Chen Jing and Yao Yimin were settled in a fairly good hotel, and out of the enthusiasm of the arms sales just now, the Chileans were polite and arranged comprehensive services for them. However, these two people did not care about this at all, and as soon as they sat down, they gathered all the members.

Chen Jing said to everyone with a gloomy face: "Ladies and gentlemen, the situation is obvious, the Chileans do not plan to purchase warships from us, but I believe that the opportunities are all earned, and we must work harder to convince them that we must not embarrass the country." ”

Yao Yimin also said: "There are two main tasks for everyone, one is to figure out what kind of warships the Chileans want, and at the same time, we also need to figure out what the plan is provided by other countries, so that we know ourselves and the other side will win all battles, and everyone should go and act separately now." ”

After they made arrangements, with the cooperation of the embassy staff, the delegation began to actively carry out activities. In order to compete for orders, it is necessary to figure out the operational needs of the Chilean Navy, and at the same time figure out what the Chilean leadership is thinking.

At this time, there were three strong South American navies, namely Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. These three countries are all voluntarily rich countries, and they have built a relatively strong navy by purchasing them.

When the navy entered the era of dreadnoughts, these three countries also started successively, ordering warships from the West, the first to start was Brazil, which ordered two Minas Gerais-class battleships from the United Kingdom, which were built by British shipyards and completed in 1910, equipped with 12-inch main guns and a full load displacement of more than 20,000 tons.

The first was the Minas Gerais and the second was the São Paulo, two dreadnoughts that joined the Brazilian Navy and catapulted Brazil to become the dominant naval force in South America.

Then the Argentines also took action, and after soliciting proposals from more than a dozen shipyards in Europe and the United States, they placed an order for two warships from American shipyards. That is, the Rivadavia-class battleships, this class of battleships basically began to be built after the Brazilian battleships were launched, so the displacement was also expanded, and the full load reached about 30,000 tons.

Moreover, it is equipped with a 12-inch 50-caliber main gun with 6 twin guns, and the side firepower is significantly stronger than that of the Brazilians.

Both old rivals had come up with new battleships, and the belated Chileans had joined the action, choosing to place orders with the British. Refer to the British Iron Duke-class battleships to build Chile's super-battleships.

There was a bit of a time gap between the three countries, so it was decided that the Chileans had a higher starting point and more advanced battleships, which should have been an advantage. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of World War I. The battleship Admiral Latorre, originally scheduled for Chile, was requisitioned by the British. It became the Canadian number. Also participated in the Battle of Jutland.

As for the second one, it was also converted into the Eagle aircraft carrier, although after the war the British sold the first battleship to the Chileans for half the price, but after all, it was already second-hand. And as the saying goes, it doesn't make a forest alone, and Chile wants to get another battleship.

After figuring out the cause and effect, Chen Jing and Yao Yimin were thinking in their hearts: "I didn't pay attention to it in the past. It turns out that South America still has such a large arms market, and it seems that it should be managed well and compete with the United States and Britain. ”

Yao Yimin said with a smile: "I don't want to do so much, the main thing at the moment is to figure out what Chileans want." According to my judgment. Their warships do not need to be too large in tonnage, around 30,000 tons, but they must have good seaworthiness and outstanding cruising range, after all, Chile is a long and narrow country. In addition, there is a point that the main gun must be overpowered by Brazil and Argentina, that is, to reach 14 inches, and then there is the price to be as cheap as possible, after all, such a small country has a limited ability to bear. ”

Chen Jing smiled and nodded: "Chief Engineer Yao, you already have a number in your heart?" ”

"Well, we have prepared three sets of plans, and now it seems that the second set of plans can be adjusted a little, and it will be done in one afternoon."

"Okay, Chief Engineer Yao, you get busy first, I'll contact the Chilean officials and see if I can go through a back door."

Saying that, Chen Jing left the room, and as soon as he came out, a guy wearing a tuxedo and holding a civilization stick walked in front of him in a few steps, and then bowed deeply.

"Head Chen, the contempt is a representative of the Sasebo shipyard in Japan, called Matsushita Rongkei, and he also came to bid on behalf of the empire, I hope to invite Head Chen to have a brief chat."

Chen Jing was a little impatient when he saw that he was Japanese, but he couldn't say it directly, so he could only say: "It's okay to chat, but I'm very short on time." ”

"It doesn't matter, just a few words. We are all Asians, we are all yellow, and in this white country, there should be a common language. ”

While speaking, Panasonic Rongqing pulled Chen Jing to the seat on the side, ordered two cups of coffee, and then said with a smile: "As a rising maritime power, China has made remarkable achievements, especially the development of your aircraft carrier, which is even more impressive. I don't know what Chen Sang thinks about future naval battles, is it the aircraft carrier that is superior, or the battleship that is dominant! ”

"Whoever has an advantage and who has a disadvantage will only know if you have fought on the battlefield, but I can only tell you one thing, that is, the Chinese Navy has confidence and ability to safeguard its maritime rights and interests, and the sea frontier is like an iron wall."

