Great time travel

Chapter 129, South America

In the far southwest of South America, there is a magical country-Chile.This may be the most remote country in the world (excluding Antarctica), and there are insurmountable geographical barriers between it and various civilization centers.On a map, Chile looks like a slender bamboo pole sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes.This is the longest and narrowest country in the world, with a length of 4270 kilometers from north to south and an average width of only 180 kilometers from east to west.It is located in South America, where tropical rain forests are widely distributed, with a long coastline and the Atacama Desert known as the "world's dry pole".

The original meaning of the word Chile is "the end of the world". This is because Chile in the colonial period was limited to the south of the desert and the north of the Bio-Bio River. Chile has not found as rich precious metal deposits as Mexico and Peru, so it has not received the attention of the suzerain country.In addition, Chile is located on the circum-Pacific seismic belt, and natural disasters such as earthquakes frequently occur in the territory.

However, despite its remote location and peculiar shape, Chile is by no means a poor and weak country. It is this special geographical structure and historical reasons that have created Chileans' tenacity, tradition of seeking knowledge and learning, and strong self-government ability. And it provides them with a natural barrier against foreign invaders.Of course, nature also has a unique gift to Chile. Rich mineral resources make Chile a solid economic pillar. Its copper ore resources account for a quarter of the world's reserves, and it is also the country that produces the most natural saltpeter in the world; Chile It also has rich forest resources.

These rich natural resources provided the material foundation for the development of Chilean economy, and also provided the once remote and weak Chile with the basic conditions to compete for hegemony in wars. As one of the few warlike countries in South America, Chile has been He fought militaristically, continued the northern expedition, repeatedly attacked Bolivia and Peru, won a series of brilliant naval and land battle victories, and expanded his territory to the north by hundreds of kilometers. He was known as the "British in South America".

However, in the face of a giant like the United States, the strength of Chile, a small powerhouse in South America, is not enough.Although at the end of the nineteenth century, Chile once had the most powerful naval fleet in the entire Americas, its tonnage and combat effectiveness were higher than that of the US Navy at that time.However, as the global shipbuilding competition between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was vigorously launched, when the Americans organized the "Great White Fleet" to sail around the world to demonstrate, the Chilean Navy, which was once prosperous in the past, lacked the ability to build its own warships. Industrial strength, while quickly falling behind, has become an inconspicuous little player.

Then, with the implementation of the Monroe Doctrine and the rapid expansion of American power, Chile, like other South American partners, gradually became the backyard and economic colony of the Americans.During World War II, under the strong pressure of the United States, Chile also declared war on the fascist regimes of Germany, Italy and Japan, and joined the Allied camp. Originally, they just wanted to join in the fun and earn the title of victorious country to show off.However, the development of the war situation was far more cruel and bloody than the Chileans had imagined. After defeating Germany and Italy, which were strong outside but capable in the middle, they had to fight the Soviets again.

In the unprecedented brutal war, the ships and sailors of the Chilean Navy were basically forcibly requisitioned by the US Pacific Fleet, and they were exhausted in a series of battles in the South Pacific.The more than 20 Chilean Army who followed the United States to participate in the World War were almost completely wiped out in a series of overseas wars in the Pacific Ocean, Japan, North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. On average, only one in a thousand people can come back alive.

In Chile, in order to support the expenditure of this war, taxes have been raised repeatedly, which has squeezed the people into misery.Although the United States gave the Chilean government a lot of loans and subsidies, under the circumstances of wartime material control, these dollar loans could not buy anything except for investment.

Seeing that following the United States to participate in the world war, instead of enjoying any war dividends, they have to lose their only capital. The whole country of Chile has already accumulated great dissatisfaction. Small countries are becoming more and more unbearable-in the eyes of South Americans, both World War II and World War III are "other people's wars", and they are working as mercenaries for the Americans for money.But today’s dollar is becoming less and less valuable, and it might become waste paper one day. If the fight continues, it’s not about exchanging life for money, but losing money and life. Who would do such a stupid thing?

