After entering the mountains and forests, the whereabouts of the Argentine army were consciously hidden. The footprints on the snow were scrawled away and even camouflaged so that it was impossible to tell which side the Argentine troops were withdrawing.

Fearing an ambush by the Argentine army, Lucas Fuente had his soldiers wait for a while to no avail, and then chose to evacuate with his army.

But unexpectedly, just as he was about to give the order to retreat, his soldiers suddenly reported that the body of an Argentine soldier was found not far ahead.

The body was apparently fresh from death, and there was even blood coming out of the wound in the abdomen. It should have been the Argentine army who were in a hurry to flee and saw that the wounded were helpless, so they reluctantly gave him up.

The corpse was of little value to Lucas Fuente, as the evidence now available had long since proved that the troops entering the country were Argentine soldiers.

But the rifle that the body was carrying aroused the interest of Lucas Fuente. has had a lot of back-to-back encounters with the Argentine army, and Lucas Fuente naturally understands that this rifle, which looks very novel, is definitely not the standard equipment of the Argentine army.

If you guess correctly, this should be the equipment of the great power behind Argentina, and it is also the confidence of Argentina to repeatedly provoke Chile.

After understanding the importance of the matter, Lucas Fuente did not dare to be careless in the slightest, and ordered the soldiers to evacuate with this rifle.

As for the body of the Argentine soldier, it was hastily buried on the spot.

After about an hour, Lucas Fuente finally returned to the camp.

Without a moment's pause, with the rifle in hand, Lucas Fuente found his boss and reported his findings.

After many reports, the rifle was finally handed to the commander of the Chilean Second Border Garrison Division.

It is impossible that the top brass of the Chilean military has not seen this rifle, because this rifle is the famous M1903 Springfield rifle, the standard rifle of the only great power in North and South America, the United States Army.

All of a sudden, the news that there might be Americans behind Argentina's back was quickly reported to the top of the Chilean government.

For Chile, it is no longer a simple conflict with Argentina, but more like a direct collision between Britain behind Chile and the United States behind Argentina.

Although the military strength of the United States is not strong, in the face of Chile, which is very weak in size and population, the United States is still a well-deserved great power.

The Chilean government did not hesitate to report the possible involvement of the United States in this conflict to the British government, and asked the British government for help.

After receiving Chile's request for help, the British government was very concerned about the conflict between Chile and Argentina.

It is a pity that the Americans have denied that they have provided assistance to Argentina and that they are the real culprits behind the conflict between Argentina and Chile.

In order to reassure the Chileans, the British Empire urgently transferred a batch of equipment from various places, including 50,000 Lee Enfield rifles, hundreds of artillery pieces, dozens of heavy machine guns and corresponding various ammunition.

A considerable part of this weaponry was purchased from Australasia. After all, Australasia was relatively idle compared to the other major powers, and there was not much pressure to expand its armaments.

With the arms support from the British Empire, Chile showed considerable toughness and issued an ultimatum to Argentina, demanding that Argentina fully withdraw its troops from the invasion of the border, and apologize to Chile for the two clashes and compensate for the corresponding losses.

Naturally, Argentina could not agree to Chile's conditions, let alone the compensation demanded by Chile, which was even enough to build another dreadnought.

On July 1, 1913, Argentina flatly denied Chile's demands, stating that the Argentine army was only patrolling and operating on the border in accordance with laws and regulations, and that Chile had no right to demand the withdrawal of Argentine troops.

By this time, the two conflicts between the two sides had already spread among the people, and the hatred between the two countries had deepened.

Chile is naturally not accustomed to such shameless behavior by Argentina, and has shown the corpses of two Argentine soldiers, as well as photos of the battlefield battles.

At the same time, Chile renewed its ultimatum to Argentina demanding that Argentina fully withdraw its invading forces, otherwise it would be seen as a provocation and a declaration of war against Chile.

If the Argentine army does not withdraw within 48 hours, then Chile and Argentina will officially enter a state of war.

After a one-day gap, Argentina also responded. Argentina acknowledged that the bodies were Argentine soldiers, but said they had been transferred to Argentine territory to falsify evidence after Chileans had attacked Argentine patrols.

And those photos of the Chilean border with traces of war were also forged by Chileans in order to frame the blame for Argentina.

