Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 277 The End
The lion fights the rabbit, and still tries his best. In order to win the Argentine War, Li Mingyuan mobilized the national strength accumulated by the Han Kingdom for ten years.

On April 28, the last garrison force of more than 20,000 people rushed from Santa Fe to the Buenos Aires military camp. At this point, the number of national defense forces gathered outside Buenos Aires reached 150,000, nearly twice the number of Argentine defenders in the city.

There were a total of 220,000 Han troops deployed in Argentina. In addition to the 150,000 main forces besieging Buenos Aires, the remaining 70,000 were mainly distributed in three major strategic directions.

The first force was stationed in Santa Fe and Rosario, Parana, and was responsible for guarding against reinforcements to Buenos Aires from central and northern provinces such as Cordoba.

The second force was deployed in Junín and Pergamino, and was mainly responsible for monitoring the movements of Argentine troops in Mendoza Province and preventing local forces in central Argentina from threatening the flanks of the National Defense Forces.

The third force was composed of a part of the regular army of the National Defense Force and young and strong Mapuche nomads, with a size of about 6,000 people. Their combat mission was to attack the scattered Argentine militia forces and weaken the reinforcements of the southern region to the Argentine Federal District.

The three forces have different numbers and sizes, and also undertake different combat missions.

At the end of April, as the siege of Buenos Aires entered a climax, letters from the Argentine president requesting help were sent one after another to local provinces.

On April 22, the first local troops set out from Mendoza Province to reinforce Buenos Aires.

On April 27, Urquiza, who had been sitting still and watching Mitre fighting hard with the National Defense Forces, thought that the time had come and announced that he would send 20,000 troops to relieve Buenos Aires.

Urquiza was the most powerful among the local warlords in Argentina. With his clear statement, warlords from other provinces, either for reputation or for the purpose of taking advantage of the situation, sent troops of varying numbers to attack the National Defense Forces from the north, west and south.

The war broke out around the city of Buenos Aires, and the scale of the war continued to expand as time went on.

There were several battles a day, and a major battle every three to five days. The increasingly intense war quickly consumed the Wehrmacht's war reserves. Groups of militiamen organized in advance were constantly transferred from the country to the front lines, or were simply selected to supplement the damaged troops on the front lines, or were immediately organized into logistics transport teams of different sizes to provide the necessary combat supplies for the front-line troops.

The rapidly increasing consumption of supplies and casualties were the core reasons why Li Mingyuan was eager to end the siege of Buenos Aires as soon as possible. At the same time, the approaching British Expeditionary Force and the increasing pressure exerted by the British government on Brazil and Chile were also important factors that had to be considered.

On April 27, after 20 days of haggling and preparation, the British government finally sent a force consisting of 10,000 British soldiers, 1,000 Italian soldiers, 400 Belgian soldiers and more than 3,000 volunteers from various European countries to expedition to South America to support the Argentine government forces in their defensive operations against the National Defense Forces.

The ongoing Zulu War made the British realize that owning a large colony was not a worry-free thing. The primitive and backward South African Zulus used their backward cold weapons to inflict more than 2,000 casualties on the local British army. In order to suppress the unruly Zulus, the British government redistributed more than 10,000 local regular troops to support the South African battlefield.

The regular army is different from the colonial army, which has simple training and is mixed with indigenous blacks. A British regular army of more than 10,000 people fighting thousands of miles away from the homeland means huge military expenditure and political impact.

At the same time, as the person responsible for the defeat in the First Zulu War, British Army Lieutenant General Chelmsford wanted to defeat the Zulu army and save his political career before his successor Lord Gannett arrived in South Africa. Therefore, when the telegram from the London government was conveyed to South Africa, ordering Lieutenant General Chelmsford to transfer 3,000 colonial troops to join the British Expeditionary Force, Chelmsford played a little trick. He withdrew all the white British soldiers in the army and replaced them with 3,000 indigenous black soldiers to fool the British government as an excuse to fulfill his duties.

The British Expeditionary Force will arrive in South Africa in early May. After a brief rest, they will soon reach the coastal area of ​​Argentina, leaving Li Mingyuan with less and less time to occupy Buenos Aires.

On April 29, fighting broke out again outside Buenos Aires. Careful Argentine officers discovered that the National Defense Force soldiers originally stationed in the west of Buenos Aires suddenly disappeared. At the same time, the positions in the west of the city, one of the main battlefields, were not attacked by the National Defense Forces.

