PS: Thanks to my old friend Bishan for the reward!
On the morning of December 1, during the celebration of the establishment of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, a large-scale armed conflict broke out between Paraguay and Argentina in the Misiones area. After the conflict broke out, Paraguay and Argentina’s surrounding troops quickly gathered in the Misiones area.
, the armies of the two countries confront each other along the Paraná River, which may trigger a new war at any time.
Misiones Province is located in the northeast of Artin, covering an area of 29,800 square kilometers. Most of the area is the Paraná Plateau, with rugged terrain, many low mountains, canyons and rivers.
It has a subtropical forest climate, with warm winters and hot summers, and an average annual precipitation of more than 1,500 mm. It has gold, silver, iron, mercury, coal and other mineral resources.
It borders the Paraguay River and the Uruguay River in the east and west directions respectively, curbing the transportation in the middle sections of the two rivers, and has important economic and strategic interests.
Both Argentina and Paraguay claim sovereignty over the Misiones region. Before the Paraguay War, Argentina had actual control over the area. In the latter part of the Paraguay War, the Chinese troops annihilated the main force of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force. The Argentine troops who participated in the war hurriedly returned to Argentina.
The garrison in Misiones Province also hurriedly fled the northern region, resulting in a period of power vacuum in the area.
After the Paraguay War ended, the main force of Chinese troops entered southern Brazil, leaving only a dissatisfied regiment in the Misiones area, stationed in the San Pedro area at the southeastern turning point of the Paraguay River, controlling the surrounding 500 square kilometers of land.
The Argentine and Paraguayan forces control the northern and southern areas of Misiones Province respectively, forming a decomposition line of actual control in the Canoas River area.
In the Misiones area, Argentina, Paraguay, and the Chinese forces converge. Among them, the Chinese forces control part of the land on the west bank of the Uruguay River and control the three small fortresses left by the Argentine retreat. The terrain is easy to defend but difficult to attack, giving it a strategic advantage.
status.
The Chinese troops occupied a small area and it was difficult to conquer the fortress. In addition, due to the halo brought by the annihilation of the main force of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, neither Argentina nor Paraguay took the initiative to cause trouble for the Chinese troops. Instead, they targeted opponents who seemed easy to deal with.
On the evening of December 3, the third day after the conflict broke out, three Paraguayans walked into the city of Porto Alegre and handed over the telegram written by Little Lopez to Li Mingyuan.
The telegram was delivered in Spanish. The Paraguayan representative who stayed in Porto Alegre quickly translated it into Chinese after receiving it, so Li Mingyuan had no problem reading it.
"Your Excellency, the four-nation alliance only targets Brazil. The conflict between your country and Argentina is not within the scope of the alliance. I cannot agree to the request of your president."
Lopez Jr. invited Li Mingyuan to send troops to Misiones in the telegram, promising that after driving out the Argentine forces, the two parties would jointly divide the land in the southern part of Misiones.
There are two metal ore producing areas in the Argentine-controlled area south of Misiones, which contain the iron ore resources needed for the development of Rio Grande do Sul. Lopez Jr. should have noticed this, so he invited Chinese troops to send troops.
"Your Majesty, Paraguay has never recognized that the Misiones region belongs to Argentina. Argentina was the first to instigate this conflict. Paraguay has no intention of launching a new war, but Argentina took the initiative and attempted to occupy all the land in Misiones.
It’s a naked declaration of war against Paraguay!”
Li Mingyuan's refusal did not affect the Paraguayan envoy standing in the hall. He said directly, "Paraguay recognizes your ownership of the area at the junction of the Canoas River and the Paraguay River, and is willing to offer the southern part of Misiones near the Paraguay River."
In return, the area was given to the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul,...
President Lopez is sincere and hopes to cooperate with His Majesty again."
The Paraguayan envoy stated a lot of conditions in succession, some were mentioned in the telegram, some were not mentioned, and there were no less than 30 conditions in between. It can be seen that this conflict was not only deliberately provoked by Argentina, but also by Paraguay.
There are also plans for Misiones.
"Your Excellency, the majority of the population in Misiones are local Indians. Argentina and Paraguay only controlled the local coastal areas more than ten years ago. We believe that the status of Misiones is undetermined. There is no legal basis for Argentina and your claim to sovereignty.
The Principality of Rio Grande do Sul does not recognize this behavior.”
Li Mingyuan's sudden change of words aroused the vigilance of the Paraguayan envoy.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty? Do you want to annex Misiones alone?"
"No, you misunderstood." Li Mingyuan explained the Paraguayan envoy's misunderstanding: "The Chinese are a peace-loving nation, and we do not want to see the Misiones conflict evolve into a large-scale war.
The Paraguay War has just ended, and Paraguay, Argentina, and Rio Grande do Sul need time to recover from the damage caused by the war. The three of us should work together to resolve territorial disputes through peaceful means instead of using crude war to resolve problems."
"I will pass on His Majesty's suggestions to President Lopez. Before President Lopez makes a new decision, I hope that His Majesty will carefully consider our conditions."
