The situation of the war in Paraguay was not good, and the war that broke out in South America could have been completely avoided, because of the unrealistic ambition and recklessness of Paraguayan President López, who took the lead in provoking the war.

As the saying goes, "people are addicted to food", and it is very suitable for López.

As the president of a country, the people of Paraguay also fell into the blood mold and were involuntarily drawn into this unprecedented and cruel South American war.

Objectively speaking

Paraguay was the main culprit in the war in South America and the first invader to attack Brazil and Argentina, and on December 13, 1864, Paraguay declared war on Brazil and sent troops to the Mato Grosso area, thus provoking the war.

Because Argentina refused to allow the Paraguayan army to send troops to Uruguay through Argentine territory, Paraguay declared war on Argentina on March 18, 1865, and then sent troops to the Argentine province of Corrientes, brazenly invading Argentina.

Review the process

You can know how rampant Paraguayan President López was at the beginning, how rash he was, and how empty-sighted he was?

See how people do it?

In order to avoid the possibility of France intervening in the Austro-Prussian war and to avoid the possibility of fighting on two fronts,

Prussia, having defeated Austria in a quick victory, gave up the great temptation to march into Vienna and to take more territory from the Austrian Empire, and it was wisest to quickly conclude a war treaty at a relatively small cost that Emperor Joseph-Franz could accept.

Perhaps, compared with the European teacher, the Kingdom of Prussia, Paraguay lacks an iron-blooded prime minister, Bismarck, who can dissuade President Rópez from calming down when he is hot-headed.

Without further ado

In May 1865, López personally led his troops into Corrientes, and the Paraguayan army at first drove straight in, and the local Argentine garrison was defeated, and it was retreated again and again, which can be said to be out of the limelight.

Another army, led by Colonel Istigalibi, marched violently along the Uruguay River into the Brazilian settlements.

López's optimistic estimates;

The above-mentioned areas are disputed territories, and the Paraguayan army can exploit the separatist sentiments of the local people and mobilize civilian forces against the central governments of Brazil and Argentina.

So-called; Where the king goes, the righteous flag refers to, and the common people eat pot pulp to welcome the king.

All this is the subjective imagination of President López, who consciously or unconsciously ignores his role as an intruder.

In essence, the resistance of the local people to the Paraguayan army has been resolute and resolute. Argentine militias attacked convoys, attacked small groups of patrolling soldiers, and burned food and grass for the Paraguayan army.

In the face of constant harassment, the Paraguayan army was struggling to cope. As a result, the Paraguayan army was defeated in a brutal battle in June, and after the defeat, Colonel Istigalibi was forced to surrender with the remnants of his army.

After the crushing defeat of Colonel Istigalibi, López's Paraguayan army was left alone, and in October 1865, the Paraguayan army began to retreat from Corrientes.

This meant the end of the offensive led by Paraguay in the early stage of the war, and the Brazilian Empire, Argentina and Uruguay switched from defense to attack, with a strong sense of revenge, and continuously mobilized a large number of troops to the front line, and began to show the war heritage of a populous country.

In April 1866, the troops of the Triple Alliance counterattacked along the Paraná River into Paraguay and encamped in Tuyuti on the Paraná and Paraguay rivers, marking the second phase of the South American War.

This stage

The Triple Alliance began to besiege Paraguay with superior forces, and the war entered an even more tragic and bloody phase, and the battlefield was mainly located in Paraguayan territory. As a result of the fighting, a large number of villages and towns have been destroyed, and the civilian population has suffered greatly.

In order to neutralize the threat of the Paraguayan fleet, the Triple Alliance used 16 state-of-the-art steel gunboats, plus more than 70 wooden warships, against the Paraguayan fleet.

The two sides fought fiercely in a lake at the confluence of the Paraná River and the Uruguay River, and the Paraguayan fleet only had two 1,500-ton ironclad frigates imported from the Tang Empire.

After the Battle of the Navy

The annihilation of the Paraguayan fleet made the war even worse, as Brazil and Argentina took control of the Paraná River, cutting off food and weapons inland.

President López López led his troops to retreat to the fortress of Umaita on the riverside, and used the terrain to resist the attack of the coalition forces.

In May 1866, López launched a series of counterattacks in the Tuyuti region, attacking the 32,000-strong Triple Alliance with 24,000 Paraguayan troops.

On the banks of the Paraná River, both sides suffered at least more casualties, perhaps doubling the true number of casualties, and the battlefield was littered with corpses and rivers of blood like hell, making it the worst battle ever fought on the South American continent.

Both sides of the war committed a large number of troops in the Tuyuti area, and on 24 May, the Allies inflicted heavy losses on the Paraguayan army, winning their first major battle on land.

The Battle of Tuyuti was a turning point in the Paraguayan War, however, due to the stubborn resistance of the Paraguayan army, the unity of the whole country, coupled with the timely intervention and command of the instructor corps from the Tang Empire, finally withstood the tidal wave of Allied counterattacks and stabilized the battle line in the area.

