Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 104 Rest before the Battle
The vanguard rested in Casado Port for a day. The next morning, some soldiers were left behind to guide the follow-up troops, while Li Mingyuan led the main force to continue marching along the river.

The water level of the Paraguay River was calm, and the Chinese troops used the looted small boats to transport soldiers and weapons, marching an average of 1868 kilometers a day. Three days later, at noon on May 5, 19, the vanguard troops arrived in Concepcion and had their first contact with the Paraguayan troops.

Due to the intense war situation, most of Paraguay's military forces were concentrated in the Humeita Fortress, and only a small number of garrisons were left in important areas. Concepcion is located in the upper reaches of the Paraguay River, some distance from the capital Asuncion, so the number of troops left there is not large, roughly estimated to be only 500 people.

The panic caused by the sudden discovery of a group of tens of thousands of unknown armed forces in front of the 500 defenders was self-evident. The small fleet belonging to Paraguay on the river hurriedly assembled in the port, and the coastal defense artillery also turned its muzzle and aimed its attack at the Chinese fleet coming with the wind.

Although the Chinese fleet was huge in size, with hundreds of ships lying on the water, it looked very spectacular. In fact, most of these ships were small wooden boats that were looted after entering Paraguay, and some were small boats hastily made by the Chinese troops themselves. They were ok for transporting soldiers, but they would still cause considerable damage when they clashed with the enemy.

The goal of the Chinese Independence Army was to join forces with Paraguay to fight the enemy together. Fighting here would not benefit anyone. Therefore, in the face of the hostility of the Concepción garrison, the Chinese Independence Army remained restrained, docked along the coast with the fleet, and then sent soldiers to negotiate with the local garrison to explain the purpose of the Chinese Independence Army.

Upon hearing that the Chinese Independence Army wanted to cooperate with Paraguay to fight against the Brazilian coalition forces, the local garrison immediately became uneasy. The garrison commander did not dare to delay and immediately dispatched the only steam gunboat in the base to transport the representatives sent by the Chinese Independence Army to the capital, Asuncion, and sent a telegram to President Lopez Jr. to report the situation.

Thanks to the foundation laid by Lopez Sr., Paraguay taken over by Lopez Jr. can be regarded as a small power in South America.

Railways, shipyards, steel mills, telegraph communications, many advanced technologies from European countries were introduced to Paraguay by Lopez Sr., increasing Paraguay's war potential. Relying on the telegraph communication facilities laid in advance by Paraguay, Lopez Jr. could also receive military intelligence from other regions while in the Humeta Fortress. Shortly after the Concepción garrison sent a telegram, Lopez Jr. received the news that the Chinese Independence Army had entered Paraguay.

The Chinese Independence Army had been in uprising for nearly half a year. Although Lopez Jr. had been busy dealing with the attacks of the Brazilian coalition forces and had not paid much attention to the outside situation, he still knew some information about the Chinese Independence Army.
Less than two months after the Chinese workers' uprising, they occupied the mining area in southern Peru and annihilated no less than 50,000 Peruvian troops. This information, which was difficult for outsiders to know, entered the ears of Lopez Jr. through other channels. It was originally puzzling that the Chinese Independence Army withdrew from Peru and entered Bolivia. Now, with the reappearance of the Chinese troops that had disappeared for several months, Lopez Jr. probably guessed the thoughts of the Chinese Independence Army. Like Lopez Jr., they all had their eyes on the fertile land by the sea in southern Brazil. However, Lopez Jr. has proved with practical actions that if you want to swallow up the land of the four southern states of Brazil, you must first have a good set of teeth, otherwise being killed by others at once will be the fate of the greedy.

The situation in Paraguay was already muddy enough. Lopez Jr., who had originally planned to win a quick victory, did not hold out much hope for victory. At this time, the Chinese Independence Army took the initiative to participate, which was naturally what Lopez Jr., who was short of troops, wanted. As for the so-called worry about inviting a wolf into the house, he had to wait until the Brazilian coalition forces were defeated. Otherwise, Paraguay would be eaten up without leaving a trace under the attack of the three-nation allied forces.

The decision to accept the Chinese Independence Army to fight against the Brazilian coalition forces does not mean that the Chinese Independence Army will join the battlefield immediately. Lopez Jr. also wants to whet the appetite of the Chinese Independence Army to prevent them from making excessive demands.

The Chinese representatives arrived in Asuncion two days later on a small gunboat, and then arrived at the Humeta Fortress under the escort of the local garrison. After arriving at the destination, the Chinese Independence Army representatives immediately asked to see Lopez Jr., but were repeatedly rejected by Lopez Jr.

Three days later, the Chinese representatives who had been waiting in vain finally met Lopez Jr., but this time it was Lopez Jr. who was really anxious.

Under Garcia's arrangement, 5,000 Brazilian troops bypassed the river defense line tightly guarded by the Paraguayan army, landed at a river crossing where no troops were stationed, and then crossed hundreds of miles of dense forests, appeared behind the Humeta Fortress, and occupied the communication channel between Humeta and Asuncion.

This incident happened less than a day ago. When the news reached Lopez Jr., he immediately felt that the situation was not good.

By detouring for hundreds of miles and cutting off the passage between Asuncion and Humeta, the Brazilian army wanted to swallow up the main force of Paraguay in one bite!