The Argentine government declares that, in order to protect the interests of the government and the Argentine people, the Argentine army will not back down and will never fear danger from enemy countries.

The diplomatic systems of Argentina and Chile have been busy these days. After the 48 hours stipulated in the Chilean circular, the Chilean Government formally met with the Argentine Ambassador to Chile and announced the decision of the Chilean Government that from that day, July 3, 1913, Chile and Argentina would officially enter a state of war, and demanded that the Argentine diplomatic ambassador return to Argentina immediately.

On the day of the declaration of war, Chile mobilized two divisions to the border areas and announced a general mobilization throughout the country.

As a country with a fairly good army strength, it has a total of five divisions of standing troops and a reserve force of 100,000 people.

If the whole country is mobilized, it can arm at least ten divisions and more than 150,000 combat troops.

Because of the proximity of the two countries, Argentina also received news of Chile's declaration of war shortly after.

So far, both countries have made certain preparations for war, and both have deployed a large number of troops at the first time of the declaration of war.

On the Argentine side, some of the reserves have already joined the army because of better preparation in advance.

At present, Argentina has more than 100,000 combat troops at its disposal, half of which were on the border between Argentina and Chile, and half are on their way.

"Sign up for the army and defend the motherland!"

"Behind you is the great motherland, please fight for the motherland and your family!"

"Gentlemen, the Motherland needs you!"

All of a sudden, Chile and Argentina were flooded with propaganda slogans about various conscriptions, and both countries were fully mobilized.

It is worth mentioning that the new Argentine army is basically equipped with the M1903 Springfield rifle, while the new Chilean army is basically equipped with the Lee Enfield rifle.

The news of the war in South America spread to the whole world almost immediately.

At this time, the White House was in power, and Wilson, who had just become president of the United States for a few months, was in power.

However, President Wilson's mood at this time was not too good, because he realized that the situation in South America at this time was somewhat unexpected to him.

It is indeed President Wilson's opinion to contact Argentina and help Argentina, after all, South America is also the backyard of the United States, and Wilson, as the president of the United States, naturally has no small ambitions for South America.

But President Wilson's plan was not to strike now, but to wait for a more suitable time, such as the outbreak of war in Europe.

After the outbreak of war in Europe, the great powers were not destined to have much energy to manage the affairs of South America.

Even the most powerful of the British Empire had to worry about the challenge from Germany.

But now it is different, the British Empire is still the most powerful country, and it is not something that the United States alone can contend with.

At this time, it is not a good thing for the United States to directly face the British Empire, and it may only cheapen Germany for nothing.

“fuck！ shit!” President Wilson cursed, but he had to face the current dire situation.

When Chile and Argentina went to war, the United States decided whether to come to the aid of this new ally.

Even if they support Argentina, the United States and Argentina will not be able to match Britain and Chile.

If it does not support Argentina, the United States will most likely lose this ally it has won over and lose its presence in South America.

Among the three major powers in South America, Chile and Britain are on good terms, and Brazil has good relations with Germany.

The only remaining Argentina has become a breakthrough for the United States, and it is also an important condition for the United States to turn South America into a backyard.

Nowadays, how to choose has become a dilemma, and choosing either one will cause losses for the United States.

Compared with the United States, which is in a bit of a dilemma, the British Empire's choice is much simpler.

On July 4, 1913, the day after the outbreak of the South American War, the British Empire solemnly stated that Argentina had shown shameful aggression in the war, which had caused a major violation of Chile's homeland security.

This preserves peace and tranquility in South America, but also reduces greater casualties and brings peace to the world, with the British Empire announcing military assistance to Chile and an interest-free loan.

On the other side, the United States also sent reinforcements to Argentina at about the same time.

In order not to offend the British Empire after the war, the United States also changed the name of the support, ostensibly Argentina bought American arms, and the order was signed before the war.

With the support of the big brother behind the scenes, the war between Chile and Argentina also became more intense, turning into an offensive and defensive war involving most of the border.

Facts have proved that Argentina, which had prepared for the war in advance, would indeed have a certain advantage in the early stage of the war.

Within a week of the war, Argentina had pushed the border several kilometers forward and eliminated thousands of Chilean soldiers.

Although Argentina also suffered heavy casualties, it had already gained a certain advantage on the battlefield by virtue of its large number of people.

