At about 11 a.m. on April 6

The Tang Empire invaded the territory with heavy troops, and the army crossed the border of Córdoba and invaded about 20 kilometers into the territory of the Argentine province of Colombia del Estero, which opened the prelude to the Tang Empire's participation in the war.

The Paraguayan War began at this stage and turned into the "South American War", also known as the "War of the Five Nations".

These five countries were on the side of the Tang Empire and Paraguay, facing the aggressive Brazilian Empire, Argentina, and Uruguay, replicating the scene that had turned the tide of the war in North America, causing an uproar in the world.

The news of the invasion of the Tang Empire had long been expected in Argentina, but I didn't expect it to come so quickly and so violently.

War was officially declared on April 5, and on April 6 it was already overwhelmed, with little time to breathe.

Fortunately, when the Argentine side crossed the red line drawn by the Tang Empire, it had already anticipated the inevitability of this war, and had already reduced the forces of Colombia-del Estero and Santa Fe provinces to form a mobile corps of about 42,000 people, entrenched on the border between the two countries.

The intentions of the Argentine side are clear;

Do not seek merit, but seek no fault.

Therefore, the Argentine Corps took a defensive position based on the danger of geographical advantages, hoping to drag the war into a protracted and stalemate stage, waiting for the situation to change.

The abacus did play well, but it was a pity that the experienced generals of the Tang Empire did not follow the script completely, and they deviated from the beginning......

Let's talk about the situation before the war

After eight months of hard fighting and a huge price of 57,000 casualties, the Triple Alliance in Paraguay has breached the fortress of Umaita, a fortress on the river known as the "Sevastopol of the Americas".

After a short break of three days

The Triple Alliance will march towards Ascension on April 7 (that is, tomorrow), a distance of more than 130 kilometers, even if you take into account the remnants of the Paraguayan army fighting in the towns along the way, that is, a delay of a week to ten days, you can occupy Ascension.

Whether Paraguay recognizes it or not, it will represent a complete victory for the Triple Alliance and will have extraordinary symbolic significance.

At that time, the Triple Alliance will be in an advantageous position in the post-war negotiations, and the initiative of the warriors will be in their own hands.

With the support of the British behind him, no matter how you look at it, he has the upper hand.

The Brazilian Empire is the most extensive power in South America, with a total population of more than 10 million.

If it is really frightened by the Tang Empire and withdraws its troops, without the fig leaf of victory in the war, the huge casualties of 100,000 people and the war expenditure will crush the Brazilian Empire, and a huge internal turmoil that threatens the imperial power will inevitably break out.

Faced with such serious consequences, the Brazilian emperor Pedro II had to take a desperate gamble.

Argentina was not much better off than the Brazilian Empire, after a decade-long civil war, with the province of Buenos Aires on one side and the United Province on the other, Argentina had just been established in the ruins of war, and faced the desert expedition of the Tang Empire and the unprecedented cruelty of the Paraguayan War.

This huge change after another has simply overwhelmed the Argentine government.

so far

Frequent clashes with armed militias of the Tang Empire led to instability in the central and northern provinces of Argentina, which had fallen one after another in recent years.

The panic spread so much that a large number of white hacienda owners abandoned their pastures and settlements and fled with their families to the province of Buenos Aires.

This situation has greatly weakened the forces of the provinces, which have benefited greatly from the instability of the province of Buenos Aires, which has received more than 100,000 people for nothing. It fills the labor gap, and the strength is that the sesame seeds are blooming.

In 1861

Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires, has a population of 134,200 and is the largest province in Argentina by land area, with a total area of 307,600 square kilometers, accounting for 37.7% of the entire Argentine land area, and a population of 796,000, accounting for 52.7% of the total population.

It was thanks to this strength that the province of Buenos Aires was able to win the ten-year civil war and establish an Argentine government centered on representing the interests of the province's haciendas and capitalists.

Five years of conflict and turmoil have passed

Today, the province of Buenos Aires has benefited from border conflicts, with an overall population of more than one million (including more than 100,000 European immigrants mainly from Italy and Spain in recent years), with a total population of 1,093,300.

Under the continuous northward erosion of the original 17 provinces of the Tang Empire, there are now only 9 northern provinces left, and more than half of the territory has been eroded, and the population has dropped sharply to about 28~290,000 people.

This increase and decrease has greatly reduced the strength of the provinces, and the right to speak is much weaker.

The so-called house leak coincided with overnight rain, and it couldn't be more appropriate for the province.

From the end of 1864

The outbreak of the Paraguayan War involved Argentina again, and the most tragic thing was that the Paraguayan army was the first to send troops to the Argentine province of Corrientes, which is a relatively rich and populous northern province in the United Province, and was forced to bear the impact of the war.

In order to defend their homeland, Corrientes and the neighboring northern provinces organized large numbers of white militia to fight against the invading Paraguayan army.

The Argentine government army and the Brazilian reinforcements were late, and the war lasted from 1864 to 1866, which lasted for more than two years, which led to the relocation of the local white manor owners and residents affected by the war, and the United Province also paid a heavy price of up to 3.5~38,000 casualties.

