Wild North America 1846

Chapter 615
It took about 5 days before and after the Battle of Tumaco Port to come to an end. This was an astonishingly large-scale counterattack involving the participation of countries outside the region.The 3rd Regiment of the Garrison barely held the port at the cost of thousands of casualties.

Emergency reinforcements arrived at the port of Tumaco by boat. The imperial army came from the province of Panama and was part of the Central Plains Division of the Army of the South.There are two infantry regiments and one artillery battalion with a total of more than 18 officers and soldiers, accompanied by 6 [-]-pound field guns and a large amount of ammunition supplies.

When the urgent military situation that Tumaco was besieged by a large organized mob was reported to the division headquarters in Cali, the First Royal Mexican Field Division felt that it was unusual and immediately reported it layer by layer.

The relevant emergency military situation was finally submitted to the case of General Mai Xiaozu, the first-class Pingnan Duke who was inspecting in Medellin. With his rich experience in war, General Mai Xiaozu smelled a strong atmosphere of conspiracy.

After occupying the entire territory of Colombia, after several months of sweeping and mopping up, today's Colombian rebels have hid in the jungle to escape the attack, and there are very few single teams with more than a thousand people.

How could it be possible for a rebel armed force with a population exceeding [-] to appear all of a sudden?

Do you really think that the jungle is a very nourishing place?
The tropical jungle is extremely dangerous. Venomous snakes and insects are everywhere. It is difficult to guarantee clean water. It will cause large-scale tropical malaria and severe diarrhea, which are life-threatening risks.

There may be some wild fruits and animals in the tropical jungle, but it is impossible to support a team of more than a thousand people, and only three to 400 people are the best.

So, there must be something strange about it.

After General Mai Xiaozu clarified his thinking, he immediately ordered the Panamanian troops to garrison through the long-distance telegraph line that China Unicom had not long ago, and sent an emergency reinforcement force...

The Central Plains Division stationed on the outskirts of Panama City acted immediately after receiving the emergency reinforcement order. They assembled and boarded the ship the afternoon before, and arrived at Tumaco Port, 2 kilometers away, in the afternoon of the second day, rescuing the destroyed three regiments. dangerous
Take a break after logging in
The reinforcements began to counterattack at dawn on the third day. After a day and a half of bloody battles in the city, more than 3 enemies were killed, and the mobs were driven out of the city, and then a cover-up began...

An inventory of the entire battle of Tumako;
The imperial army suffered 3417 casualties, including 1300 Colombian civilians, 677 armed civilians, and more than 1420 imperial army officers and soldiers, suffering unprecedented heavy losses since the start of the war.

The casualties of the rebels were about 3.3, and another 2.16 were captured, including the retired French Major General Monty-François and many important officials from Peru and Ecuador. The truth of the whole incident gradually surfaced.

According to the confession of the captive;

Major General Monty-Francois of France is a military advisor hired by the Peruvian government. These advanced Chassepo rifles are part of the legal munitions ordered by Peru and are given priority to equip the elite troops of the Peruvian military.

For this large-scale counterattack, Peru dispatched more than 4800 people, and Ecuador dispatched more than 2100 people. They dressed in civilian clothes and joined the mob to attack.

After more than a month of preparation, we contacted more than 10 rebels in the scattered jungle, assembled about 3800 to 4000 local armed forces, engulfed a large number of civilians along the way, and finally formed a huge momentum.

The instigators were General Juan Varela, a hardliner in the Peruvian military, and General Daniel Morat of Ecuador, who have a common characteristic;

They are all descendants of white Spaniards born in the New World, and they are all large farmers. They took a tough stance because they feared the invasion of the Tang Empire, and opposed all efforts to promote the unified market in South America.

Given the stakes
It was beyond the scope of the Southern Legion's ability to handle it. After the Battle of Tumaco, the Southern Legion formed a detailed report and submitted it to the imperial government, which finally fell on the desk of His Majesty the Emperor...

Imperial Capital Chang'an
Daming Palace

"What's the opinion of the Ministry of War?" Emperor Li Cha asked in a calm tone without any expression on his face.

Marshal Dai Changfu, Chief of Staff of the Royal Army, General Harry Fritch, Deputy Chief of Staff, General Chen Chuan, General Tian Mantun, and General Fan Pengju were all present, sitting straight on one side of the general, and on the other side The cabinet ministers headed by Prime Minister Dong Jie.

After hearing His Majesty's inquiry, Marshal Dai Changfu, who was seated at the top of the military general, stood up quickly, raised his hand and performed a standard military salute;
"Return to His Majesty;

The Royal Army has made all preparations, always obeys His Majesty's call, has the ability to deal with any possible situation, and win the final victory.

