Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 116: Resettlement of Chinese Soldiers
The Chinese Independence Army rested for seven days, and the soldiers who were lost in the main force were replaced by selected soldiers from the garrison army. No tactical training was arranged for seven days, and the soldiers were fully relaxed from the fatigue caused by the thousands of miles of march.

After seven days of rest, the Chinese soldiers carrying out the mopping-up operation had cleared out several pieces of land inhabited by Brazilians. These pieces of land were originally small towns inhabited by Brazilians, and they were fully equipped with houses, food, and farm tools. As long as the Chinese soldiers moved in, production could be resumed in a few days.

The land in Rio Grande do Sul is fertile, and the main industries of the descendants of European whites are rubber and tea plantations. Residents living in the countryside mainly grow high-yield crops in South America, such as corn and soybeans. The Chinese Independence Army launched the mopping-up operation in mid-July, when the corn in southern Brazil had just entered the harvest season. A large amount of mature or about to mature corn in the fields had no one to harvest it because the Brazilian residents were expelled. The Chinese Independence Army did not have much food, and seeing large tracts of golden corn abandoned in the fields, the Chinese soldiers who were used to poverty were reluctant to let it go. So the officers of the mopping-up team reported to Luo Linshan that no one was harvesting the corn. After Luo Linshan received the news, he quickly conveyed the news to Li Mingyuan.

Corn, soybeans, potatoes, and sweet potatoes are famous high-yield crops in South America. However, due to different eating habits, Chinese people usually regard corn, sweet potatoes, etc. as miscellaneous foods, which serve as supplements to staple foods such as wheat and rice. The Chinese Independence Army does not have much food in stock. At this stage, the main task of the Chinese Independence Army is to build and consolidate Rio Grande do Sul. There is no specific plan for building water conservancy facilities to promote food income. At this time, Luo Linshan sent back news that the corn planted by Brazilian residents in rural areas was catching up with the harvest season, and a large amount of ownerless corn could be used to increase the food reserves of the Chinese Independence Army.

With food in hand, there is no need to panic. The food reserves of the Chinese Independence Army, combined with the unharvested corn in the fields, are enough to meet the development of Rio Grande do Sul during the construction period. The construction projects that were originally delayed due to concerns about excessive food consumption can be started immediately.
The food problem affects the entire body. The war between the Chinese Independence Army and Brazil, Argentina and other countries has not been resolved. Paraguay suffered a famine not long ago. The channels for purchasing food from surrounding countries have been blocked. Therefore, for a period of time, the Chinese Independence Army can only rely on captured food and food grown by the Chinese Independence Army on its own.

Now with the corn grown by Brazilian residents in the countryside, the food gap has been further narrowed, and there is no need to worry about the corn harvest. The work of restoring and demobilizing soldiers of the Chinese Independence Army has been completed. More than 80,000 Chinese who have been separated from the main force are staying in Porto Alegre waiting for resettlement. As 80,000 Chinese who are young and strong laborers, it is easy for them to harvest corn in the countryside.

Because the corn left by the Brazilian residents was a pleasant surprise, Li Mingyuan did not plan to collect all the corn into the warehouse. Instead, he planned to divide it into 20% and 80% respectively, giving 20% ​​to the retired Chinese soldiers who harvested the corn and handing over 80% to the warehouse to increase food reserves.

The climate in South America is opposite to that in the Northern Hemisphere, and the time for harvesting crops is also different from that in the mainland. After getting some tips on harvesting corn from the captured Brazilian residents, Li Mingyuan sent out 10,000 soldiers as the first batch to settle in the cleared land to settle down and harvest corn.

Among the first batch of 10,000 soldiers who were resettled, 1,000 were meritorious soldiers who retired because of their bravery and injuries. Because of their injuries, they could not join the battlefield like other field armies, but Li Mingyuan did not look down on them because of their disabilities. During the half-year of fighting, the wounded soldiers followed the logistics troops as part of the Chinese Independence Army. During the thousands of miles of movement, the vast majority of disabled soldiers died on the road due to physical reasons, and less than 500 actually arrived in Rio Grande do Sul alive.

The five hundred soldiers who survived the expedition and the more than five hundred soldiers who were injured and disabled in the decisive battle with the Brazilian army constituted the first one thousand people to be resettled. The one thousand disabled soldiers who fought bravely and had made military achievements were selected by Li Mingyuan from thousands of disabled soldiers to set up as models. In order to commend their contributions with blood and disability, Li Mingyuan specially selected one thousand people from the twelve thousand Paraguayan women and found a wife for each of them. They will be reunited with the subsequent resettled soldiers a few days after their departure, thus forming a complete family.

Paraguayan women generally choose their husbands on a voluntary basis and choose the Chinese they like as their husbands. However, the scope of their selection is limited. First of all, according to the size of their military achievements, the first batch of soldiers and officers who have made major military achievements will be selected as the first batch of marriage candidates by Paraguayan women. In order to ensure that every meritorious soldier can find a wife, Li Mingyuan stipulates that every Paraguayan woman must choose a Chinese as her husband, otherwise the Chinese Independence Army will forcibly designate a candidate.

