Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 504: Occupy Paraguay

The first batch of more than 5000 prisoners were transferred to the mainland by water and rail transport. When the Brazilian prisoners were driven out of the station by the Han soldiers, another steam train loaded with passengers and cargo drove in. During the war, the train was requisitioned by the government, and most of the people sitting in the carriages were military and government personnel related to the war.

Unlike the previous steam locomotive, the whistle sounded in the distance and before the train entered the station, the platform was already surrounded by a circle of armed soldiers. Judging from the military uniforms worn by the soldiers and the fluttering military flags, people familiar with the Han army could tell that these soldiers belonged to the First Division of the Han Empire Army, commonly known as the Imperial Guards.

The main force of the First Division, about 1.3 people, followed the division commander Chen Zongbai to the Paraguayan front to fight. The remaining 5000 people stayed in the country to protect the safety of the Han Emperor Li Mingyuan and a group of royal family members.

On October 10, Emperor Li Mingyuan of the Han Dynasty and a group of senior army and navy generals advanced to Xianghe City (Posadas) to command the Paraguayan war nearby. The 21rd Regiment of the 3st Division was also transferred to Xianghe City.

The reason why the troops of the First Division appeared at the station was that the highest military commander in Paraguay, Chen Zongbai, commander of the Third Division, Liu Yongfu, commander of the First Mixed Brigade, Pang Zhenyun, commander of the Second Mixed Brigade, Chen Dechao, commander of the Navy's Atlantic Fleet, Hou Taiyuan, and captain of the Chaoyang ironclad ship, Chen Shiding, and other meritorious generals of the army and navy returned to the country to accept rewards and commendations from Li Mingyuan, and were preparing to participate in the joint military meeting to discuss and decide on subsequent combat plans.

Those sitting on the train were all core generals of the army and navy. No wonder Li Mingyuan personally dispatched the remaining officers and soldiers of the First Army Division to provide support and alert.

"General Wang, General Qiu, General Ye, thank you for your help."

Chen Zongbai, Liu Yongfu and others got off the train and walked towards a group of people gathered on the platform.

"General Chen, General Liu, you are the heroes of the country. You have worked hard to win a great victory in Paraguay."

Wang Jianbing took the initiative to extend his hand and shook hands with Chen Zongbai.

"It's a pity that we didn't accomplish our mission completely. We let more than 7 troops from Santos and Porto Duguayla escape. We failed to completely wipe out the enemy as planned before the war. I feel ashamed."

Chen Zongbai said with regret.

"Santos has a keen sense of smell. He dared to take the risk of disobeying the orders of Fonseca and Peixoto and retreated in time when the Humeta Fortress was undefendable. He is a worthy opponent."

Wang Jianbing said seriously: "The battlefield situation changes rapidly. No matter how perfect the battle plan made before the war is, it is just a paper war. We can't fully predict the enemy's movements. It is too rigid and naive to treat the enemy as fools and expect them to follow our pre-war battle plan completely."

“Your Majesty is basically satisfied with the results of the Paraguayan war. We wiped out 6.8 enemy troops, and the field army and garrison army suffered more than 3600 casualties. The enemy and our casualties ratio exceeded 20 to 1. We basically recovered the entire territory of Paraguay, and also severely damaged the main force of the Brazilian Navy.

General Chen, General Liu, you have done a good job on the front line, there is no need to blame you too much."

Qiu Mingzhang persuaded with a smile.

"Brother Chen, Brother Liu, you have made great contributions on the front line and have gained a lot of benefits, so don't be modest. We, the troops staying in the country, can only watch you fight and make merit on the front line, but we can't do anything."

The commander of the Fifth Division, Ye Chenglin, is an old acquaintance of Chen Zongbai and Liu Yongfu from the Annan period. His personality is still carefree, with no major changes in 20 years, and he speaks in a relatively direct manner.

"Haha, Brother Ye, what you said is wrong. The war in Paraguay is handled by the First Division, the Third Division, the First Mixed Brigade, the Third Mixed Brigade and other participating troops. But the war in the coastal areas of Brazil such as Paraná State and Sao Paulo State still needs your Second Division, Fifth Division, and Eighth Division to fight. His Majesty summoned us back to participate in the joint army and navy combat meeting, which is mainly aimed at the operations in the coastal areas of Brazil. Your military exploits are also indispensable."

Pang Zhenyun, commander of the 1st Mixed Brigade, laughed.

"Brother Pang is quite well-informed."

Ye Chenglin smiled and said, "To be honest, my Fifth Division, General Qiu's Second Division, and General Wang's Eighth Division assembled at the Songjiangfu Port two days ago. Now we are waiting for your Majesty's order to go to the coastal areas of Brazil to perform combat missions." "It's our turn to envy you. The battle lines of various troops in Paraguay are relatively long, especially in the north. The width and depth of the two main rivers of the Paraguay River and the Parana River are smaller, and water transportation is not easy. Human transportation cannot meet the combat needs of the troops for a while. Therefore, the pursuit operation has to be temporarily stopped. It is estimated that it will take one to two weeks for the troops to adjust and replenish the consumed ammunition and supplies before continuing to launch an attack on northern Brazil, recovering Mato Grosso do Sul, southwestern Goiás, southern Mato Grosso and other areas, and restoring the control line to the 1879 position."

