The Rise of Australia

Chapter 924 The Impact of the Lake Eyre Canal

While several European countries were engaged in crazy wars, in Australasia, the Royal Ordnance Factory also faced a brand new mission.

Based on the specific combat conditions on the frontline battlefield, the Australasian Ministry of Defense issued new arms manufacturing requirements for the Royal Ordnance Factory.

It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Defense’s requirements do not focus on weapons, but on certain improvements to existing ammunition and shells.

Yes, the new arms manufacturing list is almost entirely ammunition. What is different from the past is that the Ministry of National Defense requires the Royal Ordnance Factory to produce bullets and artillery shells with sufficient lethality. It requires that new bullets must be able to cause at least serious injuries to the enemy when they hit the enemy.

This is also decided based on the plan formulated by the General Staff to effectively consume the effective forces of European countries.

In a short period of time, the new bullets produced in Australasia will only be used on the enemy, but when the enemy discovers something is wrong, they will naturally study this new bullet on a large scale in an effort to cause greater casualties to the enemy.

As a result, at least in Europe, it will evolve into internal strife between Britain, France, Russia, and Germany and Italy. The purpose of researching new bullets is to effectively kill the enemy's vital forces. As long as both sides use a large number of new bullets, the proportion of serious injuries and deaths on the battlefield will be much higher.

Arthur is still very interested in the research of new weapons, and because of this, Arthur became one of the first people to visit the new ammunition developed by the Royal Ordnance Factory.

After arriving at the Royal Ordnance Factory, Arthur and several senior generals from the Ministry of National Defense went to the testing area of ​​the ordnance factory to see the power of the new ammunition in person.

Andric, the general manager of new ammunition research and development at the Royal Ordnance Factory, had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Arthur, he quickly stepped forward and respectfully reported on the development of new ammunition.

"Your Majesty, please see that according to the requirements of the Ministry of National Defense, we have developed and manufactured the first batch of new ammunition.

The bomb you see is what we call a raindrop bomb. Although it looks like an ordinary bomb, there are tens of thousands of such small cast-iron bombs inside. "Andric explained as he handed Arthur a small bomb less than five centimeters in length.

"Are these small bombs going to explode again after they hit the ground to cause damage?" Arthur asked with some interest.

If this is the principle, then the principle of this bomb is similar to that of a cluster bomb. By packaging small bombs inside a large bomb, a large-scale bombing effect can be achieved.

"No, Your Majesty." Andric was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook his head and said, "These cast iron bombs are solid and do not have any gunpowder inside.

The large bombs on the outside will explode in the air, and the tens of thousands of small cast iron bombs loaded inside will be dispersed in a relatively dense manner, falling toward the land below at a speed of more than 500 kilometers per hour.

Combined with the weight of these cast iron bombs and the acceleration after the bomb explodes, according to our analysis, these solid cast iron bombs can penetrate up to 3 mm of steel plates, causing an extremely effective killer to the enemy. "

"Of course, your Majesty's proposal is also a good idea. Thank you for reminding me. I will also study such bombs and try to create more weapons that can cause damage to the enemy." Andric added quickly.

Understanding that Andric's addition was because he was afraid of being angry, Arthur smiled and nodded and said: "Weapon research and development still depends on experts like you, and what I said is just some of my own ideas.

Of course, no matter what kind of idea it is, as long as it can develop sufficiently good weapons, it is correct and beneficial to the country. "

Immediately afterwards, Arthur looked at the so-called raindrop bomb and asked curiously: "Have you actually tested the power of this bomb?"

"Not yet, Your Majesty." Andric shook his head and explained: "The Royal Ordnance Factory does not have a large experimental site. We are worried that tens of thousands of small bombs will cause unnecessary casualties if they are too scattered, so for the time being. No actual testing was done.”

Arthur nodded, quite satisfied with the caution of the Royal Arsenal.

The Royal Ordnance Factory has specific research laboratories in Sydney and Fort St. Arthur, and branch factories have even spread across major regions of Australasia. It is the largest arsenal in Australasia and the largest partner of weapons and equipment in the entire empire. .

