After confirming the authenticity of the Rio de Janeiro shipyard's ability to build a 4,000-ton armored cruiser by itself, Li Mingyuan was initially a little surprised.
At the end of the 1880s, apart from the European powers such as Britain, France, Germany and Russia, the only countries that could independently complete the task of building ironclad ships of more than 2,000 tons were the United States, Han, and Japan.
Now, with the completion of the Admiral Mandel armored cruiser and entering into service, the Republic of Brazil, which is located in a remote corner of the world and is riddled with internal conflicts, has also entered the ranks of countries that independently build ironclads.
Armored cruisers are the product of the development of the modern industrial system and are also a symbol of the country's comprehensive industrial strength. The Rio de Janeiro Shipyard can build a 4,000-ton armored cruiser, which shows that the Republic of Brazil has the industrial heritage to develop into a regional industrial power.
However, judging from the data on the time and money it took to complete the construction of the Admiral Mandel, during the ship construction process, there may be problems within the Rio de Janeiro shipyard such as insufficient construction experience of shipwrights and technicians. However, through cooperation with Han
, compared with the three newly industrialized countries of Japan and the United States, it is certain that the officials of the Republic of Brazil in charge of ship construction must have received kickbacks and bribes.
The displacement tonnage of the ship is lower than that of an armored cruiser of the same class. The construction price of the ship is more than three times that of an outsourced warship of the same class. The number and caliber of the ship's main guns are only half of that of a warship of the same class!
All kinds of problems are piled up together. If there is nothing fishy in it, I am afraid that the officials of the Republic of Brazil themselves will not believe it.
The feudal rule of the Pedro family was overthrown and a nominally democratic and republican government was established. However, what they did privately was still accepting bribes and trading power.
Having seen through the nature of the internal operations of the government of the Republic of Brazil, Li Mingyuan's surprise and curiosity about the Republic of Brazil when the armored cruiser Admiral Mandel appeared on the Atlantic Ocean quickly disappeared.
The Republic of Brazil is like a decaying tree. It needs to go through a series of subsequent wars to gradually weaken its effective strength. Before that, focus on the development of the domestic situation in Paraguay, formulate a positive and effective response plan, and achieve unification of LAP as soon as possible.
The core strategy of the Latta region is the issue that Han should most address.
Since the Paraguay Incident, the Central Government of Han and the headquarters of the two armies have immediately become extremely busy. One piece of information after another has been sent to Han through various channels, and then submitted to Li Mingyuan and the Central Committee as quickly as possible.
In front of senior military and political officials.
On May 30, 1889, just a week after the Paraguay Incident, in order to coordinate the military and political forces and formulate a final solution to the chaos in Paraguay as soon as possible, Li Mingyuan specially invited relevant officials and generals from all parties to hold a meeting in the palace.
A high-level joint military-civilian meeting.
The joint military and political meeting held on May 30, 1889 was a high-level meeting to unify internal thinking and respond to changes in the external situation. It could also be seen as the final rehearsal for Han's full involvement in the situation in Paraguay to prepare for war.
"The population distribution of Paraguay is similar to that of Brazil. The western and northern regions are vast and sparsely populated. The three western provinces and the two geographical regions of the former Mato Grosso do Sul and southern Goiás states in the north add up to a total area of
900,000 square kilometers, accounting for 81% of the total territory of the Kingdom of Paraguay.
The eastern region has a land area of approximately 200,000 square kilometers.
However, the number of Paraguayan people living on this land has reached 350,000, accounting for about two-thirds of the total population of Paraguay. Among them, the seat of the central government of the Kingdom of Paraguay and the capital Asuncion has a permanent population of about 170,000. Its population
The number accounts for half of the total population in the eastern region."
Army Chief of Staff Zhao Yongzeng compiled and summarized the intelligence obtained and introduced to everyone in the palace: "After the death of Lopez Jr., Paraguay was divided into three forces. One was represented by the four-member regency committee composed of Isidoro.
On May 22, they incited the Guards and the Paraguayan Navy fleet to kidnap Carlos and take control of the central government of Paraguay. The four-person regency committee is the most powerful force in Paraguay's domestic politics. They control all departments of the central government of Asuncion.
