On the afternoon of December 4th, the 1st Mixed Brigade arrived in Passo Fundo and rested for one night. The next day, after gathering some newly joined soldiers, the 1st Mixed Brigade switched to a land route and marched towards the San Pedro area. At the same time,
, Liu Pu and the Paraguayans reached an agreement to exchange women for weapons, and batches of muskets, cannons, and ammunition that had been converted from the field troops were gathered in Anshan, ready to be handed over to the Paraguayans.
On Torti Island in the Caribbean Sea, the lazy and chaotic black pirates on the coast were replaced by teams of disciplined patrol soldiers.
After occupying Torti Island, the Chinese naval forces led by Chen Sen and Hou Taiyuan had a solid base.
After several months of careful construction, all the black people on the island have been cleared. Now there is not a single black person on the entire Torti Island. On the contrary, the number of Chinese is increasing.
The purpose of Li Mingyuan sending Chen Sen to the Caribbean was to establish a midway base to provide a recuperation and rehabilitation base for Chinese workers who were too weak to withstand the ocean voyage. Therefore, after the black pirate forces were wiped out at the end of August, Chen Sen immediately sent Wang Youtian back to Cuba.
Find out about the distribution of Chinese workers in Cuba.
Wang Youtian returned to Cuba and used the connections he had accumulated over the years to use some of the captured silver coins to bribe Spanish colonial officials. Through his connections with Spanish colonial officials, Wang Yongtian not only found out the main distribution locations of Chinese workers in Cuba,
It also helped the immigrating fleets purchase Chinese laborers at low prices and then temporarily settled them on Torti Island.
The total number of people on Torti Island reached more than 20,000, and the large population crowded the seaside plain area. Chen Sen mobilized the Chinese who had been resettled on the island to urgently build a large number of wooden sheds and used the stored grain.
It can only meet the basic living needs of the people.
Near the coast, there was a dense crowd under the woods on the east side of the island. Chinese soldiers with weapons walked to the open space carrying large pots and distributed simple meals made from rice, sweet potatoes, corn and other grains.
Supported by soldiers, the crowd formed a long queue to receive food. At the front of the queue, a Chinese worker who received the food did not wait to leave the queue, grabbed a rice ball and wolfed it down in his mouth.
The soldier next to him snatched the food from the hand of the Chinese worker and said seriously, "Why are you eating in such a hurry? Six people choked to death yesterday. If you don't want to choke, just eat slowly. No one will fight with you!"
The Chinese worker looked fearfully at the soldier holding the weapon, carefully took the rice ball that the soldier returned, bent down and bowed, then ran to the side with the food in his arms and started eating slowly.
After solving the problem of feeding the Chinese workers, the soldiers returned to their original location and continued to supervise the Chinese workers lining up.
At this time, a Chinese soldier standing next to him turned his head and said, "Brother Zhou, when do you think we can return to Rio Grande do Sul? I heard from Commander Chen's brothers that the prince led his brothers and fought with the Brazilians again.
In one battle, a large area of land was taken from the Brazilians. If the war is still going on now, we can almost reach the Brazilian capital. What's the point of staying in this useless place? We might as well go back to Rio Sul.
Gran is fighting with the crown prince."
The soldier on duty was a veteran platoon leader. When he heard what his soldiers said, he not only complained, "Who said otherwise! In addition to fighting a group of pirates on this broken island, all we have to do is train every day, and now we have to give up our sleeping place."
These gentlemen!"
The platoon leader surnamed Zhou said with dissatisfaction and glanced at the Chinese workers in front of him, "Don't cut in the queue. The boy in front is talking about you. If you cut in the queue at will, I'll beat you!"
The platoon leader surnamed Zhou scolded a short Chinese worker in front, venting his inner frustration.
The Chinese worker who jumped in line immediately returned to his original seat when he heard the sound. The soldier who jumped in line yesterday was severely punished by the talking soldier. The injury on his buttocks is still hurting, but he dare not touch the platoon leader Zhou's bad luck again.
"Brother Zhou, why compete with a sneaky boy? Let him live a good life for another day. After sailing back to Rio Grande do Sul tomorrow, the instructors in the army will teach him how to be a qualified soldier.
