WesWorld

Start-of-decade review: (to follow)

THE REPUBLIC OF CHILE
People and Culture
Chile is composed of a unique mix of European immigrants, Mestizos, and Native Americans. Over one quarter of Chileans claim to be of European ethnicity, while five to six percent claim pure Native American (usually Mapuche) ethnicity, with the remaining population being mixed. Despite the varied ethnic breakdown, ethnicity is largely unimportant to the average Chilean, although European-Chileans are often better educated and more affluent overall than the other people groups.

Chileans speak a dialect of Spanish, which they refer to as Castellano. English, Atlantean, and German are also widely spoken, as is the Mapuche language of Mapudungun.

Ethnicity:
According to recent breakdowns of ethnic groups, approximately thirty-five percent of Chileans claim mixed heritage (mainly a mix of Iberian and Mapuche). The next largest percentage, above twenty percent, claim Basque heritage. English and Atlantean ethnic groups compose approximately five and a half percent each. A surprisingly high five percent of Chileans claim "Arab Christian" roots, although this category ostensibly covers Arabs, Turks, Armenians, Persians, and other western Asian groups; these people generally claim Orthodox, Coptic, Protestant, or Armenian religion, rather than Islam, but are in the main Lebanese, Palestinian, or Syrians. Italian immigrants compose a slightly smaller population group, followed by ethnic Mapuche, at four point seven percent and four and a half percent respectively. Germans and Swiss have settled extensively in the southern part of Chile, and remain one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in Chile. French, Irish, and Croatian ethnic groups compose approximately two to three percent each, with smaller European groups such as Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, Nords, Dutch, and Welsh comprise under one percent. Black Africans, Arab Muslims, Japanese, and Chinese represent small but statistically notable fractions of the population.

For all ethnic groups, especially immigrants, acculturation was generally quite swift, with most second-generation immigrants referring to themselves primarily as "Chileans", and ethnic considerations have little influence on society, whether politically or in daily life. However, there is a proven correlation between light skin and economic affluence. Chileans see their country being relatively homogenous, with the possible exception of the ethnic Mapuche; even regional variations in dialect are muted.

Religion:
A sizable majority of Chileans claim to be Catholic, while a rising percentage claim Protestant religion. Judaism contributes approximately half a percent, while Islam is statistically irrelevant. No figures are available for indigenous precolumbian religions but is likely similarly limited to under five percent. However, some indigenous religious views have been incorporated into Catholicism, particularly in remote rural areas.

The Catholic Church in Chile is divided into twenty-four dioceses, with one cardinal and five archbishops. The Catholic Church faces difficulties with a lack of Chilean-raised priests, with most priests originating from abroad, with Ireland, Italy, and Iberia contributing the largest number of priests. The Catholic Church additionally faces an aggressive challenge amongst the extremely poor segment of the population from Protestantism. Protestants, primarily claiming Evangelical heritage, have doubled in the last ten years, particularly among the poorest segments of the population, rising so that there is one practicing Protestant for every practicing Catholic. Additionally, nearly three-fifths of Protestants currently claim regular church attendance, while barely one-fifth of Catholics attend religious services on a weekly basis.

Government
Chile is a multiparty republic with presidential system based on the 1920 constitution. It has executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The current President of the Republic is Edmond Vizcarra (Chilean Federalist Party), elected December 11th, 1938, and sworn into office December 25th, 1938. The bicameral National Congress (Congreso National) is located in Valparaiso, with a Senate of forty-six members (serving eight-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies with 120 members serving four-year terms. Courts include Supreme Court (seventeen judges), seventeen appellate courts, and a small number of military courts. The National Security Council ("Cosena") is composed of the president of the republic, the president of the senate, the president of the supreme court, the minister of defense, and the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces and carabineros.

Administrative Subdivisions
Chile has twelve regions headed by an intendent (intendente). {See Appendices for listing.} The regions are subdivided into a current total of fifty-one provinces (provincias), each headed by a governor (governador) and 300 municipalities (municipalidades), each headed by a mayor (alcalde) appointed by the municipal council (in towns with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants) or by the president of the republic (in towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants). Lowest subdivision, communes (comunas). Santiago, like other cities, is headed by a mayor.

Chilean-occupied Bolivia (Chilean Bolivia) is administered as an independent region with an Army officer appointed as both the intendent and regional commander-in-chief of the Occupation Forces.

Political Parties:
Center-Right: The Partido Federalista de Chile (Federalist Party of Chile) holds a majority in the national congress and it's leader, Edmond Vizcarra, is President of the Republic. Partido Liberal (Liberal Party) serves as the main opposition in Congress. The Partido Conservador (Right) or Conservative Party is the third-largest party currently in existence, following the creation of the Federalist Party. The Movimiento Nacional Socialista de Chile (National Socialist Party of Chile) was banned following the 1938 coup attempt.

Foreign Relations and International Memberships:
Chile is pro-democracy and pro-Western, with close ties to Atlantis, Britain, and the United States. Chile is a member of the League of Nations, the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Meteorological Organization, and the International Criminal Police Organization. Chile is a founding member of the ABC Alliance and a member of the FAR Alliance.

Military
The Chilean Armed Forces are a professional military force with a martial tradition dating back to 1810. The military tradition demands that lower-ranking soldiers and officers maintain a relative neutrality in civilian politics, and strongly adheres to the civilian control of grand strategy, but the military maintains a great deal of autonomy in conducting what it sees as its 'internal affairs'. Many civilians see the military as the most neutral arbiter in internal politics. This attitude means that Chile has seen far fewer coup attempts, both violent or nonviolent, than almost any other South American country.

Each of the military branches is overseen by a Commander-in-Chief chosen by the President of the Republic (and confirmed by the Senate) from the five highest-ranking members of that branch. The Commander-in-Chief serves on the National Security Council (Cosena) for four years, and cannot be removed except in special circumstances, such as impeachment by a supermajority of the National Congress, or by a majority vote of the Cosena.

Chilean Army (Ejército de Chile)
The Chilean Army is based strongly on Prussian and German military traditions, often to the extent of adopting German terms for military units, equipment, tactics, and doctrines, and even mimicking German uniforms. The Army recruits soldiers heavily from the lower class, and includes educational opportunities among its recruitment tools; roughly thirty percent of Army recruits are illiterate, and undergo an educational "boot camp" during their army service. As a result, the Army is seen as a viable path of upward social mobility for the poor. Chilean soldiers are sometimes derogatorily called rotos ("broken") by Peruvians and Bolivians due to the relative economic poverty of most of the soldiers, but Chileans often use the same term as a mark of respect for it's lower-class troops.

The Army was at the forefront of the Andean War in the early 1930s, successfully defeating the Bolivian Army. This war shook up the Army leadership and has permitted the rise of a large number of general officers who have seen combat, and they initiated a series of reforms intended to increase the combat readiness of the Army. Unfortunately these measures were not yet in place during the 1937 Peruvian War, where the Chilean Army remained mostly inactive. This was a cause of considerable criticism against the Army, which has accelerated its reforms.

The Army's peacetime strength is currently composed of twelve infantry brigades, two cavalry brigades, and a brigade of panzergrenadiers, as well as a number of smaller units, with a total of ninety-six thousand troops. Additional conscripted troops serve as reserves and militia. Chile currently numbers approximately three million males of military age.

Chilean Navy (Armada de Chile)
The Navy is charged with defending all the maritime concerns of Chile, including the protection of the coastline and the defense of the Chilean Merchant Marine. The Navy's traditions (and much of its equipment) are primarily drawn from Britain, Atlantis, and the United States. With over ninety percent of Chilean exports moving by sea, the Navy is primarily interested in the concept of sea control in order to assure its trade.

Most naval officers come from the Chilean upper class as well as European ethnic minorities, leading to the Navy's perception as the most "aristocratic" of the Chilean services. Nevertheless, the Navy was the first to offer educational opportunities to illiterate recruits, a program which proved so successful that the Army and Air Force quickly adopted it as well. The Navy is also technologically and doctrinally innovative, being the first country in South America to purchase submarines, the first to operate naval aircraft, and the first to acquire an aircraft carrier. During the War of the Pacific, the Chilean Navy became the first navy in the world to fight exclusively using steam.

