Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 270 British Response
The critical situation of the Argentine War spread to the European continent, and public opinion in European countries was in an uproar. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli convened a cabinet meeting specifically for this matter.

"Gentlemen, according to the intelligence sent back by the diplomats, the night before yesterday, the important city of Santa Fe in central Argentina fell, and the 12,000 Argentine regular troops stationed in Santa Fe were completely wiped out. Just two hours ago, I just received a telegram forwarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The telegram was sent by Argentine President Mitre himself. In the telegram, President Mitre sincerely asked the British Empire to lend a helping hand to rescue Argentina, which is also a white race. Now I will distribute copies of President Mitre's telegram to you, and I hope you can give appropriate suggestions."

Benjamin nodded to his administrative secretary, and then the young secretary led seven or eight attendants to distribute copies of the telegram to the cabinet members one by one.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I think it is necessary to introduce the general situation of the two warring parties to the cabinet members before discussing the Argentine issue."

Just after the copies of the telegram were distributed, a fat man with a bald head stood up and spoke.

"Go ahead, Lord Cecil."

Benjamin nodded, signaling the other party to start speaking.

"The Argentine War involves two major countries - Han and Argentina. Argentina is a country founded by Spanish descendants. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Imperial Army tried to occupy the Viceroyalty of La Plata, but failed. In addition, due to the territorial dispute over the Falkland Islands, the Argentine government has always been wary of the Empire's commercial activities in its country. The relationship between the two countries has never been as close as that between the Empire and South American countries such as Brazil and Chile. Han itself was a country founded by a group of poor Chinese workers. Eleven years ago, the King of Han, Li Mingyuan, led the Chinese workers to launch an uprising in Peru. Then, in the confrontation with the armies of Peru, Brazil and other countries, Li Mingyuan relied on cunning marching command and his hardworking Chinese army to continuously achieve military victories against Peru, Brazil, Argentina and other countries. With the prestige brought by the victory in the war and the achievements of gradually encroaching on the territories of Brazil and Argentina, he successfully established another Chinese country outside the Qing Dynasty."

After introducing the rise of Argentina and the Han Kingdom, the bald fat man continued, "King Li Mingyuan of the Han Kingdom is the son of Li Shixian, the Prince of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the early days of his uprising, he used the remnants of the Taiping Army to control the Chinese labor force. However, when the Chinese uprising army occupied two states in southern Brazil, Li Mingyuan abandoned the old hierarchical concept of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He distributed the occupied land free of charge to poor Chinese workers and immigrants transported from the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, he introduced machinery and equipment from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries to actively develop the local industrial construction of the Han Kingdom.

Li Mingyuan has taken a series of measures to rapidly increase the strength of the Han Kingdom, and the strength of the national defense forces under his command has also increased rapidly in the past ten years. Therefore, I would like to remind you that the Han Kingdom in South America is not the same as the Qing Kingdom in the Far East. The comprehensive strength and military strength of the Han Kingdom cannot be solved by the imperial government sending a few thousand or ten thousand or twenty thousand troops. If the imperial government agrees to the request of the Argentine government and personally sends troops to participate in the war, then I suggest that the imperial government should at least send more than 50,000 army troops, and at the same time dispatch at least a fleet of the size of a squadron to South America to implement a maritime blockade and arms embargo on the coastal areas of the Han Kingdom. "

"Lord Cecil, I don't understand how you came up with the data that the imperial government needs to dispatch at least 50,000 troops to aid Argentina? You have to know that when attacking Burma and Qing, the imperial government only sent 10,000 or 20,000 local troops. After all, Han is only a Chinese country that has been established for ten years. Can their population and soldiers be compared with Burma and Qing? If the imperial government needs to send 50,000 troops to attack a Han country, then facing a vast colony of more than 10 million square kilometers, wouldn't the imperial government have to draw all its domestic troops?"

Not all the important members of the cabinet belonged to the Liberal Party like Benjamin and Cecil. Therefore, after Cecil's speech, he was quickly opposed by the Liberal Party.

"Sir Glasdor, do you really think that you don't need to send 50,000 troops to defeat the Han Kingdom?"

"Of course, with only 10,000 colonial troops, the Imperial Government could force those yellow monkeys to surrender!"