"
The soldier advised.
"That's right. When I first joined the army, I was much better than him. After several hardships, I still learned to restrain my temper and practice hard!"
Platoon leader Zhou Xing vented his frustration and dissatisfaction and felt much better.
"According to me, the prince's idea is better. All Chinese, whether they are suitable to be soldiers or not, are first locked up in a military camp for a few months to practice, and their timid, cowardly, slippery and cunning temperament will be changed."
"Brother Zhou is right."
The soldier was accustomed to flattering his superiors, but he himself wondered why he hadn't gotten rid of his habit of speaking well of his superiors since he came out of the military camp and was able to fight and charge bravely.
The two soldiers started chatting, and a soldier behind him stabbed platoon leader Zhou Xing with a gun: "Platoon leader, Commander Chen is here."
Upon hearing the reminder, the platoon leader named Zhou and the soldier next to him immediately returned to their standing posture.
"Mr. Luo, you came from Rio Grande do Sul. How is the situation there? Is the prince still fighting the Brazilians?" Chen Sen asked as he walked.
"The ceasefire has been over for more than a month. When I came here, we had just reached a peace agreement with the Brazilians. The two southern states are owned by us Chinese, and the south of the Iguazu River is also under our actual control."
After Luo Linshan finished speaking, he felt that he had missed something, and added: "Yesterday, I met Director Sun who returned from Prussia. He used the telegram set up by the British in the colony to contact Rio Grande do Sul and learned that the crown prince had officially announced his death five days ago.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Independence Army was renamed the National Defense Force, and our name will also change in the future."
"The country was founded so quickly. If Mr. Luo hadn't said it himself, I wouldn't have believed it," Chen Sen said with emotion.
"After the founding of the People's Republic of China, we can legitimately settle down in South America. The brothers worked hard and found a place for the rest of their lives. We followed the prince in the uprising for this day."
"It is a great regret that I was not able to see the Crown Prince announce the founding of the country. After Mr. Luo led the Chinese workers back, he helped me give this record book to the Crown Prince. It contains the division of spheres of influence of various countries in the Caribbean, the distribution of Chinese laborers in Cuba, and the people led by Wang Youtian
A rudimentary map and description.
I have a life under my command and cannot go back to report the specific situation, so I have no choice but to get rid of Mr. Luo."
After Chen Sen finished speaking, he solemnly saluted Luo Linshan with a military salute.
"Brother Chen, you don't have to be like this. Before departure, the crown prince asked me to send you a message. Do a good job in the Caribbean. After completing the task of transporting Chinese workers from Cuba, the Caribbean fleet affairs will be handed over to Wang Youtian and Li Han. You and Hou Yutian will return to Nanli.
Ogland has other duties."
"Before I arrived in the Caribbean, Li Han and Wang Youtian were responsible for piracy operations and logistics management. There was no problem in handing over the fleet to them."
Chen Sen nodded and agreed with Li Mingyuan's arrangement.
"Director Sun has arrived in the Caribbean. Are they going to go back with the first batch of Chinese workers' fleet to return?"
After knowing the exact time of his return to Rio Grande do Sul, Chen Sen became concerned about the transportation of Chinese workers.
"The Prussian fleet is very large, and the goal of returning together with the Chinese transport fleet is too large, which can easily arouse the vigilance of other countries. Therefore, the two fleets will not set off together. The Prussian returning fleet left the Caribbean waters ahead of schedule yesterday."
"The Prussian returning fleet carries a large amount of machinery and equipment and should be cautious."
Chen Sendao.
"The first batch of 25,000 Chinese workers are watched by our people on the ship every day. There is no meeting with the Prussian returning fleet and there is no shortage of defense forces. You don't have to worry about this."
Li Mingyuan was short of people, so Luo Linshan, who had a steady personality and military experience, was forcibly pulled over to serve as the general manager of the Chinese labor fleet, handling all matters related to Chinese labor transportation. Therefore, Luo Linshan paid more attention to the safety of the transportation fleet than Chen Sen.