Chapter 6: The Bureau's Strangulation (Part 2)

  2.

  Ren Shengping and 25 Chinese agents of the National Security Bureau arrived in Buenos Aires on the day marking the first anniversary of the end of the First Pan-American War. The enthusiastic Argentines celebrated with songs and dances on the streets, commemorating their glorious victories one year ago on two fronts in Chile and Uruguay.

  "Argentina has been silent for too long, today we will not retreat." In the research room of China's National Security Bureau in Beijing, Ren Shengping had watched the footage of that war countless times. When Argentine President Juan Carlos Munilla shouted Argentina's anger to the world through television, the armored forces of the 4 mechanized brigades of the Argentine Army crossed the border between Argentina and southern Chile, with the Czech-made T-72CZ main battle tanks crushing the weak defense line of the Chilean army under the fluttering Argentine blue and white flag. Within 4 days, they fully occupied the snow-covered southern region of the Republic of Chile and Tierra del Fuego.

  One week later, under the unfavorable conditions of still being at war with Chile, the Argentine army almost without warning mobilized 50,000 troops to launch a surprise attack on its northeastern neighbor Uruguay, with the main role again played by Argentina's massive land forces.

  Under the Uruguayan government's declaration of a policy of no resistance, Argentine troops bloodlessly occupied all of Uruguay within 72 hours, drinking water from Lake Merín. The army's advance pointed directly at important ports in southern Brazil: Rio Grande and Porto Alegre. It was only after the Argentine army had fully occupied Uruguay that the Chilean government began to realize the strength of its opponent.

  September 20, 2006 The Treaty of Santiago was signed in Santiago, Chile. Argentina gained the southernmost tip of a narrow strip of Chilean territory - occupying 7% of Chile's total area

  Square kilometer 1

  Chile's southernmost region and Tierra del Fuego. Uruguay was not so lucky. Under the watchful eye of Argentine troops with guns at the ready, a plebiscite resulted in over 98% of Uruguayan citizens expressing their desire to merge with Argentina into one country.

  "Why Chile and Uruguay but not other countries bordering Argentina?" A report from China's National Security Bureau for South America reveals the subtlety.

  Argentina has a relatively developed industry, mainly including steel, electricity, automobiles, petroleum, chemicals, textiles, machinery, food and other industries. The industrial output value accounts for 21% of the country's total production value.

  3. The level of development of the nuclear industry is among the forefront in Latin America, with three nuclear power plants and the ability to independently produce enriched uranium. Steel production has reached 7 million tons, ranking third in Latin America. The machinery manufacturing industry has a considerable level, and Argentine-made aircraft have entered the international market.

  The food processing industry is relatively advanced, mainly including meat processing, dairy products, grain processing, fruit processing and winemaking. It is still one of the world's major wine-producing countries, with an annual output of 3 billion liters. The country's domestic resources are also extremely rich, with mineral resources including oil, natural gas, coal, iron, silver, uranium, lead, tin, gypsum, and sulfur. The proven reserves are: oil 411 million tons, natural gas 6886 billion cubic meters, coal 600 million tons, iron 300 million tons, and uranium 29,400 tons. The country is rich in hydropower resources. Forests cover an area of 1/3 of the national territory.

  Around 3 o'clock. Marine fishery resources are rich. It should be said that in South America, it is a country with relatively good natural conditions.

  However, Argentina experienced a severe debt crisis in the 1980s and its economy declined sharply. In 1991, it began to implement a new liberal economic policy based on a fixed exchange rate between the peso and the US dollar, with privatization as its core, achieving an average annual growth rate of 6% from 1991 to 1998.

