Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 148 Cooperation
"What benefits can I gain from cooperating with you?"

After more than ten minutes of silence, Fellner spoke first.

"When our army attacks the San Javier area, your army will stay put and do nothing. After the attack, our army will withdraw from the San Pedro west bank estuary area and hand it over to the general's troops. Your army will gain control of a section of the port in central Uruguay and the honor of expanding the territory without spending any effort. Aren't these things the benefits we give you?"

"Humph! If we do nothing and watch the front-line troops being surrounded, we will only gain control of a piece of non-bordering land, while Corrientes will face the risk of breaking up with the president. Why should I take such a big risk and agree to cooperate with you?"

“The general is such a joke. The troops on the front line were incompetent and were quickly annihilated by the enemy. No matter how much your president blames you, it cannot be blamed on the general.

There are also generals who are worried that if they do not move, your president will catch them. This is completely unnecessary. Our army will surround San Javier in advance and destroy the telegraph lines in the city to ensure that no message for help will be sent out.
The general's worries were naturally relieved when he failed to receive any message for help. "

Ferna was somewhat tempted. He could gain control of a piece of land on the banks of the Uruguay River without much effort. Moreover, with the help of Chinese troops, he could weaken the power of the Federal District in Misiones Province and make the nail left by Mitre at the door of Corrientes ineffective.

Felner had the answer in his mind. Just as he was about to agree, he heard Urquina's voice: "Your Excellency has made a wrong idea. We are Argentines and will not unite with outsiders to fight against our own army. You should go back. I can pretend that you have never been here."

"Who is your Excellency?"

Sun Qisheng naturally knew Urkina's identity, but in order to conceal it, he pretended not to know.

"Urkina, since you can find General Ferna, you must know my name, right?" Urkina asked, staring at Sun Qisheng.

"It turns out to be Mr. President. I have heard of your name for a long time." Sun Qisheng bowed slightly and took two steps forward and said, "I don't understand major issues such as national interests and political competition, but there is one truth that I do understand. Whether it is a country or an individual, the law of the jungle is an eternal truth. If a country is weak, other countries will send troops to attack you. If an individual is tolerant and retreats, others will think you are timid and cowardly and will take advantage of you to bully you.

Mr. Urkina, was the war of 1861 for the national interest? I think it was more of a struggle for personal and factional interests. In this war, General Mitre won, so he became president, while you stepped down in disgrace.

Sun Qisheng showed off that he had done his homework beforehand to understand Urkina's deeds, but the other party was unmoved. "Mitre sent reinforcements to the front line. Your goal will not succeed."

"How to capture San Javier is our army's business. Your Excellency does not need to worry about us."

Sun Qisheng easily countered Urquiza’s threat and went a step further, saying, “Instead of worrying about whether our army can occupy San Javier, you should think more about your own situation.

"

Urquiza's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and his gaze towards Sun Qisheng instantly became sharp. Sun Qisheng ignored Urquiza's reaction and said to himself: "Your Excellency will not think that the murder case against you more than a month ago was committed by General Delki, right?

You were assassinated in Antrerios, and General Delki is the most likely suspect. However, General Delki and you have been rivals for more than ten years, and you should be familiar with his methods. He did not take action for six years, but chose to do it shortly after the new president took office, and he also left himself with obvious suspicion. Would General Delki do such a thing?"

The conflict between Delqui and Urquiza is a well-known fact in Argentina. If Delqui wants to get rid of Urquiza, he can do so at any time. There is no need to choose the current sensitive period to do so.

"General Delki couldn't possibly send someone to assassinate you. After excluding General Delki from suspicion, General Mitre and the current president are the two people with the greatest suspicion.
General Mitre was impeached and removed from office. He may have sent someone to assassinate you out of resentment. Your president Sarmiento is ruthless and has eliminated a large number of opponents in the two months since he took office. As a leader supported by local provinces and having experience in power, you are the biggest threat to him. Sending someone to assassinate you can not only disintegrate the unity of the opposition forces, but also complete the layout against General Delki and eliminate the Antrerios oligarchs, killing two birds with one stone and gaining the greatest benefit. "

After Sun Qisheng finished speaking, the target of the assassination of Urquiza was clear.

Those involved are often confused, while bystanders can see things more clearly. Sun Qisheng's unfounded speculation shocked Urquiza greatly. After the assassination, he initially suspected Delqui, but after calm thinking, he ruled out the possibility that Delqui sent someone to assassinate him. As for who really sent someone to assassinate him, Mitre, Sarmiento, and several people that Sun Qisheng did not mention are possible.

