Thousands of kilometers south of El Salvador, the capital of the Brazilian Empire,

Paraguay is located in a humid subtropical climate zone, and after entering the late autumn and early winter, the cold current from the north of the Antarctic region meets the warm current from the Amazon basin to the south, resulting in a period of heavy rainfall and cooling weather.

Beads of rain fell from the sky without stopping, slapping on the fertile black earth, splashing cloudy droplets.

The temperature dropped by 12 degrees Celsius compared to yesterday, and on the streets of Asunción, more than 200 soldiers who had been accustomed to cool military uniforms in summer yesterday immediately changed into thicker gray military uniforms for autumn and winter after feeling the sudden cooling.

Wear a warm, thick military uniform, and put on a batch of green rubber raincoats purchased from neighboring countries in the south, and you will not feel the slightest cold when the raindrops the size of beans hit your body.

Unlike the officers and soldiers of the capital's city defense, who were well-equipped and well-equipped, officials and officers in various clothes, or neat suits, or untidy businessmen and civilians who had just been evicted from their warm houses, were not treated in the same way as the little López personal guard.

The rain hit them uncoveredly, drenching the clothes they put on them, and the gentlemanly body that had been carefully dressed in the past ceased to exist under the destruction of the cold rain.

Before yesterday, no matter how prominent their status and status were, but after today, they who were considered guilty by King López Jr. have only one common identity, against the traitors and criminals of the great king!

Paraguayans who are charged with such a crime will either be executed or imprisoned in prison to await the final decision of His Majesty Lope Jr.

Standing in a messy street with sewage flowing, Colonel Mariano Alonso glanced at the animal waste floating on the sewage not far away. Disgusted: "Hell! Damn bad weather! Damn the drains! ”

Colonel Mariano Alonso vented his frustration with what he was looking at, and asked the officers next to him: "How many people on the arrest list have not been caught?" ”

"A total of 148 people were arrested in the central and northern urban areas, six escaped, and 72 people in other urban residential areas were not arrested."

"Go fast! The 6 people who escaped arrest were ignored for the time being, and the list was put on the list first, and the remaining 72 people were arrested! ”

Colonel Mariano Alonso didn't want to stay in the sewage-strewn streets for a minute, and urged.

"Yes! Captain. ”

The officer beside him accepted the order, then turned and left, and with a small detachment of more than forty or fifty people, left the crowd and hurried towards another city.

Watching the squad disappear into the rain, Colonel Mariano Alonso had a smile on his face.

"Major Masman, put together all the criminal's belongings we have collected this morning, and I will check and verify them myself."

"Yes, Colonel."

Another officer replied loudly, with a flattering smile on his face: "Colonel, according to the previous rules, the silver dollars, bank deposit receipts, and jewelry collected are all classified and recorded, you can rest assured, a silver dollar will not be less." ”

"Let's go, take me to see it."

Colonel Mariano Alonso nodded and ordered several officers to lead the soldiers to guard the captured criminals, while he, along with a dozen other officers and soldiers, walked into a house next to the street.

"Take out half of the jewels obtained from this collection and investigation and give them to Mrs. Lynch, take out sixty percent of the remaining part and report it, and make two copies of the remaining four parts, one for the officers below the captain level of the 1st Guards Regiment, and the other according to the old rules, the battalion commanders of the 1st Guards Regiment and the officers above the major of the regimental headquarters will participate in the distribution."

Colonel Mariano Alonso, the commander of the 1st Guards Regiment of the Paraguayan Army, who was in charge of catching criminals, was skilled enough to distribute the dirt collected and investigated.

Mrs. Lynch is the lover of King López Jr., because she has not received an official title, and she is not sure whether her son can successfully succeed Lope Jr. and ascend to the high position of King Paraguay, so in order to satisfy the regret of not having an official name, Mrs. Lynch took advantage of King López Jr.'s favor to her and tried her best to collect money.

Following Mrs. Lynch's line, Colonel Mariano Alonso got the fat difference to arrest the traitors, and while giving Mrs. Lynch a share of the money, he used his power to amass a lot of wealth for himself.

By settling at the top and using some of his interests to win over the lower ranks of officers and soldiers, Colonel Mariano Alonso was able to find a shortcut to his promotion and fortune in the chaotic and turbulent situation in Paraguay.

A year ago, for fear of the prestige of his generals, López Jr. dismissed the Marquis of Istigalibi from his position and forced him to retire from active service.

