Chapter 268: Chapter 242: Expansion of Assets_3

This scene actually appeared in the historical World War II, where the Polish cavalry performed well in World War I, causing the Polish people to have great faith in their cavalry.

Only when their cavalry faced the Germans’ tanks, did they realize how fragile life was in the face of technology.

Previously, the military factory had expanded considerably due to the two wars and had officially entered a profitable state.

At present, Australasia has gained some reputation in East Asia and South Asia, and weapons produced by Australasia have gradually been exported to these regions.

Of course, the bulk of weapon sales each year are still to Russia and Australasia.

Russia’s Far East army purely due to its logistical transport problems, coupled with the fact that Australasia’s German-made weapons are indeed good quality, and there is no need to have any involvement with Russia, so the arms trade with Russia has never been cut off.

While Australasia does not need too many weapons domestically, the consumption of various ammunition and shells is impressive.

In addition to the army expansion this time, these orders are enough for the armament factory to produce for a while.

The military factory and the shipyard, which had previously devoured a lot of money, have now become huge profits.

The profitability of the shipyard is no secret, with just the orders from Russia netting the shipyard nearly one million pounds, and Australasia’s own orders also expanding the scale of the shipyard and never stopping construction of the various facilities.

Of course, among Arthur’s assets, the most profitable is still Benz Automobile.

Although Arthur hadn’t cared about the car factory’s income for a long time, the car factory’s monthly income was still being transferred to the Royal Bank on time and reviewed by Butler Kent.

Not knowing is not a problem, but once Arthur found out, he was genuinely taken aback.

Although Benz car sales were not as exaggerated as at the beginning of sales, it had entered a stable phase.

Moreover, at present, no car manufacturer in the world can compete with the Benz car factory, even the historically Ford car factory can’t.

So far, the Benz One has only been on sale for just over four years and has sold over 2 million cars.

Although Australasia’s factories produce only one-sixth of the total, that is still a pure profit of 20 million pounds.

Not to mention the other factory divisions, plus the pure American factory income, in just over four years, Benz cars have brought Arthur an income of 76,210,000 pounds, which converged into Australian dollars amounts to even £152,420,000.

Keep in mind that Australasia’s shipbuilding plan, which would allow Australasia’s navy to reach the top ten in the world, also has a budget of 20 million Australian dollars.

This 150 million and change in Australian dollars if all were invested in the navy can build a world-class top three navy without exaggeration.

After all, if calculated at 4 million Australian dollars per dreadnought, these funds can build a total of 37 dreadnoughts.

Historically, the British Empire had only built 29 dreadnoughts from 1906 to 1914, and Germany, which was catching up fast, had only built 17, showing the huge amount of funds.

Of course, real naval investment cannot be calculated this way.

While the cost of building dreadnoughts is real, in order to make warships truly capable, the training of navy soldiers, the maintenance cost of warships in the later period, and repair costs for various problems also entail massive expenditure.

But no matter how you look at it, the 150 million Australian dollars can definitely build a world-class top four navy, and even compete with any other country besides Britain and Germany.

Arthur’s personal property is considered incredibly wealthy compared to a nation.

Currently, Arthur’s personal assets are over 300 million pounds, with £100 million loaned to the government and half of the remaining being real estate, but over £100 million in available funds can still be easily obtained.

Plus, the Royal Financial Group contributes nearly £17,000,000 to Arthur’s after-tax income annually, a frightening rate of making money, even more than the Australasian government.

Arthur’s assets contribute £3,000,000 in annual tax revenue to the Australasian government, and with various economic growth, Australasia’s fiscal revenue this year is even expected to break 30 million Australian dollars.

After field tests, the improved MA-107 Maxim heavy machine gun does indeed perform better in terms of stability and cooling effect compared to the previous MA-96 Maxim machine gun.

In addition, the new machine gun has a lighter weight, making it even more suitable for equipping troops.

Therefore, under Arthur’s witness, the military and military factory signed an order, trying to replace all heavy machine guns in the army with new ones within two years.

As for the old Maxim heavy machine guns that were replaced, they can be sold to other countries and regions at a lower price.

After all, although the MA-96 Maxim machine gun is considered outdated for Australasia, in the eyes of some Asian countries, it is still a powerful, unprecedented heavy weapon that is worth purchasing and equipping for their national military.

Australasian-made weapons have quality assurance, and Arthur doesn’t have to worry about a lack of buyers.

At least within Asia’s scope, besides Russia, there are still three or four countries interested in Australasian weapons.

Especially the Qing Empire, which after the last exchange of studying with Australasia, has become one of the countries seeking to purchase Australasian weapons.

Despite being a rather backward country, they never lacked money when it came to a pinch.

Additions to other small and medium-sized countries in East Asia and South Asia, Arthur believes that the replaced heavy machine guns will be sold quickly.

Fortunately, the improvement of the machine gun was timely, allowing it to be equipped before the formal expansion of the army. Otherwise, if the replacement were to take place after the military was fully equipped, it would have to replace hundreds of additional heavy machine guns – a considerable loss.