August 27, 2757 (1916), Santiago.

Chile is the world's narrowest country and is known as the "skirt of the earth", and the collision of the Pacific and South American plates over hundreds of millions of years has given rise to the richest copper deposits on the planet, bringing endless wealth to the South American country. Since the end of the 18th century, when the locals extracted copper ore from malachite, Chile has become the country with the richest copper reserves, the largest output and the largest export in the world, and is known as the "country of copper mines".

It is also the world's largest producer of natural saltpeter, mainly in the Atacama Desert region in the north. Since the discovery of saltpeter, this desert has become the richest region in Chile's history. The distribution area of saltpeter ore in Chile is very broad, behind the coastal plateau, between the Peruvian border and the province of Antofagasta, the saltpeter belt is more than 750 kilometers long and 25~30 kilometers wide. 0 off the ground. 5~2 meters underground, buried 1~3 meters thick saltpeter layer.

Before China invented ammonia synthesis technology, saltpeter was an indispensable raw material for the military industry, and there was simply no other material that could be replaced. And it is also an important raw material for fertilizer, the end of the nineteenth century is the period of agricultural development in Europe and the United States, the demand for fertilizer is very strong, all countries need a large number of fertilizers, especially after the depletion of guano resources, Chilean saltpeter has become the sought-after goods of European and American farmers, their demand for this resource is growing, up to half a century, until the popularization of synthetic ammonia technology has stopped. With two major customers, the military and agriculture, Chile, which controls the largest saltpeter mine on the planet, is naturally the city of Dafali.

In addition to the two world-leading minerals, Chile also has deposits of iron, coal, iodine, lead, zinc, manganese, mercury and oil. Iron ore, in particular, has a high grade (more than 60% iron) and is comparable to Swedish iron ore.

The decades between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century can be said to be the golden age of Chile. Relying on the two strategic resources of copper and saltpeter, Chile has lived a very prosperous life, and has become one of the top three powers in South America at the beginning of this century, and its economic strength ranks first in South America.

Especially after the outbreak of World War I, the price of saltpeter and copper has skyrocketed, the price of refined copper before the war was about 300 US dollars per ton, and this year it has grown to 640 US dollars per ton, and the price of saltpeter has also skyrocketed by more than half, from about 35 US dollars per ton before the war, to about 55 US dollars per ton (at this time, synthetic ammonia technology is only available in China and Germany, and other powers are still less saltpeter). Although many of these mining companies are controlled by British and American capital, and most of the profits are embezzled by them, Chile, as a landlord, still gets a lot of oil and water, and it is also the feeling of counting money and cramping in hand.

Since 1891, naval officer J. Monte started a civil war and seized power in Chile. In the period that followed, the landlord class united with the large importers and exporters to control the government, and began the so-called "Congressional Republican Period". Because of the good times, the Chilean economy developed a lot during this period.

Of course, it was not only Chile that experienced great economic growth during this period, but also Argentina and Brazil, which are next door to them, also made a fortune.

Brazil's main exports are coffee, rubber, and cocoa. The total value of Brazil's exports increased to 9. 800 million Cr. Ruzeiro. Among them, the first two are the first in the world, coffee has always accounted for more than half of the world's export value, rubber exports account for 40% of the world's exports, and cocoa exports are the second in the world.

Argentina began exporting wheat and corn to the European market in 1878. During the First World War, wheat exports exceeded 3 million tons, ranking third in the world. Corn exports reached 4.8 million tons by 1912, accounting for the world's largest volume. In 1913, the export of leather raw materials also occupied the first place in the world. During World War I, Argentina surpassed the United States and Australia in all exports of butter, meat, and wool, ranking first in the world.

If you have money, you are willful, and with a lot of tickets in your hand, your heart is restless. Arms are the most fun, they are liked by all of them, and they can be used to set up music and increase national strength, what a good thing?

In today's world, there is no more playful toy than a battleship. This product, like the nuclear weapons of later generations, is the thing that can best demonstrate the identity of the great powers, and can be regarded as the admission ticket to the circle of the great powers.

