Central Calendar Year 1639, March 22, in the afternoon. Quila kingdom.
In the hostile lands of the Quila Kingdom, two months after the arrival of the Argentines, YPF and YCF had taken over a large amount of the kingdom's lands without any opposition.
The reason for this was the uselessness of the land full of flammable rocks and water.
Because of the Argentine civilian population's distrust of venturing into the new world to find work, the companies used local labor to extract the oil and coal.
This was a blessing for both parties, the extreme poverty of the inhabitants of the kingdom made them request employment from these companies in exchange for food and shelter, like a peasant with a feudal lord.
This delighted the employers as their new employees simply made do with prefabricated houses and a plate of polenta or beans a day for themselves and their families, without having to worry about the employees complaining about the working conditions and lack of modern conveniences.
Small communities of miners, although the correct term would be coal collectors, and oil workers quickly formed communities. Anthropologists and others Argentinians interested in learning about demi-humans would visit this communities.
Once the demi-humans were seen as peaceful people in need of help, doctors and teachers began to arrive for humanitarian purposes.
Something very curious had happened with the teachers, although they could understand the language of the natives they could not understand writing for some reason, so they began to teach to read and write Spanish to the children, and later also to the adults because a great part of the population was illiterate.
This eventually led to the native language dying out and being replaced by Spanish without the Argentines knowing it.
Port city of Maihark, Principality of Qua-Toyne.
"What do you mean we are not allowed to reform the port? We have the approval of the prime minister?!" The Argentine engineer asked in annoyance.
"Under the authority of the Minais decree of 1420 of the central calendar, the Masonic guilds are the only ones allowed to perform construction work." Said a rather intimidating bull man, accompanied by several people carrying sticks with them, this guild's reason for acting hostile was because of the appearance of cement and plaster and that the Argentinians were teaching their construction secrets to any bum who was hired, which would put the guild in a bad light when it came to being hired.
"We, of the guild of tradesmen and artisans, demand that your people stop selling their crafts and products illegally." The Argentines had brought some things to sell such as watches or toys to earn some money, since the peso still had no real value. "Reack's decree so dictates." Of course, the only way to be a legal vendor in a city was to be part of the guilds.
For these and other reasons the guilds began to harass the Argentines, the only thing that prevented the situation from escalating further was that Prime Minister Kanata placed a guard of soldiers to protect the Argentine workers and experts.
However, this did not solve the problem and tensions with the guilds increased, the guilds began to use their fortune to buy off the guards, who looked the other way when thieves entered to steal or break the belongings of the Argentines.
One day, the architect of the construction site was beaten up by thugs sent by the guilds, because of this a meeting between the Prime Minister and the ambassador was held.
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"I am ashamed of everything that happened, I assure you that I will send more trained guards to increase the security of your people." The elf was sincerely apologizing.
"That is not necessary, some units of our security forces are on their way, it is clear that my countrymen will not trust your guards anymore." Agustín spoke seriously, but inside he was somewhat happy to see an opportunity to ask for more concessions.
"I-I understand, I deeply regret not being able to prevent this situation." Kanata was very nervous that this would mean the cancellation of the deal with Argentina and bring them closer to Louria.
"I hope they catch those responsible, those guild masters who have been harassing our workers so much."
"Unfortunately... there is nothing we can do, the guilds are the artery of the cities, plus they have a lot of money and influence in parliament." The Prime Minister admitted with shame.
"In that case give diplomatic immunity to our men." Agustin said.
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"Sir, this time they brought their own guards." Said one of the guild goons as he watched as a line of soldiers in blue with large black shields and covered faces formed up to prevent the mob from reaching the construction site.
"Easy, they don't seem to be wearing plate armor, and there are very few of them, come on."
The thugs approached the riot police as they hurled insults and demanded the Argentines leave.
However, those officers who were here were not simply cops, they were gendarmes who had an open case against them because they were responsible for the deaths of protesters during the chaos of the transfer and who were given a choice whether they wanted to go to jail or be sent to the new world.
"Boys! Let's give them a real reason to ask us to leave!" One of the gedarmes said.
Once the mob of thugs got close enough, gendarmerie began firing their M4 and M870 shotguns.
The deafening noise and the fact that many suddenly fell to the ground dead or wounded caused everyone to freeze in confusion. Soon after another round of gunfire and dead bodies brought them back to reality and they immediately began to run, even though they were fleeing, they continued to be attacked.
"They're wizards! Let's get out of here!"
