The founding of the Chinese nation in Rio Grande do Sul changed the original historical trend of South America. In late December, little Lopez, who had reached the end of history, was active and active, drawing out his troops to attack Argentina in Misiones. It was very lively.
Brazil lost two southern states, Pedro II's prestige was severely damaged, and the ongoing reforms imitating Britain and France were interrupted. Domestic liberal forces were on the rise. Regional independents who had been suppressed frequently launched independent riots, and economic development regressed.
The interest on war loans borrowed from Britain, France and other countries has expired, and the successive conflicts have involved too much energy of the Brazilian government. At the moment, Pedro II is focused on managing domestic affairs and has no intention or ability to interfere in external situations for the time being.
Argentina and Paraguay continue to compete for control of Misiones. Bolivia and Peru have returned victoriously and are busy dealing with the unstable factors of acquiring land from Brazil. Uruguay is a small and poor country and is living in its own one-third of an acre.
Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, plus the Chinese-occupied Rio Grande do Sul, a strange balance has been restored among the seven South American countries.
The four countries of Rio Grande do Sul, Paraguay, Peru, and Bolivia secretly formed an alliance to counter Brazil. Argentina and Paraguay were in a state of local war. Peru and Bolivia remained neutral in the conflict and did not provide help to Paraguay, while Rio Grande do Sul was neutral on the surface and actually supported Paraguay.
Secretly providing weapons and ammunition to Paraguay.
Uruguay was Brazil's younger brother before the war. After Brazil was separated by Rio Grande do Sul, Uruguay fell into the arms of Argentina and maintained the same position as Argentina.
Each of the seven South American countries borders each other, and a series of conflicts arise due to territorial resource issues. However, in terms of overall strategy, the seven countries form different groups.
First of all, although the Brazilian Empire lost a large area of land in the war, Brazil's overall strength is still the highest. During the Paraguay War, the Argentine army did not rescue the Brazilian army and withdrew from the country without authorization. Uruguay even withdrew from the war before the decisive battle. Therefore, the Three Kingdoms Alliance was broken.
, Brazil has no allies in the southern part of South America for the time being and is on its own.
The four countries of Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul are allied with Brazil as the imaginary enemy. At the same time, the alliance between the four countries is unstable. Paraguay and Bolivia have territorial disputes in the Chaco Plain. Rio Grande do Sul has previous disputes with Peru and Bolivia.
The contradiction is that the newly established Indian Autonomous Region in southern Bolivia is a pawn left by the Chinese. After Bolivia reluctantly recognized the establishment of the Indian Autonomous Region, it has been unwilling to accept it. Maybe the Bolivian government will announce the abolition of the Indian Autonomous Region at some point and then send troops to occupy it.
Paraguay faces enemies on both sides, and Bolivia is only a temporary ally. Only Rio Grande do Sul and Paraguay have the same interests. Both face threats from Brazil and also have ideas about southern Argentina.
Therefore, in the Quad Alliance, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraguay are divided into one faction, and Bolivia and Peru are divided into another faction.
Together with Argentina and Uruguay, southern South America is divided into three major factions and four smaller factions around Brazil.
The three factions are restraining each other and constantly friction. If one faction joins forces with another, the strategic balance will be broken, and a new war will break out again.
Among the three major factions, Li Mingyuan is most worried about Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil uniting again, because the three countries have Rio Grande do Sul acting as a buffer zone, and there are no longer direct territorial contacts and conflicts of interest. The reason why the three countries have not united is because Brazil is busy
When dealing with domestic affairs, as for previous conflicts, it is not a big deal. What matters between countries is actual interests. As long as it is beneficial to both parties, even if the fight is bloody one moment, they can still shake hands and make peace the next second.
Brazil has taken a breather, won over Argentina and Uruguay, and then provoked conflicts between Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay's Rio Grande do Sul. At that time, Rio Grande do Sul will be under the greatest pressure, with Brazil to the north, Uruguay to the south, Argentina to the west, and Rio Grande do Sul to the east.
It's the sea. At the beginning of the war, Rio Grande do Sul was in a predicament of being surrounded.
Defending everywhere and being passive everywhere, the Chinese also had to face the disadvantageous situation of dispersed troops after capturing the two southern states. The main force of the field army was scattered in several key areas.