The ABC three small powers take it for granted that they are also great powers, how can they not have battleships?

The first to strike was Brazil, the weaker of the three small powers, who ordered three battleships from the British. After the completion of the British Intrepid battleship, Brazil ordered the first two dreadnought battleships from the British Armstrong Company in 1906, which was modeled after the "Bellerophon-class" battleships of the British Royal Navy, and the design was modified according to the requirements of the Brazilian Navy. This is the "Minas Gerais-class" battleship, Brazil asked for a total of two.

However, we all know that Niu Niu likes the virtue of pit people, except for the younger brother Japan's King Kong class, which is a rare conscience goods, the other appearance warships are the monkey version of the pit father. In particular, the foreign trade battleships had their broadside armor weakened to the point of frenzy to ensure that they could be penetrated by the main guns of the British armored cruisers at normal engagement distances. Yes, you read that right, it was pierced by the main guns of the British armored cruisers, not the main guns of the battleships. The Brazilians were no exception, and the "Minas Gerais-class" battleship was not only a thin-skinned dumpling, but also used an old reciprocating steam engine for its power system, rather than a new one.

But no matter how monkey the version is, the "Minas Gerais-class" is also a battleship with 12 305-mm guns (6 twin turrets), and the military balance in South America is suddenly upset.

So Argentina, which considers itself the leader of South America, could not sit still. After learning that Brazil had ordered dreadnoughts from the British, Argentina also planned to build dreadnoughts. After soliciting 15 proposals from many shipyards in Europe and the United States, it was decided that the American shipyard with preferential quotations would undertake the construction of 2 ships. The Argentine dreadnought, which began to be built at the time of the completion of the Brazilian dreadnought, was relatively new, with a displacement of nearly 50% larger, and the main gun was also a more advanced 12-inch 50x diameter main gun (compared to 45 times the diameter in Brazil), with two main turrets in the front and rear of the hull in a knapsack arrangement, and the two main turrets in the amidships of the hull were arranged in a stepped manner, and the gunside firepower was superior to that of the Brazilian dreadnought.

This is the "Rivadavia-class" battleship, Eagle sauce is much more conscientious than Niu Niu, this kind of battleship built by others gives the broadside armor to 12 inches with enough conscience, and the thickness of the battleship's armor is the same as the caliber of the main gun, which is a normal level. So the Argentine battleships overwhelmed Brazil at once, both in terms of firepower and armor.

As for Brazil's third battleship "Rio de Janeiro", it was ordered from Britain in 1911 in order to overtake Argentina. Originally, Brazil was going to buy a battleship equipped with 12 356 mm guns, but Niu Niu played a trick, claiming that it was too difficult to build such a large battleship, and it would take a long time, and at the same time, it scared the Brazilians away at a sky-high price.

In fact, Niu Niu doesn't really find it difficult to build, but they don't have this level of super dreadnought themselves now. Battleships of this class such as 12 14-inch main guns had only two Fuxi-class Chinese ships at that time, and no other countries had any. With the virtue of Niu Niu, how could he help others build such a good battleship when he didn't have it yet?

So Niu Niu once again regarded Brazil as a big wrong, and they designed a 14-door 305 mm "Rio de Janeiro" for Brazil instead. Well, that's right, this is the artifact of my multi-turret cult, the Agincourt, an unprecedented seven-turret battleship. In the history of the original time and space, due to the shrinking market of Brazil's three major products, coffee, rubber and cocoa, the Daozhì had no way to pay the money, so they had to sell it to the Ottomans, and finally it was lost by Niu Niu.

But the history of this plane is somewhat different, and in the end the ship was left to the people of Brazil. With the addition of China as a major customer, Brazil's agricultural products are not sold, and the markets for coffee, rubber and cocoa have not shrunk much, thus ensuring the ship's capital chain. The battleship "Rio de Janeiro" was completed in February 1914 and returned to Brazil, becoming the third battleship of the Brazilian Navy.

