Chapter 351 War and Expeditionary Force

After entering the forest, the whereabouts of the Argentine army were consciously hidden. The footprints on the snow were sloppily erased, and even camouflaged around, making it impossible to tell where the Argentine army was evacuating.

Because of the concern that the Argentine army would ambush, Lucas Fuente asked the soldiers to search for a while without success, and then he had to choose to evacuate with the army.

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

The body was obviously dead not long ago, and there was even blood flowing from the wound in the abdomen. It should be that the Argentine army was eager to escape, and seeing that the wounded could not be saved, they reluctantly gave him up.

This body was of little value to Lucas Fuente. After all, the evidence now available could have long proved that the troops entering the country were Argentine soldiers.

But the rifle carried by the body aroused Lucas Fuente's interest. Having fought many times with the Argentine army, Lucas Fuente naturally understood that this rifle, which looked very novel, was definitely not the standard equipment of the Argentine army.

If the guess was correct, this should be the equipment of the powerful country behind Argentina, and it was also the confidence of Argentina to provoke Chile repeatedly.

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

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

About an hour later, Lucas Fuente finally returned to the camp.

Without any pause, Lucas Fuente found his superior with the rifle and reported his discovery.

After layers of reporting, the rifle was finally handed over to the commander of the Second Border Garrison Division of Chile.

It is impossible that the senior officials of the Chilean military have not seen this rifle, because this rifle is the famous M1903 Springfield rifle, the only powerful country in North and South America, the standard rifle of the US Army.

For a while, the news that Americans might be involved behind Argentina was quickly reported to the top leaders of the Chilean government.

For Chile, it was 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 United States' military strength is not strong, it is still the well-deserved great power in front of Chile, which is very weak in area and population.

The Chilean government did not dare to hesitate at all, reported the possible involvement of the United States in this conflict to the British government, and asked for help from the British government.

After receiving Chile's request for help, the British government paid great attention to and attached great importance to the conflict between Chile and Argentina.

Unfortunately, the Americans denied providing assistance to Argentina and denied that they were the real culprits behind the conflict between Argentina and Chile.

In order to reassure the Chileans, the British Empire urgently allocated 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 is relatively idle compared to other major powers, and there is not much pressure to expand its armaments.

With the support of weapons from the British Empire, Chile acted quite tough and issued an ultimatum to Argentina, demanding that Argentina fully withdraw its troops that invaded the border, apologize to Chile for the two conflicts, and compensate for the corresponding losses.

Argentina naturally could not agree to Chile's conditions, not to mention that the compensation Chile demanded was even enough to build another dreadnought.

On July 1, 1913, Argentina flatly denied Chile's request and stated that the Argentine army was only patrolling and operating on the border legally and in compliance with regulations, and Chile had no right to demand the withdrawal of the Argentine army.

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 naturally did not tolerate Argentina's shameless behavior, and showed the bodies of two Argentine soldiers and photos of the battlefield.

At the same time, Chile re-issued an ultimatum to Argentina, demanding that Argentina fully withdraw its invading troops, otherwise it would be regarded as a provocation and declaration of war against Chile.

If the Argentine army did not withdraw within 48 hours, Chile would officially enter a state of war with Argentina.

After a day, Argentina also responded. Argentina admitted that the bodies were those of Argentine soldiers, but said that the bodies were transferred to Argentina after Chilean troops attacked the Argentine patrol army to forge evidence.

The Chilean border photos with traces of war were also forged by Chileans in order to frame Argentina.

The Argentine government declared that in order to protect the interests of the government and the Argentine people, the Argentine army would never retreat and would never fear the danger from the enemy.

The diplomatic systems of Argentina and Chile have been very busy in the past few days. After the 48 hours stipulated in the Chilean communiqué, the Chilean government formally met with the Argentine ambassador to Chile and announced the decision of the Chilean government, that is, from that day, July 3, 1913, Chile and Argentina officially entered a state of war, and asked the Argentine ambassador to return to Argentina immediately.

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

As a country with a fairly good army, there are currently five divisions of standing troops and 100,000 reserve troops.

If the whole country is mobilized, at least ten divisions can be armed, with more than 150,000 combat troops.

Because the two countries are very close, Argentina also received the news of Chile's declaration of war soon after.

As things have developed to this point, both countries have made certain preparations for the war, and both dispatched a large number of troops at the first time of the declaration of war.

On the Argentine side, because of more adequate preparations in advance, some reserve troops have joined the army.

At present, Argentina can mobilize more than 100,000 combat troops, half of which were located on the border between Argentina and Chile, and the other half are on the way.

"Sign up to join 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!"

For a while, various recruitment slogans in Chile and Argentina were all over the streets, and the two countries had been fully mobilized.

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

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

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

However, President Wilson was not in a very good mood at this time, because he realized later that the situation in South America at this time was somewhat beyond his expectations.

It was indeed President Wilson's opinion to contact Argentina and give Argentina help. After all, South America is also the back garden of the United States. As the president of the United States, Wilson naturally has great ambitions for South America.