Six months ago, it was reported that the commander of the Guards, Major General Pelham Horton, had been dismissed from his post by López Jr. and imprisoned in Asunción prison, and half a month later, Major General Pelham Horton committed suicide.

Four months ago, López Jr. arrested and executed 270 soldiers, 12 colonels, and 3 generals on suspicion of conspiracy and treason, corruption, and other crimes within the army, and 47 officers and more than 1,000 soldiers were punished with caution.

López Jr.'s suspicions have expanded from government officials and businessmen to the army, and the successive heavy rains and the breaking of the levees have led to a succession of Indian rebellions in the north, which may have increased his suspicions and anger.

Since the restructuring of the Kingdom of Paraguay, not to mention that some of the generals who control the local military and political power have been divided into different places, and they are dissatisfied with López Jr., even the close officers, lovers, and relatives around López Jr. are also hurrying to loot money, transfer property, and plan a way back for themselves.

The Han Legation in Paraguay is the most popular place for the Paraguayan elite, because through the Legation in the Han State, they can deposit or transfer the looted property abroad, and relying on the close relationship established with the Han Legation in the early stage, if the domestic situation in Paraguay is irreversibly crisis, they also have the opportunity to get the help of the Han Legation and escape from the powder keg full of explosives in Paraguay.

Plan ahead and prepare for yourself an extra way back, Colonel Mariano Alonso, like other Paraguayan magnates, does not want the property he has worked so hard to loot and accumulate to end up being cheaper for others, so since he was promoted to the commander of the first regiment of the Guards two years ago, he has also begun to transfer the looted money abroad through various secret means.

The situation in Paraguay has progressed to the point where it is today, and anyone with a little vision understands that the rule of the López family will not last.

Adult men over the age of 12 in the country are required to do compulsory military service, while the elderly and women are treated as free labor, growing food and cotton for the army of López Jr. in the fields.

Although López Jr. had promised to pay his soldiers and women for their hard work after the war with the Brazilians, he never fulfilled it.

The civilians in Paraguay gradually got fed up with López Jr.'s brutal rule, and the Indians in the newly occupied areas and near Bolivia were the first to start an armed rebellion against López Jr., while the Paraguayan civilians in other regions, although they were intimidated by López's reputation for brutality and did not respond to the uprising, they also took a negative attitude to resist López Jr.'s oppression of them.

Every year, hundreds of Uruguayan women who could not bear the oppression in the vicinity of the Uruguay River basin risk smuggling into the Han-controlled areas, while the checkpoints near the Han border deliberately relaxed the supervision of the border waters under the influence of conscience and the Han side, and allowed the smuggled Uruguayan women to enter the Han country.

Because of the existence of López Jr. and the apparent allegiance of most of the army, Uruguay can still maintain a semblance of unity, but as the flood and the scale of the rebellion continue to spread, I am afraid that before López Jr. dies, the situation in Paraguay will completely collapse.

As a member of the Paraguayan Army, Colonel Mariano Alonso had no intention of saving the López regime, which was about to collapse, because when he saw that more than half of the entire Paraguayan country belonged to the López family, he understood that it was purely redundant to save such a regime.

As a cool breeze mixed with rain blew under the house, Colonel Mariano Alonso and his officers were discussing what to do with the looted belongings, and were about to escort the prisoners to join up with another detachment, when they received urgent news.

"Colonel, Your Majesty orders you to return to the barracks at once!"

"Is there something wrong with the front line in the state of Toro Grosso do Sul?"

"There was a massive collapse of the Apa River embankment, and the garrison temporarily stationed near the Apa River basin was hit by the flood and suffered heavy losses.

His Majesty was worried that the situation of counterinsurgency at the front line was out of control, so he ordered the 1st Guards Regiment, the Guards Cavalry Battalion, the 3rd Artillery Battalion, and the Engineer Battalion to assemble and stand by, waiting for the order to go out at any time! ”

The herald repeated López's order and urged: "Your Majesty is ready to personally lead the Asunción Guards to the front line to supervise the battle, and before I set out, all the troops scheduled to be transferred have accepted the order, Your Majesty is in a hurry, Colonel Mariano Alonso, I hope you will hurry up and go back and gather your troops!" ”

"Thank you for the reminder. I will now go back to the barracks and assemble my troops and stand by. ”

Colonel Mariano Alonso thanked the herald officer for the reminder, and then handed over the rest of the affairs to his confidant officer Masman, while he quickly returned to the barracks with more than 200 soldiers.