, and gained the allegiance of most government officials and the farmer class.
At present, according to the latest intelligence obtained, the four-person regency committee has won over Major General Jose Bacon, commander of the Paraguayan Army's 1st Brigade, and the Paraguayan Army's 1st Brigade has also announced that it will accept the leadership of the four-person regency committee.
Including the newly surrendered 1st Brigade Headquarters, the four-person regent committee nominally controls about 6,500 troops. Its number of troops is the same as that of the Paraguayan Army's 3rd Division, 2nd Brigade, and Guards Cavalry Battalion.
Compared with the rebel coalition forces, the number of troops is about half of the coalition forces."
"Except for the four-member regency committee and the rebel coalition, what is the attitude of the other powerful generals of the Paraguayan army?"
A general asked.
"The question raised by General Wang is related to the third military and political force in Paraguay that I will talk about below."
Zhao Yongzeng continued: "The Paraguayan Army followed the German army model and established four standing army divisions, two army brigades, and one Guards. The total number of standing armies is about 47,000 people. Excluding those who directly participated in the four-person regent committee and the rebel coalition,
outside the army,
Among the remaining troops, Lieutenant General Hadro Peterson's Second Division was trapped in the flood zone of Mato Grosso do Sul. Because the commander of the Paraguayan Army's Third Division, Silvestre, did not comply with Lopez Jr.'s arrangement,
, decided on his own to lead the main force of the 3rd Army Division, together with the Guards Cavalry Battalion and the 2nd Brigade, to march towards Asunción, resulting in the complete interruption of the material supply route connecting the 2nd Division with the rear.
The Second Division is currently not only facing the difficulty of running out of ammunition and supplies, but may also be attacked by Indian rebel forces. Therefore, the Second Division is stuck in the quagmire of Mato Grosso do Sul and cannot protect itself, and it is temporarily unable to intervene in Paraguay.
ability to adapt to changes in the domestic situation.
The other two division-level troops, the First Division and the Fourth Division of the Paraguayan Army, are respectively stationed in the handover area between Han and the Republic of Brazil. Each faces military pressure from the Republic of Han and the Republic of Brazil, and it is difficult to allocate decisive forces to invest in them.
The battle for central leadership in Paraguay.
"
"According to this, the power to determine the direction of the war in Paraguay in the second half of the year falls in the hands of the four-member regency council and the rebel coalition."
Wang Jianhua, commander of the Fourth Division of the Han Army (renamed in 1886, formerly known as Wang Dashan) raised his head and thought.
"If no external forces intervene, the new king of the Kingdom of Paraguay will be born between the two forces."
Zhao Yongzeng nodded and affirmed Wang Jianhua's point of view, adding: "In order to increase the chance of seizing Paraguay's supreme power, as soon as the rebel coalition announced its march to Asunción, the four-person regency committee strengthened its military and political control of Asunción.
control.
On May 26, in the name of liquidating the crimes of the Lopez family, the four-member regency announced that the land under the names of the Lopez family, including Mrs. Lynch, Carlos and others, would be returned to the government.
On May 27, the scope of liquidation and forced land recovery was expanded to include nobles, government officials and military officers loyal to the Lope family. In just two days, the four-person regency council recovered 639,500 in the area around Asunción.
One hundred hectares of land and a total of 467 houses. As for easy-to-carry property such as gold, silver and precious jewelry, the amount was investigated and dealt with by the four-person regent committee because it was transferred and hidden through the imperial legation in advance.
Not much.
On May 28, the four-member regent committee used the forcibly recovered land as a reward to recruit young and strong laborers from the surrounding controlled areas to serve as soldiers. However, according to the general knowledge of the staff, the total population of Paraguay was more than 500,000, with people under ten years old.
More than 70% of the men between the ages of two and forty-six have been transferred to serve in the army. Three days after the four-member regency committee issued the recruitment notice, it only added more than a thousand old and weak men."
"The First Paraguay War in 1868 resulted in the loss of more than 200,000 people in Paraguay. After the Paraguay War, little Lopez still persisted in the policy of militaristic foreign expansion and failed to seize the twenty years during the armistice to develop the domestic economy. Therefore,
, even if the population of the empire itself doubled several times, the population of Paraguay was only less than 100,000 more than in 1868."
