The sky is clear and the breeze is blowing. The city of La Paz, which has just experienced the destruction of the war, has regained a sense of calm. The south gate that has been closed for more than ten days has also been reopened. Pedestrians coming and going continue to pass through the south gate because of the number of people entering the city.
There were too many people, so the Chinese officers guarding the city gate, with the help of more than a dozen locals, ordered pedestrians to line up to enter and exit the city gate to maintain normal circulation at the city gate.
After the Chinese Independence Army occupied the city of La Paz, they only confiscated the properties of Balivian and other high-level officers of the Bolivian army. They spared ordinary residents and did not deprive them of their property and food. Therefore, La Paz, who stayed outside the city for a day in fear,
After receiving the news, residents rushed back to the city, causing considerable impact on traffic at the city gate.
Bolivians outside the city were lining up to enter the city. At this time, the soldiers guarding the city gate suddenly stopped checking the people entering the city, and a city gate force composed of more than a dozen local people, under the command of a Chinese officer, drove the crowd away.
These Bolivians who defended the city were soldiers with good performance selected by the Chinese troops from the prisoners. They used their familiarity with the city of La Paz to assist the Chinese troops in temporarily managing the security of La Paz.
The 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 broadswords, bows and arrows.
After seeing the troops inside the city clearly, the Bolivians crowded on both sides of the city gate flashed a trace of disdain.
"A group of uncivilized natives, relying on the backing of the Chinese to show off their power, will surely die sooner or later."
"Shhh, be careful, the Indians are gaining the upper hand, if they hear you it'll be over."
"What are you afraid of? I killed two Indians two years ago. I'm not afraid of them."
The Bolivian man said harshly, but his voice was lowered unconsciously.
The eyes full of hatred fell on the strong Indian man in front of the team, and he couldn't help but feel angry in his heart.
"Patriarch, these people don't know what is good or evil. We let them go when we entered the city, but now they still hate us. Patriarch, let me lead someone to teach them a lesson."
The strong Indian man said angrily.
"Benardi, don't be reckless," the old Indian glanced at the strong man and said, "They are just a group of poor people who dare to be angry but dare not speak. Don't care about their eyes. We have more important things to do now. You go
Later, we urged the tribesmen to leave as soon as possible. The Keqiu tribe had already set off some time earlier than us, so we can’t waste any more time.”
"Yes, patriarch, I'll go to the back right now." Bernardi promised, but he was still upset in his heart, so he waved the big knife in his hand at the dissatisfied Bolivians, scaring a group of people to retreat. When they saw the crowd,
In response, Bernardi let out a bad breath, and then went to the back to convey the old patriarch's order.
The group of Indians outside the city gate were Aymara people. They received orders from Li Mingyuan to sweep away 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 cavalry troops to leave first to pursue Melgarejo, while Wang Dashan led 7,000 infantry troops to set off later as a support force for the cavalry troops. Once Li Mingyuan's cavalry troops could not defeat
Melgarejo's troops, led by Wang Dashan, met with Li Mingyuan and made some repairs before launching an attack.
It had been three days since Melgarejo left. According to accounts from prisoners in the city, the troops Melgarejo took with him were a mixed cavalry and infantry force. Among them, there were 2,000 cavalry troops and 3,000 infantry troops. However, Melgarejo was leaving Raba.
Before that, most of the pack horses in the city were plundered, so that each of the three thousand infantrymen had two pack horses, and the marching speed was greatly increased.
The distance between La Paz and Sucre is about 800 miles. It takes six days for the cavalry to march at full speed, while the Melgarejo troops mixed with pack horses take about eight days. This means that before the Chinese troops arrive in Sucre, Adolfo
You must hold on for at least one day, otherwise when Li Mingyuan arrives with his troops, you will still have to face the enemy with a strong city defense.
Adolfo himself is also a veteran of the military, so it should not be a problem to defend Sucre for a day. However, Sucre has been the base camp run by Melgarejo for several years. If Melgarejo attacks Sucre, the remaining people in the city will
Melgarejo's men took the opportunity to cause trouble, and the situation became critical.
Considering the importance of the Battle of Sucre, Li Mingyuan sent three groups of messengers to deliver the 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 both parties to jointly send troops to deal with Melgarejo.
On the one hand, he was reminded to be wary of the remaining Melgarejo supporters in the city and not to be attacked from within by the enemy.
After sending the messenger, Li Mingyuan led the troops and rushed 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, all the enemy forces came to attack. I led the defenders in the city to resist with all their strength, but they were outnumbered. After holding on for most of a day, the east city was first breached by the enemy, and then other generals who assisted in the battle led their troops to escape.
, causing the La Paz defense line to collapse, the subordinates 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 inform Melgarejo about the fall of La Paz.
