The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 323: Chapter 283: New Warship Order

After his trip to Germany, Arthur wt straight to Russia, visited Tsar Nicholas II and Duke Sergei, and saw the still bedridd Crown Prince Aleksei.

There was no alternative; perhaps this was the trouble with having many relatives. Both Germany and Russia had close familial relations with Arthur, and their relations were also very fridly betwe the countries, which meant that Arthur had to move about more.

Moreover, both Germany and Russia could provide a lot of help to Australasia, and their status as powerful nations is precisely what Australasia currtly lacked in allies.

Of course, the tangible help that Russia could provide to Australasia at this time was not much, perhaps the most useful would be the dless stream of Russian immigrants.

During his few days in Russia, Arthur signed a new immigration treaty with Nicholas II.

As stipulated in the treaty, Australasia would pay the Russian governmt 5 million rubles in compsation each year in exchange for the Russian governmt's strong support in exporting immigrants to Australasia.

Of course, because of the increased funding, Arthur also made a request that wh screing immigrants, they must meet the corresponding conditions of Australasia.

While 5 million rubles was not a lot of assets for Arthur, it was not too little for the Russian governmt's finances.

Under the witness of Nicholas II and Arthur, the two governmts quickly signed an agreemt.

Nicholas II ev joked that if Australasia needed it, he could fully mobilize the governmt to export millions of immigrants to Australasia every year.

In truth, for the Russian Empire, exporting millions of immigrants every year was tirely feasible.

It should be noted that as of this year, 9, Russia's population exceeded 60 million. In rect years, the annual increase in the Russian population fluctuated betwe 3 million and 5 million; exporting million people every year was not painful to the Russian Empire at all.

However, the problem was that if Australasia were to accept one million Russian immigrants each year, it would quickly increase the population in the short term, and there was hope that the population would break through 5 million before World War I.

But the possible consequces faced might be an imbalance of national proportions within the country, with Russian immigrants ev approaching the main ethnic British immigrants, affecting internal unity and stability.

According to the new immigration treaty signed betwe Arthur and Nicholas II, the treaty would last for five years, with Australasia paying 5 million rubles each year, and Russia exporting 400,000 screed immigrants to Australasia.

The five-year validity of the treaty would bring about an influx of million Russian immigrants to Australia, which also happs to be the maximum amount of Russian immigrants that Australasia can absorb.

With the addition of immigrants from Britain, Germany, and other parts of Europe, Australasia has the expectation that by 95 the population will exceed 3 million, with the British population still able to maintain the 60% majority.

By the d of World War I, with another large wave of refugees, the population should reach 7 million before 90.

Although it is uncertain whether there will be a World War II in this world, within five years of the d of World War I, the population of Australasia had hopes of breaking through 0 million, cemting the power and position of major powers.

During these few days in Russia, the Russian Navy Departmt frequtly sought an audice with Arthur, and finally, with the nod of Nicholas II, a new warship procuremt order was agreed upon.

The previous two Monarch-class battleships, Peter Pavlovskiy, and Poltava, had shown excellt combat capabilities and performance, far exceeding the performance of all the old battleships of the Pacific Squadron during training.

The performance of the two dreadnoughts allowed Geral Makarov, who was stationed at Port Arthur, to report overnight to the Navy Departmt and Nicholas II, requesting that the Russian governmt order more Monarch-class battleships.

According to Geral Makarov's words, if the Pacific Fleet were equipped with two additional dreadnoughts, th ev with Britain's support, Japan would never be a match for Russia.

Unfortunately, Britain conceded some interests and reached an agreemt with Russia that Russia could not act in the Far East in the short term. Thus, Geral Makarov's plan was thwarted.

However, the power of the Monarch-class battleships had already tered the vision of the Russian high-ranking officials.

Russia had a strange characteristic: the upper echelons were willing to spd large sums of money to buy imposing large cannons and battleships but were reluctant to provide fresh meat and food for the naval officers and soldiers, as well as the corresponding refrigeration and preservation equipmt.

The military officers in charge of procuremt were ev willing to risk being beat to death by mutinous naval soldiers rather than buy fresh ingredits for them, ev considering it a normal part of naval life.

In 905, the Eagle battleship mutiny occurred because an officer brought a diseased cow to the kitch to make lunch and gave it to the naval soldiers.

In June of the same year, the Po Jiangjin battleship mutiny occurred because a procuremt officer made borscht with maggot-infested rott meat and gave it to the soldiers, resulting in the tire battleship being controlled by the rebellious naval soldiers and escaping to Romania.

In May 907, some naval officers and soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet were planning to mutiny on four battleships but due to the plan being leaked, the mutiny ultimately failed.