The Navy has two additional subdivisions which provide it with both air and ground forces. The Chilean Marines (Infanteria de Marina or IMC), nicknamed "Cossacks", are responsible for base and shipboard security, manning coast defense fortresses, and making amphibious landings. Unlike the Army, which draws on Prussian traditions, the Marines are inspired by the Atlantean marines, the Corsairs. The Navy also maintains a Fleet Air Arm (the Armada de Chile Arma Aérea) which operates carrier aircraft, seaplanes, and fighters for littoral fleet protection.

The Navy operated its aircraft during the Andean War to combat the invading Bolivian forces, and in the 1937 Peruvian War, operated against the Presidentialist-aligned forces of the Peruvian Navy.

As of 1940 the Navy is formed into four Naval Districts which are responsible for coast defense, and the High Seas Fleet (Flota de Alta Mar) which is responsible for engagement of an enemy naval force.

Chilean Air Force (Fuerza Aérea de Chile)
The Chilean Air Force claims to be the world's fourth independent air force. Throughout the 1920s it was actually smaller than the more radical Fleet Air Arm of the Chilean Navy, but the Air Force grew exponentially in strength during the Andean War, where its participation was critical to the defeat of the invasion. The Air Force sent volunteers and observers to Argentina during the South American War, and then fought again in the Peruvian War. The Air Force still struggles to find a good balance point with regard to the two older services. Like the Navy, most of the Chilean Air Force traditions originate from Atlantis and Britain, but a strong German influence has also been felt.

Carabineros of Chile
The Carabineros serve as Chile's national police force, operating with their current permanent organization since 1918, although they count the founding of their organization dates to the Colonial period; the Carabineros claim to be the oldest branch of the military, and indeed older than the country they serve. The Carabineros are charged with conducting law-enforcement investigations and safeguarding public order. The Carabineros are recognized by the Constitution as equivalent to a branch of the military, with all the rights and duties that carries.

National Security Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nacional / "Cosena"):
The Chilean Constitution grants the military virtual autonomy as well as the right to debate and discuss issues with the government. Much of this is carried out within the realm of the National Security Council ("Cosena"), which is composed of only two elected officials (the President of the Republic and the President of the Senate). The remaining positions are filled by the commanders-in-chief of the military, the Minister of Defense, the President of the Supreme Court, and the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (Agencia Nacional de Inteligencia).

Economy

Chile is among the wealthiest of the South American nations, having used its mineral wealth to create a modern westernized market economy, with a high degree of economic freedom and ease of doing business. Chile is one of world's top three exporters of copper and nitrates, and additionally holds a spot as a major exporter of wine, seafood and forestry products.

Late 1930s Chilean economic policy is to use a portion of the tariffs gained from copper and mineral exports to fund military expenditures, infrastructure improvements, and educational initiatives. The government, as of 1939, is required not to run a budget deficit greater than 1% of GNP, nor is it to become indebted greater than an average of 5% of the GNP over a period of ten years (with a maximum of 10% at any given time).

The Chilean peso ($) is tied to an average of a basket of currencies - the American dollar, the Atlantean Tauri, the British pound, and the French franc. The Central Bank, established in 1918, is responsible for working with foreign financial authorities and ensuring the stability of the peso, as well as limiting inflation, which is Chile's major economic concern. The Central Bank also advises the National Congress on economic policy.

Government expenditures and collections are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller General, a constitutionally-independent body which has a reputation of forcing strict adherence to the laws. Government corruption is heavily prosecuted by the Comptroller General, and the office has been known to break the careers of public officials who prove consistently profligate in their use or misuse of government funds. As a result of the Comptroller General's work, Chileans have a low perception of government corruption.

Foreign investment from North American, European, and Atlantean sources is particularly welcomed. Privatization of government-owned or operated industries is planned under the Vizcarra administration.

Agriculture
Chilean agriculture is primarily concentrated in the central regions where the temperatures, rainfall, and soil is conducive to growing. Chile is a major exporter of grapes and apples, due in large part to the country's growing season, which takes place during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Chile's wine-making industry, buoyed by the grape crop, is fourth in the world, trailing only France, Italy, and Atlantis. [Note] Chile boasts the Hacienda Los Lingues, a winery founded in 1575 under Spanish rule, which is the oldest continuously-existing business in the Western Hemisphere.

Chile has a number of main crops which are exported, though not always in large amounts. Wheat, sugar beets, and potatoes are main crops. Apples and grapes are the main fruit exports, trailed more distantly by pears, peaches, lemons, and oranges in roughly equal in export quantities.

Fishing and Forestry
The western coast of South America is rich in fish, particularly abalone. Although much of the Chilean fishing industry is carried out by traditional small-boat fishing, industrial operations are increasingly forming, taking advantage of Chile's minimal fishing laws and prompting some concerns about depletion of fishing resources.

Up until 1935, the forestry industry had no state regulation, leading to over-cutting and extensive deforestation in the southern regions of Chile. This was redressed in 1936 when the government instituted replanting measures and offered remittals and tax advantages for doing so. The industry quickly began taking advantage of this opportunity and in the 1940s aims to begin planting more acreage than they cut.

Mining
Mining is indisputably a major part of the Chilean economy, with a sizable chunk of the gross domestic product coming from the export of copper, which represents over 80% of the mining sector. Iron and aluminum is available in modest quantities. Chile also possesses the world's largest reserves of rhenium, and a large reserve of molybdenum. Coal is available, but not oil. [Note]

Manufacturing
Chile has taken substantial steps since the 1920s to foster indigenous manufacturing industries, with the help of allies such as Atlantis, Argentina and the United States, but Chile remains a net importer of manufactured goods.

Furniture manufacturing is Chile's most dominant current export, with furniture usually being manufactured from locally-cut wood. Chemicals, glass products, foodstuffs, and footwear also see export. The Chilean shipbuilding industry has been developed in depth during the 1900s, with the shipbuilder ASMAR, owned by the Chilean Navy, gaining increasing experience in the construction and repair of major warships and merchant vessels. The state aircraft factory, ENAER, has two modern factories constructed in the 1930s, and licenses Atlantean and Argentine aircraft designs; the privately-owned manufacturer Constellacion Aviacion additionally manufactures aircraft for civilian and limited military purposes.

Education
Chile proposed a government education initiative as early as 1812, but political realities in the 19th century prevented much of the proposals from becoming a reality. In 1920, the government mandated elementary-school attendance, although compliance remains low in poor rural regions. The main challenge facing Chilean educators is how to raise compliance to ensure universal elementary-school attendance. Compliance is highest among ethnic minorities from European or American backgrounds.

Under the influence of German advisors, pre-primary education and high school education is increasingly emphasized, although the main focus remains on elementary education. In 1931, Chile registered eighty-two state run high schools for boys, and seventy-six for girls. Additionally, a hundred and eighteen high schools for boys and a hundred and twenty high schools for girls are provided by private funds. In 1931, Chile registered a total of 40,422 boys and 30,028 girls enrolled in state and private high schools. The high schools, following the German models, emphasize preparation for university education.

Additional post-primary schools are available, with agricultural schools (emphasizing agronomy, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, and forestry), industrial schools (emphasizing electrical and mechanical specialties), commercial schools (emphasizing finance and secretarial skills), and the "women's schools" (emphasizing home economics). Other schools offer education in more esoteric specialties such as painting, sculpture, and music. By 1931 there were two hundred and seventy of these schools, with an enrollment of 22,840 males and 22,782 females.

Nearly half of the state's education budget is devoted to promote university education, but a small minority of students (estimated at 8% in the 1930s) advance as far as university. There are four privately-run universities and one state-run university as of 1940. All five of the universities make strong efforts to compete not merely on the national level, but on the international level. In 1939 the University of Chile's physics department completed the first cyclotron in South America (and one of the first in the world), while the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María became the first South American university to offer doctorates in engineering. (See appendix for list of Chilean universities.)

The Chilean military recruits heavily among the illiterate and poor segments of the population, and provides education in reading and writing, health, and mathematics to recruits who have not completed elementary-level education. Soldiers with good service records are eligible to enter military-backed trade schools in exchange for re-signing for another three years service and six years in the reserves. The government claims that former soldiers taking advantage of these education opportunities can earn up to twice the salary of a former soldier who declines these opportunities. The military's program serves to catch many individuals who would otherwise enter adulthood without a primary education.

