Rise of the Argentine Empire

On September 1st, Saint-Hesse reorganized the Defense Forces again, expanding its scale in the Ahiriqi District of Blanca City. By this point, the La Pampa Defense Forces had taken shape, and the establishment of 5 regiments was basically comparable to the Cordoba Legion.

Currently, the large number of newly added recruits have not yet completed training, and their morale and strength are difficult to match the Cordoba Army and the National Defense Forces. Saint-Hesse did not act rashly and continued to wait for opportunities.

With Saint-Hesse's help, the Neuquén Province and Río Negro Province Defense Forces also expanded to the scale of 2 regiments and 3 regiments respectively. La Pampa Province subsidized them with a large number of light and heavy weapons.

The influence of this event is slowly spreading to Argentina.

Not many people in Argentina, 40,000 miles away, would pay attention to this meeting, and not many people would notice these international details.

Saint-Hesse is the only one in Argentina who closely follows all important matters related to the Five Great Powers, after all, it is in his interest.

The arrogance of Argentinians in national pride has slowly been shattered by the trivialities of life and increasingly frequent military coups. They can't even get enough to eat, so they don't have the leisure to pay attention to international affairs. The level of the newly appointed military dictators is indeed getting worse and worse, and a turbulent period of military rule may be coming.

On the presidential palace side, General Thompson remained firmly in the position of Minister of Defense. He failed to compete with the new President, General Pedro Aramburu. General José remained as Vice President, but the officers of the Belgrano Naval Base were replaced by a new group, and he can now be said to be marginalized. The navy basically has nothing to do with him anymore.

In terms of economy, foreign capital from countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States has increased its economic penetration into Argentina. The economy in most parts of Argentina is sluggish, coupled with the failure to reform the unreasonable drawbacks of Perón's centralized rule, various social chaos occur frequently.

The current military government is probably about to collapse.

The new presidential palace's de-Peronization reform has failed. Aramburu instructed his subordinates to move Evita Perón's remains out of the Labor Federation headquarters, and they have disappeared.

Argentine workers have once again taken to the streets, and the armies of local warlords are constantly suppressing increasingly frequent worker demonstrations.

Workers are in urgent need of work and bread. The Socialist Party and the Republican Party took the opportunity to grow stronger. They demanded that the military officers step down and hold new presidential elections. The Radical Civic Union and the Republican Party also united to fight against the military dictatorship.

The Radical Civic Union, led by Arturo Frondizi, is booming. Arturo approved of a series of social and economic policies implemented by Perón and was officially nominated as the Radical Civic Union's presidential candidate.

After more than a year of recovery and development, the Radical Civic Union has completely surpassed the Justicialist Party to become the largest organization in Argentina. Unfortunately, this did not last long, and the Radical Civic Union is being divided into two parts. Now the internal structure is too large and unstable, absorbing too many old Justicialist Party members.

Saint-Hesse Cohen, the head of the Southern Branch of the Radical Civic Union, a local tycoon, is still regarded as Arturo's direct descendant.

Now the La Pampa Defense Forces are Saint-Hesse's backbone. No other wealth can compare to the strength of the guns in his hands.

The newly Cohen Heavy Industries, which has resumed production, has caught up with good times. Military orders are flying in like paper. The original international smuggling channel system has been revived.

His confidants have a large number of secret distributors and arms dealers in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, the Fertile Crescent, and other places. Since the Bandung Conference, orders have surged, and the newly established military factory has quickly come in handy.

The Blanca City arms factory and tank factory are huge in scale and have advanced equipment, which can well meet the needs of military development.

The profits from the military factory can well supplement the scarce international funds. This trend can at least guarantee a sustained and stable cash flow for at least 3-5 years. This is a huge fortune, and it can also make the future development of New Cohen Heavy Industries and the military factory even brighter.

Although Rhein Military Industries has orders from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Defense's ability to obtain money is a bit unbearable. Not only are they in arrears with payments, but they have also begun to default on wages. Weapons in the warehouse are being resold truckload after truckload. Cronies are being placed in charge of the factory, arbitrarily changing the factory's work processes, and giving random commands. Now the workers all miss the old Rhein era. Rhein Military Industries is very hurt.

