Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 136 The Troubles Resurface
ps: Thanks to my old classmate Bishanyao for the tip!
On the morning of December 1st, during the founding ceremony of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, a large-scale armed conflict broke out between Paraguay and Argentina in the Misiones region. After the conflict broke out, Paraguayan and Argentine surrounding troops quickly gathered in the Misiones region. The two countries' armies confronted each other along the Paraná River, which could trigger a new war at any time.

Misiones Province is located in the northeast of Arising, with an area of ​​2.98 square kilometers. Most of the area is the Paraná Plateau, with rugged terrain, many low mountains, canyons and rivers.

The subtropical forest climate is mild in winter and hot in summer, with an average annual precipitation of more than 1 mm. There are mineral resources such as gold, silver, iron, mercury, and coal.

It borders the Paraguay River and the Uruguay River in the east and west respectively, and controls transportation in the middle sections of the two rivers, which has important economic and strategic interests.

Both Argentina and Paraguay claim sovereignty over the Misiones region. Before the Paraguayan War, Argentina had actual control over the area. In the late Paraguayan War, Chinese troops annihilated the main force of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force. The Argentine troops participating in the war hurriedly retreated back to Argentina, and the garrison in Misiones Province also hurriedly fled the northern region, resulting in a period of power vacuum in the area.

After the end of the Paraguayan War, the main force of the Chinese troops entered southern Brazil, leaving only an inadequate regiment in the Misiones area. They were stationed in the San Pedro area at the southeast turning point of the Paraguay River, controlling the surrounding 500 square kilometers of land.

Argentine and Paraguayan forces control the northern and southern regions of Misiones Province respectively, forming an actual control decomposition line in the Canoas River area.

In the Misiones region, the forces of Argentina, Paraguay and Chinese troops converged. The Chinese troops controlled part of the land on the west bank of the Uruguay River and controlled three small fortresses left behind by the retreating Argentines. The terrain was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and they were in a strategically advantageous position.

The Chinese troops occupied a small area and had difficulty in conquering fortresses. In addition, due to the halo brought by the annihilation of the main force of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, neither Argentina nor Paraguay took the initiative to cause trouble for the Chinese troops. Instead, they targeted the seemingly easy-to-deal-with opponent.

On the evening of December 3, the third day after the conflict broke out, three Paraguayans walked into the city of Porto Alegre and handed over a telegram from Lopez Jr. to Li Mingyuan.

The telegram was delivered in Spanish, and the Paraguayan representative who stayed in Porto Alegre quickly translated it into Chinese after receiving it, so Li Mingyuan had no difficulty reading it.

"Sir, the Four-Power Covenant is only for Brazil. The conflict between your country and Argentina is not within the scope of the covenant. I cannot agree to your president's request."

In the telegram, Lopez Jr. invited Li Mingyuan to send troops to Misiones, promising that after expelling the Argentine forces, the two sides would jointly divide the land in southern Misiones.

There are two metal ore producing areas in the Argentine-controlled area south of Misiones, which contain iron ore resources needed for the development of Rio Grande do Sul. Lopez Jr. should have seen this, so he invited Chinese troops to send troops.

"Your Majesty, Paraguay has never recognized that the Misiones region belongs to Argentina. This conflict was initiated by Argentina. Paraguay has no intention of starting a new war, but Argentina has taken the initiative to provoke and attempt to occupy all of Misiones, which is a naked declaration of war against Paraguay!"

Li Mingyuan's refusal did not affect the Paraguayan envoy standing in the hall. He said directly, "Paraguay recognizes your ownership of the border area between the Canoas River and the Paraguay River, and is willing to give part of the southern part of Misiones near the Paraguay River to the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul in return, ...

President Lopez is sincere and hopes to achieve cooperation with Your Majesty again."

The Paraguayan envoys continuously stated a large number of conditions, some of which were mentioned in the telegram, and some were not. There were no less than thirty of them in total. It can be seen that this conflict was not only deliberately provoked by Argentina, but Paraguay also had plans for Misiones.

"Sir, the majority of the population of Misiones is local Indians. Argentina and Paraguay only controlled the local coastal areas more than ten years ago. We believe that the status of Misiones is undetermined. Argentina and your claim to sovereignty is an act without legal basis. The Principality of Rio Grande do not recognize it."

Li Mingyuan's sudden change of words aroused the Paraguayan envoy's vigilance.

"What does your majesty mean? Do you want to annex Misiones on your own?"

"No, you misunderstood." Li Mingyuan explained the Paraguayan envoy's misunderstanding: "The Chinese are a peace-loving nation. We don't want to see the Misiones conflict turn into a large-scale war.

The Paraguayan war has just ended. Paraguay, Argentina and Rio Grande do Sul need time to recover from the damage caused by the war. The three of us should work together to resolve the territorial dispute in a peaceful way, rather than using war to solve the problem. "

"I will pass on your Majesty's advice to President Lopez. Before President Lopez makes a new decision, I hope your Majesty will carefully consider the conditions we proposed."