Infrastructure
The Chilean government has been busy addressing infrastructure weaknesses throughout the late 1930s, but serious gaps still remain in development. These gaps slowly started being filled over the course of the late 1930s, with governmental studies in the 1940s looking seriously at further work.

Highways
Chile's highway network is administered by the governments of the individual regions, and varies according to the relative wealth of the area. Valparaiso, Santiago, and Conception are connected by paved highways, and other paved roads are increasingly being built to connect other cities. Approximately one-twentieth of Chile's highway system is paved. The Chilean government receives increasing calls for organizing a national highway network to unify the country.

Railways
The Chilean railway network is extensive, with over eight thousand kilometers of railway line operated by three railway companies. The major railway network, the Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE), operates a line running from Puerto Montt in the south to Antofagasta in the north, is constructed in Indian Broad Gauge (5'6" or 1,676mm), and features a number of branch lines off the main trunk. Most of the remaining railway lines are constructed of meter-gauge line, with two separate sections operated by private companies. The meter-gauge Ferrocarril de Arica a La Paz (FCALP) connects Arica and the Bolivian city of La Paz, while the Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia (FCAB) connects Antofagasta and Calama to Potosi in Chilean Bolivia. A line of the FCAB additionally runs into Bolivia to join with the Arica and La Paz Railway.

In 1937, the EFE decided to finance two major railway projects. First, the EFE began work on a broad-gauge extension to connect Arica and Antofagasta, aiming to complete the work by 1942. The second and more significant project is a complete reworking of the Transandine Railway, which connects Chile with Argentina. This project aims to replace the meter-gauge rack-and-cog Transandine Railway with a thoroughly modern broad-gauge line that does not require rack sections.

Airports
Chile has a number of airports, mostly located in larger cities. Air travel in Chile has seen a substantial rise over the past decade, and most airports are fairly new, though not all have paved runways or regularly scheduled service.

Seaports
Sea trade is extremely important to the Chilean economy, with over 90% of Chile's imports and exports being moved by sea. Most of the ports, particularly in the northern regions, have poor natural harbours, but the southern regions have much better natural ports. The ports of Talcahuano and Valdivia are among the best harbours, although Valparaiso and its nearby ports of Vina del Mar and San Antonio are the largest ports by capacity. Talcahuano has the large and modern shipyards of ASMAR, and is the largest shipbuilding and ship repair port in the southeast Pacific.

Electricity
The national electric grid began with somewhat haphazard development, with infrastructure being located mainly in large cities, but in recent years, the electric companies Compañia General de Eletrecidad and Enersis have started working together to improve the electric grid, as well as supply increasing amounts of electricity to consumers. Coal-fired power plants and hydroelectric power plants compose almost 90% of the electric power generation capability. Due to the lack of local oil supplies and the presence of coal reserves, very few oil-fired plants exist in Chile, although natural gas from Chilean Bolivia looks to become a future source of electric generation.

Special Report: Chilean Bolivia
This region has been occupied by the Chilean Army following the conclusion of the Andean War. As a special territory (territorios especiales), Chilean Bolivia is a substantially different culture from Chile. The region is inhabited by a much larger percentage of indigenous people, with a gross domestic product per capita less than one quarter of the Chilean average. Chilean-Bolivians nevertheless share a predominantly Catholic religion and speak Spanish.

Terminology:
Chile officially refers to these regions as "The Special Territories of Chilean Bolivia" and administers the territorios especiales autonomously of "the Republic of Chile". The population of the territory is officially referred to as "Chilean-Bolivians". Since 1938, there is a trend in government to refrain from using the term "Occupied Bolivia".

Government and Military:
Chilean Bolivia is autonomously administered by a military governor appointed directly by the President of Chile, who exercises control over four smaller districts. The military governor commands all Chilean military forces in occupied Bolivia, but is additionally responsible for the management of civilian government. Since the end of the war, Chilean forces have faced low-level resistance (both armed and passive) from the Bolivian population, but new counterinsurgency doctrine developed in 1935 has substantially cut down on armed resistance.

The Chilean Army recruits territorios especiales battalions from the Chilean-Bolivian population, particularly former Bolivian Army soldiers, and has deployed them to combat bandits and conduct security operations in Chilean Bolivia. These troops are organized as local militia rather than regular army units, and have certain restrictions on their use. Training conforms to Chilean Army standards, although a mix of Chilean and captured Bolivian equipment is provided. Officers and senior NCOs are generally Chilean, although Chilean-Bolivians may be promoted provided they first attend one of the Chilean Army's officer candidate schools. Similarly to the regular army, Chilean-Bolivian recruits are provided with basic educations in reading, writing, and math. Chilean-Bolivian troops wear the same uniforms, but in addition to the Chilean flag wear additional insignia with the flag of the Special Territories of Chilean Bolivia.

Current Chilean counter-insurgency doctrine focuses on a number of key points. First, the Chilean Army and the associated Bolivian militia units occupy and control the cities, towns, and villages, driving out any insurgents in those regions and training law enforcement to protect the civilians. Provisional local leaders are elected to serve in various tasks, reporting to the military governor providing them with limited oversight of the local security forces, and access to reconstruction funds. Local leaders who succeed at these tasks are rewarded with further responsibilities, while corrupt, antagonistic, or incompetent leaders are dismissed and replaced. The Chilean administration primarily aims to protect civilians from insurgent attacks while working to win the approval of the friendly and neutral populace.

The Chilean congress currently is responsible for passing laws relating to Chilean Bolivia, but largely has abrogated this job to the Special Committee for Chilean Bolivian Administration, which is composed of the military governor, a number of Chilean senators, and a group of elected Bolivian representatives. In 1942, Chile anticipates officially ending direct military government of the occupied regions and instituting the Chilean Bolivian Special Administrative Region, building on the success of the Special Committee. The CBSAR will allow the election of a single-body congress and the formation of four Regions (Potosi, Oruro, Chuquisaca, and Tarija) which will be turned over to locally-elected intendents, with government based on the Chilean model. The Bolivian SAR congress will be administer internal affairs such as taxes, elect a Governor-General for Chilean Bolivia (although that choice may be vetoed by the Chilean president or Congress), and elect thirty-six representatives and six senators who will participate in the Chilean National Congress. The 1942 local elections in Chilean Bolivia will be the first to apply universal suffrage, as past Bolivian elections required voters to pay a fee, which limited the voting to approximately 40% of the population.

Economy:
The economy of Chilean Bolivia was devastated by the Andean War, as Bolivian Army units conducted scorched-earth tactics as they withdrew from areas now under Chilean control. Shaft mines were intentionally collapsed, often trapping miners inside; railways and bridges were destroyed, and crops and factories were burnt. Since the end of the war, the Chilean government has concentrated significant efforts and surprisingly generous funding for reconstruction. Efforts are made not merely to replace destroyed infrastructure, but to modernize it as well.

Mining and agriculture are heavily dominant in Chilean Bolivia's economy, while manufacturing is limited, and service industries remain dependent on importations from Chile, North America, and Europe. Tin mining is the main source of local wealth, and the Chilean administration largely leaves these industries in the hands of private owners, although Chilean labour laws are enforced. The administration is additionally preparing land reforms which the government hopes to pass in 1940 or 1941, which should help the agricultural markets. By explicit design of the Chilean congress, all taxes and tariffs collected from mining and agriculture exports from Chilean Bolivia remain in Chilean Bolivia, being used to rebuild and modernize destroyed infrastructure. Several new industries, founded by foreign investors, aim to take advantage of favorable tax incentives and low wages in the region to develop more modern industry.

Future:
In July 1949, the Chilean government intends to offer Chilean Bolivia the option of returning to the Republic of Bolivia or remaining as an autonomous territorios especiale of the Republic of Chile. The Chilean government has requested the continued presence of League of Nations observers in order to administer fair and impartial elections in Chilean Bolivia. The Chilean government acknowledges that their goal is to win the 1949 vote and retain Chilean Bolivia as "Transandean Chile".

