Chapter two hundred and thirty eight combat readiness
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"stand at attention!"
A group of dozens of senior Han generals and officials accompanied Li Mingyuan into the conference room. The guards at the door stood at attention and saluted with guns.
"Director Wang, please first introduce the production situation of the military factory."
Li Mingyuan pulled up a corner of his black cloak, sat on the main seat, and asked.
"Since the implementation of two shifts in January, the average production capacity of weapons and ammunition has increased by one-third. According to the plan, the total reserves of weapons and ammunition in the military factory can be doubled by the middle of next year."
“Last May, the Bolivian government tore up the agreement reached with Chile and unilaterally increased the tax rate in the Atacama saltpeter producing area, causing strong protests from the Chilean government. At the beginning of this year, the Bolivian president revealed plans to fully recover the interests of the southern saltpeter producing area.
Will, and has the support of the governments of Peru and Paraguay. According to my speculation, the conflict between Bolivia and Chile over the distribution of saltpeter interests is difficult to adjust, and a war will break out between Bolivia and Chile at the latest by the end of next year."
"Chile has British support behind it. Isn't the Bolivian government worried about British armed intervention after provoking a war?"
Liu Yongfu asked cautiously when he participated in a core meeting involving the National Defense Forces for the first time.
"Probably not. Britain only has interests in saltpeter and iron ore in Chile. It would be too costly to personally intervene in the war between the two sides and is not in line with Britain's national interests."
Wang Xiaoshan Road.
"It is unlikely that the UK will send troops to intervene." Li Mingyuan nodded. "The colonies directly occupied by the UK are all over the world. While the vast colonies have brought huge economic benefits and a vast consumer market to the UK, they have also held back the vast majority of the British population.
Part of the energy, and the German Empire, which was established less than ten years ago, has brought increasing pressure on the European order led by the British. For the sake of their global strategic interests, the British will not waste their precious troops on remote areas.
Chile, which lives in a corner.”
"Your Highness, is the Argentine combat operation scheduled to take place in Chile after the Bolivia war breaks out?"
After listening to Li Mingyuan's words, Liu Yongfu thought for a moment and asked.
"When to officially launch combat operations in Argentina, we need to make a judgment based on the direction of the war in Chile and Bolivia and the preparations of our army."
Li Mingyuan explained, "The conflict between Bolivia and Chile involves the interests of the United Kingdom, Peru, and Paraguay. Once the war breaks out between the two parties, it is likely to expand into a full-scale war between Peru, Bolivia, and Chile.
Paraguay is unable to send troops to participate in the Three-Nation War due to the barrier of the Andes Mountains. It can only provide weapons and supplies to support Bolivia and Peru. The British have commercial interests in the Atacama region and are likely to take action against Bolivia and Peru.
An arms embargo and other measures have helped Chile fend off Bolivia and Peruvian armies.
Therefore, we have to wait until all forces are at an end before proceeding with Argentina's offensive plan."
"Peru and Bolivia's economic situation has recovered a lot in recent years. The Quad Alliance has regained a lot of territory in the war against Brazil. Now the morale of the Peruvian and Bolivian troops is strong. If they encounter the Chilean army supported by the British, this battle will probably be huge.
It will take quite a while."
Yang Xiaoshan said thoughtfully.
"The longer the war between Bolivia, Peru, and Chile drags on, the better it is for us. Only when the energy of other countries is attracted to the three-nation war can we free our hands and feet to fight a big war."
Li Mingyuan had been planning the annexation of Argentina for many years. In order to ensure the reliability of the implementation of the plan, he had endured it for nearly nine years since he became king in 1870. As the time for the outbreak of the Guano War drew closer, Li Mingyuan's preparations for the war became more and more serious.
Be more and more concerned.
"Liu Pu, how are the preparations and mobilization of the troops for war?"
"The recruitment of new recruits to the field army was completed half a month ago, and all field forces have returned to reorganization. The main force of the field army has reached 130,000, and the Zizhong and logistics forces have exceeded 30,000."
Liu Pu did not look at the unit preparation plan and directly answered, "The 130,000 field troops and the 30,000 logistics support troops are undergoing a collaborative training project under simulated field conditions. It is expected that the training and assessment subjects will be completed in eight months, and all troops will be familiar with each other and cooperate."
