Rise of the Argentine Empire

At 9:10 AM on September 16th, Lieutenant Cistell took off from Morón Air Base with four aircraft.

At 9:28 AM, the four aircraft gained altitude, dove towards the Río Laja and fired with their machine guns. Although both ships were equipped with anti-aircraft guns, their firepower was insufficient, and the counterattack failed.

The Río Laja destroyer was heavily damaged by the machine gun fire from the government aircraft's dive, and one cannon was hit. After repairs, it was still able to retaliate.

The rebel navy's Cervantes arrived to provide support, hitting two aircraft, causing heavy losses to the government forces.

Soon after, three more Meteor aircraft took off from Morón, led by Lieutenant Colonel Pérez Laborda, launching a second wave of attacks. Both ships were hit, and the government forces returned safely.

The next wave of attacks by the government forces targeted two infantry landing ships reinforcing the rebels at the Río Santiago Naval Academy.

The rebels dispatched a medium landing ship from Río Santiago to provide support, but this ship also had weak anti-aircraft firepower, its main role being to attract the government forces' fire.

Several minutes later, another round of airstrikes was carried out, resulting in 2 deaths and 7 injuries for the Córdoba army.

Klércsal returned to Morón Air Base and began planning the next strike, explaining to the pilots the best way to attack the ships—entering from the stern at a certain angle at low altitude.

The two destroyers suffered a third wave of airstrikes at 11:00 AM, resulting in heavy casualties. As they approached the estuary off the southern coast of Uruguay, they suffered another wave of airstrikes, but the damage was minimal, and the attacks soon ceased.

The government forces' attention turned to Río Santiago. The rebels, with only the Murature and King patrol boats, gradually surrendered, and the airstrikes continued until dark.

In the evening, Perón contracted his forces, while the Córdoba army had approached Rosario and joined forces with the Rosario rebel army.

The fighter pilots who took off sympathized with the rebels, so they did not intercept the bombers.

Meanwhile,

In the city of Córdoba,

General Eduardo issued a military mobilization order.

He reviewed the Córdoba army's 12,000-strong army and air force units in the suburbs.

Five Meteor and four Arrow II jet fighters swept through the air.

The Arrow II fighters, provided by the Argentine Military Aircraft Factory and the San Martín Aircraft Factory respectively, were comparable to the British Meteor fighters.

The army marched towards the capital, Buenos Aires, and joined forces with the navy. General José of Belgrano also sent warships north to intimidate Buenos Aires, preparing for a naval bombardment if necessary. The warships, modified by the Three Seas Shipyard, were extremely powerful.

General Eduardo then formed the Supreme Operations Command to unify the command of the Córdoba army and allied forces. Over the past three months, he had conducted inspections and joint operations in Rosario, San Martín, and Santa Fe, among other places, preparing for the coup.

He sent a national telegram announcing to the presidential government the demand to dissolve the National Congress, claiming that Congress had become Perón's dictatorial mouthpiece.

At the same time, he ordered Perón to resign, release church personnel, restore the 1949 Constitution, and restore General Little Thompson's position, release political prisoners, democrats, and 15 other demands.

Eduardo did not expect Perón to agree at all. This was just his order for a general offensive. With the support of various rebel figures, he organized and prepared this armed seizure of power, uniting part of the navy and air force.

Far away in the capital, General Little Thompson was also under close surveillance and imprisoned in a prison outside Buenos Aires, which further increased his prestige.

In the middle of the night on September 16th, the Córdoba army headquarters once again ordered a national mobilization, ordering the nation to lay down their weapons and take over the government.

The Supreme Command also issued another declaration to the entire Argentine nation, announcing the march on Buenos Aires.

It advised military police in various places not to fight them, declaring that their goal was only to overthrow the corrupt Perón government, telling the people of the capital not to be afraid, and declaring the protection of the people's legitimate rights.

Defending the country and the people was the Córdoba army's just demand, and it wooed the people of Buenos Aires, attempting to reduce resistance to the seizure of power. This strategy was quite successful.

On the eve of the march on Buenos Aires, Eduardo once again convened an emergency meeting of generals and government officials.

Ten key personnel attended the meeting, which once again decided that Eduardo would be the supreme commander.

This large army would advance along the railways and highways, heading to join the Rosario army, along the way occupying cities, post and telecommunications offices, government offices, police departments, train stations, military camps, and other important facilities.

It was also decided that if they encountered army resistance or Peronist snipers, they would be completely eliminated.

Fortunately, they only encountered sporadic resistance along the way, and tanks and trucks also drove along the highway.

The Córdoba army's advance command headquarters was established in the city of Córdoba.

The transportation here was developed, making it easy to advance and retreat. If the coup failed, they could retreat to Córdoba Province and engage in civil war. Historically, every major civil war movement in Argentina has had a rebel government using this as a command center.

After all preparations were completed, this mighty army of tens of thousands of green troops set off for the capital.