But President Wilson's plan is not to start the attack now, but to wait for a more suitable time, such as the outbreak of the European war.

After the outbreak of the European war, the great powers are destined not to have too much energy to take care of South American affairs.

Even the most powerful British Empire needs 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 can contend with alone.

At this time, directly confronting the British Empire is not a good thing for the United States, and it may only benefit Germany in vain.

"Fuck! Shit!" President Wilson cursed secretly, but had to face the current bad situation.

Chile and Argentina went to war, and the United States had to decide whether to aid this new ally.

Even if it supported Argentina, the United States and Argentina could not be the opponents of Britain and Chile.

If it did not support Argentina, the United States would most likely lose this ally and lose it in front of South America.

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

The only remaining Argentina has become a breakthrough for the United States and an important condition for the United States to turn South America into its back garden.

Now it has become a dilemma to choose any one, and it will cause losses to the United States.

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

On July 4, 1913, the second day after the outbreak of the South American War, the British Empire solemnly stated that Argentina showed shameful aggression in this war, which caused serious damage to Chile's national security.

This maintains the tranquility and peace of South America, and at the same time reduces greater casualties and brings peace to the world. The British Empire announced that it would provide military assistance to Chile and provide an interest-free loan.

On the other hand, the United States also transported support to Argentina at almost the same time.

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

With the support from the big brother behind, the war between Chile and Argentina became more fierce and turned into an offensive and defensive war involving most of the border.

Facts have proved that Argentina, which was prepared for the war in advance, will indeed gain a certain advantage in the early stages of the war.

Just one week after the outbreak of the war, Argentina pushed the border forward several kilometers and eliminated thousands of Chilean soldiers.

Although Argentina's casualties were also very heavy, it had already gained a certain advantage on the battlefield with its advantage in numbers.

This time, the two countries used heavy weapons in the war, including artillery and heavy machine guns, which also brought a large number of casualties to 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 go at any time.

After all, the interests of the British Empire in the Balkans are not many, but more about the interests between the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia and Italy.

As long as Constantinople is not threatened, the British Empire can accept any situation in the Balkans.

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

If there is a problem in the situation in South America, it will be unacceptable to the British Empire. Especially if South America is controlled by the United States, the United States will become an invincible country.

The geographical location is excellent and not easy to attack. 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 is unwilling to see and accept. This is why the British Empire supports Australasia to fight against the United States.

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

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

Even though South America was relatively wealthy before, the consumption of the war made these two countries miserable.

If it were not for the supplement and support from Britain and the United States behind the scenes, I am afraid that these two countries would really have to exhaust their national capital to win the war.

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

Of course, it is not without reward. After the victory of the war, a buffer zone will be divided between Chile and Argentina, which will be jointly managed by the countries participating in the expeditionary force.

In fact, it is Britain, Russia, France and Australasia. As the four great powers of the Allied Powers, the ones who can best support the British Empire are naturally the powers other than Britain.

The Allied Powers have common interests, and the current ties are still relatively close.

Arthur did not know whether France and Russia agreed to Britain's conditions, but Britain's conditions were actually quite good for Australasia.

The scale of the expeditionary force to end the South American War would not exceed 50,000 people at most. This also means that if the four great powers jointly send troops, basically each country only needs to send more than 10,000 troops.

And then divide the buffer zone, which will be jointly managed by the four great powers, which is also good news for Arthur.

After all, from the perspective of distance alone, Australasia is the country closest to South America.

And after the outbreak of World War I, other countries will be busy with World War I, and then the management of the buffer zone will be decided by Australasia.

In fact, Arthur has a clear understanding of the buffer zone, although the British Empire righteously said that a buffer zone would be divided from the border between Chile and Argentina to ease the dispute between the two sides.

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

Argentina has one of the four major black soils in the world, the Pampas Plain. The total area of ​​this black soil plain is as high as 105 million hectares, and Argentina occupies the vast majority of it, up to 89 million hectares.

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

And the importance of food in the following World War I, economic crisis and World War II is beyond doubt.

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

A populous country must control the production of food in its own hands. If it can control part of Argentina's black soil, it will be meaningful for the development of Australasia.

This is indeed a good opportunity for Australasia to smoothly control 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 Australasia, Australasia can always hold this black soil and develop it into its own granary.

Arthur can't help but covet this black soil. The value of the four major black soils in the world is too great.

The East European Plain, where the largest black soil is located, has always been a major granary in Europe, and will shine even more in the future Soviet era.

The second largest black soil is located in North America, in the United States, and is affectionately called the "bread basket" by Americans.

The third largest area is in Northeast Asia, which has also been developed from a barren land into an important grain production area, known as the Northern Granary.

Although the black soil area 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 grain production area, Australasia can safely expand its population to tens of millions or even hundreds of millions without worrying about any food crisis.

Food is the foundation of the people. As long as there is enough food production and food reserves, Australasia has full confidence and can survive safely whether in war or crisis.

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

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