Rise of the Argentine Empire

La Plata is the capital of Buenos Aires Province. The name Argentina also originates from La Plata.

Departing from Orán, we took a passenger ship along the Bermejo River, then the Paraná River, heading straight down for over 2000 kilometers by water, passing through dozens of cities and towns of various sizes, and enjoying the scenery of Argentina along the way.

The journey took a full two days and two nights. We also stopped in Rosario for a while, where I communicated with Lucien and experienced the feeling of being a Godfather.

Before and after Santa Fe, the scenery along this Argentine mother river is completely different.

Before Santa Fe, you can see the most backward and impoverished aspects of Argentina, the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, the wild northern customs, and the perfect natural scenery.

You can see Argentine farmers and herdsmen, Indians, grasslands, forests, and even the more backward Paraguay, the despair and pain after the war, and the numb Paraguayans.

After Santa Fe, it is the essence of Argentina, a region equivalent to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in New China, with industrial cities and factories scattered throughout.

Nine important Argentine cities are strung together like pearls on a necklace.

The Paraná River is also a boundary river.

The south bank is Argentina, and the north bank is Uruguay.

Uruguay is a country that split from Argentina. Originally, the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata before the Argentine unification war were divided into four countries.

These are Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In comparison, Uruguay and Argentina are more similar, except that Uruguay now has better national fortune, while Argentina's is a bit worse. Uruguay is also a buffer zone between Argentina and Brazil.

San Jose holds a rather regretful attitude towards the separation of Uruguay. The flags of the two countries are very similar, and the entire population of Uruguay is now less than two million, making it quite sparsely populated.

San Jose stood on the boat, enjoying the cool breeze, his mind once again filled with thoughts.

When playing the game, the South American power, La Plata, was a combination of three countries. Unfortunately, in this world, Argentina has declined terribly, from World War I to the economic depression that swept Europe and the United States.

Then, during World War II, Argentina flirted with the Axis powers. Although it later joined the Allied forces, it also caused Argentina's status to decline significantly.

Argentina's national fortune has been bad since World War II. Even though the past few years have seen good economic development, the current debt problems, treasury issues, printing press issues, corruption problems, and alignment issues,

are causing him to constantly lose popular support. In a few months, the death of Eva Perón will cause him to lose even more popular support.

He has even gone too far in planning to open the market to American capital, which will lead to the domestic economy being controlled by American capital. It can be said that it is a path to chaos.

And Perón's unsuccessful reforms and political ambitions have not fundamentally changed Argentina into a healthy country.

From the remote provinces, San Jose saw the powerful families, the traditional ruling forces under the guise of family, the singing and dancing, and the poverty and backwardness, represented by the Barrosa family.

In Córdoba, he saw the integration of political, military, family, and religious power. This largest local power conglomerate outside the capital provided fertile ground and raw materials for the military government in the decades to come.

If history does not change, in four years, the Perón government will be overthrown, ending his rule. This is also a pity, as Perón still did a lot of practical things. However, the subsequent thirty years of military government rule will completely bury Argentina's national fortune, the last chance for a major country to rise.

The thirty years after 50 years later are also crucial for the development of countries around the world, until the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the banner of the world gradually shifting to the East.

Having lost these thirty years, at least in the next hundred years, unless a strong man appears to rebuild Argentina and carry out a thorough bloody revolution, Argentina will never have another chance to rise. The United States and Brazil are the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

San Jose himself also has some imprints of the Córdoba faction. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

He is also considering whether it is necessary to extend the life of the Perón government. After all, these military governments are even more useless than Perón.

This is an era of comparing who is worse. Although Perón is preparing to sell out national interests, in comparison, Argentina under the Perón government is still a major South American country that can have a say.

The main thing is time. San Jose lacks time too much. The things he has done in the past year or so are all paving the way for usurping the highest power in Argentina, but his foundation is too shallow. Even now, no one nominally truly supports him.

Even Mayor Cavo and Commander Thompson need more time.

And defecting to the new future military government? This choice does not seem very good either. At the very least, he cannot afford the great cleansing.

In fact, he feels that Perón is at least somewhat capable. His overthrow is both accidental and inevitable. Perón's ruling foundation has begun to be eroded.

