On the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, a few wisps of smoke rise from the woods. If you look carefully, you can see that there are simple thatched houses hidden under the woods. The rising smoke is caused by the owners of the houses cooking.
In front of the thatched house is a vacant grassland, with seven to eight hundred people, old and young, forming a half circle.
He stared at the thirty or so young men in front of him holding muskets.
"Bang bang bang," more than thirty gunshots were fired in succession, and the ammunition hit the big tree in front, shooting out some dead wood debris.
"Look, Chief, the musket ammunition shot into the big tree." After the shooting, an Indian young man said in surprise.
The Indian chief picked up the bark that had been knocked off by the musket, and then looked at the damage caused to the tree by the musket, with a relieved smile on his tense face.
"Our distant friends did not deceive us. The muskets they sent were very powerful."
"With these muskets, we can hunt more prey, and the children in the village don't have to go hungry." An old hunter said happily.
"No, these muskets are not for hunting, I want to use them to protect the safety of the village."
What Li Mingyuan gave them were outdated and outdated weapons, but these weapons were very precious in the hands of the Indians.
Since they were obsolete muskets, Li Mingyuan sent out 1,500 rounds of ammunition, with an average of 50 rounds of ammunition per musket. If they used the muskets for hunting, these bullets could be used for a period of time.
"White people are greedy wolves. They have invaded our land and driven us into the desolate mountains and deep forests. We can no longer believe their lies and must use our own weapons to protect the safety of the village."
"Chief Bamosa, give these muskets to me, and I will teach the warriors in the village how to use muskets."
A strong Indian man with feathers on his head said loudly.
"Benardi, you are a warrior among the Aymara people. I believe you will lead a group of brave warriors."
The Indian with feathers on his head is named Bernardi. When the army massacred the Indians a few years ago, Bernardi killed two Bolivian soldiers and escaped from the city of Barras, so he was respected by the tribe as a warrior.
Five or six miles away from the Indian village, the advancing Bolivian army heard a burst of gunfire.
"Where did the gunshots come from?" After the gunshots, the officer leading the team asked,
"Sir, the gunfire came from the mountains and forests to the north."
"Which Indian tribe is to the north?"
"The Aymara tribe lives in the mountains and forests to the north. Their original gathering place was near Baras, but they were later driven to live in the mountains."
"Oh, the Aymara people, they are savages among the Indians. The last time they suppressed the rebellion, a dozen soldiers died at the hands of the Aymara people."
"Sir, do you suspect that the Aymara attacked Major Bawi's troops?"
"Yes, didn't you hear the gunshot just now?"
"But the gunfire was very sparse, not like the sound of more than 200 troops."
"Maybe it's because Major Bawe is about to end the battle, so the gunfire has become sparse," the leading officer said.
"Sir, take us there quickly. If we get there too late, Major Bawe's men will rob us of everything."
After hearing the words of their superiors, the soldiers below immediately became energetic.
Following others to snatch the fruits of victory is profitable without taking risks, so the enthusiasm of the soldiers is certainly high.
"Major Bawe has defeated the Indians up front. I'm afraid they are arresting people all over the mountains and fields now," the leading officer loudly exaggerated that there were a lot of benefits ahead for the soldiers to get. After hearing this, the soldiers below shouted loudly to go.
Help friendly forces.
The spirit of the Bolivian soldiers was mobilized, and the leading officer immediately led the soldiers towards the Indian village without pausing.
"Kill, grab the alpacas and grab the women!" Before entering the Indian village, the excited Bolivian soldiers shouted.
"What's the sound?" Bernardi asked, who had just handed out the muskets.
"Bernardi, look! It's white people and mestizos! (Mestizos are the Indian name for the mixed-race people in Bolivia.)"
"Basang, go and inform the tribe leader that the white army is coming to attack us." Bernardi clenched the musket in his hand and shouted to the Indians around him: "All warriors go to the fence to stop the enemy and protect the old and young of the tribe.
retreat."
The Bolivian soldiers attacked suddenly. Although their identities were exposed in advance, by the time Bernardi led more than a hundred young Indians to the fence made of wood, more than twenty Bolivian soldiers had already climbed over.
The fence was ready to rush towards the village.
"Shoot!" Bernardi shouted, and then opened fire. Seven or eight Bolivian soldiers were shot by muskets and fell to the ground.
The sudden shooting slowed down the attack speed of the Bolivian soldiers. They did not expect that the lagging Indians also had muskets.
The Indians' first round of shooting results were not ideal. More than thirty muskets only wounded seven or eight enemies, and the hit rate was very low.
The results of the first round of shooting looked in Bernardi's eyes and made him very anxious.
There are very few Indians who can use muskets, and even fewer who are proficient in musket shooting skills. Among the more than 30 makeshift musketeers, less than ten have ever touched a musket before. That was only a few years ago.
Nadi killed two Bolivian soldiers and then trained with the stolen muskets, allowing eight or nine Indians to come into contact with the muskets.
"Quickly block them." While the Indians were shooting, Bolivian soldiers outside the fence continued to pour in. When the Indians finished firing the ammunition in their muskets, more than twenty Bolivian soldiers entered the fence.
The wooden fence is the most advantageous protective tool for the Indians. If the enemy is allowed to cross the wooden fence now, the Indians in the village will end up very miserable.
"Poof" an Indian blocked in front of the wooden fence was surrounded by two Bolivian soldiers. Just as he used the bayonet on his musket to block the attack of one soldier, another soldier stabbed the bayonet into his body, causing extreme pain.
The Indian wanted to fight back, but the soldier who came from behind stabbed him in the heart with a knife, and then fell to the ground helplessly.
The Bolivian soldiers shot while advancing. Within a few minutes, less than half of the first hundred or so Indians who arrived could still stand up.
However, their sacrifices were meaningful. The sacrifices of more than fifty Indian youths bought time for the Indians who came behind. Under the leadership of the patriarch, all the men in the entire Indian village who could afford weapons rushed to fight between the two sides.
Here, the Indians used their numerical advantage to temporarily drive the Bolivian soldiers out of the fence, and the two parties temporarily stopped fighting across the fence.
The brief battle caused a lot of casualties to both parties. As the attacking party, more than 40 Bolivian soldiers who entered the fence in front were killed and more than 20 injured, while the Indian casualties were even greater, with more than 180 people.
The number of wounded and dead was less than that of Bolivian soldiers, with more than thirty people killed.
During the intermission of the battle, the old chief looked at the heavy casualties among his people and couldn't help feeling sad. He didn't understand why the white officers and soldiers attacked them. There were more than 400 soldiers outside the fence, and the entire village, including the elderly men, couldn't even make up 800.
Men, in the battle just now, there have been more than 200 Indian casualties, and the number of men who can resist the enemy's attack is less than 600 at most.
It is impossible for more than 600 old, weak and wounded soldiers to repel more than 400 Bolivian soldiers. Even though the Bolivian soldiers are just ordinary security forces, their weapons are still much stronger than those of the Indians armed with bows and arrows and a small number of muskets.
The disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves was too great. The old patriarch was filled with grief and anger: "Great Sun God, please save your people!"
The sun god is the most worshiped god by the Indians, but when the Western colonists slaughtered the Indians, the god did not appear, let alone this time.
The old clan leader felt pain and sorrow in his heart, but he still comforted his clansmen with a calm expression on his face.