Rise of the Argentine Empire

At 11 AM on April 8th, today is a day of sorrow for all the people of Blanca City.

At Blanca City Hospital, Mayor Otto passed away due to complications from burns and inflammation, resulting in the failure of multiple organ systems and a worsening condition, despite all rescue efforts.

At Blanca City Hall, Saint-Hesse is still working on a series of urban development plans, trying to expand the city's scale.

“Development is too slow; the economic development is still too slow.”

Saint-Hesse looked at the economic data submitted by the eight districts and the Lingang Industrial Zone in April. Only the Lingang Industrial Zone had the fastest economic growth; some of the others even regressed.

He wanted to seek a new round of reforms, merging the current central five districts into one large district for better development, but it was quite troublesome because he was not the official mayor.

Blanca City is now sitting pretty, while the north of Argentina continues to be engulfed in infighting.

Perón used the army and police to barely suppress the new rebellion in Santa Fe Province.

The biggest problem remains with the strongest province, Córdoba.

Under Perón's instructions, the National Congress passed a new constitutional amendment, abolishing the Catholic Church's status as the state religion.

This was an unprecedented blow to the church, achieving a huge victory.

It also created a huge impact among the common people.

It can be said that the danger has officially shifted to within the military, and it involves a joint effort by the army, navy, and air force. Even more ridiculously, there are people in the Ministry of Defense who have once again colluded with Córdoba.

Little Thompson nominally condemned the military in various places and disassociated himself from the original army, gaining Perón's trust.

In fact, he maintained close ties and used Falcon Bureau informants to transmit a large amount of information to Córdoba.

San Martín City has also become a transit base, becoming harmonious with Córdoba City and obtaining support and assistance from some local financial groups in Córdoba.

Córdoba, after all, is one of the few industrial cities in Argentina, and its strength far exceeds that of San Martín City.

Saint-Hesse also instructed the Falcon Bureau, Constantino of the San Martín City Police Department, and Mayor Klose to accumulate greater strength to cope with the new situation.

Perón's ship is about to sink, and a new power reshuffle is coming. Saint-Hesse will not miss this great opportunity.

However, he only believes in one principle: that strength is the only truth at any time, and mere speculation is useless.

Bill Bernard of Northwest Road also needs to continue to accumulate strength, especially to acquire more of the various mineral resources in the three northwestern provinces.

Thunder Mining has a heavy burden, but there are many iron, coal, copper, and limestone mines in these three provinces, which are of great significance for development.

Saint-Hesse sat at his desk, looking at the map of Blanca City.

“Should we consider letting Blanca City jointly develop with several other cities?”

Saint-Hesse plans to invite several nearby town mayors to attend a meeting.

To discuss economic development and the development of Greater Blanca City, and even to send invitations to Santa Rosa City in La Pampa Province, which is further away.

The focus is especially on the five major towns of Médanos, Joico, Punta Alta, Napostá, and Coronel Rosales. If they can be combined...

As Saint-Hesse was drafting the invitations, a knock came from the door.

Secretary Vanessa ran in with a panicked expression.

“Mayor, the widow of Mayor Otto called us. Otto just passed away.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

Saint-Hesse stood up, his face somewhat incredulous, his calm demeanor suddenly turning to sadness.

He had just visited Otto at the hospital the day before yesterday, and the doctor said he was recovering well and would be discharged soon.

“My condolences, Mayor.”

“Prepare the car for me. Notify the ministers of the City Hall, and also notify the councilors. Notify Sánchez to send people to the hospital to maintain order.”

“Yes, Mayor.”

Saint-Hesse led the City Hall team to the hospital.

He saw Mrs. Otto and her sons and daughters, as well as other family members and his friends.

“Madam, my condolences.”

“Cohen, I never thought the illness would deteriorate so quickly.”

Saint-Hesse announced the news on citywide radio.

He also discussed the arrangements for the mayor's funeral with Otto's widow, Mrs. Otto.

To express his deep condolences, Deputy Mayor Saint-Hesse Cohen plans to personally carry Otto Lief's coffin to his final resting place.

There is no tradition of calculating auspicious days for burial here. On the 10th, a memorial service and funeral will be held at the cathedral.

April 10th,

The coffin, which had been placed in the cathedral, was carried by eight people, including Saint-Hesse, and sent to the cemetery for burial.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the square to bid him farewell, and Saint-Hesse was deeply saddened.

Saint-Hesse, wearing a black suit with a white shirt and black tie, sat in the church.

Beside him sat his subordinates, also dressed in black.

Ilena was about to give birth and had moved into a heavily guarded suburban villa, equipped with a medical team and a squad.

She was not suitable to attend the funeral.

Saint-Hesse delivered a eulogy as Deputy Mayor, and church personnel also attended the ceremony to handle the funeral.

