Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 80 Indians Saved
Bolivia's ruling center is around the first-tier cities of Sucre and La Paz. After crossing Lake Titicaca, the Chinese Independence Army has entered Bolivia's core ruling area. Therefore, Li Mingyuan pays special attention to intelligence reconnaissance of the surrounding Bolivian troops.

In the half century after its independence, Bolivia adopted the caudillo system of rule. The so-called caudillos refer to a group of military leaders or paramilitary leaders who emerged during the Bolivian War of Independence. They gained profits by uniting with large estate owners and landowners to exploit the indigenous Indians and used force to maintain their rule.

After Bolivia's independence, generals and landlords from different factions fought for power. In the century after independence, there were 190 armed coups of various types in Bolivia, and 40 of the 6 presidents were assassinated. As a result, Bolivia was in constant political turmoil and suffered repeated defeats in foreign wars.

Li Mingyuan had a rough idea of ​​Bolivia's basic situation before entering Bolivia. If he hadn't wanted to find a good place for the Chinese Independence Army to survive, Li Mingyuan would have wanted to take root in Bolivia. However, Li Mingyuan only thought about it in his mind, and it was unlikely that he would actually do it.

Because the habitable areas in Bolivia are mainly in the central region, the south and north belong to the plateau area, with an altitude of more than 5,000 meters, and the highest peak is more than 6,000 meters above sea level. Between the Eastern and Western Cordilleras is a vast grassland. Only those who have sufficient red blood cells and the ability to absorb a small amount of thin air can live in this area all year round.

The Bolivian Indians have lived here for generations and have naturally adapted to the environment here, but it is very difficult for the Chinese independence army to live here.

Moreover, although Bolivia is in constant internal turmoil, they dare to do so only when there is no external force involved. However, if the Chinese Independence Army intervenes, they may target the Chinese Independence Army.

Although the Bolivian soldiers are not well-equipped, they have the advantage of being familiar with local conditions. They can fully utilize the way the Tibetans dealt with the Tang army during the Tang Dynasty to fight against the Chinese Independence Army and drag down the Chinese Independence Army.

Although the Tang Dynasty was powerful in the early days, it had not yet conquered the Tibetans who occupied the plateau. Li Mingyuan thought to himself that he did not have the ability to subdue the Indians on the plateau.

That is why Li Mingyuan stressed that the troops should not take the initiative to provoke the Bolivian army.

But more than a day after the Chinese Independence Army entered Bolivia, Li Mingyuan received news he didn't want to see.
The vanguard of the reconnaissance battalion fought with a small Bolivian force, and after capturing the enemy, they actually let two prisoners escape halfway, one of whom was said to be a mid-level Bolivian officer.

The cause of the conflict between the two sides was made very clear in the message sent back by the reconnaissance battalion commander. It was the Bolivian army that took the initiative to provoke, and the soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion had to fight back. Li Mingyuan could not blame them, because if Li Mingyuan were in the situation at the time, he would have made the same decision as the reconnaissance battalion commander.

The conflict has already occurred, and what we need to do now is to minimize the harm caused by this incident.

Li Mingyuan thought for a while and felt that he could only make an accurate decision by arriving at the scene in person. He left the troop camp to generals such as Chen Guozhu, Li Sandou, and Sun Bin, and Li Mingyuan led a cavalry brigade of 1,000 cavalrymen to the scene to check the situation.

According to the signal left by the soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion, one thousand cavalrymen arrived at a forest five miles away from the Aymara people, and more than fifty cavalrymen of the reconnaissance battalion, led by the commander of the reconnaissance battalion Qian Jianyu, respectfully saluted Li Mingyuan.

Li Mingyuan was riding on his horse and had no intention of asking Qian Jianyu, who was kneeling to salute, to stand up. Qian Jianyu, who was stared at coldly by Li Mingyuan, blushed and remained in the kneeling position for several minutes without daring to move.

"Is it uncomfortable to squat?" Li Mingyuan said lightly.

"I dare not." Qian Jianyu lowered his head and said softly.

"Don't dare? Weren't you quite courageous before? Why are you standing there like a little girl now?"

Qian Jianyu's face turned redder when he heard Li Mingyuan's words. When he first met Li Mingyuan, he was still a deputy company commander. At that time, he dared to put forward his ideas in front of Li Mingyuan.
The second time in the military school, he was valued by Li Mingyuan and was appointed as the commander of the reconnaissance battalion. However, this time, the prisoners escaped right under his nose, and he felt that he had lost face greatly.

He didn't dare to respond to Li Mingyuan's sarcasm.

"Tell me what you know first. As for letting the prisoners escape, we will punish him when we get back." Seeing Qian Jianyu's expression, Li Mingyuan knew that this incident had taught him a big lesson. He stopped scolding him and asked him about the situation instead.

"I let the prisoners escape, and I am willing to accept the punishment." Qian Jianyu first admitted his responsibility for letting the prisoners escape, and then introduced: "After suppressing the prisoner riot, I left more than 20 people to guard the prisoners, and then led a platoon of cavalry to hunt down the five prisoners who escaped. In the end, after killing three prisoners, the remaining two prisoners took advantage of the time their companions gave them and escaped to the Bolivian troops in front."

"How many Bolivian troops are there in front?"

"When I led the troops there, I found that they were attacking an Indian village. Judging from the scale of their attack, there were about four to five hundred people."

The number of Bolivian soldiers was small, so Li Mingyuan decided to lead his troops to have a face-to-face talk with them, explaining that the Chinese Independence Army had no intention of being their enemy. If they refused to listen, he would have to use soldiers to subdue them and then discuss a solution.

On the way here, Li Mingyuan had already thought of two possible solutions. The first one was that if the Bolivians were sensible, the two sides would shake hands and make peace, and the Chinese Independence Army would not interfere in their internal affairs and quickly leave Bolivia.

The second possibility is that Bolivia is an enemy of the Chinese Independence Army. In this case, the Chinese Independence Army will choose to cooperate with local Indians and overthrow the forces headed by Bolivian President Melcarrejo by supporting Indian armed forces.

Both options have their own advantages and disadvantages. As for which method Li Mingyuan chooses, it depends on the attitude of the Bolivian army in a while.

Beside the wooden fence in front of the Aymara village, seeing the Bolivian soldiers who were about to rush into the village retreating like a tide, a dozen brave Indians climbed onto the fence and found that the Bolivian soldiers seemed to be in great danger. They fled in panic and did not even take the wounded soldiers outside the fence with them.

"Chief, the enemy has escaped and the village is safe." After discovering the situation, the Indians loudly informed the tribesmen in the fence, expressing their joy of escaping death by chance.

The old patriarch was ready to die in battle, and the enemy's sudden retreat made him unable to react for a while.

When more and more tribesmen cheered, he realized that all this was true. He threw away the wooden spear in his hand, and the old chief regained his agility as a young man. He quickly ran towards the fence, and the surrounding Indians made way for him.
When he ran to the fence, the Bolivian soldiers had already run a long distance, and only the last twenty or so Bolivian soldiers were still within his sight.

"Great Sun God, you have not abandoned your people on the plateau!" The old patriarch was filled with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, and he knelt on the ground and shouted loudly.

The old chief's expression infected the other Indians. They believed that it was the sun god they believed in who saved the village, and they all knelt on the ground devoutly to thank the god for his salvation.

(End of this chapter)