Chapter 401 The strong will bully the weak (first update, please subscribe)

It was already one o'clock in the afternoon when the news of the escort fleet's conflict with the Brazilian Navy on the Paraná River reached Buenos Aires. Although the outside world did not know about it yet, when the news came, it still caused an unprecedented response internally.

Standing by the window, Zhu Xianhai calmly held a Cuban cigar. After lighting the cigar with a match, he sat there smoking the cigar while silently listening to Sun Hu's report.

Then he walked slowly and silently to the desk, then to the map, stared at the map on the wall for a while, then turned around calmly to the two soldiers standing upright and asked in a calm tone:

"If we go to war with the Brazilian army now, what are our chances of victory?"

Slightly narrowing his gaze, Zhu Xianhai stared at Brazil on the map with cold eyes and asked.

"For now, the problem we face is that the provinces have not been completely conquered. If we put too many troops in Paraguay, it is very likely to affect our plans in various places. For now, digesting and absorbing the fruits of victory is the most important thing."

It was Zuo Zongtang who spoke, and the officers remained silent.

"Well, although this news came a little suddenly, the Brazilians have suffered such a great loss. What choice will they make?"

Zhu Xianhai raised his voice slightly and said.

"Brazil's military adventure using its fleet has now been completely beaten back by us. Next, will it choose military adventure or negotiate with us? These are all issues we need to consider, but we must show a tough attitude."

None of the people around Zhu Xianhai raised any objections, because they all knew that the Marshal's judgment on international diplomacy was extremely accurate. They all took it for granted that it was an unquestionable fact: Zhu Xianhai knew more than them, saw further than them, and was the only one who had certain intelligence.

"The Brazilians' provocation may be an attempt to test our bottom line through some kind of military adventure. They use the fleet to stop us, not to drag us into war..."

Zhu Xianhai frowned, and an idea became clear in his mind - not to succumb to such provocation!

"What we need is to fight back resolutely and have our fleet conduct combat readiness exercises at the mouth of the La Plata River. At the same time, send another 20,000 people into the Chaco and Misiones regions. If necessary, we can consider marching to Apezón."

Apezón is the capital of Paraguay.

Perhaps Paraguay's economy has been completely destroyed in the five-year war, and the local people are poor and lack daily necessities, but Zhu Xianhai doesn't care about these at all. Compared to any economic problems, he cares more about the local women.

It was not because Zhu Xianhai wanted to enrich his harem, but because after the Paraguayan War, half of the country's population were adult women, and even among the surviving children, most were girls, because boys were also conscripted to the battlefield. There were only more than 20,000 adult males in the entire country, most of whom were elderly. Not only was the traditional elite class of society completely destroyed in this war, but the vast majority of adult men also died on the battlefield.

What are 100,000 Paraguayan women to Nanhua?

It is a treasure trove for alleviating the imbalance in the gender ratio in Nanhua!

In the next five years, Paraguayan women can give birth to at least 400,000 children for Nanhua!

So, for women!

Paraguay must win.

"Then we are likely to have further conflict with the Brazilian army!"

Zuo Zongtang reminded.

"The Brazilians... they don't want to clash with us at all. The Paraguayan War has lasted for nearly five years. Both sides are exhausted. The coalition seems to be about to win, but what about the reality? They have long been ulcerated to the point of collapse. The coalition is also full of disputes. The Argentines only left some troops to maintain the occupied areas and no longer participated in the battle. The Uruguayans also withdrew. At present, only the Brazilians are still gritting their teeth and persisting in hunting down Lopez in the remote and wild areas of northern Paraguay. However, the heavy military expenditures have long overwhelmed Brazil. Will they start a war with us at this time?"

Shaking his head, Zhu Xianhai sneered.

"So, their military adventure was just for testing, but they didn't expect the result to be like this. What we need now is to show that we will never compromise and we will fight at all costs. Now the Brazilians are in a more difficult situation than us!"

Everyone admits that Zhu Xianhai's judgment is well-founded, but no one can ignore the risks involved.

After thinking for a while, Sun Hu tilted his head back slightly and said firmly:

"Marshal, if we want to show our determination, then we should send more troops. We have hundreds of thousands of newly arrived immigrants in Linhai. They have all received certain military training. Our original plan was to use them as reserve troops. Since this is a display of strength, we can deploy them to the border. If necessary, they can enter Paraguay at any time. After all..."

Sun Hu glanced at Zuo Zongtang and said.

"It was the Paraguayan puppet regime that provoked the border conflict. We have every reason to ask them to give us a corresponding explanation. In order to avoid the conflict, our army should enter Paraguay. I think our army has sufficient reasons to enter Paraguay!"

Everyone will grow up, and Sun Hu is the same. Ten years ago, he was just a coolie who escaped from a gold mine. He only studied in a private school for a few years. Even when he served in the Taiping Army, he was a conscripted man. But now, he is a general under the Marshal. As the chief of staff of the security team, he naturally knows what the Marshal is thinking.

The Marshal's goal is to seize Paraguay, so this reason is just right.

As for what Brazil?

There is no problem at all, just blame all the problems on Paraguay. Such a short sentence has actually determined the fate of Paraguay.

"We have every reason to enter Paraguay, but Brazil still has tens of thousands of troops there!"

Zuo Zongtang frowned and reminded.

"If we go directly there, we must take into account the threat from Brazil. It would be extremely unwise to break off relations with the Brazilians now. Although the country..."

Just when Zuo Zongtang wanted to say "A country, no matter how big it is, will perish if it is warlike", he thought of those "warlike" powers and changed his words.

"Brazil is not our current goal. Our current goal is to consolidate our achievements."

"That's true, but Paraguay is also one of our targets. As for Brazil..."

Zhu Xianhai looked at Sun Hu silently for a while, then unhurriedly brought the cigar to his lips, took a deep puff, and slowly paced back and forth in the room.

Finally, he stood by the long table and said in a low voice:

"We should protest to Brazil and ask them to explain their fleet's attack on us. At the same time, we can also discuss with them the division of power in the La Plata River Basin. Since we are a strong country, we must behave like a strong country."

What is a strong country? Of course, it is to bully the weak! In this era of the survival of the fittest, weak countries are at the mercy of others...

(End of this chapter)