Notes
Note: Historically, Chile is third, behind only France and Italy. I elected to permit Atlantis the third-ranked spot.
Note: Chile does actually have oil in Tierra del Fuego, but it was not discovered until 1945 and is not present in quantities large enough to meet Chile's domestic needs.

Appendices
Regions of Chile
- Region I: Tarapaca and Arica (Región de Tarapacá y Arica)
- Region II: Antofagasta (Región de Antofagasta)
- Region III: Atacama (Región de Atacama)
- Region IV: Coquimbo (Región de Coquimbo)
- Region V: Valparaiso (Región de Valparaíso)
- Region VI: O'Higgins (Región del Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins)
- Region VII: Maule (Región del Maule)
- Region VIII: Biobío (Región del Biobío)
- Region IX: Araucanía (Región de la Araucanía)
- Region X: Los Ríos (Región de Los Ríos)
- Region XI: Los Lagos (Región de Los Lagos)
- Region XII: Aisén and Magallanes (Región de Aisén y Magallanes)
- Special Region: Potosi (Occupied Region of Potosi)
- Special Region: Oruro (Occupied Region of Oruro)
- Special Region: Chuquisaca (Occupied Region of Chuquisaca)
- Special Region: Tarija (Occupied Region of Tarija)

Composition of Cosena, January 1940
- President of the Republic (President Edmond Vizcarra)
- President of the Senate (Klaus Teitelboir)
- President of the Supreme Court (Daud Sarquis)
- Minister of Defense (Horatio Quilapán)
- Director general of the Intelligence Services (Director Juan Solabarrieta, ap. 1939)
- Army Commander-in-Chief (General de Ejército Rodrigo Agosin, ap. 1937)
- Navy Commander-in-Chief (Almirante Eduardo Moore, ap. 1936)
- Air Force Commander-in-Chief (General del Aire Jeremías Guendalman, .ap 1939)
- Director general of the Carabineros (Director-general Rafael Mes, .ap 1938)

List of Universities in Chile
- University of Chile (Universidad de Chile)
- Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (Pontífica Universidad Católica de Chile)
- University of Concepción (Universidad de Concepción)
- Catholic University of Valparaíso (Universidad Católica de Valparaíso)
- Federico Santa María Technical University (Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María)

Gosh that's a lot of work!

Nice job.

Thanks! I've been doodling on that for three months while waiting for the turn of the decade to post it!

Impressive work Brock!

It looks like, you have too much time .

Great work !!!!!

Quoted

Originally posted by parador
It looks like, you have too much time .

Great work !!!!!

Thank you.

I have just as many minutes in my day as the next guy. You make time to do what's important to you.

I'm the next guy and I have a lot of minutes in my day. Just a bit under 1440 minutes.

Quoted

Originally posted by Rooijen10
I'm the next guy and I have a lot of minutes in my day. Just a bit under 1440 minutes.

I just spent two of mine trying to think up a funny retort for this.

Bother.

A nice write up. It gives a good wide scale view of what's been happening in Chile.

Are there any reasons for the army to be arranged along German lines? I would have thought that cross pollination from other sources to be more likely.

Quoted

Originally posted by Red Admiral
A nice write up. It gives a good wide scale view of what's been happening in Chile.

Thanks. I tried to keep as much of it based on historical data as I could, but due to the differences in Wesworld, some changes were necessary.

Quoted

Originally posted by Red Admiral
Are there any reasons for the army to be arranged along German lines? I would have thought that cross pollination from other sources to be more likely.

From the 1860s onward, the Chilean Army hired a large number of German (predominantly Prussian) and French military advisers, particularly for the purposes of troop training and setting up the local officer academies. While there is a bit of "cross-polination" from France and other countries, the Chilean armies that won the War of the Pacific in the 1870s did so largely on the basis of their training by their German technical advisers. Prussian triumphs in the Austrian-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War simply solidified the high esteem for Prussian methods - a sort of fixation, if you will. The Germans really helped a lot with preventing some of the worst blunders of the early 1840s; for instance, after the War of the Confederation, the Chilean government decided that the ideal thing to do was dismiss the entire Quartermasters Corps and outsource to private contractors. The Prussian tradition continues all the way up to 2010: Chile's conscription systems have been carried down from the original Prussian advisers of the 1800s, and if you ever see Chilean soldiers on parade, they'll be carrying German Mausers, wearing 1930s Stahlhelms, and goose-stepping. (I should note that they've received a great deal of criticism for this outside South America, as they look suspiciously akin to the public perception of Nazi stormtroopers.) The Chilean army academy - founded by the Germans - turned out officers of high enough quality that Chilean officers were sent to train El Salvador and Ecuador (1903), Colombia (1907), and Venezuela (1913), where the Chilean commission was responsible for reorganizing the Venezuelan Army. Other Central and South American countries sent their officers to the Chilean military academies in the early 1900s.

I've given the Wesworld Chilean Army a larger measure of international color, but I've generally left most of the "core traditions" of the Ejercito alone. Most of their vehicles and arms are built by the United States, Belgium, or Atlantis, and I've been reforming the order of battle according to my own opinions of what is required and sustainable. While I've found some historical 1940s Chilean orbats, they obviously don't take into account things like the Andean War.

[SIZE=1]Oops - I started a new thread instead of adding to the one I already had made. Moved![/SIZE]

January 1
President Vizcarra celebrated the New Year today in Talcahuano, attending the ceremonial keel-laying of two planned warships for the Navy. The President participated in the keel-laying of the new battleship Almirante Blanco Encalada, which was announced to carry eight thirty-four centimeter guns in its main battery. Even before the ship's keel is laid, however, rumors have circulated that the ship will actually carry nine seventeen-inch naval guns. Also laid down today was the cruiser Magallanes, which ASMAR reputedly first designed during the height of the South American War, when the famed "Pony Express" commanded the headlines of world newspapers.

Klaus Teitelboir, the President of the Senate, additionally visited Argentina to attend the keel-laying ceremony of the new minelaying cruiser Covadonga. This new ship has been ordered from Argentine yards.

January 2
The armoured cruiser Capitan Oyama was decommissioned today and transferred to the Colombian Navy. Other ships slated for retirement over the next few months are three destroyers as well as the battlecruisers Valparaiso and Santiago. Though the decommissioning of three capital units of the Armada is quite a blow to prestige, the Armada's leadership has expressed their confidence that it is the right choice. The Valparaiso and Santiago are to be traded for the much larger battlecruiser HNMS Dristegheten this winter. The Armada has quietly coveted the Dristegheten-class for years, eager to acquire 15" guns for the fleet; the ship will be refitted in ASMAR's shipyards prior to her incorporation in the fleet.

January 3
Dozens of arrests were made today as the Chilean Army cracked down on drug smugglers operating near the current border between Bolivia and Chilean Bolivia. The Chilean Army's elite Parachute Infantry Battalion and the Territorios Especiales security troops, backed by Carabineros, swept up over three hundred suspects and confiscated an estimated ten million pesos of drugs. In addition to the contraband, the Army uncovered caches of guns purchased abroad within the last two years, which are being smuggled into Chilean Bolivia to arm bandits and guerrillas; many of these groups have been linked to attacks on Chilean soldiers and civilians.

A spokesman for President Vizcarra distributed the following statement to the press:
The Government of Chile is increasingly concerned about the state of affairs in Bolivia. The Bolivian government increasingly operates in a state of fear inspired by a group of drug barons exporting a dangerous drug known as borandis. The sale of this drug, known to cause potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms, finances the purchase of weapons which are inevitably found in the hands of terrorists and guerrillas who aim to destabilize Bolivia and surrounding regions. Members of the Bolivian government who attempt to combat this trade are coerced to silence or murdered. The Republic of Chile abhors these events and will no longer stand idle."

Bolivian drug lord Inca Gómez Suárez de la Vega, currently believed to be the richest man in Bolivia, scoffed at the Chilean threats. "They can do their worst. I dare them. They will not be able to stamp out my trade."

January 8
The Fuerza Aérea de Chile has announced that it will work together with a number of local municipalities and the Ministry of the Interior to build or upgrade a number of airstrips in the Magallanes Region in order to serve as alternate bases for military aircraft, or refueling strips. Two new facilities will be constructed in Coihaique and Caleta Tortel, while the Aeródromo Puerto Natales and the Aeródromo Puerto Aisen will be reconstructed in order to incorporate a paved runway.

