Wild North America 1846

Chapter 399 Good Appetite

Argentina also has the problem of uncertain southern borders, which originally seemed to be a good thing in the eyes of Argentine whites, and it can continue to erode the Mapuche territory southward.

As the weak, no one will stand up and uphold justice for the Mapuche.

This logic worked before, but not now.

The stark example of Chile stands before us;

Originally in 1825, Chile and the Mapuche tribal alliance agreed to use the Bio-Bio River as the boundary, but Chile did not abide by this verbal agreement in the following 10 years, and continued to invade hundreds of kilometers to the south. Luo, Panguipui, Osorno and other areas are all included in the scope of Chilean territory.

There is no contract or certificate, and if you occupy it, you will occupy it.

Now that the Tang Empire has come, it has swallowed the Torch City (Osorno), Panguipui and other vast areas in one go, and almost swallowed most of the achievements of Chile's 10-year colonization, leaving only Lautaro area.

That is to say;

The southernmost territory of Chile can only reach the Biobio region, and the Araucacia region belongs to the Tang Empire, so the loss is not small.

In history, Chile’s 5600-kilometer-long and slender territory along the Pacific coast is now only 2351 kilometers long, and the 3250-kilometer-long Andes region of the Pacific coast to the south of the Biobio area belongs to the Datang Empire, including the southernmost point. of Fuego.

Since then, Argentina has been embarrassed.

Sure enough, not long
From late May 1863, expeditionary forces and armed militia from the Tang Empire appeared in Neuquen Province, and had armed conflicts with sporadic Argentine whites in the area, killing and injuring dozens of Argentine whites.

The domineering behavior of the Tang Empire forced the Argentine government to urgently dispatch a government delegation to Chang'an in early June, trying to find a land division plan acceptable to both parties.

At this time, Argentina did not have a government agreement on the division of the territory or a written agreement with the Mapuche tribe.
They could not prove that the Mapuche lands occupied by white Argentines were legitimate.

While the Argentines and Chileans were struggling with this matter, the Datang Empire Expeditionary Force (composed of the 204st Division of the Royal Marine Corps and the 3.3th Division of the Army, the former landed on the Pacific coast to establish a stronghold, the latter landed on the Atlantic coast to establish a stronghold) He and more than [-] volunteer militiamen poured into this fertile land full of hope, massacred the local indigenous Indian tribes, and established their own vast pastures.

During this time
Chinese armed militias that continue to go north poured into the Neuquen and Rio Negro regions, and reached as far north as the La Pampa region. They often had armed conflicts with the local Argentine whites, which exacerbated the turmoil in this area.

Paraguay's President Lopez, far in the north, expressed his warm welcome to the Datang Empire's outrageous intervention in the situation in South America. He said;

"With sincere respect, all the people of Paraguay welcome the Datang Empire to intervene in South American affairs. This will re-establish order in the chaotic South America. Paraguay is optimistic and willing to strengthen the close relationship with the Datang Empire."

Paraguay is purely standing and talking without pain in the back, because to the north of the Andean region occupied by the Tang Empire is the territory of Chile and Argentina, which do not border Paraguay.

Only by completely destroying these two countries can the Kingdom of Tang Dynasty border Paraguay, which is actually impossible.

But Paraguay's statement undoubtedly added fuel to the chaotic situation in South America.

The independence movement that rose in Latin America in 19 at the beginning of the 1810th century forced Spain to abandon its colonial rule over most Latin American countries.Paraguay, a Spanish colony, also declared its independence in June 1811.

But after the Spaniards left, they left behind numerous territorial disputes. As the central governments of Brazil and Argentina gradually consolidated, they also began to set their sights on neighboring Paraguay and Uruguay.

The new president of Paraguay, Francisco Lopez, is a thorn in their side, a thorn in their flesh, and they wish to eliminate him quickly.

Both Brazil's royal family and Argentina's president have demonized Lopez, saying he has territorial ambitions and covets Uruguay, northern Argentina and southwestern Brazil.

essentially

Both Brazil and Argentina have ambitions for the region along the Paraguay River where Paraguay is rich in yerba mate, a commodity exported to Europe that generates lucrative profits every year.

The deep conflict between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay stems from Uruguay asking.

As a landlocked country, Uruguay is the only channel for Paraguay's exports to the Atlantic Ocean, and it is also a country that eases the territorial dispute between Brazil and Argentina. Therefore, the above three countries are very concerned about the situation in Uruguay and try to exert influence.

During the Argentine Civil War in 1861, the Uruguayan Red Party supported President Bartolome Miter of Political Argentina's ruling Liberal Party.

So, Argentina supported the rebellious Uruguayan Red Party.

Brazil also supported the Red Party rebellion because of Uruguay's White Party government's policy of restricting Brazilian immigration in Uruguay.

Paraguayan President López supported the White Party government, severely accused Argentina and Brazil of "imperialist policies" towards Uruguay, warned them not to disrupt the regional strategic balance, and issued an ultimatum to the Brazilian imperial government.

Brazil not only turned a blind eye to Paraguay's ultimatum, but also sent troops to Uruguay to intervene. Lopez ordered the Paraguayan army to attack Brazilian merchant ships. The armed friction between the two sides continued, and the relationship was extremely bad.

The power of the Tang Empire went south to South America in a big way, which gave Paraguayan President Lopez new hope, so all kinds of praise and enthusiastic support poured in, expressing the joy in Paraguay's heart.

