Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 103: Solving the Gender Imbalance
On May 1868, 5, the vanguard led by Li Mingyuan arrived at Puerto Casado, where the troops rested for a day.

The Paraguay River runs through the entire territory of Paraguay. It is an important waterway connecting the coastal and inland areas of South America. It is also a busy commercial river. At this time in the past, the Paraná River was densely populated with merchant ships. Merchants from Brazil, Argentina and European countries transported boxes of goods to the riverside port, which were then taken over by local vendors and resold to inland residents.

However, since the outbreak of the war, the Paraguay River has lost its former prosperity. The lower reaches of the Paraguay River have been blocked by Brazil and Argentina, and merchant ships are prohibited from providing goods and materials to Paraguay.

Blocking the river trade routes will not cause much harm to Brazil and Argentina. At most, the merchants of the two countries will lose a trade channel and suffer losses in commodity profits. However, it is different for Uruguay.
Uruguay is an inland country sandwiched between two South American giants, Brazil and Argentina. The country has rugged terrain, crisscrossing mountains, and difficult transportation. Therefore, the Paraguay River and the Paraná River in the southern border area are very important to Paraguay's economic development. Once the Paraguay River and the Paraná River are blocked by hostile countries, Paraguay will face a huge risk of material shortages.

The two rivers are related to Paraguay's national destiny. Both Lopez Jr. and the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian coalition forces are very clear about this. Shortly after the war broke out, the warring parties launched a series of attacks over the control of the rivers.

Paraguay attacked Mato Grosso in order to control the upper source of the Paraguay River, while the Brazilian coalition forces went upstream along the Paraná River to squeeze the living space of the Paraguayans.

Paraguay is located in the interior, and its national size and comprehensive national strength are no match for the Brazilian coalition forces. Therefore, facing the all-out attack of the Brazilian coalition forces, the Paraguayan army retreated step by step, first withdrawing from Mato Grosso State, and then abandoning a series of riverside strongholds such as Encarnacion and Formosa, and finally forming a stalemate with the Brazilian coalition forces at the Humeita Fortress.

The Humeta Fortress is less than 100 kilometers away from the capital Asuncion and is the most important military stronghold in Paraguay. Once the Humeta Fortress is lost, Paraguay will face the fate of complete failure.

In order to defend the Humeita Fortress, Lopez Jr. recruited everyone, from fifty-year-old men to twelve-year-old children, as long as they were men who could carry a gun, they were all conscripted into the army.

Paraguay is located inland, and except for the riverside areas that can be exposed to the outside world, other areas are mostly closed. In such a closed country, Lopez Jr.'s prestige is unmatched. After the war broke out, Lopez Jr. declared that the Brazilian coalition forces were demons who killed people without blinking an eye. They provoked war and invaded Paraguay just to kill all Paraguayans and then seize their land.

Lopez Jr.'s words seem full of loopholes today, but they were very convincing in Paraguay, which had only gained independence a few decades ago.

Most of the people in Paraguay are of mixed race, including whites and Indians, and the other part are naturalized Indians.

Whether mixed-race or naturalized Indians, they are all uncivilized savages in the eyes of Brazilians and Argentines. In the past exchanges between the two countries, Paraguayans were able to personally experience the contemptuous mentality of Brazilians and Argentines.

Therefore, most Paraguayans believe what Lopez Jr. said.

In order to arouse the morale of the people in the country to unite against the enemy, Lopez Jr. made a desperate move and mobilized 50,000 domestic men to defend the Humeita Fortress and the coastal defense positions. He used the wealth left by Lopez Sr. to continuously bleed the Brazilian coalition forces, while also continuously shedding the blood of Paraguay.

The Humeita Fortress was like a meat grinder that constantly devoured the lives of soldiers on both sides. During the three years of fighting, the Paraguayan troops suffered continuous casualties, while the number of civilians who died of starvation due to lack of food and dysentery and cholera far exceeded the casualties caused by the war.

Until the Chinese troops arrived at Puerto Casado, the population of Paraguay was about 250,000, of which about 200,000 were women and children, and the remaining 50,000 were mostly Paraguayan men who joined the army.

At this point in the war, Paraguay was on the brink of national extinction, but Lopez Jr., who had brought Paraguay into danger, was completely unaware of it and was still commanding the defensive operations in the Humeita Fortress.

Those who forget war will be in danger, and those who love war will perish. The lesson of Lopez Jr. had a great impact on Li Mingyuan, who felt the cruelty of war firsthand. The situation of Chinese in South America was similar to that in Paraguay, with all the people on both sides being soldiers. The slight difference was that Lopez Jr. was a warmonger who took the initiative to provoke wars with other countries and attempted to swallow the big with the small, while the Chinese in South America organized an uprising because they had to take up arms and fight in order to survive.

The reasons were different, but the results were very similar. Under the command of Li Mingyuan, the Chinese Independence Army defeated powerful enemies along the way and traveled thousands of miles to reach Paraguay.

Making every citizen a soldier is a forced choice when in a desperate situation. Once the Chinese settle down in Rio Grande do Sul, Li Mingyuan will start to restore normal order for the Chinese, and then concentrate on farming and improving his own strength.

On the bank of the Casado Port River, Li Mingyuan strolled along the river for a while and then returned to the military camp.

