Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 133 On the Guaiba River

Thanks to Yunhai Shuyou Shitongzhou for the tip!
In late autumn, the banks of the Guaiba River in South America remain green as always. Tall oaks and brazilwood trees are dotted along the riverbanks. Pink mimosa and delicate barringtonia flowers bloom by the river. The breeze is blowing gently, the river is rippling slightly, and a long fleet of boats is approaching from the distance. The calm and peaceful Guaiba River soon becomes noisy.

Li Mingyuan sat at the bow of the boat, casually looking at the scenery along the coast.

There are so many things to do on weekdays that there is little time to stop and rest. This time, after finishing the things at hand, Li Mingyuan followed a team of stationed troops on a boat trip, which can be regarded as a relaxing trip.

The Guaiba River flows into the sea from Porto Alegre, passing through Santa Maria and Passo Fonte along the way. It is a strategically important river in the area controlled by the Chinese Independence Army.

The fleet where Li Mingyuan is located is mainly composed of small inland vessels. Some of the ships are responsible for transporting soldiers, while the other ships follow behind the fleet, responsible for carrying two thousand retired soldiers and the food, farm tools and other supplies they need for life.

After the war, it is unlikely that a large-scale war will break out within one or two years. Maintaining a large military force will be extremely costly.

Therefore, after several days of discussion with senior generals of the Chinese Independence Army, Li Mingyuan once again made the decision to reduce the number of troops.

The number of the four field divisions in the army was reduced from a temporary 6,000 to 5,000, and the three mixed brigades were each reduced by 500 people, maintaining an understaffed state of 2,500 people per brigade.

The number of technical arms such as the Cavalry Brigade, Artillery Brigade, Special Operations Command, Engineer Regiment, and Military Police Regiment remains unchanged.
The naval force was expanded from 2,000 to 3,500 people, and then a regiment of troops was assigned to defend the naval base.

The army field army was reduced by 5,500 people, and the force size remained at about 34,500 people. Together with the navy, the total number of field troops was 38,000.
The reduction in the number of combat troops in the field army was related to Li Mingyuan's efforts to save military expenditures. At the same time, since the beginning of the expedition, the Chinese Independence Army had suffered a total of nearly 20,000 casualties, of which only less than 5,000 were able to return to the army to fight. Most of the remaining 15,000 were killed in battle, and the rest were wounded soldiers who had lost their combat ability.

The loss of 15,000 soldiers, even if most of them were garrison troops and non-field army troops responsible for logistics, still put a lot of pressure on maintaining the pre-war scale of about 42,000 people.

Therefore, considering both factors, the only appropriate option is to reduce the size of the field army.

The main force reduced its combat personnel, and the garrison troops, as the second-line troops, were also unable to avoid this.
After the peace agreement was signed, the two southern Brazilian states occupied by the Chinese Independence Army plus the area south of the Iguazu River had a total area of ​​about 40.3 square kilometers. Such a large area of ​​land could not be left vacant for a long time, and a brigade of garrison troops could only control a very small area. Therefore, it was unnecessary to continue to maintain a large-scale garrison.

Twenty thousand of the 40.3 second-line troops of the ten security brigades will be retained, and then the people will be set up as security regiments with a staff of people per regiment. Twenty Chinese immigrant strongholds will be established on square kilometers of land, with a security regiment stationed in each stronghold. The reduced people will constitute the main population of the Chinese Independence Army's rule with retired Chinese, and will no longer undertake front-line combat missions.

Freed from the cruel and stressful life of combat troops, the retired soldiers on the ship quickly adapted after experiencing initial confusion.

The natural scenery and cultural environment in South America are different from those in the mainland. The dense and flourishing trees, precious woods such as Brazilian quercetin and white eucalyptus, and various unnamed legumes distributed in the jungle all brought novelty to the Chinese who traveled across mountains and rivers to southern Brazil.
However, after the temporary happiness and novelty, the Chinese soldiers who had been away from home for several years began to miss their distant homeland.

"The mountains and rivers are beautiful, and the land is fertile, but it's a pity that I'm not in my hometown." Looking at the dense jungle on the right side of the Guaiba River from a distance, Liu Pu said with emotion.

Beautiful and deep scenery always makes people unconsciously fall into memories of the past. Li Mingyuan is no exception. However, his memories not only have to cross thousands of miles of oceans, but also have to cross more than a hundred years of long time.

"When I left, the willow trees were swaying. Now I come back, it is raining and snowing."

Li Mingyuan pondered for a moment, then smiled again, saying, "The things on the mainland are only memories after all. The great areas in front of us are all lands conquered by 100,000 Chinese brothers. We can build this land with our own hands and make the land under our feet a new home for the Chinese."