This also gave Saint-Hesse more opportunities. These skilled workers are all treasures. Under the operation of interested parties, batches of old employees are scattered and transferred to Blanca City, with a 20% salary increase and free room and board.

The addition of old employees has alleviated the development pressure of New Cohen Heavy Industries, and they have more energy to invest in the Steyr truck project and the bus project.

Saint-Hesse also specially developed a lighter, similarly powerful, and more affordable light weapons export version for his beloved Asia-Africa customers.

New Cohen Heavy Industries developed various weapons with excellent combat performance, decent appearance, more compact structure, smaller size for easier carrying, high reliability, low failure rate, and good shooting accuracy, which made the ANG series weapons of New Rhein Military Industries very popular.

As for why the foreign trade version uses the strange code name ANG, it is also for security considerations. The Asia-Africa region is basically the territory of Britain and France, and the United States and the Soviet Union are now exerting their strength. At the same time, it also establishes a brand advantage, which is different from the previous Rhein-made blank weapons.

Asia-Africa customers are generally not very wealthy. If they think copper is too expensive, then buy our steel-cased bullets. The power is similar, and the price is more than half cheaper, greatly increasing the lethality.

Affected by later generations and cost control, steel-cased bullets were arranged for research and development by Saint-Hesse early on. Copper-clad steel, copper-plated steel, and painted steel were simultaneously developed. Rhein Military Industries' development of steel-cased bullets has always been at the forefront. Maya Chemical helped develop various coating processes, the special steel factory developed various military steel bullet casings, and Philip Machinery improved the stamping process and molds.

The market price of brass in Argentina is about 1,000-1,500 US dollars per ton, heavily dependent on imports, mainly from countries such as Chile. If the production volume is huge, then it will cost huge amounts of foreign exchange. The mining and smelting volume of the El Pachón copper mine is not too large, and it can only barely meet some needs for living and production now.

The market price of steel is about 140-150 US dollars per ton. The original imported steel price, including various miscellaneous expenses, was 200 US dollars. Now, after localization, the cost can be greatly reduced.

The brass used to produce a bullet casing is about 5-10 grams. Producing tens of thousands may not be a big deal, but if it is tens of millions or hundreds of millions, the difference is huge.

Under various aspects such as copper cost, iron cost, manufacturing process, and research and development cost, the cost of copper-cased bullets and steel-cased bullets is still at a level of 3:1 or even higher, which gives a lot of room for activity and operation. Many weapons equipped by New Rhein Heavy Industries have slowly been replaced and converted to steel-cased bullets.

It must be said that this is standing on the shoulders of giants. Many common sense things that are taken for granted in later generations can produce huge economic benefits in Argentina's daily economy and even production activities.

Asia-Africa brothers can't even get enough to eat and have little strength. It doesn't matter if the weapons have a high iron content and are heavier to hold during combat. AUG has various light weapons with more plastic parts.

In terms of production, if the manufacturing process is too cumbersome, then continue to improve and optimize mechanical stamping parts. If the production process is slow, add a production line and open a few more stamping machines.

If the assembly is slow, it doesn't matter. Optimize the production process, reduce unnecessary accessories, and change the stock from wooden to plastic. At the same time, increase the number of workers.

If you can't afford to buy it, there is always a mortgage, right? Gold, diamonds, minerals, mines, and land are all acceptable. Let Plari International receive it and convert it into money, which can be heavily invested in Blanca City to develop more factories.

The lucrative arms business has set sail again, perfectly stimulating the development of Blanca City's military industry. New Cohen Heavy Industries has more suppliers. The development in this area has reduced Saint-Hesse's economic pressure. Raising an army is indeed quite expensive.

Not to mention logistics or anything else, just live ammunition shooting training alone requires each soldier in La Pampa Province to consume about 150 bullets. Basically, 2 million bullets have to be supplied to the La Pampa Defense Forces, not including the bullets generously sponsored to the two younger brothers.

After all, these are recruits. If you don't feed them bullets, it is difficult to form combat effectiveness. Relying solely on various conventional training is not enough.

The Defense Forces are Saint-Hesse's confidence. He is confident in building the La Pampa Province Defense Forces into the most powerful army in Argentina.

