When the critical situation of the Argentine war reached the European continent, public opinion in European countries boiled, and British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli specially convened a cabinet meeting on the subject.

"Gentlemen, according to the information sent back by diplomats, the night before yesterday the important town of Santa Fe in central Argentina fell, and the 12,000 Argentine regular troops stationed in Santa Fe were wiped out, and just two hours ago, I just received a telegram from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the telegram was personally ordered by Argentine President Mitre, in which President Mitre sincerely asked the British Empire to lend a helping hand to save Argentina, which is also of the white race, and now I am distributing a copy of President Mitre's telegram to you, hoping that you can give appropriate suggestions."

Benjamin nodded at his administrative secretary, and the young secretary led seven or eight attendants to distribute copies of the telegram to the cabinet members.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, I think it is necessary to brief the Cabinet members of the Cabinet on the general situation of the warring parties before discussing the Argentine question."

No sooner had the copy of the telegram been distributed than a fat man with a bald head stood up and spoke.

"Please, Lord Cecil."

Benjamin nodded, motioning for the other to start talking.

"The Argentine war involved two main countries - Han and Argentina, Argentina is a country founded by Spanish descent, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Imperial Army tried to occupy the Viceroyalty of La Plata, but failed, and because of the territorial dispute in the Falkland Islands, the Argentine government has always been wary of the Empire's commercial activities in its country, the relationship between the two countries has not been as close as that between the Empire and South American countries such as Brazil and Chile, and the Han State itself is a country founded by a group of poor Chinese laborers, eleven years ago, Li Mingyuan, the king of the Han Kingdom, led the Chinese workers to launch an uprising in Peru, and then in the confrontation with the armies of Peru, Brazil and other countries, Li Mingyuan relied on his cunning marching command and his hard-working Chinese army to continuously achieve military victories against Peru, Brazil, Argentina and other countries, and successfully established another Chinese state outside the Qing State by virtue of the prestige brought by the victory in the war and the gradual encroachment of the territory of Brazil and Argentina. ”

After introducing the starting process of Argentina and the Han Kingdom, the bald fat man continued, "Li Mingyuan, the king of the Han Kingdom, is the son of Li Shixian, the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in the early days of the uprising, he used the remnants of the Taiping Army to control the Chinese labor troops, but when the Chinese rebel army occupied the two southern states of Brazil, Li Mingyuan gave up the old hierarchical concept of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and he distributed the occupied land to poor Chinese laborers and subsequent immigrants from the Qing Dynasty, and at the same time imported machinery and equipment from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries. Actively develop the local industrial construction of the Han Kingdom.

Li Mingyuan made a series of measures to make the strength of the Han State grow rapidly, and the strength of the national defense force under his command has also increased rapidly in the past ten years, therefore, I would like to remind you that the Han State located in South America is not the same as the Qing State in the Far East, and the comprehensive strength and military strength of the Han State are by no means something that can be solved by the imperial government sending a few thousand or one or twenty thousand troops, if the imperial government agrees to the request of the Argentine government and personally sends troops to participate in the war, Then I suggest that the Imperial Government should send at least 50,000 army troops, and at least one fleet of sub-fleet size to South America, and impose a naval blockade and arms embargo on the coastal areas of the Han Kingdom. ”

"Lord Cecil, I don't understand how you came up with the data that to aid Argentina, the Imperial Government needs to send at least fifty thousand troops? You must know that when Burma and the Qing were first attacked, the imperial government only sent 10,000 or 20,000 local troops, and the Han State was only a Chinese country established for ten years, and their population and soldiers could be compared with those of Burma and the Qing Dynasty? If the imperial government needs to send 50,000 troops to attack a Han state, then in the face of a vast colony of more than 10 million square kilometers, wouldn't the imperial government have to draw all the troops in the country? ”

Not all of the key members of the cabinet belonged to the Liberal Party like Benjamin and Cecil, so after Cecil's speech, he was quickly opposed by the Liberal faction.

