Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 94 Before the decisive battle

The sky was clear and the air was fresh, with a gentle breeze. The city of La Paz, which had just experienced the destruction of war, had regained a bit of peace. The South Gate, which had been closed for more than ten days, was reopened, and pedestrians were constantly passing through the South Gate. Because there were too many people entering the city, the Chinese officer guarding the gate, with the assistance of a dozen local people, ordered people to line up in and out of the gate to maintain normal traffic.

After the Chinese Independence Army occupied the city of La Paz, they only confiscated the property of high-ranking officers of the Bolivian army, such as Balivián, and turned a blind eye to ordinary residents, without depriving them of their property and food. Therefore, after hearing the news, the La Paz residents who had stayed outside the city in fear for a day rushed back to the city, causing considerable impact on the traffic at the city gate.

The Bolivians outside the city were queuing up to enter the city. At this time, the soldiers guarding the city gate suddenly stopped checking the crowd entering the city, and the city gate team composed of more than a dozen local people drove the crowd away under the command of a Chinese officer.

These Bolivians guarding the city were soldiers with good performance selected from among the prisoners by the Chinese troops. They used their familiarity with the city of La Paz to assist the Chinese troops in temporarily managing the public security of the city.

Bolivian soldiers drove the crowd away, and then a group of Indians walked out of the city. Most of them were holding captured muskets, and some were holding primitive swords and bows and arrows.

Seeing the troops in the city, the Bolivians crowded on both sides of the city gate flashed a trace of disdain in their eyes.
"A bunch of uncivilized natives, relying on the support of the Chinese to bully others, will sooner or later die a miserable death."

"Hush, be careful, the Indians are gaining power, if they hear us, it will be over."

"What are you afraid of? I killed two Indians two years ago. I'm not afraid of them."

The Bolivian man said this stubbornly, but his voice unconsciously lowered.

The hostile eyes of the Indian man at the front of the team fell on him, and he couldn't help but feel angry.

"Chief, these people don't know what's good for them. We let them go when we entered the city, but now they still hate us. Chief, let me take some people to teach them a lesson."

The Indian man said angrily.

"Bernardi, don't be reckless." The old Indian looked at the strong man and said, "They are just a bunch of pitiful people who dare not speak out. Don't pay attention to their looks. We have more important things to do now. Go to the back and urge the tribesmen to leave as soon as possible. The Quchu tribe has set out a while earlier than us. We can't waste any more time."

"Yes, chief, I'll go to the back right away." Bernardi agreed verbally, but he was still not satisfied, so he waved the big knife in his hand at the dissatisfied Bolivians, scaring a group of people to retreat. Seeing the reaction of the crowd, Bernardi let out a breath of anger, and then went to the back to convey the old chief's orders.

The group of Indians outside the city gate were Aymara people. They received orders from Li Mingyuan to wipe out the remaining Bolivian troops in La Paz Province, so they were in a hurry to leave the city.

Before the Aymara people left the city, Li Mingyuan led 3,000 cavalrymen to leave and pursue Melgarejo's troops, while Wang Dashan led 7,000 infantrymen to follow suit as support for the cavalry. Once Li Mingyuan's cavalrymen failed to defeat Melgarejo's troops, Wang Dashan would lead his troops to meet up with Li Mingyuan and launch an attack after a short rest.

It had been three days since Melgarejo left. According to the prisoners in the city, the troops Melgarejo took with him were a mixed force of cavalry and infantry, including 2,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry. However, before leaving La Paz, Melgarejo looted most of the pack horses in the city, so that each of the 3,000 infantrymen had two pack horses, which greatly increased the marching speed.

The distance between La Paz and Sucre is about 800 miles. It takes six days for cavalry to march at full speed, and about eight days for Melgarejo's troops mixed with pack horses. This means that Adolfo must hold out for at least one day before the Chinese troops arrive in Sucre, otherwise when Li Mingyuan and his troops arrive, they will still have to face the enemy defending the city.

Adolfo himself was a veteran soldier, so it shouldn't be a problem for him to defend Sucre for a day. However, Sucre was the base camp that Melgarejo had managed for several years. If Melgarejo attacked Sucre, the remaining Melgarejo's men in the city would take the opportunity to cause chaos, and the situation would be critical.

Considering the importance of the Battle of Sucre, Li Mingyuan sent three groups of messengers to deliver news to Sucre. On the one hand, he informed Adolfo that the Chinese Independence Army would arrive in Sucre soon and agreed on a time for the two sides to jointly send troops to deal with Melgarejo. On the other hand, he reminded him to be wary of the remaining Melgarejo supporters in the city and not to be breached by the enemy from within.

After sending the messenger, Li Mingyuan led his troops to Sucre without stopping.
Five days later, when Melgarejo finally arrived outside Sucre, he heard bad news.

"President, the morning after you left La Paz, the enemy army attacked us. I led the defenders in the city to resist, but we were outnumbered. After holding out for most of the day, the East City was breached by the enemy first, and then the other generals who came to assist in the battle fled, causing the La Paz defense line to collapse. I had no choice but to lead the remaining soldiers to leave and report to the general."

