Chapter 229 Decapitation Operation (Second update, please subscribe)
In June 1865, in Chillán, the atmosphere in the provisional government headquarters, which was once the town hall building, was a little tense.
"Okay, now everyone knows the situation,"
Pedro León Gallo, who was sitting at the head seat, said with a frown.
"Just a few hours ago, the company representative informed us that they are no longer able to support us! In other words, from now on, we can only rely on ourselves!"
"Damn it, they think we are no longer useful!"
"That's right. It must be because their railway is about to open to traffic that they refused to fund us. Damn it, I've already said those businessmen are untrustworthy..."
For a while, everyone in the conference room was talking at once, with different opinions. Everyone was accusing America of betrayal. Of course, they all had their own calculations in their minds, and the most core issue was - how long can they hold on.
In fact, Americana will stop supporting them for a while.
This is no secret.
The reason why the American Company or the King of South China initially supported them was to contain Santiago and to buy time.
Over the past four years, they have been working day and night to build the railway. Once the railway is completed and South China is connected to Araucanía, the company's assistance may be terminated.
In the past, they were able to hold on thanks to the arms and other supplies provided by the company. Without the military assistance provided by the company, they would not have been able to hold on for four years.
Four years of civil war resulted in the loss of more than 80,000 soldiers on both sides. Of course, as politicians, they didn't care about this at all. Compared with the death of ordinary soldiers, these politicians cared more about their power.
And now, their power seems to have come to an end!
“We have to lobby companies to continue funding us no matter what!”
Pedro León Gallo stood up and said.
"If we want to convince them, we have to give them reasons to support us. We must use our actions to tell them that we have the ability and will definitely capture Santiago! So, just two hours ago, I ordered the Minister of War to go to the front line in person and urge the army to launch an attack on Santiago. We will concentrate all our strength to completely defeat Santiago!"
While the meeting was going on, Major Saniyatu, who was outside the provisional government headquarters building, was quietly looking at the conference room. Occasionally, he would look at the pocket watch in his hand.
Time is passing by little by little.
"God bless you, everything..."
Almost at the moment when Major Saniyatu finished speaking, suddenly, several loud noises rang out from the conference room. Smoke and flames from the explosions spewed out from the windows, and shattered windows and glass fragments even flew dozens of meters away.
“…”
Even though he was prepared, Major Saniyatu was still stunned. The power of the bomb was too great.
Major Saniatu hurriedly fled the government headquarters amid screams of terror, but he did not get far. Just as he was about to escape from the city, he was arrested outside the city, along with the watchmaker Alfred.
However, it seems to be too late.
Their bombs killed almost all the senior officials of the provisional government, and chaos was almost inevitable in the city of Chillán.
When the explosion occurred, outside the city of Curico in northern Chillán, a troop was marching northward. Both officers and soldiers were wearing green shirts and white pants, which was the uniform of the Chilean Southern Army. Among the marching troops, there were both infantry and artillery. The artillery unit even had heavy artillery pulled by more than a dozen horses.
That was a 120mm Azur-style siege cannon produced by Nanhua. As part of military aid last year, six were provided to the Provisional Government. When it was sent to the battlefield last year, it played an extremely important role. However, this heavy cannon weighing more than 3,500 kilograms was extremely inconvenient to transport on the battlefield and required up to twelve horses to pull it, so it was only used during siege warfare.
Now that six Arab siege guns appeared at the same time, it was clear that a major war was about to break out.
This army of 4,000 men was the army led by Bernardo Riquelme. He had been a little absent-minded since leaving Curicó, and was not thinking about the upcoming attack.
Instead, he was thinking about another thing - why did Nanhua suddenly stop its aid, and what inevitable connection was there between this and the upcoming opening of the railway.
"Does that guy really intend to give up on Galileo?"
The "that guy" he was talking about was none other than Zhu Xianhai. He was extremely dissatisfied with "that guy" now. Not only because he repeatedly refused to send troops north, but there was another reason - his sister Maria. Maria gave birth to a child for that guy, but so what?
They still haven't held the wedding. He doesn't care about the title of brother-in-law. He cares about his sister's happiness. Does that guy intend to let his sister spend her life as his lover?
"Once we take down San Diego, no matter what, I will make that guy give my sister an explanation!"
Pursing his lips, Bernardo Riquelme looked to the north, his eyes full of anticipation.
Take San Diego!
If he could capture Santiago, he would become the greatest contributor to the provisional government. By then, even the so-called "ruler" of Iscariot would be useless. He could only watch him take over.
Military victory!
It is the best shortcut to politics, and all Bernardo Riquelme needs is victory. It's a pity that the population in the south is too small and the military force is limited, otherwise, how could this war last for four years.
"No matter what, all this must..."
Just as Bernardo Riquelme was thinking about this, a messenger came hurriedly over.
"Mr. Minister, Mr. Minister, a telegram from Chillian!"
However, after taking a quick look at the contents of the telegram, Bernardo Riquelme's face turned pale and he screamed in shock.
"How is this possible!?"
"What? What happened, General?"
Colonel William asked.
"Qillian..."
Bernardo Riquelme said anxiously.
"Chillán was attacked! The government headquarters was attacked, and the lives of the ministers and the ruling officials are unknown..."
"What? Chillian was attacked? Are they dead or alive?"
Colonel William screamed.
"This is impossible. Did they grow wings and fly over?"
In between screaming, he said.
"General, we must block the news immediately, otherwise it will definitely cause panic on the front line!"
(End of this chapter)
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