Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 137 He Yanliang's Spring
ps: Thanks to book friend 20170910202151364 for the reward!

More than twenty days have passed since Li Mingyuan inspected Passufengdu. Compared with the previous period, the appearance of Passufengdu has undergone many changes.

The simple wooden houses and sheds were filled with retired soldiers, and the bumpy dirt roads were paved with gravel and sand.

Each planned immigrant courtyard is surrounded by a circle of branches to separate it from the land of surrounding neighbors.

In the open space outside the immigrant settlement, more than 2,000 retired soldiers were divided into more than 40 teams and conducted tactical drills holding various weapons such as muskets and swords.

The three-in-one armed system of Rio Grande do Sul, namely the field army, garrison army and reserve militia, means that after retiring, soldiers will still have to perform armament tasks in the garrison army and reserve militia.

The garrison troops are equipped with a certain amount of regular weapons, while the reserve militia uses old-fashioned muskets, swords, spears and other cold weapons eliminated by the field army as their weapons.

According to regulations, the garrison troops hold concentrated training every ten days, and the reserve militia conducts concentrated training for three days a month. However, the construction work of Pasufonto was urgent some time ago, and the garrison troops and militia mainly composed of retired soldiers involved in the construction had no time for training. Therefore, the concentrated training was postponed until the construction task was completed.

A one-armed man with a thick black beard walked back and forth in the training queue, correcting the soldiers' wrong movements from time to time.

At noon, Passo Fundo was still warm in winter. After a morning of training, sweat was oozing from the faces of the Chinese soldiers. He Yanliang raised his right arm and looked at the position of the sun on his forehead. The strong sunlight made his eyes a little blurred for a moment. He lowered his head to adapt for a while. He Yanliang called an officer and announced a temporary rest.

There were five or six hundred young women standing outside the training ground. After the training troops were disbanded, the women waiting on the side walked into the training ground, holding simple wooden bowls and chopsticks, and making a lot of noise and greeting each other.

He Yanliang walked to the outskirts of the training ground. When he was about to move forward, he heard a familiar voice. Turning around, he saw a woman in her twenties walking towards him with a slightly bulging belly.

"Stop and don't move. I'll go there myself." He Yanliang responded loudly and quickened his pace to return to the woman.

"I told you not to bring the food over in person, so why did you come? You have the He family's child in your belly now. What if something goes wrong?"

"N-Nine, I brought the pheasant I caught yesterday to you for your body." The woman spoke incoherently in the Chinese she had just learned.

"I understand. Next time, listen to me and don't run out. If you want to eat, I'll go home and eat by myself."

Seeing his wife's aggrieved look, He Yanliang couldn't bear to criticize her, and said gently: "You are pregnant, so eat more meat to nourish your body." Then he put the meat in his bowl into the woman's wooden bowl.

"Xie Xie." The woman answered in unstandard Chinese.

He Yanliang felt very satisfied having dinner with his wife.

His wife was not introduced by the headquarters, but was picked up while in Paraguay.

At that time, He Yanliang led a small force to explore the situation along the river. When they passed a Paraguayan village, there were only more than a hundred elderly women left in the entire village. Due to long-term lack of food, the surviving Paraguayans were weak and even lost their ability to move.

He Yanliang participated in the Chinese uprising army and killed many people, but those he killed were all hostile soldiers who oppressed the Chinese. Looking at the more than one hundred old and weak women with desperate eyes in front of him, He Yanliang decided to leave some food for the Paraguayans.

After distributing food and several wild animals hunted on the way to the Paraguayans, He Yanliang was about to leave when a pair of hands grabbed his legs.

He still remembered that a woman with disheveled hair and a thin body was holding his legs tightly and refused to let go, saying something incomprehensible. He could not understand what the Paraguayan woman said, but he could understand the strong desire to survive in the woman's eyes.

Looking at the gaze of the strange woman at his feet, He Yanliang was moved. He took the initiative to bring the Paraguayan woman back to the military camp. At that time, the Chinese Independence Army had just entered Paraguay not long ago, and Li Mingyuan had not yet come up with the idea of ​​​​recruiting Paraguayan women. Therefore, He Yanliang was punished, but the Paraguayan women he brought back were allowed to stay and placed in the logistics unit of the main force of the field army.

More than half a year has passed since he rescued the Paraguayan woman. The woman he rescued has become his wife and now has a child.

The Paraguayan woman who was rescued was a descendant of Spanish whites and Indians. No one knew her original name and it was no longer used. The name she used now was given by a scholar in the army at the request of He Yanliang. Her name is He Xiaolan, an ordinary Han Chinese female name. From his wife, we learned that she once had a child who died of illness during the war. Her husband also joined the army just one year after their marriage and died in a battle on the front line.

