Rise of Australia

Chapter 351 War and Expeditionary Force
After entering the mountains, the whereabouts of the Argentine army were consciously hidden.The footprints on the snow were scribbled and even camouflaged around, making it impossible to tell which way the Argentine army was retreating.

Because he was worried about the ambush of the Argentine army, Lucas Fuente asked the soldiers to search for a while to no avail, so he could only choose to evacuate with the army.

But unexpectedly, just when he was about to order the retreat, his soldiers suddenly reported that they found the body of an Argentine soldier not far ahead.

The corpse had obviously just died, and there was even blood flowing from the wound in the abdomen.It should be that the Argentine army was eager to flee, seeing that the wounded was helpless, so they reluctantly gave up on him.

This corpse is of little value to Lucas Fuente. After all, the evidence now available can prove that the troops who entered the country were Argentine soldiers.

But the rifle the corpse was carrying intrigued Lucas Fuente.Having dealt with the Argentine army a lot, Lucas Fuente naturally understood that this rifle, which looks very novel, is definitely not the standard equipment of the Argentine army.

If the guess is correct, this should be the equipment of the great power behind Argentina, and it is also the confidence that Argentina has repeatedly provoked Chile.

After understanding the importance of the matter, Lucas Fuente did not dare to be careless in the slightest, and ordered the soldiers to evacuate with this rifle.

As for the body of the Argentine soldier, it was buried hastily on the spot.

After about an hour, Lucas Fuente finally returned to the camp.

Without the slightest pause, with the rifle in hand, Lucas Fuente found his boss and reported his findings.

After layers of reporting, the rifle was finally handed over to the commander of the Chilean Second Border Garrison Division.

It is impossible for the high-level Chilean military not to have seen this rifle, because this rifle is the famous M1903 Springfield rifle, the only major power in North and South America, and the standard rifle of the US Army.

All of a sudden, the news that there might be Americans involved behind Argentina was quickly reported to the top level of the Chilean government.

For Chile, it is no longer a simple conflict with Argentina, but more like a direct collision between the United Kingdom behind Chile and the United States behind Argentina.

Although the military strength of the United States is not strong, the United States is still a well-deserved power in the face of Chile, which is very small in size and population.

The Chilean government did not dare to hesitate at all, and reported the possible involvement of the United States in this conflict to the British government, and asked the British government for help.

After the British government received Chile's request for help, it paid close attention to and valued the conflict between Chile and Argentina.

It's a pity that the Americans categorically deny that they have provided assistance to Argentina, and they also deny that they are behind the conflict between Argentina and Chile.

In order to reassure the Chileans, the British Empire urgently allocated a batch of equipment from various places, including [-] Lee Enfield rifles, hundreds of artillery pieces, dozens of heavy machine guns and various corresponding ammunition.

A considerable part of this weaponry was purchased from Australasia.After all, Australasia is relatively free compared to the other major powers, and there is not much pressure to expand its armaments.

With the support of weapons from the British Empire, Chile was quite tough and issued an ultimatum to Argentina, demanding that Argentina fully withdraw the troops that invaded the border, apologize to Chile for the two conflicts, and compensate for the corresponding losses.

It is naturally impossible for Argentina to agree to Chile's conditions, let alone the compensation requested by Chile, which is even enough to build another dreadnought.

On July 1913, 7, Argentina flatly denied Chile's request, and stated that the Argentine army was only patrolling and operating on the border legally and compliantly, and Chile had no right to demand the withdrawal of the Argentine army.

As of this time, the two conflicts between the two sides have already spread among the people, and the mutual hatred between the two countries has deepened.

Chile is naturally not used to such shameless behavior of Argentina, and showed the bodies of two Argentine soldiers and photos of the battle on the battlefield.

At the same time, Chile re-issued an ultimatum to Argentina, demanding that Argentina fully withdraw its invading troops, otherwise it would be regarded as a provocation and a declaration of war against Chile.

If the Argentine army does not withdraw within 48 hours, Chile and Argentina will officially enter a state of war.

After an interval of one day, Argentina also responded.Argentina acknowledged that the bodies were Argentine soldiers, but said the bodies were transferred to Argentine territory to falsify evidence after Chileans attacked an Argentine patrolling army.

And those photos of the Chilean border with traces of war were also forged by the Chileans in order to frame Argentina.

