Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 453 Robber’s Logic
At 1889:9 noon on September 14, 12, the ordinary and quiet town of Mauricio in southern Paraguay became noisy and bustling due to the influx of a large number of troops.

In the center of the town, in a beautiful, classical Western-style building, Major General Getulio, commander of the 9th Division of the Brazilian Army and commander of the advance force, was sitting around a marble table with several trusted staff officers to rest.

This house obviously belongs to a powerful Paraguayan noble family. It is luxurious and magnificent. There is a neat and beautiful lawn in the spacious courtyard, and there are rows of green trees beside the lawn. There is a spring in the backyard, and the smooth stones are covered with moss. There is an ancient stone statue next to the path in the courtyard.

The glazed tile roof and the vermilion columns complement each other beautifully.

The beautiful interior decoration has some Western Gothic architectural style. The ceiling is painted with peonies, roses and other landscapes, and the floor is covered with gorgeous carpets.
The glass bookcase on the right side of the room contains nice-looking clothes, shoes and hats. The glass cabinet on the left side of the room contains priceless jewels and accessories.

The original owner of the house fled out of the city when the Brazilian army first entered the city. Perhaps he fled too hastily, and he and his family did not even take many precious items with them.

However, if we consider it from another perspective, in times of war and conflict, life is more important than wealth. If we sacrifice our life in vain for property that we cannot take away, then we will have nothing.

Major General Getulio sat contentedly on the chair, looking at the gold and silver treasures on the table, and said with a smile: "What a lucky guy, he escaped with his family before we even entered the city. If it were me, I would not be able to leave so many precious and luxurious treasures in the city."

"They may have heard some rumors made up by the Paraguayan government and misunderstood the Republican Army, so they ran away early."

An officer sitting opposite Getulio said with a grin.

"Haha, that's right. The Paraguayan government deliberately spread rumors to vilify the Republican Army and deliberately created unnecessary hatred between us and the Paraguayan people. All this is the fault of the Paraguayan government. The Republican Army is not at fault at all!"

"Yes, General, all this is a conspiracy of the Paraguayan government."

Another officer stared at the gold and silver treasures on the table that exuded a metallic luster and said greedily, "However, I hope there are as many rumors as possible. This way, we can save ourselves a lot of trouble."

"Hahaha, Colonel Gaspard is such an interesting person."

The other officers burst into laughter after hearing Gaspard's words.

"Colonel Gaspard is a loyal officer of the Republic. The logistics transportation route from the rear to the front is not smooth, and the front-line troops often cannot get timely supplies. At this time, as the commander of 10,000 soldiers on the front line, it is also necessary for us to take some flexible measures to raise food and other daily necessities for the soldiers.
Of course, during this period, it is reasonable for us to take away some of the items abandoned by the Paraguayan people."

Major General Getulio found a very convincing excuse for their actions, and then continued: "General Rodriguez only gave us two hours to stop and rest. It is now 12:25 noon, and just one hour and 1 minutes have passed. We still have 25 minutes of rest time left."

"No, General, you remembered it wrong. From the time we received the telegram from General Rodriguez, we should have 1 hour and 35 minutes of rest time left."

An officer reminded solemnly.

"Yes, starting from the time we receive the telegram, we still have 1 hour and 35 minutes to repair."

Major General Getulio suddenly realized, "Tell the soldiers who are resting in the city to take this time to "rest". The troops will assemble in an hour and set out on time at 1 pm."

"Okay, General."

"Oh, by the way, remind the soldiers that when you 'buy' goods in the city, you must pay for them and you cannot just rob the Paraguayans of their property or food."

"You are such a kind general."

"Don't worry, I will definitely deliver your instructions."…………

"Hey man, I saw this silver coin first, it's mine!"

"No, I got it first. Whoever gets it first gets it!"

…………

In the city of Mauricio, on a commercial street, two Brazilian soldiers quarreled over the ownership of a silver coin.

"Hey, Grit, Barthalom, I found something great, come and see it!"

shouted another soldier as he broke into a wealthy man's house.

"What good stuff? Is it silver coins?"

"No, it's much more valuable than silver coins. Come and take a look!"

"We'll go there now."

The other soldier's words attracted the attention of the two soldiers. They quickly gave up the quarrel and ran quickly to the house facing the street.

"Look at this, what a fine piece of bronze, it's a beautiful big thing!"

"

Bancroft, is this the good stuff you're talking about?"

"Yes, that's it."

The Brazilian soldier named Bancroft said happily:

If I am not mistaken, this thing should be an antique from the 15th century, and its value is at least 500 pounds, no, at least more than 2000 pounds. " "Are you really sure that this large bronze can be worth 2000 pounds?"

"Of course, I'm quite sure!"

Bancroft's eyes were full of material desire. He seemed to have forgotten that this was a battlefield and was only obsessed with finding valuable things.

"As you know, before I joined the army, I had been working in the antique business. I have been studying antiques for nearly twenty years, and I rarely make mistakes."

