The war broke out after all.

For Bolivia and Paraguay, oil in the North Chaco region is an important resource that must not be discarded.

Even if it costs the great powers to defeat each other, both countries will start this war and do everything they can to defeat the enemy.

However, in terms of military strength between the two countries, Paraguay and Bolivia actually have a huge gap.

By the time of the war, Paraguay's regular army consisted of only about 3,000 men, and its armament consisted only of relatively common rifles, machine guns, and a small number of artillery.

Bolivia is different. Because Bolivia received a large loan from Mobil Oil, the Bolivian government had enough funds to buy a large number of new weapons, including tanks and aircraft, from the European powers.

This also included Australasian tanks and heavy machine guns, giving the Bolivian army a huge lead in terms of numbers and equipment.

But this does not mean that Bolivia will have a complete advantage in the war. If you have a map, you can see that Bolivia and Paraguay are completely different distances from the focal point of the war, that is, the North Chaco region.

Paraguay is only about 200 kilometers from the North Chak region, and there is very little logistical pressure.

Bolivia is different. Bolivia is more than 2,000 kilometers away from the front line. And these more than 2,000 kilometers of supply lines can almost only be sent by trucks.

Although the Bolivians bought a large number of tanks, they were of little use in the jungle steppes of the Chaco region.

It is worth mentioning that the reasons for the outbreak of war between the two countries are also very unique. Because Bolivia has purchased a large number of aircraft, Bolivia has also begun to organize large-scale aircraft patrols and reconnaissance work on the borders of the front line.

It doesn't matter if you don't investigate, as soon as you scout, you will find a huge unoccupied lake.

You know, because the North Chaco region is very hot and arid, water resources are very important for the border areas, and they are definitely a very important strategic resource in the war.

Moreover, the lake is very large, and it is an important area that must be occupied, both for the role of the war and for the strategic development of the subsequent Chako area.

The Bolivian Air Force was quick to report the discovery to the government, and it soon received a response from the government to occupy the lake.

But the heavenly air force did not find out that there was a small post in the size of ten people in the jungle next to the lake.

By the time the Bolivian army discovered the small post, the Paraguayan army also discovered the Bolivians.

Because of the superiority of forces, the Bolivian side did not retreat, but chose to attack.

Because of this, the Chaco War soon broke out and ignited a full-scale war between the two countries.

It is worth mentioning that in the initial period of the war, the Bolivian army achieved a complete victory on the offensive due to the overall lead in equipment and numbers.

In just one week, the Bolivian army has captured three important military forts in succession: Clares, Toledo and Bocrón in the Norte Chak region.

The Bolivian army is equipped with very advanced light and heavy weapons, and there are a large number of aircraft in the sky to escort and reconnoitre.

Paraguay is the opposite. Due to the country's lack of strength and inadequate preparation for war, the Paraguayan army is not only outdated, but also very short of heavy firepower weapons.

Some of the Paraguayan soldiers did not even have thermal weapons, their weapons were scimitars, sticks and even stones picked up on the side of the road.

The war developed unexpectedly for the British, and their support for Paraguay quickly fell behind, and it was even highly likely that it would be defeated by Bolivia.

Naturally, the British did not want to see such an outcome happen, and with the intervention of the British, the international mediation conference between Paraguay and Bolivia began.

Because Bolivia, which was supported by France, already had the upper hand, the British had no choice but to invite Australasia to join the talks in order not to fall behind in this negotiation.

Because of this, Arthur easily achieved his goal and joined the battle for oil in South America.

On 3 May 1931, the mediation conference on Paraguay and Bolivia began.

In addition to Paraguay and Bolivia, the meeting was attended by three major powers that had influence in South America.

The venue of the meeting was in Brazil, which has nothing to do with the conflict, and the fairness of the conflict between the two sides was maintained on the surface.

But in reality, which of the great powers or the two countries participating in the conference did not have its own agenda? The reason why this peace negotiation exists is nothing more than that one side wants to stall for itself, and the other side thinks that it has the chance to win.

As soon as the peace talks began, negotiations on mediation reached a stalemate. The Bolivian deputies directly put forward conditions that the British simply could not agree to, demanding all the ports along the Paraguay River, as well as occupying the entire Chaco region.

Doing so would not only deprive the British of oil in the Chaco region, but also devastate Paraguay, which the British support, would lose dearly or even collapse.

The British naturally would not agree to such a request, after all, it depends on the owner to beat the dog, and on the premise that the British openly support Paraguay, Paraguay's victory or not is directly linked to the interests of the British.

In order to delay enough time in the negotiations, the British representative approached the Australasian representative and put forward his own conditions.

In the room of the Australasian representative that night, the British representative said very sincerely: "Mr. Jay, we are willing to divide the oil of the Northern Chaco region with your country, and allow your country to have the same interests and preferential treatment in Paraguay as we do."

As long as you can agree to support Paraguay in tomorrow's negotiations, we are willing to convince Paraguay to agree to these demands. ”

Truth be told, oil from the North Chaco region isn't that attractive to Australasia.

Sitting on half of the Persian Gulf, Australasia is no match for any country in terms of oil.

What's more, Australia, Southeast Asia and Alaska all have large oil reserves, and Australasia is the region under full control.

What has attracted Australasia to the conflict even more is actually the influence on South America.

After the demise of the United States, this backyard of the United States has become a terra nullius. Who can preemptively occupy hegemony in South America is very important in the struggle for global hegemony.