January 9
The Chilean government has approved the sale of lands north of Puerto Natales to Compañía Minera del Sur PLC, for the development of coal mines in the region. Compañía Minera del Sur's project will involve the construction of a 256km-long metric gauge railway (called the Ferrocarril Magallanes) to connect Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas.

January 12
The Fast Carrier Force, dispatched to the Far East late last year to participate in naval exercises with friendly and allied powers, is returning home via a series of port calls. The Force is calling today on the Chinese Navy in Shanghai, though the heavy cruiser Constitucion has instead been routed to Wenzhou. Following their stop in China, the ships will call on the Russian fleet in Vladivostok before recrossing the Pacific to return home. The fleet, having departed Talcahuano in September, have been engaged in the longest deployment ever carried out by the Armada de Chile, and hope to return home by mid to late February.

The Chilean visit to China will be followed next month by a visit by the Chinese Navy.

January 24
The Chilean Ministry of the Interior announced today that a half-dozen ENAER Coatis modified for aerial chemical application entered Bolivian airspace and began systematically applying chemical defoliants on drug crops owned by Inca Gómez Suárez de la Vega. The Chilean government announced that the defoliant is harmless to humans [1] and tailored specifically to interfere with the growth of the borandis plant. A number of Chilean fighters escorted the Coatis, and a pair of brand-new Caracara-R photographic reconnaissance planes overflew the Fuerza Aérea Boliviana's air base in Sucre. No Bolivian planes intercepted them.

President Stiles of Bolivia, when asked about the Chilean raids, refused to condemn the Chilean actions, simply saying "No comment."

January 25
Sources inside the Fuerza Aérea Boliviana have confirmed rumors that the Bolivian government had substantial foreknowledge of yesterday's raids, and the Bolivian Air Force was specifically ordered grounded by Presidente Stiles in order to prevent interference. Foreign observers have provided increasing speculation on the reasons, but Chilean newspaper El Mercurio gave one of the most plausible summaries. Although Stiles depended in no small part on de la Vega's financial support during the recent Bolivian Civil War, when Stiles put down the Peruvian-sponsored People's Brigades, Stiles and de la Vega are not friendly to each other. Some have speculated that Stiles is willing to tolerate Chilean action so long as it hurts de la Vega.

Four more crop-dusting aircraft raided a large borandis plantation near Mojocoya.

January 26
Inca Gómez Suárez de la Vega has announced that he will pay one million pesos "for the head of a Chilean crop-poisoner pilot".

January 27
Chilean crop-dusting aircraft raid a drug plantation near Vinchu.

February 5
ENAER rolled out the first two production Alicanto naval bombers this morning in a short ceremony attended by members of the aeronautical community, as well as a number of foreign dignitaries including members of Brazilian Naval Aviation, which has ordered Alicantos for their upcoming carrier. ENAER's production facilities in Santiago (Maipu) and Puerto Montt will be in full swing for the next several months as they attempt to meet orders from both the Chilean and Brazilian Navies, as well as build new Caracaras for the Air Force. A spokesman noted that ENAER has considered expanding the capacity of its Maipu plant by nearly fifty percent, and is in the process of acquiring an adjoining tract of land for a factory expansion.

Following the roll-out ceremony, several Chilean and Brazilian pilots took turns flying the new Alicantos. "It's quite a plane," reported Chilean Teniente Capitan Basil al-Rihani, a naval aviator who flew TB1A Peuchens in the Battle of Tortugas Bay. [2] "My squadron will be converting to Alicantos sometime in March, and it will be quite a change. The plane is faster than any of our fighters, nearly as nimble, and twice as tough." Brazilian pilot Tristão Faoro, fresh from his first flight in an Alicanto, added his own comments: "Three hundred knots in a bomber! It's unbelievable!"

February 7
A small Chinese squadron has arrived in Valparaiso to make a port call and pick up a destroyer, the Capitan Simpson, recently sold by the Chilean Navy to China. The Chinese crews have been offered the opportunity to travel inland to celebrate the Chinese New Year with the small ethnic Chinese population of Santiago. [3]

February 9
Two Coatis assigned to raid a drug plantation near Paracti have failed to return to base.

February 11
The Chilean Ministry of the Interior has announced that the two Coatis missing since the 9th have still not been located. The Bolivian Air Force has denied any involvement. "It's possible that they were lost in the jungle somewhere," a Ministry spokesman said. "While we hope for the best, we might not learn for some time what happened. Our hopes and prayers go to the families."

February 18
Another crop-duster Coatis has failed to return to it's base in Chile. The aircraft was assigned to spray a small drug plantation near Palmar when it failed to return.

February 19
Inca Gómez Suárez de la Vega has announced that he will be paying out three million pesos to an unidentified group claiming to have downed two Chilean Coatis on February 9th, and another plane on February 18th. There has been no response from the Chilean government.

February 22
Austral has announced the first run of a new aircraft engine, the Austral Babieca. While all previous Austral engines have been Atlantean-designed and licensed, the 400-hp Babieca is the brainchild of Fernando Pernet-Sharpe and his assistants Klaus von Monfil and Ignacio Ayala. The Babieca's specifications remain classified, but Pernet-Sharpe hopes to conduct in-flight tests of the engine sometime in 1941.

February 23
The Chilean government has acknowledged that they have seen "convincing evidence" to declare dead the crew members of three missing cropdusters operated by the Ministry of the Interior. The six men shall receive empty casket funerals.

The Chilean Ministry of the Interior has announced that it will no longer be conducting crop-dusting missions over the Republic of Bolivia. The Ministry of the Interior has never been an enthusiastic participant in the so called "Drug Bombing" Campaign in Bolivia, and the disappearance and presumed downing of three of their small fleet of cropdusters has made the ministry even more reluctant to participate.

March 1
After nearly six months, the Chilean Navy's Fast Carrier Force has returned triumphantly to Talcahuano. All of the ships will begin a protracted stand-down period for the next few months as crews are provided with back leave. The sailors of the fleet were personally congratulated by Almirante Eduardo Moore, the naval C-in-C, who praised them for their outstanding behavior in the fleet's numerous port calls in a period of international tensions.

March 4
LAN-Chile has announced that it will extend its airline service to Miami and Los Angeles later this year. The airline has started an aggressive and ambitious growth program, and has allegedly been quite interested in the purchase of a passenger airship to provide direct service between Santiago, Chile and Los Angeles, USA.

The airline's leadership has also been pondering a name change to "LAN Airlines" as the company now has a dynamic international presence due their increasing presence on the Pacific coast and to a partnership with Trans-Oceanic Airlines.

March 13
Gunmen associated with the private army of Inca Gómez Suárez de la Vega crossed the border into Chilean Bolivia and attacked a village near Potosi. The gunmen were repelled by a unit of Territorios Especiales, who called for assistance. The attackers were strafed by a Chilean fighter-bomber summoned from Potosi, and a company of Territorios Especiales chased the raiders to the border, capturing seventeen guerrillas.

March 14
The Chilean government has announced that it will resume crop-dusting operations over Bolivia to wipe out borandis drug plantations. The Chilean Navy Air Arm has, interestingly, been appointed to carry out the task, rather than the Chilean Air Force. The Navy plans to begin using the first operational Alicantos for the task.

March 19
The airship Capitan Prat has been nominally decommissioned. The airship is entering a period of moderate reconstruction which will replace the gondola with a new one made of lighter materials; the refitted airship will thus be reborn as the CNAS Comodoro Prien. The Navy intends to use the name Capitan Prat on the former Nordish battlecruiser Dristegheten, which will join the fleet later this year.



[Note 1] Probably not, but then again, many people of the time thought smoking tobacco was good for your health.
[Note 2] The Battle of Tortugas Bay is the official Chilean name for the sinking of the BAP Huascar.
[Note 3] Chile has a very small population of ethnic Chinese, almost universally descended from a group of coolies living in Peru who elected to support Chile during the War of the Pacific. After the end of the war, these coolies relocated to Santiago and built a small Chinatown. Though they number just over five thousand, they have a number of illustrious citizens including one of Chile's most respected classical music composers (who is also the head of the dentistry school at the University of Chile).

And now, storytime.

