers at both the front and rear ds, with a total of 6 to 8 torpedoes carried on board.

According to the design blueprints, the second group of submarines would almost satisfy the German Navy's requiremts, with an estimated surface speed of a 4 knots, an underwater speed of more than 9 knots, and a maximum speed maintained betwe to knots.

To be honest, there was no comparison betwe the performance data of the first and second groups of submarines. The second group of submarines were truly battle-worthy and met Arthur's satisfaction.

Although the second group of submarines only existed on the design table at prest, Arthur believed in the German Navy's technology. After all, according to historical developmts, German submarine technology indeed expericed rapid progress during this period.

Naturally, relying only on the efforts of Germans themselves wouldn't be ough; the indepdt research of Australasia was also crucial.

Giv that the cost of building submarines wasn't too expsive, Arthur immediately ordered the shipyard to thoroughly understand the design blueprints of the first group of U-3 class submarines and to build a submarine to familiarize themselves with the process.

Subsequtly, in-depth studies were conducted on the design blueprints of the second group of submarines. Once both Australia and Germany were sure that the design blueprints were flawless, th large-scale submarine construction would commce.

After dealing with the naval interlude, the time neared the d of August, which was wh Arthur decided to conve the cabinet meeting.

Although, in theory, this was just a regular cabinet meeting, since it was the first meeting after the restructuring of the cabinet and it also welcomed several new cabinet ministers, it was rather important.

At this cabinet meeting, Archbishop Stede of Australasia, Lord Chancellor Gregory, Defse Minister Raul, and Sir Evan would make their first appearances, with Evan returning to the cabinet in a new capacity.

Moreover, with the addition of Kt Butler's son, the former defse minister officially assuming the position of Secretary of State in the Cabinet governmt, there would likely be significant changes in the alignmt of the cabinet.

However, this wouldn't greatly affect Arthur. After all, he controlled the most important finances and defse sectors, and Secretary of State Kt was a highly loyal and trusted talt. There was no need to worry about the emergce of opposing factions within the cabinet.

Based on the currt situation, the relationship betwe Speaker of the House Evan and Chief Minister Walter would certainly not return to what it was in the previous governmt.

One was a former Prime Minister, and now Speaker of the House, the other was a former Minister of Livelihood, and now a Prime Minister. If there were no surprises, both would likely aim for the position of Chief Minister in the next cabinet, which was a testamt to their strained relationship.

It could ev be said that after serving three consecutive terms as cabinet ministers, the former Prime Ministers of several Australian colonies would become the most threating competitors amongst one another, if they wished to remain in the cabinet.

Apart from these more expericed cabinet ministers, the currt cabinet also included loyalists directly appointed by Arthur, as well as rising stars in the cabinet elected with the support of political parties.

However, the only two political parties in the cabinet, the Unity Party and the Rural Party, both leaned towards Arthur. This significantly reduced the likelihood of the emergce of opposing factions within the cabinet.

On August , 908, the long-prepared cabinet meeting was officially conved.

Arthur attached great importance to this cabinet meeting, choosing to hold it in the grandest and most formal conferce hall of Sydney Palace.

Starting from a sev in the morning, cabinet ministers had be waiting outside the door. Before the cabinet meeting officially began at eight o'clock, all ministers were in place, quietly awaiting Arthur's arrival.