Rise of the Argentine Empire

Bahía Blanca is a port on the Atlantic coast of Argentina's Bahía Blanca, part of the Bahía Blanca, consisting of a former port and a port basin.

On January 15th, Saint-Jesse personally led a team of experts from the maintenance team, along with necessary security, in a convoy of 5 cars to Bahía Blanca, over 20 kilometers away.

The roads were even worse than the provincial roads of his previous life, making them very difficult to travel on. Besides the project, he also planned to strengthen relations with the Navy this time.

On the way, they passed through the coastal industrial zone, where the buildings were mostly built to a height of 2 stories. Pulley hoisting equipment was transporting cement mortar and bricks upstairs, and a large number of construction workers were working hard to build the third floor, sweating under the sun.

The coastal industrial zone is continuing to expand, and the port terminals are also under construction. A modern terminal, warehouses, and some important mechanical equipment will be set up here, and a large shipyard and repair shop will be assembled here, with equipment transported from Western Europe and the United States.

Sanhai Shipbuilding will set up 3 new docks this time, located in La Plata and Bahía Blanca respectively, to build 15,000-ton and 18,000-ton freighters, to welcome the coming global trade market explosion. Moreover, the "Global Ship King" plan of the Guangpula Li Fleet is enough for Sanhai Shipbuilding to develop desperately.

Among them, the 15,000-ton ships are bulk carriers, while the 18,000-ton ships are container ships, completely independently designed and transformed.

Saint-Jesse has done the research and design work in advance. This tonnage is already the limit that Sanhai Shipbuilding can currently achieve. 30,000-ton and 50,000-ton ships are currently rare worldwide.

The Bahía Blanca Shipyard will be a large shipyard covering 680 acres, located at the easternmost end of the coastal industrial zone, separated from other factories, striving to reach world-class standards.

Currently, global shipyards are still in a downturn and declining phase, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, which rank in the top two in global shipbuilding volume. The US shipbuilding industry is rapidly declining, and a small number of military orders cannot meet the survival and development of shipyards, and a large number of shipyards have closed down.

Currently, the world's strongest shipbuilding challenger—Japan—has emerged, and has already exploded with strong shipbuilding capabilities. Saint-Jesse remains vigilant about the Japanese shipbuilding industry, but has no investment or intention to obtain technology from Japan.

This wave in the United States has given Saint-Jesse a good opportunity to recruit talents and expand technology. He established some shipping companies through the United States and invited ship design engineers to work in Argentina, paying them enough wages.

Various shipbuilding equipment is also quite cheap, especially since the United States directly dismantled many shipyards. However, he didn't have money at that time, so he couldn't acquire these shipbuilding equipment.

When Saint-Jesse was inspecting in the United States last year, he wanted to buy various equipment. At that time, many vacant shipyards were mostly transferred, and the United States also restricted exports. Of course, he, a foreigner, could not buy them, and he returned home with regret, entrusting this task to Sain before returning home.

Later, Saint-Jesse took a fancy to Spanish technology. With the same roots and origin, coupled with the honeymoon period between Spain and Argentina, a large number of Argentine pesos could not be used in Spain. Saint-Jesse initially sent Sain to Spain to help him negotiate cooperation and made some progress, establishing a branch.

However, Sequoia Capital needed him to preside over the overall situation, so Sain returned home. Therefore, Saint-Jesse sent Little Knicks from Pula Li International to continue the negotiations and achieved success.

Later, the US shipbuilding industry became fiercely competitive, and an American boss could not bear the losses and sought buyers for sale. Sequoia Capital formed an acquisition team, took over the shipyard that manufactured the "Victory Ship", and also obtained a considerable amount of core technology.

With the help of Sain, an insider, the source of Saint-Jesse's shipbuilding technology was greatly enhanced. Integrating shipbuilding technologies from the United States, Germany, and Spain, the technical strength of Sanhai Shipbuilding has also advanced by leaps and bounds, making a small test with the design of large fishing boats.

The 2,000-ton fishing boats can no longer satisfy Saint-Jesse's ambition. Only 20,000-ton super freighters will do.

A deal was reached with US shipbuilding last month, and most of the funds have been handed over. Now, all that is needed is to dismantle the equipment and bring it back to the country for assembly, which can create 2 brand-new shipyards. Of course, the various concepts of the Victory Ship are already outdated, the power equipment needs to be updated, the production equipment machine tools are fine, and the metallurgical technology can be supplied to the Argentine special steel plant for production.

It also needs to be comprehensively transformed and redesigned. A part of Sanhai Shipbuilding's shipbuilding equipment was bought from Germany, which can be regarded as a near miss.

