Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 106 Capture of the Ironclad Warship
In the jungle east of the Paraguay River, a group of troops wearing Brazilian Army uniforms were marching slowly. Among this force, only more than 300 people had white features, and the others looked obviously Han Chinese.

Li Mingyuan learned the information he wanted from Canudut, the Brazilian army's detour route and the specific location of the receiving fleet.

The naval ships mobilized by Garcia did not leave after escorting 5,000 soldiers ashore, but instead anchored at the landing site to provide logistical support for the flanking troops. According to Canudut's account, there were more than ten warships anchored at the landing site, including two steam-powered ironclad ships.

After entering the 19th century, ironclad ships gradually replaced sailing ships and became the main battleships of the navies of powerful countries.
South American countries also purchased a number of ironclad ships from Western countries based on their rich mineral resources. When in Peru, Li Mingyuan heard about the news that the Peruvian Navy was equipped with ironclad ships. At that time, Li Mingyuan also proposed the conditions for obtaining an ironclad ship, but was flatly rejected by the Peruvian president.

Then Li Mingyuan settled for the next best thing and obtained a batch of large sailing merchant ships from Peru as compensation.

After the First Industrial Revolution, ironclad warships became the main weapon for maritime warfare. If Li Mingyuan wanted to migrate enough people from the mainland, he had to master a large number of ironclad warships and steamships. The information provided by Kanudut undoubtedly gave Li Mingyuan hope of obtaining ironclad warships in advance.
The Chinese troops used captured Brazilian soldiers to disguise themselves as soldiers who came to transport supplies, then boarded the warships and controlled the Brazilian crew on board. Two ironclad warships and more than a dozen sailing warships fell into the hands of the Chinese Independence Army.

Half of the main ships of the Brazilian Navy were anchored together to provide support for the flanking forces. After capturing this fleet, the Chinese Independence Army would not only have its own naval force, but could also use these ships to go up the river and directly penetrate into the rear of the main Brazilian forces, launching a surprise attack on the Brazilian forces.

Garcia was a man of great intelligence and had attacked the Paraguayan defenders from the flank. But if he knew that the Chinese Independence Army was also going to attack him, what kind of expression would he have on his face?

Li Mingyuan was in a good mood and waved to Kanudut to come over.

"After arriving at the fleet's anchorage, I will send a team of soldiers to accompany you. Your task at that time is to gather the Brazilian naval officers together, and then the troops I send will deal with them.
After the success, I will deal with all the Brazilian soldiers who have seen you and will not leave you any trouble. "

"General, isn't your plan too risky? If they find the flaw, you and your men will be in danger."

"For the sake of two ironclad ships, a little risk is worth it. But don't worry, my men will always follow you, and they will protect your safety even if the plan fails."

Sending someone to follow Kanudut certainly meant monitoring him, but when Li Mingyuan said he was protecting him, he was not deceiving him.

Canudut is the heir of Duke Fo Robert of the Brazilian Empire. Establishing contact with him will be of great help to the future development of the Chinese Independence Army in southern Brazil. Even if the plan to seize the ship fails, Li Mingyuan does not intend to kill him, but to release him back to Brazil and use the leverage in his hand to obtain useful intelligence for the Chinese Independence Army.

Canudut was the deputy commander of the 5,000-man Brazilian army. The Brazilian general who was in charge of the main command had been killed far away by Li Mingyuan. Only more than 300 people were left in the entire 5,000-man army. He had personally witnessed Li Mingyuan's decisiveness and ruthlessness.

Since he had agreed to the conditions of the Chinese Independence Army, he could only go all the way and carry out the plan designed by Li Mingyuan.

At eight o'clock in the evening on June 1868, , a group of Brazilian soldiers appeared at the naval camp on the river.

Many sailors gathered at the camp by the river. It was their meal time. The Canudut family was young and had not joined the Brazilian army for long. Except for some senior officers in the army, ordinary soldiers had never seen him. Therefore, after Canudut arrived at the camp, he first sent two soldiers to inform the naval officers in the camp. After obtaining permission, he took more than 20 soldiers with him and walked towards the warships by the river.

It was dark at night, and the Brazilian troops on the river bank were eating and chatting as usual, not noticing any changes in the river water.
Not far from the two ironclad ships, a dozen blurry figures gradually approached the warships. It was June in South America and the river water was a little cold. Chen Sen endured the coldness caused by soaking in the water for a long time and swam carefully towards the warships.

The plan to seize the ship was divided into three steps. First, the special forces soldiers following Canudut captured the Brazilian naval officer. Then the Chinese Independence Army's naval frogman unit boarded the warship and controlled all the soldiers on the warship. Finally, Li Mingyuan, who was lying in ambush on the shore, launched a general attack and eliminated the Brazilian sailors on the shore.

The three action steps are closely linked, and any mistake in any detail of the action will lead to the failure of the plan. As a veteran of the Taiping Navy who has received personal training from Li Mingyuan for several months, Chen Sen understands the difficulty of the action better than anyone else.

There were about 400 Brazilian crew members on the two ironclad ships, while the frogmen participating in the operation and the special forces soldiers performing tasks on the ship totaled only more than 120 people. It was a major test for the newly formed frogman unit to take down 400 enemy troops on the ship with only more than 100 people. However, in order to ensure the success of the operation, Li Mingyuan had explained many times on the way that Chen Sen believed that even if the operation was extremely difficult, the Chinese Independence Army would win the battle.

