Chapter 781 Exchange of Interests (Happy New Year!)

The war finally broke out.

For Bolivia and Paraguay, the oil in the Northern Chaco region is an important resource that cannot be abandoned.

Even if they have to pay a lot of price to the great powers in order to defeat each other, the two countries will still start this war and try their best to defeat the enemy.

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

Before the outbreak of the war, Paraguay's conventional army only had about 3,000 people, and its weapons and equipment only included relatively ordinary rifles, machine guns and a small number of artillery.

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

This also includes Australasian tanks, aircraft 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 focus area of ​​the war, that is, the Northern Chaco region.

Paraguay is only about 200 kilometers away from the Norte Chaque region, so there is little logistical pressure.

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

Although the Bolivians purchased a large number of tanks, they had basically no use in the jungle grasslands 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 purchased a large number of aircraft, Bolivia also began to organize large-scale aircraft patrols and reconnaissance work on the front line.

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

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

Moreover, the area of ​​​​this lake is very vast. Whether it is for its role in the war or for the subsequent strategic development of the Chako region, this lake is an important area that must be occupied.

The Bolivian Air Force quickly reported the discovery to the government, which quickly responded by occupying the lake.

But the air force in the sky did not discover that there was a small outpost of ten people in the jungle next to the lake.

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

Because of its superior strength, Bolivia did not retreat, but chose to launch an attack.

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

It is worth mentioning that in the early days of the war, the Bolivian army achieved an overall victory in its offensive due to its overall lead in equipment and numbers.

In just one week, the Bolivian army successively captured three important military fortresses in the Norte Chaco region: Clares, Toledo and Boqueron.

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

Paraguay is the complete opposite. Due to insufficient national strength and inadequate war preparations, the Paraguayan army not only has outdated equipment, but also lacks heavy firepower weapons.

Some Paraguayan soldiers did not even have thermal weapons. Their weapons were machetes, wooden sticks, and even stones picked up by the roadside.

The development of the war caught the British by surprise, and Paraguay, which they supported, was soon at a disadvantage and was very likely to be defeated by Bolivia.

The British were naturally unwilling to see such a result happen. With the intervention of the British, the international mediation meeting between Paraguay and Bolivia also officially began.

Because Bolivia, 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 be at a disadvantage in this negotiation.

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

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

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

The meeting was held in Brazil, which had nothing to do with the conflict, which on the surface maintained fairness to the conflict between the two parties.

But in fact, which of the two countries and powers participating in the meeting did not have its own agenda? The reason why this peace negotiation exists is simply that one party wants to delay the opportunity for itself, and the other party believes that it has a chance to win.

As soon as the peace talks began, negotiations for mediation reached a stalemate. The Bolivian representatives directly proposed conditions that the British would never agree to, demanding all ports along the Paraguay River and the occupation of the entire Chaco region.

Doing so will not only cause the British to lose the oil in the Chaco region, but will also cause Paraguay, which the British support, to suffer heavy losses or even be unable to recover.

Naturally, the British would not agree to such a request. After all, it depends on the owner to beat a dog. Under the premise that the British openly support Paraguay, Paraguay's victory is directly linked to the interests of the British.

In order to delay enough time in the negotiations, the British representatives approached the Australasian representatives and proposed their own conditions.

That night in the room of the Australasian representative, the British representative said with a very sincere attitude: "Mr. Jay, we are willing to share the oil in the Northern Chaco region with your country, and allow your country to have the same rights as us in Paraguay. Benefits and preferential treatment.

As long as you can agree to support Paraguay in tomorrow's negotiations, we are willing to persuade Paraguay to agree to the above requirements. "

To be honest, the oil in the Northern Chaco region is not that attractive to Australasia.

With half of the Persian Gulf’s oil, Australasia is no less than any country in terms of oil.

What's more, Australia, Southeast Asia and Alaska all have large oil reserves, and they are areas completely controlled by Australasia.

What further attracted Australasia to this conflict was its influence in South America.

After the demise of the United States, this American backyard has become a terra incognita. Who can seize the hegemony in South America first is very important to the competition for global hegemony.

Taking a closer look at these countries in South America, all of them are very important exporters of agriculture, animal husbandry and minerals.

What does the export of agricultural and animal husbandry products and minerals represent? It means that during wartime, the country can obtain sufficient material supplies.

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

Australasia's biggest enemy is currently the island country, but no matter how powerful the island country's navy is, it is impossible to cross the Pacific and come to the southern hemisphere to block Australasia's maritime trade routes.

