ps: Thank you for the reward from the old classmate who is older than the mountain!

On the morning of December 1, during the celebration of the establishment of the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul, a large-scale armed conflict broke out between Paraguay and Argentina in the Misiones region.

Located in the northeast of Atin, the province of Misiones covers an area of 29,800 square kilometers, most of which is the Paraná Plateau, with rugged terrain with low mountains, canyons and rivers.

The climate is subtropical with warm winters and hot summers, with an average annual precipitation of more than 1,500 mm. There are mineral resources such as gold, silver, iron, mercury, and coal.

It is bordered by the Paraguay River and the Uruguay River in the east and west directions, respectively, and has important economic and strategic interests by curbing the transportation of the region in the middle of the two rivers.

Both Argentina and Paraguay claimed sovereignty over the Misiones region, before the Paraguayan War, Argentina had de facto control over the region, and in the later stages of the Paraguayan War, the Chinese troops annihilated the main force of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, and the Argentine troops who participated in the war hurriedly retreated into Argentina, and even the garrison of the Misiones province fled from the northern region in a hurry, resulting in a local power vacuum.

At the end of the Paraguayan War, the main force of the Chinese army entered southern Brazil, leaving only a discontent group in the Misiones area, stationed in the area where the Canoas River and the Paraguay River meet, controlling an area of about 500 square kilometers in the central and eastern part of Misiones.

The Argentine and Paraguayan forces, on the other hand, controlled the northern and southern parts of the province of Misiones, respectively, forming a de facto line of control in the Canoas River area.

The Argentine, Paraguayan and Chinese forces in the Misiones area converged, among which the Chinese troops controlled part of the land on the west bank of the Uruguay River and controlled the three small fortresses left by the Argentines who retreated.

The Chinese troops occupied a small area, the fortress was difficult to overcome, and the aura brought by the annihilation of the main force of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, neither Argentina nor Paraguay took the initiative to trouble the Chinese troops, but instead aimed at the opponent who seemed to be easy to deal with.

On the evening of December 3, three days after the conflict began, three Paraguayans walked into the city of Porto Alegre to deliver a telegram from Lope Jr. to Li Mingyuan.

The telegram was delivered in Spanish, and the Paraguayan delegates who remained in Porto Alegre quickly translated it into Chinese after receiving it, so Li Mingyuan had no trouble reading it.

"Your Excellency, the Four-Power Covenant is only against Brazil, and the conflict between your country and Argentina is not within the scope of the Covenant, and I cannot agree to the request of the President of your country."

In a telegram, López Jr. invited Li Mingyuan to send troops to Misiones, promising to divide the land south of Misiones after the Argentine forces were expelled.

There are two metal ore producing areas in the Argentine-controlled area south of Misiones, which contain iron ore resources needed for the development of Rio Gran do Sul, and López Jr. should have seen this, so he invited Chinese troops to send troops.

"Your Majesty, Paraguay has never recognized that the Misiones region belongs to Argentina, and the Argentine side took the lead in this conflict, and Paraguay has no intention of launching a new war, but Argentina takes the initiative to provoke and vainly attempts to occupy all the land of Misiones, which is a naked declaration of war against Paraguay!"

Li Mingyuan's refusal did not affect the Paraguayan envoy standing in the hall, and he said directly, "Paraguay recognizes your ownership of the area where the Canoas River meets the Paraguay River, and is willing to give the part of the southern part of Misiones near the Paraguay River to the Principality of Rio Grande do Sul in return,......

President López is full of sincerity and hopes to reach a renewed cooperation with His Majesty. ”

The Paraguayan envoy continued to say a large number of conditions, some of which were mentioned in the telegram, some of which were not mentioned, and there were no less than 30 of them, and it can be seen that this conflict was not only deliberately provoked by Argentina, but also planned by the Paraguayan side against Misiones.

"Your Excellency, the main population of Misiones is the local Indians, Argentina and Paraguay only controlled the local coastal areas more than ten years ago, and we believe that the status of Misiones is undetermined, and the claim of sovereignty by Argentina and you is an act without legal basis, and the Principality of Rio Gran do Sul does not recognize it."

Li Mingyuan's sudden change of words aroused the vigilance of the Paraguayan envoy,

"What does Your Majesty mean? Do you want to annex Misiones alone? ”

"No, you're mistaken." Li Mingyuan opened his mouth to explain the misunderstanding of the Paraguayan envoy: "The Chinese are peace-loving, a nation, and we do not want to see the Misiones conflict turn into a large-scale war.

The Paraguayan War has just ended, and Paraguay, Argentina, and Rio Grande do Sul need time to recover from the damage caused by the war. ”

"I will pass on His Majesty's proposal to President López, and I hope that His Majesty will carefully consider the conditions put forward by us until President López makes a new decision."

