Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 299 Disadvantages of Being Blocked

On the platform of Chang'an (Cordoba) section of the Central Railway, a train with thick smoke billowing entered the station.

The first nine carriages of the train were carrying soldiers from the 1878nd Regiment of the rd Mixed Brigade of the National Defense Forces. They were returning from the Buenos Aires front to rest and to equip themselves with new Hanhua rifles.

The Hanhua 1878 rifle was named by Li Mingyuan himself and is a new imitation rifle modified based on the Mauser M1871 single-shot rifle.

In March 1872, the Han government introduced this single-shot rifle production line from Germany. From 3 to 1873, small-scale experimental production was carried out. In 1877, the Han Iron and Steel United Group produced the first batch of imitation M1877 rifle production lines. After verification,
于1878年2月交付集团下属的枪械厂进行新式步枪的规模化生产，1878年4月，第一批1500杆汉华1878式步枪交付国防军禁卫旅列装使用。

After the end of the Argentine War, the main force of the National Defense Force remained at a size of about 16. Among the 16 troops, about 7 were still using imitation Dresser needle-fire rifles.

After the Franco-Prussian War ended in 1872, the old needle-fire rifles were quickly eliminated by the times. The more than 6 Dreyse rifles imitated by the Han National Defense Army became a product that lagged behind the times in the following five or six years. In order to catch up with the average army equipment level of European countries, Li Mingyuan, on the one hand, increased the employment of military technicians from European powers such as Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary, and the local Iron and Steel United Group was responsible for imitating the manufacturing of the M71 rifle production line. On the other hand, he purchased new single-shot rifles from Europe to replace the backward imitation Dreyse needle-fire rifles.

Through a combination of foreign purchases and local production, the 9 regular troops of the Wehrmacht completed a major pre-war replacement. At the same time, as the rifle production lines manufactured by the United Steel Group were delivered in batches to the subordinate gun factories, the gap in standard rifles for the main forces of the Wehrmacht was being rapidly filled.

Of the obsolete Dreiser rifles, 3 will be delivered to the garrison and reserve militia for use, and the remaining 4 rifles will be sold at low prices to civilians who migrate to the Patagonian desert in the name of the government.

The Patagonian desert is flat and covered with green grass. However, due to the frequent strong winds and lack of tall plants, it is not suitable as a food production base or the development of agriculture. On the contrary, the sparse population and vast grassland make it suitable for the development of animal husbandry.

To the west of the Patagonian Desert is the Andes Mountains bordering Chile, where there are abundant river water flowing from the melted snow, providing the grasslands and the Chinese who have immigrated to the area with the water they need for life.

The Han Dynasty's presence in Patagonia can only be maintained by Ye Chenglin's several thousand men for the time being. Therefore, when the migration operation is over, the weapons eliminated by the troops will be sold at a low price to the Chinese who have moved there. This will not only train qualified reserve troops for the troops, but also serve as the vanguard of the Han Dynasty's development of Patagonia, suppress disobedient Indians and deal with the Chilean counterattack attempts.

A shrill whistle sounded, and the train slowly slowed down as it approached the station.

The train stopped steadily, and teams of soldiers in dark gray uniforms and blue wide-brimmed hats got off the carriages and then assembled under the command of officers from various departments.

More than a thousand Wehrmacht soldiers lined up, and on the platform in the middle of the station, several Wehrmacht officers accompanied by three blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners walked out of the carriage.

"It's hard to believe that the Argentines were defeated so quickly.

According to the advisory group's deduction, it would take the National Defense Force at least a year to defeat the combined forces of Argentina, Britain and Brazil. I didn't expect you to do it in just half a year."

Count Gottlieb, head of the German advisory group, exclaimed.

"Your Excellency, you have to understand that the Han Kingdom is not the Central Plains ruled by the Qing Dynasty. In this newly born Chinese country, there are all kinds of possibilities. It is not impossible to fight Argentina in half a year."

After the Argentine War, the rank on his shoulder was replaced with a small gold bean indicating major general, and his title was successfully promoted to hereditary earl. Wu Fengdian was at the proud moment of his life, and his face was full of confidence as he said, "Your Highness the King of Han started the rebellion only eleven years ago. When I and General Ye and others defected to Your Highness, the National Defense Force was equipped with only the old Dreyse rifles that were eliminated by your army. Now, the 1878 National Defense Forces have been fully equipped with the locally produced Hanhua rifles, and machine guns, mortars, light and heavy artillery are equipped in each regiment-level combat unit.

Under your highness's planning, the Han Kingdom and the National Defense Force are changing every day. I believe that if Your Excellency the Earl stays in the Han Kingdom for a few more years, he will slowly adapt to the speed of development here."

"General, the officers of the advisory group and I all believe that the National Defense Army is a combat-capable force. It is a pity that we were not able to follow the National Defense Army to the front line and witness the course of this war."