Two hours later, 1,000 police officers from the San Martín Police Department also joined the command, providing logistics for the army. Twenty trucks from the city of Blanca were responsible for transporting combat supplies.

Various donated combat materials were also distributed in place.

Five hours later, the army arrived in Rosario. After a three-hour rest, the army continued south.

......

At 10:00 AM on September 17th, the Radical Civic Union once again requested to use the national radio, which was approved by the Presidential Palace.

This was the second time in nine years that the Radical Party was able to use official media.

Arturo Frondizi accepted the appeasement in his speech on September 19th. This was the second national address since July 27th, and the Radical Party's prestige was once again enhanced.

This was a huge mistake by the Perón government, but it was too late for him to react. The outer perimeter of the capital was under heavy attack.

In exchange for a concrete industrial plan, which included everything from restoring the original constitutional illness to guaranteeing national industrialization, the speech had to be delivered in advance and recorded while being read. It was broadcast over the air with a 10-second delay.

General Eduardo also claimed in Rosario to support the Radical Party's plan, urging Perón to lay down his weapons.

On the afternoon of the 17th, the Córdoba army arrived in the suburbs of Buenos Aires and fought fiercely with the garrison.

On the night of the 17th, Balado and Weber took off from the military aircraft factory and attacked the government's anti-aircraft artillery units east of Córdoba. Both aircraft were damaged, but were able to continue operations.

Fighting continued on the 18th, with the Córdoba Air Force and the government forces continuing to fight for air supremacy, and the army continuing to launch attacks.

On the 19th, the Córdoba army launched an offensive from the northeast and occupied the Córdoba North Railway Station in Buenos Aires.

During the war, Rheinmetall's weapons were widely used. Rocket launchers, tank guns, assault rifles, submachine guns, grenades, and mortars all played a huge role, making this war and death even more intense.

These German-blooded weapons allowed the Argentines to fight a meaningless battle, with tactical levels roughly equivalent to those of World War I.

As the 19th drew to a close, President Perón realized that his country was on the verge of a devastating civil war, and therefore formed a presidential palace to negotiate a ceasefire with the rebels.

The fighting ended, giving both sides time to reorganize their forces.

The Córdoba army discovered that there were a large number of Peronists moving southwest of Córdoba, seemingly intending to encircle them, and believing that they had violated the ceasefire agreement, launched a preemptive attack.

Negotiations had failed before they even began.

At this time, the jet fuel in the capital's factories had run out, and it had to be replaced with conventional fuel.

Government forces opened fire on the Córdoba base, and the two armies fought fiercely.

By the morning of the 20th, the overall situation in the country had become very clear. Perón's decline was irreversible.

On September 21st, Perón announced his resignation and fled to Uruguay, the hero's curtain call.

The Córdoba rebels declared victory and formed a new government in Córdoba headed by General Eduardo Lonardi.

On September 22nd, the new government's Meteor and Arrow 2 fighter jets, produced by a military aircraft factory, were showcased at the victory parade in Cordoba.

The Arrow 2 fighter jet, inspired by the San Martin Aircraft Factory, played a significant role in this air battle and gained widespread fame.

On September 23rd, the new Argentine leader, General Eduardo Lonardi's, special plane, escorted by two Meteors and two Arrow 2s, flew to the capital to take over the country.

The military once again intervened in the country's political and social crisis.

The Peron era has ended, and a new era has begun.

......

Many places across the country supported this military coup.

Rebel troops controlled the army and navy and threatened the capital with bombing, and the Peron government succumbed.

After the news of Peron's downfall on Monday, jubilant crowds poured into the streets everywhere.

They dragged the statue of Peron's ex-wife, Eva Peron, through the streets.

The Argentine people thought good days were coming, but they didn't know that even greater difficulties were also coming.

Now the military government controls most of the country.

Fighting continues only in some isolated areas still held by Peronist elements.

San Jose closely followed this event, and intelligence from the Falcon Bureau spread rapidly to Blanca City like paper scraps.

He felt quite conflicted, not supporting this military coup, which was a serious undermining of the civilian political system by the Argentine military.

But due to the circumstances, Rheinmetall Industries and the San Jose-affiliated factories, which played an important role in this civil war, benefited greatly.

Perhaps a strict constitutionalist would not criticize the 1943 military coup, which replaced a corrupt, unrepresentative government with an equally unrepresentative military government.

Although Peron's achievements were relatively poor, and his second term was somewhat lackluster, the way he was elected president twice was quite transparent and fair.

This is the second time in the 20th century that the military has overthrown a democratically elected president produced in a transparent and free election competition, Ipolito Irigoyen and Juan Peron—both in the name of saving the country.

In the military's view, these civilian politicians have once again stirred up a middle-class rebellion, thus putting the country in danger.

It's just that this kind of situation is very rare in Latin America, but without ignoring the various environments caused by foreign and domestic contradictions, San Jose is certainly not defending Peron.

