The soldiers of the cavalry regiment rested at the horse farm for a night, and returned the next morning with the captured horses and Peruvian prisoners.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, the cavalry regiment soldiers returned to Arequipa, and Li Dawei handed over the horses and captured supplies.
When he was about to leave, he received an order from Li Mingyuan to discuss important matters.
Li Dawei followed Li Mingyuan's request, took Sun Yanming with him, and Zheng Guosheng headed towards the meeting hall.
In the conference hall, Li Mingyuan and Liu Pu sat together.
"Four hundred tons of gold are very important to the future development of the Chinese Independence Army. Now that we have clues about this gold, we might as well check it out tomorrow."
After listening to Li Mingyuan's introduction, Liu Pu said seriously.
"We can't go looking for treasures arrogantly, otherwise if we are discovered by the Peruvians, it will cause a series of troubles."
"It's true. Four hundred tons of gold is a huge amount. Once the news leaks out, I'm worried that not only the Peruvians will be ready to take action, but other European countries will also be interested in this gold."
Liu Pu nodded.
"The soldiers in the cavalry regiment are all specially selected old Taiping soldiers. There is no need to worry about their loyalty, so I am going to let the cavalry regiment follow me to find gold." Li Mingyuan considered.
"The Chinese Independence Army cannot be leaderless for a long time. If the gold cannot be found, the prince must rush back as soon as possible to prevent possible raids by the Peruvian navy."
The Peruvian Southern Army has been wiped out by the Chinese Independence Army. In the short term, the Peruvian Army will not make any big moves. However, the Peruvian Navy has considerable power at sea and is capable of launching landing operations against the Chinese Independence Army.
"The Peruvian Navy is a trouble. After I leave, you have to strengthen the security of the coastal cities to prevent sneak attacks by the Peruvian Navy."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"By the way, after we attacked Barangca last time, didn't we capture more than 20 ships? Is it possible to take the ships away when we move into southern Brazil?" Li Mingyuan suddenly asked.
"Impossible, Prince." Liu Pu shook his head, walked to the map, pointed at the map and said, "There is no continuous waterway from the coast of Peru to southern Brazil. It is simply impossible to transport a ship from the coast to southern Brazil, unless
It’s a boat trip along the coast of Chile and Argentina.”
Among the twenty-three captured ships, three were warships carrying 500 people. The other twenty ships had larger carrying capacity because they had to transport minerals and could transport seven to eight hundred Chinese troops at a time.
For the Chinese Independence Army to gain a foothold in South America, the navy is indispensable.
Since capturing twenty-three ships, Li Mingyuan specially selected 3,000 soldiers to practice navigation skills with the captured Peruvian crew.
The Chinese Independence Army under Li Mingyuan were all remnants of the Taiping Army and poor farmers from the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong.
Many of them have experience at sea, so they learned navigation knowledge from the captured Peruvian crew for half a month. Now the selected Chinese Independence Army naval units have been able to master basic navigation skills.
Li Mingyuan did not want the newly trained naval forces to become landlubbers without ships.
After hearing Liu Pu's second plan, Li Mingyuan walked to the map and looked down the map, all the way from Chile to the coastal areas of Patagonia.
"Liu Pu, the Pacific coast is an area controlled by the Chileans. They will not let us pass smoothly." Looking at the long coastline of the Pacific coast, Li Mingyuan said with disappointment.
"Your Majesty, not all the Pacific coast is controlled by Chileans. Patagonia in the south is still controlled by local Indians."
Liu Pu pointed out Li Mingyuan's mistake.
Li Mingyuan thought for a while and realized that Chile and Argentina have just begun to penetrate into the Patagonia region, and they have not yet controlled nearly 800,000 square kilometers of land in the southern part of South America.
So starting from the coast of Peru by boat, as long as they avoid the navy near Santiago, they can land in Patagonia for repairs and then continue moving forward.
"Liu Pu, is it possible to bribe the Chileans to let our ships pass?"
The Chinese Independence Army is a rebel in the eyes of South American countries. Even if the Chileans do not go to war with the Chinese Independence Army, they will not show mercy when encountering a Chinese fleet passing through the coast of Chile.
"It's very difficult. What the Chileans want is Bolivia's Antofagasta region. We don't have the conditions to impress them," said Liu Pu.
Antofasta is rich in saltpeter, and the Chileans have coveted this area for a long time. Later, a war broke out in Peru to capture Antofasta and Bolivia.
"Your Majesty, it is difficult to set off from the sea by boat, because even if we get past the Chileans, the Argentine navy behind us will not be easy to deal with."
Liu Pu continued.
"Do you think it's possible? We found the treasure, used gold to buy supplies from the Prussians, and then bribed the Prussian naval commander to let our fleet pretend to be Prussian ships and sail with them."
"This method should work. But the key is that we have to find gold first." Liu Pudao.
"Yes, in the final analysis it is still a question of money. Money can make all the difference. The Chinese Independence Army fights alone. Without a large amount of funds as a guarantee, it is impossible for us to gain a foothold in South America." Li Mingyuan agreed.
"Your Majesty, what you just said made me think of a good idea."
"Oh, you said,"
"We now have twenty-three combat-ready ships, and together with some captured small merchant ships, there are almost more than fifty ships. Using these ships, we can transport some of the elite soldiers to southern Brazil.
Taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, we directly seized the province of Rio Grande do Sul, cut off the Brazilian army's retreat, and surrounded the Brazilian army together with the main force in Paraguay."
"It is indeed a good idea. I originally only wanted to keep these ships, but I didn't expect you to think further."
"So, Your Majesty, no matter whether the gold can be found this time or not, we have to allocate part of the funds to exchange for the support of the Prussians."
"I remember that the Prussian fleet with which we trade arms has a liaison office in Barangka. After I leave, you find two smart and capable brothers to talk to them. Talk to them about the arms deal first and wait for the conditions of the arms deal.
After the discussion is over, let’s talk about pretending to be a Prussian warship.”
After Li Mingyuan occupied Barangka last time, he first sent troops to protect the merchants of the Western powers to ensure that their interests would not be damaged. Therefore, those European countries did not cause trouble to the Chinese Independence Army.
"I'll find someone to do it right away." Liu Pu said and was about to leave.
"Don't worry, wait until Li Dawei comes and discuss the matter of finding gold. It won't be too late for you to send people."...