Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 144 Seven South American Countries
The establishment of a nation by the Chinese in Rio Grande do Sul changed the original historical trend of South America. In late December, Lopez Jr., who had been at the end of his rope in history, was back to life. He sent out troops to fight Argentina in Misiones, and the scene was very lively.

Brazil lost two southern states, and Pedro II's prestige suffered a great blow. The ongoing Anglo-French reforms were interrupted, domestic liberal forces rose, and regional independence elements that had been suppressed frequently launched independence riots. Economic development regressed, and the interest on war loans from Britain, France and other countries expired. The successive conflicts involved too much of the Brazilian government's energy. At the moment, Pedro II was focused on managing domestic affairs and had no mind or ability to interfere in the external situation.

Argentina and Paraguay continued to fight for control of Misiones. Bolivia and Peru returned victorious and were busy dealing with the instability of obtaining land from Brazil. Uruguay was a small and poor country, so it stayed in its own little piece of land and lived an obedient life.

Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Rio Grande do Sul, which is occupied by the Chinese, have restored a strange balance among the seven South American countries.

Rio Grande do Sul, Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia secretly formed an alliance to counter Brazil. Argentina and Paraguay were in a state of local war. Peru and Bolivia remained neutral in the conflict and did not provide any help to Paraguay. Rio Grande do Sul was neutral on the surface but actually supported Paraguay and secretly provided it with weapons and ammunition.

Before the war, Uruguay was Brazil's younger brother. After being separated from Brazil by Rio Grande do Sul, Uruguay threw itself into the arms of Argentina and maintained a consistent position with Argentina.

Each of the seven South American countries borders each other, and a series of conflicts arise due to territorial resource issues. However, in terms of major strategies, the seven countries form different groups.

First of all, although the Brazilian Empire lost a large piece of land in the war, Brazil's overall strength is still the highest. In the Paraguayan War, the Argentine army did not rescue the Brazilian army and withdrew from the country without authorization. Uruguay even withdrew from the war before the decisive battle. As a result, the tripartite alliance was broken, and Brazil temporarily had no allies in the southern part of South America and became its own faction.

Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Rio Grande do Sul have formed an alliance with Brazil as an imaginary enemy. At the same time, the four-nation alliance is unstable. Paraguay and Bolivia have territorial disputes in the Chaco Plain, and Rio Grande do Sul has previous conflicts with Peru and Bolivia. The newly established Indian Autonomous Region in southern Bolivia is a chess piece left by the Chinese. After Bolivia reluctantly recognized the establishment of the Indian Autonomous Region, it has been unwilling to accept it. The Bolivian government may announce the abolition of the Indian Autonomous Region at any time and then send troops to occupy it.

Paraguay is facing enemies on two sides, and Bolivia is only a temporary ally. Only Rio Grande do the interests of Paraguay and Rio Grande do not coincide. Both face threats from Brazil and have ideas about Argentina's southern lands.

Therefore, the Four-Nation Alliance was divided into one group, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraguay, and another group, Bolivia and Peru.

Together with Argentina and Uruguay, southern South America is divided into three major factions and four small factions centered around Brazil.

The three factions are restraining each other and constantly rubbing against each other. If one faction joins forces with another, the strategic balance will be broken and a new war will break out again.

Among the three major factions, Li Mingyuan was most worried that Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil would unite again, because the three countries had Rio Grande do Sul as a buffer zone and no longer had direct territorial contacts and conflicts of interest. The three countries did not unite because Brazil was busy dealing with domestic affairs. As for the previous conflicts, they were not a big problem. What countries valued was actual interests. As long as it was beneficial to both sides, even if they fought bloody battles the previous moment, they could shake hands and make peace the next second.

Brazil recovered its breath, won over Argentina and Uruguay, and then provoked conflicts between Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay's Rio Grande do Sul. By then, the place under the greatest pressure was Rio Grande do Sul, with Brazil to the north, Uruguay to the south, Argentina to the west, and the sea to the east. At the beginning of the war, Rio Grande do Sul was in a dilemma of being surrounded.

Being on the defensive everywhere and passive everywhere, the Chinese had to face the disadvantage of dispersed forces after capturing the two southern states. The main forces of the field army were dispersed in several key areas.
During war, defending a city means losing the flexibility to mobilize troops and being unable to concentrate superior forces to defeat the enemy.

