Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 89 Meeting the Messenger
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The Chinese Independence Army stationed at the gates of El Alto, forming a frontal suppression posture on the city of La Paz. However, due to the isolation of the Real Mountains, the Bolivian troops in La Paz could retreat calmly from the rear of the city without being known by the Chinese Independence Army.

The next morning, when Li Mingyuan met the two Bolivians, Melgarejo had been on the march with 5,000 soldiers for nearly eight hours.

Upon learning that Adolfo had captured Sucre, Li Mingyuan speculated that Melgarejo would most likely go back in person to quell the rebellion.

So they sent troops to launch an exploratory attack on El Alto and La Paz, and indeed found something unusual.

The generals left behind by Melgarejo once again plundered the residents in the city to defend the city. Although the number of people was slightly more than before Melgarejo left, the overall defense capability of the city of La Paz decreased a lot.

"I have some bad news for you. Your president left with his troops tonight and should be on his way to Sucre now."

After confirming that Melgarejo was not in the city, Li Mingyuan said to the two Bolivians who delivered the message.

The purpose of the two Bolivians contacting the Chinese Independence Army was to delay Melgarejo and buy time for Adolfo to integrate the Sucre army.

And now Melgarejo suddenly led his troops to Sucre, and the pressure Adolfo faced suddenly increased.

"General, Melgarejo is traveling overnight and will not be able to go far. I beg you to send troops to intercept and destroy Melgarejo's army."

"You have come from Sucre, so you should know the terrain around La Paz. If we don't take La Paz, it will be impossible for our army to send a large force to pursue Melgarejo's troops."

Due to the terrain restrictions around La Paz, if you want to bypass the city of La Paz, you have to turn more than 300 miles and cross the Real Mountains to find the road to Sucre.

Before attacking La Paz, Li Mingyuan sent out 500 soldiers to inspect the surrounding terrain and find a way to attack La Paz from behind.

Unfortunately, although a mountain road was found that bypassed the city of La Paz, it was too steep and narrow, with only one person able to pass through. Moreover, the road was located on a steep cliff, and if one was not careful one would fall off the cliff, with no chance of survival.

After discovering this mountain road, Li Mingyuan personally led a hundred special forces soldiers to check it out. Both from the special forces officers under his command and from Li Mingyuan's own experience, the final conclusion was that it was impossible for a large force to go around the back of La Paz from this road. Although special forces soldiers could use temporary mountain ropes and other tools to pass through the mountain road, their numbers were limited. It was conservatively estimated that the number of special forces soldiers who could safely reach the other side did not exceed a hundred.

It is too dangerous to go through the mountain roads, and even if one hundred special forces soldiers were sent there, without the help of heavy weapons such as machine guns and artillery, one hundred special forces soldiers would not be able to take the city of La Paz. Therefore, after the field investigation, Li Mingyuan rejected the combat plan proposed by the special forces commander to bypass La Paz through the mountain roads.

Adolfo took the initiative to contact the Chinese Independence Army to seek cooperation, which would benefit both parties. Li Mingyuan did not want to see Adolfo being defeated by Melgarejo, so he spoke again: "If we want to help General Adolfo get out of trouble, the first thing we need to do is to capture the city of La Paz. I need General Adolfo to show sincerity in this regard."

It is not easy to attack the city of La Paz from the outside, but if there are troops cooperating from inside the city, it will be much easier to attack the city of La Paz from both inside and outside.

Since the Chinese Independence Army entered the city of La Paz, the Bolivian army in La Paz has closed the city gates and strictly supervised the paths leading out of the city. The two Bolivians were able to leave the city safely, which must have been secretly allowed by the military leaders in La Paz. Therefore, Li Mingyuan speculated that there were Adolfo's people in La Paz. Li Mingyuan's intention was to let the two Bolivians act as messengers again, get in touch with the Bolivian officers in the city who let them go, and cooperate with each other to capture La Paz.

Li Mingyuan's guess was very close to the truth, but there was a slight gap between it and the facts.

Before the two Bolivians set off, Adolfo not only verbally told them to reach a cooperation with the Chinese Independence Army, but also gave them a blueprint wrapped in parchment. Adolfo told them to hand it over when they met the leader of the Chinese Independence Army.
Just now, Li Mingyuan told them the news that Melgarejo led his troops to attack Sucre. Because they were worried about Sucre being captured, they did not hand over the blueprint immediately. Now that they heard Li Mingyuan asking Adolfo to show his sincerity in cooperation, they remembered the blueprint and carefully took out the blueprint close to them and handed it over respectfully, saying: "General Adolfo asked us to give this blueprint to you. It should be able to provide help to your army."

The two Bolivians misunderstood Li Mingyuan's meaning, but Li Mingyuan didn't care. He took the drawing and started to examine it.

This drawing is a fortification layout diagram of El Alto and La Paz. The fortification structure and troop deployment of each location are carefully marked at the bottom of the drawing.

A smile appeared on Li Mingyuan's lips. With the complete fortification map of La Paz and El Alto, plus the coordination of the city's troops, there was a 90% chance of capturing La Paz.

"Thank General Adolfo for me. I am very satisfied with the blueprints he sent." Li Mingyuan chuckled and changed his mind: "However, these should not be all of General Adolfo's bargaining chips. He should have his insiders in La Paz. Otherwise, you wouldn't have arrived here smoothly. Am I right?"

"General, you are wise. The guard officer of the southern city of La Paz used to be a subordinate of General Adolfo. It was with his tacit consent that we passed the inspection."

"Yes, with the cooperation of the city gate guards, it will be easy to capture La Paz. Tonight, I will send two squads of soldiers to escort you into La Paz, and then contact the city gate guards to agree on a time to let our troops enter the city."

Li Mingyuan guessed correctly that there were Adolfo's subordinates in the city of La Paz, but what happened later was different from his imagination.

"General, the South City Guard Officer is indeed a subordinate of General Adolfo, but when we left the city, he had already received the mission of going out to collect grain, and now he has also left La Paz, so it is difficult to contact him."

A Bolivian explained.

"Go out of the city to collect grain?" Li Mingyuan couldn't help but laugh. The South City guard helped the two messengers leave the city and did Adolfo a favor. At the same time, he used the excuse of going out to collect grain to leave La Paz, a place of trouble, staying out of it and trying to please both sides.

In troubled times, heroes emerge. In the chaotic period of warlords in South America, a middle-level city guard officer knew how to judge the situation and maximize his own interests. Melgarejo and Adolfo fought. If Adolfo won, he would remember the favor of the city guard officer who helped him. If Melgarejo won, he would also reward the South City guard officer who raised food for the city guard troops. No matter who wins or loses,

The South City guards will not suffer any loss. It turns out that those who can survive in troubled times are not easy to deal with.

The South City guards were calculating with their abacus, but Li Mingyuan's plan failed.

Without the cooperation of an insider, even if they obtained the fortification map, the Chinese Independence Army would suffer certain casualties if they wanted to quickly capture the cities of El Alto and La Paz. Therefore, what Li Mingyuan had to consider now became how to minimize the casualties of the Chinese Independence Army when he knew the configuration of the other side's fortifications.

(End of this chapter)