Wild North America 1846

Chapter 489 The Passion of the Empire

April 4th at eleven o'clock in the morning
The Tang Empire invaded the country heavily, and the army crossed the border of Cordoba and invaded about 20 kilometers into the Colombian del Estero province of Argentina, which opened the prelude to the Tang Empire's participation in the war.

From this stage, the Paraguay War was transformed into the "South American War", also known as the "Five Nations War".

These five countries took the Tang Empire and Paraguay as their side to face the aggressive Brazilian Empire, while Argentina and Uruguay copied the scene that turned the tide of war in North America, which caused an uproar in the world.

The news of the invasion of the Tang Empire had already been expected by Argentina, but they did not expect it to come so fast and so violently.

War was officially declared on April 4, and soldiers were already overwhelming the border on April 5, with little time to breathe.

Fortunately, when the Argentine side crossed the red line drawn by the Tang Empire, it had already anticipated that this battle would be inevitable. It had already reduced the troops in the provinces of Colombia del Estero and Santa Fe, and formed a team of about 4.2 troops. People's mobile corps entrenched on the border between the two countries.

Argentina's intentions are clear;
Do not seek success, but seek no fault.

Therefore, the Argentine Corps took a defensive position based on the geographical advantages and dangers, hoping to drag the war into a protracted and stalemate stage, waiting for the situation to change.

The abacus was really good, but unfortunately, the experienced generals of the Great Tang Empire did not follow the script completely, and went astray from the very beginning...

Tell me about the situation before the war

The Allied forces of the three countries in Paraguay lasted 8 months of bitter fighting. After paying a huge price of 5.7 casualties, they have already broken through the fortress Umaita, a river fortress known as the "Sevastopol of the Americas". The capital of Paraguay, Ascension, is located in In the valley of Yima Plain, it is almost within reach.

After a short break of three days

The Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms will march towards Ascension on April 4 (that is, tomorrow), with a distance of more than 7 kilometers. Even if the Paraguayan remnant army is fighting in the towns along the way, it will take a week to ten days to occupy it. Ascension.

Regardless of whether Paraguay recognizes it or not, this will represent a complete victory for the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms and has extraordinary symbolic significance.

At that time, the Triple Alliance will be in an advantageous position in the post-war negotiations, and the initiative of the fighters and warlords will be in their own hands.

With the backing of the British, no matter how you look at it, it has the upper hand.

After all, the Brazilian Empire is the most powerful country in South America with a total population of more than [-] million. Isn't it shameful?

If they were really intimidated by the Tang Empire and retreated, without the fig leaf of victory in the war, the huge casualties of tens of thousands of people and the war expenditure would overwhelm the Brazilian Empire, and huge internal turmoil that would endanger the imperial power would inevitably erupt.

Faced with such serious consequences, the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II had to make a desperate move.

The situation in Argentina is not much better than that of the Brazilian Empire. After 10 years of civil war, Argentina, with the province of Buenos Aires on one side and the Inter-Province on the other, has just been established in the ruins of the war. The desert expedition of the Tang Empire and the unprecedented brutal Paraguay War.

These huge changes one after another have simply overwhelmed the Argentine government.

To date
Frequent conflicts with the armed militias of the Tang Empire have led to turmoil in the central and northern provinces of Argentina. In recent years, the central provinces have fallen one after another.

The huge panic spread, which caused a large number of white manor owners to abandon their ranches and settlements, and fled to Buenos Aires Province with their families for refuge.

This situation has greatly weakened the power of the federal provinces, while Buenos Aires province has accepted a population of 10,000+ for no reason, and has greatly benefited from the turbulent situation.Filling the gap in the labor force, the strength is that sesame blossoms steadily.

In 1861

Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires province, has a population of 13.42. This province is the largest province in Argentina with a total area of ​​30.76 square kilometers, accounting for 37.7% of the entire Argentine land area. The population is 79.6, accounting for 52.7% of the total population, more than seventeen provinces with the power of one province.

It is precisely because of such a strong strength that the province of Buenos Aires finally won the ten-year civil war and established an Argentine government centered on representing the interests of the large estate owners and capitalists in the province.

5 years of conflict and unrest have passed
Today's Buenos Aires Province has benefited from border conflicts, and its overall population has exceeded one million (including more than 10 European immigrants mainly from Italy and Spain in recent years), with a total population of 109.33.

However, the original 17 provinces were continuously eroded northward by the Tang Empire, and now there are only 9 provinces in the north. The territory has been eroded by more than half, and the population has dropped sharply to about 28 to 29 people.

With this increase and decrease, the strength of the Federation is greatly reduced, and the right to speak is much weaker.

The so-called house leak happens to rain all night, and it couldn't be more appropriate to apply it to the joint province.

From late 1864

The outbreak of the Paraguayan War involved Argentina again. The most tragic thing is that the Paraguayan army took the lead in sending troops to the Argentine province of Corrientes, which is a relatively rich and populous northern province in the Federation, and was forced to endure the flames of war. spread.

In order to defend their homeland, Corrientes and the adjacent northern provinces organized a large number of white militias to fight with the invading Paraguayan army.