The outline of the warship became clearer and clearer in Chen Sen's eyes, and he could even see the figures of the sailors on duty on the warship.

"It takes a thousand days to train an army, but only a day to deploy it. The prince specially selected us to form the frogman unit. Whether the two months of hard training will bear fruit depends on tonight. Brothers, use all your skills and fight tonight to make our frogman unit famous. Do you have the confidence?"

In the shadows, Chen Sen encouraged in a low voice. The dark crowd of frogmen gathered together, raising their right hands to show their determination.

Li Mingyuan also plagiarized various codes for underwater special operations and used them in frogman training. Seeing that his frogmen were full of confidence, Chen Sen made a gesture, and the gathered frogmen quickly dispersed and swam towards their respective predetermined targets.

On the warship, Brazilian naval officers were holding a meeting. After Canudut led his men into the ship's hold,

Sun Qisheng quietly closed the door, and the special forces soldiers around him scattered around the hall. The more than 20 Brazilian naval officers who were holding a meeting instantly became prisoners of the Chinese Independence Army. "Everyone, I'm sorry, I had no choice." Canudut showed an apologetic expression, then found the fleet commander, and under the escort of the special forces, went to control the other important parts of the warships.

The operation was successful by Sun Qisheng, deputy commander of the special forces. The frogmen led by Chen Sen also boarded another ironclad ship.

With a "crack", the sailor on duty had his neck twisted. A frogman sailor behind him took the sailor's body and put it on the ground, and quickly moved towards the center of the warship. The frogman unit's initial actions went smoothly, but as more and more frogmen boarded the warship, the risk of being discovered also increased.
"Bang!" A wounded but not dead Brazilian sailor fired the pistol on his body, and continuous gunfire suddenly rang out on the quiet warship.

"Don't worry about the soldiers on the deck. All personnel should control the bow control room according to the plan to prevent the enemy from destroying the warship."

The frogman soldiers had basically boarded the warship. Chen Sen was ready to deal with any emergency at any time. As soon as the gunshots rang out, he immediately ordered the frogman soldiers to launch a strong attack.

The increasingly fierce gunfire on the boat also startled the Brazilian soldiers on the shore. Several Brazilian officers ran out of the dining tent and subconsciously wanted to reinforce the friendly forces on the boat. However, before they could mobilize the troops, the Chinese Independence Army on the shore also rushed out from the hidden darkness. They were unintentional, and the enemy's charge horns were heard everywhere in the darkness.

The morale of the Brazilian army instantly dropped to the lowest point. An hour later, except for the one thousand soldiers who escaped under the cover of night, the remaining two thousand soldiers on the shore and the naval sailors left on the ship were all captured or annihilated.

The blood on the decks of the two ironclad ships had not yet been cleaned up, and Li Mingyuan could not wait to board the ship to check the results of the battle.

"General, the ironclad ship under your feet is a battleship purchased from Britain by the Brazilian Navy.

The specific data of the warship are as follows: Hull: displacement 6270 tons, total length 78.5, waterline length 71.67 meters, total width 14.5 meters, draft 8.1 meters, crew 420;
Power: 7 boilers, 2 reciprocating steam engines, power 3000 hp, maximum speed 13.5 knots, endurance 3000 miles at 10 knots, single shaft propulsion;

武备：270毫米联装主炮塔2座，240毫米19倍径大炮两座，140毫米21倍径大炮4座

Protection: Side armor 178-200 mm, gun gallery armor 160 mm, gun mount armor 150 mm.

Kanudut stood beside Li Mingyuan and took the initiative to introduce him.

"Kanudut, you have done well. I will keep my promise and let you go back."

Li Mingyuan was very satisfied that Canudut cooperated with the Chinese Independence Army to seize the Brazilian Navy's ships, so he praised him a little.

"Sir, the other ironclad ship has been cleared. Would you like to go take a look?"

Chen Sen suggested this after accompanying Li Mingyuan to visit the ironclad ship that was the flagship of the Brazilian Navy.

"No need. I have already been introduced to another ironclad ship, Kanudut. It's getting late today. Let's go see it next time."

The other ironclad ship was only half the size of this one, with a displacement of 3000 tons and a full crew of people. After seeing the larger warship, Li Mingyuan's interest in the other warship declined a lot.

The technology of ironclad ships in the mid-nineteenth century was still relatively backward. The dark iron sheets, towering chimneys and sails left over from sailing warships undoubtedly destroyed the coordination of the entire warship.

After satisfying his initial curiosity, Li Mingyuan lost interest in observing another ironclad ship.

The lifespan of the ironclad ships in the mid-nineteenth century was not long. Decades later, with the development of technology, more and more new warships appeared, and the original old warships were quickly eliminated from the stage of history.

There is no need to think too much about the future. For the time being, the capture of two ironclad ships and a dozen sailing warships quickly increased the naval power of the Chinese Independence Army and laid a good foundation for the Chinese to establish a nation in South America.

The battleship was quickly dealt with, and the uncooperative sailors were summarily executed.
Obedient sailors were left on each ironclad ship to operate the warship, and other positions were controlled by Chinese soldiers. With this arrangement, the captured warships could soon be put to use by the Chinese Independence Army.

The two warships were named Chaoyang and Liming according to Li Mingyuan's wishes, implying that the Chinese Independence Army will stand tall on the South American continent like the rising sun and the morning dawn.

(End of this chapter)