In Porto Alegre, two senior officers of the Chinese Independence Army who had been separated for several months gathered together to share their combat experiences and results with officers who were familiar with each other. The officers below discussed together lively, and Li Mingyuan
Sit with Luo Linshan and listen to his report on the capture of Rio Grande do Sul.
"Your Majesty, I won't talk about the sea voyage and the capture of the small town of Palmaris do Sul. I will specifically tell you about the process of capturing Porto Alegre and the progress of the war in the following month."
Luo Linshan raised his brows, fiddled with the captured map of Rio Grande do Sul, and said, "After occupying the town of Palmaris do Sul, my subordinates divided the attacking force into two detachments. They attacked from the sea through the Patos Lagoon, and were led by me personally.
Advance from the land direction.
In the evening, after five hours of rapid march, the land and water troops arrived at Arequipa. It was just dawn. I was thinking about how the prince used prisoners to deceive the enemy's gate when he was in Peru. I also had more than fifty intact soldiers.
With the unharmed prisoners, they might be able to deceive the defenders of Porto Alegre, so their subordinates sent half of the soldiers to put on the uniforms of the Brazilian army, mingled with the Brazilian prisoners, and asked them to lie about an unknown crime in Palmaris South.
A group of enemy troops were attacking, and they came to report the enemy's situation.
The soldiers guarding the city did not doubt the statements of the Brazilian prisoners under the city. Apparently, Palmaris South was not attacked by pirates and other armed forces once or twice. The Brazilian soldiers guarding the gate opened the city gate, and the Chinese soldiers who were among the prisoners swarmed up and knocked down the city gate.
The more than 20 Brazilian soldiers behind controlled the city gate. Then I led the troops outside the city to take the opportunity to break into Porto Alegre and captured the entire city."
When Luo Linshan said that he had successfully defrauded the city gate, there was a flash of joy in his eyes. He used a strategy to seize the city gate of Porto Alegre, avoiding the casualties of the soldiers who stormed the city gate, and captured Porto Alegre at the minimum cost. This is
This is his relatively perfect record since joining the Chinese Independence Army.
"Rio Grande do Sul is the foundation of the Chinese Independence Army. The local cities and transportation facilities are Chinese property and the foundation for development. It is a great achievement to completely capture Porto Alegre. Once the brothers are properly settled, we will
I’ll give you a reward for your merits.”
"Thank you for the reward, Crown Prince." Luo Linshan was not modest and accepted Li Mingyuan's encouragement generously, and then said, "All parts of the city of Arequipa have been controlled by subordinates, and the captured gunboats and ships have been delivered to the navy.
Using the brothers, the Brazilian soldiers who were originally captured and the Brazilian civilians in the city were gathered in a small town on the western outskirts of the city to wait for the prince's disposal."
"How many Brazilian soldiers and civilians were captured in total?"
"There are not many soldiers. There are more than a thousand soldiers in total and there are 20,000 civilians." Luo Linshan said and looked at Li Mingyuande's reaction, as if he was worried about something.
"There aren't that many civilians in Porto Alegre, right? How do the extra civilians get back?"
Li Mingyuan's tone was calm, and his emotional changes could not be seen.
"Your Majesty, to be honest with you, there are only 10,000 civilians in Porto Alegre, and the other 10,000 people were moved from other places and settled with the civilians in Porto Alegre."
Li Mingyuan took a sip of tea and showed no signs of anger. Luo Linshan breathed a sigh of relief and explained, "After occupying Porto Alegre, I originally had no intention of moving the Brazilian civilians in the city out of the city for centralized management, but after occupying Porto Alegre, I
Within a few days of Porto Alegre, there were incidents of Brazilian civilians attacking Chinese soldiers in the city. As a last resort, I had to move them out of the city and manage them under one roof. After settling the matter in Porto Alegre, I stayed in the city to command some soldiers.
Guard the city and send seven or eight small troops to occupy other important areas in Rio Grande do Sul.