Our Royal Army recruits can fight and wins battles, Buhehe is prestige in foreign lands, and maintains the supreme glory of the empire. "

"Well, I am very relieved." Emperor Li Cha was quite satisfied with the answer from the Ministry of War, and nodded to let Marshal Dai Changfu sit down.

The options on the table are already evident;
In order to maintain the dignity of the empire, an escalation of the war is inevitable.

The only difference is...to what extent will the war be extended?
It is limited to Ecuador or includes Peru and Ecuador, or the war will affect all three countries of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, forming a second South American war in a broad sense.

Emperor Richard turned his head and asked, "Has the government reached a consensus?"

During the 10 years of development after the founding of the country, the political circle of the Tang Empire has indeed formed a very distinctive political ecology, which is famous for its high efficiency, cleanliness and full of aggressiveness.

Bismarck, the iron-blooded Prime Minister of the German Empire once commented on this; "This is a group of political figures with great personalities and charisma. They are loyal and enthusiastic. They often mention the glorious conquest history of their ancestors thousands of years ago, and want to replicate this success..."

The President of the French Third Empire, Adolphe Thiers, also spoke highly of the Tang Empire government, thinking that it was "the most capable subordinate of His Majesty the Eastern Emperor, who fulfilled many arduous tasks with due diligence and efficiency. In comparison, Napoleon III The emperor always backs down from disputes with his courtiers in order to win more support..."

The official administration of the Tang Empire can be described as a clean stream among the great powers of the world today. It has ideals, ambitions, responsibility, and ability to handle affairs are the most conspicuous labels, and it has received extremely high praise from all over the world.

Prime Minister Earl Dong Jie stood up respectfully, bowed his hands and replied;
"Show Your Majesty;
After the Colombian incident, there were two opinions within the government, the moderate faction and the radical faction, among which;

The moderates believed that the steady promotion of the colonial expansion policy should be the main focus, and they could not eat hot tofu in a hurry.

At present, the primary goal of the Colonial Department is still to digest the residential areas of New Columbia. It is not appropriate to expand the attack area too much and lengthen the front to avoid serious indigestion reactions.

At best, the war will be extended to the territory of Ecuador.

This is also following the stable expansion policy of the empire, pursuing a divide-and-rule strategy of attracting one faction, attacking another faction, and isolating the other faction, with a focus on steady advancement.

The radicals advocated that the sacred dignity of the empire should not be underestimated, and that all South American countries involved in it should be punished with a thunderbolt, and the problem of the unified South American market should be solved once and for all.

The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Colonial Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mainly held such positions, while the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Communications and other cabinet ministers held different objections, and the two sides were at loggerheads.

Which one is better and which one is worse, should be based on the holy ruling, and the ministers and others will follow it without error. "

After hearing these answers, Emperor Li Cha raised his brows, and after looking at Prime Minister Dong Jie sternly, he asked in a low voice, "In your opinion, what should I do?"

"This……"

The majesty of the emperor sees the wind and thunder in a silent place, and with an understatement, Dong Jie, the prime minister, is forced into a situation from which he cannot retreat, with dissatisfaction implied in his tone.

If the cabinet can't come up with a unified opinion, what's the use of you?
Prime Minister Dong Jie, under the staring eyes of the emperor, immediately broke out in a layer of cold sweat on his back. After saluting again, he bent his waist even deeper, and said, "Qi Zou, Your Majesty;
My minister secretly thinks that caution should be the most important thing.

The first step is to attack Ecuador, and it is not appropriate to over-expand the scope of attack. This is not conducive to increasing the financial expenditure of the empire and the international outlook, and the risk is also greatly increased.

Wouldn't it be better if you don't draw it slowly? "

"His Majesty, the Ministry of Finance of the Empire seconded."

"Qi Zou His Majesty, the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce seconded."

"Qizuo His Majesty, the Ministry of Communications seconded."

"His Majesty, the Ministry of Education and Health seconded."

"Qizuo Your Majesty, the Ministry of the Interior seconded."

……

After the Prime Minister answered, a large number of cabinet ministers stood up and expressed their support. It seems that most of the cabinet is stable.

This represents the opinions of a considerable number of nobles and courtiers. They are not opposed to direct expansion, but belong to the moderate colonial expansionists or the moderate colonial expansionists.

Since the establishment of the empire, the almost non-stop colonial expansion in the past 28 years has invested a considerable amount of financial resources in the new colonial areas every year, consuming a lot of government financial resources.

Currently, the Andean Viceroyalty, Texas Province, and Beihai Province’s financial appropriation support is ebbing, and they have received positive feedback, and they have continuously generated benefits.

However, the new colonial area of ​​Yunzhong Province and the new colonial area of ​​Columbia immediately stepped up. These are places that require a large amount of financial investment.Coupled with the continued military operations of the Southern Corps, it is a foregone conclusion that there will be a large deficit in fiscal expenditure this year.