This is followed for three months until mid-August.

The two sides of the war have been repeatedly tugging in the Tuyuti region, with daily battles breaking out large and small, and the Allies have not been able to move forward.

López matured after a series of beatings and appealed to the Allies for peace for the survival of the Paraguayan state and nation, but was flatly refused.

Emperor Pedro II of Brazil gritted his teeth and hated; "Brave Imperial soldiers, go and kill all those Paraguayan pups, and leave not a single one behind."

Ten days later, at Kurupati along the Paraguay River, the Allied forces that had taken the initiative to attack were encircled and suffered a major defeat in the war.

Battle of Kurupati

With 9,000 casualties admitted, the Allied side actually suffered several times as many casualties, and the defeat was an unprecedented blow to the Allies, who had to stop their fierce pursuit and wait for reinforcements from the rear to arrive and return to the blood.

It was at this time

The Tang Empire sent a note to the four South American countries on both sides of the war and planned to hold an international mediation conference in Buenos Aires to find an armistice plan acceptable to all parties in this war that would affect the situation in the whole of South America.

The conference was scheduled to be held on November 6, and Britain immediately said that it would participate in international mediation after hearing the news, and brought France, the Netherlands, and Spain, and the Tang Empire also brought Prussia, Italy, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America to form a nine-nation mediation team.

This is the first time that the Tang Empire's diplomacy has played the role of international mediation convener, and it is also a landmark event that has played a more important role in the international arena, so it is highly valued from top to bottom.

Foreign Minister Luo Fengxian personally led a team to Panama by train, and then took a boat through the Caribbean Sea along the Atlantic coastline all the way south, arriving in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, at the end of October.

Upon arrival, they came into close contact with the parties concerned, listened to their respective demands and the terms of the armistice, and began intensive mediation work.

At this stage

Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay are more cooperative, although they are more reluctant to accept the international mediation of the Tang Empire, but they are afraid of the hegemony and strong strength of the Tang Empire, so they have to pinch their noses and be weak.

The proposed armistice conditions are also lion's mouth, and there are three main ones;

Article 1 requires Paraguay to cede 2/3 of its total territory, with the northern provinces belonging to Brazil, the eastern provinces to Uruguay, and the southern provinces to Argentina, including the valley region where yerba mate is abundant.

Article 2 demanded huge war reparations, amounting to 36 million Tang Yuan, which was equivalent to the total revenue of Paraguay for 26 years, and was pledged by customs revenues until the war reparations were emptied.

Article 3 calls for the stationing of troops in Paraguay, demands that Paraguay refrain from retaining its troops, opens up the domestic industrial, commercial and agricultural spheres, grants supra-national treatment to the victorious powers, and a host of other conditions.

From the bones

The Triple Alliance was reluctant to participate in any international mediation of Raushzi, but they were forced to give in due to the obscenity of the Tang Empire.

You must know that if you don't listen to greetings on this acre and three points of land in the Americas, the Tang Empire will go crazy at any time.

However, Britain mixed hands in this international conference, and added a lot of courage to the Triple Alliance, feeling that it was doing it again, and it seemed that it could wrestle with the Tang Empire.

The participation of the nine countries in the mediation of the Buenos Aires Peace Conference has made quite a big noise, but the positions of the two sides are far apart, and the process of peace talks is very difficult.

Three rounds of talks, three rounds of breakdown, and towards the end of 1866 there was no light at the end of the day for a peace agreement.

This was due to both sides of the war themselves, as well as the reasons for the British to stir up trouble in it, which caused the peace meeting to thunder and rain and failed to produce practical results for a long time.

There is a European proverb; Wherever the British walked, the fish in the fishpond would fight.

Luo Fengxian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Tang Empire, saw the ability of the British to stir up, and originally exerted pressure in private, but Uruguay and Argentina relented and were willing to flexibly adjust the bargaining price.

The Brazilian Empire no longer stubbornly insisted, but after the British representatives turned around, they reversed their original promises one after another, which made people vomit blood angrily.

Under the tugs of all parties, the Buenos Aires peace talks went on five rounds of bumpy rounds, and the time came to the end of January 1867, and there was still no possibility of reaching a final agreement.

In desperation, he could only declare an exception for the peace talks.

The Tang Empire's first appearance in the field of world diplomacy could only end in regret in the end.

Paraguay should have been hurt the most by the failure of the peace talks, but Paraguayan President Andrés López López was not aware of this, and on the one hand, he continued to mobilize the country's male population to actively prepare for war. On the other hand, it openly condemns the lack of sincerity on the part of the Triple Alliance, which is trying to erase the country by bloody means, and the heroic Paraguayan people will fight to the end.

He intentionally or unintentionally ignored the correct choice to be a dog for the Tang Empire, and the victory in the Battle of Kurupati made President López feel that he was doing it again.

With one time, there will be a second time, who wants to be a dog if you can be a human?