The Principality of Rio Grande do Sul started with the Chinese Independence Army. The great victories before the founding of the country did not mean that the Chinese soldiers could completely crush the troops of South American countries. In each battle, the ratio of the number of Chinese troops to the enemy troops was mostly higher than 3:1. Mobilizing in the war and concentrating superior forces to fight the enemy was the key to the victory of the Chinese troops. If the forces of both sides were equal in the uprising war, the Chinese troops would pay a heavy price even if they won, and then be weakened in battle after battle, and finally annihilated. Li Mingyuan developed the habit of preparing for a rainy day and carefully planning everything when he was a mercenary in his previous life. Relying on his cautious and prudent character, he led the troops all the way, and he must not be careless in the face of new changes in the situation after the founding of the country.

The northern part of Argentina is vast, sparsely populated and rich in resources. If the Chinese want to expand their sphere of influence in the future, they will inevitably come into conflict with the Argentines. Therefore, the two sides are inherently contradictory, and conflict is inevitable unless one country voluntarily admits defeat.

Li Mingyuan would not be willing to admit defeat. The second half of the 19th century was a period of rapid development of the Second Industrial Revolution, and a large number of European immigrants poured into South America through new means of transportation. If Li Mingyuan did not expand his territory before the influx of European immigrants, there would be no new opportunities in the future. Therefore, there was almost no possibility that Li Mingyuan would give in, and the Argentines would not agree to give up their northern territory.

Since the conflict cannot be resolved, Li Mingyuan has to make plans for the future. After the war, Brazil is busy dealing with internal affairs and has no energy to intervene in external affairs. Rio Grande do Sul needs to resettle new immigrants and develop basic industries, and will not engage in new wars. At this time, the outbreak of the Misiones conflict has become a breakthrough point.

Paraguay increased its troops in Misiones, and Argentina responded by sending troops to reinforce the disputed area. Although the scale of the local conflict is not as large as the Paraguayan War, the ongoing war will slowly drain Argentina's blood, forcing the Argentine government to focus its main energy on the war and delay their immigration from Europe.

If immigration from Argentina is delayed, Rio Grande do Sul will gain more time for development. Then, at a unique opportunity, when the attention of countries such as Britain and France is drawn to Europe, it will make a concerted effort to occupy northern Argentina and achieve another major expansion of the Chinese's strength.

The opportunity that Li Mingyuan was waiting for was not his personal speculation, but the Franco-Prussian War that occurred a year and a half later.

The Franco-Prussian War was a war of German unification. The initiator of the war was not Prussia, which was secretly expanding its military and preparing for war, but French Emperor Napoleon III, who first declared war and attacked the Rhineland region of Germany.

Before the Franco-Prussian War, France was the largest country in Europe. Napoleon III, who relied on his strong army and navy to expand France's sphere of influence around the world, thus forming a huge conflict with Britain. Queen Victoria of England once said, "Napoleon III is a troublemaker everywhere." She expressed her dissatisfaction with Napoleon III's wanton expansion of territory in Europe.

When the war broke out, Britain wanted to use Prussia to teach France a lesson and suppress France's expansionist arrogance. However, who knew that the invincible French army in Europe would be vulnerable to Prussia.

On July 1870, 7, France declared war on Prussia. After the war began, the French army suffered a series of defeats. On September 19, French Emperor Napoleon III personally led nearly 9 French troops to surrender at Sedan.

It took only a little over a month from the time Napoleon III led hundreds of thousands of troops into Germany to the time he admitted defeat and surrendered. Before the British government officials could react, the war ended in another way. The German Empire established by stepping on French soldiers was beyond Britain's expectations. In order to continue to maintain the policy of balance on the European continent, Britain studied countermeasures for a long time and focused its main energy on European affairs. Therefore, the Franco-Prussian War was an opportunity for the Chinese to expand again. Before that, the Misiones Conflict was also an opportunity to test the Argentines.

On December 17, two messengers arrived at the military camp outside the city with Li Mingyuan's order. After receiving the order, the 2nd Mixed Brigade and part of the Artillery Brigade ended their training and moved towards San Pedro in the Misiones area.

(End of this chapter)