"2000 pounds? That's an unimaginable amount of money. Bancroft, we two will help you carry this bronze away and hide it. After the war, when you sell the bronze, you must give us a share of the money!"

"Of course, we are best brothers. As long as I make money, I promise to share the money with you!"

"Okay, we have a deal. We'll each get one share when we divide the money."

Another soldier repeated the sentence again, and then the three of them worked together and quietly lifted the bronze ware placed in the house to the garden in the backyard of the house.

"Okay, this is the place. Grit, Barsalom, let's bury the bronze quickly while no one is paying attention. If we are late, it will be easily discovered by others."

"Yes, let's do it now."…………

Mauricio was in chaos. It had completely lost its original order. Bancroft, Gerrit, and Barthalom hid the bronze and walked out of the house.
Many soldiers were seen looting goods in the streets.

At the door of the nearest shop, the owner and several Paraguayan employees stood at the door with grief on their faces, looking at the Brazilian soldiers looting in the shop, but they did not dare to stop them.

"My God, look at all the good stuff they stole, sugar, raisins, and cigarettes!"

The soldier named Barsalom, who loved to take advantage of the three, said with envy: "Bancroft, Gerrit! Let's go there quickly! If we go too late, all the good things in the store will be snatched away by them!"

"The black bread in the army is too disgusting. It would be so wonderful if I could eat desserts made with sugar and raisins!"

"Bancroft, don't hesitate, let's go!"

Another soldier named Gerrit urged.

"The food provided in the rear is really too bad. We should prepare some food to fill our stomachs."

Among the three, Bancroft had a tendency to become the leader. After roughly considering the current situation of the three, he quickly agreed to the proposals of the other two.

Three soldiers with ulterior motives joined the looting, and the messy shop had three more uninvited intruders.

The blindly following-the-herd Brazilian soldiers were like hungry wolves in primitive society, greedily plundering everything they saw.

"Raisins taste good," Barsalom stuffed a handful of raisins into his mouth with one hand and grabbed a box of raisins with the other.

He said to himself, "Orientals are bad guys, but their canned beef is delicious, so put these cans in."

"We need cheese, too. We must have some cigarettes. Throw away the black bread distributed by the army and replace it with biscuits made in China. With sugar, flour will taste better. We should also take a bag of fine flour made in China.
Oh, there are also rubber raincoats and rubber-soled cloth shoes. You can't live without them when it rains. Take less of these things, just two pairs. …………"

Barsalom looked at the wide variety of items in the shop, and while trying his best to put them into the bag on his back, he said reluctantly: "The tents made by the Han people are also very useful, but the bag is full, it would be a pity to throw it away."

"Barsalom, we have enough stuff, let's leave the tents to the Paraguayans."

"Okay, let's leave the tents to the Paraguayans." The three picked out the things they needed, each carrying a large package and walking out. They happened to run into the patrolling military police. "Who allowed you to take things without permission?"

Barsalom pointed to the groups of soldiers with great harvests on the street and responded carelessly: "I came in with them. We are all soldiers from the 4th Regiment of the 9th Division. Our leader is Colonel Gaspar. It was the colonel who allowed us to take the things."

Hearing Colonel Gaspard's name, the gendarme instantly lost the courage to question, and softened his tone and said, "Have you paid? If not, pay it quickly, any amount will do." "We'll go pay it now!"

Barsalom put the silver coin he had just robbed back into his pocket, then took out a small-denomination Paraguayan coin from another pocket, returned to the store door, and handed it to a clerk who was obviously an Indian-white mixed-race.

The clerk was probably angry and threw the coin back to Bartholomew.

Barsalom may have felt that his act of robbing someone else's store was shameful, so after picking up the coin, he stuffed it into the clerk's hand, and then ran out quickly without caring about the clerk's subsequent reaction.

In the ordinary little town, the soldiers of the company where Barsalom and his two companions were located saw them carrying bulging bags, and they cheered and applauded as if they were waiting for Santa Claus.

There were shouts from this side and that side, and the Brazilian soldiers who had returned early were all amazed at the amount of loot the three of them had obtained.

Following the three, the last six soldiers of the 7th Company of the 4th Regiment of the 9th Division of the Brazilian Army returned with their full harvest. The food looted by the 7th Company had already filled the large wooden table in the middle of the camp. The Brazilian soldiers of the 7th Company often complained about not having good food. This time they tried their best to get food, but it was impossible to eat it all. In the end, they couldn't even transport the remaining food away.

Therefore, they took advantage of the time before the march and each soldier stuffed himself with food until he felt like vomiting.
They ate raisins, dried fruits, canned food, desserts, and fried cakes until the troops set out. Many soldiers ate so much that their belts loosened before they stopped.

The soldiers of the 7th Company of the Brazilian Army were full of pride as they set out on the road of no return to meet the war. On the march, the Brazilian soldiers, who did not know what kind of cruel blows they would face in the future, proudly shared with each other the sense of accomplishment of the looting: "This is not plundering, it is expropriation. It is the expropriation that the victorious army must carry out!"

(End of this chapter)