  Affected by the Southeast Asian financial crisis and Brazilian financial turmoil, Argentina's economy began to slide in the second half of 1998. After President De la Rúa took office, a series of measures were introduced to stimulate economic recovery, but with little effect. In 2001, Argentina's economy declined for the fourth consecutive year, the country risk index exceeded 4,000 points, debt pressure surged, industrial production plummeted, and bank deposits suffered massive losses. To avoid financial system collapse, the government announced emergency economic measures on December 1 to freeze bank savings deposits, triggering large-scale social unrest and ultimately leading to the downfall of the coalition government.

  After President Duhalde took office, he adopted measures such as suspending foreign debt repayment and canceling the fixed exchange rate system, but it was difficult to get rid of the economic crisis. In the end, the Argentine people had no choice but to pin their hopes on the military, and in November 2003, the Argentine Military Committee officially took over the country. Under the centralized political system, Argentina's economy showed some signs of improvement, but Argentina still could not shake off the shadow of high unemployment and low growth rates.

  What is the reason? In fact, Argentina faces the same problem as China: first, a large population. In 2003, Argentina had a population of nearly 40 million people, which is not a large number in absolute terms, but relative to its land area of 2.78 million square kilometers and GDP of 263.8 billion pesos, this population size is too big.

  To thoroughly address the shortcomings of Argentina's existing economic system, Juan Carlos Onganía, Chairman of the Argentine Military Junta, chose a radical path. Shortly after the military took power, this normally mild-mannered Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman wielded an iron fist against the numerous political parties within Argentina.

  In December 2003, the "Special Political Parties Law" was enacted, and the Argentine military junta forcibly dissolved 28 national political parties in Argentina. Both houses of Congress were closed indefinitely. The country was placed under the absolute control of the military. Amidst worldwide astonishment at the revival of fascism in Argentina, Juan Carlos Mu?oz made another shocking move: he announced that all oil, natural gas, automobile manufacturing, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, as well as financial institutions and public utilities such as aviation and telecommunications, would be nationalized and operated by the state, and foreign capital would be barred from entering these sectors.

  This move was quickly ridiculed by economists from Western countries led by the United States: this politician with a military background indeed had no idea about economics. Time magazine even called him "South America's Comrade Stalin". Of course, some of them also saw another clever move by Mu?oz, who announced in 2002

  The Argentine peso, which had been on a floating exchange rate since 1974, was devalued from 1 US dollar = 3.5 pesos to 1 US dollar = 8.5 pesos.

  A strong medicine often has its miraculous effect, under Muniz's iron-fisted reform, Argentina's domestic production growth rate finally ended its negative growth and rose by 3%. And the next step of Muniz's governance direction was to reorganize the military, before the reform, Argentina, like other South American countries, implemented a voluntary military service system, with a service period of one year. The total number of troops nationwide was only 73,000 people.

  Facing an unemployment rate of up to 20%, Juan Carlos Mu?oz, who yearned for a rich country and strong army, implemented compulsory military service in the densely populated and high-unemployment provinces of Buenos Aires and Catamarca, provided that the domestic economy allowed it. Men of conscription age had to join the army if they did not have a legitimate job and were physically fit, with a term of service of 2 years.

  At the same time, Argentina bypassed the US and Western Europe's arms embargo to seek weapons imports. The first breakthrough came from Eastern Europe, where the Czech Republic, which was standardized by NATO, exported $350 million worth of military equipment to Argentina, including the T-72CZ main battle tank, considered one of the best improved versions of the T-72 series. Among the East European countries that were assimilated into NATO, the Czech Republic has a relatively developed industry.

  Throughout the Cold War, Czechoslovakia produced over 10,000 tanks of various types for all Warsaw Pact member states. In order to quickly align itself with NATO, however, Czechoslovakia had to dispose of its large inventory of Soviet-made tanks and lease German Leopard 2s to curry favor with its new masters. Argentina's offer provided an unexpected opportunity to "clear out" this inventory. The sale of 300 T-72CZ main battle tanks plus a manufacturing license for just $250 million was thus understandable.