Chang'an Daming Palace

Emperor Li Cha was holding a report on the situation in South America. After reading it carefully, he put it aside, took a sip of tea in silence, and a faint sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

A mere Paraguay is also trying to make a chestnut out of the fire?
"Liu Aiqing, what do you think?" Li Cha asked aloud.

The prime minister, Duke Liu Xianjun, smiled, stepped forward gracefully, saluted respectfully, and said;
"South American countries are pecking at each other, the empire just needs to keep an eye on it, and don't need to spend too much energy on it.

At present, the demarcation line between the empire and Chile has been determined, and I think it is a good thing. The obedience shown by the Chilean government will help the empire win a loyal supporter in South America, and it should be a very wise choice.

The so-called; long distance close attack.

Nowadays, in the empire's southern desert campaign, the only country that can have dirty friction with the empire is Argentina, which is mainly manifested in the final ownership of the surrounding areas of the province of Buenos Aires.

Until the final borders were drawn, relations between the Reich and Argentina were difficult to calm bilaterally.

On the issue of Paraguay and the Brazilian Empire, the minister secretly thought that it was better to adopt a friendly and neutral attitude, which was more suitable for diplomatic mediation and to strive for the best interests of the empire. "

Prime Minister Ryu Hyun-jun's opinion is very clear. The territory of the empire's southern expedition is only bordered by Chile and Argentina. After the demarcation of Chile's border is resolved, the only thing to deal with is Argentina.

The current attitude of the empire is that the southernmost border of Argentina should be bounded by the province of Buenos Aires, with Argentina in the north and the Tang Empire in the south.

This division scheme
Swallow Argentina's existing Neuquen region (9.34 square kilometers), Rio Negro region (20.3 square kilometers) and La Pampa region (14.34 square kilometers), with a total area of ​​more than 44.1 square kilometers.

The good appetite of the Tang Empire has frightened Argentina, but it cannot be refuted.

The fundamental reason lies in the civil war that ended in 1859, the continuous civil war between the province of Buenos Aires and the Northwestern United Provinces on the other side, and the sharp conflicts between the two sides, so that Argentina has no time and energy to set up a new one. Provincial administrations also had no energy to manage the newly conquered areas.

At this time, the Tang Empire came and swallowed the above-mentioned areas in one gulp, and claimed to use the territory of the defeated Patagonia Kingdom as the basis for division.

The Tang Empire did not know where to find a native Indian sheepskin map. Its geographical drawing was extremely crude, and even a small half of the province of Buenos Aires was crossed out. It is said that it originated from the Indians more than a century ago. The tribal alliance does not know whether it is true or not.

Now that the secret negotiations between the Datang Empire and the Argentine government delegation have reached an impasse, it is estimated that it will be difficult to reach a division plan that is satisfactory to both parties.

The Tang Empire is not in a hurry, because the expeditionary army and the armed volunteer militia are continuously expanding, occupying more and more lands with rich water and grass, forcing the Argentine whites to shrink back and give up large tracts of fertile land.

no way

The Imperial Expeditionary Force and the Armed Corps are sharp and sharp, far from being able to compare with the likes of Brazil or Paraguay, and the huge size of the Datang Empire with a population of nearly 4000 million, and its military and economic strength are by no means comparable to the small country of Argentina with a population of 150 million. Compete.

Although he was unwilling, he could only retreat one way.

All the ministers in the hall were full of ambition, and no one took Argentina seriously, so they put it aside after a discussion.

This kind of major issue cannot be decided for a while, and it must take a year or two to wrangle. The current Argentine government dare not make a decision, for fear of causing a strong backlash including the northwest provinces.

Hispanic whites have always been closely connected with Europe, and they attach great importance to territorial issues in traditional concepts. If they are not resolved properly, they will easily cause big troubles.

So don't worry now, just wait and see.

The topic of the imperial meeting quickly turned to the Fusang Islands. The Tang Empire, Britain, France and other countries expressed their disgust towards the "respecting the king and fighting the barbarians" movement on the Fusang Islands. , was originally within reason.

Britain dispatched 5 warships from the Far East Fleet, France dispatched 6 warships, two Dutch warships and 7860 warships from the Datang Empire formed the Allied Forces of the Four Nations, the Datang Empire dispatched 4320 troops, France dispatched 1710 troops, Britain 366 troops were sent (mainly Weihai Weihuayong Battalion), and the Netherlands sent [-] troops. The four countries jointly intervened in the situation in Fusang.

In May 1863, in order to expel the foreigners, the Changzhou Fan, which began to implement the anti-barbarian blockade of the Maguan Strait (now the Guanmen Strait), bombarded the Tang and French merchant ships sailing.

In June, the joint fleet of Tang, Britain, France and the Netherlands retaliated by attacking the Changzhou warships and forts in the Maguan Strait. After being heavily shelled, the Changzhou Domain immediately repaired the forts with the support of reinforcements and civilians, and occupied Xiaocang on the other side. Part of the Fan, built a fort, hoping to continue to block the strait.

Faced with the stubbornness of the Changzhou Fan, the United Fleet decided to intensify the attack and severely punish the Japanese.
From June [-]th to [-]th of the same year, Maguan (now Xiaguan City) was violently bombarded, especially the advanced artillery bombardment of the Tang Empire, which ignited a city fire in Maguan, which was dominated by wooden buildings, and the whole city became In a sea of ​​fire, the local residents and rebels suffered heavy blows, and the losses were uncountable.

(End of this chapter)