The main forces of Rio Grande do Sul were gathered in Porto Alegre. Port Alegre was taken, and all the Brazilian soldiers who defended the city were dumped. The defense forces in other areas of Rio Grande do Sul were empty and scattered. At this time, the humble post
I thought it would be easy to capture the entire Rio Grande do Sul state, but the intelligence that came back in the next few days made me very troubled.
According to the soldiers who came back to report, the Brazilian militia units defending Rio Grande, Bage, Santa Maria, Erechim and other places were not large. The German soldiers sent out easily occupied the four important areas, but after the occupation
, the Brazilian militiamen who had escaped took advantage of the difficulty of defending at night to constantly harass and attack the Chinese detachment stationed outside. The commander of the garrisoned detachment could not bear it and led troops to attack the attacking Brazilian militiamen. However, because the Brazilian militiamen were familiar with the local terrain, they often attacked the Chinese detachment stationed there.
As soon as the troops were dispatched, they fled without a trace.
The Brazilian militiamen attacked the Chinese troops stationed there several times. The leading officers complained to me many times and asked for more soldiers to be sent for reinforcements. However, I did not have any spare soldiers to send to them.
Caxias do Sul needs to station troops to defend against the Brazilian attack, and the main force in Porto Alegre needs to prepare to receive the main force into Rio Grande do Sul, so we can only imprison some disobedient Brazilian civilians to prevent them from cooperating.
Brazilian militias are wreaking havoc.”
Luo Linshan has considered it very comprehensively. It is very difficult for the main force led by Li Mingyuan to advance to Rio Grande do Sul by land. With the coordinated support of Luo Linshan's troops, the difficulty of the large force's transfer will be reduced a lot, and it can be easily suppressed in Rio Grande do Sul.
Luo Linshan, the rebel force in Oglan State, led most of the troops toward Paraguay, hoping to meet the main force on the way. However, he did not expect that the main force would successively rob Paraguayan, Brazilian, and Argentinian ships during the Paraguay War.
The captured ships could not only supply more than 30,000 field troops, but also carry many rear troops. With enough ships, Li Mingyuan temporarily changed the relocation plan from a land march to a more secure water relocation.
Luo Linshan, who was responding at the Paraguay border, was in vain. It was not until the first batch of field troops arriving from the sea conveyed the news that Luo Linshan led the troops back to Porto Alegre.
It was inconvenient to transmit the news. Luo Linshan did not know that the main Chinese force had changed its migration route. There was nothing wrong with him doing so. However, the Brazilian militia forces that frequently resisted left Li Mingyuan with a big problem.
Immigrants from Germany, Italy and other countries have not yet poured into Rio Grande do Sul. The total number of people in Rio Grande do Sul is now only 50,000 or 60,000. Compared with the number of hundreds of thousands of people in the Chinese Independence Army, 50,000 or 60,000 people cannot exceed the number.
Although it may cause big troubles, it does not mean that the Chinese Independence Army can peacefully farm and develop in Rio Grande do Sul.
Most of the 50,000 to 60,000 Brazilian residents are descendants of the Portuguese. Rio Grande do Sul has property and land that belongs to them. When the Chinese independence army enters Rio Grande do Sul, they will inevitably infringe on their land and interests. Faced with the most realistic struggle for interests, Brazilian civilians and
There are irreconcilable conflicts among the Chinese Independence Army. It is a difficult problem to expect them to accept the rule of the Chinese Independence Army with humility.
Li Mingyuan lowered his head and thought about the problems caused by the resistance of the Brazilian militia. Occupying Rio Grande do Sul is only the first step for the Chinese Independence Army to establish a foothold in South America. It will use the limited time to digest the 281,000 square kilometers of land in Rio Grande do Sul and build it into the Chinese Independence Army.
The most stable base is the most important thing at the moment. However, the local Brazilian residents are unwilling to cooperate and are unwilling to be ruled by the Chinese Independence Army. The destruction caused by frequent resistance will involve most of the energy of the Chinese Independence Army, which is busy suppressing it every day.
