Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 453 Who is the winner?

The Republic of Colombia, referred to as "Colombia", is a coastal country located in the northern part of South America. It is geographically bordered by Venezuela and Brazil to the east, Ecuador and Peru to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Costa Rica to the northwest.

Costa Rica borders the Viceroyalty of Central America of the Chu State. Colombia has a land area of ​​117 million square kilometers and is one of the larger countries in South America. Its capital is Bogota.

In 1882, Colombia's total population was 337 million, ranking third in Latin America, lower than Brazil and Venezuela. The population was mainly composed of mixed Indo-Europeans and Indians.

Its total population size is about twice that of the Chu State's Central American Viceroyalty. Perhaps this is the basis for Colombia's provocation.

The Republic of Colombia was originally the traditional residence of Indians and became a Spanish colony in 1536.

On July 1810, 7, Colombia declared independence, but was brutally suppressed by the Spanish army. In 20, taking advantage of the turmoil in Europe and the vacancy of the Spanish throne, Colombia regained its independence.

In 1821, Colombia formed the Republic of Gran Colombia with present-day Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama, which later disintegrated in 1830 due to numerous internal conflicts.

In 1831, the Republic of Colombia was renamed the Republic of New Granada, and the decision to sign an agreement with the United States on the construction of the Panama Canal and a 100-year land lease agreement along the route was made during this period.

In 1861, the Republic of New Granada was renamed the United States of Colombia. This was because it followed the Americans and gave itself the fashionable name of "United States", which did not have much practical significance.

Around 1883, Colombia had just overthrown the 12-year dictatorship of T. Guardia Gutiérrez. In fact, the dictator was old and frail, and his rule became increasingly incompetent and dark, so he was overthrown by other powerful families in Colombia.

The newly elected President of Colombia, Juan Valles, is eager to gain prestige. At this stage, Costa Rica is completely under the control of the two most powerful families in Colombia. The interests of the construction of the Panama Canal are the interests of the powerful Colombian families.

Once you understand these twists and turns, you will understand the real reason why Colombian President Varez is so jumpy.

The hustle and bustle is all for profit.

However, this time President Vales chose the wrong target and offended the world power Chu State, which should not have been offended, thus bringing great disaster to the entire country and nation.

On August 8, the Colombian government formally rejected Chu's ultimatum and stated in a tough tone:

No powerful force can make the heroic Bolivarian people bow their heads. Colombia defends freedom and national dignity, upholds truth and justice, and there is no possibility of surrender.

Look at what he said, he is really tough.

At this point, the Chu expeditionary force's large-scale invasion of Colombia was inevitable, and the only suspense was a matter of time.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was not at all surprised by the Colombian government's tough attitude. This seemed to be a common problem among passionate South Americans, who were stubborn and hard-nosed, and who valued face more than anything else.

During the Paraguayan War from 1864 to 1870, President López Jr. led the country to a desperate battle. Almost all the men died, but he still persisted in guerrilla warfare in the mountains until the last moment of his life.

The same thing happened to Peru during the Guano War in 1879. The Peruvian president took the initiative to provoke the war, but was unable to end it victoriously.

After three years of fighting, the capital Lima was occupied by the Chilean army. The Peruvian president and a number of senior officials were taken prisoners. The country lost power and territory, and was severely damaged.

In the side hall of Zichen

King Zheng Guohui of Chu had been standing beside the map for a long time. His eyes were always fixed on Central America. He carefully weighed the Costa Rican region, with a look of gaining something.

This time, the expedition launched by the Chu State Expeditionary Force was no longer a war to establish prestige or a war to deter others, but also had the advantage of "using the enemy's territory to attack the state of Guo".

Specifically,

The Chu expeditionary force could not directly cross the Isthmus of Costa Rica to the south and attack the Colombian mainland directly.

To go south, one must pass through the narrow Isthmus of Costa Rica and the Panama Canal, which France has already started construction on, in order to enter Colombia.

Although Costa Rica is nominally an independent country, in reality it is small and weak, with a total population of only 19.3 and not even an army. Throughout the 19th century, it was subordinate to the Colombian government, and its diplomacy, defense and economy were under the full control of Colombia.

