Located on the south bank of the Río de la Plata River, Buenos Aires is a jewel of South America. The excellent natural pasture grass of the Pampas grassland has made it one of the world's best livestock production areas. Cattle products in Argentina have always been a staple in the market, which has made Buenos Aires, where it is located, a central city in the region.

So after Argentina's independence, Buenos Aires became its capital unsurprisingly.

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

That was the territorial dispute with Chile over the Patagonian plateau and Tierra del Fuego, both of which gained independence from Spanish rule in 1810. In the early days, the borders between the two countries were divided by Spain, and even the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Trade signed between the two countries in 1855 only generally recognized the borders of their independence from Spain.

Three years ago, the two countries re-signed a border treaty demarcating the eastern mouth of the strait. For unknown reasons, the boundaries of the Beagle Strait and the ownership of the three islands (Picton, Lennox, and Nueva) were not determined. The three islands, located in the western part of the strait, are rich in fishery resources, and because they do not have a certain ownership, fishermen from both countries come here to fish.

Since they all came to fish, there were disputes, and as the disputes increased, the two countries were naturally involved.

With the intervention of the two governments, relations between the two countries deteriorated completely, and because of the region's location near the Strait of Magellan and the terrible climate change, the only thing that could play a role here was the navy. Therefore, the two countries need more navies to speak about the disputed territories.

However, in terms of navy, the gap between Argentina and Chile is not small, and Chile, which has just won the guano war, has a navy far higher than Argentina in terms of scale, warship performance, and the level of warship officers and men. This has allowed the Argentine Navy to be suppressed by it in several confrontations and conflicts.

Such a situation is very unfavorable for Argentina to occupy the three islands. So naturally, the Navy's call for the purchase of new ships is also getting higher and higher.

In the face of the Navy's cries, the Argentine President Julio Roca could not ignore the fact that he had negotiated with the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Juan Goyoneche, which would be suitable for the purchase of warships that would have the upper hand in the confrontation with the Chilean Navy.

"First of all, we need to suppress the opponent in terms of speed, secondly, we need to have enough firepower for the Chileans to learn to calm down, and secondly, we need to resist the opponent's fire in terms of armor."

As soon as General Goyone opened his mouth, he said what the Navy wanted.

Although President Roca had never been in the navy, he was also a soldier, and when he heard so many requests from the Secretary of the Navy, he felt that the cost was not small.

"Juan, the budget given by the Ministry of Finance is limited, you have to be careful that it is overspent, otherwise Thomas of the Ministry of Finance will not be able to speak."

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

In the face of General Goyone's assurances, President Rocca was not convinced. He is too familiar with this temperament, as long as he seizes the opportunity, he will desperately pull funds from the navy.

Although the navies and armies of all countries in the world are basically like this, compared to others, General Goyone pulled his face. For a little expense, he can pretend to be a dead dog, and he can simply disgust other people to death, especially Thomas of the Ministry of Finance.

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

"So do you have a suitable choice?"

His Excellency the President didn't bother to talk nonsense, and directly asked about the Navy's plans.

"Yes, of course, our Admiralty has carefully selected three warships as options."

As he spoke, General Goyone pulled out three drawings for the president to choose from. For this reason, he also gave a careful explanation.

"This first one is from the UK, there is no physical object at the moment, and construction has just begun, so I can only look at the drawings. This is the British armored cruiser named Blake-class, which, as far as we know, is designed with a maximum speed of 20 knots, is armed with 10 6-inch naval guns, 2 9.2-inch first-class main guns, and has a displacement of 8100 tons, which is very suitable for the needs of our Navy. ”

"And what about the price?"

It is clear that His Excellency the President is more concerned about another issue.

"We asked the UK about it, and the ship cost £560,000, mainly because of the higher cost of power."

In the face of the president's inquiry, General Goyone truthfully gave the price. In fact, Britain is still building a 10,000-ton loading cruise, but that thing is more expensive, and Argentina can't consider it at all.

"There is no way to get the Ministry of Finance to agree to this price, and you also know how much the Ministry of Finance has allocated money."

As the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Goyone, of course, knows how much the Treasury has allocated this time, only 410,000 pounds, and this price cannot buy the warship he wants, but it is a matter of man, and he always needs to fight for it, so it is not his style to give up.

Then he took out a piece of the mouth and said. "This is a newly developed French patrol equipped with 4 190 main guns and 8 160 mm secondary 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 terms of firepower, and the only advantage is that its speed is faster than that of the British patrol, reaching a speed of 21 knots. Of course, it would be a little embarrassing to let it run so fast in terms of armor.

Of course, this is all a picky act, and for Argentina now, both of them are combined, but the price is over the budget, and the French outfit costs 526,000 pounds.

The prices of these two ships are not acceptable at first glance, so Mr. President looked at the Secretary of the Navy and gestured with his eyes to see if there was anything else?

"There's another one."

As he spoke, General Goyone took out a drawing and continued. "This is an improved version of the Venice-class armored cruiser from Italy, which was developed by the Italian Navy based on certain improvements after the Battle of the Sea of China. This battleship ......"

In the mouth of General Goyone, President Rocca learned that this Italian patrol was equipped with four 10-inch twin main guns, 10 twin 5-inch secondary guns, and some other secondary guns, and that this battleship could be said to be far superior in other aspects except for the two models that were weaker than the British and French in speed.

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

"And how much does this ship cost?"

"£550,000."

"Is the price right?"

Hearing General Goyone's offer made President Roca hesitate for a while.

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

Thinking of the current territorial dispute with Chile, President Roca gritted his teeth and spoke. "Are you sure that this ship will be bought back to suppress the Chileans?"

"I can vouch for that."

Hearing General Goyone's assurances in the navy, President Rocca was relieved. While the Admiralty is otherwise a fuck-up affair, his work ethic and competence are well recognized. Since it can move back to the disadvantage, then the boat is worth buying.

"So which one do you think is better for Argentina?"

"Italy's Venice Improvement, although the price is about the same, but the difference between firepower and armor can be seen by anyone."

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

Well, in fact, General Goyone had only one option in his eyes at the beginning, and that was the Venetian Improved Class, which had just withstood the test of war, and was much better than other outfits and cruisers that were still drawings. However, the high price of the case made General Goyone very worried, and he was able to get the president's approval.

And here he played a trick, when asking Britain and France in the construction and installation patrol, he deliberately proposed to buy all kinds of spare parts, because Argentina is too far away from the two countries, and preparing various parts in advance can save time.

The quotation of the ships sent by Britain and France included the price of these spare parts, which naturally greatly increased the quotation of the warships of the two countries. Later, it competed with the Venice reclassifier, which was more powerful than its firepower and armor, and the two warships that had no price advantage were even beaten.

General Goyone, who had obtained the result he wanted, was immediately ready to send a telegram to Italy.