Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 151 Meeting an Old Friend
For his great contributions to the country, he ascended the throne. During the French Revolution, Napoleon, who was born a commoner, defeated the armed intervention of European countries and successfully reformed himself and became emperor with the support of his subordinates and subjects.

The father and son of Lopez Jr. ruled Paraguay for two generations. They had great prestige among ordinary Paraguayans and the army. Their background and control over the country were stronger than Napoleon's just after the Revolution. Therefore, it was a natural thing for them to change the republic into a monarchy, establish a country and become king with the power of victory in the war.

After thinking hard all night, Istigali gradually agreed with the point of view put forward by Wang Dashan. The father and son of Lopez Jr. held absolute power in Paraguay and decided all political and military affairs by themselves. Under their rule, Paraguay's political power was concentrated, avoiding the serious domestic consumption like Argentina and Peru. With national stability and continuity of political policies, Paraguay was able to accumulate enough national strength to compete with Brazil.

Lopez Jr. is a monarch in reality but not in name. After he steps down, the country will have a new democratically elected president, and the policies implemented before will be difficult to retain. The military generals who followed Lopez Jr. will also face exclusion from the new president. A new emperor appoints new ministers, and the new president will inevitably seek benefits for his supporters. The limited positions in Paraguay have been divided up by Lopez Jr.'s subordinates. If power is not seized from them, where will the positions come from?
From the perspective of national stability and personal interests, the rise of Lopez Jr. is beneficial to Istigari. The next morning, the sun was high in the sky and the light on the table by the windowsill was still on. He put down the quill in his hand, rubbed his sore wrist, took a deep breath, and the letter that had been revised many times was finally completed. Paraguay's political system may also change with a letter.

After drinking a cup of cold tea and calming down his unspeakable feelings, Istigari put the letter into an envelope, called the guard on duty, and decisively ordered: "Deliver this letter to the president personally, and don't make it public along the way."

The guard took the letter and left quickly. Istigari looked at the guard who walked out of the door, and his heart calmed down again. The envelope had been sent, and the rest needed to be decided by Lopez Jr., and he just had to do his own thing and wait for the result.

In the backyard of Morandi City, there were seven or eight people sitting in the spacious hall. Compared with yesterday, the number of people was much less.

"General Wang, the conditions I proposed yesterday are still valid. Have you considered it carefully?"

Istigari tried.

"It is impossible to intervene in the war now,"

Wang Dashan shook his head and said with some regret: "The prince also wants to give more help to the Paraguayan allies, but the country is just established and lacks strength. In addition, the Chinese have always valued peace. The Argentines did not take the initiative to provoke, so our army should not rashly intervene in the conflict."

Wang Dashan's tone was more relaxed than yesterday. Istigara understood the meaning of his words: "So, as long as the Argentines provoke your army first, your army will join the war?"

"What I just said is my own speculation. The one who really makes the decision is still the prince."

Wang Dashan neither denied nor admitted it, and Istigari knew what was going on and did not ask any further questions.

The intentions of both sides gradually became clear, and the subsequent dialogue went smoothly. Wang Dashan proposed to send an artillery battalion to help the other side defend the city. Istigali gladly accepted the proposal and said that he would convey the other side's good intentions to Lopez Jr. ...

All the colonies on the South American continent became independent, and resource-rich Cuba became the most important colonial market and source of raw materials for the Spanish Empire. After the establishment of the new republic, the Spanish government quickly reached a consensus on sending troops to Cuba. Before sending troops, in order to prevent the situation from further deteriorating, the new government agreed to trade all Chinese workers in Cuba to prevent them from joining the rebel forces and becoming enemies of the colonial army.

After the order from the mainland was transmitted to Cuba via telegram, the trading operations that had begun secretly quickly spread across the island. The Cuban colonial government could not wait to hand over the Chinese workers who had become a problem to the transport fleet, and the price of trading Chinese workers was reduced again and again.

The Principality of Rio Grande do Sul was established, and the Navy of the National Defense Force, which was carrying out transportation tasks together with British and Brazilian merchant ships, also officially acted under the banner of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul.

From Havana, Cuba in the west to Guantanamo in the east, a large number of ships flying the flags of different countries are active in the waters around the long and narrow island of Cuba. Cuba is a typical island that lacks strategic length. The focus of the struggle between Spanish colonists and rebel forces is mainly concentrated in the coastal areas.

