Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 193: The Camp is Lost
It was a continuous spring rain, and in the jungles between the mountains, streams of water mixed with blood flowed down the mountain. Near the streams, bodies in Argentine military uniforms were scattered here and there.

On the bank of the stream, Ma Jizu and his team stopped and carefully observed the situation on the scene.

"The bodies have started to stink. According to the time calculation, the battle took place about five days ago." Ma Jizu covered his nose and inspected the nearby corpses before speaking.

"Captain, a week ago the fourth transport troop reported encountering Argentine troops, which led to the failure of the transport operation. Could it be that the operation exposed the location of Lord Sun's troop camp, which led to the outbreak of this battle?" Ma Jizu's deputy company commander speculated.

"It's possible." Ma Jizu lowered his head and thought for a moment, then agreed: Lord Sun's troops have been fighting the Argentine encirclement and suppression army for more than half a year, and our transportation of food and supplies has been going on. Argentina cannot have been unaware of it. I guess the Argentines probably know that Lord Sun's troops are supported by the National Defense Forces, but because the main Argentine forces are fighting the Paraguayan army and cannot concentrate their forces to suppress the uprising forces in the north, they did not declare war on the National Defense Forces.

"If the Argentines find out that the armed forces in the north are backed by our army, wouldn't Mr. Sun's troops be in great danger?"

The deputy company commander said worriedly.

"Not only are Lord Sun's troops facing difficulties, but transportation operations will also become more difficult." Ma Jizu frowned. "There have been new changes in the situation in northern Argentina. After we return, we must immediately report the situation here to the higher-ups. Also, everyone should be on high alert now and carefully respond to any possible enemy situations!"

"As ordered."

After the order was given, the soldiers who were resting on the rocks by the stream quickly stood up and dispersed according to the battle formation to hide in the high ground by the stream, behind the trees and other places.

Not long after the soldiers dispersed and hid, three soldiers who were set out to carry out a reconnaissance mission nimbly climbed down from the jungle on the mountain.

After removing his camouflage, a soldier gasped, "There are corpses everywhere in a camp on the mountain. There are thousands of them."

"Where is Lord Sun? Has he seen our troops?"

Thousands of people died in the camp. Ma Jizu subconsciously felt that something was wrong and asked anxiously.

"No, there is not a single living person in the camp."

"Quick, take me to the camp immediately." Ma Jizu was anxious and ordered decisively, "Leave 20 people to guard the boats and supplies, and the rest of you follow me immediately."

"Hua hua hua," the soldiers on combat alert immediately split into two teams. One team of more than 50 people quickly grabbed their rifles and followed the three leading soldiers to rush towards the camp on the mountain.

Inside the camp, the wooden fences built along the mountain pass fell to the ground, and the thatched huts and wooden sheds were burned by the fire, leaving only broken wooden boards emitting blue smoke in the rain.

"Everyone be on alert and search! I can't find a single living person!"

The densely packed corpses in the camp included not only Argentine whites, but more were Indians with their upper bodies bare. Among the corpses, Ma Jizu had seen five or six Chinese people wearing Indian costumes.

The previous concerns became a reality because the last transport operation failed. The Argentines discovered the camp of Sun Qisheng's troops and concentrated a large number of troops to launch an attack on the camp.

Thousands of bodies were left at the battle scene. Neither the smaller Argentine side nor Sun Qisheng's troops collected the bodies, indicating that the battle scene must have been very fierce.

Ma Jizu's face was heavy. At this time, the soldiers who were scattered to search reported the situation: there were about 600 Indians dead in the camp, more than 70 Chinese bodies, and about 500 Argentine soldiers bodies.

"Did you find anyone alive?"

"No, we searched the camp and found no one alive."

"There are two hundred brothers in the National Defense Army under Lord Sun. Only more than seventy bodies of brothers were found at the scene. The others must still be alive. Search carefully again and we must find Lord Sun!" Ma Jizu ordered loudly and excitedly.

The reporting soldier looked at Ma Jizu with fear, and before he could say any words of advice, he was interrupted by the deputy company commander beside him: "You go down first, I have something to say to the company commander."