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Teniente Capitan Basil "Turk" al-Rihani finished picking over his TBE Alicanto and returned to where his navigator-gunner and the crew chief stood. "Everything look good, sir?" the chief asked.

al-Rihani frowned at the Alicanto. Instead of a torpedo, the ground crew had mounted a sort of long belly-tank, with small brass pipework sprouting under the wings, all the way to the wingtips; nozzles trailed off the leading edge. "I suppose that looks okay, chief," al-Rihani said. "Did I understand I can jettison it if I need to?"

"Yes sir. We set the spraying equipment up so that you can jettison the tank and the sprayer gear with the same process you'd use to drop a torpedo." The chief paused. "But we'd prefer you to bring these tanks back, because we've only got three of them built - and here you are with two."

"I'll do my best, chief," al-Rihani said. "But no promises. Rumor has it that the last crew up saw some fighters across the border a few days ago."

The crew chief shrugged. "If it's a choice between you and the tanks, sir, I can build new belly tanks."

Momentarily satisfied, al-Rihani stalked across to where his wingman, Teniente Alvaro Gomes, had just finished picking over his own bird. "What do you think?"

Gomes apparently didn't need to spend much time thinking it over. "It's draggy. It'll take twenty knots off our speed, no doubt about it."

"No doubt."

"Why aren't the Air Force boys doing this? This isn't our area of operations."

al-Rihani shrugged. "The FACh doesn't have any pilots qualified for the Alicanto; the Armada's got to do it." He gave Gomes a long, studious look. "Were you paying attention in the briefings?"

"No, I was dreaming of my girlfriend," Gomes replied.

al-Rihani snorted in amusement. Alvaro had been flying on his wing ever since the Peruvian War - both Gomes and al-Rihani wore the kill-marks of the battleship Huascar on their planes - and the difference in their respective ranks no longer really mattered much any more. "Well, saddle up," al-Rihani ordered, shaking his wingman's hand. "Good luck, Trauco."

"Good luck, Turk," Gomes replied.

A few moments later, the Alicanto's big 2,200-horse Incitatus-II engine whined and slowly rumbled to life, and al-Rihani finished his checks before turning to look back at his navigator. "Okay back there?" he said.

No response. al-Rihani bounced his gloves off the navigator's head and held up the jack for his microphone. Suitably chastised, the sergeant plugged in his microphone. "Sorry skipper."

"Now give me my gloves back." Sergeant Vilumilla tossed the gloves back through the "greenhouse" that separated the pilot and gunner-navigator positions.

"Ready to go, boss," Vilumilla reported.

al-Rihani switched on the radio. "Roja One ready for takeoff."

"Roja Two ready for takeoff," Gomes immediately added.

"Roja One and Two, you are cleared for departure on runway one," Control reported.

al-Rihani made sure the talk button was switched off. "Controller could have just said 'go'," he muttered. "There's only one runway to start with." He taxied the Alicanto down to the end of the airstrip and advanced the throttle. The Inci-II's rumble rose to a roar, and the torpedo bomber bounced down the dirt airstrip. Can't wait for the proper carrier to finish...

Airborne and with gear up, al-Rihani tested the maneuvering of the modified Alicanto. The belly tank was even more awkward than he'd feared - the Alicanto was now so dragged down that it barely got above two hundred sixty knots. al-Rihani had personally taken it to three hundred. Worse yet, the plane now maneuvered like the bomber it was.

Vilumilla called out their course, and al-Rihani checked it against his own notebook; years of over-ocean flying, sometimes with untrustworthy navigators, had inspired him to be cautious. Gomes, who felt the same way, would double-check al-Rihani's course even though all he really needed to do was follow the leader. Radio silence indicated his concurring opinion of the direction they were taking.

"Now crossing the Bolivian border," Vilumilla announced.

al-Rihani glanced down as the Altiplano dropped into the scrub-lands of eastern Bolivia. It was still quite mountainous, much more than the Gran Chaco; the fields below struggled along towards cultivation. Another sixty miles and fifteen minutes brought the target - a town called Valle Grande - in sight. North of town, patches of green fields erupted through gray-brown patches of scrub trees.

Odd that in my first bombing mission in the Alicanto, I'm attacking... weeds!

"I'll take a first pass," al-Rihani announced. "Trauco, follow me down and drop about three hundred yards behind me, on the deck. We'll alternate our passes."

"Right, boss."

al-Rihani advanced the throttle from cruising speed to three-fourths open, and began a gentle glide-bombing approach. Granted, he wasn't carrying bombs, but the experts - if the Ministry of Agriculture pilot was actually an expert - said it would be a good enough approach.

"There."

As the Alicanto roared over the field at treetop level, al-Rihani glanced to starboard. There were workers fleeing the fields - borandis production was manpower intensive. The hacienda itself was rich - the damage from the 1936 earthquake had apparently been repaired - but the workers apparently lived in a squalid and dust-infested shanty-town. Even Chilean Army recruits had better housing, apparently; and al-Rihani thought those conditions were criminally repressive.

"Got it. Your turn, boss."

"Any ground fire?"

"Nothing yet."

al-Rihani looped the Alicanto around and set up for his run. A slowly dispersing yellow-green fog hung over the plantation. As Gomes looped around to take the high-lead position for the next run, al-Rihani clicked open his switches to activate the sprayer gear, and released a five-second stream of chemical defoliant over the field of drugs.

"Another run?" Gomes asked.

"Hold up," al-Rihani said, circling.

Sergeant Vilumilla activated his microphone and talked on the main channel. "The wind's dispersing the chemicals. I think we're going to fast and too high."

"I think you're right," Gomes said. "Lower and slower?"

"Let's try right above stall speed, and maybe... five to ten meters altitude," al-Rihani said. "Keep a sharp eye open for obstacles. Maybe open your flaps..."

"Right. Flaps set to combat... my turn," Gomes announced, tucking in behind al-Rihani again.

Throttles cut low, al-Rihani led the two Alicantos back towards the drug plantation. A few riflemen stood by the hacienda taking potshots at them; with rifles they stood little chance of hitting let alone seriously harming the Alicantos.

"That's doing the trick."

"Switch off. This pass will finish this field, then we'll be on to El Trigal to get the ones there."

"Whups," Gomes said. "Hang on, boss." His Alicanto wobbled in al-Rihani's mirror; he dove slightly. "Sorry. Stalled out - apparently with the tanks, we're stalling at a hundred fifteen knots."

"That'll make landing exciting," al-Rihani said. They were training to land the Alicanto on carrier decks at ninety knots. "You want to take lead this time?"

"On it," Gomes said, circling around. al-Rihani dropped back and opened up the tanks again, flying low across the field. It feels more like a motorcycle run at this altitude...

Vilumilla suddenly screamed. "Fighters four o'clock high! BREAK RIGHT!"

al-Rihani saw nothing, but like Lieutenant Gomes, Sergeant Vilumilla had been with him for years. If he said their were fighters, there were fighters. If he said to break right, al-Rihani trusted him. He reached forward, slammed open the throttle, and pulled the Alicanto into a tight chandelle. Trees reached up to grab the Alicanto - missed by a meter - and suddenly al-Rihani's windscreen was filled with the sights of four monoplanes going the other way, machine-guns flickering. It might have been a perfect attack if Vilumilla hadn't spotted them.

al-Rihani looked around frantically for his wingman and spotted him a half-mile to port. "Trauco, status?" He fell back on Gomes' nickname.

"Am okay! You?"

"We okay?" al-Rihani demanded.

"Think so," Vilumilla replied. He had set up the rear 7.62mm machine guns. "They're coming back around!"

All four enemy fighters were looping around after Gomes, and with the speed of their initial dive, they were still moving faster than the laden Alicanto. al-Rihani estimated they'd be in firing position in less than five seconds. What to do, what to do...?

"Trauco, break right," he said, pushing his own throttle to war emergency power. His finger paused momentarily over the switch that would dump the tanks - the crew chief's warning flashed through his mind. He decided not to drop the tanks and winged over hard to port.

Gomes' Alicanto turned in tight. Not as tight or as fast as the enemy fighters - but they were suddenly distracted as al-Rihani brought his own bomber straight at them in a head-on pass. He had one in his sights and pressed the yoke for the Alicanto's 13mm guns... nothing.

al-Rihani snarled as the four fighters buzzed directly overhead, and armed his guns. Gomes rolled his plane around, taking advantage of the distraction to escape pursuit and rejoin his leader.