"I have some feelings, please forgive me for making you laugh."

Liu Pu came back from his reminiscence and smiled. "It's okay. It's normal to miss your hometown. If you can't survive in the mainland, who would be willing to leave home and travel across the ocean to come thousands of miles away?"

"It's hard to leave my hometown, but I have no choice but to leave." Liu Pu shook his head, looking a little sad.

Liu Pu was immersed in homesickness, but Li Mingyuan thought of another problem. The Chinese are deeply influenced by traditional customs and believe in returning to their roots. Those Chinese who have stayed in South America for a few years will miss their hometown sometimes. But will those poor farmers who have always lived in the mainland and have never left the place where they were born be willing to leave the place where they grew up and accept the recruitment of the Chinese Independence Army?
With doubts in his mind, Li Mingyuan directly asked his questions to Liu Pu.

"The Central Plains has a large population. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Manchu government relocated a large number of people from the Central Plains to the Shuzhong area. In addition, the Central Plains has been affected by the Yellow River floods for a long time, and the people are poor. It is the easiest to absorb immigrants from the local area."

Peasant uprisings broke out repeatedly in the Central Plains areas such as the Yellow River and the Huai River. It was indeed a good idea to immigrate from the local area. However, the Central Plains is located inland, and it takes a long distance to reach there from South America, and one also has to avoid the inspections of the Qing soldiers along the way, which makes the actual operation quite difficult.

"The mass base of immigrants from the Central Plains is relatively good, but considering the distance, it is not feasible to absorb immigrants from the Central Plains,"

Rejecting Liu Pu's suggestion, Li Mingyuan asked, "Jiangnan was once the ruling area of ​​the Heavenly Kingdom. How about immigration from there?"

"No, Jiangnan is the center of Qing Dynasty's wealth. The leader of the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Shaved His Head, and Li Hongzhang sent a large army to station there. It is too difficult for the prince to immigrate from here."

Liu Pu shook his head in opposition, lowered his head to think for a moment, and gave his suggestion again.
"If you want to immigrate from the mainland in the future, I suggest that the first place of immigration is Guangdong and Guangxi."

"The Guangdong and Guangxi regions are close to the sea, so it is much more convenient for the fleet to arrive there to immigrate people," Li Mingyuan nodded and waited for Liu Pu to continue.

"The Guangdong and Guangxi regions have little land and many mountains. The Hakka people who migrated from other regions to the region have many conflicts with the Tujia people. In order to compete for land and water resources, there are constant large-scale armed conflicts. The local Qing government turned a blind eye to the frequent armed conflicts between the two sides and only intervened to stop them when the scale of the armed conflicts evolved into riots.

The Guangdong and Guangxi regions, especially the rural areas, are in chaos and the government has weak control over the local areas. It would be most appropriate for us to obtain immigrants from the local areas.”

"Guangdong and Guangxi are mostly mountainous and have little land. A large area of ​​our land is not cultivated. As for the Hakka people, they are brave and fight. The Chinese Independence Army needs such soldiers."

The Guangdong and Guangxi regions, especially the Guangxi Wolf Soldiers, were very famous in the previous life. Selecting soldiers from Guangxi just met Li Mingyuan's wishes.

"At this stage, the Chinese in the Americas are mainly concentrated in Cuba. Although there are some Chinese workers in North America, it is difficult for us to introduce Chinese workers from North America. Therefore, after the operation of transporting Chinese workers to Cuba is completed, the focus of absorbing Chinese workers will be shifted to the mainland and Southeast Asia."

"After Rio Grande do Sul receives Cuban Chinese workers, large-scale construction projects will also be launched. We don't have much gold left. Isn't it too urgent to immigrate Chinese from the mainland? Why not build in Rio Grande do Sul first and temporarily delay the task of immigration from the mainland?"

"Liu Pu, you don't understand. The industrial development of Western powers is very fast. If we want to continue to expand the land area controlled in South America, we must quickly increase the number of Chinese. This way, we can protect ourselves when the European powers notice us."

Li Mingyuan noticed the solemn expression on Liu Pu's face and explained, "Gold reserves are insufficient. I will find ways to expand new sources of income from other aspects and will not let the good situation in Rio Grande do Sul be destroyed by lack of money."

Liu Pu knew the importance of rapidly increasing the number of Chinese in Rio Grande do Sul, and the money held by the Chinese Independence Army could support large-scale consumption for a period of time. Therefore, although he did not believe that Li Mingyuan could think of a way to obtain a new source of money, Liu Pu still gritted his teeth and agreed.

"The Chinese Independence Army has developed from nothing and encountered numerous difficulties. When we really run out of money, the worst that can happen is that we just have to endure it." Liu Pu comforted himself in his heart.

(End of this chapter)