Arthur had no idea how big the Royal Arsenal was, because as early as World War I, the Royal Arsenal already had more than 100,000 employees, and its weapons production had reached a terrifying figure.

"Then let's test it together later. I'm very curious about the power of these weapons. I hope they can bring me good news." Arthur nodded and said with a smile.

Andric nodded and continued to introduce to Arthur: "Your Majesty, please see, the second type of anti-personnel weapon we have developed and manufactured is a new improved bullet.

The bullets of the new bullets are sharper and thinner, which affects the range of the weapon, but beyond the range, the bullets will be more lethal.

After the warhead hits the enemy, it will not cause the penetration damage of a normal bullet, but will quickly flip inside the enemy's body.

As a result, the damage caused by the new bullet is simply incomparable to that of ordinary bullets. If used in close-range firefights, such bullets will become the enemy's nightmare. Once hit, it will be a serious injury. Without timely treatment, it is basically impossible to survive. "

Arthur nodded and looked at the bullet shown by Andrick.

Compared with normal bullets, the bullet of this bullet is sharper and the material of the bullet is obviously different.

"Because the bullet is relatively thin, after hitting the enemy, the bullet may break into many small pieces. According to our simulation experiment, as long as the area below the enemy's neck and above the legs is hit, no matter where it is hit, it is basically a fatal injury. "Andrick explained with a smile.

Although the distance has been reduced to a certain extent, the effect of such bullets on the front battlefield is absolutely unquestionable.

You know, no matter which country the soldiers are from, they cannot guarantee their hit rate on the battlefield.

This also means that it is difficult to cause casualties with ordinary bullets alone. Even if ordinary bullets can hit the enemy, if the hit place is not a vital part, it is basically a serious injury or less.

But the new bullets developed by Andrick are different. Because of various characteristics, as long as the new bullets hit the enemy's body, it will at least result in serious injuries.

As long as you face serious injuries, it is impossible to recover combat effectiveness in a short period of time. Even if you don't get timely rescue, the soldiers hit by bullets are likely to be too seriously injured. Died on the way.

In this way, Arthur achieved his goal of effectively killing the living forces of European countries. Although it is indeed a bit cruel to do so, in the face of national interests, one must be ruthless.

At present, there are only two types of new ammunition developed by the Royal Arsenal, but Arthur is quite satisfied with the research and development progress of the Royal Arsenal.

In particular, the idea of ​​the first bomb introduced by Andrick, with a little improvement, can produce a weapon similar to a cluster bomb, which is equivalent to three new types of ammunition.

As long as it can be confirmed in the test that these weapons do have very effective lethality, Australasia can build a large number of these bombs and ammunition and put them into the next battle.

Thinking of this, Arthur is also looking forward to the actual test results of these two types of ammunition. Looking at Andrick, Arthur ordered: "Since there are already two new types of ammunition, why not start testing today.

I remember that there is a desert area to the east of Lake Eyre, which is a more suitable test site, and you can also take a look at the changes in the local climate and environment since the construction of the Lake Eyre Canal. "

The construction of the Lake Eyre Canal began in early 1929 and was completed at the end of 1933, taking nearly five years.

Such a large project at the time invested huge manpower, financial resources and material resources, and it was also a construction project that the whole country was looking forward to.

Time has passed, and it has been more than three years since the canal was built.

Speaking of which, because of his busy schedule, Arthur has not been to the vicinity of the Lake Eyre Canal to see the changes brought about by the canal for nearly three years.

Taking advantage of this weapons test, it is also a good opportunity for Arthur to see whether the project he advocated is effective.

After hearing Arthur's instructions Andrick and the military leaders would naturally have no objection.

Carrying several new bombs and hundreds of new bullets from the Royal Arsenal, the group marched from the Royal Arsenal to the desert east of the Lake Eyre Canal.

This desert is located in the easternmost part of South Australia, and further east is the scope of the National Capital District.