During the war, if you rely on the city to defend the city, you will lose the flexibility of troop mobilization and cannot concentrate superior forces to defeat the enemy.
The Principality of Rio Grande do Sul started as the Chinese Independence Army. Previous great victories before the founding of the country did not mean that the Chinese soldiers could completely crush the troops of South American countries. In each battle, the ratio of the number of Chinese troops to enemy troops was mostly higher than 3:1.
Mobilizing and concentrating superior forces to respond to the enemy during the war is the key to the victory of the Chinese troops. If the two sides have equal strength in the uprising war, the Chinese troops will pay a heavy price even if they win, and then they will be weakened in battle after battle, and eventually the entire army will be annihilated.
Taking precautions and carefully planning everything are habits that Li Mingyuan developed when he was a mercenary in his previous life. Relying on his cautious and prudent character, he led the troops all the way, but he was also careless in the face of new changes in the situation after the founding of the country.
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Northern Argentina is vast, sparsely populated and rich in resources. If the Chinese want to expand their sphere of influence in the future, they will inevitably have conflicts with the Argentines. Therefore, the two parties are inherently contradictory. Unless one country takes the initiative to admit defeat, conflict is inevitable.
Li Mingyuan was not willing to admit defeat. The second half of the 19th century was a period of rapid development of the second industrial revolution. A large number of European immigrants poured into South America through new means of transportation. If Li Mingyuan did not expand his territory before the influx of European immigrants,
There will be no new opportunities in the future, so there is almost no possibility for Li Mingyuan to give in, and the Argentines will not agree to give up their northern territory.
Since the contradiction cannot be adjusted, Li Mingyuan must make plans for the future. After the war, Brazil is busy dealing with internal affairs and has no energy to intervene in external affairs. Rio Grande do Sul needs to resettle new immigrants and develop basic industries, and will not engage in a new war.
At this time, the outbreak of the Misiones conflict formed a breaking point.
Paraguay increased its troops to Misiones, and Argentina responded tit-for-tat by sending troops to reinforce the disputed areas. Although the scale of the local conflict was not as large as that of the Paraguay War, the ongoing war will slowly drain Argentina's blood and force the Argentine government to focus on
The war delayed their immigration from Europe.
Argentine immigration is postponed, and Rio Grande do Sul will gain more time to develop. Then, at a unique opportunity, when the attention of Britain, France and other countries is attracted to Europe, they will launch an effort to occupy northern Argentina and achieve another great expansion of Chinese strength.
expansion.
The opportunity Li Mingyuan was waiting for was not his personal conjecture, but the Franco-Prussian War that took place a year and a half later.
The Franco-Prussian War was a war of German unification. The initiator of the war was not Prussia, who secretly expanded its military and prepared for war, but the French Emperor Napoleon III who first declared war and attacked the German Rhineland.
Before the Franco-Prussian War, France was the largest country in Europe. Napoleon III, who relied on his army to be the largest in Europe and his powerful navy, expanded France's sphere of influence around the world, thus forming a huge conflict with the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria of England once said, "Napoleon III was a man who caused trouble everywhere."
The man who caused trouble." expressed his dissatisfaction with Napoleon III's wanton territorial expansion in Europe.
When the war broke out, Britain wanted to use Prussia's hand to teach France a lesson and suppress France's expansionist ambitions. Who knew that the French army, which was invincible in Europe, would be vulnerable to Prussia.
On July 19, 1870, France declared war on Prussia. After the war began, the French army suffered successive defeats. On September 2, French Emperor Napoleon III personally led nearly 100,000 French troops to surrender in Sedan.
From the time Napoleon III led hundreds of thousands of troops into Germany to surrendering, it took just over a month. Before the senior British government officials could react, the war ended in another way, and the German Empire established by French soldiers
Beyond the expectations of the British, in order to continue to maintain a balanced policy on the European continent, the British studied countermeasures for a long time and focused mainly on European affairs. Therefore, the Franco-Prussian War was an opportunity for the Chinese to expand again. Before that,
The Misiones clash was also an opportunity to test the Argentines.
On December 17, two messengers arrived at the military camp outside the city with Li Mingyuan's order. After receiving the order, the 2nd Mixed Brigade and part of the artillery brigade ended their training and moved to San Pedro in the Misiones area.