The Paraguayan representative breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Li Mingyuan had no intention of leaving Paraguay and occupying the Misiones region alone. After a few polite words, he hurriedly left the hall and returned.

Li Mingyuan, Liu Pu and Zhao Yan were the only ones left in the room. After the Misiones conflict broke out, Zhao Yan temporarily stayed in Porto Alegre to assist Liu Pu in analyzing the conflict situation.

"Your Majesty, Paraguayan troops are gathering at the border. Little Lopez is ambitious and I'm afraid he won't listen to your advice."

Liu Pu said. "Little Lopez is bold and adventurous, and has a tough character. He will not change his decision easily." Li Mingyuan said lightly.

"Brazil has a vast territory and abundant national resources. Although the Paraguayan War consumed a lot of Brazil's national strength, it will not take long for it to recover some of its strength. If Lopez Jr. insists on launching a war, Paraguay will be too weakened in the war, Brazil will lose a restraining force, and Rio Grande do Sul will face a greater threat from Brazil. Therefore, I think Paraguay's participation in a new war is not good for Rio Grande do Sul, and we should do our best to prevent Paraguay from joining the war."

Zhao Yandao.

"Little Lopez takes Napoleon as his role model and has always wanted to be the Napoleon of South America. We cannot stop his decision. A war is bound to break out between Paraguay and Argentina."

"Your Majesty, Paraguay has joined the war. Are we just going to stand aside and watch Paraguay's national strength suffer?"

Liu Pu couldn't think of a way to stop Paraguay from joining the war, so he frowned and asked.

"That's right, we don't have to do anything but sit by and watch them fight."

Li Mingyuan spoke in a relaxed tone, looking at the puzzled expressions of the two people sitting next to him, and explained, "It is true that Lopez Jr. is ambitious and likes adventure, but he is also familiar with the current situation in Paraguay.

During the reign of his father, Lopez Sr., the once impoverished Paraguay rose rapidly. He encouraged foreign trade and introduced a large amount of foreign investment. He invited British and Austrian engineers to help build railways, shipyards, and steel mills. He also hired European and American doctors, engineers, and technicians to open factories and schools.

Under the painstaking efforts of old Lopez, in just twenty years, the poor and backward Paraguay became a small overlord in South America.

Because of the foundation laid by Lopez Sr., Lopez Jr. was able to face the Brazilian Empire head-on for three years.

However, after the Paraguayan War, Lopez Jr. won the war on the surface, but he got nothing except a piece of land that could not be mined for the time being.

The industrial construction built by the old Lopez during his 20 years in power was completely lost, the country was short of food and supplies, and the population decreased by one third.

The country is facing many difficulties and will not see significant improvement in a short period of time, so Lopez Jr. used the Misiones conflict to divert domestic conflicts and wanted to add new honors to himself through a victory in a local war and consolidate his dominance in Paraguay. "

"The situation in Paraguay is indeed not optimistic. After our army arrived in Rio Grande do Sul, I was ordered to continue the task of recruiting Paraguayan women. In the border area between our army and Paraguay, Paraguayan women are recruited by our army every day and enter the Rio Grande do Sul area.

Moreover, two months ago, Lopez Jr., who had always disagreed with our army entering the Paraguayan-controlled area to recruit Paraguayan women, also gave in and began to organize groups of poor women to exchange for grenades, muskets, artillery and other weapons produced by our army. "

Liu Pu was in charge of obtaining female immigrants from South America. Through his dealings with Lopez Jr., Liu Pu also understood the purpose of the Paraguayans in exchanging weapons.

"Argentina and Paraguay have been severely weakened and are unable to launch a full-scale war. The scale of the war will only be controlled within the Misiones area.

We will not intervene in the conflict between them for the time being, and will intervene to mediate the conflict when the situation becomes deadlocked."

Li Mingyuan made a decision on how to deal with the conflict in Misiones and immediately assigned tasks, saying, "The First Mixed Brigade will be dispatched to San Pedro to strengthen security and enforce armed neutrality.

The grenades produced in the Santa Maria base, the sealed muskets and artillery will all be sold to Paraguay. Liu Pu, you go and negotiate with the Paraguayans. We can sell them muskets, artillery, machine guns, and the improved method of making grenades. They don't need to pay for them. We only want single women in exchange."

"His Majesty……"

"Don't call me Your Majesty. The Duke of Rio Grande do Sul was conferred by the Brazilians. When there are no outsiders around, you should still call me the Crown Prince." Li Mingyuan waved his hand to interrupt Liu Pu's words: "The Prussians informed me that the purchasing fleet to Prussia will arrive in Porto Alegre in five days. The purchased industrial equipment and weapons are all on board. The muskets and machine guns used by the brothers can be replaced with new weapons."

"Yes!" The purchasing fleet to Prussia was about to return, and the various weapons used by the Chinese soldiers had completed their historical mission. They could be sold to the Paraguayans in exchange for the much-needed female population to balance the male-female ratio of the Chinese.

(End of this chapter)