With the memory of later generations, Li Mingyuan understands little Lopez's almost paranoid nature better than others, and has a clearer understanding than others of the situation Paraguay has fallen into today under the rule of little Lopez.
"Apart from the four-member regency council and the movement to rebel against the coalition, what was the response from the Brazilian Republic?"
After understanding the situation of all parties in Paraguay, Li Mingyuan began to turn his attention to the Republic of Brazil.
"The Republic of Brazil has not done anything unusual recently, but according to information from us and from the Brazilian Empire, the government of the Republic of Brazil is frequently having secret communications with the United Kingdom, Chile and other countries through its embassies abroad."
"The Republic of Brazil was frightened by the imperial army. Without the support and security guarantee from the British, the Republic of Brazil did not have the courage to risk war with the Empire and directly intervene in the situation in Paraguay."
Luo Linshan, Director-General of the Ministry of Army, analyzed.
"It is not that the Republic of Brazil did nothing. Based on the situation just introduced by General Zhao, I estimate that the confrontation at sea a few days ago was not a simple accidental encounter. Maybe it was done deliberately by the government of the Republic of Brazil and wanted to take advantage of it.
Demonstrate naval strength, and then indirectly test the imperial government's attitude towards the Brazilian Republic's involvement in the Paraguay incident."
Li Mingyuan connected the information obtained from various aspects together. After thinking for a moment, he decided, "Whether the Republic of Brazil is intentionally testing it or not, the empire's general policy regarding the Paraguay incident remains unchanged.
If the Republic of Brazil does not move, neither does the Imperial Army. We must wait until the Republic of Brazil cannot sit still and first sends troops into Paraguay. Then the Imperial Army will enter Paraguay as an army of justice."
"Your Majesty, what if the Republic of Brazil doesn't take the bait?"
"It's impossible for them not to take the bait. The four-member regent council and the rebel coalition are about to fight. Paraguay's western and northern regions have empty defenses. Regardless of the outcome of the Paraguayan Civil War, Paraguay's defense forces will suffer heavy losses. In this case, Brazil
Whether it is for the purpose of diverting domestic conflicts or recovering occupied territory and restoring the hearts and minds of the domestic people, the government of the Brazilian Republic must make the decision to send troops.
Although Fonseca, Morais and others control the central power of the Brazilian Republic, they do not have the final say on whether to send troops.
Now, since they are concerned about the empire's attitude and dare not send troops rashly, then we will dispel their concerns and help them make a decision."
Li Mingyuan had a response strategy in mind and immediately ordered: "Minister Tang, tomorrow your Ministry of Foreign Affairs will issue a statement to the outside world, announcing in the name of the central government that the empire will strictly abide by the regulations of a neutral country and will not provide weapons or ammunition to any warring force in Paraguay.
supplies,
It also demonstrates the empire's peace-loving attitude and persuades all parties in Paraguay to adopt peaceful means to resolve conflicts and differences."
"Yes, Your Majesty. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will follow your Majesty's instructions and let the Republic of Brazil see Han's attitude."
Tang Jingsong, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, accepted the task assigned by Li Mingyuan, and then handed over a list of names and said: "The Imperial Minister to Paraguay, Chen Jinghu, reported that the number of Paraguayan dignitaries and dignitaries who fled to the Imperial Legation in Paraguay to seek asylum from the Empire has exceeded
There are two hundred people, including Mr. Lopez’s lover, Mrs. Lynch, and one of their sons and one of their daughters. Minister Chen, please give me instructions on how to arrange these people.”
"Intelligence agents of the Imperial Security Department have spent several years in Paraguay. Most of these important Paraguayan officials who seek asylum in the imperial legation are people whom the intelligence agents have worked hard to develop. Their presence will be conducive to the empire's future rule and assimilation of Paraguay.
people."
After roughly reading the list submitted by Tang Jingsong, Li Mingyuan ordered: "Through the secret transportation channel established by the Ministry of Security in Paraguay, the embassy personnel and Paraguayan dignitaries stranded in Asunción are safely transferred out. Among them, special attention must be paid to ensuring
The safety of Mrs. Lynch, her son, and her daughter will still be useful after the imperial army enters Paraguay."