All her relatives died in the war, and He Xiaolan lost her support. If she had not met He Yanliang, she would have starved to death in the village where she lived. However, He Yanliang's arrival aroused her desire to survive, and she seized the only chance before her to fight for the chance to live. She succeeded, and He Yanliang took her back and saved her life.

War does not belong to women and children. Because of the war, ordinary people are displaced and their lives are in danger. At this time, all women want is a chance to survive, no matter whether this opportunity is given by Paraguayans or Chinese. As long as they can survive, they have no power to choose and can only accept it passively.

At the end of the dynasty, foreign tribes invaded, and even Han women who valued loyalty and perseverance were kidnapped by the barbarians in their millions. However, many Han women who fell into the hands of the Hu people chose to commit suicide to preserve their reputation, but the vast majority continued to live voluntarily or involuntarily.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, Cai Wenji was abducted. At the end of the Jin Dynasty, ethnic minorities moved south. During the An-Shi Rebellion, the Huihe people abducted hundreds of thousands of Han women. All these led to the abducted Han women being integrated into the Hu tribes. Twenty years later, a large number of newborns grew up and strengthened the Hu people. They became the main force of the younger generation of Hu people.

If women from civilized nations are like this, can we expect Paraguayan women who have no clear national identity to do better?
After eating the lunch that was delivered to him and watching his wife leave, there was still about half an hour before the afternoon training started. He Yanliang left the dining place and walked to a nearby dense sumac tree.

Zhao Yangang had just arrived under the sumu tree when he saw He Yanliang coming over. He smiled and said, "General He, if you're not going to inspect your soldiers, how can you be in the mood to come here?"

"Sir, please don't make fun of me. I came here to ask you if there are any tasks coming down from above so that I can arrange people to prepare in advance."

He Yanliang smiled and sat next to Zhao Yan. "To be honest, sir, I used to fight bandits in Hexi County (Santa Maria). After the mission was completed, I volunteered to go to Passo Fundo. The purpose was to complete the task assigned by the prince and return to the field army as soon as possible. But you see, it has been nearly ten days since the task in Passo Fundo was completed, and there has been no movement in Xinjing (Porto Alegre), so I can only ask for your help."

Zhao Yan looked at He Yanliang and asked curiously, "The Brazilians have recognized the land we occupied and made their son the Duke of Rio Grande do Sul. There will be no more big wars. Brothers finally don't have to fight and risk their lives. Isn't it good to live a peaceful life?
You can also get married and have a child soon. Wouldn't it be better for you to be a local army commander in the garrison army and accompany your wife and children instead of joining the field army?"

"It's good to be with my wife and children, but Lao He doesn't want his whole life to pass by like this."

He Yanliang shook his head and said, "A real man should gain merit on the battlefield and build a prosperous and strong country for our brothers, wives and children. As for accompanying his wife and children, when the time comes that Old He can no longer go to the battlefield, he will naturally stay at home with his wife and children."

"It is admirable that General He thinks this way."

"Haha, I heard it all from the prince. After listening so many times, I remembered a few words." He Yanliang said with a wry smile.

"General He wants to return to the field army, and I just happen to have some good news for you."

Zhao Yan took out a piece of paper with a big seal on it and said, "Three days ago, a conflict broke out between Paraguay and Argentina in the Misiones area. In view of the continued deterioration of the local situation and the lack of defense force in the San Pedro area, the First Mixed Brigade was ordered to go to the conflict area and station there.

He Yanliang, former commander of the First Security Brigade, performed his duties faithfully, wiped out bandits in Hexi County, completed the construction task of Pasu Fundu on time, trained soldiers and used methods, was steady, and made great contributions. He Yanliang is hereby awarded the position of Lieutenant Colonel He Yanliang as deputy commander of the First Mixed Brigade and concurrently commander of the First Regiment of the First Mixed Brigade. "

"He Yanliang obeys your command!" He Yanliang stood up quickly and took the letter of acknowledgment from Zhao Yan with a serious expression.

"General He, congratulations on getting what you wished for."

Zhao Yan stood and said, "General Wang led the First Mixed Brigade to set out this morning and arrived at Pasufontein this afternoon. I came here to inform you to go back and make preparations. After the First Mixed Brigade arrives, you will leave with them. While there is still some time, go back and say goodbye to your wife."

"What about the garrison and militia here?"

"Don't worry about the soldiers. Xinjing has already made arrangements. New officers will take over after you leave."

"That's good." He Yanliang had stayed with his soldiers for quite some time and felt reluctant to leave suddenly.

Before leaving, He Yanliang briefly explained the reason to the soldiers and quickly left the training ground and walked towards home.

(End of this chapter)