All kinds of grievances are piled up in my heart, and I really complain about the Argentine government, and I hate it so much.

Many white settlers in the United Provinces argued;

Buenos Aires' practice was despicable and shameful, that is, to watch the Tang Empire and the Paraguayans take turns to weaken the provinces in order to satisfy their own selfish ideas. The homes of the white manor owners were destroyed, and the wives and daughters were bullied and indifferent, and their intentions were sinister to the extreme.

The seeds of division have already been planted, and if Argentina loses, it will be almost inevitable.

As for Uruguay, it was originally the echo of the Brazilian Empire and Argentina, the two great powers in South America, and had no right to formulate independent policies at all, so they could only wave the flag and shout behind the buttocks.

April 7, 1867, at about 11 a.m

The Binonite valley in the territory of the province of Colombia del Estero

The black-pressed army of the Tang Empire and the Argentine army entrenched in the mountain pass confronted each other from afar, hunting with flags, fluttering in the wind, and a tense atmosphere filled the air, and a big war was about to break out.

Judging by the situation

The Argentine army consisted of 23,000 Indian infantry and 19,000 cavalry, and its infantry was arrayed in the center of the valley, bordering the mountains on one side and the river on the other.

The improvised wooden fence was defenseless, with large gaps between the stakes to block the cavalry's onslaught, but not the rain of bullets.

Therefore, the large array of Indian infantry discharged by Argentina was located in front of the wooden fence, forming a dozen rectangular formations, a total of three rows. The infantry phalanx was equipped with artillery and more than 130 artillery pieces.

Behind the infantry formation, the Argentine cavalry units lined up on the left and right, dressed in a variety of costumes, apparently as volunteer cavalry conscripted on the fly, and in a loose formation.

Seeing the appearance of the enemy waiting for battle, the commander, Lieutenant General Lei Juekun, couldn't help but show a contemptuous smile of "but so", and waved his hand with a calm expression and ordered;

"Let's get started, let the Argentines feel the enthusiasm of the empire."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander."

The Tang Empire had only more than 10,000 troops, with more than 5,600 people from two regiments and an artillery battalion under the Second Expeditionary Division of the Royal Navy as the main force, supplemented by about 6,000 people from the 5th and 8th Divisions of the Volunteer Militia (missing a regiment), but there were 7 artillery companies and 56 field artillery pieces participating in the battle.

Plus 24 6-pounder field guns of an artillery battalion, for a total of 80 guns.

These more than 80 artillery pieces were lined up in front of them, divided into four artillery positions, and in the sound of high-pitched military music, they were led by war horses to follow the line of infantry.

The Tang Empire's first attack caused continuous uneasy commotion in the Argentine army, and the white commander fiercely rushed forward and kicked and cursed, which stopped the Indian infantry's timidity.

Compared with the well-informed armed militia of the Tang Empire, most of its backbones are veterans who have survived a hundred battles who have come out of countless wars, and they take such a big scene as if they were waiting for it.

Where have these indigenous Indians seen such a large formation, and when the line infantry of the Tang Empire was murderously pressed, they were already frightened into two wars.

The military music is excited, and the flag is hunting.

The line infantry attacking the Tang Empire maintained a strict formation, a navy blue military uniform, snow bright spears like a forest, and the unified equipment was Colt 1858 bolt-action rifle, also known as the "King" rifle.

On the left and right sides of the frontal line of infantry, there were the 5th and 8th divisions of the volunteer militia (missing a regiment), they wore navy blue military uniforms, military caps, trousers and boots, and were equipped with rifles that were not uniform.

Some are Colt lever rifles, some are Mini rifles, and some are expensive custom precision rifles. The only thing is that there is no Colt 1858 bolt-action rifle, because this kind of army-standard rifle, which represents the advanced level of the world today, is not circulated among the people, and it is not allowed to be bought and sold.

The distance between the two sides began to approach rapidly from about 4 kilometers, and when they entered the 2-kilometer range, the Indian Line Infantry to which Argentina belonged also began to move forward and began to take the initiative to shorten the distance between the two sides.

And at this time

Under the order of the commander, the line infantry of the Tang Empire had stopped advancing, and after sorting out the horizontal queues, they began to load the rifles in their hands and prepare for battle.

The artillerymen were busy unloading the gun carriage for the horse, then turning the gun carriage, pointing the muzzle of the black hole straight ahead, putting down the stationing hoe, manually adjusting the angle of the gun, and doing a series of work before the gun was fired.

In addition, a baggage wagon arrived, and the piles of shells on the cart were to be quickly unloaded, and a dozen boxes of shells were prepared behind each gun.

And that's just the beginning......

The "enthusiasm of the Empire" in the mouth of Lieutenant General Lei Juekun, the commander-in-chief, refers to the ultra-long firing range represented by these Colt breech field guns, with an average effective range of 1,800 yards, more than double the range of the Napoleonic artillery equipped by the Argentine army.

How can this kind of unilateral firepower superiority not be brought into full play?

The Colt field artillery not only had fierce firepower and a fast rate of fire, but also advanced shells exploded with great power, which was enough for the Argentines to drink a pot.