The sudden appearance of ships from various countries frightened the rebels at first. They thought these ships were reinforcements invited by Spain, so they took the initiative to withdraw from some weakly defended coastal areas to prevent unnecessary losses.

However, their worries were obviously unnecessary. The fleets gathered and took away the Chinese workers from the mines and plantations along the coast, and then left without paying any attention to the Cuban rebels. The two sides did not offend each other. The rebel Cuban armed forces acquiesced to the actions of the transport fleet. When the transport fleet appeared near the coast, they would temporarily stop attacking the Spanish strongholds and wait until the fleet transported the Chinese workers in the strongholds to launch another attack.

However, this tacit understanding was soon broken. In the areas captured by the rebels, many Chinese workers joined the rebel forces. As the transport fleet moved on a large scale around the island of Cuba, the news of the Chinese establishing a country in South America continued to spread and reached the ears of most of the Chinese workers who participated in the rebellion.

Those who are not of our race must have different hearts. It is better to join the Chinese's own country than to follow a group of outsiders to join the rebellion. Therefore, the Chinese workers who got the news secretly colluded with each other, and then when the rebels were careless, they rushed to the port where the nearby transport fleet was stationed in a group, and then left by ship.

More and more Chinese workers left secretly. In more than ten days, two-thirds of the Chinese workers who joined the rebellion escaped, and the remaining few were also looking for opportunities to leave the rebel group.

The rebel leaders did not care about the Chinese workers leaving secretly. The rebel troops fought in a mobile manner, and when they captured a town, a large number of poor farmers and black slaves would join them. It didn't matter whether a few more or fewer people were involved.

The indifference of the rebel leaders gave the Chinese workers the opportunity to leave, and when they wanted to stop them, they found it was too late.

The angry rebels sent troops to attack the temporary concentration point of Chinese workers on the coast, but were repelled by the Chinese militia temporarily organized by the National Defense Army soldiers who were on guard duty. The peaceful situation between the two sides was thus broken.

In the waters northeast of Cuba, the Caribbean fleet sailed outside the transport fleet to perform security tasks.

Tortuga Island was one of the transit stations for transporting Chinese workers. A large number of Chinese workers stayed on the island for a while before leaving. As the only military force left by the Chinese in the Caribbean waters, the Caribbean Fleet's strength was also strengthened in the process of transporting Chinese workers. The entire fleet included sailors and marines, with an official strength of 1,700, and 1,000 militiamen composed of Chinese workers left on the island, who were temporarily under the dispatch of the Caribbean Fleet.

Britain secretly acquiesced to the Chinese occupation of Tortuga Island. The United States looked down on Tortuga Island, which was close to the black people of Haiti. The three major separatist forces on the main island of Haiti were busy fighting among themselves, and no one cared about a small island with an area of ​​only more than 100 square kilometers.

Therefore, the external environment of the Caribbean Fleet was peaceful, and most of the ships that had nothing much to do were used to assist in escorting the transport fleet, with only a small number of ships left to guard Tortuga Island.

Hou Taiyuan knew that he would return to Rio Grande do Sul with Chen Sen, and the Caribbean Fleet was handed over to Li Han and Wang Yongtian. Li Han and Wang Yongtian were his trusted subordinates. Li Mingyuan handed over the troops to them to show his trust in Hou Taiyuan. Hou Taiyuan had no objection to the order, but admired Li Mingyuan's broad-mindedness.

"Brother Chen, when are we going to set out to meet the prince?"

Li Mingyuan treated his subordinates generously and with trust. He had made great military achievements at a young age and single-handedly led the Chinese workers to establish a country in South America. Hou Taiyuan had heard too many stories about Li Mingyuan from the Chinese soldiers around him, so he wanted to meet Li Mingyuan in person as soon as possible to see if he was a heavenly god of war like Wing King Shi Dakai.

"It will take another half month to transport all the Cuban Chinese workers. By then, we will set off with the last batch of Cuban Chinese workers."

Chen Sen looked at the transport ships passing by and said with satisfaction, "The operation of transporting Chinese workers is going smoothly. We will be able to see the prince soon after the operation is over. Don't be anxious, brother Hou. You will have many opportunities to see the prince when you work in Rio Grande dom, so there is no need to rush."

"Brother Chen is right. The old man is impatient. It is better to complete the current task first before meeting the prince."

(End of this chapter)