It can also be seen from the geographic environment plan of Australasia that this desert is located exactly on the dividing line of the Geographic Environment Improvement Department.

What does it mean?

According to the plan of the Geographic Environment Improvement Department, the desert of the Australian continent will be divided from this dividing line. The large area to the east is the scope of geographical improvement, and eventually The goal is to restore it to a vast plain.

The deserts and wastelands to the west are currently not capable of being managed. Even if there is the ability to manage these deserts and wastelands, it will require a lot of manpower and financial resources, which is not worth the cost for Australasia now.

There is no way around it. Although Australia has extremely developed mineral resource reserves and a vast land area, it also has large areas of deserts and plains that are constantly desertifying.

If Australia did not have these shortcomings, this area would be too perfect. Even Queen Victoria would not have given this area to Arthur so easily.

You know, the British mainland is very beautiful. The total area of ​​Australia is only about 315,000 square kilometers, which is only above average in Europe.

The total area of ​​Australia alone is more than 7 million square kilometers, which is more than 20 times that of the UK.

If there were no desertification and a large amount of desert, and the disadvantages of small habitable area, I am afraid that in the eyes of the British, this would be the second India.

In fact, even if the vast deserts and desert areas are removed, Australia still has millions of square kilometers of habitable areas.

In particular, after the Australasian government vigorously developed the capital special district and the Murray River Basin Plain, the ecology of the Murray River Basin has been significantly improved.

This not only adds millions of square kilometers of habitable land to Australia, but also makes this land more potential to become a continent on its own.

It is no exaggeration to say that if we only count the habitable area in Australia, it can accommodate at least hundreds of millions of people, and it is still in a relatively scattered and sparse state.

If the Lake Eyre Canal really helps the environment around Lake Eyre, then the Great Artesian Basin is likely to be revitalized, and Australia will have millions of square kilometers of habitable land again.

As for the great deserts in the west and the middle, there is no need to manage them. After all, with these extra lands alone, the total area is close to one-third of Europe.

Fort St. Arthur is located at the junction of the Murray River and the Darling River. Because of Australasia's environmental management, the flow of the Murray River has far exceeded before, and the ecology along the river is also green.

In order to reach the desert as soon as possible, Arthur mobilized two

Sop-34 transport planes to carry everyone and two types of weapons and ammunition to the desert.

Although there is no military airport in the desert, it is only a few dozen kilometers away from the Lake Eyre Canal, so it is possible to land at the airport around the Lake Eyre Canal and then take a car to go there.

It took more than an hour for Arthur and his party to successfully arrive at the airport around the Lake Eyre Canal.

While still flying in the sky, Arthur had already observed the situation around Lake Eyre.

As early as the last time he came, the area around Lake Eyre was still an endless khaki color. In addition to the sparse bushes, there were few forests and other plants.

But in less than four years, the ecological environment around Lake Eyre has improved a lot.

Trees of varying sizes have been planted around, and the two rivers leading to the vicinity of Lake Eyre have regained river water, although they were backflowed by Lake Eyre.

When building the Lake Eyre Canal, Arthur had already known that seawater could not be used for irrigation. In addition, the extremely high salt content in seawater has caused the salt content of Lake Eyre, which was originally a saltwater lake, to become even more exaggerated.

In order to protect the ecological environment around Lake Eyre, the salt in the pot needs to be cleaned every once in a while.

Although this will also cost manpower and financial resources, compared with turning this area into a complete desert or even desertification, such a small cost can be ignored.

According to the current management of the geographical environment around Lake Eyre, it is not an exaggeration to say that the area within more than ten kilometers has basically become a habitable land.

Although there are few normal plants growing in places closer to Lake Eyre due to the high salt content, the geographical environment has recovered in places farther away due to water infiltration.

The two rivers where the lake water flows back happen to become two dividing lines, protecting the entire capital special zone from desertification.

From this feature alone, the construction of the Lake Eyre Canal is not a loss. Looking at the improvement of the surrounding ecology by the backflow of seawater, it has been basically determined that the Lake Eyre Canal will be the most important construction since the founding of Australasia.