So if a foreign country wants to build the Panama Canal, whether it is the United States or France, it must find the Colombian government and sign relevant agreements. It is useless to find Costa Rica.

The real difficulty in using the excuse of passing through Guo to attack the Chu State was that the Chu expeditionary force had to cross the Panama Canal, which was under construction. This undoubtedly affected the interests of France, and the French would never allow it.

Think about it
If a murderous army were to come towards them, what kind of panic would that cause at the Panama Canal construction site?
Driven by fear, all the workers ran away, so how could they dig a canal?

"Let's set the date for the expedition on August 8th. Send a telegram to all the soldiers of the Central American Colombian Expeditionary Force. I have prepared fine wine to celebrate the victory and will drink with the soldiers on the day of triumph." King Zheng Guohui of Chu gave the order in a steady voice.

September 8th?
All the ministers were shocked. This was the 17th anniversary of the King of Chu leading his army to the Northern Expedition. Commemorative activities would be held in various parts of the Chu state, especially the military, which attached great importance to this important day with great symbolic significance.

Today is August 8th, just one day until the Colombian government rejects the ultimatum.

From a timing perspective, there is still less than half a month left to issue an order for the Central American Colombian Expeditionary Force to officially set out on August 8, which is completely in time.

"I will take your orders."

Don’t know when?
King Zheng Guohui of Chu had already come out of the side hall and was giving orders to the ministers who were there for the routine audience. The cabinet ministers, led by Li Hezhang, bowed and responded respectfully.

Declaring war is just a matter of an electric order. In the past six months, the Viceroyalty of Central America has made all preparations for war, and the army is ready to go.

The Royal Navy Expeditionary Force has already arrived and is currently conducting adaptive training near Maragua in preparation for war operations.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu glanced majestically at all the ministers, and his penetrating voice echoed in the hall, with a slight echo, and every word he said fell into the hearts of all the ministers.

"Anyone who openly attacks the Great Chu will be punished, even if he is thousands of miles away.

This war serves as a warning to all nations in the world that the sacred dignity of the kingdom cannot be violated or slandered, and that anyone who touches the king's forbidden food must die.

The expeditionary force to Colombia has spread our national prestige far beyond the waves and boosted the confidence of the Chinese nation. Its contribution lies in the present and its significance is far-reaching.

All departments of the Prime Minister's Office must work together, address the urgent needs of the front line, think about what the front line wants, and do their best to provide the necessary resources. This is the current priority.

You must keep this in mind and not slack off."

"Your humble servants will obey the Majesty's order and will not slack off for even a moment." The ministers responded in unison.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu gave his instructions and addressed each of the important requests from his ministers, approving, rejecting, or postponing them. Over two hours later, the wartime imperial conference concluded, and the ministers bowed and departed. King Zheng Guohui of Chu sat high on the throne, eyes closed in deep thought. His slender fingers gently tapped the nine dragons and soaring clouds on the chair back, mentally reviewing the matters he had been given.

When leading troops thousands of miles away, one must be careful!

Based on the current changing international situation, King Zheng Guohui of Chu carefully weighed the consequences of launching a war against Colombia, including the Panama Canal, which was under full construction and would affect French interests.

In this era, the great powers are unreasonable and domineering, but they pretend to be responsible major powers in order to confuse the world.

After Britain invaded and occupied Egypt, British Prime Minister Gladstone stated in Parliament: "Egypt will never be allowed to enter a state of anarchy. Order must be maintained. Our goal in Egypt is to overthrow the autocratic rule and restore the system and freedom."

Britain publicly declared that it would defend Egypt's interests and prevent them from being violated by the nationalist movement. Once the restoration continued, the British army would return power to the people and restore Egypt's autonomy.

Actually

This was just a deceptive excuse. From then on, Britain firmly brought Egypt under the protection of its state. The British Consul General in Egypt, Belling, became the de facto emperor of the country and ruled dictatorially for 25 years until the eve of World War I.

Think about it, if the British Empire, as the world hegemon and order-maker, openly did this, wouldn't other world powers follow suit?
The same was true of the State of Chu, which said one thing and did another.