What San Jose is actually thinking about is developing the national economy and increasing the population, instead of striking all day long. Wealth will not be generated out of thin air. Even if he can't undertake any industrial transfers now, he must work hard to expand the economy. Resource exports will never work.

But the real enemy is the Americans and her lackeys, the Brazilians. The United States blocked Argentina, seized Argentina's export market, and prohibited Argentine products from entering the United States, the world's largest market, and even strictly prohibited the export of machinery, steel, machine tools, and other chemical equipment to Argentina, implementing an economic and trade blockade, which is not easy to break through.

Internal contradictions include lazy welfare, unlimited welfare, fiscal expenditure, frequent strikes, a feudal land system, excessively protected infant industries, and crazy tariffs.

These generals certainly haven't read books like 'On Contradiction' or 'Ten Major Relationships.' They just want to find a scapegoat so that the country can get back on track.

Unfortunately, the era cannot be turned back, and Argentina cannot return to the era of free trade.

Just like the air battle in June, General Eduardo Lonardi launched a military coup with the aim of ending the Justice Party's 'destruction of Argentine culture and economy'.

Although their coup succeeded.

In fact, Argentina's economy is indeed on the verge of collapse.

The Cordoba military chose a good time, and Cordoba once again defeated Buenos Aires.

In the entire five years, except for the three new industrial cities, the Argentine economy has made almost no substantial progress, while the world's major economies are recovering and developing like crazy.

The brilliance of the three emerging industrial cities of Blanca City, La Plata City, and San Martin City is not enough to illuminate the gloom in the hearts of Argentines.

The influence of these three medium-sized cities is still too small.

After all, industrialization is a way of life and production, not something that can be achieved by a few large industrial projects, but a complete industrial chain.

Even large cities such as Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Rosario, and Santa Fe have declined very seriously.

Under Peron's blood-sucking policies, the development of Argentina's agriculture and animal husbandry has also stagnated. Peron obtained a large amount of agricultural product profits by lowering the purchase price of agricultural products and then monopolizing exports, which accounted for almost half of Argentina's treasury revenue.

This has led to a decrease in the planting enthusiasm of farmers and landlords.

This is also the reason why Sunshine Agriculture can establish a 7 million-hectare planting scale in southern Argentina. The signing of this comprehensive agricultural development agreement actually implies that the authority of the Casa Rosada is slowly disintegrating.

In addition, the great economic recession has caused the increasingly deteriorating living conditions in Argentina, and the working class has suffered greatly from unemployment.

Although there was no large-scale unemployment at the time, the fact that the demand for labor was decreasing in itself brought heavy disasters to the Argentine people.

In order to cope with the foreign exchange crisis, under the President's Office's clumsy operation of printing money, the unfavorable phenomenon in the lives of the Argentine people was soaring prices.

The economic magazine 'La Plata River Review' under New Argentina Media clearly provided the situation of rising prices and falling real wages at that time, and many products have risen in price.

Of course, in San Jose's view, the development of Blanca City is optimistic enough. A series of incentive policies, coupled with a large amount of foreign investment, have created the massive wealth that Blanca City could have created in the past fifteen or even twenty years in one year.

There is also an obvious reason for the rapid development of Blanca City, which is that the frequent strikes by dock workers in the port of Buenos Aires have caused heavy trade losses, leading to the transfer of Argentina's trade trend from north to south, to the emerging port of Blanca City. Anyway, Argentina's railway transportation is currently developed enough.

Moreover, it has some very powerful attraction policies, and it is also one of Plari International's ports. San Jose has a very important channel.

Although the United States now does not allow Argentine goods to enter the US market, and even prevents Argentine goods from entering Europe.

It did not prohibit Brazilian goods from entering the United States, which allowed San Jose to establish a number of shell companies in Brazil, specializing in re-exporting Argentine goods. Every month, a large number of Argentine goods labeled as Brazilian goods enter the United States and Europe, earning San Jose profits.

It's just that economic development has not yet been successful, and Blanca City still needs to lay the foundation continuously.

In fact, even San Jose is a little confused. Peron has indeed left Argentina with a mess.

There are now 134 state-owned enterprises in the country, accounting for 1/3 of the country's employed population. The Argentine Railway Company alone has 120,000 employees, accounting for 1/2 of the state-owned enterprises.

Some of these state-owned enterprises are affiliated with the military, the navy, the air force, and the army all have their own factories.

And these state-owned enterprises will not be unemployed.

In addition, there are almost 400,000 civil servants in the country, which represents huge fiscal expenditure.

If you think these state-owned workers are lucky, that's right, at least they are much better than the unemployed, but soaring prices have plunged everyone into poverty.

1/5 of the country has lost their jobs, mainly distributed in Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Rosario, and Santa Fe, these big cities.

And the Cordoba military does have their own set of methodologies. Peron really can't be said to have done too much in developing the economy, although many starting points were good.