Hearing that Li Mingyuan did not abandon Paraguay's idea of occupying the Misiones region alone, the Paraguayan representative breathed a sigh of relief, and after a few last polite words, he hurriedly left the hall and returned.

Li Mingyuan, Liu Pu, and Zhao Yan were left in the room, and after the conflict broke out in Misiones, Zhao Yan temporarily stayed in Porto Alegre to assist Liu Pu in analyzing the conflict situation.

"Your Majesty, Paraguay has a large number of troops on the border front, and López Jr. is ambitious, I'm afraid he won't follow His Majesty's advice."

Liu Pu said.

"López Jr. is bold and resilient, and the decisions he makes will not be easily changed." Li Mingyuan said lightly.

"Brazil has a vast area and rich national resources, although the Paraguayan war has consumed a lot of Brazil's national strength, but it will not take long to recover part of its strength, if López Jr. insists on starting a war, Paraguay will be weakened too much in the war, Brazil will lose a containment force, and Rio Gran do Sul will face a greater threat from Brazil, so I think that Paraguay's participation in a new war is not good for Rio Grande do Sul, and we should try our best to prevent Paraguay from entering the war."

Zhao Yandao.

"López Jr. has always wanted to be the Napoleon of South America, and we can't stop his decision, and a war will inevitably break out between Paraguay and Argentina."

"Your Majesty, Paraguay is in the war, are we standing aside and watching Paraguay's national strength suffer?"

Liu Pu couldn't think of a way to stop Paraguay from entering the war, so he asked with a frown.

"Yes, we're not going to do anything, just sit by and watch them fight."

Li Mingyuan's tone was relaxed, looking at the puzzled looks of the two people sitting next to him, and explained, "Little López is ambitious and adventurous, but he is no stranger to the current situation in Paraguay.

During the reign of his father, López Sr., the once barren Paraguay rose rapidly, encouraging foreign trade and bringing in a large amount of foreign capital; Engineers from England and Austria were brought in to help build railways, shipyards, and steel mills; Recruit European and American doctors, engineers and technicians, and open factories and schools;

Under the painstaking management of the elder López, just 20 years later, the poor and backward Paraguay has become a small hegemon in South America.

Because of the foundation laid by the elder López, López Jr. has the ability to carry the Brazilian Empire head-on for three years.

However, after the Paraguayan War, López Jr. ostensibly won the war, but he got nothing but a piece of land that could not be mined for the time being.

The industrial construction laid by the elder López in power for 20 years has been completely lost, the country is short of food and materials, and the population has been reduced by a third.

The country was in full of internal difficulties and could not be significantly improved in a short period of time, so López Jr. took advantage of the Misiones conflict to divert internal contradictions, hoping to add new honor to himself through the victory of a local war and consolidate his dominance in Paraguay. ”

"The situation in Paraguay is indeed not optimistic, after the arrival of our army in Rio Gran do Sul, it was ordered to continue the task of absorbing Paraguayan women, and in the border area between our army and Paraguay, Paraguayan women are recruited by our army every day to enter the Rio Gran do Sul region,

Moreover, two months ago, López Jr., who had always disagreed with our army's entry into the Paraguayan-controlled areas to recruit Paraguayan women, also relented and began to organize groups of poor women to exchange grenades, muskets, artillery and other weapons produced by our army. ”

Liu Pu is in charge of the work of procuring female immigrants from South America, and through the deal with López Jr., Liu Pu also understands the use of Paraguayans in exchange for weapons.

"Argentina and Paraguay are so badly damaged that they are not capable of waging a full-scale war, and the scale of the war will only be limited to Misiones.

We will not intervene in the conflict between them for the time being, and will wait until the situation is deadlocked. ”

Li Mingyuan made a decision on the handling of the Misiones conflict, and immediately assigned the task: "The 1st Mixed Brigade will be transferred to the area controlled by our army on the Canoas River to strengthen the security and implement armed neutrality.

The grenades produced in the Santa Maria base, the sealed muskets and artillery guns are all sold to Paraguay, Liu Pu, you go to negotiate with the Paraguayans, muskets, artillery, machine guns, and improved grenade manufacturing methods We can sell them to them, we don't need them to buy them with money, we only need to change the single female **. ”

"Your Majesty......"

"Don't call me Your Majesty, the Duke of Rio Gran do Sul is a Brazilian title, and he still calls me the prince when there are no outsiders." Li Mingyuan waved his hand to interrupt Liu Pu's words: "The Prussians have informed me of the news that the procurement fleet going to Prussia will arrive at Port Alegre in five days, and the industrial equipment and weapons purchased are all on board, and the muskets and machine guns used by the brothers can be replaced with new weapons. ”

"Yes!" The Prussian procurement fleet is about to return, and the various miscellaneous weapons used by the Chinese soldiers have also fulfilled their historical mission, and can be sold to the Paraguayans in exchange for the much-needed female population, balancing the ratio of Chinese men to women.