Specifically for this military expedition to Colombia, the Chu State had reached a private consensus with the British side and had a bottom line for the war action.

That is, not to attempt to split the existing Colombian territory, not to occupy and divide its territory, to be committed to maintaining long-term stability and peace in Central and South America, and not to unilaterally change the status quo.

In other words, just punish him, don't go too far.

This was the bottom line that the British side could tolerate, and the State of Chu also agreed. There was no way they could go back on their word because it was a tacit understanding between the two world powers.

Selling out weak regional ethnic groups and countries in exchange for compromise and concessions from the great powers and maintaining superficial world peace was almost the rule of international order throughout the 19th century, and it was also the logic of robbers.

Similar situations can be seen almost everywhere in the world, and the private transactions between the world powers became the main line of the international order in the 19th century.

The same is true of the Colombian issue in Central and South America.

But this does not mean that there is no opportunity. The Chu State had to pass through Costa Rica to attack Colombia to the south. The army passed through the border without leaving a single blade of grass. This is a rather explicit adjective.

From one side

This reflects that the army in today's era is a more ferocious war force than bandits. Massacres of villages and towns are almost commonplace, and no force can check and balance them.

Fighting at home is so fierce, and fighting abroad is even more unrestrained.

It would be foolish to expect such an army to love its people like its own children and never harm them. It would be more reliable to pray to God.

The order given by the King of Chu to the expeditionary force was to make "Colombia fear for 100 years". Just from the literal meaning, it was full of murderous intent.

Does the Chu State's Colombian expeditionary force have to pass through Costa Rica?
That's not the case.

From Managua in Central America or ports on the Caribbean side, you can easily sail on the sea and reach every coastal port in Colombia, where landing is not a problem.

Colombia is a small country with a population of just over 300 million. Its naval power exists only on paper. In fact, it owns some small steamers and sloops in the name of the Water Police District Anti-Smuggling Team. The number of these ships is small and the condition of the ships is very worrying.

Most of the time, we stayed in the port.

Any armored cruiser owned by the Chu State would be an unmatched force in the waters near Columbia, enough to blockade and control the sea.

If that's the case, then why go through Costa Rica?

This is the secret of "using the enemy's territory as a pretext to attack another state". I can spend a little more time and leave no grass behind. I can also occupy the three towns of Panama, Colon and San Jose and complete the actual control over Costa Rica.

The tacit understanding between Chu and Britain was not to seek to divide Colombia, and this tacit understanding did not include Costa Rica.

It is obvious that this weak Central American country was sacrificed and deliberately forgotten by the British.

As a country with a long tradition of conspirators, Britain, which has some of the world's top strategic politicians and scholars, would never ignore Costa Rica.

So the real explanation is

The British viewed the Chu army's expedition as a wolf pack hunting. After fiercely tearing the prey apart, they would always have to get some sweet treat before they would willingly retreat.

The sweet treat the British offered was Costa Rica.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu knew very well
This sweet treat is not easy to swallow, because the Panama Canal is mixed with the interests of world powers such as France, the United States, Britain and Germany. It can be said to be a piece of fat meat with a sharp edge hidden.

If you swallow it rashly, your mouth will be filled with blood...

The British calculations were ruthless. Even for France, an epic super project like the Panama Canal required the whole country's efforts to complete it, and it also had to rely on capital from various countries.

The Chu State sent troops to interrupt France's progress on the Panama Canal. This feud was serious enough to start a war.

The grievances and entanglements of the Panama Canal do not end here. As the overlord of North America, the United States has long coveted the Panama Canal project but has been unable to obtain it.

When France brazenly intervened, the United States expressed strong opposition but took no substantive action due to the long-standing friendly tradition between the two countries and its fear of France's strength.

If the Chu State controlled the region, the United States would not be happy about it.

The mystery within is so complex and confusing that it is definitely not easy to deal with...

Thought of here
The King of Chu stopped tapping with his slender fingers and slowly opened his eyes. A sharp light flashed in his eyes, but a slight curve appeared at the corners of his lips.

You have your plan, and I have my ladder.

Then let’s see who will be the real winner in this international power struggle in Central and South America?

(End of this chapter)