This is the drawback of an elected president. The ruling foundation is too shallow. Perón came to power through votes. He has not even held a position in a province. From a soldier, he was directly elected as the President of Argentina, and then forcibly amended the constitution to successfully win re-election.

His Peronist Justicialist Party is just a simple toy he put together, without cohesion, without combat effectiveness, and not even a complete political party. It is a patchwork, a typical children's game.

Moreover, Perón's influence in the military is very limited. His relationship with the military system is average, especially with the local military system. He is not a real military leader. It can only be said that he appeared out of nowhere, like Comrade Obama in later generations.

In the capital, he saw false prosperity, chaos, and hidden crises.

I wonder what I will see in La Plata.

I don't know if there will be other forces in the capital of this largest province in Argentina. Under the prosperous age, it is like a pile of eggs.

Finally arrived at the Port of La Plata.

September 3, 7:00 AM. Leaving the mouth of the Paraná River, San Jose saw Buenos Aires in the morning light. Looking into the distance, it is truly a beautiful city.

Continue straight down the river.

"Attention, all passengers, please note that this is Buenos Aires. The next stop is La Plata. In about 1 hour, we will arrive at the terminal station of the passenger ship."

With the broadcast sound of the steamship, it set sail again. San Jose walked out of the bow and saw the ship slowly leaving the shore by more than twenty meters, sailing again.

La Plata is 57 kilometers from the capital, Buenos Aires, with a current population of less than 400,000. It is the capital of Buenos Aires Province.

Founded in 1882, La Plata has a beautiful environment and a mild climate, with an average temperature of 9°C in winter and 21°C in summer.

La Plata is located on the south bank of the Río de la Plata estuary and has a well-equipped port, which is the main export port for local agricultural and livestock products, with the second-highest throughput in the country.

It is an important industrial center in Argentina, but its status is completely incomparable to that of the capital.

The city was built in 1882 on the basis of the town of Ensenada and was chosen as the provincial capital.

"Cohen, La Plata is one of the three major seaports in the country, second only to Buenos Aires. The environment is quite beautiful, and overall it is much better than Buenos Aires. There are still very few factories here, and the industry is mainly focused on meat processing, flour, and oil refining."

Speaking was Eiffel, a teacher at the University of La Plata and the chief designer of Morado Town. He was also acting as a consultant this time to earn some extra money, since it was on the way.

"Does the Argentine Oil Company have an office here? I've had many discussions with them in Maria Town, and they even helped Maria Town open up natural gas."

"There are oil companies, but I don't know much about them. I'm more concerned about architectural planning. Our La Plata is very beautifully planned, and the founder of our architecture department was once responsible for this aspect of planning."

"La Plata is square and well-connected in all directions, but it's a pity that it's developing too fast. But it's always more systematic than the capital. The future Morado Town will also be the most beautiful city on the plateau."

Eiffel said proudly. He was very proud of Morado Town. The University of La Plata, famous throughout Latin America, has cultivated generations of outstanding talents.

The University of La Plata is one of the most famous universities in Latin America, and together with the University of Buenos Aires and the National Technological University, it forms the Argentine Big Three.

"The transportation conditions here are very good. There is indeed an opportunity to build a super steel plant. The port conditions are too good, a top-notch super port, and all kinds of equipment are very complete."

The speaker was Sedek Lloyd, a metallurgical expert and special consultant hired by Saint-Jesse. He was originally the owner of a copper wire factory and brought the topic to the steel plant, which is the next step's goal.

Saint-Jesse was in a great mood today. It must be said that the situation in northern Argentina is very depressing, even though the scenery in the north is also very good.

Now that he has arrived at the vast estuary, with seagulls flying by from time to time, and the buildings in the distance looming, some Gothic architecture and Renaissance styles are beginning to appear.

His mood also became cheerful and open, and those difficulties were nothing.

He felt like he was surveying his domain.

"La Plata's conditions are still good. Although our country is very short of coal and iron ore, Brazil and Australia have a lot of raw materials. Now is an era of internationalization, so don't limit your horizons to just the domestic market."

Sedek leaned on the railing, pointed to the port in the distance, and said seriously:

"Yes, boss, a great steel plant requires massive investment, and the La Plata Steel Rolling Mill is a very good shell. It can also obtain talent from the capital nearby."