Vilumilla added his opinion from the back seat. "Fixed gear monoplanes. Look like Fokker DXXIs or Aguila Is. They're coming at us again, seven... eight o'clock. Whatever they are, they're turning like tops."

"I'm with you, Turk," Gomes said. "Thanks for the save... Christ, you're leaking fuel from all over!"

"What?" al-Rihani said. He glanced at his instruments. Nothing appeared out of order... wait, the sprayer gear was active. "Oh. That's it. Check now."

"It quit. Here they come again."

"Port turn." al-Rihani winged over and turned into the attack, and Gomes followed him through. The fighters tried shooting, but their tracers passed well under the two Alicantos, moments before they again passed on opposite directions. This time, the fighters split into elements, each turning their own way.

"They aren't Fabos!" Vilumilla announced. "Repeat, not Fabos!"

"They're not Bolivian Air Force? Who else is flying fighters around here?" There was no response to al-Rihani's question; both bombers were turning in to face the next attack. The now-split enemy elements acted in concert, one making a head-on pass and the other prowling around to get on the tail of the Alicantos. Not quite perfect timing; al-Rihani acted on instinct and cut underneath the second set of flanking fighters. Gomes followed, and blew a burst of thirteen-millimeter at the tailing fighter, which pirouetted disdainfully away from the tracers.

"Gonna kill us on the deck," al-Rihani said. "Trauco, we need to climb and..." A reflection caught al-Rihani's eye: he looked, and saw four more fighters a thousand meters overhead, circling to prepare an attack. "Ten o'clock high! Four more birds."

"Boss, we're in deep stuff," Gomes said unnecessarily.

al-Rihani took a deep breath. "Tanks off." He uncovered the switches and released the torpedo shackles holding the chemical tanks and the sprayer line to the plane. The Alicanto jerked and it felt like the plane had freshly healed from an injury.

"Dropping tanks - away."

"They're coming down," Vilumilla warned.

Too soon, too soon, al-Rihani swore. Give me another fifteen seconds to build up my speed!

"We're going up," he announced, swinging to meet the new attack head-on. The first four set of attackers were looping around in wing pairs, waiting to pounce... al-Rihani would figure out how to survive that after he survived the newcomers' attack.

"Still on you, boss..." Gomes reported. The two Alicantos climbed, and al-Rihani knew on instinct that they would stall out before the ambushers had dived past. Worse, one of the wing pairs slowed their dive, looping shallowly to wait for the bombers to stall out...

The Alicanto started bucking as it lost lift, and al-Rihani wrestled with it. "Come on baby, come on little china, keep us up..."

Fighters fell past, guns rattling. The armoured glass in al-Rihani's windscreen stopped three rounds and starred with cracks, and finally, the Alicanto abruptly snapped nose-down in a stall. The world spun briefly, and two more fighters zipped past, going down - and another pair, heading up.

The Alicanto stopped spinning quickly, and al-Rihani saw Gomes pulling out just ahead of him. "Trauco, you're leader, I'm your wing," he snapped. "Not enough time to get back into formation."

"I'm leader," Gomes acknowledged. "Breaking right."

Two of the fighters closed in on the Chileans from starboard, and weren't able to turn sharply enough to come in on the Alicantos' tails. Gomes maintained their dive to build up speed again, and leveled off just over the trees before pitching the nose up and clawing back for altitude.

Vilumilla unleashed the rear machine guns at a target al-Rihani couldn't see, but felt in his five o'clock high. A stream of tracers passed to port. Far too close.

"Two on our tail!" Vilumilla screamed over his machine guns. "Break right hard!"

Gomes turned in hard and al-Rihani followed, pulling with everything he had. His vision darkened around the edges and narrowed - the gee-forces crushed him down into his seat. He felt the hydraulic assists working the Alicanto's control surfaces, lightening the feel of his stick. Follow the leader, follow the leader, follow the... follow... follow...

It felt like eternity before his oxygen-starved brain recognized the Alicanto ahead of him moderated its turn and leveled out, al-Rihani still holding on his wingman's tail. He took a look around and forced himself to reorient; two enemy fighters overhead... and six astern, wobbling through their own turns. Blood was flowing again in al-Rihani's brain.

"Those planes may dance, but the pilots can't hold on as long," al-Rihani mumbled. "And if they do, they'll pull their wings off while the Alicanto's still going!"

"I don't... think I can... do that again," Gomes wheezed over the radio. "Think I... blacked out."

"Hold together, Trauco," al-Rihani said. "Breathe."

Vilumilla sounded drunk when he reported. "Two at six o'clock high. We're outrunning them. They're... diving to overtake. Fifteen seconds to range."

al-Rihani reviewed his instrument panel. The engine temperature was in the lower end of the red - they'd been running the Incitatus-II engine on WEP for too long. Can't stop now. Aside from that, everything seemed to be in order...

"Pull up," al-Rihani said. The trailing fighters were overtaking them faster than he'd hoped, and with all the turning, the Alicantos hadn't yet made it to their top speed. "Pull up, Trauco." Gomes pulled up, but too shallowly; he wobbled uncertainly as if disoriented. "Pull up. Pull up."

"Can't see, I've got blood in my eyes," Gomes abruptly said.

al-Rihani saw the two fighters fill his aft mirrors and pulled hard back on the yoke, then inverted. The Alicanto rolled and spun, and a stream of tracers passed beneath him. A fighter passed on the trail of the tracers; al-Rihani continued his role and swung down onto the little fighter's tail. It was turning to draw a bead on Gomes' weakly-jinking Alicanto - al-Rihani brought his plane to bear first and stabbed the gun switch.

The Alicanto's two wing-mounted 13mm guns snarled and spat a line of shells at the enemy fighter. The pilot had snap reflexes and tried to pull away, but instead he passed through the stream of shells, then pulled back through it. Pieces flew off the plane as he dove away, out of the fight but still in the air. The fighter's wingman pulled away to follow his leader, and al-Rihani let him go.

"Still with me, Trauco?"

"I've got blood in my eyes," Gomes said. "I can only see anything out of my right eye, boss, and it's all blurry."

That's bad. al-Rihani looked around for the remaining six fighters, and found two climbing astern. Although the Alicantos were finally maxing out their speed, the little fighters could apparently still outclimb them - but not by much.

"Okay, Trauco. I'm on your wing. We're heading east-southeast, altitude 6,000 feet, and we need to get ourselves turned back around to head home."

"Roger. The fighters?"

"Behind us and heading more south. We have to pass through them. I'll talk you through it."

"Roger."

Well, this is really going to make things harder. al-Rihani had heard of people talking blind pilots down to land, before; he'd never heard of someone talking a blind pilot through air combat. "They won't have as high a flight ceiling as we do," al-Rihani continued. "We're going to climb to thirty-six thousand and pass over them. Is your gear all working? Oxygen system?"

"Yes. I can see a bit from my right eye, but it feels like I'm weeping blood."

"Throttle back to nine-tenths," al-Rihani said. The engine temperature gauge on the Alicanto was maxed out - the ground crews would almost certainly replace them after such abuse.

"Done."

"Pull back a bit and let's climb. We've got enough of a lead that we can take it gentle."

The trailing fighters mimicked their movements, but although they could climb just a hair faster - al-Rihani watched them closely - they were slower overall. The Alicantos slowly, inevitably, pulled ahead. Apparently the enemy pilots saw it, too. The leading two fighters nosed down and began building up speed. al-Rihani felt his stomach constrict: they looked like they were going to make it. Just barely.

"Gomes, go back to full throttle," al-Rihani ordered. "Two of them are diving on us. Keep climbing and keep your wings level. Be ready to break if I call you to."

"Roger."

al-Rihani stomped the rudders and slewed his plane back and forth as the fighters slowly closed the gap, letting Gomes open up a gap. The leader fired and idiotically emptied his guns before he came into range; Vilumilla waited and fired off several bursts of thirty-caliber from the rear gunnery position. The leader dove to avoid, lost too much altitude, and fell astern, out of the fight.