The shipbuilding equipment from the United States needs multi-step processing, and customs clearance is not easy. It has been delayed for a while. He almost thought that he would not be able to get it, but Sequoia Capital helped him get it, and most of the equipment has been dismantled, which will be transported to Argentina in several batches, giving him a big surprise.

This is also the reason why he is confident that he can handle the Navy warship modification plan.

The security of the military port is not very strict, and the convoy drove into this military base in an orderly manner.

Half an hour later, the convoy entered the port area of ​​Bahía Blanca,

There were only a few guards. After Saint-Jesse presented his credentials and pass, he entered the military port.

This place is relatively hidden, with more than twenty ships of various sizes moored, mainly warships, but also some freighters.

Saint-Jesse looked at the steel giant ship in the distance, and still had a feeling of shock. Battleships with cannons, one by one warship artillery, gray paint, with the string number and ship name written on it.

He has seen many ships, from the 10,000-ton giant ships of the Pula Li Fleet to the large and small fishing boats of Bahía Blanca, but they cannot give him such a spiritual shock.

The guard at the gate had already notified when Saint-Jesse entered the port. Saint-Jesse saw a group of people in white naval uniforms welcoming them.

After Saint-Jesse got out of the car, he walked a little and shook hands tightly with the commander of Bahía Blanca, José Rodriguez.

José Rodriguez, with the rank of Rear Admiral, 45 years old, a technical naval bureaucrat, a legend in the Argentine Navy, a rare general from an ordinary family, who participated in Perón's "United Officers Group" organization, one of the nineteen Argentine officers who overthrew the rule of Castillo.

"Hello, General, I am Saint-Jesse Cohen, you can call me Cohen directly. I was also a member of the Argentine army and served in Córdoba for 3 years. I am here today to discuss warship maintenance work."

Saint-Jesse also knows this general with the same name as him. As a member of parliament, he cannot come here casually. Moreover, José himself has cooperated with the Guei family, but was blocked. Otherwise, the Guei family would not be so easily defeated.

"Hello, Cohen, I am José Rodriguez, welcome to come here this time. Do you need me to introduce you?"

José is young and strong, wearing a white naval uniform, with a gentle and restrained temperament, and a faint smile on his face, looking very temperamental.

"Thank you, General, it is very necessary."

Saint-Jesse shook hands with the officers behind José one by one, expressing his humble attitude, and also introduced the personnel behind him, who will be seen often in future cooperation.

After a round of greetings, the group began to visit these warships.

Saint-Jesse saw that there was also a ship repair shop here, which could carry out simple repairs to ships.

"Are you confident in this ship modification? Sanhai Shipbuilding has indeed developed very quickly, but the technology of warships is much stronger than that of civilian ships. In fact, I was against it at first, but the Navy Department has determined that I can't do anything about it, so I have to support it."

José seemed a little pessimistic and didn't think much of Sanhai Shipbuilding. This is also the idea of ​​many Argentines.

"I am very confident, you can rest assured about this. Our Sanhai Shipbuilding has a lot of experience."

José has some research on the world shipbuilding industry. The Brazilians at the doorstep make him worried. Currently, the Brazilians have many ideas and great ambitions.

“The Brazilians are a formidable opponent, but the Argentinians are not afraid of this pressure. Moreover, we have a first-mover advantage. Actually, the best Brazil would be one that is divided, such as the independence of the three southern states of Brazil.”

In later generations, Brazil's civilian shipbuilding industry once surpassed the United States, ranking second in the world, only behind Japan. Later, the United States supported South Korea and lobbied to dismantle Brazil's shipbuilding industry. There was also a Brazilian aircraft manufacturing industry, which is indeed a pity.

At that time, Brazil's industrial system was close to a complete industrial revolution, but it was later dismantled by the Americans, who implemented deindustrialization, eventually falling into the middle-income trap. The Brazilian Navy at that time had completely surpassed Argentina, ranking first in South America.

If Brazil could be dismantled, I believe many people would agree.

“A navy development without economic support can only be strong for a while. We Argentinians don't really lack these warships. The most important thing is to develop our industry, develop our economy, and grow our population.”

San Hérse said something out of the blue.

“Why do you say that?”

José thought for a moment, then took off his navy hat directly, and then took off his military uniform jacket. The weather was very hot today, even the white jacket was the same.

“General, do you know how many people there are in Brazil? More than 80 million, close to 90 million, while we Argentinians are only 21 million. That's a fourfold difference. We, together with Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Chile, are not as many as the Brazilians.”

San Hérse did not answer, but asked a question in return, and then answered his own question.

“It seems so, but does this have anything to do with our navy's development?”

José didn't quite agree with San Hérse's statement, but he didn't refute what San Hérse said.

