Chapter 304: Inspection of Stadium Construction
In December 1911, with the approaching year of 1912, Arthur once again visited the National Stadium to inspect the progress of its construction.
After two years of construction, the National Stadium was already more than half complete, with only some finishing touches remaining.
During this time, the Australasian Olympic organizing committee received applications from 20 countries around the world, expressing their intention to participate in the upcoming games.
Compared to the previous London Olympics, this time there were some modifications to the previous regulations. Each country could send a maximum of seven athletes per event, with three being the recommended number.
Additionally, some innovative technologies, such as electronic timing and photo finish equipment, would be incorporated into the games to ensure more accurate timing and resolve ranking disputes more effectively.
More importantly, due to the increased precision in timing, now accurate to one-tenth of a second, and the significant funds Arthur had invested, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that they would record the athletes' results at the Olympics and establish world records based on these performances.
This meant that the outstanding results of the Sydney Olympics would directly become world records.
This news excited many athletes who were eager to bring honor to their countries and gain personal recognition, making the Sydney Olympics a hot topic worldwide.
The medals for this Olympic Games were already prepared, made of gold and jade. Each medal was valued at no less than 2,000 Australian dollars, which was truly valuable.
Don't underestimate those 2,000 Australian dollars. Based on the exchange rate of one pound being equivalent to 7.33 grams of gold, 2,000 Australian dollars were equivalent to 1,000 pounds, or 7,330 grams of gold.
If we estimate this based on the price of gold in later years, the value of a single medal would exceed three million Australian dollars.
Of course, this calculation is based on the proportional value of gold. Considering inflation and other factors, the value could be even higher.
The silver medals were somewhat less expensive, valued around 600 Australian dollars, a little more than one-third of the gold medal's value.
The bronze medals, awarded to third place, were the least expensive, valued at about 150 Australian dollars, which could only be considered as a modest participation prize.
However, the number of events at the Sydney Olympics was fewer compared to the previous London Olympics.
Following discussions with the IOC, the Sydney Olympics would have just over 40 events, and the games were expected to run from June to July 1912, lasting no more than two months.
Arthur had invested significantly in this Olympic Games, not only in the construction of sports venues and the organization of events, but also in providing round-trip ship tickets for all athletes from participating countries and covering their accommodation and living expenses in Australasia. Furthermore, a professional medical team would be dispatched to ensure the safety of all the athletes.
But the expense was worthwhile. After all, after this Olympic Games, the next one would be held many years later.
Given the tense situation in Europe, Arthur had to hope that the European situation wouldn't deteriorate, so that the Sydney Olympics could be held smoothly and successfully.
It's worth mentioning that although only 20 countries had signed up for the Olympics at this point, the number of athletes had already surpassed 2,000, with Australasia contributing 500 athletes.
These 500 athletes were carefully selected from the training teams and had undergone a period of rigorous training, so they should achieve notable success.
After Australasia's 500 athletes, the second largest delegation was from the United Kingdom, with 293 athletes. The third largest was Norway with 207 athletes, and Sweden followed with 199 athletes.
After these, Finland had 186 athletes, Germany had 185, Russia had 178, and the United States had 174, all being countries with a relatively large number of participants.
Arthur's goal was to raise the number of participating countries to at least 30 before the Olympic Games started.
Additionally, he hoped that the number of athletes participating in the games would exceed 3,000, as the larger the scale, the better the results would be.
The construction of the stadium was expected to be completed before March 1912, which would allow it to be fully operational before the Olympics in June.
The associated hotels, training facilities, and the connecting roads between the stadium and the city were already mostly completed by now.
Arthur toured the hotels prepared for the athletes, the accompanying training facilities, and the roads connecting the stadium to the city. Satisfied with the progress, he concluded his inspection of the stadium's construction.
To date, the construction of the stadium had used up the initial 6 million Australian dollars budget, with an additional 2 million Australian dollars drawn from the reserve budget.
This meant that the total cost of building the stadium had reached 8 million Australian dollars, nearly the equivalent of four dreadnoughts.