"Yo Xi, Chen Sang really has courage, but as far as I know, one aircraft carrier can only control a few hundred kilometers of sea area, and even three aircraft carriers are difficult to protect thousands of miles of sea territory, does it mean that your country has to build more warships?"

As soon as he heard this, Chen Jing's vigilance was raised to 120, and it was obvious that this guy was not at ease and wanted to get information on the development of the navy from himself.

Chen Jing sneered: "The war is played by the navy, the army and the air force, how is the Chinese army, presumably your country has already experienced it in Korea, or the same sentence, if you want to find death, come over!" ”

After Chen Jing said this, Panasonic Rongqing was suddenly choked, and the atmosphere was extremely dull. Chen Jing grabbed the coffee, drank it dry, and then said with a smile: "Mr. Matsushita, I'm still a little busy, and I'm out of company." ”

Chen Jing turned around and was about to leave, Panasonic Rongqing sneered and said: "Chen Sang, the contemptible people think that you should not be busy, do you think that China has any hope of grabbing orders, to tell you the truth, it has already been decided, we are just coming to see the scenery." I advise you not to be delusional, there are some things that cannot be snatched. ”

"If you can't grab it, you have to grab it, just admit defeat like this, it's not the style of bushido!" Chen Jing said with a smile, and then left without looking back, saying as he walked: "When we get the order, we will also invite Mr. Panasonic to drink the wedding wine." ”

"Yaga!" didn't ask anything, and was teased, Matsushita was also furious, but he was helpless.

Chen Jing is actually not as calm as it seems, Panasonic Rongqing's words still revealed some content, the tender has been decided, and there is no doubt that it will fall into the hands of the American and British shipyards. failed before he could start, which made the hopeful Chen Jing a little unwilling, and he found Bachelet as soon as possible.

"Old friend, I wonder if the bid has already been decided?"

"How so?" Bachelet smiled a little unnaturally: "Of course the bidding will continue, but to tell you the truth, Mr. Antonio, the Secretary of the Admiralty, is inclined to purchase warships from the United States. ”

"The United States?" Chen Jing's brows furrowed: "Can you tell me the reason?" ”

Saying that, Chen Jing pushed a check over, Bachelet glanced at it, 1 1 followed by 4 0s, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Mr. Minister has bought a lot of stocks in the United States, one of which is a shipyard, and if he increases his orders, his stock will go up, and he will get a rebate."

"Ridiculous!" Chen Jing suddenly cried and laughed when he heard this: "Battleships are the heavy weapons of a country, how can they be decided for such a ridiculous reason?" ”

"There are even more ridiculous things, old friends, forget it, don't fight, as long as you operate well, maybe you will purchase more aircraft, which can be regarded as a compensation."

"No, we are determined to get this list, old friend, can you do me a favor, I want to meet your president, to tell you the truth, the country has authorized me, for this order, China will carry out more diverse cooperation with Chile, we can come up with enough things to make you tempted."

Bachelet glanced at Chen Jing, Chen Jing left and took out four more checks from his sleeve, all of them were 10,000 yuan, after getting the money, Bachelet shrugged his shoulders, and then smiled: "Okay, there is a ball tonight, I wish you a long way." ”

After Chen Jing said goodbye to Bachelet, he immediately put in the effort and began to study the president of Chile, this guy is called Carlos? Ibanez? Bender? Campo, who had been in the military for 30 years, served as the Minister of Quartermaster and Minister of the Interior, held real power, came to power in 27 years by coup d'état, and became the dictator of Chile.

In fact, this kind of drama is very common after the independence of South America, first the elected government comes to power, but when it encounters wind and grass, there are economic problems, it has to step down, and at the same time the military strongman comes to power. As a result, the dictator also had a hard time solving the problem, and after a period of time, he was ousted from power.

That's it, alternately, the political arena has become a pot of porridge, in the final analysis, if the economy is not independent, don't think that politics can be independent. Chen Jing had little interest in these things, he only thought about how to impress the dictator.

Soon it was time for the ball, and under the lights, those mixed-race beauties in South America danced like a group of elves, but Chen Jing didn't bother to take a look. At 9 o'clock, President Campo finally came, and the old guy warmly hugged the noble ladies.

After jumping for almost an hour, Bachelet pulled Chen Jing to the lounge at the back to meet with the president.

After Campo saw Chen Jing, he looked him up and down, and said with a smile: "Friend of the East, I only give you five minutes to convince me, in fact, I prefer those goblins outside to these boring negotiations." (To be continued......)