Therefore, in order to maintain the crumbling regime and suppress the anti-war movement, the pro-American President Alexandri announced the dissolution of Congress, the suspension of elections, and nationwide martial law. "Initiated a military coup under the banner of "—After six hours of melee, President Alexandri and [-] of his direct followers died on the streets of the capital, Santiago. Announced to tear up the military alliance agreement with the United States and withdraw from this war.

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At the same time, the Argentine government, which has always held the banner of "anti-Americanism" and has always been half-hearted and extremely reluctant to participate in the war, also officially announced its reversal.After the Peron government that came to power last year stabilized its internal affairs, it began to cool down and downplay the alliance. First, it gradually stopped military cooperation with the US government, and then tried to recall the Argentine troops that had been sent overseas to help in the war. The work was forced to end as soon as it started, because the Argentine army that participated in the war was quickly wiped out, and they either went to see God or entered a prisoner-of-war camp.

However, the United States cannot tolerate Argentina jumping off the chariot so easily.Although the intensity of the war between the two camps has declined rapidly since the spring of [-], in order to deal with the inevitable brutal war of attrition that will follow, the Pentagon needs to enlist more soldiers from South America to act as cannon fodder and search for more soldiers. The resources to maintain the operation of the huge war machine, so the control of South American countries must be tightened, not loosened.

In order to suppress the anti-American forces in Argentina, the United States did not forget to send more troops to Brazil while coping with the domestic disaster. At the same time, it sent a fleet to patrol the La Plata Estuary to deter the Argentine capital Buyi, which is located on the south bank of the La Plata Estuary. North Aires...However, in the face of the U.S. government’s large-scale forced conscription of Argentines, the purchase of large quantities of food and meat at low prices, and the forced apportionment of huge war debts, all these military intimidation measures are in vain. Failed to suppress the raging anger of the Argentines.The desperate Argentines expressed that they would rather fight the Yankees and die at home than be looted for the last copper coin and be buried in an unknown wilderness on the other side of the ocean.

The Peron government, which was originally extremely anti-American in terms of political stance, and with a very Nazi tinge, continued to fuel the flames and fuel the flames. It quickly took advantage of public opinion and general trends to successfully cleanse the weak pro-American forces in the country, officially Turn against the United States—although, as the remnants of the Nazis, they also hate the Soviets, but after all, the Soviets are far away from each other, and the Americans have already stretched their dirty hands into Argentina. Naturally, it is important to oppose the United States first.

Then, under the pressure of successive defeats by the U.S. military, the political situation in Peru also underwent drastic changes... The left-wing political party that advocated withdrawing from the war came to power through a coup, but the old pro-American regime gathered direct troops and began to counterattack.Just as the two sides were fighting inextricably, another foreign aid came...

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Chilean northern border, Atacama desert, Antofagasta port

The new flagship of the Soviet Red Banner Pacific Fleet, the nuclear-powered battleship Lenin, is anchoring outside this desert port.

Standing by the railing of the boat, Wang Qiu looked curiously at the yellow-brown coastline and bare mountains on the opposite side—although this land is very close to the sea, the cold water near the South Pole brought by the Peruvian cold current caused Ataka The air near the Ma Desert is cold and warm, which is called "inversion layer" in meteorology, which is very unfavorable for the condensation of raindrops; Incoming moist air mass.After all the calculations, the Atacama Desert does not meet any meteorological conditions that can rain. Therefore, although this place is foggy all the year round, and sometimes the relative humidity of the air can reach 70%, it has become one of the world's most famous places in the world. the driest place.

How dry is the Atacama Desert?The average annual precipitation in the entire desert is less than 50 millimeters, and in the northern region it is even less than 10 millimeters. On average, there are only two to three rains per century; in some places in the desert, the Spaniards began to practice here in the late 16th century. It has been drought for almost 400 years since the meteorological records, that is to say, it is hard to say whether there are any living people there who have seen the last rain with their own eyes.

