Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 487 Chang'an
The night is dark and starry.

The clock struck eleven, and as the residents of Chang'an (Cordoba), the capital of the Han Empire, gradually fell asleep, the Han Imperial Palace was brightly lit. Officers coming and going were quickly passing on all kinds of information, and busy telegraph machines were ticking non-stop.

"Report, Asuncion called, due to continuous rainfall, the water level in the waters along the Asuncion front has risen by 97cm, and the hydrological conditions are suitable for light cruisers to navigate. Please send two Yangwu-class cruisers to the Asuncion front to support the operations.

In addition, in the direction of Villarrica, on October 10, Pang Zhenyun's troops successively attacked and forced the surrender of the enemy's 14th Division and 1.3 affiliated troops. On October 10, they ambushed and destroyed 17 enemy troops coming to the direction of Guaira Port. The Battle of Villarrica lasted 4000 days. Our army killed and captured a total of 10 enemy troops, and its own casualties did not exceed 2.

The enemy's Parana Front lost more than half of its troops, and the key points along the waters were empty. General Chen suggested that we send troops in time, take gunboats and steam transport ships, and launch attacks on the enemy's coastal strongholds such as Guaira and Duguaisu, and completely eliminate the enemy's Parana Front troops. "

"Reporting, intelligence from the Republic of Brazil. Our undercover personnel have learned that senior officials from the Republic of Brazil have frequently contacted personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Brazil. Currently, the two sides have confirmed an arms purchase order worth approximately $600 million."

"Report, the front-line command has replied that the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 9th Field Divisions, the 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 10th Security Brigades, the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Militia Detachments have completed their mobilization and assembly, and request further instructions."
Telegrams came one after another from all directions and piled up on Li Mingyuan's desk.

Li Mingyuan picked up a battle report filled with battle reports and looked through it carefully, and his brows gradually relaxed.

The Han State surpassed the Republic of Brazil in terms of military strength, weapons, individual combat capabilities, and comprehensive national strength. It is no exaggeration to say that in South America, the Han State is a unique powerful country, and the Republic of Brazil, the Brazilian Empire, Colombia, Chile and other countries must rank behind it. If it had not split, with the resources and potential of more than 8 million square kilometers of territory, Brazil could barely compete with the Han State, but the Republic of Brazil after the split does not have this ability.

He had confidence in the Han army in Paraguay, but because it was his first time to command a battle from the rear, Li Mingyuan was still a little worried.

The size and comprehensive national strength of the Han State are no longer comparable to the period when it was confined to the two states in southern Brazil. It now has a population of nearly 1800 million and a land area of ​​more than 300 million square kilometers. Its industrial development is changing with each passing day, and standard equipment has basically been domestically produced. Emerging industrial industries such as chemicals, machinery, and electricity have a place in the world market. Its agriculture and animal husbandry are exported in large quantities to European countries. Its population is growing rapidly, and its people's living standards and education levels continue to improve.

For a country that has initially completed industrialization and whose total industrial output value and national scientific and technological strength rank among the top ten in the world, the impact of its every move is incomparable to that of the Rio Grande do Sul period.

When the actual controlled area was limited to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, even though the Chinese forces at that time sent troops to defeat Brazil and Argentina and successively occupied Santa Catarina and the five northern states of Argentina, they did not receive much attention from external countries, because the Chinese at that time were not large in size and land area. Even with the above-mentioned areas, they were only a small local force and did not have much impact on the power of the great powers in South America.

However, after 21 years of arduous development from scratch, the territory of Han State expanded to the whole of Argentina, Uruguay, two southern states of Brazil, and part of Chile. Its influence on the great powers, especially Britain and the United States, was no longer comparable. Not only did Han State cooperate and compete with Britain in South America, but in Europe, the traditional sphere of influence of the great powers, the industrial products produced in the chemical, electrical, mechanical and other fields produced by Han State could also compete with those of Western countries.

As the Han Dynasty, a new industrial power, became increasingly involved in external affairs and made its voice heard to safeguard its interests in South America, Africa, the Far East and other places, other countries began to pay more and more attention to the Han Dynasty, and its every move became increasingly watched and restricted by them, especially when it came to war and territorial expansion.

No matter Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France and other countries, in essence, they do not want a new industrial power or a strong country to compete with them. After all, there are a limited number of interests that can be divided in the world. If there is one more person sitting at the table, the interests they get may be one less. It's just that due to the different distribution areas of the spheres of influence of various countries, most countries such as France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and others are more of a bystander. In order to maintain its shaky dominant position in South America, Britain slightly acquiesced in the expansion of the Han Dynasty in some aspects. However, as stakeholders, the South American countries and the United States, which regards South America as its own backyard, are extremely wary of the expansion of the Han Dynasty.