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will cooperate with the Imperial Security Ministry to safely evacuate all the people stranded in Asunción."
"In addition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Intelligence, all departments of the central government must make material preparations and transport all required combat materials to the northern predetermined reserve area in advance. The Imperial Army Staff must based on the intelligence collected and the internal situation in Paraguay.
Develop and formulate multiple sets of possible combat plans.”
"Yes, Your Majesty!"......
Officials and military officers with relevant responsibilities responded in unison.
"The Navy's First Fleet and Offshore Guard Fleet must conduct combat drills to strengthen the fleet's actual combat response capabilities and alert capabilities.
At the same time, the selection and construction of new armored cruisers, and the replacement and strengthening of shipboard weapons for ironclads that are more than ten years old must also be completed as soon as possible."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Chief of the Navy Chen Sen and Chief of the Naval Staff Li Han stood up to take over the task, exchanged glances with each other, and then said in tacit understanding: "Your Majesty, the Navy Department and the Naval Staff Headquarters have preliminary drafted a ship purchase plan. Please take a look."
"Oh, the Navy Department and the Naval Staff Headquarters are very efficient, and they have formulated a ship purchase plan so quickly."
Li Mingyuan took the document presented by the two men in person, looked at it carefully for more than ten minutes, then closed the document and asked with a smile: "Among the five sets of ship purchase plans presented, which one is the most preferred by the Ministry of the Navy and the Naval Staff Headquarters?
"
"Your Majesty, General Lee and I both believe that the Orlando-class armored cruiser is the most suitable."
"Tell me your reasons."
"The Orlando-class standard displacement is 5,600 tons.
91.5 meters long, 17.07 meters wide, draft 6.86 meters, power under normal pressure 5500 horsepower, normal pressure speed 17 knots, pressure ventilation status 8500 horsepower / speed 18 knots, endurance 10000 nautical miles / 10 knots, normal coal load 900 tons,
The waterline armor belt is 254mm thick (composite armor) and 1.67 meters high; the armored deck is 50-76.2mm thick, the front and rear partitions of the armor box are 406mm thick (wrought iron), the exposed turret armor wall is 152mm thick, the secondary battery turret is 127mm thick, and the command tower is thick
305mm,
In terms of firepower system, it is equipped with 2 234mm/32x breech-loading rifled cannon × 2×1, 10 152mm/26x breech-loading rifled cannon, 6 6-pound rapid-fire cannon, and 10 3-pound rapid-fire cannon.
It has a rated crew of 484 people and a construction cost of 210,000 pounds. It has the ability to fight against large ocean-going cruisers."
Chen Sen followed the script based on the collected overall performance data of the ship.
"The Orlando-class armored cruiser is affordable, and the overall performance of the warship is also good. However, the armor box is thick enough, but the width is too narrow. It is just a 1.67-meter-high armor belt. In actual combat, it may not form an effective barrier to the engine room and boiler room.
Protect,
In my opinion, it would be better to save weight and strengthen it to an armored deck that is only 2-3 inches thick, and cancel this symbolic armor box."
"The armored belt is a protective device designed by the British Pembroke Shipyard. After the Imperial Navy decides on the ship purchase plan, it can go to the Pembroke Shipyard to coordinate improvements."
Chen Sen echoed.
"The overall shipbuilding level of the British is much higher than that of the three major local shipyards. In terms of shipbuilding technology, the Imperial Navy takes advantage of the opportunity of purchasing ships to learn from them. In terms of design and weapon configuration, if
If we think the British design is unreasonable, we must bravely point it out and make targeted improvements."
"What His Majesty taught is that the Ministry of the Navy and the Naval Staff will work with the three major local shipyards to carefully review possible problems in ship design and construction."
"It is always good to study and reflect more. Okay, your ship purchase plan has been approved. Just follow the key points of my last conversation with you and try to persuade Pembroke Shipyard to agree to purchase one and build it locally.
In the simple model of one ship, in order to achieve the purpose of purchasing ships, the central government can provide the navy with an additional ship purchase subsidy of up to 1 million Chinese yuan.
Work hard and complete the signing of the ship purchase contract as soon as possible before July."...