The Atacama Desert is so dry that it is extremely unsuitable for human habitation. In addition, the only soil is also strongly acidic and extremely barren. Therefore, except for a few settlements, it has become The only place on the planet without any signs of life.So much so that NASA's Mars rover is doing experiments here-scientists believe that this is the place on earth that is most like Mars, and maybe the conditions are not as good as Mars!
However, despite such harsh natural conditions, there are a full 100 million people living in this desert!The port of Antofagasta in front of them is the second largest port and the fifth largest city in Chile. There is no surface water source, so they took advantage of the foggy weather to cover the sky with hundreds of sheets The sun-blocking "fog-catching net" collects the moisture in the fog, allowing the dense fog to condense into water droplets on the surface of the net.It is said that with good luck, each net can collect 170 liters of water per day.In addition, long water pipes were laid from the Andes to draw snow water to eke out a living.

——The reason why so many Chileans live together in this desert where they can't even drink water is not because they like to ask for trouble, but because this desert produces a lot of struvite, natural saltpeter and copper Mines are all good things that can be sold at a good price.And Chile, which is far away from the prosperous areas of the civilized world, relies on the trade income of these minerals to afford a large navy that burns money... Although the current Chilean navy has been tossed about by the Yankees because of its participation in the World War , very little remains.However, in the port of Antofagasta, which is close to the northern border, there are still many military port facilities, which are now directly occupied by the Soviet Red Navy, which crossed the Pacific Ocean for the first time, as a forward base for replenishment and rest.

At this moment, the entire harbor of Antofagasta is full of Soviet Navy ocean-going ships flying red flags.The Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, which had arrived on the coast of South America earlier, had already set off to Peru in advance to cooperate with the new regime to smash the counterattack of the domestic pro-American reactionaries.

"...How is the situation in Peru? Has the latest information been sent? Has the Japanese Marine Corps entered the capital Lima?"

Turning around the chart room of the battleship "Lenin", Wang Qiu asked casually while looking at the messily drawn map on the unfolded table.

"...The progress is going well. The Callao military port on the outskirts of Lima has been bombarded and destroyed, and there is no sign of the shore-based air force taking off to bomb. Some intelligence and political workers have already landed and launched an armed uprising of local Japanese expatriates to cooperate with the new government to encircle and suppress The remnants of the pro-American faction..."

Commissar Guo kept in touch with the radio room on the ship's phone, and at the same time wrote something on the map and notebook with a pencil, "...the pro-American rebels' offensive on the capital Lima has already been defeated by the high-density bombing of the Japanese naval aviation. The next one was thwarted, and we are currently starting a counterattack across the board..."

"...sounds like things are going well...how about the Americans? How are they reacting to the changing situation in South America?"

Wang Qiu nodded in satisfaction, and then continued to ask, "... This time they have taken away such a large corner of their wall, and it is in such a fatal vital part. Next, there may be a reshuffle in the entire Latin America. Chain reaction... the White House must be going crazy right now, right?"

"...It's useless even if they are insane? The main force of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet was deceived by the Japanese Navy's combined fleet's move westward into the Indian Ocean. It is currently staying in the Hawaiian Islands to prepare for the war, and it will not be able to make it in time. Come from South America."

Professor Guo poked the Hawaiian Islands on the map with a pencil, and replied, "...Moreover, even if they hurriedly attacked from the Hawaiian Islands, let alone how long it takes, it will take a while The combined fleet of the Japanese Navy and the entire Pacific Fleet of the Red Navy of the Soviet Union—only Yamato-class battleships alone, there are a total of twelve ships in this South American battle! The mobile fleet of the aircraft carrier is the essence..."

For Professor Guo's above point of view, Wang Qiu also nodded in agreement.

Although since the introduction of the Monroe Doctrine, the United States has regarded the entire Latin America as its own backyard and monopolized sphere of influence, but the main means are still based on economic and political penetration.As for the troops directly stationed in South American countries, there are really not many—before World War II, the miniature establishment of the U.S. Army did not even make a sound overseas.After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the U.S. navy and army died one after another in the rapid expansion, which caused a shortage of human resources in the country. They had to recruit young men from the allies. How could they find how many manpower to station in South America?

Therefore, in the face of the sudden and rapid defection of the South American allies, the Americans far away in the northern hemisphere seem to be unable to react at all.