However, in the assassination, one of his two sons was seriously injured, and the other was slightly injured. The situation at the time did not allow him to carefully search for clues to identify the mastermind behind the incident. He could only leave Antrerios and go to a safe place to treat his sons' injuries.

Arriving in Corrientes, the Misiones conflict broke out, and the Corrientes Province near the front line became the focus of all forces. Urquiza was busy helping Ferna stabilize the situation and prevent the federal forces from infiltrating into Corrientes Province by taking advantage of the conflict. The investigation of the mastermind of the assassination was also postponed. The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became. Following Sun Qisheng's words, I thought about how Sarmiento betrayed the anti-federal alliance when he was in charge of Cordoba Province, accepted Mitre's conditions, and attacked the anti-federal forces in the province in exchange for Mitre's recognition in order to gain control of the Argentine state. A person who would do anything for power is likely to choose to assassinate his political opponents.

Urquiza's idea was very close to the truth. Two years later, he and his family were killed at home by a group of assassins without posing any threat. This became a major event in Argentina at the time and triggered a considerable conflict.

Perhaps it was the change in the outcome of the Paraguayan War that led Sarmiento to take action against Urquiza two years earlier.

Assassinating political opponents and killing the other person's family, such an incident has never happened since Argentina's independence. After being reminded by Sun Qisheng, Ferner also felt the seriousness of the problem. He publicly questioned the suggestions of Sarmiento's confidants at the meeting, making Sarmiento lose face. Would he treat him like he treated Urquiza? Recalling Sarmiento's cold eyes at that time and the sudden order to withdraw 2,000 troops from Corrientes, Ferner became more and more frightened.

Urquiza has great prestige, and even Sarmiento dared to take action against him. If it were me, wouldn't he be even more unscrupulous?
A sense of crisis came over him, and Fellner made a quick choice.

"General, Sarmiento has broken the tacit understanding formed in Argentina over the past few decades and sent someone to assassinate you. If he fails this time, there will definitely be a next time. You can't remain silent any longer!"

"General Ferna is right. Sarmiento has chosen to attack you, which means that there is no possibility of reconciliation. If you do not take countermeasures, he will continue to persecute you and your subordinates who support you. Even if you do not consider your own safety, you should consider the subordinates who have followed you for more than ten years. Do you have the heart to watch your subordinates being persecuted to death one by one?"

Sun Qisheng felt that the time was almost right and began to encourage them.

After six years of forbearance, the forces that supported him gradually disintegrated and dissipated. Ferner, his most loyal supporter, became increasingly dissatisfied with him. If he continued to endure, even if he waited for the opportunity to fight back, all his supporters would abandon him. Urkina decided not to endure any more and said directly, "I agree to cooperate with you, but I need to see your true sincerity.

Three thousand rifles and ten cannons with a caliber of more than 100 mm.

As long as you agree, we will sign a cooperation agreement immediately."

"Your price is too high. One thousand rifles and twelve 65mm small mountain cannons. If you agree, I will persuade the prince to agree to your request."

Seeing that Urquiza remained silent, Sun Qisheng raised the price and said, "Our army's weapons and equipment are not sufficient. One thousand rifles and twelve 65mm cannons have already demonstrated the army's sincerity. If you want more weapons, you can only exchange them for metal ores."

"Corrientes has a lot of mineral resources. I agree to exchange with you."

Fearing that things might go wrong, Fellner spoke ahead of time.

Corrientes is Ferna's territory, and Urquiza asked for a high price because he didn't want the Chinese to achieve their goal so easily. However, after Ferna spoke, he no longer objected and agreed in principle to the cooperation between the two parties, and then discussed in detail some conditions of cooperation.

Sun Qisheng's meeting with Ferner and Urquiza was successful.

Urquiza and his companion promised not to interfere with the Chinese troops' occupation of San Javier, but the Chinese troops' occupation area was limited to San Javier and they were not allowed to attack other areas.

Secondly, the Chinese troops gave up about 300 square kilometers of land west of the San Pedro River, which was occupied by Ferner's troops.

Third, when Urquiza and Sarmiento go to war in the future, the Chinese forces will need to send troops to support them.

Three major agreements were reached, Sun Qisheng left Ferna's residence, and Urquiza also mobilized the forces hidden in Antrerios to prepare to retake his base.

(End of this chapter)