All these mutiny incidts had caused Nicholas II himself to lose confidce in the highly mutinous Baltic and Black Sea fleets.

If it were not for the importance of the Navy and the Pacific Fleet under Geral Makarov giving Nicholas II hope, the Baltic Fleet would have gone directly under the control of the Army, which had already be responsible for guarding the security of the capital Saint Petersburg. This had already cost the Baltic Fleet its combat capabilities.

It must be acknowledged that the Russian Empire was already extremely corrupt by this time.

The empire's upper and ev middle classes had become very corrupt and extravagant. The bottom-level military force was in disarray, and the soldiers lacked training and discipline. The country's situation was no longer that of a strong nation.

However, Arthur felt helpless regarding this situation, as he was not a part of the Russian Monarchy after all. Ev if Arthur made suggestions, it was unlikely that Nicholas II would adopt them.

He could only pray that the collapse of the Russian Empire in future wars would be slower and that there might be a chance to save the Russian Monarchy.

The new warship procuremt order was undoubtedly gerous, and it should be Russia Country's last order within five years.

This procuremt order included two Monarch-class battleships and two Unified-class battlecruisers, a total of four powerful main battleships.

At first, Arthur was amazed at the Russians' gerosity, but wh he heard that all four warships would be equipped to the Baltic Sea, he understood that there must be support from Britain and France.

After all, the stronger the Russian navy in the Baltic Sea, the more restrained the Russian High Seas Fleet would be.

If the Frch were more proactive in the developmt of dreadnought battleships, they could ev join forces with Britain to blockade the High Seas Fleet in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

Unfortunately, the Frch were as slow in their dreadnought actions as in history, and perhaps they would have to rely on British protection for France's North and West coasts, just like in history.

The two Monarch-class battleships were named the Empress Maria and Empress Catherine the Great, while the two Unified-class battlecruisers were named Gangut and Sevastopol.

According to the agreemt reached betwe the Russian Navy and Australasia, Australasia needed to deliver half of the four main battleships by the d of 93, and complete the tire order by the d of 94.

Arthur made a rough calculation and found that there was plty of time.

Australasia is currtly building two Unified-class cruisers, which should be completed a the beginning of 9.

From the beginning of 9 to the d of 93, there are nearly three years, ough to complete the construction and testing of two of the four warships.

The cost of a Monarch-class battleship is about .9 million pounds, with a sale price to Russia of .4 million pounds.

Unified-class cruisers are slightly cheaper, at a .7 million pounds, with a sale price to Russia of . million pounds.

Due to the good relationship betwe Russia and Australasia, the sale price of both warships to Russia is cheaper than the external sale price, but the profit of the shipyard is still substantial, at over 400,000 pounds pure profit for each vessel.

The total cost of the Russian order for four warships is as high as 8 million rubles, which amounts to 8 million Australian Dollars.

And Arthur's Royal Shipyard is expected to earn 3.5 million Australian Dollars in this trade. After deducting the taxes paid to the governmt, the shipyard should be able to book at least 3 million Australian Dollars in profits.

It must be said that the profit from exporting armamts, especially selling warships, is really high. This order of four warships can allow Arthur to build another battlecruiser.

As time ters the second decade of the 0th ctury, the various competitions in Europe have visibly become more intse.

No country involved in the two major military blocs can escape this arms race.

According to the Royal Intelligce Bureau, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is secretly building dreadnoughts and has named them Joint Power-class battleships.

However, among the major European powers, the path of dreadnoughts for the Austro-Hungarian Empire is considered relatively difficult.

Since the birth of the dreadnought, several years have passed. Countries like Britain and Germany have already innovated on the basis of dreadnoughts, designing and building more powerful dreadnoughts.

As for the powers like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ev the most basic dreadnought has not started yet, and they are still arguing with their parliamts.

If it wer't for the Navy Departmt's unauthorized self-funding and starting the construction of two dreadnoughts without getting parliamtary approval, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's first dreadnought would probably have to wait until the d of 95.

Currtly, the two countries, Britain and Germany, which are best able to export dreadnoughts, are basically in a naval competition, so it is unlikely they will take in too many outside orders for warships.

This means that, in the coming years, it should be the best opportunity for Australasia to sell warships abroad.

Keep in mind that, in this era, there is also a naval race in smaller regions like South America, which is also an opportunity for Australasia.

After all, making money is not a small matter. If they could use the profits from the sale of Monarch-class battleships to build more St Vinct-class battleships, it would be of great significance for the navy of Australasia.

After finalizing the order and delivery time with the Russian Navy Departmt, Arthur hurriedly embarked on his journey back to Australasia.