The changes in the situation of the National Defense Force were immediately reported to Argentine President Mitre, who sent several small troops to venture out of the city to investigate. After confirming that the National Defense Force had evacuated the city of Buenos Aires to the western inland, some Argentines whose will to fight was not firm had other ideas.

"Mr. President, the morale of the troops in the city is unstable. Some soldiers are dissatisfied with the huge casualties in the battle to defend the city and deliberately spread the word of abandoning the city and retreating, which has caused a very bad influence in the barracks.
. Please ask the President to immediately issue an order to arrest the soldiers who spread the rumors and stabilize the morale of the troops in the city."

The morale of the Buenos Aires defenders was in turmoil, and their commander, Gretzwig, was worried.

“The battle was fierce, and the defending troops suffered heavy casualties. It was inevitable that the soldiers had some resentment in their hearts. Arresting soldiers just because they complained would provoke greater resistance in the troops.

Gretzwig, return to your headquarters and lead the troops in the battle. I will send others to deal with the unstable morale of the troops in the city."

Mitre sat on the edge of the bed and said weakly, "But..."

"The situation in the city is complicated. It's not something that can be explained to you in a few words. Gretzwig, just do your job first."

Mitre has his own difficulties. Not everyone in the city is willing to obey his orders. The strength of the federal army has been weakened, and the defense of Buenos Aires is not going well. Many people doubt Mitre's combat command ability. If he continues to increase the tense atmosphere in the city and suppress the speech of the soldiers, the accumulated contradictions may erupt in unpredictable ways.

Buenos Aires could not afford a blow from within, and Mitre did not want Argentina to be destroyed in his old age, so Gretzweig's suggestion had to be shelved.

"The President..."

"Is there anything else?"

"The Chilean side has responded. The Chilean president said that the war with Bolivia and Peru is fierce. The Chilean navy needs to be stationed in the country to defend against attacks from the Bolivian and Peruvian navies. Before the British Expeditionary Force arrives in South America, the Chilean navy cannot withdraw to reinforce us."

"It's just an excuse. If the Chilean government really wanted to fulfill its promise, they wouldn't sit idly by and watch the federal navy be annihilated."

Mitre's hands drooped weakly on his abdomen, and he continued to ask, "What has the Brazilian Empire done? Where are their troops advancing to now?"

"The Brazilian Army and the Han army were in a standoff on the Joinville front. The Brazilian Navy launched several sneak attacks on the Han Navy, but the results were not great. They only sank a few Han transport ships."

"Brazil and Chile are waiting for news from the British expeditionary force. If the expeditionary force doesn't arrive, they will probably not send troops to support us."

Mitre sighed.

"Mr. President, the provinces inland are recruiting militias to support the federal district. It is possible that the federal government will defeat the Han army."

Gretzweig consoled.

"The Federal District has been defeated, and local power groups like Urquiza will find it difficult to survive. I hope they can understand this, put aside their conflicts for the time being, and sincerely support the federal government in its operations."

"Yes, Mr. Urquiza was once the president of the Federation. He will not watch Argentina fall into the hands of the Han people."...

It is better to provide timely assistance than to add icing on the cake. The Argentine federal army, which is in trouble, would rather believe that the local forces' troops sincerely support them than lose hope after suffering a heavy blow.

Soon after Gretzwig left the presidential palace, Mitre, as president, announced that the Brazilian and Chilean navies had won a great victory off the Atlantic Ocean. The Han navy had been severely damaged by the two navies, with heavy losses in personnel and materials. Reinforcements from Chile and Brazil would arrive in Argentina soon and launch a counterattack against the Han troops together with the British Expeditionary Force.

The propaganda of the Mitre government played a certain role. The turbulent people in Buenos Aires calmed down for two days because of the fabricated great victory. However, when the National Defense Forces launched one fierce offensive after another and broke through one position after another outside the city, Mitre's lies were shattered.

On May 2, a food panic broke out in Buenos Aires, and a food distribution point was looted by civilians. That night, a group of more than 1,000 civilians broke through the western blockade of Argentina and fled from the city to inland areas.

On May 4, the number of fleeing people increased to 5,000, and some soldiers joined the escape, mixing in with the civilian population and escaping from Buenos Aires.

On May 7, the exodus from Buenos Aires intensified, and Mitre had no choice but to issue an order to forcibly capture the fleeing soldiers and prohibit civilians from leaving the city. The situation in Buenos Aires became even more tense.

Thanks to classmates Yunhai Shuyou Shitongzhou and Yizhi Danxin for their tips and support!
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(End of this chapter)