My Italian Chapter 96

Located on the south bank of the La Plata River, Buenos Aires is a jewel of South America. The excellent natural pastures of the Pampas grasslands make this place an excellent livestock production area in the world. Argentine cattle products have always been a strong commodity in the market, which also makes Buenos Aires, which is located in it, the core city of the region.

So after Argentina became independent, Buenos Aires became its capital without any surprise.

In recent years, the life of Argentines has been very good. The well-developed animal husbandry and pleasant climate have attracted a large number of immigrants. The development of Argentina can be described as prosperous. But even so, Argentina still has its own troubles.

That was the territorial dispute with Chile in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, both of which gained independence from Spanish rule in 1810. In the early days, the borders of the two countries followed the division of Spain. Even the treaty of peace, friendship, trade and commerce signed by the two countries in 1855 only generally recognized the borders of their respective independence from Spain.

Then the two countries signed a new boundary treaty three years ago, delimiting the boundary of the eastern mouth of the strait. For unknown reasons, the boundaries of the Beagle Channel and the ownership of the three islands (Picton Island, Lennox Island, and Nueva Island) have not been determined. These three islands located in the western section of the strait have rich fishery resources. Since the ownership has not been determined, fishermen from both countries come here to fish.

Since they all come to fish, there will be disputes, and as the disputes increase, the two countries will naturally be involved.

With the intervention of the two governments, the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated completely, and because the region is located near the Strait of Magellan, the climate change is extremely bad, so the only thing that can play a role here is the navy. Therefore, the two countries need the navy to speak more about the disputed territories.

However, in the navy, Argentina and Chile are far behind. Chile, which has just won the Guano War, has a navy that is far superior to Argentina in terms of size, performance of warships, or the level of officers and soldiers of warships. This has allowed the Argentine Navy to be suppressed by it in several confrontations and conflicts.

This situation is very unfavorable for Argentina to occupy the three islands. So naturally the navy's call for the purchase of new ships is getting louder and louder.

In the face of the voice of the navy, Julio Rocca, the president of Argentina, certainly could not ignore it. He negotiated with the Minister of the Navy, General Juan Goyoneche, which warship to buy is suitable for the Chilean navy to gain the upper hand.

"First of all, we need to suppress the opponent at speed, secondly, we need to have enough firepower to let the Chileans learn to calm down, and secondly, we need to resist the opponent's firepower on the armor."

General Goyone said the Navy's request as soon as he opened his mouth.

Although President Rocca has never been in the navy, he is also a soldier. Hearing so many requests from the Secretary of the Navy, he feels that the cost is not small this time.

"Juan, the budget given by the Ministry of Finance is limited. You should pay attention to the overspending, otherwise Thomas from the Ministry of Finance will be difficult to speak."

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, our Navy will control the budget."

In the face of General Goyone's assurance, President Roca did not believe it at all. This guy's temperament is too familiar to him, as long as he gets an opportunity, he will desperately seek funding from the navy.

Although the navy and army of all countries in the world are basically like this, but compared with others, General Goyone has a lower face. For a small fee, he can pretend to be a dead dog, and he can make other people sick to death, especially Thomas of the Treasury Department.

If it weren't for his deep support in the Navy, President Rocca would have wanted to kick this shameless general out of his government.

"Then do you have a suitable choice?"

His Excellency the President was too lazy to talk nonsense, and directly asked the Navy's plans.

"Yes, of course there is. Our Admiralty has carefully selected three warships for selection."

As he spoke, General Goyone took out three drawings for the president to choose. He also explained it carefully.

"This first one is from the UK. There is no real object at the moment. The construction has just started, so we can only look at the drawings. This is the British armored cruiser named Black-class. As far as we know, the maximum speed of the ship is designed to be 20 knots. , equipped with 10 6-inch naval guns, 2 9.2-inch first-class main guns, with a displacement of 8,100 tons, which is very suitable for the needs of our navy."

"Then what about the price?"

Obviously, His Excellency the President is more concerned about another issue.

"We inquired about the UK, and the price of the ship is 560,000 pounds, mainly because the cost of power is higher."

In the face of the President's inquiry, General Goyone gave the price truthfully. In fact, the UK is still building a 10,000-ton cruiser, but that thing is more expensive and is not something that Argentina can consider.

"There is no way for the Ministry of Finance to agree to this price. You also know how much the Ministry of Finance allocates."

As the Minister of the Navy, General Goyone, of course, knows how much the Ministry of Finance has allocated this time. It is only 410,000 pounds. At this price, he can't buy the warship he likes. style.

Immediately, he took out an opening and said. "This is a newly developed French patrol. It is equipped with 4 190 main guns and 8 160 mm secondary main guns..."

General Goyone introduced that the tonnage of this French patrol is also 7,000 tons, but compared with the British patrol just now, the French patrol is much worse in firepower. The only advantage is that its speed is higher than that of the British patrol. Fast, to a speed of 21 knots. Of course, let it run so fast, then it will be a little embarrassing on the armor.

Of course, this is all nitpicking. For Argentina now, both of them are suitable, but the price exceeds the budget. The French tour price is 526,000 pounds.

The price of these two ships is not acceptable at first sight, so Mr. President looked at the Secretary of the Navy and indicated that there is still more?

"There is another one."

Speaking of which, General Goyone took out a drawing and continued. "This is an improved version of the Venice-class armored cruiser from Italy. This warship was developed by the Italian Navy after certain improvements after the battle in the China Sea. This warship..."

In the mouth of General Goyone, President Rocca learned that this Italian patrol is equipped with 4 10-inch dual-mounted main guns, 10 dual-mounted 5-inch secondary main guns, and some other secondary guns. This battleship can be said to be far superior in other aspects except that it is weaker than the two British and French in speed.

Even he, who doesn't understand the navy, can feel this.

"So what is the price of this battleship?"

"£550,000."

"Is this price appropriate?"

Hearing General Goyone's offer~www.mtlnovel.com~ made President Roca hesitate for a while.

"Your Excellency, these three cruisers are currently the best cruisers in the world, and they are also warships that meet our urgent needs."

Thinking of the current territorial dispute with Chile, President Rocca gritted his teeth and said. "Are you sure you can buy this ship to suppress the Chileans?"

"I can guarantee that."

Hearing General Goyone's assurance on the navy, President Roca was relieved. While otherwise the Secretary of the Navy was a jerk, his work ethic and competence were recognized. Since it can move back to the disadvantage, then this boat is worth buying.

"So which one do you think is more suitable for Argentina?"

"Italy's improved version of Venice, although the price is similar, but the difference between firepower and armor can be seen by anyone."

"Then send a telegram to Italy to inquire about our order for warships."

Well, in fact, General Goyone only had one choice in his eyes from the beginning, and that was the Venice Improvement. However, its high price made General Goyone very worried and could obtain the approval of the president.

And here he played a trick. When he asked about the British and French construction patrols, he specially proposed to buy all kinds of spare parts. The reason was that Argentina was too far away from the two countries, so preparing all kinds of parts in advance could save time.

The ship quotations sent by Britain and France included the price of these spare parts, which naturally greatly increased the quotations of the warships of the two countries. Afterwards, it competed with Venice, which had stronger firepower and armor, and the two battleships that had no price advantage were even more beaten.

General Goyone, who got the result he wanted, immediately prepared to send a telegram to Italy.

Chapter end