The Argentine government declared that in order to protect the interests of the government and the Argentine people, the Argentine army will never retreat, and will never fear the danger from the enemy country.

In the past few days, the diplomatic systems of Argentina and Chile have been very busy.After the 48 hours stipulated in the Chilean circular, the Chilean government formally met with the Argentine ambassador to Chile and announced the decision of the Chilean government. That is, from that day, July 1913, 7, Chile and Argentina will officially enter a state of war, and require The Argentine diplomatic ambassador returned to Argentina immediately.

On the day of the declaration of war, Chile mobilized two divisions to the border area and announced a general mobilization across the country.

As a country with fairly good army strength, there are currently a total of five divisions of standing troops and 10 reserve troops.

If the whole country is mobilized, a total of at least ten divisions and more than 15 combat troops can be armed.

Because the two countries are very close, Argentina also received news of Chile's declaration of war soon after.

Things have developed to the present, and both countries have certain preparations for war, and both dispatched a large number of troops as soon as they declared war.

On the Argentine side, because of more adequate preparations in advance, some reserves have joined the army.

At present, Argentina has more than [-] combat troops at its disposal. Half of them were once on the border between Argentina and Chile, and the other half were on their way.

"Sign up to join the army and defend the motherland!"

"Behind you is the great motherland, please fight for the motherland and your family!"

"Gentlemen, the motherland needs you!"

All of a sudden, Chilean and Argentine conscription slogans filled the streets, and the two countries have been fully mobilized.

It is worth mentioning that the new Argentine army is basically equipped with M1903 Springfield rifles, while the new Chilean army is basically equipped with Lee Enfield rifles.

The news of the war in South America spread to the whole world almost immediately.

At this time, in the White House of the United States, Wilson, who had just become the President of the United States for only a few months, was in power.

However, President Wilson's mood was not too good at this time, because he belatedly discovered that the situation in South America at this time was somewhat beyond his expectations.

It is indeed President Wilson's opinion to contact Argentina and help Argentina. After all, South America can be regarded as the back garden of the United States. As the President of the United States, Wilson naturally has great ambitions for South America.

But President Wilson's plan is not to launch an attack now, but to wait for a more suitable time, such as the outbreak of war in Europe.

After the outbreak of the European war, the big powers are destined not to have much energy to manage South American affairs.

Even the mightiest British Empire needs to worry about a challenge from Germany.

But it is different now. The British Empire is still the most powerful country, and it is not something that the United States alone can compete with.

It is not a good thing for the United States to directly confront the British Empire at this time, and it may only benefit Germany in vain.

"Fuck! Shit!" President Wilson cursed secretly, but he had to face the current bad situation.

Chile and Argentina are at war, and the United States decides whether to support this new ally.

Even if it supports Argentina, the United States plus Argentina cannot be the opponent of Britain plus Chile.

If it does not support Argentina, the United States is very likely to lose this ally it has won, and lose it in front of South America.

Among the three major powers in South America, Chile has a good relationship with the United Kingdom, and Brazil has a good relationship with Germany.

The only remaining Argentina has become a breakthrough for the United States, and it is also an important condition for the United States to turn South America into a back garden.

Now how to choose has become a dilemma. Choosing any one will cause losses to the United States.

Compared with the United States, which is somewhat in a dilemma, the choice of the British Empire is much simpler.

On July 1913, 7, the second day after the outbreak of the South American War, the British Empire solemnly stated that Argentina had displayed shameful acts of aggression in this war, which had caused a major violation of Chile's national security.

This maintains the tranquility and peace in South America, and at the same time reduces greater casualties and brings peace to the world. The British Empire announced military assistance to Chile and provided an interest-free loan.

On the other side, the United States also transported support to Argentina almost at the same time.

In order not to offend the British Empire after the war, the United States also specially changed the name of the support. On the surface, Argentina purchased American arms, and the order was signed before the war.

With the support from the big brother behind it, the war between Chile and Argentina has also become more violent, turning into an offensive and defensive war involving more than half of the border.

Facts have proved that Argentina, which has prepared for the war in advance, will indeed gain a certain advantage in the early stages of the war.

Within a week of the war, Argentina had pushed the frontier several kilometers and wiped out thousands of Chilean soldiers.

Although Argentina suffered heavy casualties, it has already gained a certain advantage on the battlefield by virtue of its large number of people.