"Sir Glesteen, do you really think that you don't need to send 50,000 troops to defeat the Han Kingdom?"

"Of course, with only 10,000 colonial troops, the Imperial Government will be able to force those yellow monkeys to surrender on their knees!"

"Hehe, has Sir Glestoe forgotten the defeat of Isandelva?"

The bald fat man sneered disdainfully, "Baron Chelmsford has 20,000 colonial troops under his command, but he was defeated by the uncivilized Zulu blacks in the Battle of Isandelva, do you think that the Han troops who defeated the Brazilians and Argentines are inferior to the Zulu blacks with short spears and shields?" ”

"The defeat in the Battle of Isandwa was just an accident, and if the front-line commanders were careful, 1,500 soldiers would not have been wiped out!"

"Hmph, the front-line commander is careless about the enemy? It seems to me that Baron Chelmsford had been in London for so long that he had forgotten how to fight, otherwise he would not have blindly sent 1,500 soldiers deep into the interior of South Africa to fight in the absence of the strength of the enemy's army. ”

"You're slandering! Baron Chelmsford did not order the front-line troops to fight inland, and it was the front-line commanders themselves who made a rash advance to make the troops fall into the trap. ”

Glesdo spoke out in defense of Chelmsford.

"Is it up to the Prime Minister and the cabinet to decide whether Chelmsford is responsible, not just what you say!"

The struggle between the Conservatives and the Liberals was not only political, but also highly competitive in military and diplomatic terms.

Chelmsford had a better relationship with the Liberal faction, and when the British government decided to attack the Zulus in South Africa, Chelmsford, who was supported by the Liberal Party, was able to serve as commander of the South African colonial forces, responsible for directing the encirclement and suppression of the Zulus.

However, the Zulus were different from the average African people, they were more aggressive, and in the war in early 1879, the British colonial army suffered several defeats in succession, losing more than 2,000 troops, so after learning the lessons of the initial defeat, the South African colonial army first suspended the attack on the Zulus, and then reorganized the remaining troops, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from the mainland before fighting.

By late March, while the war was raging in Argentina, the British government approved the request of the South African colonial forces and sent seven regiments from the mainland to fight in South Africa.

The strength of the seven regiments was still on the way to South Africa, and Chelmsford had temporarily retained his post due to the needs of the situation in South Africa, but the British Cabinet had begun discussions about replacing Chelmsford's generals, and there were several candidates in reserve.

The Zulu War and the Guano War both involved a certain amount of energy from the British government, and the outbreak of war in Argentina presented a problem for British cabinet officials.

It was not difficult for the British government to send 10,000 or even 50,000 regular troops, but Argentina was different from South Africa and Chile, South Africa was a British colony, and it was the duty of the British government to exterminate the Zulu people there.

Saltpeter was the main raw material for the production of explosives, and before the invention of synthetic ammonia, saltpeter mined from Chile was of great value to maintain British gunpowder production, so the British government also had the need to intervene in the guano war.

Compared with the above two wars, the potential benefits and costs of the Argentine war were not cost-effective.

In terms of revenue, Argentina's domestic mineral resources are limited, and the British government cannot directly obtain high economic benefits from the local area, and in terms of payment, in order to assist Argentina, the British government needs to send tens of thousands of army troops and be prepared to fight a long-term war of attrition.

The first option to intervene in the Argentine war was to send troops directly, but like the war between Han and Argentina in 1870, military intervention was not favored by cabinet officials, but on the other hand, Argentina is a predominantly white country after all, and Britain also has some economic interests in the local area. However, the scale of the troops should be controlled within a certain range, and at the same time, the military action to assist Argentina should not be undertaken by Britain alone, Brazil and Chile should bear the main military obligations, of course, if the situation goes well, it would be better to bring France and Germany in to share the pressure, as for the United States, let their Monroe Doctrine to hell, British gentlemen are not like seeing their basic plate in South America taken away by the United States, even if Argentina falls into the hands of Han, It's also much better than the whole of South America being controlled by the United States.