"On the one hand, the militiamen and civilian laborers are responsible for transporting weapons, ammunition, daily necessities, medicines and other supplies to the field army and the garrison army. On the other hand, as the order to control the entire territory of Paraguay is deepened, the front-line troops must split a part of their forces and disperse them to various grassroots areas in Paraguay to achieve occupation and restore order in various parts of Paraguay. In this way, the transportation and supply routes are dispersed and extended, and the tasks of the civilian laborers and militiamen are also much heavier."

Liu Yongfu nodded in agreement.

"There is no need to worry about the issue of civilian laborers and militiamen for the time being. The mainland has agreed to recruit a second batch of civilian laborers and militiamen to enter Paraguay. The official announcement will be issued in two days."

Wang Jianbing explained: "The war in the inland areas of Paraguay has basically stopped. The second batch of auxiliary personnel recruited are mainly new immigrants. After the war, most of the soldiers and civilians will be resettled in Paraguay. Land will be allocated directly from all over Paraguay for them to settle down."

"This is a good policy. The land allocation policy is publicized to new immigrants in advance, and they know the specific location of the land for settlement. I believe they will be more motivated to participate in the work of transporting supplies."

"They have all been through the same thing, and the government will not treat them unfairly."

"The number of militiamen and civilian laborers who participated in logistics transportation, wounded treatment and other battlefield auxiliary work exceeded 40. They also contributed to the victory of the Paraguayan War. It is reasonable for the government to reward and commend them and allocate land to them."

"The prosperity of a country depends on the awakening of its people. The awakening of its people requires the unity of all classes of people. To be united, we must have common national concepts, ideals, and goals. To realize the new immigrants' sense of identity with the national concepts and ideals, they should be given tangible benefits. They should participate in auxiliary work on the battlefield with the soldiers and civilians. With their efforts, they should naturally be rewarded. Part of Paraguay's land should belong to them."

The development and growth of the Han Dynasty was inseparable from the joint efforts of people from all walks of life. Liu Yongfu, Wang Jianbing and others also came from overseas refugees, so they did not feel that there was anything inappropriate about the Han government's reward measures for directly distributing land.

"General Wang, what will happen to Mrs. Lynch and Lopez Jr.'s son Leopoldo in the future? Are we really going to hand Paraguay over to them?"

After discussing the issue of rewards for immigrants, Pang Zhenyun raised a question that had been hidden in his mind.

"After all, the current situation is different from that of 10 years ago. 10 years ago, the empire had a land area of ​​only a few hundred thousand square kilometers and a population of millions. After annexing Argentina, it was still besieged and blockaded by Western countries such as Britain. Now the empire's native territory covers an area of ​​360 million square kilometers and a population of 1800 million. If the newly occupied Paraguay is included, the actual controlled territory exceeds 400 million square kilometers. Western countries, especially the United States, are very wary of the empire. It would be too blatant to directly annex Paraguay. The local government should superficially support Leopoldo to succeed as the new king of Paraguay, but the Paraguayan army and government departments are all controlled by the local side, and all parts of Paraguay are also filled with newly migrated Chinese immigrants, and the Lopez family will not be given actual power."

Wang Jianbing explained.

"Both foreign wars took place in Paraguay, and coupled with the impact of wars such as the black riots in Mato Grosso do Sul and the Paraguayan Civil War, the native population of Paraguay is only more than 40. Excluding blacks and black mixed races, the population is at most over 30.

The young and strong labor force was almost completely lost in the wars, and at least 30% of the remaining Paraguayan people were women, the elderly and children. With these people, Leopoldo had no capital and strength to oppose the empire's arrangements.

Leopoldo is just a rich young man who lives under the protection of his father. How can he know how to govern a country? He should just be honest and cooperate with the Empire's occupation and assimilation of Paraguay. When Paraguay is officially incorporated into the Empire, he can be given a hereditary noble title and become a rich and elegant prince. Isn't that better than him messing around like that?"

Ye Chenglin looked down on Leopoldo at all. Not to mention Leopoldo, he didn't even look up to any of Lopez Jr.'s other descendants. Paraguay was sandwiched between the Han Kingdom and the Republic of Brazil. A weak and small country simply did not have the strength or capital to maintain its own independence. Obeying the arrangements of the Han government and actively integrating into the Han Kingdom was the right choice for the Lopez family and other Paraguayan people.

"The Paraguayan war is over, and the war with the Republic of Brazil has also been won. After digesting the results of this war, the empire's territory, population, comprehensive national strength, and international status will be further improved. I really want to see this day come sooner."

Liu Yongfu sighed.

"Soon, this day will come, and the empire will usher in a new era, an era of prosperity and rejuvenation for all the people of Han.
(End of this chapter)