  In the Paraná River Delta region of northern Argentina, a 15-day joint live-fire exercise codenamed "Hand of God" is underway. The exercise simulates a comprehensive intervention war launched by a major power against Argentina. By the time Ren Shengping arrived in Argentina, the exercise was nearing its end. After a bitter and extraordinary defensive battle, the Argentine military began a full-scale counterattack against the invaders who had successfully landed and occupied Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. A squadron of Chinese-made FC-1 fighter jets flew over the exercise area, and after the blue army's aircraft carrier fleet was sunk by Argentina's secret weapon, and the front-line airport was attacked by Argentine "Alacran" and "Condor 2" ground-to-ground tactical missiles, even low-end fighters like the FC-1 could gain air superiority.

  After clearing the battlefield of Chinese Z-9 and Russian MI-28 helicopters, the Argentine Army's tank shooting began - on the battlefield, one by one, the high-profile, over 60-ton heavy tank targets were named by the T-72CZ main battle tank's 125mm smoothbore cannon. Whether they played the role of M1A2 or "Challenger 3", perhaps only the Argentines themselves know!

  Since the 1990s, he had been accustomed to seeing such a huge waste of resources with no practical significance in the country. Sitting in the Chinese military sightseeing seat specially set up by the Argentine military, Ren Sheng felt a bit tired, probably because the jet lag hadn't passed yet. "Pay attention to the next detail, Little Ren," said Qu Shuiqing, the head of the China National Security Bureau's Argentine branch, who was sitting in front of Ren Sheng, forcing him to put aside his fatigue and refocus on the big screen.

  On the screen, an Argentine mechanized infantry regiment is attacking a blue army forward field airport that has been hit by long-range firepower. T-72CZ main battle tanks with DYNA-72 type reactive armor rolled over the blue army's defensive line, and more "TAM" VCTP infantry fighting vehicles and M-113 armored personnel carriers charged into the enemy's defensive depth.

  "What a shocking scene! Can't this be seen domestically?! In his heart, Ren Shengping was full of complaints and just wanted to withdraw his gaze, but he was attracted by the uniforms of the Argentine infantry jumping out of the armored vehicle - all wearing protective gear. The terrifying gas mask under the steel helmet seemed to tell Ren Shengping a terrible answer that he never wanted to believe. "Is there an exercise content for the Blue Army using biochemical weapons?"

  "None!" Ren Shengping asked. "Perhaps this is the reason why this exercise was named 'Hand of God'. Foul, but a heroic guide to lead Argentina to victory."

  The clear water replied calmly.

  China's military aid to Argentina lags far behind that of Russia and Iran. It wasn't until 2005 that China and Argentina signed their first military cooperation agreement. Of course, prior to this, Argentina had acquired 200 FC-1 fighter jets and other necessary military technology through Pakistan, such as long-range missile guidance technology.

  However, due to the complementary nature of trade between China and Argentina - China needs Argentina's iron ore, oil and agricultural products, while Argentina yearns for China's cheap light industrial products and cutting-edge aerospace technology (Argentina has launched multiple multi-purpose low-orbit satellites with compensation trade from China). This has also led to a rapid expansion of military trade between the two countries.

  In many of Argentina's large-scale cutting-edge military technology projects, the figure of Chinese experts can be seen. A powerful Argentina can contain the most feared enemy of the Republic, and it is believed that most Chinese scientists will think so when they are secretly developing weapons for Argentina.

  However, even the best allies have their own secrets, and China and Argentina are no exception. At one point, Argentina had hoped that China would provide it with nuclear weapons technology and practical parameters, but was rebuffed by the Chinese government. The Argentine government subsequently assured the Chinese government that it would abandon its nuclear weapons development program after China helped it build a large nuclear-powered submarine. However, mass destructive weapons do not necessarily rely on atomic collisions. "The motherland needs to know the specifics of Argentina's mass destructive weapons under development. It's up to you."

  He patted the shoulder of Ren Shengping, the best bio-chemical weapons expert in the National Security Bureau.