Then rashly expand the military strikes against Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, do you really think that starting a war is free?
Even if the empire's finances are rich in income, they can't afford such a large amount of spending, can they?
The traditional courtiers of the Han family all have a simple concept of "living within their means", which is the same as living at home, and they are unwilling to borrow money to live from the bottom of their hearts.

The courtiers were not opposed to colonial expansion, but hoped to take a more steady pace. After digesting the previous colonial achievements, they were planning the next expansion goal.

And this is exactly the policy that the imperial emperor Li Cha has always implemented, and now it has become the consensus of the whole court.

From a certain point of view, the courtiers are all loyal believers of His Majesty the Emperor, and they are practicing His Majesty's theory of colonial expansion, which was originally correct.

Emperor Li Cha saw a group of bigwigs in the military department, Viscount Yao Guangyi, Minister of the Colonial Department who supported the radical plan, and Luo Fengxian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who were about to move, so he waved his hands calmly, meaning that they should be safe.

Only then did he calmly ask; "Dong Aiqing, the statistics of the empire's overall economic operation in 1873 have been released, what is the growth rate?"

Prime Minister Dong Jie did not dare to neglect, and replied after respectfully saluting; "Returning to Your Majesty, compared with the rapid growth of the national economy of 11.2% in the previous year, the large-scale economic crisis that originated in Europe in 1873 severely impacted the imperial economy.

Statistics at the end of the year show that economic growth in 1873 fell back to 3.45%, showing a cliff-like decline compared to the previous year.

However, compared with the great powers in recession in the world, Datang Empire's economic performance can be described as thriving, and it still recorded stable growth in the storm of the global economic crisis, which is really commendable.

This also reflects the extremely strong resilience of the empire's economy. My minister congratulates His Majesty and the Tang Empire! "

"So according to economic statistics, how much social demand has been stimulated by starting the Colombian war?"

"Hmm... Your Majesty, the Ministry of Finance and the Imperial Bureau of Statistics have indeed made a careful assessment. The effect of launching the Colombian War on social demand in 1873 should be around 3%."

"That is to say, the war has driven demand and made a non-negligible positive contribution to avoiding the overall economy of the empire from sinking into a deeper quagmire?"

"His Majesty, this is the general consensus of the cabinet ministers. The Colombian war has indeed stimulated the overall demand of society, and it is one of the main factors for us to get rid of the economic crisis."

"But the power to drive social demand is weak, accounting for only about [-]%?"

"Your Majesty Qizuo, it is true."

"Um……"

Emperor Li Cha responded, looked around at the ministers of His Royal Highness, and said calmly;

"Everything should be adapted to local conditions and moved according to the times, and we must not stick to the rules. Zhu Aiqing made the mistake of empiricism.

If it is on weekdays, it is an appropriate policy to act cautiously.

But what is the situation now?
The global economic crisis has intensified in its second year. Tariff protectionism in various countries has not been reduced, but has been increased. The overall scale of international trade has further shrunk, which is already predictable.

Under such circumstances, the only way to prevent the overall economy from falling into the abyss of recession is to strongly promote the growth of domestic demand.

Don't be afraid of large-scale borrowing. Money can only generate value if it is spent, and it will only get moldy if it is piled up at home.

As long as the national economy is back on track, it will be worth the effort.

Especially commendable is
Peru, Ecuador, these idiots have already offered up the excuse to start the war with both hands, how can they ignore their good intentions?

Perhaps when these South American countries come back to their senses and regain their sanity, they will never dare to offend the majesty of the empire.Be cautious and careful in everything, you can't find a fault even if you want to pick it?
How can such a wonderful opportunity to catch everything all at once be let go?

Only the international observation of the government's concerns brought out all the captives in Tumaco, which was widely reported by the imperial and European media, including the French general, as well as respectable figures in Peru and Ecuador.

Let the public opinion of the world see that these people and the countries they represent have blatantly provoked the empire.

The Tang Empire is just fighting back. It will take about a month to give you time to prepare your public opinion.

One month later

The Datang Empire united with Paraguay, Uruguay and other countries to openly declare war on Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, and simply made the scene bigger and more lively, completely solving all hidden dangers in the unified South American market. "

"Your Majesty is wise, and the ministers are honored to obey the oracle."

"In addition, a total of 2 million Tang Yuan war bonds will be issued to the citizens of Datang. The interest rate is set at 4.2% for a period of 5 years. The Royal Fund will subscribe for [-]%. If you have any spare money, you can also use it to buy some. Take care of this."

"Your Majesty is wise, and the ministers will obey everything." All the ministers replied in unison.

(End of this chapter)