Thinking of the danger of being surrounded faced by the defenders of Humeta Fortress, Lopez Jr. immediately became nervous. He should not have stopped the Chinese Independence Army from advancing for a little selfish reason, otherwise the Paraguayan defenders would not have been in danger of being surrounded.

In the original history, Lopez Jr., who was cut off by the Brazilian army, quickly chose to abandon the Humeta Fortress and led part of the army to retreat into the rural areas of Paraguay and played guerrilla warfare with the Brazilian army. He was not captured and executed by the Brazilian army until 1870. Although the Humeta Fortress was also surrounded by the Brazilian army, with the variable of the Chinese Independence Army, Lopez Jr. did not choose to break out, but asked for help from the Chinese Independence Army, urging the Chinese Independence Army to set off as soon as possible to rescue the Humeta Fortress. When the news that Lopez Jr. urged the Chinese Independence Army to set off reached Concepcion, five days had passed since the Chinese Independence Army arrived in Concepcion. During these five days, nearly Chinese Independence Army field troops gathered and repaired one after another, and the logistics troops also crossed the Bolivian Plateau and entered Paraguay along the road taken by the vanguard.

The fact that Lopez Jr. deliberately postponed meeting with the representatives of the Chinese Independence Army means that the current war has not yet become clear, so Lopez Jr. is in the mood to play hard to get with the Chinese Independence Army.

Since Lopez Jr. is not in a hurry, Li Mingyuan doesn't need to worry about scaring others. Anyway, the Humeita Fortress is still in the hands of Paraguay. Even if Brazil quickly forms an encirclement of the Humeita Fortress, the fortress will not fall in a short time.

Therefore, while Li Mingyuan waited for the rear troops to gather, he sent a small team with food, medicine and other supplies to attract Paraguayan women to join the Chinese Independence Army.

Under the guidance of bribed local white people, more than a dozen small teams of two to three hundred people dispersed and went deep into the villages along the river. Within a few days, half of the teams sent back news that about one thousand Paraguayan women of marriageable age were willing to join the Chinese Independence Army.

Within just a few days of departure, nearly a thousand women were willing to join, which was indeed more than Li Mingyuan expected. He learned from the returning Chinese soldiers that these Paraguayan women were not forced to come, but agreed to the Chinese soldiers' request after seeing the carts of food.

Li Mingyuan did not quite understand this situation at first, but after the explanation of the local guide, Li Mingyuan finally understood.
The Paraguayan women who were willing to join the Chinese Independence Army were all descendants of early white immigrants from poor families. If they did not follow the Chinese Independence Army, they would starve to death in the future. Joining the Chinese Independence Army would not only give them hope of survival, but their loved ones would also be able to get much-needed food and medicine. When it comes to the life and death of a family and the future happiness of an individual, it is easy for Paraguayan women to make a choice.

The recruitment of one thousand new Paraguayan women was a good start for the Chinese Independence Army. The eyes of the Chinese soldiers in the barracks changed significantly when they looked at the Paraguayan women who were stationed in a separate camp.

Five acres of land, a cow, a wife and children, and a warm bed; the ideal life of farming nations is similar. Whether European farmers or Han people, most of them hope to live a life with adequate food and clothing, a wife and children. The soldiers of the Chinese Independence Army followed Li Mingyuan in the uprising. Even if it was a forced choice because they could not survive, they also hoped to gain freedom and live a prosperous life.

As for land, Li Mingyuan has promised 300 acres to each of the Chinese soldiers who participated in the uprising. Although the land has not been obtained yet, the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil is not far away. After defeating the Brazilian army, the Chinese soldiers can harvest their land. It is temporarily difficult for women. The hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers are all men. When they were working in the mines before, they did not dare to hope to have a wife. But after joining the Chinese Independence Army and under the influence of successive victories, who would not want to hug his wife and live on his own 300 acres of land?

In the past, Li Mingyuan promised everyone that he would find a wife for every soldier who followed him, but that was just a blank check after all. Now, a thousand Paraguayan women have entered the Chinese army camp, and their graceful figures have really appeared in the eyes of the Chinese soldiers. Many soldiers have ripples in their hearts. What the prince said is true. If I fight well, I can also find a beautiful wife.

Li Mingyuan saw the soldiers' reactions, and this was exactly the effect he wanted. Winning the war was one aspect, and striving for personal benefits for his soldiers was another aspect of gaining their loyalty.

All the changes were developing in a good direction. The negative impacts caused by the casualties of Chinese and the harsh environment during the migration of thousands of miles gradually disappeared in the face of the visible happy life, and the soldiers of the entire army gradually recovered.

The benefits of recruiting Paraguayan women are obvious. If he stays for a while longer, more women of marriageable age will join the Chinese Independence Army. However, Li Mingyuan cannot stay any longer. The message from Lopez Jr. asking for help proves that the Humeita Fortress has been surrounded by the Brazilian coalition forces. If he delays for too long, there is no way that Lopez Jr. will break out as he did in history. It will then be even more difficult to defeat the Brazilian coalition forces.

The Chinese Independence Army was in a difficult situation and could not afford a single failure. Li Mingyuan did not dare to take risks with the future of the Chinese Independence Army. After receiving a request for help from Lopez Jr., the Chinese Independence Army immediately set out to fight against the Brazilian coalition forces.

(End of this chapter)