In the military camp outside Sucre, Medellin dragged his injured right arm to report to Melgarejo about the fall of La Paz.

"What? La Paz City was breached by the enemy in just half a day. This is impossible!"

As the military commander of La Paz, Balivian knew the tightness of La Paz's fortifications. It was possible for the Chinese Independence Army to attack La Paz, otherwise he would not have left with Melgarejo. However, the Chinese Independence Army broke through the fortifications in just half a day. Even if he broke his head, Balivian could not believe it. "Medellin, tell me, are you afraid of death? You led your troops to flee as soon as the enemy attacked, otherwise how could La Paz fall so quickly!"

Although he was mentally prepared for the fall of La Paz, Balivian still couldn't let go of everything in the city. You know, most of Balivian's belongings were in La Paz. This time he followed his brother to the battle, he only had time to take some jewelry and gold, and all other property could be placed in the castle in the city. But after the fall of La Paz, all the property he had accumulated over the years was gone. When he thought of the property in the castle falling into the hands of the Chinese troops, Balivian couldn't help but get angry, and he also hated Medellin who came to report the news loyally.

Balivian looked at Medellin with red eyes. As long as he admitted that he had abandoned the city and fled, Balivian would kill him without hesitation.

"General Balivian, the fall of La Paz is my fault, but you cannot accuse me of deserting the battlefield. This is an insult to a soldier. If you don't apologize for your words and actions, I will duel with you."

Medellin was a descendant of French immigrants. He had admired Emperor Napoleon since he was a child, so he attached great importance to military honor. He could not accept Balivian's insult to him, and in a moment of excitement he uttered the harsh words of a duel.

Although duels in the West are full of chivalrous romance, the endings are often bloody. The great Russian poet Pushkin dueled with others to defend his dignity as a man, and ended up dying under his opponent's sword. This happened in 1837, only years ago. So the duel that Medellin mentioned is not just talk. Once the two people refuse to give in to each other, it is possible to cause irreversible consequences.

When Balivian scolded Medellin, Melgarejo did not stop him. The fall of La Paz had a huge impact on the situation in the entire country of Bolivia. In order to resist the attack of the Chinese troops, he left most of the troops in La Paz. Even when he led his troops away, the La Paz army, including the young and strong, had 15,000 people. With so many people, the city wall was breached by the enemy before they could even hold out for a day. Not to mention that Balivian did not believe it, even he could hardly believe it when he heard it suddenly.
Balivian and Medellin confronted each other, and Melgarejo had to persuade them: "I believe in the character of General Medellin. He will not do such a thing as running away from the battlefield. Balivian, you should apologize to General Medellin."

"Brother..." Balivian was not convinced, but when he saw Melgarejo's cold eyes, he had to swallow back the words he was about to say and held his breath to apologize to Medellin.

La Paz was lost in his own hands anyway, so Medellín could not be stubborn and accepted Balivian's apology.

"Medellin, you said the enemy broke through from the east city, is that true?" Melgarejo asked, recalling what Medellin had just said.

La Paz is surrounded by mountains. The enemy's attack directions are only North City, East City and West City. As an important passage in and out of La Paz, North City should be the main direction of the enemy's attack. However, the Chinese troops did the opposite and used East City as the breakthrough point. This made Melgarejo confused.

"Yes, President. Not only did the enemy break through from the east city, but they also seemed to know the distribution of La Paz's fortifications. Some of our artillery and defense support points had not yet been exposed when the enemy's attack arrived. Therefore, from the beginning of the enemy's attack, our army was at a disadvantage."

After hearing what Medellin said, Melgarejo would be a fool if he didn't understand that there was a traitor in the family.

"It must be that bastard Adolfo who betrayed me,"

Melgarejo roared.

"President, what should we do now?" Medellín asked after Melgarejo had lost his temper.

"How many more soldiers did you bring with you?"

"There were four hundred men when we left the city, and after gathering up the defeated soldiers along the way, the number reached one thousand."

There were 15,000 defenders in La Paz, but only 1,000 of them returned. Melgarejo felt disheartened after hearing this.

Of course, it was impossible for all 14,000 people to be wiped out by the Chinese troops. In fact, after the capture of La Paz, only 7,000 Bolivians were captured and annihilated. The other 7,000 people fled away under the leadership of various warlords instead of joining Melgarejo.

After the fall of La Paz, Melgarejo was faced with a pincer attack from Adolfo and the Chinese Independence Army. The situation Melgarejo was facing was even more severe. Those warlords with a shrewd vision naturally saw it clearly, so it was normal for them not to come and make peace with Melgarejo.

Medellin's 1,000 soldiers plus Melgarejo's 5,000 men, a total of 6,000 people, were enough to attack Sucre.

Eight days have passed since the start, and Adolfo should have gathered a lot of soldiers in Sucre. The longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for Melgarejo. Therefore, without giving Medellin time to rest, Melgarejo ordered the troops to be divided into two teams, taking turns to attack Sucre.

(End of this chapter)