Chapter 104: Rest before the war

The leading troops were repaired in the port of Cassado for one day. The next morning, some soldiers were left to guide the follow-up troops. Li Mingyuan led the large troops to continue along the river.
The Paraguayan river was stable, and the Chinese troops used soldiers to carry soldier weapons to travel an average of 100 kilometers a day. Three days later, at noon on May 19, 1868, the outpost reached Concepcion, and they had a relationship with the Paraguayan forces. First contact.
Due to the tension, most of Paraguay's forces are gathered at the Tiger Fortress, and only a few areas remain behind in a few garrisons. Concepcion is located upstream of the Paraguay River, and there is a distance from the capital Asuncion. The number is not large, and it is roughly estimated to be only 500.
The five hundred defenders suddenly discovered that a group of tens of thousands of unknown armed forces appeared in front of themselves, and the panic effect caused by it was self-evident. On the river, a small fleet belonging to Paraguay hurriedly gathered in the port, and the shore fire monitors also turned the muzzle to target the attack on the Chinese fleet that came downwind.
Do n’t look at the huge size of the Chinese fleet. Hundreds of ships are lying on the water with spectacular momentum. In fact, most of these ships are small wooden boats plundered after entering Paraguay, and part of them are small boats rushed by the Chinese troops to transport soldiers. It's okay, but there is still a lot of damage in conflict with the other party.
The purpose of the Chinese Independence Army is to join forces with Paraguay to fight against the enemy. It is not good for anyone to fight here. Therefore, in the face of the hostile behavior of the Concepcion defenders, the Chinese Independence Army maintained restraint, and the accompanying fleet docked along the shore, and then The soldiers were sent to negotiate with the local garrison, explaining the intention of the Chinese Independent Army.
Hearing that the Chinese Independent Army wanted to cooperate with Paraguay to fight against the Brazilian coalition, the local garrison was not calm, the garrison commander did not dare to neglect, and immediately sent the only steam gunboat in the base to transport the representatives of the Chinese Independent Army to the capital. Asuncion, and the telegram reported to President Lopez Jr.
Thanks to the foundation laid by the old Lopez, Paraguay taken over by the young Lopez can be regarded as a small South American power.
Railways, shipyards, steel mills, and telegraph communications. Many European countries' advanced technologies were introduced to Paraguay by Old Lopez, increasing Paraguay's war potential. Relying on the telegraph and communications facilities that Paraguay had laid in advance, the young Lopez was also in the Tiger Fortress. Military intelligence from other regions can be received. Shortly after the concepción garrison sent a telegram, Lopez Jr. received news of the Chinese Independence Army entering Paraguay.
The Chinese Independent Army has also been in trouble for almost half a year. Although Lopez Jr. has been busy dealing with the offensive of the Brazilian coalition and paid little attention to the external situation, the information of the Chinese Independent Army is still somewhat known.
The Chinese workers' uprising occupied the mining area in southern Peru in less than two months and wiped out more than 50,000 people in the Peruvian army. The information that was difficult for outsiders to enter into the ears of Little Lopez through other channels. The original Chinese Independence Army exited Peru and entered Bolivia. Now, with the disappearance of the Chinese troops for a few months, Lopez Jr. probably guessed the idea of ​​the Chinese Independent Army. Like Lopez Jr., they all like the fertile land near the sea in southern Brazil, but Lopez Jr. has proved with actual actions that if he wants to swallow the land in the four states of southern Brazil, he must first have a good mouth, otherwise if he is killed once by others, it will be the end of the greedy.
The water in Paraguay is already mixed enough. Little Lopez, who had planned to make a quick decision, did not have much hope for victory. At this time, the Chinese Independent Army took the initiative to participate. Little Lopez, who lacked troops, naturally wanted it. Let's just wait until the Brazilian coalition is repelled, otherwise Paraguay will be eaten with no residue even under the attack of the three-nation alliance.
The decision to accept the Chinese Independence Army against the Brazilian coalition forces did not mean that the Chinese Independence Army was immediately added to the battlefield. Lopez Jr. also wanted to hang on to the appetite of the Chinese Independence Army, lest they make excessive demands.
The Chinese representative who took the small gunboat arrived in Asuncion two days later, and then arrived at the Humei Tower fortress under the of the local garrison. The representative of the Chinese Independent Army immediately sought to see Lopez when he arrived at the destination, but was continuously refused by Lopez.
Three days later, the Chinese representative who had been waiting for no fruit finally met the young Lopez, but at this time the real eagerness was replaced by the young Lopez.
Under Garcia's arrangement, 5,000 Brazilian troops bypassed the closely guarded river defense line of the Paraguayan army, landed on a river ferry without military presence, and then passed through hundreds of miles of dense mountain forest, appearing behind the Tiger Fortress and occupied it. The link between Tiger Tower and Asuncion,
It happened less than a day after the news reached Lopez Jr. and he immediately felt that the situation was not good.
Detoured through hundreds of miles and cut off the passage between Asuncion and Humei Tower. The Brazilian army wanted to eat the main force of Paraguay in one bite!