Puerto Casado has a good environment, with a river and mountains behind it, green trees and hills and beautiful scenery. However, the smelly corpses and the ragged, hungry-looking Paraguayan civilians in the riverside villages are at odds with the beautiful scenery.

Everyone has his own destiny. The miserable appearance of the Paraguayan civilians did not win Li Mingyuan's sympathy. The vanguard troops did not bring much food with them. If the food was distributed to the Paraguayans, the Chinese soldiers would not have enough food.

Li Mingyuan does not have the saintly spirit of selflessness. His own people are not even well fed, yet he uses the little remaining food to help others. Is this noble or stupid?

The Chinese troops' camp was located next to the river bank, and a simple wooden fence was set up around the camp. The fence was not to defend against the Paraguayan and Brazilian armies, but to prevent the Paraguayan famine that gathered here. The strong feeling of hunger would prompt the people to do dangerous things, and the Paraguayan famine who had a tradition of bravery was even more so. Not long after the Chinese Independence Army set up camp by the river, a group of more than 200 famine victims rushed to the camp, trying to seize the food from the Chinese soldiers.

The hungry Paraguayan people were crazy, but the muskets in the hands of the Chinese soldiers were not fire sticks. After a burst of musket shooting, hundreds of Paraguayan hungry people were left behind, and the remaining people turned around and retreated under the threat of muskets. However, the Paraguayan hungry people who had been taught a lesson by the muskets did not go far, but gathered not far from the camp, looking at the Chinese camp from time to time.

The tents and fences in the camp have been set up, and the large iron pots brought with the army have been moved down, and they are making a fire to cook.
Li Mingyuan walked into the camp, found a place to sit down, chatted with the soldiers around him for a while, and then walked into a tent at the reminder of the guard.

"Please take a seat, Mr. Sun." Li Mingyuan walked into the tent and asked Sun Bin to sit down.

"Sir, I saw many local residents gathered outside. What happened?"

"The Paraguayan war has been going on for years. Those people outside are starving and have no food. When they saw that we were carrying a lot of food, they stuck to us. Maybe they thought we were Indians from other places and hoped to steal the food from us to survive."

Li Mingyuan just explained the situation and felt something was not right. Sun Bin should be clear about the situation outside and it is unlikely that he would ask him questions knowing the answer.

"Mr. Sun, aren't you here today to ask about this?"

"Your Highness, please understand that I am indeed here for this matter."

Sun Bin saluted and said solemnly, "Since our army entered Paraguay, most of the places we passed through were in ruins, the people were hungry and cold, and the local people were all women, children, the elderly and the young, and it was almost impossible to see adult men. I carefully observed and asked the local people and learned that Paraguay had been at war for years, and more than half of the young and strong men were killed or injured. The people left behind in the villages were mainly women and children, among whom there were a large number of young women, accounting for more than half of the left-behind population. Therefore, I suggest using food and property to absorb some local women of marriageable age to marry with Chinese soldiers."

"Recruiting Paraguayan women to balance the gender ratio among Chinese is a good idea."

After a little thought, Li Mingyuan agreed with Sun Bin's suggestion.

Once we enter Paraguay, as long as we defeat the Brazilian army, it will be very convenient to reach Rio Grande do Sul along the river. At this time, we should indeed consider finding wives for the Chinese soldiers.

The total number of Chinese who traveled by land and water was 150,000. Even if a part of the population was reduced due to unexpected factors, there would still be more than 100,000 people when they arrived at their destination. So many Chinese were all men, and they could be managed for a while, but if the marriage problem could not be solved after they settled down, it would sooner or later become a huge hidden danger.

Therefore, balancing the gender ratio of Chinese people is the first problem to be solved when entering Rio Grande do Sul.

The safest method is to immigrate young women from the mainland, but this can only be implemented after everything stabilizes. In the short term, the imbalance in the gender ratio among Chinese people will still be difficult to solve.

Sun Bin's suggestion provided Li Mingyuan with a good way to solve the problem. The gender ratio in Paraguay was unbalanced, and a large number of women lacked marriage partners of the right age. The Chinese Independence Army could use Paraguay's scarce food, medicine and other supplies to exchange for Paraguayan women to join the Chinese army, and then arrange marriages after they settled down.

The Han people consider white to be beautiful. Most Paraguayan women are of mixed race and white descent, which meets the aesthetic standards of ordinary soldiers. Choosing them as marriage partners for Chinese soldiers will not arouse opposition from the soldiers.

As for Lopez Jr.'s reaction after recruiting Paraguayan women, Li Mingyuan was not worried at all.

Little Lopez is in a difficult situation now, and the Chinese Independence Army has come all the way to help you fight the Brazilians, and by the way help you solve the problem of gender imbalance. Isn't this good? What's there to be dissatisfied about?

Besides, the Chinese troops were slowly recruiting Paraguayan women and Lopez Jr. had no way to stop them. When the war was over, could Lopez Jr. turn against the Chinese troops?

Recruiting Paraguayan women would be of great benefit to the Chinese troops. Li Mingyuan made a quick decision. The field troops would continue on their journey after resting, and the task of recruiting women would be given to Sun Bin and the large force in the rear.

Of course, not everything can go smoothly in the process of recruiting Paraguayan women. Some necessary measures such as forced migration still have to be used. Li Mingyuan doesn't need to worry about these specific tasks. Sun Bin, as the executor, will handle it.

(End of this chapter)