"What the fuck is that magic?!"
"AHHHHH! MY LEG! HELP!"
When gendarmerie stopped firing, 40 bodies lay on the ground dead or seriously wounded.
In the face of this, the guilds, seeing the one-sided massacre, tried to take their case to the Qua-Toyne courts, only to be surprised to find that the government granted them diplomatic immunity in advance.
Jin-Hark Port, Louria Kingdom.
A British soldier was running at full speed towards the diplomatic agents' room, opening the door.
"This is bad! The Argentines have arrived at the port!"
The British were loading the raw material onto the ships when the destroyer ARA Sarandi appeared on the horizon, once in port a diplomatic delegation along with some marine commandos were coming down, both sides made eye contact in a tense situation.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
"Estos piratas hijos de re mil puta, como quisiera cagarlos a tiros.". Said one of the Argentinian soldiers, however the English could understand him due to the translation spell.
"Did you say something bloody argie?" replied one of the British.
"¡Que te voy a cagar a tiros, inglesito del orto!"
"Try it, we know what happened last time."
"Callate y andate a la concha de tu madre... wait, you can't! England is not here and nobody is going to save you this time! There will be no fleet, no American support and no Chileans to help you!"
"That's enough!" The Argentine diplomat, Raul Avellaneda, spoke to calm tensions. "Do you want to start a battle in the territory of a third party?! I'm sure that won't benefit any of us.
"That's right, let's keep calm for a moment and not get carried away." the English diplomat continued.
Nobody wanted to start a battle here. Argentina had come to Louria in order to establish diplomatic relations and avoid war, while the English needed trade with Louria to build the oil refinery, a fight would only make them look bad in the eyes of that kingdom.
After the situation calmed down, the soldiers on both sides decided to continue on their way.
The Kelpers had to get the materials to the islands immediately, although it was not enough to build a proper refinery. As soon as everything was loaded onto the ships, they left the harbour.
"This place is going to become a battlefield." Frank said, considering all the rumours of a war with a country called Qua-Toyne.
"That's right, but I wonder if the Argentinians will get involved in this, if Louria allies with Argentina or if it is defeated by Argentina then we will be left with no choice but to venture to other continents to trade." His mentor spoke.
"Why can't we make a pre-emptive strike? Although the fleet we have is much smaller than the Argentinians, it is more than clear that our armament is much better, not to mention the capabilities of our submarines, and our anti-aircraft system is more than enough to stop their air force in its tracks."
"Don't be an idiot, we don't have the industrial capacity to manufacture, upgrade or repair ships, hell we don't even have the capacity to manufacture new missiles and torpedoes, all we would do is risk civilians to retaliation. Remember there is no one here to police us on whether or not we are complying with human rights or war crimes, so don't give them any excuses."
Frank was lowering his head in reprimand.
John gives a sigh and then takes out a cigarette and starts smoking.
"Our fishing boats will take a few months to replenish the cargo, once we are ready we paddle this `Second Civilisation` to engage with Parlpadia, we need to come up with a plan to impress them do you have any suggestions?" Jonh asked.
"Well... we know that they are a super power in this world and they don't take people from this part of the world very seriously... I would suggest exaggerating our strength and prevent them from discovering the size of the islands, I doubt they would care if they found out and we were left out."
"Legitimate concerns, however how could we project power? If even one of our warships leaves the islands and gets too far away it will leave us very vulnerable to an Argentine attack. Besides, how do you intend to keep the true nature of our land a secret? Once they discover our strategic irrelevance they could get very angry."
"We may be able to carry a submarine without the Argentinians noticing, as for the second question... it depends a lot on what the Argentinians do now, if they decide to go to war with Louria then they will inevitably clash with Parpaldia because it was these that funded Louria, so they would lose all the investment money and all the influence on the mainland. This means that if they discover our situation we could convince them that we can be useful to them as a base of operations and intelligence against Argentina". It's not as if Frank believed that a country with sailing ships could give Argentina a fight, but the trade would be very useful.
"Sounds like a solid plan... However you didn't take into account that demands could have a super power from a world where slavery exists, you mistake is being too optimistic when they could very well be hostile to us." His mentor took out another cigarette to smoke.
"But sir, that's why we're taking the submarine, to demonstrate our strength."
"A submarine may be impressive to someone from this world, but in a world where powder guns are the norm it would be very difficult for them to see a submarine as a weapon... Where are the cannons? If it goes underwater that would ruin the gunpowder and they wouldn't be able to fire it,' and things like that? The only way to know the strength of a submarine would be to see it with their own eyes."