With the resistance of local civilians and the watching of Brazil, which had suffered a great loss, the Chinese troops could not gain a foothold in South America.
There are only 50,000 to 60,000 local Brazilian civilians, and the number of young militiamen is far less than the number of Chinese troops. However, Li Mingyuan did not dare to underestimate them. The descendants of European colonists have cut off the possibility of returning to Europe. For hundreds of years, they have interacted with the locals.
The indigenous battles and the test of the primitive environment created their tenacious and unyielding fighting power. These people regarded themselves as the masters of the South American continent, drove away the suzerain country in the name of revolution, and became the masters of the invaded land.
These people's professional combat skills may not be good, but in terms of being familiar with the local topography and fighting guerrilla warfare with the Chinese Independence Army, the Chinese Independence Army who are unfamiliar with the place are at a disadvantage.
There is no shortage of useful talents among the local Brazilian civilians. Li Mingyuan originally planned to keep them for the Chinese Independence Army, but their resistance changed Li Mingyuan's mind. The unstable Brazilian civilians staying in the soon-to-be-established country will be a huge disaster. In the current situation of the Chinese
With a small number of people, the local Brazilian people are likely to be connected with the counterattacking Brazilian army, attack from inside and outside, and fully attack the Chinese troops. In this case, the base area that the Chinese Independence Army has worked hard to obtain is likely to be occupied by the Brazilians.
Li Mingyuan could not tolerate the occurrence of this situation. Since the local residents did not cooperate, he would use drastic measures to ask them to leave Rio Grande do Sul, leaving a brand new land for the Chinese Independence Army and later immigrants to build and settle down.
After deciding on the resettlement of 50,000 to 60,000 Brazilian residents, Li Mingyuan began to arrange ways to deal with the Brazilian residents.
He once again focused his attention on the map spread out by Luo Linshan, pointed to several important places marked on the map and arranged, "The remaining residents of Rio Grande do Sul are mainly concentrated in Rio Grande, Bage, Santa Maria, and Erechim."
Location, the Brazilian people who control these four locations, plus the civilians of Porto Alegre who are under centralized management, 80% of the residents are under our control, so your task is to add a thousand soldiers to each of the above locations.
, and then transport them together close to Caxias Sur, and finally let me handle them in a unified manner."
"Your Majesty, do you mean to drive all the local residents out of Rio Grande do Sul and hand them over to the Brazilians?"
Luo Linshan asked in an uncertain tone.
"Let me guess what you are thinking. The prince is strict in governing the army. When he raised an army in Peru, he did not allow soldiers to rob local people. Why did he suddenly change his gender when he arrived in southern Brazil?"
Li Mingyuan looked at Luo Linshan with a hint of teasing, and the expression on his face easily confirmed that his guess was correct.
"I don't dare, but I don't understand why the prince changed his way of treating foreigners."
"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. I can explain it to you slowly." Li Mingyuan took his attention away from the map and said, "When we were in Peru, the Chinese Independence Army had just revolted. We were still very weak. If we didn't strictly demand our soldiers, the whole army would
As the army expands, it will gradually collapse. On the other hand, my purpose is not to take root in southern Peru. Looting and depriving them of their land and property is of little significance to the Chinese Independence Army. Therefore, strictly requiring soldiers not to invade local people can reduce their number.
The hostility towards the Chinese Independence Army is different now. We and the Brazilian residents have become opposing enemies, leaving them with a group of potential enemies who are not of the same mind as us. In this case, why not just go to the bad guys and kill them directly?
Drive them all out of Rio Grande do Sul and end the trouble once and for all.”
After hearing this, Luo Linshan's expression suddenly changed. It turned out that the Crown Prince was not a benevolent monarch who was tolerant to everyone, and foreigners were not trustworthy in the Crown Prince's heart.
It was the first time that Li Mingyuan truly explained his attitude towards South American white people to others, so he spoke very cleanly and thoroughly: "Lao Luo, the foreign people are outsiders after all. We can express our sympathy when they suffer from the war, but we agree to keep them because we sympathize with the foreigners."