"Haha, has Sir Glasdor forgotten the disastrous defeat at Isandelvar?"

The bald fat man sneered disdainfully, "Baron Chelmsford had 20,000 colonial troops under his command, but they were defeated by the uncivilized Zulu blacks in the Battle of Isandelwa. Do you think that the Han troops that defeated the Brazilians and Argentines are inferior to the Zulu blacks with short spears and shields?"

"The failure of the Battle of Isandelwa was just an accident. If the commanders on the front line had been more careful, all 1500 soldiers would not have been wiped out!"

"Hmph, the commander at the front underestimated the enemy? I think Baron Chelmsford has been in London for too long and has forgotten how to fight. Otherwise, he wouldn't have blindly sent 1,500 soldiers deep into the interior of South Africa without knowing the enemy's strength." "You are slandering! Baron Chelmsford did not order the frontline troops to fight deep inland. It was the commander at the front who underestimated the enemy and rushed forward rashly, causing the troops to fall into a trap."

Gladwell loudly defended Chelmsford.

"Whether it is Chelmsford's responsibility or not needs to be decided by the Prime Minister and other cabinet members. It is not just your words that count!"

The struggle between the Conservatives and the Liberals not only involves politics, but also involves military and diplomatic aspects, where there is intense competition between generals who lean towards different parties.

Chelmsford had a good relationship with the Liberal Party. When the British government decided to take action against the Zulus in South Africa, Chelmsford, who was supported by the Liberal Party, was able to serve as the commander of the South African colonial forces, responsible for directing the encirclement and suppression operations against the Zulus.

However, the Zulus were different from other African peoples in that they were more aggressive. In the war in early 1879, the British colonial army, which underestimated the enemy, suffered several defeats in succession and lost more than soldiers. Therefore, after learning from the failure of the initial war, the South African colonial army first suspended its attack on the Zulus, then reorganized the remaining troops and waited for reinforcements sent from the mainland to arrive before continuing the battle.

By late March, when the war in Argentina was underway, the British government approved the request of the South African colonial forces and dispatched seven regiments of troops from the mainland to fight in South Africa.

Seven regiments of troops were still on their way to South Africa, and Chelmsford temporarily retained his original post due to the situation in South Africa. However, the British Cabinet had already begun discussions about the general who would replace Chelmsford, and had several reserve candidates.

The Zulu War and the Guano War both consumed a certain amount of the British government's energy. At this time, the outbreak of the Argentine War posed a difficult problem for British cabinet officials.

It was not difficult for the British government to dispatch 10,000 or 20,000 regular troops or even 50,000 regular troops, but Argentina was different from South Africa and Chile. South Africa was a British colony, and it was the obligation of the British government to eliminate the Zulus there.

Saltpeter is the main raw material for producing explosives. Before the invention of synthetic ammonia, saltpeter mined from Chile was of great value in maintaining Britain's gunpowder production. Therefore, the British government also had the need to intervene in the Guano War.

Compared with the above two wars, the potential benefits and costs of the Argentine War are not worth it.

In terms of benefits, Argentina's domestic mineral resources are limited, and the British government cannot directly obtain high economic benefits from the local area. In terms of costs, in order to assist Argentina, the British government needs to send tens of thousands of army troops and be prepared to fight a long war of attrition.

The first option to interfere in the Argentine war was to send troops directly. However, just like the war between Han and Argentina in 1870, sending troops to intervene was not favored by cabinet officials. But on the other hand, Argentina was a white-dominated country after all, and Britain also had some economic interests in the country. Seeing Argentina fall into crisis without helping was not good for Britain's global strategy. Therefore, the cabinet officials in London first set the tone for dealing with the Argentine war. Troops would definitely be sent, but the scale of the troops should be controlled within a certain range. At the same time, the military operations to assist Argentina should not be undertaken by Britain alone. Brazil and Chile should bear the main military obligations. Of course, if the situation goes well, it would be even better to bring France and Germany in to share the pressure. As for the United States, let their Monroe Doctrine go to hell. British gentlemen don't want to see their base in South America taken away by the United States. Even if Argentina falls into the hands of Han, it is much better than the whole of South America being controlled by the United States.

Thanks to classmate Ping Huangdi Wansui for the reward of 500 coins!
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(End of this chapter)