As he was teaching that lesson, one of the soldiers interrupted.
"Sailing ships in sight on the horizon heading towards us, we think they are pirates."
"Wow, looks like someone from the docks tipped off that we were making good money, too bad for them we already spent it all. Everyone on high alert, give them a warning and if they keep coming closer then fire the FN MAG machine guns." John replied, throwing his cigarette into the sea.
"But sir, we can just increase speed and lose them!"
"Then those pirates will still be on these shores, disrupting trade, we need to send them a clear message."
Frank was clearly nervous that combat would happen, he could hear the Royal Navy soldiers on the loudspeakers warning them not to approach.
"You'd better cover your ears." His mentor said. "Things are going to get very noisy."
Frank obeyed, covering his ears as he locked himself in his dressing room, soon to be heard multiple blasts of gunfire, wood splitting and cries of pain and pleading.
The shooting stopped after a few moments, but the screams of pain, terror and pleas for help lasted much longer. The boats had been split by the heavy caliber of the bullets and the wounded and dead fell into the sea.
"We have no room on our ship for prisoners, let's move on." John ordered and so the fleet of fishing boats continued their passage unopposed to the Falklands.
Principality of Qua-Toyne.
"What do you mean that a delegation was sent to Louria?!"Agustin asked angrily to the one who had sent the news, he was furious.
"The goal of the delegation is to avoid a war on the continent." Answered this one.
"We cannot avoid this war, the people of Louria are racist genocidists. We can't do business with them!"
"We have to do it, the people are not going to accept a war, not just now that the situation is stabilizing. Nor can we allow Quila to go to war and that paralyzes the export of oil and coal."
"But what is going to happen with our relations with Qua-Toyne? Relations are already somewhat tense!" The Argentine diplomat was quite nervous that this would go overboard.
"The president also ordered you to convince Qua-Toyne to establish a military base in the principality."
"What?" Agustin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Our security forces opened fire on their people, we tried to negotiate with their enemies and now you want to set up a military base?"
"That military base will be our only military presence in the area, in addition of course to the Navy. 1,200 soldiers, 24 tanks, 16 aircraft, 40 pieces of artillery and 50 trucks are the only thing we can carry without people suspecting."
"But... if we show the Argentine people the things Louria does I am sure they will want to intervene, after all I heard that Quila has very good relations with us and many are curious about them."
"By the time the senate approves going to war they will have already razed half a principality to the ground. If you want to avoid a genocide in case the negotiations fail then convince yourself of this." He said and then withdrew.
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"This is an insult!" One of the ministers gave a loud bang on the table. "How dare they demand that more Argentine troops enter our principality?! We gave the previous ones diplomatic immunity and look what they did!"
"It wouldn't have come to that if the guards you recommend weren't so incompetent." Said another minister.
"Calm down everyone, I know that our situation with the Argentine Republic is not the best at the moment. However, we need them to face the kingdom of Louria." Prime Minister Kanata was speaking.
"I can barely keep the guilds under control in my city! If more Argentines come here we will have a clash with the metropolitan elites and they could paralyze the country." Another said.
"I preferred to deal with strikes than to face only the genocidal extermination that Louria would bring if we don't stop them." The Minister of defense sentenced. "The Argentines requested to be located a few kilometers from Gim, that means they will be at the front of the battle when the invasion begins."
"The Argentines have a very good relationship with our ally Quila, it is natural that they want to stop them in the initial stages so that the flames of war do not reach their ally."
"Because they get along so well with Quila?"I was asking one.
"Because the interests of the elite of Quila are not at odds with that of the Argentine visitors." Replied another.
They deliberated for another while, but in the end they gave Argentina permission to establish its military base.
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"Mr. Agustín." One of the delegates arrived with a letter to the diplomat's office. "News from Louria, they have refused to enter into diplomatic relations with us because they are allied with the demi-humans and stated that they will not stop their intentions to invade."
Agustin Dayan gives a sigh, the idea of working with Louria did not please him.
"Is the conversation written in that letter?" The diplomat asked.
"No, sir, only what I have just explained is written here, the document with the entire transcript was sent to Buenos Aires where the President, the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Foreign Affairs are the only ones who can read it."
This left Agustín very surprised, obviously there was something else. He motioned to the delegate to withdraw.
"Did they just refuse? What's on your mind, Cristobal?"