The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 92: Italian Cannon? (Seeking Subscriptions!)

Translator: 549690339 |

When this gift was placed in Arthur’s Manor House by dozens of indigenous people, Arthur himself was in a state of surprise.

Who could have expected that the Kingdom of the Netherlands would present Arthur with such a gift? The long cannon barrel clearly indicated that it was a cannon, but which one remained unknown.

The guards were instructed to remove the red cloth, revealing a cannon in front of everyone.

It was clear that this was a brand new cannon, not even used before.

Next to it, there were ten boxes of shells, half of which being slightly larger than the other half.

The caliber of the firearm was not large. Although the exact number could not be determined by the naked eye, it was confirmed to be within 100 millimeters.

The question was, why would the Netherlands send a cannon to Arthur? A national-level gift would not be an ordinary cannon; it should be something classified as an important weapon.

But with the current level of military industry in the Netherlands, could they manufacture world-class cannons?

Arthur felt strange as he stared at the increasingly familiar cannon. He finally remembered that it was an Italian cannon, the M1897 type 75mm field gun.

In later generations, this cannon became famous due to a classic TV series and a line where it was called the battalion’s Italian cannon.

More precisely, the famous Italian cannon in later generations was the nickname given to the M1897 type 75mm field gun after it was introduced and imitated in the East.

In fact, the M1897 type 75mm field gun was produced in France and had nothing to do with Italy.

It had a prestigious name in France: French 75 Miss.

Its fame was due to the use of a recoil device, which greatly increased the firing rate of the cannon, reaching a terrifying speed of at least 15 rounds per minute, regarded as the beginning of rapid-firing guns.

What did this mean?

By the time other cannons fired their first round and were reloading, Miss French 75 had already fired its second round.

And by the time other cannons had finished reloading, the third round from Miss French 75 had already been fired.

Just in terms of firepower coverage, it proved the power of Miss French 75 in firepower.

In fact, as a result of this, it not only became the main cannon of the French Army during World War I but was also widely used in World War II, including in Germany, Poland, Britain, and the United States, and even in some Eastern countries, where the cannon was deployed on a large scale.

Although Arthur’s Arms Factory also had automatic cannon technology, it was only applied to 37mm small caliber cannons.

For larger caliber cannons, they could not implement automatic modifications. Therefore, this French Miss was crucial for Australia.

If the technology were studied thoroughly, not only could mass imitation and production be achieved, but their own automatic cannon technology could also be improved and applied to experiments with even larger-caliber automatic cannons.

After identifying the cannon, Arthur did not hesitate to immediately summon all the experts from the military factory and ordered the guards to strictly protect the cannon.

It was an item that could revolutionize Australia’s artillery industry, and Arthur had to take it seriously.

Soon, a group of experts from the military factory arrived, accompanied by some German military industry experts.

In order to maintain secrecy, the experts were told that there was a cannon that needed their research, without specifying which one.

However, it still caught the attention of the German experts, and there was no reason to drive them away; they could only be allowed to join silently.

Arthur looked at the German experts who had come along and was somewhat taken aback, but did not say anything.

Due to the presence of the M1897 type cannon, the French changed the traditional cannon positions from six cannons to four.

The German Army firmly believed that six cannons were the most powerful in terms of firepower, and any damage to a cannon would not affect the firepower of the entire position.

The Germans arrogantly regarded the French change as foolish, and suffered heavy losses during World War I as a result.

It was a good thing to make the Germans understand the power of this cannon early on. It could not only greatly improve the relationship between Germany and Australia, but also make the future World Wars more fierce, with heavier losses for Europe.

Especially when considering the United States’ actions in the war, they acted as arms dealers in the early stages and earned money by lending it back to European countries.

They decisively joined later, gaining the maximum profit with minimal losses, establishing their power base after the war.

It was also good to slightly increase Germany’s strength, at least creating a greater chance for Australia to rise after the future wars when everyone else would be weakened.

After saluting Arthur, the experts immediately began observing the cannon.

At first, the German experts seemed relaxed because they were confident in their world-class artillery technology, and believed they could master most of the technology.

However, after careful study of the cannon, they found that some devices looked quite unfamiliar, and the German experts did not know what these devices were for.

On the other hand, the Australian experts, being familiar with recoil devices, could see some things about automatic cannon technology, even though the technology used was different.

“Your Highness, is this a semi-automatic cannon?” Finally, an Australian expert could not help but ask.

Australia had only mastered semi-automatic technology for 37mm small caliber cannons, and now, looking at the larger caliber semi-automatic cannon before them, the experts’ mouths watered.

“Yes. How long will it take for the military factory to research and replicate it?” Arthur asked indifferently.

“That might take some time, Your Highness. At least a year, conservatively. And we will need to disassemble it for a detailed study,” the Australian expert frowned, thought for a while, then replied.

“Wait, Duke, what do you mean by a semi-automatic cannon?” The German experts were puzzled, weren’t they supposed to be the stars of the show?

They felt that Arthur and the Australian personnel seemed to know more than they did. They were familiar with the automation of rifles, but what was semi-automatic cannon technology?

It wasn’t these German experts’ fault. In the field of artillery, France and Germany had taken two opposite approaches.

Germany’s Culver cannons were more focused on large-caliber and powerful cannons, with calibers as exaggerated as over 300 millimeters.

But France was different. French rapid-firing artillery technology was far ahead, with French 75 Miss being one of its outstanding products.

The difference in design concepts also led to disparate finished products. In terms of large-caliber, powerful cannons, Germany was definitely unrivaled.

But when it came to automatic cannon technology, German experts might not know as much as the Australian experts.