Thinking of the danger of the siege of the Humei Tower fortress, Lopez Jr. immediately became nervous. At first, he should not stop the Chinese Independent Army from advancing for a little selfishness, otherwise the Paraguayan garrison would not be in danger of siege.
In the original history, Lopez, who was copied by the Brazilian military uniform, quickly made the choice to abandon the Tiger Fortress, led some troops to retreat to rural areas in Paraguay, and played a guerrilla war with the Brazilian army. It was not until 1870 that the Brazilian army Caught and executed, although the Tiger Fortress is also surrounded by the Brazilian army, but with the variable of the Chinese Independent Army, Lopez Jr. did not choose to break through, but instead asked the Chinese Independent Army for help and urged the Chinese Independent Army to set off as soon as possible for the tiger. The garrison of Meita Fortress makes a siege.
When the news that Lopez urged the Chinese Independence Army to reach Concepcion was passed, five days had passed since the original Chinese Independence Army arrived in Concepcion. In these five days, nearly 40,000 Chinese were independent. The army and field forces have assembled and repaired successively, and 90,000 large logistical forces have also crossed the Bolivian plateau and followed the path of the leading troops into Paraguay.
López Jr.'s deliberate postponement of meeting with the representatives of the Chinese Independence Army meant that the current war had not yet come to light, so López Jr. had the mood to play with the Chinese Independence Army.
Since Lopez Jr. is not in a hurry, Li Mingyuan can't afford to worry about others. Anyway, the Tiger Fortress is still in Paraguay. Even if Brazil soon forms a siege to the Tiger Fortress, the Fortress will not fall for a while.
Therefore, while Li Mingyuan waited slowly for the rear troops to gather, he sent a small team to carry food and medicine to attract Paraguayan women to join the Chinese Independent Army.
Under the guidance of the local white people, more than a dozen teams of two or three hundred people spread out to deepen the village along the river. In a few days, half of the teams returned news. About one thousand women of Paraguayan age were willing to join the Chinese Independent Army. .
Just a few days after the departure, nearly a thousand women were willing to join. It was indeed higher than Li Mingyuan's expectations. From the returning Chinese soldiers, I learned that these Paraguayan women were not forced, but they agreed after seeing the finished food. The requirements of the Chinese soldiers.
At first, Li Mingyuan didn't understand this situation. Later, under the explanation of the local guide, Li Mingyuan finally knew that
Paraguayan women who are willing to join the Chinese Independent Army are descendants of earlier white immigrants from poor families. If they do not follow the Chinese Independent Army, they will starve to death at a later time. Joining the Chinese Independent Army may not only hope to survive, their Loved ones can also receive much-needed food and medicine, and Paraguayan women can easily make choices in terms of a family's life and death and future happiness.
The new absorption of 1,000 Paraguayan women is a good start for the Chinese Independent Army. Chinese soldiers in the barracks watched the eyes of Paraguayan women in separate camps.
There is a cow on five acres of land, and his wife and children are gimmicks. The ideal life of the farming nation is almost the same. Whether European farmers or Han people mostly want to live a life of sufficient clothing and food, and wives and children, the Chinese Independent Army soldiers followed Li Mingyuan to raise troops. Righteousness, even if it is a last resort that cannot be lived, is it not a desire to be free and lead an adequate life.
For the land, Li Mingyuan has promised three hundred acres of Chinese soldiers to participate in the uprising. Although the land has not yet been obtained, the Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil is not far away. After defeating the Brazilian army, the Chinese soldiers can harvest their land. Woman For the time being, it is more difficult. More than 100,000 Chinese soldiers are all old men. When I worked in the mine, I didn't dare to expect a wife. However, under the influence of successive battles in the Chinese Independent Army, who would not want to hold his wife and guard Living on his own 300 acres of land.
In the past, Li Mingyuan promised everyone that he would find a wife for every soldier who followed him ~ EbookFREE.me ~ But after all, it was just a blank check. Now a thousand Paraguayan women enter the Chinese army camp. Appeared in the eyes of Chinese soldiers, many soldiers had ripples in their hearts. What Shizi said was not false, and I could find a wife like a flower if I had a good fight.
The response of the soldiers was in Li Mingyuan's eyes, and this was exactly the effect he wanted. Victory in battle is one aspect, while fighting for the immediate benefits of the soldiers is another aspect of gaining the soldier's loyalty.
All changes have developed in a good direction. The negative effects caused by Chinese casualties and hardships during the thousands of miles of migration have gradually disappeared in the face of visible happy life, and the entire army's soldiers have gradually recovered.
The benefits of soliciting Paraguayan women are obvious, and there will be more women of the appropriate age to join the Chinese Independence Army for a period of time, but Li Mingyuan can't stay any longer. The news of help from Lopez Jr. proves that the Fortress of Humeta has been surrounded by the Brazilian coalition. If the delay is long enough, Lopez will not be able to break out, as in history, and it will be more difficult to defeat the Brazilian coalition again and again.
The Chinese Independence Army was in a difficult situation and could not tolerate a single failure. Li Mingyuan did not dare to take risks of the future of the Chinese Independence Army. After receiving Lopez's help, the Chinese Independence Army immediately set off for the Brazilian coalition.