Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Visiting the Military Factory

In fact, as those military industry experts expected, Arthur’s rewards were very generous, and each of them received a check for 2000 pounds.

Although this included outstanding talents and researchers like the German experts, their salaries were also very generous, with annual incomes reaching several hundred or even thousands of pounds.

But that doesn’t mean they didn’t like money, especially when it was several years’ salary for nothing.

For the Australian military experts, it goes without saying that despite many of them coming from the United Kingdom to Australia, their salaries were not very high, with an average income of just over 300 pounds. For them, the 2000-pound check was equivalent to six or seven years’ worth of income.

In fact, Arthur didn’t have to give so much. He could have given different bonuses to the German experts and the Australian military experts.

However, Arthur did not do so. For one, a 2000-pound cheque for each person was not too much; even with all the Australian military experts, the cost of the rewards would not exceed 100,000 pounds.

Secondly, both the German experts and the Australian experts had put in a great deal of effort and hard work in imitating the M1897 automatic cannon. Arthur could not possibly distinguish between them.

Moreover, these German military experts would return to Germany once the aid treaty’s stipulated time had passed. Only a handful would continue to work in Australia, or perhaps none at all.

But these Australian experts were different. After coming to Australia from the United Kingdom, they could be considered true Australians.

They served Arthur and Australia, and were the future hope for the rise of the Australian military industry.

Making them satisfied and winning their loyalty were what Arthur really wanted to get. After the departure of the German military experts, these Australian experts would become the true pillars of the Australian military industry.

What Arthur had high hopes for now was that these Australian experts would learn something from the German experts.

If they could learn some of the essence of the German military industry field from the German experts, the Australian military industry would have a chance to rise.

After the relatively pleasant distribution of checks, Arthur and the military industry experts came to the military factory to observe the manufacturing process of the imitated M1897 automatic cannon, and also to see the simple production line created by the military industry experts.

“So does this mean we have completely mastered the imitation technology of this cannon? Have we completely researched and mastered both its design principles and construction techniques?” After listening to the experts’ various introductions, Arthur asked after a long time.

“At present, yes, Your Highness. By dismantling and studying the firearm and its ammunition, we have basically mastered the design principles and construction process of the firearm. The two imitated firearms were built on a one-to-one basis. It is precisely because of this that the imitation firearm can achieve a rate of fire just like the original firearm, with virtually no difference.” The German expert nodded and answered.

Arthur turned his gaze to the Australian expert, and after receiving a definite answer from the Australian expert, he continued to ask, “How about the production speed of this production line now? How long does it take to produce a firearm?”

Since the principles and construction techniques have been completely mastered, and experiments have been conducted on the imitated firearms to ensure that there are no problems with their firepower output and stability, the next step is to mass-produce them and arm the troops.

The M1897 automatic artillery is currently one of the most powerful firearms and a crystallization of French artillery science and technology.

Arthur would be happy to see it equipping the troops earlier, especially at this critical juncture of the Australian army’s recent reorganization.

“Your Highness, the current production method requires a lot of manual labor, and even a large number of experts need to be involved. This greatly reduces the efficiency of firearm production. To produce these two firearms, we used more than ten experts, and it took nearly a week under these circumstances.” The German expert explained.

“Therefore, to mass-produce firearms, we have to wait until a complete firearm production line is set up. This will not take too long, but it will take at least about a month.”

After hearing the German expert’s explanation, Arthur nodded, expressing his understanding.

“Is there room for improvement in this firearm now? Can this semi-automatic technology be applied to other firearms?” Arthur asked curiously.

The French were at the forefront of the world in automatic artillery technology. Even with many of the military experts in Arthur’s arms factory coming from Britain, the most advanced automatic artillery technology they had was the 37mm CA-i machine gun.

Although this small-caliber automatic artillery had a very fast firing rate, with a terrifying maximum of sixty rounds per minute or one shell per second,

it also had a significant drawback, which was that it was only suitable for attacking facilities and troops with simple protection and was not suitable for capturing fortress cities and fortresses.

This type of machine gun usually served two important purposes: in addition to being used for defensive trench warfare, it was also used to be mounted on as- yet-unborn aircraft to enhance aerial firepower.

Arthur’s intention was just that, to mount small-caliber machine guns on bombers to become the nightmare of ground troops.

The real battlefield weapons that could be equipped with troops were medium and large-caliber firearms.

Large-caliber firearms were not only suitable for defensive trench warfare but also for capture and plunder.

Perhaps only large-caliber howitzers could deal with solid shields like fortresses.

If automatic firearm technology could be applied to medium and even large- caliber firearms, it would be a huge improvement for their firepower and could be used to build more powerful artillery units with fewer firearms.

Just imagine if large-caliber firearms could use automatic firearm technology, ten giant firearms firing ten rounds a minute would be enough to have the power of dozens of large-caliber firearms firing together.

Not only could they use fewer artillery units to exert more powerful firepower suppression, but they would also wreak havoc on the enemy’s morale and faith.

Now, with the high cost of every firearm, using fewer firearms to exert more powerful firepower would also be a relief for the finance department.

The saved military spending could be used in other areas, and the purchase of more equipment could further enhance the combat effectiveness and morale of the troops.