"If the conditions are right and the price is acceptable, our Thunder Mining will buy it and establish a La Plata Steel Plant in the future."

"This will be a new starting point for our Thunder Mining."

Only companies with some strength can participate in this auction. In fact, Rhein Machinery Factory is the most suitable to participate.

But currently, Rhein Machinery is preparing for the preliminary matters of the Ministry of Defense order, and cannot spare manpower. The strong Thunder Mining is the new choice.

Even if it is bought, Saint-Jesse will personally send someone to manage it. It will not become a subsidiary of Thunder Mining. There will be cooperation in buying mines in the future.

The group got off the passenger ship and saw the quiet La Plata. To be honest, such scenery is too suitable for leisure. The temperature is neither high nor low, the breeze is just right, and the sun is warm.

"No wonder Argentines in the future choose to lie flat, at least it's really comfortable."

Saint-Jesse said silently in his heart.

"The temperature is just right today, very suitable for fishing or something, boss, do you want me to arrange it for you?"

"Cohen, I also know a very good fishing ground, very suitable for fishing."

The two went to the fishing ground arm in arm. Saint-Jesse shook his head. There are still two days before the auction starts. It's just right to do some information gathering. Falcon Intelligence Agency will also set up an intelligence station here. The number of people will not be too many, and the main personnel are still in Buenos Aires.

After Guerrero completes the handover of the Potassium Triangle work, he will be stationed in Buenos Aires and establish a real intelligence system.

… …

Saint-Jesse found a place to live, just in the city center.

Argentina currently has three large steel plants, namely the Buenos Aires Steel Plant, with an annual output of 110,000 tons,

There is also the Belleville Steel Plant in Rosario, with an annual output of 80,000 tons. This is the factory that Saint-Jesse's Plari factory has cooperated with. The quality is average and can only make small things like bottle caps and can lids. Now it mainly cooperates with soda and beer factories.

The third is the Argentine National Steel Plant, with an annual output of 100,000 tons, which is very poor. It has the largest number of employees, and strikes occur from time to time. The technical conditions are relatively good, but unfortunately the union is too poor.

These three factories account for more than 90% of the domestic output. If there is not enough domestic steel, it is imported from abroad, spending valuable foreign exchange. Even Saint-Jesse has to buy steel from Brazil to produce pistols.

The La Plata Steel Rolling Mill is a medium-sized factory specializing in steel rolling and the production of construction steel. The annual processing capacity reaches 200,000 tons, but the operating capacity is less than 70,000 tons.

It is currently unsustainable. It used to be the largest steel rolling mill in the country, but now it is close to bankruptcy and is preparing for auction. This can be regarded as a footnote to Argentina's continuous decline this year. Even if Peron launched the ambitious Second Five-Year Plan, it is a pity that there is no money.

This time, the La Plata Steel Rolling Mill is a product of Argentina's "overcapacity". La Plata's finances and the domestic steel market cannot meet the needs, and bankruptcy is the best choice. It can also take the opportunity to get rid of the union organization, killing three birds with one stone.

The financially weak La Plata, these small and medium-sized factories also have parades, strikes, and market strikes every day, making a lot of noise, and then they are ready to go bankrupt. Factories like Sean Glass Factory and La Plata Steel Rolling Mill, which are close to bankruptcy, are becoming more and more numerous.

Endless union activities not only disrupt factory production, but also reduce production efficiency. High wages and high welfare also make these factories overwhelmed.

Anyway, the factory's bankruptcy is none of their business, but if they keep doing this, something will happen sooner or later. There are originally few Argentine state-owned enterprises, and they were acquired and confiscated from foreign capital a few years ago. For example, the telephone company is still strangled by foreigners.

The bankruptcy of state-owned factories also indirectly weakens the presidential palace's economic control. It can be said that it is a chain reaction before failure.

"If the conditions are right, we can consider acquiring it. If it is not suitable, then just buy the land and build our own steel plant. For the first phase, let's set a small target of 1 million tons. Two years is not too much or too little. If we can buy used equipment from Western European countries, that would be even better."

1 million tons is just enough. A 10 million ton target is too ambitious and will drag down the capital chain. We need to raise more funds as soon as possible. We are spending too much money now, so we need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.