The same is true for Britain and France. The British, in particular, have no doubt about their control of the Atlantic Ocean.

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

Moreover, South American countries are generally weak and easier to control than North America.

Because of these various reasons, Britain, France, and Australia all have certain ideas about South America, and they have all taken practical actions.

Compared with the oil in the Northern Chalk region, which the British call it, Australasia is more concerned about the interests of the Paraguay region.

Although Paraguay is only a small country in South America, its location is still very important. After having certain interests in Paraguay, it can radiate to the three major powers in South America in the north and south directions.

Controlling these three powerful countries actually controls the entire South America. Because countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador in the northwest are far less powerful than the three powerful countries of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.

Although he was satisfied with the conditions offered by the British, the Australasian representative did not directly agree, but made more demands: "Mr. John, I admit that your country's conditions are indeed attractive, but It is not big enough for us to firmly support Paraguay.

If your country is willing to allow us to participate in the mining of Chilean saltpeter mines, I think His Majesty the King will be very willing to support the British Empire and re-establish 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 also understood this. In the previous decades, they had firmly controlled the mining and export of Chilean saltpeter mines.

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

It can be said that without the British support for Chile, Chile would never be as powerful as it is now.

Of course, British support is definitely not free. Chile has the largest saltpeter mine in the world, but the mining and export of saltpeter mines all depend on the British.

Such a price makes it absolutely impossible for Chile to develop into a superpower, or even become only one of the three major powers in South America.

Even out of self-interest considerations, the British will never allow Chile to become more powerful.

After all, when Chile becomes stronger, it will consider more issues, such as taking back the mining and export rights of its own saltpeter mines.

It goes without saying how important the saltpeter mine is. In the eyes of the British, it is a more important resource than oil. Naturally, it is impossible to allow Chile to become powerful and threaten its power in Chile where the saltpeter mine is located.

"Oh my god, this is impossible, Mr. Jay." British representative John said with a look of disbelief: "The saltpeter mine here is a very important strategic resource for the British Empire, and it is unlikely that it will be delegated to outsiders.

I heard that your country is interested in Argentina’s black land. Otherwise, how about we persuade Argentina to lease more black land to your country? "

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

Although the black soil is excellent arable land, for the British Empire, which encompassed the entire India, arable land was not actually that important.

India can provide the British with a large amount of food every year. Although this is most likely a material obtained by exploiting Indian talents, it actually does not matter to the British.

After all, the number of Indians has determined that Indian lives are not important. If 10,000 Indians can be exchanged for the safety of one British person in the war, I believe the British government will do it without hesitation.

"Mr. John, you know." Representative Jay said with a smile: "There is no shortage of arable land in Australasia. We have more than 2 million people in Java Island, the Murray River Basin and other areas. square kilometers of potential cultivation area.

Facts have proven that although black soil is conducive to crop cultivation, the maintenance cost of a black soil spanning the entire Pacific is too high and is not cost-effective for us. "

To be honest, Argentina’s black soil is indeed a good choice. Although there is no shortage of arable land in Australasia now, the black soil of Argentina is actually different.

The land in Australasia needs to be planted and developed by Australasians, and the land in Argentina only needs to hire local Argentines.

Compared with Australasia, Argentina's labor costs are lower and its grain output is also very superior.

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

"Let's do this, Mr. John." Looking at the embarrassed John, Representative Jay smiled and made his last request: "For the sake of our good relationship, Australasia is willing to make this concession.

But in order to deliver to His Majesty, we need a large amount of black land for the development of food crops, and we also need to become a priority purchaser of Chilean saltpeter. "

Although we cannot participate in the mining of Chilean saltpeter, it would be very good if we could become the first country to purchase saltpeter mines.

After all, Chile's annual output of saltpeter mines is quite good, and the British Empire cannot consume so much saltpeter mines.

However, in the past, in order to prevent its enemies from becoming stronger, Britain would strictly restrict the export of saltpeter ore, and even banned exports to its own hostile countries.

If certain rights in exports can be obtained, the military industry in Australasia will develop more rapidly.

Of course, there is more black soil, which is also very helpful for the grain layout of Australasia.

Hiring Argentinian workers and using Argentina's black soil to grow Australasian food is a very cost-effective deal.

The distance between Argentina and Europe is closer than that of Australasia. At that time, the food produced in Argentina's black soil can also be exported to Europe in large quantities in exchange for sufficient foreign exchange earnings.

4000 words update sent, wishing everyone a happy new year!