"Your Excellency, I hope you can understand that neither the Emperor of your country nor His Royal Highness the King of Han wants the German officers to appear on the front line of the battlefield. That may not be good for Germany or the Han country."

"Britain and Italy are very dissatisfied with your occupation of Argentina, and public opinion in Germany is also unfavorable to your country. This time, His Majesty William I appointed me to meet with your King in order to coordinate the relationship between your country and Europe. General Wu, although the war is mainly fought by soldiers, the decision-making power of the war is not in the hands of soldiers. I also hope that the general and your King can understand Germany's position."

The Han Dynasty occupied Argentina, and anti-China sentiment in European countries intensified. Several European countries, led by Britain and Italy, were very dissatisfied with the close economic and military ties between Germany and the Han Dynasty. Several governments successively exerted diplomatic pressure on Germany, forcing Germany to sever ties with the Han Dynasty and join the ranks of blockading the Han Dynasty.

Britain and Italy were able to make a decisive decision to sever ties with the Han Dynasty and impose a naval blockade on it, but it was difficult for Germany to make this decision.

Germany has an excess of industrial capital, and there is German investment in many economic and industrial sectors in the Han Dynasty. In return for Germany selling industrial technology and sending skilled workers to work in the Han Dynasty, the price of grain, meat and other processed foods exported by the Han Dynasty to Germany is on average 20% lower than those exported to other European countries.

Germany lacked overseas colonies to import grain, and its domestic grain imports were controlled by Tsarist Russia, a potential enemy. It would not be worth it to cut off Germany's ties with the Han Dynasty simply because of the British likes and dislikes. Therefore, German Emperor William I authorized Count Gottlieb to use the influence of the German officer corps on the Wehrmacht to persuade Li Mingyuan to compromise and take the initiative to coordinate with Britain to resolve the Argentine dispute.

“No one in the National Defense Forces wants to be an enemy of England, but the conflict between China and Argentina must be resolved through war.

Just like the war between Germany and France, only when one is defeated can the other rise. "

Wu Fengdian did not comment on Gottlieb's explanation. He was only responsible for escorting them to Chang'an (Cordoba), and the subsequent events had nothing to do with him. ...

"Your Highness, the second phase of the Xing'an County Industrial Base construction plan has been preliminarily completed. From the Xing'an County seat to the Guaiba River, within the 30-li heavy industrial plant area, 18 large steel and military industrial plants have been built, including smelters, forging plants, pig iron plants, Beise hemp steel plants, steel plants, pressed steel plants, rail plants, iron goods plants, wrought iron plants, machine plants, cast iron plants, ironworks, nail plants, Yangzhou Arsenal, gunpowder plants, needle and nail plants, the first gun and artillery plant, and artillery shell plants, as well as hundreds of large and small factories that are related to the construction.

Hanhua 1878 rifle, ammunition and rifle production lines have achieved localized production.

Improvements to the production lines of weapons such as 55mm mortars, Gatling guns, 65mm small mountain guns, and 75mm field guns are underway, and it is expected to take two years to reach the average level of Western countries. ..."

In the conference room, an official in charge of heavy industry and weapons production reported.

"How much more expensive is it to produce 55mm mortars, Gatling guns and other weapons using the production line manufactured by United Steel Group than the European powers?"

“The cost is 30% higher than in the UK, 25% higher than in France and 20% higher than in Germany.”

"We will temporarily reduce the number of weapon production lines purchased from the United Steel Group. The heavy weapons such as machine guns and artillery that the Wehrmacht needs to replace will be in a 7:3 ratio. After the British lift the naval blockade, 7% of the heavy weapons will be purchased from Germany and France, and 3% will be produced using domestic imitation weapon production lines and existing weapon production lines."

"When Lord Hu came back from his last diplomatic mission to Europe, he told me that merchants from the Austrian Empire were also willing to do business with the Han Kingdom. They could sell us their weapons and some production technologies."

"Austria-Hungary," Li Mingyuan thought for a while and continued, "There are many merchants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Xinjing City. Send someone to contact them and tell them that Han is willing to do business with them. When peace is restored in South America, the Han government will first send representatives to the Austro-Hungarian Empire for inspection. After the inspection, we will discuss cooperation and transactions."

"Yes, Your Highness. I will go back and arrange it right away."

After dealing with matters related to the construction of the United Iron and Steel Group, his attention shifted to a stack of official memorials on the desk. Just from looking at the cover of the memorials, Li Mingyuan knew that most of the content was about the British naval blockade and the losses suffered by local agriculture, animal husbandry, light industry and other industries.

There was no other way. At that time, Britain was the undisputed world hegemon. If the British interests in Argentina were affected, the Han Kingdom could only bear the resulting losses. However, the negative impact of the British maritime blockade became increasingly serious. It was time for Li Mingyuan to lead the Han Kingdom out of the blockade as soon as possible and seek a proper solution.

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(End of this chapter)