Compared to Brazil and Argentina next door, Chile, which was originally the largest navy in South America, was slow to react, and it was only after the navies of Brazil and Argentina began to announce the purchase of battleships. It wasn't until 1911 that they agreed to expand their navy, and after some comparison, Chile decided to order 2 "Admiral Latorre-class" super-dreadnought battleships from the United Kingdom, which were redesigned on the British Navy's Iron Duke-class battleships, with a similar firepower layout to the Iron Duke-class, but with larger 14-inch guns (the Iron Duke-class guns were 13). 5 inches). Of course, the Chileans were no exception, and the armor of such battleships was drastically reduced. Niu Niu offered Chile 2.5 million pounds per ship, which is really dark.

But the Chileans were unlucky, their two super-dreadnoughts were not yet completed, and the First World War broke out gorgeously. There is no doubt that with Niu Niu's consistent virtue, these two unfinished battleships were naturally detained by them. Of course, Chile was not an Ottoman, and they had in their hands copper and saltpeter, the necessities of war, and if they provoked Chile, they would be in trouble to stop exporting these strategic goods to Britain. Therefore, the British did not dare to directly float the battleships as they did with the Ottomans, and they negotiated "friendly negotiations" with Chile and bought the two battleships at the original price.

As for the "friendly consultation" method, you know. At the same time, along with the two battleships, Niu Niu bought, along with six destroyers ordered in 1913. Anyway, after the agreement was reached, Chile's President Salas broke several teacups in his office.

Seeing that the boiled duck flew, the depression of the Chileans should not be mentioned, but it is not good to turn the face of Niu Niu for this matter, after all, the British Empire did not directly drift shamelessly, and still gave the money at the original price. So Chile had no choice but to look at the two neighbors next door, and from time to time he drove the battleship out for a ride, not to mention the envy, jealousy and hatred.

The morale of the Chilean people in this era is still very high, how can I be a great Chile without battleships? That is absolutely not a drop! Even the two dumplings next door have them, and my big Chile must also have them!

So they were ready to order battleships from other countries, and the only people in the world today who have the ability to build super-dreadnoughts are the top powers such as Britain, the United States, Germany, France, and Russia, as well as the three sub-powers of Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Japan. Among them, Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Japan, and Austria have all been involved in the war, and they must not have time to take this order.

In other words, at this time, only China, the United States and Italy have the ability and leisure to take over this order. But we all know that the Italians are very romantic, and this talent allows them to have the best designers, often designing very good warships, but this romantic talent is not suitable for practical work, their factories are extremely inefficient, and the speed of shipbuilding is extremely slow. For example, the same ship can be built in two years by other countries, but they may not be able to build it in five years. Chile, which was in dire need of battleships to support the scene, could not tolerate such low efficiency, so it was out of the game.

The only remaining suppliers are China and the United States, which offered to buy from both countries last year. They threw out an order for three battleships, Nima, this is a huge list! The major shipyards on both sides were green-eyed, and immediately responded enthusiastically to Chile and provided him with a lot of design proposals. Chileans are picky, this is good, that is good, they want all of them......

They had been arguing for a long time over the selection of battleships, and the military naturally hoped that the stronger the better, while the government hoped that the cheaper the better, and the two sides had great differences. In the end, the Argentines helped them unify their opinions, and at the beginning of this year, the third battleship ordered by Argentina was officially commissioned, which was the American version of the new New York-class battleship they ordered from the United States in 1912, that is, the Chinese Fuxi-class battleship.

At this moment, the Chileans could not sit still, so the military and the government took a step back and compromised with each other, and hurried to end the quarrel. The military agreed to reduce the original three battleships to two, and the government agreed to choose better battleships.

Today, delegations from China and the United States traveled to Santiago, Chile, to conduct a final review and determine the final suppliers. Both governments attach great importance to it and have sent senior government officials to lead the team. The US delegation was led by Secretary of State Robert Lansing, and the Chinese delegation was led by Premier Zhang Lizheng. In addition to these government officials, the delegation included representatives of shipyards and designers from both countries.