The level of collaboration.”
"How is the recruitment of the garrison and militia units going?"
"On January 12, the 20 garrison regiments of the National Defense Forces were expanded into ten garrison brigades in accordance with the war preparation order. Each garrison brigade has three regiments and a strength of 10,000 people. According to the latest garrison expansion progress report, there are now a total of
Two security brigades have completed their expansion, and the other eight security brigades have generally completed more than 50% of the expansion progress. It is expected that all expansion preparations will be completed in two months."
"The field army has been restored to full strength and a large number of veterans have been transferred from the garrison brigade. The combat effectiveness of the garrison has been greatly affected in a short period of time.
Liu Pu, the quality of the soldiers of the garrison and the professionalism of the officers are not as good as those of the field army. You must seize the time to train and ensure that the combat strength of the garrison is restored to the pre-expansion level before the war breaks out."
"Don't worry, Your Highness, after the war breaks out, I will definitely train 100,000 brave garrison soldiers, and this will not delay His Highness's important events."
"The annexation of two predominantly white countries in World War I is likely to cause shock in the Western world. Before the war breaks out, we must prepare for the worst, do our best to prepare various combat supplies, and be prepared to face the British blockade
Sanctions are planned.”
Li Mingyuan reminded of the importance of war preparations and the difficulties that the country may face after the war, and then continued, "Argentina's combat operation plan uses 160,000 front-line troops as field troops and attached troops, and 60,000 garrison troops as strategic reserves and maintenance in occupied areas.
The troops were deployed on the battlefield in the second phase of the combat plan, and the task of domestic security and defense against the Brazilian army was handed over to the 40,000-strong garrison and militia forces.
When the main force of the field army and most of the garrison force are performing combat missions, even if the country is attacked by the Brazilian army, support must be guaranteed until the main force completely occupies Argentina and Paraguay.
Liu Pu, the burden on you is not light, and you must do a good job in domestic war preparations."
"It is your duty to defend your home and country! When Your Highness is fighting on the front line, I will definitely protect the territory in the rear!"
For the Chinese in South America, the annexation of Argentina was a life-or-death matter related to the future development of the country. When planning the battle plan, Li Mingyuan made the decision to personally lead the troops into the battle. Liu Pu, who understood the importance of the Battle of Argentina, did not oppose Li Mingyuan's decision.
Instead, they are determined to do a good job in protecting the homeland in the rear and not hinder the main force's combat operations on the front line.
Knowing yourself and the enemy will ensure victory. After understanding his side's combat readiness, Li Mingyuan turned his attention to Shen Fushan, who was in charge of South American intelligence work.
"Your Highness, through the intelligence of spies and some Argentine businessmen, the Military Intelligence Department has drawn more than 60 maps of Corinste, Salto, Rosario, Buenos Aires and other places, and important areas The topography, topography, water sources, etc. have all been clearly marked.”
Seeing Li Mingyuan's questioning look, Shen Fushan took the initiative to answer.
"What is the distribution of the Argentine troops? How many Argentine garrison camps are there on the march of our army? What is their combat strength? How much do these intelligence and military intelligence departments know?"
"The northern part of Argentina is mainly composed of local troops headed by Urquiza, with about 30,000 people. Buenos Aires and its southern part are the areas controlled by former Argentine President Mitre. Under the control of Argentine President Sami After Ento's death, Mitre returned to the forefront and took charge of the Argentine federal government, with more than 40,000 troops under his command."
After Shen Fushan introduced the basic information about Argentina, he added, "Four days ago, according to the report of the secret agent lurking in the Indian area in southern Argentina, the Argentine federal government relaxed its suppression of the Indians in southern Patagonia and reduced the number of people in the southern region. garrison, Yi Chen speculated that Miter was probably suffering the opposition of Urquiza and redeployed the southern regional troops to the northern controlled border area to deter Urquiza and other opposition forces."
"The position of President of Argentina has been vacant for several years, and it seems that someone is interested in that position again."
Due to the external pressure from the Han State, the various factions in Argentina were fighting for a while and then subsided for several years. Now it seems that many forces in Argentina who cannot understand the future situation like Li Mingyuan are showing signs of civil war.