The two countries used heavy weapons, including artillery and heavy machine guns, and also caused a large number of casualties on both sides.

For the British Empire at this time, the war in South America was a more important war than the Balkan War, and the British Empire was ready to end at any time.

After all, the interests of the British Empire in the Balkans were not much, but more between Austria-Hungary, Russia and Italy.

As long as Constantinople was not threatened, for the British Empire, the Balkans would be acceptable to any kind of fighting.

But South America is different. Chile is an important strategic partner of the British Empire and the world's largest exporter of nitrate ore and products.

If there were problems with the situation in South America, it would be unacceptable for the British Empire. Especially if the South American region is controlled by the United States, the United States will become an invincible country completely.

The geographical location is very good, it is not easy to attack, and with the support of resources from South America, the United States has the potential to become a world hegemon.

This is what the British Empire does not want to see, and does not want to accept, the reason why the British Empire supports Australasia against the United States.

Under the close attention of Britain and the United States, the war in South America continued for another week.

So far, the war has brought tens of thousands of casualties to both Chile and Argentina, and the combined death toll on both sides is as high as more than 2,000.

Even if South America was relatively rich before, the attrition of the war made the two countries miserable.

If it weren't for Britain and the United States to supplement and support behind them, I am afraid that these two countries would really have to drain their national capital if they want to win the war.

On July 17, 1913, Arthur received a telegram from the British government asking if Australasia would be interested in joining forces to form an expeditionary force to end the war in South America.

Of course, it's not unpaid. After the war was won, a buffer zone would be created between Chile and Argentina, to be administered by the countries participating in the expeditionary force.

In fact, it is England, Russia, France and Australasia. As the four major powers of the Entente, the most able to support the British Empire were naturally the major powers except for Britain.

The Entente countries shared common interests, and their ties were still relatively close.

Whether France and Russia agreed to the British conditions Arthur did not know, but the British conditions were actually quite good for Australasia.

The size of the expeditionary force to end the South American war will not exceed 50,000 at most. This also means that if the four major powers jointly send troops, basically each country only needs to send more than 10,000 troops.

And then the buffer zone was divided, which was jointly managed by the four great powers, which was also good news for Arthur.

After all, Australasia is the closest country to South America in terms of distance alone.

And after the start of the First World War, other countries will be busy with the First World War, and the management of the buffer zone will be Australasia's final say.

In fact, Arthur saw the buffer zone very clearly, although the British Empire rightly said that it was from the border between Chile and Argentina to divide a buffer zone to ease the dispute between the two sides.

But judging from the relationship between Chile and the British Empire alone, most or even all of the picture buffer zone should be in Argentina.

And Argentina has one of the four major black soils in the world, the Pampas Plain. Argentina accounts for the vast majority of the 105 million hectares of this black soil plain, with 89 million hectares.

Each of the world's four major black soils is a very good potential granary.

And the ensuing First World War, the economic crisis and the Second World War, the importance of food is unquestionable.

Even in peacetime, food production is an important indicator for a country.

As a country with a large population, grain production must be in its own hands. If you can control part of the black soil in Argentina, it will make sense for the development of Australasia.

This is indeed a good opportunity for Australasia to take control of a part of Argentina's black soil with the consent and even expectation of the British Empire.

As long as Argentina's strength does not exceed that of Australasia, Australasia can always hold this black land and develop it into its own big granary.

It is also impossible for Arthur to be greedy for this black land, the value of the world's four major black lands is too great.

The Eastern European Plain, where the largest black soil is located, has always been the big granary of Europe, and it will bloom more brilliantly in the future Soviet period.

And the second largest black soil is located in North America, in the area of the United States, affectionately known as the "bread basket" by Americans.

The third largest region is in the northeast of Asia, which has also developed from a barren area to an important grain producing area, and is known as the Great Okura.

Although the black soil in South America is the smallest, the more than 89 million hectares of land in Argentina are enough to cultivate it into a super granary.

With this important food-producing region, Australasia can confidently expand its population to tens or even hundreds of millions without worrying about any food insecurity.

As long as there is sufficient food production and food reserves, whether it is a war or a crisis, Australasia has full confidence and can survive safely.

And more food production can also bring huge profits to the country and take the country's development to a higher level.

Thanks for your support! The update will resume on June 34, and then 10,000 will compensate everyone!

(End of chapter)