“I solemnly announce this sad news to all citizens of Blanca City. Our great Mayor Otto has passed away due to illness. It is difficult to understand the occurrence of this tragedy. Mayor Otto has made outstanding contributions to the development of our Blanca City. I never expected to hear such bad news in such a short period of time. We will formally try Tony Jerry, the mastermind of the 1.25 Blanca City bombing, to comfort the spirit of Mayor Otto…”

Saint-Hesse spoke for three minutes, fully affirming Otto's achievements as the new mayor in expanding employment, urban development, and his lifelong contributions to the country.

After the coffin was carried to the cemetery and buried with high honors, the funeral was considered complete after the soil was filled.

High-ranking official Tim Waltz and Provincial Finance Minister Jacob Frey, among other political figures, attended Otto's memorial service.

Saint-Hesse, Tim, and Jacob had a conversation at City Hall.

It turned out that the two were good friends of Otto's, otherwise, Otto's funeral would not have had such high-profile figures in attendance.

After the funeral, the City Hall needs to elect a new mayor as soon as possible.

As Deputy Mayor, Saint-Hesse is the biggest contender. He is already the highest authority in the city, only one last legal procedure away.

Blanca City has achieved tremendous development in the past year, especially the Lingang Industrial Zone, which will contribute a large amount of tax revenue.

The Lingang Industrial Zone has created approximately 10,000 jobs, and the tax revenue increases every month.

He has the impression of "having a set of skills for economic development" among the citizens and council of Blanca City.

Argentina is currently struggling economically, and a mayor who is first-class in economic development is exactly what Blanca City needs.

The new hospital, water plant, and sewage treatment plant in the urban area are about to be put into use, which greatly increases Saint-Hesse's prestige.

Another very important thing is that he used iron-fisted measures to quell the turmoil in Blanca City, bringing peace to Blanca City.

Saint-Hesse is also known as an "iron-blooded mayor."

Moreover, he often visits communities to provide warmth, creating an image of Blanca City developing education, economy, and healthcare.

… …

After the funeral, Saint-Hesse took people to the suburban villa. He has been coming here after work lately, fearing he might miss the birth of his child.

Saint-Hesse originally planned to send Ilena to the new hospital.

However, the new hospital is still under construction, and the decoration is average, and he was also afraid of the impact of the renovation.

So he had people buy a large manor and arranged for Ilena to stay here, where the air is good.

He had people set up a delivery room here and equipped it with several professional doctors.

Saint-Hesse changed his clothes before coming to Ilena's room.

Ilena exposed her belly, looking a little tired, but smiled when she saw Saint-Hesse.

Pregnancy is a very hard thing.

Ilena saw him sit down: “Did you have a lot of work today?”

Vanessa brought over a dozen documents; she's been even busier since Otto's passing, and now she's running for mayor.

Elena smiled and said, "You've really been working hard."

"Not as hard as you. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

San Jose replied.

"Not for the time being. Kasha said she might give birth in the next few days."

Kasha is the head of the medical team, an experienced obstetrician.

"That's wonderful."

They didn't chat for too long. Elena watched San Jose working diligently.

......

At the mayoral conference, San Jose was elected as the new mayor with a high number of votes.

Everything was in order, perfectly justifiable.

He officially announced his inauguration to the citizens.

San Jose could now boldly continue his reform endeavors.

As the population of Blanca City expanded, the council also began to become more formalized. They needed to select a deputy mayor, and the old speaker of the council might have to step down, as the deputy mayor would be the one in charge of the council.

"Mr. Mayor, these few towns have all agreed to attend our city's joint economic development conference."

Vanessa said to San Jose, holding the reply telegrams.

"Any news from La Pampa Province?"

"Not yet."

"Alright, you can go now."

San Jose planned to cooperate with the surrounding towns, and even La Pampa Province.

The goal was to secure more raw materials. He also wanted to cooperate with the provinces of Río Negro, Chubut, and Santa Cruz.

These southern provinces, in addition to raw materials like wool, timber, and fish, also possessed important raw materials and minerals such as oil, natural gas, low-quality coal, limestone, copper, and tin.

This could greatly promote the development and expansion of Blanca City.

Moreover, these southern cities were a desert for the Radical Civic Union, making them very suitable for the party's expansion.

He wanted to establish the Radical Civic Union's southern faction, and these small southern towns were a great opportunity for expansion.

These small cities had very small populations, making them suitable for large-scale immigration from neighboring countries like Chile and Peru, and even from more northern regions like Venezuela and Colombia.

The climate in these southern cities wasn't bad, and the population could easily increase tenfold.

Blanca City was already preparing to open formal maritime routes to Peru and Chile.

