Chapter 377: Chapter 322: Consecutive Global Voyages

As the Olympic Games came to an end, the heat brought by this two-month event that attracted the world's attention also quickly dissipated.

By the end of July, with the delivery of the first batch of 20 airships, the world's public was met with another hotly debated news - the official establishment of various countries' aviation companies.

Although these foreign capitalists only received their airships two months later, they were not idle.

During these two months, they sent a considerable number of employees to Australasia to learn airship piloting skills, aiming to let the airships enter the operational phase as soon as they were officially obtained.

It should be noted that the enthusiasm for global air travel is gradually dissipating, and the future ticket prices for airships are bound to become lower and lower.

The sooner the aviation companies can enter the operational status, the sooner they can get a share of the cake.

If it were not for the limited production capacity of Australasian airships, global aviation companies would have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain all over the world.

Of course, the difficult problem of limited airship production could not stump foreign aviation companies. Although the most advanced airships capable of traveling around the world were not enough in quantity, it did not mean that there were not enough ordinary airships for domestic aviation!

In order to make aviation companies' business more developed, these aviation companies successively established cooperation with domestic airship companies in their countries and purchased some small airships for the development of short and medium distance aviation services.

Especially the powerful countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. There were quite a few airship companies already in these countries, and with the establishment of various aviation companies, these airships became sought after by capitalists and were snapped up by major aviation companies to expand their domestic aviation services.

European international routes and domestic routes, intercontinental routes between Europe and the Americas, the United States' domestic routes, and global routes spanning Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, etc. These various routes are the main targets of business expansion for major aviation companies worldwide.

After obtaining airships from Australasia, several airship companies from Europe and the United States claimed to be planning a global air journey to officially launch their airship companies' global travel services.

This is actually normal, as the last global air journey had been more than two months ago, and the enthusiasm was in a dissipating state, which could not last long.

In order to maintain the enthusiasm for global air travel and prevent the ticket prices of airships from falling too fast, the only option is to arrange new global air journeys to attract the attention of the world's public.

According to the news reported by Director Theodore to Arthur, aviation companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire all had plans to arrange a global air journey.

Unfortunately, at present, only aviation companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany have secured a share of airships.

This also means that the aviation companies that can truly plan a global air journey are now limited to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

From the current number of aviation companies in the world's major powerful countries, it can be seen that the domestic capitalists of these countries are already paying great attention to airships.

Even many European and American airship companies have sought to be listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange, but were rejected by the Exchange.

However, according to the news from various major stock exchanges in Europe and America, as of the end of July, there were at least more than 20 aviation companies worldwide, with half of them either already engaged or planning to engage in the global air travel business.

In a short period of time, airships became the most concerned mode of transportation. And global air travel on airships became a hot topic among the people worldwide.

In addition to the Russian order of two Monarch-class battleships and two Unified-class battlecruisers, the Royal Shipyard also has orders from the Chileans, including two Hope-class battleships, six Duke-class escort ships, and two submarines.

At present, the construction of the Chilean order proceeds slowly, with the completion of the two submarines expected in a few months, to be delivered by mid-1913.

The completion of the six escort ships may have to wait until the end of this year, with a theoretical delivery in late 1913.

As for the two Hope-class battleships, the construction time is the longest and the most laborious.

If everything goes as planned, the completion of these two battleships will have to wait until mid-1914 or even the end of 1914, with delivery waiting until the end of 1915.

Nevertheless, completion and delivery within the negotiated time frame is not a problem. It also provides an opportunity to strengthen the Royal Shipyard's capabilities in building super dreadnoughts while constructing the two Hope-class battleships.

When the Australasian Navy is equipped with super dreadnoughts in the future, the construction process will be even smoother.

Speaking of Chile, with the previous rubber crisis and drop in coffee prices, the naval arms race in South America has left some countries exhausted.

The once extravagant image has disappeared, and there are even rumors that Chile, on its side, wants to abandon its order for two super dreadnoughts to alleviate its financial pressure.

Arthur expressed no concern about such rumors and even felt like laughing.

No matter what, Australasia is currently a regional powerhouse, with a naval strength that can squeeze into the top eight in the world.

A country like Australasia is not a joke for Chile to mess with.

If the Chileans dared to openly abandon this naval order, it would be like a direct slap to Arthur and Australasia's face, giving Arthur the opportunity and excuse to invade Chile.

Under the premise of Australasian righteousness and reason, what would be the problem with launching an invasion of Chile?

Moreover, Australasia is getting closer and closer to Britain. Without British support, how can Chile possibly stand against Australasia?

This is the audacity backed by sufficient strength. As long as Australasia's overall strength is much greater than Chile, Arthur will never worry about the Chileans reneging on this order.

Frankly, Arthur is also very interested in South American land. Especially the black land in southern Argentina, one of the four major black lands in the world, which is a good agricultural area.

If the Chileans give Arthur an excuse, he wouldn't mind taking the opportunity to extend his reach into South America and plot for the black land in southern Argentina.

The Chileans probably wouldn't be so foolish. After all, even with financial difficulties, they can still seek external loans and debt.

Breaking the contract openly is undoubtedly giving Australasia a reason to invade their land. The Chilean government certainly wouldn't be so stupid.

In history, when facing such a predicament, the Chileans seemed to have only sold the two warships under construction to ease their financial pressure.