With the range of choices limited, the Paraguayan women, who had already prepared themselves mentally, quickly made their choices and picked their own candidates.

Using this method, twelve thousand Paraguayan women quickly formed families with twelve thousand Chinese people, and formed complete families. Naturally, the twelve thousand Paraguayan women were officially classified as Chinese. More than one hundred literate scholars in the Chinese Independence Army were selected to teach them Chinese and Han customs and culture in their spare time in order to integrate them into the Chinese community as quickly as possible.

The newly formed 12,000 families live in different areas according to the soldiers' military achievements. Among them, soldiers living in big cities such as Porto Alegre and Santa Maria are soldiers and officers who have made great contributions. In addition to obtaining 300 acres of land in the suburbs near the city, they will also get a house in the city. The land of ordinary soldiers is mainly distributed in rural areas and areas far away from the city. They also have 300 acres of land each, but the geographical location of the land and the suitability of living are not as good as those of the Chinese living in the city.

What is worrying is not the lack of land, but the injustice. Absolute fairness is the greatest injustice. Li Mingyuan promised that each Chinese soldier would receive 300 acres of land, but the fertility and geographical location of each person would vary depending on the size of their military achievements.
Soldiers who fought bravely were given fertile land and comfortable housing in the city, while ordinary soldiers had to live in the countryside and cultivate 300 acres of land. It was because of the clear differences that Li Mingyuan's fairness was demonstrated and the competitiveness of the soldiers was encouraged to fight bravely.

Three hundred acres of land is not a small area of ​​land, whether in the mainland or in Europe, because the first batch of Chinese workers who followed Li Mingyuan to fight were the old brothers who fought together to conquer the world. Even if they were not physically fit and served as logistical supply personnel, they still played an important role in the early days of the Chinese Independence Army. Therefore, Li Mingyuan allocated a large piece of land to reward them. However, facing the increasing number of immigrants in the future, their treatment would not be so good.
Although Rio Grande do Sul has a lot of land, it was won by Li Mingyuan and his soldiers in one battle after another. If Li Mingyuan gave large tracts of land to the Chinese immigrants for free like the protagonists in other novels, he might have gained the gratitude of the new immigrants in the early stage, but would have aroused their resentment over time. A little bit of kindness will be resented. Getting a piece of land without any effort will only increase the greed and laziness of the new immigrants. Since they can get land and houses without doing anything, why bother to farm the land?

With this mentality, they will not contribute to the development of the newly established country and may even ask Li Mingyuan to pay more to satisfy their greed.

Giving away land for free cannot truly gain the support of new immigrants. At the same time, the soldiers of the Chinese Independence Army who followed Li Mingyuan to conquer the world are also dissatisfied. Although Li Mingyuan is the head of state after the establishment of the new country and all the land nominally belongs to him alone, the Chinese Independence Army that supports Li Mingyuan's rule, the land occupied in South America belongs not only to Li Mingyuan, but also to the soldiers who fought with him to conquer the world. Giving away large amounts of land for free to new immigrants without considering the wishes of the Chinese Independence Army, even if Li Mingyuan had the support of all the soldiers before, he would eventually lose the morale of the army and end up being driven out of office by his soldiers. The policy of new immigrants obtaining land still needs to be implemented in detail. Li Mingyuan will not be so foolish as to give land to new immigrants for free. The plan to obtain new immigrants will take some time to implement. The work of resettling laid-off soldiers has been carried out in full swing. The first resettlement team consisting of 10,000 soldiers successfully arrived at the resettlement area. Some soldiers who completed the mopping-up operation assisted the resettlement soldiers in harvesting corn under the command of their respective officers. The vast rural areas of Rio Grande do Sul, which had become empty fields due to the expulsion of Brazilian residents, have become busy again. Groups of three or four hundred Chinese are responsible for the harvesting of a large piece of land. More than a dozen Chinese soldiers with guns stand guard next to the fields to prevent the small number of Brazilian guerrillas who escaped the mopping-up from attacking the working Chinese.

The mopping-up operations and the corn harvest were carried out simultaneously. The scattered Brazilian settlements were constantly being cleared out and swept by the Chinese soldiers. The small Brazilian guerrillas that used the mountains and plains as hiding places lost the support of their compatriots for tip-offs and food supplies, and gradually it became difficult to maintain themselves. Lacking weapons, ammunition and food supplies, the Brazilian guerrillas were forced to leave their hiding places and raid and attack the settled Chinese. As a result, they were constantly discovered by the patrolling and alert mopping-up troops and then eliminated.

He Yanliang was one of the persons in charge of the resettlement of the disbanded soldiers, and he was fully responsible for the resettlement of the first batch of 10,000 Chinese.

He Yanliang, whose left arm was amputated, is a well-known figure in the Chinese Independence Army. He Yanliang was originally a platoon leader in the Big Knife Team. After being shot in the battle and his left arm was amputated, he withdrew from the main force and was arranged by Li Mingyuan to the wounded team to manage the wounded. Li Mingyuan designed the wounded team with the purpose of teaching the wounded to learn cultural and management knowledge and boost their inferiority complex due to their disability. After the Chinese Independence Army stabilized, he served as a grassroots manager.