This time the two countries fought with heavy weapons, including artillery and heavy machine guns, which also brought a lot of casualties to both sides.

For the British Empire at this time, the South American war is a more important war than the Balkan War, and the British Empire is also ready to end at any time.

After all, there are not many interests of the British Empire in the Balkans, but more interests between the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia and Italy.

As long as Constantinople is not threatened, for the British Empire, whatever the Balkans look like is acceptable.

But South America is different.An important strategic partner of the British Empire in Chile and the largest exporter of salt ore and products in the world.

If there is a problem with the situation in South America, it is unacceptable for the British Empire.Especially if the South American region is controlled by the United States, the United States will completely become an invincible country.

Originally, the geographical location is very good, not easy to attack, and with the support of resources from South America, the United States has the potential to become a world hegemon.

This is what the British Empire does not want to see or accept. This is why the British Empire supports Australasia to fight against the United States.

Under the watchful eyes of Britain and America, the war in South America continued for another week.

So far, the war has caused tens of thousands of casualties to both Chile and Argentina, and the combined death toll on both sides has reached more than 2000.

Even though South America was relatively rich before, the consumption of the war made these two countries miserable.

If it weren't for the supplement and support from the United Kingdom and the United States, I am afraid that these two countries would really have to drain their national capital if they wanted to win the war.

On July 1913, 7, Arthur received a telegram from the British government asking if Australasia was interested in joining forces to form an expeditionary force to end the war in South America.

Of course, it's not without pay.After the war is won, a buffer zone will be divided between Chile and Argentina, which will be jointly managed by the countries participating in the expeditionary force.

In fact, that is the United Kingdom, Russia, France and Australasia.As the four major powers of the Allied Powers, those who can support the British Empire the most are naturally the few major powers other than the United Kingdom.

The Allies have common interests, and the current ties are relatively close.

Arthur didn't know whether France and Russia agreed to Britain's conditions, but Britain's conditions were actually pretty good for Australasia.

The scale of the expeditionary force to end the South American War will not exceed 5 at most.This also means that if the four major powers send troops together, basically each country only needs to send more than 1 troops.

And then the buffer zone was divided and managed jointly by the four major powers, which was good news for Arthur.

After all, in terms of distance alone, Australasia is the closest country to South America.

Moreover, after World War I starts, other countries will be busy with World War I, and Australasia will have the final say on the management of the buffer zone.

In fact, Arthur is very clear about the buffer zone, although the British Empire justly said that it divided a buffer zone from the border between Chile and Argentina to ease the dispute between the two sides.

But judging from the relationship between Chile and the British Empire alone, most or even all of the picture buffer zone should be in Argentina.

Argentina has one of the four largest black lands in the world, the Pampas Plain.The total area of ​​this black earth plain is as high as 1.05 million hectares, and Argentina occupies the vast majority of it, reaching 8900 million hectares.

Each of the four major black lands in the world is an excellent potential granary.

In the following World War I, economic crisis and World War II, the importance of food is beyond doubt.

Even in peacetime, food production is an important indicator for a country.

For a country with a large population, food production must be in its own hands.It would make sense for the development of Australasia to be able to control part of Argentina's black soil.

Right now, this is indeed a good opportunity for Australasia to successfully control part of Argentina's black land with the consent and even expectation of the British Empire.

As long as Argentina's strength does not exceed that of Australasia, Australasia can always hold this piece of black land and develop it into its own big granary.

Arthur couldn't help being greedy for this piece of black land. The value of the world's four largest black lands is too great.

The Eastern European Plain, where the largest black land is located, has always been a large granary in Europe, and it will bloom even more brilliance in the future Soviet period.

The second largest black land is located in North America, in the area of ​​the United States, which is affectionately called "the bread basket" by Americans.

The third largest area is in the northeast of Asia, which has also been developed from a barren area to an important grain-producing area, known as the North Dacang.

Although the range of black land in South America and South America is the smallest, the more than 8900 million hectares of land in Argentina are completely enough to cultivate it into a super large granary.

With this important food producing area, Australasia can safely expand its population to tens of millions or even hundreds of millions without worrying about any food crisis.

Food is the foundation of the people. As long as there is sufficient food production and food reserves, Australasia has full confidence in whether it is a war or a crisis, and it will survive safely.

And more food production can also bring huge profits to the country and bring the country's development to a higher level.

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(End of this chapter)