For San Jose, these foreigners who spoke the same language were good compatriots. Anyway, they were all immigrants, all spoke Spanish, and had similar customs and habits.

It was simply perfect. Compared to the sparsely populated south of Argentina, these western coastal countries of South America all had relatively large populations.

The population growth of these agricultural countries was much faster than that of Argentina, and Blanca City needed a massive population to develop.

San Jose overturned the original plan and set the new population development goal for the next five years at around 800,000.

There was still a difference of 640,000 from the current goal. Blanca City had recently added another 8,000 people.

In the future, enough houses needed to be built, enough factories needed to be established, and more land was needed.

"Actually, building a large steel plant like the one in La Plata could increase the population by about 100,000."

San Jose thought to himself. This 100,000 included supporting industries such as rolling mills, coking plants, and workers' families.

The La Plata Steel Complex had rapidly increased the economy and population of La Plata, attracting a large number of people from Buenos Aires.

The impact of a large steel complex was almost equivalent to one-third of San Martin City.

This was one of San Jose's largest industries.

Emerging economic powers had many steel complexes like the La Plata Steel Plant, which was incomparable.

For example, Japan currently had more than 10 steel plants under construction.

The employment and tax revenue created by the steel industry were countless.

However, the investment was also large. San Jose had invested nearly 40 million US dollars in it, equivalent to the annual profit of 2 Rheinmetall arms factories + 1 Eagle cigarette factory.

Of course, this steel plant would quickly recoup its costs after it went into production.

San Jose couldn't afford to build another steel plant of this size right now. It was neither necessary nor too extravagant.

Although the steel plant was very important, he still had to invest in other important industries, especially when Hans Steel Plant invested here.

Continuing to expand the production capacity of the La Plata Steel Plant was the best choice. Building another Blanca Steel Plant was indeed too wasteful.

The next goals were the petrochemical, automobile, truck, and military industries.

Japan was a very good example to learn from, but Argentina's industrial base was a bit too far behind.

San Jose wanted to attract more steel plants. If they could be cultivated domestically or introduced from abroad, that would be best.

As a person in power, one couldn't rely solely on oneself to promote all development. That would be too tiring, and the power of a group was limited. More excellent companies had to be cultivated.

He wanted to support key industries such as steel, petrochemicals, and even the development of machinery, automobiles, and military manufacturing.

It was necessary to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties.

"Perhaps we should let the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission invest in Hans Steel Company and expand its scale several times over."

Setting 300,000 tons was indeed small-minded. 1 million tons was about right. Investing in a large blast furnace would be enough, which would cost about 3 times more.

Or find some investors in the north to invest in the steel industry.

San Jose personally sat in each company under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission for a few days, developing these personnel into a combat-ready company.

The Blanca City Power Company and the real estate construction company started construction one after another, creating at least 2,000 jobs in Blanca City.

The start of other small factories also created many jobs.

The Prallari fleet transported 1,000 workers from Santiago, Chile, many of whom were miners.

Chile, as a relatively good mining industry country in South America, had many excellent miners.

Blanca City was currently lacking this kind of worker.

Not only Lightning Mining, but also limestone mining, and Southern Energy.

All urgently needed a large number of workers.

Foreign labor had lower wages and didn't need to pay social insurance.

Currently, many unemployed Chileans wanted to work here.

Southern Energy planned to enter the oil and natural gas field and also needed some experienced miners.

Especially since oil and natural gas had been explored in the provinces of Mendoza and Neuquén.

The rivers here were also suitable for building hydropower stations.

This was a huge opportunity. The oil and natural gas in the Patagonian Plateau couldn't be touched for the time being, but these neighboring provinces were connected by railways and had convenient transportation.

San Jose had already started preparing to give it a try, exploring for oil and natural gas, and developing the petrochemical industry.

To develop the fertilizer industry, natural gas was also an indispensable chemical raw material.

San Jose brought in people from Southern Energy and Lightning Mining and formally established Southern Oil Company, applying for an oil exploration license to extract oil in Neuquén Province.

Blanca City Import and Export Trading Company was also preparing to apply for an oil import and export license.

He planned to introduce and build several oil refineries and develop the petrochemical industry in Blanca City, turning it into a heavy chemical industry center.

After World War II, a large number of chemical raw materials and products shifted from coal and its by-products to oil and natural gas.

The petrochemical industry has become the basic industry of the chemical industry and occupies an extremely important position in the national economy.

Although Argentina was relatively short of coal, its oil reserves were very rich.

The oil industry was an industrial system comparable to the steel industry.

Currently, the United States and the United Kingdom were major oil industrial powers, and countries such as Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and France also had relatively developed oil industries.

The three major American oil companies were negotiating with Argentina on the matter of oil exploration in Argentina.

San Jose hoped to introduce petrochemical technology from the United States or the United Kingdom.