High-ranking officials in La Plata even wanted Saint-Hesse to concurrently serve as the Minister of Finance of La Pampa Province, but it was too exaggerated, so it was abandoned. Later, Saint-Hesse recommended his confidant, the head of the Finance Department of Plari International, one of the largest companies in Argentina, to serve as the Minister of Finance, Henira Olsen, providing the greatest convenience for the development of Saint-Hesse and the La Pampa Defense Forces.

This is Saint Hesser's influence in La Pampa Province. He is now the God of Commerce in La Pampa Province. The city of Blanca contributes almost 90% of the tax revenue of La Pampa Province.

The Defense Force is raised by Saint Hesser, but it must also abide by the basic rules of the game. Moreover, the Defense Force is also a regular army, it just needs some time.

Such development seems a bit deformed, but the city of Blanca has no way to retreat, and Saint Hesser has no way to retreat either.

The development of Santa Rosa and the three small coastal cities still needs time, and they are now all supported by Blanca for development.

...

Besides developing automobile manufacturing, Philip Industries has also established new motorcycle and tractor factories in Blanca for export development.

Motorcycles and three-wheeled motorcycles also use domestic engines, and the gradually improving automobile industry system makes it easier to develop motorcycles, tractors, and trucks here, attracting some large foreign parts factories to settle in.

The cheap and easy-to-use Thunder 900 small motorcycle has become the choice for many Argentines who cannot afford a car. A motorcycle costs less than 150 US dollars, only one-tenth of the price of a car. With half a year of hard saving, they can buy a motorcycle.

If needed, they can also buy a 250 US dollar tricycle, which can be equipped with a trailer or a hood, and can also carry goods and people, but the speed is slower.

Those who are not middle class with high incomes cannot afford any cars at all. The current orders for Fiat 600 cars are basically at their saturation limit. Expanding the production line is more for exporting to other Latin American countries to obtain more profits.

Philip Industries' motorcycle orders are growing rapidly. In September, the number of orders for various models exceeded 5,000 units, and the sales of motorcycles alone reached 1 million US dollars. The construction scale of the Blanca factory this time is based on a monthly output of 8,000 vehicles. The same is true for new tractors, with monthly sales already firmly in first place in Argentina, and a stable 800-1000 tractors can be sold each month.

The number of motorcycles on the transportation arteries of Blanca is gradually increasing. Unless Saint Hesser can develop cheap and easy-to-use Wuling Sunshine vans and light trucks, Philip Industries' motorcycle sales will not be too bad for a long time, and they can also be exported to all over the world.

The transportation here is more convenient than in Cordoba, the automobile industry center of Argentina. The throughput of Blanca's major ports has exceeded 20 million tons, making it the second largest port in the country. Most of the goods are bulk ores, and steel is also cheap, plastics are also cheap, electricity is also cheap, public security is good, and the problem of recruitment has been alleviated.

Oil pipelines and petrochemical plants are being rapidly promoted. The demand for a large number of oil pipelines is also a booster for the development of the steel industry, as well as the steel bars for road construction and real estate development. The steel plant has become a stable business.

Not many Argentines can imagine the power of infrastructure as a major weapon is so great. Cement, steel, and banks all benefit from development, as well as a large influx of foreign capital, mainly from the United States, stimulating economic prosperity.

The three carriages have all appeared in Blanca. Except that domestic consumption is a bit weak, the others are major economic development weapons, but this is based on the slow development of other Argentine cities. Saint Hesser can't care about so much.

Blanca has also established many short-term training schools and formal educational institutions, possessing ample reserve labor resources.

There are 6 universities opening in the fall of next year, the best of which is La Pampa Polytechnic Institute, which is assisted by National Southern University. This is a university that is second only to National Southern University in the near future.

Pouring money into education has a considerable effect, and the actual managed population of Blanca officially exceeded the 700,000 mark in October, officially becoming the second largest city in the country, which has further accelerated the flow of population.