“It has a lot to do with it. Imagine that all the warships in our country are currently purchased from abroad, and the prices are very expensive. Without enough population to develop the shipbuilding industry, our warships will be non-renewable and cannot be replenished when fighting. The Brazilians have so many people that they can establish a large enough industrial system and develop into an industrial population.”

San Hérse expressed his opinion.

“The Brazilians' warships are also bought, they don't have a shipbuilding industry either.”

José thought for a moment and said again.

“Yes, but as long as the Brazilians' economic development level is the same as ours, then their national economic scale will be four times that of ours. It's that simple.”

The benefits of having a large population are enormous. As long as it can develop, it is almost crushing.

“It seems so, but this still doesn't have much to do with the navy.”

“It has a lot to do with it. This involves the issue of national fiscal revenue and expenditure. The Brazilians' economy is growing rapidly, so they will have more money to allocate to the navy. Moreover, their domestic market is larger. They only need 1/4 of our effort to achieve 100% of our growth because they can create more.”

“It seems quite reasonable, Cohen. Our country is suffering from a small population, right?”

“Yes, population is too important. The United States can crush the entire Western European economy. The 160 million Americans are about the same as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined. This is the reason why the United States was able to win two world wars. They have too many industrial workers.”

“Then what can our country do to surpass Brazil again?”

José asked San Hérse with great interest. The people around him also pricked up their ears, wanting to hear his insights.

“Develop the entire national population, at least to over 100 million, and integrate the surrounding national markets, develop industry, establish and maintain a complete industrial system, and ensure a stable government that can carry out long-term and sustainable development plans.”

“These are difficult to achieve, right?”

“Yes, it is indeed very difficult. In fact, I think that if Argentina had several hundred million people, then we would surpass most countries in the world, like France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.”

“That's too difficult, right? Increasing the population tenfold to 200 million is almost non-existent. Is there any way?”

José couldn't help but shake his head. When he was a child, his family raised cattle in the Pampas. Doubling the base was very simple when the base was small, but it became difficult when the base was large.

“In addition to having more births in the country, increasing immigration is a good way, increasing the population from neighboring countries, and also establishing a national alliance, incorporating them into the same market, and establishing a federal government when necessary.”

San Hérse looked around. This warship, which was about to be eliminated, was like a declining Argentina, like a setting sun. He also saw many bullet holes, and it was not easy to repair them. No wonder it was sunk by the British in later generations.

“In the end, we still have to rely on ourselves. No one is reliable.”

José fell into deep thought, thinking about some things. He patted San Hérse on the shoulder and said.

San Hérse did not disturb him and went straight to the largest warship. There were still many navy soldiers sunbathing on it, idle, and undisciplined, smoking and playing cards.

He also saw a group of soldiers holding mate tea, constantly circling and drinking, like smoking opium, which was quite disappointing.

The Argentine army had not fought for a long time, and the navy was also useless. No wonder it was defeated by the British, just like the Qing Dynasty more than 90 years ago. Empress Dowager Cixi was auspicious, but the current Queen of England is still very young. It is hard to imagine that this queen has been on standby for so long.

José's people went to arrange and cleaned up the messy warship.

The people from Sanhai Shipbuilding immediately began to prepare for surveying work.

San Hérse stroked the somewhat cold railing, feeling a sense of historical weight.

“Cohen, do you think our country will have its own aircraft carrier in the future, like Brazil?”

José seemed to see himself 20 years ago, he asked.

“Yes, we will definitely have it.”

San Hérse nodded heavily. Aircraft carriers are the pride of the future national navy, and cruisers are also eliminated naval warships, replaced by guided missile destroyers.

“Maybe, I heard that an American aircraft carrier costs 200 million US dollars to build.”

José seemed a little pessimistic, feeling that it would be difficult to see it in his lifetime.

“Yes, maybe even higher, about 300-400 million US dollars for an aircraft carrier.”

San Hérse looked at the scenery in the distance. Comparing countries is frustrating. Now Argentina's annual fiscal revenue is only slightly more than this.

“Our Argentina was also rich.”

José said, and the others slowly left the deck. The two seemed like good friends for many years, discussing some things.

“The advantage is on our side, there is no need to worry too much. I think we can still struggle for a while. The Brazilians can buy second-hand aircraft carriers, and we can buy them too.”

San Hérse said half-jokingly, as long as the Argentine industrial system can be built up and the industrial revolution is completed, it will not be a big problem to build some light aircraft carriers in the future.

“Our country's navy will develop, don't worry. The United States cannot always be the world's number one. This world has never lacked challengers.”

San Hérse stroked the bullet marks on the steel plate, his eyes lowered, and added.

He walked all over the warship. The quality of this warship is still good, but after serving for so long and experiencing war, the power system needs to be heavily modified.