Hearing that Li Mingyuan did not put aside the idea of Paraguay occupying the Misiones area alone, the Paraguayan representative breathed a sigh of relief. After a few polite words at the end, he hurriedly left the hall and returned.
Li Mingyuan, Liu Pu, and Zhao Yan were left in the room. After the conflict broke out in Misiones, Zhao Yan temporarily stayed in Porto Alegre to assist Liu Pu in analyzing the conflict situation.
"Your Majesty, Paraguayan troops are gathered on the border front. Little Lopez is very ambitious and I am afraid he will not listen to your Majesty's advice."
Liu Pu opened his mouth and said.
"Little Lopez is bold and adventurous and has a tough character. The decisions he makes will not be changed easily." Li Mingyuan said calmly.
"Brazil has a vast area and rich national resources. Although the Paraguay War consumed a lot of Brazil's national strength, it will not take long for some of Brazil's strength to be restored. If Lopez insists on launching a war, Paraguay will be too weakened in the war, and Brazil will lose
As a restraining force, Rio Grande do Sul will face a greater threat from Brazil, so I believe that Paraguay's participation in a new war will be detrimental to Rio Grande do Sul, and we should try our best to prevent Paraguay from participating in the war."
Zhao Yandao.
"Little Lopez takes Napoleon as his learning goal and has always wanted to be Napoleon in South America. If we cannot stop his decision, a war will inevitably break out between Paraguay and Argentina."
"Your Majesty, if Paraguay joins the war, are we just going to stand aside and watch Paraguay's national strength suffer?"
Liu Pu couldn't think of a way to prevent Paraguay from joining the war, so he frowned and asked.
"That's right. We don't have to do anything. We just sit and watch them fight."
Li Mingyuan spoke in a relaxed tone, looking at the puzzled expressions of the two people sitting next to him, and explained, "It is true that little Lopez is ambitious and likes to take risks, but he is not unfamiliar with the current situation in Paraguay.
When his father, Lopez Sr., was in power, the once barren Paraguay rose rapidly. He encouraged foreign trade and introduced a large amount of foreign investment; he invited British and Austrian engineers to help build railways, shipyards, and steel plants; he hired European and American doctors, engineering technology
personnel, opening factories and schools;
Under the painstaking management of the elder Lopez, in just twenty years, poor and backward Paraguay became a small hegemon in South America.
Because of the foundation laid by the elder Lopez, the younger Lopez has the ability to face the Brazilian Empire head-on for three years.
However, after the Paraguay War, Lopez Jr. ostensibly won the war, but he got nothing except a piece of land that could not be mined for the time being.
The industrial construction built by the elder Lopez during his twenty years in power has been completely lost. There is a shortage of food and materials in the country, and the population has decreased by one-third.
The country is faced with many internal difficulties and cannot be significantly improved in a short period of time, so Lopez Jr. used the Misiones conflict to divert domestic conflicts and wanted to add new honors to himself through victory in a local war and stabilize his rule in Paraguay.
status."
"The situation in Paraguay is indeed not optimistic. After our army arrived in Rio Grande do Sul, I was ordered to continue the task of recruiting Paraguayan women. In the border area between our army and Paraguay, Paraguayan women are recruited by our army every day and enter the Rio Grande do Sul region.
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And two months ago, Lopez Jr., who had always disagreed with our army entering Paraguay-controlled areas to recruit Paraguayan women, also relaxed and began to organize groups of poor women to exchange for grenades, muskets, artillery and other weapons produced by our army."
Liu Pu was responsible for obtaining female immigrants from South America. Through the transaction with Lopez Jr., Liu Pu also understood the purpose of the Paraguayans in exchange for weapons.
"Argentina and Paraguay's strength has been severely damaged. They are unable to launch a full-scale war, and the scale of the war will only be controlled within the scope of Misiones.
We will not intervene in the conflicts between them for the time being, and we will intervene to mediate the conflicts when the situation reaches a stalemate."
Li Mingyuan made a decision on how to deal with the conflict in Misiones, and immediately assigned the task: "The First Mixed Brigade will dispatch San Pedro to strengthen security and implement armed neutrality.
The grenades, sealed muskets, and artillery produced in the Santa Maria base will all be sold to Paraguay. Liu Pu, go and negotiate with the Paraguayans. We can sell all the muskets, artillery, machine guns, and improved grenade manufacturing methods to them.
They don’t need to buy it with money, we only need single women to exchange it.”
"His Majesty……"
"Don't call me Your Majesty. The Duke of Rio Grande do Sul was granted the title by a Brazilian. Even when there are no outsiders, you still call me Prince." Li Mingyuan waved his hand to interrupt Liu Pu: "The Prussians informed me of a purchase ship to Prussia.
The team will arrive in Porto Alegre in five days. The purchased industrial equipment and weapons are all on board, and the muskets and machine guns used by the brothers can be replaced with new weapons."
"Yes!" The purchasing fleet from Prussia is about to return, and the various miscellaneous weapons used by the Chinese soldiers have also completed their historical missions. They can be sold to the Paraguayans in exchange for the much-needed female population and balance the male-to-female ratio among the Chinese.