Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 707 Negotiation Guidelines

In Chengguan Town, Dongfang County, the army club was filled with smoke, and a group of officers dressed in uniforms of lieutenants and school officers were having a meeting.

This is the tactical command room located on the basement level. At the door of the only gate stood six heavily armed soldiers, commanded by a sergeant of the gendarmerie.Since today's meeting was a confidential meeting, the military police sergeant who guarded the door was instructed: If any uninvited person approached the meeting room without permission, he would be arrested immediately without asking for instructions. If the other party resisted, he could be shot and killed on the spot.

At this time, the meeting had reached the middle stage. The meeting was presided over by retired army veteran Peng Zhicheng and the current army minister Liao Meng. The chief and deputy captain of the militia brigade, the chief and deputy principal of the Dingyuan Military Academy, and some teachers of the Bingtuanbao.It can be seen from the composition and lineup of the participants in the meeting that this is an enlarged meeting of the Army system. The main purpose is to unify thinking, speak with one voice, and strive for greater benefits for the Army system.

To be honest, the first few years of the Army were a bit rough.With the passage of peace and the obstruction of some civil officials within the government, the military expenditure of the army has dropped sharply, and the salary is generally not high, which is incomparable with the rich and powerful navy.The government presided over by civilian officials approved the navy's shipbuilding plans one after another even though the finances were not abundant. The budget was not listed as the reason for the general rejection.

In addition, the army's plans for the general exercises of tens of thousands of people (including the militia brigades in each county) and large-scale confrontation exercises in the field proposed several times by the army were all rejected. The whole army is also very dissatisfied with this.Especially with the navy as a foil, the fragile self-esteem of the army has been ruthlessly trampled, so everyone is holding a fire in their hearts, and this is actually a major cause of the burning of the barracks.

After the outbreak of the war, the long-planned army quickly vented its anger on the Spaniards in La Plata, and the momentum of the siege made the hearts of the people all over the country boil.Even with the powerful aura added by the navy that eliminated the Spanish La Plata fleet and the Peruvian fleet successively, the army that brought back a large amount of property and livestock from La Plata still received the support of the farmers who gained benefits (bonus cows) Support, the momentum was extremely loud for a while, sweeping away the low-key and bad luck a few years ago.

However, as the war lasted for two years, the trend of domestic public opinion to end the war as soon as possible began to rise. Although the two armies on the east coast continued to win on various fronts, the huge gap in national strength with the Kingdom of Spain still made many people tremble with fear. ——This includes some people who have traveled through——so they hope to close as soon as they see it, and conclude a peace treaty with the enemy as soon as possible when the current conditions and situation are more favorable, and then immerse themselves in development.Because in their thinking, the major European countries will continue to entangle and fight endlessly in the future, and the east coast can completely sit back and watch success or failure, and rise peacefully, just like what the United States did back then.

And more importantly, this kind of argument is now quite popular among the members of the Executive Committee.The military department won the support of at most 11-4 of the 5 Central Executive Committee members, and this is undoubtedly not enough for them to exercise their will.At this time, they often need to win one or two allies. If they can't win, hehe, the military leaders in front of and behind the scenes of the army system may make dangerous moves.Of course, when things get to this point, the army itself will inevitably have to pay a huge price, and the country may even be split because of this, so no one will resort to such a trick that hurts others and hurts itself unless it is absolutely necessary.What's more, with the increasing number of graduates from Bingtuanbao, the number of students united around the Executive Committee cannot be underestimated.In other words, today's Executive Committee does not look as "bully" as it used to be.If the army wants to express its opinions, it is best to follow the rules.

"Xiao Liao, tell me honestly, is there a big problem with the navy? If the war continues, will they have any problems? I mean if the Netherlands and the United Kingdom intervene in the war, can the navy maintain our country's naval power? Transportation line?" Peng Zhicheng asked Liao Meng who was sitting opposite him while pressing tobacco into his pipe.

Liao Meng is the Minister of the Army and also the Chief of Staff of the National Armed Forces. He often deals with the Navy. After all, even the Minister of the Navy himself is his nominal subordinate.Of course, in the eyes of the arrogant army, the navy is nothing more than the army's transport fleet.Although Liao Meng is not disliked by the navy because of various complicated interests like other army officers, his attitude towards the navy is indeed not very friendly.

