Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 141 Machinery and Equipment Categories
In the second half of the 19th century, the major European and American powers formed an industrial system dominated by six major industrial categories: steel mining and smelting, mechanical machine tool processing and production, steam ship manufacturing, chemical textiles, railway manufacturing, and telegraph information transmission. Coal and metal ores, which had originally restricted national development, were transported in large quantities from the colonies to the mother country via improved steam ships, providing a strong driving force for the development of European powers.

Rio Grande do Sul spent its precious gold reserves to purchase Prussian industrial equipment, focusing mainly on four areas: steel mining and smelting, machinery and machine tool production and processing, chemical and textile manufacturing, and military weapons production.

The steel and machinery industries are the core of the development of heavy industry. Sun Bin directly purchased a large steel plant, three medium-sized coal mining plants, two mineral waste treatment plants, and three machinery machine tool production and processing plants from Prussia.

Among them, the steel mills can produce up to 10,000 tons of raw steel and pig iron per year if there is sufficient raw material.

The three coal mining plants have a total production capacity of 45 tonnes.

At the end of 1868, among the major European countries, the annual steel production of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was about 40 tons, France 90 tons, Prussia 92 tons, and the United Kingdom 500 million tons.

British colonies are spread all over the world, and the British Empire's navy ranks first in the world. Its naval power is stronger than the sum of the next four countries. With a strong navy, British merchant ships transport various raw materials from all over the world, then process them into products in factories and sell them to India and the mainland ruled by the Qing Dynasty, making huge profits.

Rio Grande do Sul has a small population and national strength, and cannot produce steel like the European powers and rapidly increase industrial output. However, although the annual output of 10,000 tons of the Communist plant is not as good as that of the European powers, it is also a large steel smelter ranked among the major countries in South America, only slightly smaller than Brazil and Peru, which have rich steel reserves.

Weapons and military factories are related to national defense security, and chemical and textile industries are related to the daily lives of ordinary people. Therefore, factory equipment in these two areas is equally indispensable.

Building telegraph lines facilitated information transmission for the military, but because Rio Grande do Sul had a sparse population and the main forces of the army were concentrated in a few major strongholds, not much equipment was purchased. Shipbuilding required a lot of technical accumulation and financial support, and the transport fleet had limited capacity. Therefore, only two small shipyards were purchased to produce commercial ships of less than one thousand tons.

Steel mills, mechanical processing plants, weapons and military factories, and textile mills were all established in Passo Fundo. Two small shipyards were built on the west bank of Lake Patos, taking advantage of the excellent port of Porto Alegre. At the same time, because they were located inside Lake Pasto, they could avoid sea attacks from hostile countries.

The second half of the 20th century was the era of the ocean. Due to limited manpower and financial resources, Rio Grande do Sul could only build two commercial shipyards, but this did not mean giving up the development of naval power. On the contrary, it used the two civilian shipyards to accumulate shipbuilding technology. When finances were sufficient, Rio Grande do Sul could purchase a warship shipyard and produce warships made by the Chinese themselves.

On the afternoon of December 12, after four and a half days, all the mechanical equipment on the fleet was unloaded to the shore. More than 50 inland vessels carrying dismantled mechanical equipment parts docked at the Guaiba estuary and were about to head along the river to Passo Fundo.

The Guaiba River was in its dry season in December, with reduced water volume and depth. The order for the fleet to set off came, and tens of thousands of Brazilian prisoners of war gathered by the river began to pull the tow ropes to move the boats forward under the supervision of the Chinese soldiers.

"Kaka", under the heavy steps of the Brazilian prisoners of war, the first inland vessel loaded with machinery sailed out of the shallow water and began to slowly accelerate forward relying on the sails on the ship.

After the first ship left, the prisoners behind it pulled the boats one by one in order. Two hours later, all fifty docked ships had sailed out of the shallow water area. The Brazilian prisoners who had completed their mission left the port in batches and walked towards another construction site.

Brazilian prisoners of war continued to work until the Brazilians redeemed them. However, after the peace agreement was signed, the prisoners' working hours and intensity would be reduced and they would not be as hard as at the beginning.

Most of the ships were loaded with mechanical equipment, with rifles and artillery accounting for only a small part. There were 10,000 Dreyse rifles, 1,500 rifles in each of the four infantry divisions, 1,000 rifles in each of the three mixed brigades, and the remaining 1,000 rifles were equipped in small quantities to the military police, engineering corps, communications battalion and other troops.

As for artillery, the purchased artillery will be used to form new artillery units according to the following organization:

65mm Artillery Company: 6 65mm small mountain guns, 120 personnel, no guard soldiers, usually assigned to the army combat troops,
75mm Field Artillery Battalion: 15 guns, 500 men,

105mm Howitzer Regiment: 24 guns, 1500 men,

155mm heavy artillery regiment: 15 guns, 1800 people.

Three different artillery units make up the main branches of the Rio Grande do Sul Defense Force artillery:

The artillery brigade was reorganized. The new artillery brigade includes: a 105mm howitzer regiment, two 75mm artillery battalions, five 65mm artillery battalions, a brigade guard company, a communications company, a black heavy battalion, and a medical company, with a total number of 4000 people, maintaining a full staffing status.

The lack of artillery units in the field army was also supplemented: each division was equipped with a 75mm artillery battalion and five 65mm artillery companies.

Each mixed brigade is equipped with a 75mm artillery battalion and three 65mm artillery companies.
The 155mm heavy artillery regiment is organized separately and is directly under the command of the Wehrmacht Headquarters.

With the update of rifles and artillery, although the number of the Wehrmacht was reduced by about 5,000, the overall combat effectiveness was improved. Correspondingly, the Wehrmacht became more dependent on logistical and ammunition supplies.

Dresser rifle production lines and three types of artillery factories are to be built. Under the guidance of Prussian technical experts, Chinese apprentices can master the operation of the machines in about half a year to a year. However, the 155mm heavy artillery has high technical requirements, and Prussia regards heavy artillery manufacturing as a core military technology, so there is no plan to sell it to the Chinese for the time being.

Therefore, the maintenance of 155mm heavy artillery and the supply of shells still had to be purchased and paid for from Prussia.

The big deal was completed. As part of the transaction, seven hundred Prussian skilled workers, three hundred technical experts, and two hundred military commanders also arrived in Southern Rio Grande with the fleet. For the next year, they will stay here and be responsible for teaching Chinese apprentices how to use machinery and equipment. After a year, some technical experts will continue to stay, while most of the other Prussians will leave Southern Rio Grande and return to Europe in accordance with the transaction contract.

During the time that the 1,200 Prussians stayed in Rio Grande do Sul, their wages were paid by the Chinese. At the same time, taking into account the poor working and living conditions in Rio Grande do Sul, their wages were paid at 2.5 times the Prussian average standard.

Li Mingyuan spent a large amount of gold to purchase equipment, and he didn't mind spending more money on technical experts. Therefore, after the 1,200 Prussians disembarked, Li Mingyuan first settled them in the new capital city. Two days later, after the first batch of Cuban Chinese workers arrived, he set out with the Chinese workers to select a specific site for factory construction and then invested in comprehensive construction.

(End of this chapter)