Counting these countries in South America, all of them are very important exporters of agriculture and animal husbandry and minerals.

And what does the export of agricultural and livestock products and minerals represent? It means that in times of war, the country can get enough supplies.

In particular, the location of South America is a natural logistics supply treasure for Britain, France and Australia.

Australasia's biggest enemy is the island nation, but no matter how strong the island nation's navy is, it is impossible to cross the Pacific Ocean to the southern hemisphere to block Australasia's maritime trade routes.

The same is true of Britain and France. The British, in particular, had no doubts about their control of the Atlantic.

If war breaks out between Britain and Germany or France in the future, the British will be able to obtain supplies not only from North America, but also from South America, and they will be able to kill any enemy if they fight for it.

Moreover, the strength of South American countries is generally weak, and it is easier to control than North America.

It is precisely for these reasons that Britain, France and Australia all have certain ideas about South America, and they have all taken practical actions.

Compared with the oil in the North Chak region, which the British say, the Australasian side is more concerned about the interests of the Paraguayan region.

Although Paraguay is only a small country in South America, its location is very important. After Paraguay has certain interests, it is able to radiate to the three major powers of South America in the north-south direction.

If you control these three powers, you will actually control the whole of South America. Because Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and other countries in the northwest are far less powerful than Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Although satisfied with the terms offered by the British, the representative of Australasia did not directly agree, but made more demands: "I admit that your country's conditions, Mr. John, are indeed attractive, but not so great as to make us firmly support Paraguay.

If your country is willing to involve us in the exploitation of saltpeter mines in Chile, I think His Majesty will be willing to support the British Empire and rebuild the deep friendship between our two countries. ”

Chile's saltpeter mine is definitely one of the most important mineral resources in South America. The British, too, understood this, and for decades had a firm grip on the extraction and export of saltpeter mines from Chile.

This allowed Chile to gain the support of the British Empire for a long time, and to maintain the balance of power with Argentina and Brazil with less land.

Suffice it to say that without the support of the British, Chile would never be as strong as it is now.

Of course, the support of the British is definitely not free. Chile has the largest saltpeter mine in the world, but it is entirely dependent on the British for the extraction and export of saltpeter.

This price limits Chile's absolute probability to become a superpower, or even one of the three major powers in South America.

Even if it is in their own self-interest, the British will never allow Chile to become stronger.

After all, when Chile becomes strong, it will consider more issues, such as taking back its right to mine and export saltpeter.

Needless to say, it is needless to say how important the saltpeter mine is, in the eyes of the British it is a more important resource than oil, and naturally it is impossible to allow the location of the saltpeter mine, Chile to become strong and able to threaten its own power in Chile.

"Oh my God, this can't be, Mr. Jay." The British representative John said with a look of disbelief: "The saltpeter ore here is a very important strategic resource of the British Empire, and it is unlikely that it will be delegated to the outside world."

I heard that your country is interested in Argentina's black soil, otherwise how about we persuade Argentina to lease more black soil to your country? ”

Compared to the saltpeter mines in Chile, the black soil of Argentina was a dispensable resource for the British.

Although the black soil is a very good arable land, it was not so important to the British Empire, which owned the whole of India.

India was able to provide the British with a large amount of food every year, although this was most likely the material obtained by exploiting the Indians, but it did not matter to the British.

After all, the number of Indians has determined that the lives of Indians are not important, and if 10,000 Indians can be exchanged for the safety of a British in the war, I believe that the British government will not hesitate to do it.

"Mr. John, you know." "There is no shortage of arable land in Australasia at the moment, and we have more than 2 million square kilometres of potential cultivation area on Java, the Murray River basin and other areas combined.

It has been proven that while black soil is good for crop cultivation, a black soil that spans the entire Pacific Ocean is too expensive to maintain and is not cost-effective for us. ”

Truth be told, the black soil of Argentina is indeed a good choice. Although there is no shortage of arable land in Australasia today, the black soil of Argentina is not the same.

Australasian land needs to be cultivated and developed by Australasian people, and Argentine land only needs to employ local Argentines.

Compared to Australasia, Argentina has lower labor costs and excellent food production.

However, in the struggle for national interests, the country with a small appetite will eventually suffer. As a diplomatic representative who loves the country very much, what Representative Jay wants to do is naturally to strive for more interests for the country.

"So be it, Mr. John." Looking at the embarrassed John, Deputy Jay smiled and made his final request: "For the sake of the good relationship between us, Australasia is willing to make concessions on this."

But in order to give a debt to His Majesty, we need a lot of black soil for the development of food crops, and we also need to be the first buyer of Chilean saltpeter. ”

Although it is not possible to participate in the mining of saltpeter in Chile, it is very good if it can become a priority buyer of saltpeter ore.

After all, the annual output of saltpeter mines in Chile is still good, and the British Empire cannot consume so much saltpeter ore at all.

However, in the past, in order not to make the enemy stronger, Britain would strictly restrict the export of saltpeter ore, and even ban the export to its own hostile countries.

If certain rights can be obtained in terms of exports, the development of the military industry will also become more rapid for Australasia.

Of course, there are more black soils, which are also very helpful for the grain distribution of Australasia.

Hiring Argentine workers to use Argentina's black soil to grow Australasian grain is a very cost-effective deal.

Argentina is closer to Europe than Australasia, and the grain produced in Argentina's black soil can be exported to Europe in large quantities in exchange for sufficient foreign exchange earnings.

The 4000-word update is sent, I wish you all a happy new year!

(End of chapter)