At this time, he pondered for a while, and then said: "I'm afraid I'm not sure. I talked about this issue with Guo Zili, Li Yi and other major naval officers before. They said that if they fight with all their strength, they will probably be able to maintain The sea line of communication will be unblocked within one to two years. After this time, the European market may have to be completely abandoned, and the defense line will be shrunk to the southern part of the New World. In short, the situation is not optimistic. The British sea power may be average, but the Netherlands is very strong. If they If we are determined to intervene, there is no solution for us, and the result can only be a loss for both sides."

Hearing that the navy can only hold the enemy for one to two years, Peng Zhicheng's expression immediately turned cold.He stood up with a gloomy face, and after walking around the room, he said hoarsely: "In any case, the existing negotiation conditions are unacceptable. What a joke, the territory is only limited to The area east of the Wujiang River? Then the town of La Plata, which we conquered after tens of thousands of loyal soldiers fought bloody battles, is about to be abandoned. How is this proper? Are the people from the Government Affairs Council worthy of the ghosts in the town god's temples in various counties? The same goes for the Navy, and that Lu Ming is also a worthless guy. I heard that the civil servants are going to support him as the Minister of the Navy when the war is over and the government is re-elected, and even want to aspire to the post of Chief of Staff of the National Armed Forces. For us, it's a very bad signal."

Hearing what Peng Zhicheng said, everyone present was a little worried.Everyone is now a whole, backed by the army, if the army system is weakened, then everyone will be unlucky, this is intolerable to everyone.Therefore, they now desperately need this war to continue. Otherwise, once the war ends, the government is re-elected, and the navy dominates the military, everyone's life will be very difficult.

At that time, the proportion of military expenditure that has already been unfairly distributed (the army and navy are split between four and six) will probably be further tilted towards the navy.Not only that, but now there is a rumor that the Government Administration Council is quite dissatisfied with the annual military expenditure accounting for [-]% of the total fiscal expenditure.They intend to disarmament to cut expenses, and then invest the saved money in the domestic infrastructure industry. After all, once the war is over, there seems to be no reason to continue to maintain a hugely expensive navy and army.

Since the matter of disarmament is no longer a secret, if Lu Ming, a naval officer who is very close to the civil servants, is allowed to take the stage, will the army have any good fruit to eat?At this time, it is an exaggeration to say that everyone in the army system is in danger, but it is also true that everyone's sense of crisis has greatly increased, and this undoubtedly provides some veterans of the army with sufficient room to operate.

"La Plata must not be returned in its entirety. Apart from the Port of Blanca, the Patagonian Plateau must also be ceded to the East Coast Republic of China!" Peng Zhicheng said without being startled.The Patagonian plateau is also known as the wasteland. Although the natural environment here is harsh and there is not much precipitation, it is superior in its vast area. Some areas can develop grain planting, and most areas can also develop animal husbandry. It is located at the northern end of the Strait of Magellan. It is important, but it still has considerable strategic value.

Everyone already knows the diplomatic letters brought back by the Mo Santo Navy, and at the same time conducted in-depth research on some of the clauses.From the Army's point of view, if Mo San's conditions are approved by the Executive Committee—the probability is quite high, then reaching a peace agreement with the Spaniards within one year will be a high probability event.And at that time, how should the Army deal with itself?Therefore, ending the war at this time is not very in the interests of the Army. Peng Zhicheng's condition for ceding the Patagonian Plateau just now is the product of this mentality.

If the Spaniards had broken their heads and agreed to cede the Patagonian plateau to the people on the east coast, then it happened that this was proposed by the army, and it was also the result of the army's invincible power that forced the Spaniards to succumb.At this time, it would be unreasonable for you to reduce the size of the army. The army can also win a lot of sympathy points at this time, and the matter of disarmament will probably be yellowed.And if the Spaniards do not agree - the most likely, then there is no doubt that the war will continue, which is undoubtedly in the interests of the Army.So, in any case, the army is not willing to stop the war now, unless their conditions (ie, the issue of post-war disarmament) are met, the war between the two sides may continue for many years.

Peng Zhicheng's suggestion sparked heated discussions among the participants.Everyone carefully analyzed the various possible directions of the matter, and then discussed them one by one again.Peng Zhicheng and the others didn't speak, but watched the heated debate. At this time, the Army needs to unify its thinking and speak out with one voice, otherwise it may not be able to effectively safeguard the interests of the group.

Everyone has been discussing for more than two hours. At noon, everyone finally reached an agreement, and completed the details of Peng Zhicheng's question about the status of the Patagonian plateau after the war, and then the special clerk sorted it out After filing, it was submitted to the Executive Committee in the name of the Ministry of the Army and the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a guideline for diplomatic negotiations proposed by the Ministry of Military Affairs for the "reference" of members of the Executive Committee.

(End of this chapter)