Li Mingyuan paid attention to the physical recovery of the wounded soldiers in the wounded team and the progress of their cultural education. After each battle, he would visit the wounded team to comfort and encourage them, and encourage them not to give up on themselves because of their injuries by promising them a better life in the future, such as dividing land and getting married.

The Chinese Independence Army settled down in Rio Grande do Sul. Li Mingyuan had been designing the Wounded Squad for nearly half a year. During the half year he served as the captain of the Wounded Squad, He Yanliang's thoughts gradually changed.
Before his left arm was amputated, He Yanliang's goal was to become a brave and skilled general. After the amputation, although he always wanted to become a field army general, the knowledge he learned from the staff officers who taught and studied in the wounded team and the contact with different wounded soldiers changed his mind.

It was impossible for him to be a brave warrior after his left arm was amputated, but the loss of his left arm did not mean he was useless. The management and combat command knowledge he learned from the staff officers and the experience of managing the wounded team were all valuable assets.

After training in the Wounded Soldiers Team for half a year, He Yanliang volunteered to take charge of the resettlement of Chinese people. Li Mingyuan checked He Yanliang's performance in the Wounded Soldiers Team and appreciated his progress, so he gave him the job of resettling the first batch of immigrants. Li Mingyuan was not disappointed. He Yanliang, who took over 10,000 immigrants, divided them into five teams based on his experience in the Wounded Soldiers Team. Each team had 2,000 people, and they occupied a total of five small towns left by Brazilian residents.
Retired military officers among the resettled Chinese were responsible for leading each team to carry out production and construction work. After some arrangements and commands, the resettlement team of 10,000 people quickly stabilized and started the work of harvesting corn.

The cornmeal harvesting process was not smooth sailing. On the third day of harvesting, the weather suddenly turned cloudy and it was about to rain heavily. The corn harvested in the first three days was still in the open field and had not been transported back. Once the harvested corn was soaked by the heavy rain, it would easily become moldy and deteriorate and difficult to store. At that time, He Yanliang was directing the retired soldiers to purchase corn in the fields. After seeing the weather change, he immediately assembled all the retired soldiers who were working to transport the corn. Finally, all the corn was moved to a temporary shelter before the heavy rain, avoiding the loss of a large amount of corn.

Rio Grande do Sul has abundant rainfall. The heavy rain on the third day of harvest lasted for two days. The Chinese soldiers who were settled there could not harvest corn, and the several Brazilian guerrillas active nearby were also having a hard time. They were short of food and clothing, starving, and constantly worried about being encircled and suppressed by mopping-up troops. Unable to endure the hard life in the mountains, several Brazilian guerrillas gathered together and attacked a small town inhabited by Chinese on the second day of heavy rain.

Because of the heavy rain, the Chinese in the town suffered a small loss due to carelessness. Part of the food and livestock stored in the town were robbed by the guerrillas, and more than a dozen Chinese were killed or injured. The news of the Brazilian guerrillas' sneak attack soon reached He Yanliang. Based on the losses in the attacked town, He Yanliang judged that the Brazilian guerrillas were seriously short of supplies, and the stolen food and livestock were not enough to sustain the survival of the Brazilian guerrillas. The Brazilian guerrillas, who were short of food, succeeded in one attack, and they would definitely not give up the opportunity to go down the mountain to plunder again.

Judging that the Brazilian guerrillas might attack again, He Yanliang organized two thousand militia troops, using muskets, swords and other weapons discarded by the field troops to secretly ambush in places where the guerrillas might appear. As He Yanliang expected, two days later, another group of more than 300 guerrillas attacked the town. He Yanliang commanded the two hundred soldiers ambushed in the town to delay the Brazilian guerrillas, and then completely annihilated the attacking Brazilian guerrillas after other ambush troops arrived.

Killing a group of Brazilian guerrillas was not He Yanliang's main goal. His plan was to interrogate the captured guerrilla members and get from them the hiding places of various guerrilla groups in the mountains and forests, so as to catch them all in one fell swoop.

The captured Brazilian guerrilla leader could not stand the interrogation methods of the Chinese Independence Army and confessed the information He Yanliang wanted. After the interrogation, He Yanliang handed over the captured Brazilian guerrillas to the mopping-up force, and then led his militia and a part of the regular army under his command to encircle and suppress the guerrillas hiding in the mountains in batches. The encirclement and suppression operation lasted for five days, and all seven nearby Brazilian guerrilla strongholds were wiped out by He Yanliang. In addition to annihilating more than 1,100 guerrilla members, this operation also captured more than 1,000 Brazilian residents from the mountains. They were ordinary residents who followed the guerrillas to hide in the mountains, but after being caught by He Yanliang, they would also be expelled from Rio Grande do Sul and finally taken over by the Brazilian government.

Because He Yanliang had made outstanding contributions in the war, Li Mingyuan promoted him to the position of commander of the First Guard Brigade and concurrently the chief of resettlement of retired soldiers, responsible for commanding the First Guard Brigade and the militia forces in its jurisdiction, and his military rank was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

(End of this chapter)