After sending away the reporting soldier, the deputy company commander said: Only more than seventy bodies of the National Defense Army brothers were found in the camp, which means that Lord Sun and the remaining more than one hundred brothers are still alive. However, today is the agreed time for supply handover. After Lord Sun escaped the encirclement of the Argentine troops, he did not send his men to pick him up as agreed, which means that they have left the area around the camp and are under pressure from the Argentine encirclement troops and cannot contact us.

“Lord Sun’s men are all carefully selected elite soldiers. They must have encountered great difficulties to force him to abandon the camp and leave.” After listening to the analysis of his deputy company commander, Ma Jizu gradually calmed down.

"Argentina has lost more than 500 people and has paid a huge price. They will definitely not easily set fire to the surviving troops of Lord Sun's army. Therefore, we should immediately return to Rio Grande do Sul to report the situation to the higher-ups. Let His Royal Highness make the decision and discuss countermeasures to resolve the crisis of Lord Sun's army."

"Soon after the battle, the Argentines may leave troops nearby to carry out the blockade mission. It would be dangerous if we delay here for too long. So I decided to send you to lead the main force back to Rio Grande do Sul, and I will stay to lead the Thirty to search for and contact Lord Sun."

"Captain, leave the task of contacting Lord Sun to me. You don't have to take the risk yourself."

"No, you just completed two transport missions and you don't know the situation in northern Argentina. You won't be of much use if you stay." "But Captain..."

"No buts. I know another secret camp set up by Lord Sun. They are likely hiding there. It is more appropriate for me to stay." Ma Jizu showed his authority as a superior and ordered, "Unload the food and supplies, and leave two small boats. You lead the remaining brothers to return to the ship. Deputy Captain Wu, execute the order immediately!"

"Yes." The deputy company commander replied, and reluctantly led more than 40 soldiers away.

After his deputy company commander left, Ma Jizu led his thirty soldiers to temporarily place the unloaded food and two hundred Dreiser rifles in a hidden jungle, and then drove two small boats to another secret base with sufficient ammunition.

In a valley four hundred miles away from Ma Jizu's location, a camouflaged Chinese soldier flexibly passed through the dense jungle, pulled aside the bushes blocking the front of the mountain, and entered a hidden cave.

"What's the situation outside?" asked a slim man.

"There are 700 Argentine troops guarding the exit of the valley, and they show no signs of retreating."

"It seems that the Argentines want to trap us in the valley."

The capable man looked back at the dozens of wounded soldiers lying in the cave. He said solemnly, "After breaking out of the encirclement of the Argentine troops, we lost all our weapons and ammunition. The only three 75mm cannons were left in the camp and were not brought out. With the seventy or eighty rifles and five or six hundred rounds of ammunition now, it is difficult to break through the blockade of the Argentine troops deployed in the valley. The situation is very unfavorable to us. There is only one way to go if we stay in the valley. Brothers, share your opinions and see if you can find a way to solve the dilemma."

For the first time, the capable man felt helpless. After thinking hard without any results, he could only put the problem in front of all the surviving soldiers, hoping to rely on their ideas to find a way out for the remaining troops.

"Deputy Commander, if there hadn't been an Indian spy in the camp, cooperating with the Argentine troops to attack the camp from the inside and outside, we wouldn't have lost so badly. Now there are only more than 80 brothers who can maintain their combat effectiveness, and more than 40 brothers are injured. In this case, even if all the brothers who can fight are concentrated to attack the Argentine blockade forces, the injured brothers cannot be withdrawn. In my opinion, it is better to fight the Argentines while the brothers still have some strength, rather than staying in the valley and starving to death!"

"Brothers, we have all crawled out of the pile of dead bodies. I believe that none of you is afraid of death. However, you are the elite selected from tens of thousands of National Defense Forces. I brought you to northern Argentina to complete the important task assigned by the Crown Prince. Before the task is completed, any talk of sacrificing your life for the country is an act of disobeying the Crown Prince's orders!
Second Lieutenant! You must understand your mission and live up to the responsibility you shoulder!"