However, based on the current progress of the stadium, Arthur felt that the money had been well spent.
If the National Stadium could be used for several decades or even centuries, its historical and cultural significance would far outweigh the current expenditure.
After finishing his inspection of the National Stadium, Arthur promptly headed to the Agricultural Machinery Factory.
This factory housed one of Arthur's most significant projects, one of the weapons that would eventually be central to the Australasian army's equipment.
"Your Majesty!" Outside the Agricultural Machinery Factory, Factory Manager Joel greeted Arthur respectfully and led him to the factory's warehouse.
Inside the warehouse were several newly produced tanks, the first generation of tanks that had been developed after more than a year of experimentation and improvements since the previous tests.
These new tanks had significantly improved stability compared to the first test models.
Although they still had occasional issues, such as the occasional chain malfunction, who cared about such minor problems when these massive machines had armored protection and firepower?
Looking at these brand-new tanks, Arthur nodded in satisfaction and turned to Factory Manager Joel, asking, "Mr. Joel, what is the current production speed of these tanks at the Agricultural Machinery Factory?"
"Your Majesty, producing such a large machine is not easy. If we set up a production line, we can guarantee one tank every four days. If we set up two production lines, we should be able to increase the production speed to one tank every two to three days," Factory Manager Joel replied.
Tank production involves several components such as armor, firearms, chassis, power systems, and tracks, all of which must be tested for practicality and stability.
Moreover, each tank must undergo a testing phase, so the production speed is not very fast, even when based on modifications made to tractors.
Arthur nodded in understanding and instructed, "Set up one production line at the Agricultural Machinery Factory to produce tanks at the rate of one every four days. This production speed is sufficient for now. I hope to have at least 200 tanks by 1914."
Although Australasia was still far from a major war, the role of tanks was not yet critical.
Arthur then turned his gaze back to Factory Manager Joel and asked, "Mr. Joel, based on the current tanks and tractors, do you think it's possible to design a transport vehicle that still provides armor protection but improves the efficiency of our military movements?"
"Or perhaps we could mount large-caliber artillery on tractors to allow for easier mobility. If these ideas can be realized, our weapons arsenal might gain a few new secret weapons," Arthur said with a smile.
"It's possible, Your Majesty. Implementing these ideas isn't difficult, but achieving excellent combat performance will take some time. Our factory is really understaffed, Your Majesty. Could you send more skilled workers and military industry experts to help our factory improve these designs?" Factory Manager Joel asked, looking helpless and pitiful as he pleaded with Arthur.
"While we are producing and researching tractors, we are also tasked with studying military equipment like tanks, so we're indeed short on staff. How about this: I'll allow you to negotiate with military manufacturers to invite some military experts to join the Agricultural Machinery Factory to help bring your designs to life. As for the skilled workers, you can talk to the major technical schools in the country and ask them to send their top graduates to the Agricultural Machinery Factory," Arthur nodded, agreeing to Joel's request.
It was an unavoidable issue. The production of tanks was still a secret, which meant that they could only be researched and produced at a factory like the Agricultural Machinery Factory, which also handled tractor production.
Although the factory was not small, balancing the development of both tractors and tanks with the limited workforce was a challenge.
"Thank you so much, Your Majesty. Please rest assured that I will focus on these weapon concepts and strive to make them a reality as soon as possible," Factory Manager Joel said excitedly.
"The development of the second-generation tank cannot be neglected. The current tank design based on tractors does have some limitations. We need to redesign the tank and continually improve it to create a final tank system. I hope the second generation of tanks will provide me with even more surprises. Perhaps by then, we'll be ready to equip large numbers of tanks," Arthur instructed.
Progress, after all, must always look forward. While the Agricultural Machinery Factory had successfully developed and manufactured the world's first tank by modifying tractors, such success was temporary.
Arthur expected that by the time World War I broke out, Australasia's tanks should be significantly more powerful, and ideally, at least the second generation of tanks would be developed to avoid losing the initiative once the first-generation tanks were exposed.
(End of Chapter)
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