It is not a wise choice to keep them on your own land. If you leave them on your own land, they will not appreciate your kindness in taking them in. They will only hate you for robbing their land, so the best solution is to put them away.
Moving out and returning to where they belong is the right solution."
"Your Majesty, it's easy and convenient to drive them away, but they are white-skinned foreign devils after all. Will our doing so incur retaliation from other foreign countries?"
"Things are not as complicated as you think. Now is the war. We announced to the public that the local Brazilian residents are very patriotic and enthusiastic. All the people are participating in the resistance against the Chinese Independence Army. After the Chinese Independence Army caught them, they could not bear to punish them.
Therefore, they were driven out of Rio Grande do Sul, and at the same time they were allowed to bring some of their property and supplies, and the land they left behind would be sold to the Chinese Independence Army at a suitable price.
Without confiscating their property, the money from land sales will also be given to them. With this money, they can buy enough land in other parts of Brazil. We have been so good to them, what can others say?"
Li Mingyuan's idea is somewhat unreasonable, but his real purpose is to give Brazilians and Western countries a face-saving explanation. Otherwise, do you really think that Western countries are so united and loving?
The black people in Haiti revolted and massacred tens of thousands of white people. They killed many British and French soldiers and still the country was not destroyed.
After the rise of Britain, France, Germany and other countries, the Ottomans massacred white Christians who believed in Christianity, and no country sent troops to seek justice for the dead Christians. Therefore, no matter how many people died, the great powers did not bother to deal with things that were not profitable. (Such an example
There are too many to give examples one by one.)
The Chinese Independence Army just expelled them and allowed them to bring their belongings. This treatment was much better than that of the above countries. If the British and French powers still wanted to intervene, they would only want other interests.
After some explanation, Luo Linshan understood what Li Mingyuan meant. He moved all the local residents away and distributed the land left behind to the Chinese soldiers. Li Mingyuan handed over the task. Luo Linshan wanted to complete it as soon as possible, so he stood up to leave, but was stopped by Li Mingyuan again.
"Not all Brazilian residents have to be driven away. Females of appropriate age who are willing to stay are still very welcome by the Chinese Independence Army."
What does the Chinese Independence Army lack most? It’s not food. After most of the food collected in Peru was consumed during long-distance migration, a lot of it was seized from the Brazilian army, and then replenished with the food left in the Argentine camp, as well as the Brazilian army in Rio Grande do Sul.
The stored grain also fell into the hands of the Chinese Independence Army. The total amount of grain was enough for the Chinese Independence Army to use for several months, so the food gap was not large.
There is no shortage of food, and a large-scale war cannot be fought within two or three months. What the Chinese Independence Army lacks most now is women. It has moved long distances and suffered losses in the war. After arriving in Rio Grande do Sul, there are still 150,000 people left.
Less than 135,000 people, more than 15,000 people did not make it to Rio Grande do Sul and died on the road. The dead Chinese cannot be resurrected, and the more than 130,000 people who are alive still have to live.
There are 12,000 Paraguayan women who came to Rio Grande do Sul with the Chinese Independence Army. In addition, the gender ratio of the Chinese in South America is still very different, so it would be a pity to drive away all the local women of working age. Select from them
Having a few thousand people stay would also be of great benefit to improving the demographic structure of Chinese people in South America.
Li Mingyuan proposed recruiting women of working age among Brazilian residents. Luo Linshan nodded in agreement, "Your Majesty, are all the women of working age among Brazilian residents staying?"
"Forget about those who have children and families, try to persuade the single women there to stay, tell them that as long as they stay, they will get a lot of land, and they can also choose the Chinese they like as husbands."
The conditions mentioned by Li Mingyuan are similar to those given to recruit Paraguayan women in Paraguay. With enough land, the freedom to choose Chinese soldiers to marry and some necessary means, Li Mingyuan believes that many Brazilian women will choose to stay.