His wingman braved the machine-gun fire and zeroed in on Gomes, who's rear-seater fired off his own machine-gun bursts. "Shallow turn to port," al-Rihani ordered, hoping the enemy fighter would be too distracted to notice he was about to cross in front of al-Rihani's guns. Gomes began his turn and, sure enough, the fighter slowly winged over to follow.

al-Rihani horrifically realized he'd timed it wrong. The fighter - al-Rihani recognized it finally as an Aguila-I - slid straight towards him, the pilot so fixated on his target that he didn't see al-Rihani's Alicanto. al-Rihani shoved the yoke down, but the starboard wingtip of the Alicanto and the port wing of the Aguila caught each other. The Aguila seemed to be sucked in towards the Alicanto, and the plane's port wingtip drove straight toward's al-Rihani's windscreen, which shattered under the impact. Then the planes separated, the Aguila tumbling away to port and the Alicanto wobbling with three-quarters of a starboard wing.

"What the hell is wrong with you," al-Rihani shouted. The roaring wind stole his words away, but he fought to keep the plane level. At this speed and altitude, al-Rihani started to feel short of breath; he turned on his oxygen and tested the radio. "Vilumilla?"

The wind nearly deafened him, but he could hear the tinny response. "How the hell did we survive that?"

al-Rihani glared around at his plane and waggled his wings. The right wingtip was gone and his overhead canopy was ripped away and the windscreen was mostly gone. al-Rihani shoved on a bit of the twisted metal that dangled in his way, and the piece broke off and tumbled away. The Alicanto no longer felt stable and it wasn't climbing as fast; but it was airworthy and the engine kept howling.

Vilumilla continued shouting in mad exhilaration. "That bloody idiot's still airborne! He's a few thousand feet below us, but it looks like he's recovered. Holy mother of God, how did he survive that? How did WE survive that?"

Gomes interrupted, the voice on the radio thin and nearly inaudible through the roaring wind. al-Rihani hunched over into the shelter of his cockpit to hear better. "What happened, Turk? Where are you?"

"I'm behind you about four hundred meters," al-Rihani said, shaking himself back to the present. "Level out your wings, starboard, fifteen degrees... too far. Stop there. Keep climbing! We just got rammed by one of those fighters, but we're still up."

"Are you okay? What's our escape route?"

"I think we're okay. I've got no canopy left. Vilumilla and I are about to get really cold. We're passing six thousand meters. Let's keep going and get the hell past these guys and back to base!"

A spattering of machine-gun fire from the back seat drew al-Rihani's attention, but he belatedly realized his aft mirrors had been ripped off. He twisted around and spotted the four remaining fighters struggling to keep up - they had dived, but couldn't quite overtake the Alicantos this time, and slowly slid astern. The fight was over. There was no way the fighters could overtake them now.

Just to be safe, al-Rihani talked them up to eight thousand meters before turning southwest. The Aguilas followed at a lower altitude before the Alicantos outpaced them, and they disappeared astern. He didn't begin shaking until his Alicanto bounced to hard landing on Potosi's dirt runway and rolled into a spot next to Gomes' Roja Two. al-Rihani exhaustedly climbed out of the smashed cockpit - and his knees promptly gave underneath him and he ended up sitting on the Alicanto's port wing, shaking so hard he couldn't move. When he finally regained control, he limped across to where medics were helping Gomes from his Alicanto.

"How is he? How is he?" al-Rihani demanded.

One of the medics blocked his way and babbled something about a burst cataract; he pushed al-Rihani into the front seat of a geep and reviewed him critically. "You've got cuts all over your face, sir. Sit still... look at all that glass. What did you do?"

al-Rihani pointed to his plane. From arm's length, he realized that it nearly looked like a write-off. The medic whistled at the spectacle, but promptly returned to pawing over the glass in al-Rihani's face. The Turk hadn't even known it was there.

Staring at his damaged plane, al-Rihani started shaking again. "How the hell did we survive that?"

Gomes, escorted by orderlies and with a bloody bandage over his eye, took the seat next to him. "You okay, Turk?"

"Got some glass shards in my face. You?"

"They say some sort of blood vessels burst in my eyes. Must have been in that turn. Going to be blind for the next few days because of the bandages, but I'll be back up again in a week, you know."

One of the medics shook his head in mock disgust. "Pilots!"

"Turk, I've been thinking," Gomes continued. "Next time we have to go up to Bolivia..."

al-Rihani chuckled and guessed what his wingman was going to say. "Next time we're going to be flying Pulquis, and we're going to own that damned sky."

"Right behind you, boss."

Quoted

"They aren't Fabos!" Vilumilla announced. "Repeat, not Fabos!"

"They're not Bolivian Air Force? Who else is flying fighters around here?"

That is an interesting question... I look forward to the next installment.

Tis interesting, yes.

Note about slang:
- Fabo / Fabos: Comes from Fuerza Aérea Boliviana or FAB. WWTL slang term originating from the early 1930s; Chilean pilots call their Bolivian opposites "Fabos".
- China: in Chile, the lady of a huaso (cowboy). It doesn't quite equate to "cowgirl" but that's the closest English term. al-Rihani uses it as a term of endearment for his plane, as an Englishman might refer to a plane as "the old girl's done well" or such.
- Trauco: Lt. Gomes' nickname. In Chiloe mythology, a trauco is a magical dwarf blamed for causing Fallen Women.

January 14
Vice Almirante Loble Nahuelpán has, in a surprise move, been removed from command of the Battle Force only six months after his rise to command. According to sources, the Vice Admiral, third highest-ranking officer in the ADC, was personally dismissed during a conversation with President Vizcarra and the members of the Cosena.

February 21
More details have emerged about the removal of Vice-Admiral Nahuelpán. Allegedly, the Vice Admiral approved paperwork by members of his staff which accepted the sale of two Chilean destroyers to the Republic of Mexico, contravening a policy dating from 1938 forbidding the sale of military equipment to that country. Nahuelpán claimed not to be aware the ships were being sold to Mexico, but accepted a demotion to contraalmirante and retirement from sea service.

The two destroyers remain in Talcahuano and shall not be delivered to Mexico at the present time. Talk along the waterfront indicates the Navy may be interested in conducting a sinkex sometime in the next few months.

Contraalmirante Elias O'Higgins Fresno has been appointed to command Battle Force with the departure of Vicealmirante Nahuelpán. The Vicealmirante's resignation has, in turn, put Contraalmirante Germán Arrau up for command of the Flota de Alta Mar sometime in the next year.

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine
January 14
Vice Almirante Loble Nahuelpán has, in a surprise move, been removed from command of the Battle Force only six months after his rise to command. According to sources, the Vice Admiral, third highest-ranking officer in the ADC, was personally dismissed during a conversation with President Vizcarra and the members of the Cosena.

Sounds so very ....McChrystalish.

So was the tonnage delivered or not? And if so I presume it will be returned?

And guys, I presume everything up to Q4/39 in the reports to be unchangeable? I am willing to change the Q1/40 but older ones... I am seeing news reports that don't jive with sim reports.

Quoted

Originally posted by Desertfox
So was the tonnage delivered or not? And if so I presume it will be returned?

And guys, I presume everything up to Q4/39 in the reports to be unchangeable? I am willing to change the Q1/40 but older ones... I am seeing news reports that don't jive with sim reports.

I judge this to be the risk you're taking by going back and modifying 1938 news when the rest of us are in 1940. The actions and decisions you've been enacting have consequences that need to be taken into account.

Quoted

Originally posted by Desertfox
So was the tonnage delivered or not? And if so I presume it will be returned?

And guys, I presume everything up to Q4/39 in the reports to be unchangeable? I am willing to change the Q1/40 but older ones... I am seeing news reports that don't jive with sim reports.

Since you ejected the Chilean ambassador to Mexico City, and threatened to break off relations, I don't see that's really the sort of mentality of a country Chile would be selling destroyers to, even old ones.

Since you backdated your response to 1938, it's possible that relations might have thawed again by 1940 to permit the lifting of the arms embargo, in which case I'll sell you the destroyers as planned... which is why I've not yet changed my sim report. But I don't need the money and I'd be perfectly fine holding a sinkex. If Mexico learns from this experience and amends their behavior, then I'll reconsider my decision.