The capable man is Sun Qisheng who escaped from the camp. While resisting the attack of the Argentine encirclement and suppression forces, he neglected the supervision of the Indian armed forces under his command, which caused an Indian armed force that had just defected to rebel. The rebellious Indian armed forces took advantage of the fact that the main force of the camp was deployed on the front line and the weak defense inside the camp, and deceived the Chinese soldiers guarding the ammunition depot on the pretext of collecting ammunition. Then, they took advantage of the guards' unpreparedness to wipe out more than 30 Chinese soldiers and blew up the ammunition depot in one fell swoop, which eventually led to the failure of Sun Qisheng's defense. He had to abandon the camp and lead the remaining Chinese to fight and flee.

The Indians and the white people of Argentina have been loving and hating each other for hundreds of years. During this period, there were not only forces that resisted the rule of the white people of Argentina and gathered arms to fight against the white people, but also Indians who were disappointed with their future and were willing to surrender to the white people in exchange for survival.

Sun Qisheng successfully completed many missions under Li Mingyuan. After entering northern Argentina, he quickly opened up the situation with the support of sufficient guns and ammunition in the rear. The Indian armed forces under his command reached a maximum of 1,700 people. The overly smooth combat operations made him ignore the instability of the Indian armed forces, which eventually led to the loss of the camp.

After the camp was lost, Sun Qisheng learned a painful lesson and realized his negligence and shortcomings. However, the consequences of the Indian armed rebellion had already occurred, and Sun Qisheng's first consideration was how to lead the remaining more than 100 soldiers to break free from the encirclement of the Argentine troops.

After scolding a junior officer with radical ideas, Sun Qisheng glanced at the soldiers in the cave but no one spoke.

After a long silence, Sun Qisheng sighed, "Brothers have no idea, so let's use the last method. The surviving brothers will stay in the cave, and send a few brothers to cross the blockade of the Argentine troops. Then contact the transport troops from the rear, try to get weapons and supplies from the transport troops, and then look for opportunities to break the blockade of the Argentine troops."

Today is the time agreed upon by Sun Qisheng's troops and the rear transport troops to hand over supplies. However, Sun Qisheng and his men are trapped in the valley and cannot escape. Moreover, their hiding place is more than 300 miles away from the destroyed camp. It is very difficult to break through the blockade of the Argentine troops and get in touch with the transport troops.

Sun Qisheng understood the danger of passing through the Argentine blockade and the risk of contacting the transport troops across hundreds of miles. However, with more than a hundred surviving soldiers in desperate situation, he had no choice but to take this approach to have a glimmer of hope.

Licking his dry lips, Sun Qisheng said seriously, "Although it is relatively easy to disperse and pass through the blockade of the Argentine troops, the brothers who participate in the operation will still face the risk of death. This mission is a voluntary action. Any brother who is willing to perform the mission can stand up. I will not force those who are unwilling to perform the mission..."

Sun Qisheng had just said half of his words when more than a dozen people stood up in the cave.

"Don't make a decision so quickly. Give everyone a quarter of an hour to think about it. It won't be too late to make a decision after you've thought it over." Sun Qishen waved his hand to signal the soldiers who had stood up to sit down.

"Deputy Commander, it's better to fight and rush out than to stay in the cave and wait for death. I have made up my mind, no need to think about it anymore!"

"Going out to contact the troops may save the lives of our brothers in the valley. Commander, we are ready. Please give the order!"

After a few voices of volunteers executing orders were heard, more and more soldiers stood up on their own initiative.

"Very good." Sun Qisheng stood up and said with satisfaction, "You are all good brothers of Heaven. I believe in your courage and bloodiness. However, the number of people carrying out the breakout mission should not exceed five. Too many people will not only weaken the defense of the valley, but also increase the risk of being discovered by the Argentine troops. So I decided that the five brothers who stood up first will carry out the breakout mission." The other brothers who can still stand up will be responsible for launching a feint attack on the Argentine troops tonight to cover the breakout of the five brothers. Do you have any objections?

"Follow the deputy commander's order!" There was a unanimous voice in response to Sun Qisheng's question.

"Check remaining weapons and ammunition, and launch the operation at noon tonight."

"Yes"……

(End of this chapter)