Li Mingyuan traveled between various countries, carefully controlling the expansion speed of the Han Kingdom. On the premise of not violating the national development strategy and not touching the bottom line of British diplomacy, he tried his best to control the scale of the war to prevent the situation from developing in an uncontrollable direction.

After carefully reading the battle report from Asuncion, Li Mingyuan smiled.

"I didn't expect that the Villarrica direction was the first to achieve victory and progress. 2 people from the Republic of Brazil were wiped out, and the casualties of our headquarters did not exceed 1000. This is good news."

Influenced by the progress of the war, Li Mingyuan was in a good mood. He called the Chief of the Army Luo Linshan, the Chief of the Army Staff Zhao Yongzeng, the temporary head of the cabinet Liu Pu, and the Minister of Finance Zhao Yan
, Vice Foreign Minister Tang Jingsong and others sat down.

"Everyone, please feel free to sit down and have a taste of the Tieguanyin tea that was transplanted from the Far East."

Everyone sat down one by one, and the servants brought a few cups of tea and placed them on the table next to each person.

"The tea has a rich and long-lasting aroma and a refreshing and sweet taste. It is a good tea, and is not inferior to the tea produced in southern Fujian." Tang Jingsong took a sip and commented.

"It's light and mellow. After eating too much beef and mutton, drinking a cup of tea can really help to relieve the greasiness."

Army Chief Luo Linshan's comments were simple and straightforward.

"Haha, Chief Luo is being frank and practical."

Li Mingyuan chuckled and explained, "In the past ten years, thanks to the hard work of the new immigrants, the local cultivated land area has doubled to 2 million hectares, and the number of cattle and sheep has increased from 1500 million to 4000 million. Now almost every household in the local area raises cattle, sheep, pigs, alpacas, guanacos and other livestock. The people have no shortage of meat. Eating too much meat, especially beef and mutton, will make the stomach indigestion. At this time, drinking some tea can relieve the greasiness, make the stomach feel comfortable, and make the body healthier. That's why I have people transplant various tea trees from the Far East to the local area for local cultivation."

"Your Majesty has a far-sighted thought. Transplanting tea trees is a good thing that benefits the country and the people. The people in all parts of the country will remember your majesty's grace."

"They all came from hard times, it's not worth mentioning."

After drinking tea, Li Mingyuan turned to the main topic and asked Luo Linshan: "General Luo, General Chen suggested taking advantage of the opportunity to occupy the poorly defended Guaira Port. What do you think of this?"

"There are only 4000 defenders left at Guaira Port, and the defense is empty. This is a good time to launch an attack."

Luo Linshan put down the teacup in his hand and said solemnly.

"Deputy Minister Hu, what unusual developments have occurred in Chile and Bolivia recently?"

"The Chilean garrison on the Haizhou front line has remained stationary and has shown no signs of further reinforcement. Bolivia has withdrawn its reinforcements to the border and has specifically explained to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the previous deployment of troops was a routine exercise and hopes that we will not misunderstand."

“Well, Chile and Bolivia are still watching the situation.”

Li Mingyuan seemed to be thinking about something, and then turned his gaze to the Minister of Finance Zhao Yan. The other party understood and said, "Your Majesty, since the start of the war in Paraguay, a total of 1000 million Han yuan of various materials, ammunition, and pensions have been consumed, which is equivalent to about 560 million taels of silver."

After understanding the situation of all parties, Li Mingyuan stood up, walked back and forth a few steps, then returned to his seat and said: Convey the combat order,
1 Agreed with General Chen's operational plan to attack the port of Guaira and ordered the navy to coordinate the fleets to cooperate with combat operations in the waters of the Paraguay River and the Paraná River.

2 The field army, garrison army and militia forces stationed in Xianghe and Luoning will immediately set out to various combat areas in accordance with the combat plan of the Army General Staff Headquarters.

3. Various newspapers released the situation of the Villarrica battle to boost the morale of the local people.

"

Li Mingyuan issued several combat orders one after another. After the attendant officer copied them, he instructed Liu Pu, who was sitting on the other side, "I will go to Xianghe City in two days to command the Paraguayan troops nearby. The daily affairs of the cabinet will be left to you. If you encounter major issues involving national policies or things that you can't make up your mind about, send a telegram directly to Xianghe City."

"Your Majesty, rest assured that our colleagues at home will work together to deal with this matter, and there will be no mistakes."

"I feel relieved when you say this."
(End of this chapter)