However, Argentine government troops and Brazilian reinforcements were late. The war lasted from 1864 to 1866, which lasted for more than two years. It paid a heavy price of 3.5 to 3.8 casualties.

All kinds of dissatisfaction piled up in my heart, and I really complained about the Argentine government, hating my teeth itching.

Many white settlers in the Union Province believed that;
What Buenos Aires did was despicable and shameful. It was just to watch the Tang Empire and the Paraguayans take turns to weaken the Federation in order to satisfy their selfish idea of ​​dominance.Let the white manor owner's home be destroyed, his wife and daughter be bullied and indifferent, and his intentions are extremely sinister.

The seeds of a split had already been planted, and a split would be almost inevitable if Argentina were defeated.

As for Uruguay, it was originally the echo of the two powers in South America, the Brazilian Empire and Argentina. It has no right to formulate independent policies at all, and can only follow behind and wave the flag.

April 1867, 4, at eleven o'clock in the morning
The Binonite Valley in Colombia del Estero
The dark army of the Tang Empire confronted the Argentine army entrenched in the mountain pass, the flags were flying and fluttering in the wind, the air was filled with tension, and the war was about to break out.

From the point of view of the situation

The Argentine army consisted of 2.3 Indian infantry and 1.9 cavalry. The infantry was arrayed in the center of the valley, with mountains on one side and rivers on the other. A wooden fence was built in the valley plain with a width of about 4 kilometers in front.

This temporary wooden fence wall has no defensive power, and there are large gaps between the wooden posts, which can only block the cavalry's impact, but cannot cover the bullet rain.

Therefore, the large formation of Indian infantry dispatched by Argentina was located in front of the wooden fence wall, forming more than a dozen long square formations, a total of three rows.The infantry phalanx is equipped with artillery, equipped with more than 130 artillery pieces.

Behind the large infantry formation, the Argentine cavalry units lined up in a ring on the left and right. They wore a variety of costumes. They were obviously volunteer cavalry recruited temporarily, and their formation was relatively loose.

Seeing the appearance of the enemy waiting in full force, Lieutenant General Lei Juekun, the commander, couldn't help showing a contemptuous smile of "nothing more than that", and waved his hand calmly to order;
"Let's get started, let the Argentines feel the enthusiasm of the empire."

"As you order, Your Excellency Commander."

大唐帝国正面摆出的兵力只有万余人，以皇家海军第二远征师下属两个团及一个炮兵营5600余人为主力，辅以下马作战的志愿民兵第5师和第8师（缺一个团）约6千人，但是却有7个炮兵连56门野战火炮参战。

Plus an artillery battalion of 24 6-pound field guns, a total of 80 artillery pieces.

These more than 80 artillery pieces were lined up in front, divided into 4 artillery positions. Amid the high-pitched military music, they were drawn by war horses and followed the line of infantry.

The Tang Empire's first attack caused continuous turmoil in the Argentine army. The white commander rushed forward fiercely, kicking and cursing, which stopped the timidity of the Indian infantry.

Compared with the well-informed armed militia of the Tang Empire, most of its backbones are veterans who have survived countless battles, and they treat such a big scene as nothing.

These native Indians have never seen such a large formation. When the Tang Empire line infantry came up with murderous aura, they were already frightened.

The military music is passionate, and the flags are flying.

The line infantry of the Tang Empire's attack maintained a strict formation, with uniform navy blue military uniforms, and bright spears like forests. They were uniformly equipped with Colt 1858 bolt-action rifles, also known as "King's" rifles.

On the left and right sides of the line infantry attacking from the front, there are the 8th Division and the [-]th Division of the Volunteer Militia (one regiment is missing). Not the same.

Some are Colt lever action rifles, some are Minie rifles, and some are expensive custom precision rifles.Only there is no Colt 1858 bolt-action rifle, because this kind of military-style rifle that represents the advanced level of the world today is not in circulation among the people, and it is not allowed to be bought or sold.

The distance between the two sides began to approach rapidly from about 4 kilometers, and when it entered the range of 2 kilometers, the Indian line infantry of Argentina also began to move forward and began to actively shorten the distance between the two sides.

And at this moment

Under the command of the commander, the line infantry of the Tang Empire had already stopped advancing. After sorting out the horizontal formation, they began to load the rifles in their hands, ready for battle.

The artilleryman was busy unloading the cannon carriage from the horse, then turned the cannon carriage, pointing the muzzle of the black hole straight ahead, put down the hoe, manually adjusted the angle of the cannon, and completed a series of tasks before the cannon was fired.

In addition, the arrival of the baggage carriage will quickly unload the piles of shells on the cart, and a dozen boxes of shells are prepared behind each artillery.

And this is just the beginning...

The commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Lei Juekun, referred to the "enthusiasm of the empire" as referring to the ultra-long range represented by these Colt breech-loading field guns. more than double.

How can this unilateral firepower advantage not be fully utilized?

The Colt field gun not only has fierce firepower and a fast rate of fire, but also the explosion power of the advanced shell is powerful enough for the Argentines to drink a pot.

(End of this chapter)