Saint Hesser once again lowered the threshold for population access and continued to adhere to encouraging childbirth. The number of newborns once again broke new highs. With the addition of a large amount of construction funds, each of the six districts now has 1-3 large hospitals, recruiting doctors from all over the country to enter. The cost of building hospitals is not high, mainly in equipment and personnel. Blanca reduces costs by supporting a group of manufacturers such as Mason Medical Research Institute and Rhein Medical Equipment Factory, pharmaceutical production companies in the Ahriqi district, and cooperating with foreign medical and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The recruitment of doctors and nurses is to poach people and slowly cultivate them, and to speed up the construction of the Medical Department of National Southern University and the Blanca Medical Higher Vocational School to meet the needs of future doctors and nurses.

Some newly added towns are also building hospitals, and many pregnant women from other provinces are also considering preparing for pregnancy in the periphery of Blanca. Saint Hesser has to transfer some highly polluting industries to the outer suburbs. The blast furnace of the special steel plant has simply changed to the Alta district port to reduce environmental pollution, and paper mills and printing and dyeing factories have also basically moved away from the east and west districts.

A large number of primary and secondary schools have begun to run, and childcare institutions are all over Blanca, which has allowed many workers to start bringing their families and friends to settle in Blanca.

There are sufficient living resources in Blanca. People jokingly call the peso exchange rate here completely different from other Argentine regions. Here, you can buy 20 pesos worth of goods for 10 pesos. Blanca pesos and non-Blanca city pesos are completely different things. This is based on the huge supply of materials, attracting outsiders to come to purchase and shop. Sanchez Supermarket has also opened in various districts and towns, and convenient transportation has also reduced living and production costs.

The product quality of Blanca has been in line with international standards, and it is of good quality and low price. It is a unique flower under Argentina's trade protection and domestic substitution.

Moreover, there are good public security conditions here, and the cost of living is lower than that of Buenos Aires, and jobs can be found everywhere. The wealth created has stimulated immigration from various places and even abroad. New Argentina Media uses newspapers and radio to post advertisements everywhere, reaching countries such as Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela, attracting a large influx of population.

In terms of rubber, long-term contracts have been signed with major producing areas such as Brazil, Guatemala, Indonesia, and Thailand to supply the domestic automobile, shoemaking, and industrial product manufacturing industries.

At the same time, platforms such as Prari International and Sunshine Agriculture are used to invest in rubber planting in Paraguay and Bolivia to develop rubber supply.

In particular, the Thunder Cross warlords in Oran and the Potassium Triangle, which are developing the best, are actually maintaining a good relationship with Bolivia's old relationships. Thunder Mining's mining in Bolivia is also quite smooth.

Paz Estenssoro has been the President of Bolivia for 3 years. He once received some sponsorship from the Saint Hesser Group and established some good relationships. Bill, the head of Thunder Cross, has a good relationship with Paz.

During his tenure, Paz implemented a series of democratization reforms, helping Indians gain the right to vote, achieving equality and unity among ethnic groups in Bolivia, and his approval rating has been very high.

At the same time, he implemented the nationalization of the mining industry, nationalized the mines of the tin king Simon Ituri, carried out land reforms, transferred the arable land in the central plateau to the Indians, and increased education funding, with free primary and secondary schools.

It's just that under the current fragile peace in Bolivia, there are also many crises. Like most Latin American countries, the seeds of military government crisis have always existed in Bolivia.

However, this has nothing to do with Saint Hesser. He only does business in Bolivia and never interferes in Bolivia's political situation. The friendship with Bolivia can at most be regarded as a pleasant surprise.

Saint Hesser attaches great importance to Bolivia, a major iron ore country. The iron ore in the Thirty-Three Province of Uruguay is estimated to not be mined for long, and the grade of iron ore found in China is relatively low and the mining cost is relatively high.

The situation of Brazilian iron ore is also not very stable. Vale is a Brazilian state-owned enterprise and Argentina's traditional rival. There is still not much news about Thunder Mining's Australian iron ore, and a stable iron ore supply is very important.

Bolivia is close to Argentina and can also stably supply iron ore. Iron ore is scarcer than coal.

Argentina's steel production has now exceeded 7 million tons. With the expansion of La Plata Steel Plant, the expansion of Hans Steel Plant, and the construction of blast furnaces in Blanca Special Steel Plant, plus small steel plants in northern Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina's steel production can be increased by at least one time.

It has to be said that due to historical reasons, the number of military governments in Latin America is increasing. This year, Uruguay has followed in Argentina's footsteps and officially joined the ranks of military governments.