"What? The city of La Paz was captured by the enemy in half a day. This is impossible!"
As the military chief of La Paz, Balivian was aware of the tight defenses of La Paz. It was possible for the Chinese Independence Army to attack La Paz. Otherwise, he would not have left with Melgarejo. However, he was captured in half a day.
The Chinese Independence Army broke through, even if Balivian broke his head, it would be unbelievable.
"Medellin, tell me, are you afraid of death? You led your troops to escape 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 must know that most of Balivian's belongings are in the city of La Paz. This time he only had time to bring some jewelry with his brother when he sent troops.
Gold and other belongings could be placed in the castle in the city. However, after the fall of La Paz, all the belongings he had accumulated for many years were lost. When he thought of the belongings in the castle falling into the hands of the Chinese troops, Balivian became angry.
I couldn't help but feel so angry that I even hated Medellin who came to report the news with all my heart.
Balivian looked at Medellin with red eyes. As long as he admitted that he abandoned the city and fled, Balivian would definitely kill him without hesitation.
"General Balivian, I am responsible for the fall of La Paz, but you cannot wrongly accuse me of running away from the battle. You are insulting a soldier. If you do not apologize for your words and deeds, I will fight you in a duel."
Medellin is a descendant of French immigrants. He has admired Emperor Napoleon since he was a child, so he attaches great importance to the honor of the military. He could not accept the insult to him by Balivian and said harsh words about dueling in a moment of excitement.
Although duels in the West are full of knightly romance, their endings are often bloody. In order to defend his dignity as a man, the great Russian poet Pushkin dueled with others and died under the sword of his opponent. This happened in 1837, not even now.
It was only thirty-one years ago, so the duel Medellin talked about was not just lip service. Once the two refused to give in to each other, it might really lead to irreversible consequences.
When Balivian reprimanded Medellin, Melgarejo did not stop him. The fall of La Paz had a huge impact on the situation in Bolivia. In order to resist the attack of the Chinese troops, he left most of his troops in La Paz.
Si, even when he led his troops to leave, the army of La Paz, including the young and strong, had 15,000 people. With so many people, the enemy broke through the city wall without even defending it for a day. Not to mention Balivian who didn't believe it, he was the one who didn't believe it.
I couldn’t believe it when I heard it all of a sudden,
Balivian and Medellin were in conflict, and Melgarejo had to speak out to dissuade him: "I believe in the character of General Medellin. He will not run away from battle. Balivian, you should
Apologize to General Medellin.”
"Brother..." Balivian was not convinced, but when he saw Melgarejo's cold eyes, he had to hide what he was about to say and hold back his anger to apologize to Medellin.
La Paz was lost in his own hands anyway, so Medellin couldn't stand up 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 the North City, the East City, and the West City. As an important passage in and out of La Paz, the North City should be the main direction of the enemy's attack. However, the Chinese troops went in the opposite direction, using the East City as their base.
Breaking point, this is something Melgarejo can’t understand.
"Yes, President, the enemy not only broke through from the east city, but the enemy seems to know the distribution of La Paz's fortifications. Some of our army's artillery and defensive support points have not yet emerged, and the enemy's attack has arrived. Therefore, from the beginning of the enemy's attack
, our army is at a disadvantage."
After hearing what Medellin said, Melgarejo would be a fool if he didn't understand that there was a traitor within.
"That bastard Adolfo must have betrayed me,"
Melgarejo roared.
"President, what should we do now?" Medellin asked after Melgarejo got angry.
"How many more soldiers did you bring?"
"There were four hundred people when we left the city. After collecting the defeated troops along the way, the number reached one thousand."
There were fifteen thousand garrison troops in La Paz, but only one thousand returned. After hearing this, Melgarejo felt dejected.
Of course, it was impossible for all the 14,000 Bolivians to be wiped out by the Chinese troops. In fact, after La Paz was captured, only 7,000 Bolivians were captured and annihilated. The other 7,000 people fled under the leadership of various warlords without fighting.
Melgarejo meets.
La Paz fell, and Melgarejo faced a double-sided attack from Adolfo and the Chinese Independence Army. Melgarejo now faced an even more severe situation, and those shrewd warlords naturally understood that without coming and Mei
It is quite normal for Algarejo to make peace.
Medellin's 1,000 soldiers plus Melgarejo's 5,000 men, 6,000 men are enough to attack Sucre.
In the eight days since the departure, Adolfo should have gathered a lot of soldiers in Sucre. The longer it takes, the more disadvantageous it will be for Melgarejo. Therefore, without giving Medellin time to rest, Melgarejo ordered the troops
Divide into two teams and take turns attacking Sucre.