Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 75 Encounter with Bolivian Natives
Thanks to kirito Tongzhongren and Tianjiao Lailinzhi for their reward and support.

At noon, the warm sunlight shone through the dense leaves onto the soldiers resting under the tree, making them feel warm.

Not far from the pile of firewood for grilling food, military horses with their saddles removed were leisurely eating wild grass.

Perhaps because he was too tired, a cavalryman lay under a tree with his eyes blurry, and soon fell asleep with a slight snoring sound.

A soldier quietly walked up to the sleeping soldier, woke him up in a low voice, and pointed his right hand deep into the woods.

About three hundred meters away, a dozen alpacas were grazing with their heads down.

A dozen alpacas dispelled the cavalry's sleepiness. They waved to wake up the more than 30 soldiers in their platoon, raised their guns and carefully approached the alpacas.

They had advanced less than two hundred meters when the grazing alpacas discovered them. Led by a large alpaca, a dozen alpacas turned around and ran deep into the woods.

The cavalry platoon leader stopped the soldier who was about to shoot, and first chased in the direction the alpaca escaped, and the rest of the soldiers followed the platoon leader.

Alpacas are not as fast as wild antelopes. After running a kilometer, the cavalry platoon leader was about to catch up with them.

At this moment, the cavalry platoon leader running in front spotted an Indian holding a bow and arrow under a tree opposite.
The cavalry platoon leader, who had experienced the test of war, sensed the breath of danger and reacted instinctively. He jumped forward and lay on the ground.

At this moment, an arrow hit the tree behind the cavalry platoon leader.

"There are enemies." After dodging an arrow shot from the woods, the cavalry platoon leader shouted a warning to the soldiers behind him.

There was more than one Indian lying in ambush in the woods. After the first arrow was shot, more than a dozen more arrows were fired at the soldiers behind.

After receiving the warning from the cavalry platoon leader, most of the soldiers hid behind the big trees around them in time, and only two soldiers who were slow to react were shot and injured by arrows.

From the density of the arrows, the cavalry platoon leader determined that there were only about a dozen Indians in ambush.
So he made a gesture to the soldiers behind him, and then more than 20 soldiers dispersed to both sides, leaving seven or eight soldiers in the middle to shoot to attract the other side's attention, while he carefully approached the other side.

Seven or eight muskets fired at the same time, suppressing the Indians' offensive. They hid behind the woods and dared not attack the Chinese soldiers. At this time, more than 20 soldiers on both sides deployed their formations, forming a semi-fan-shaped encirclement of the Indians.

The Indians in the woods realized that the situation was not good, and immediately left the big trees where they were hiding and ran towards the mountain behind the woods. The Indians who left the cover of the big trees exposed their backs.
When the cavalry platoon leader aimed at the nearest Indian and was about to shoot him, he remembered the cavalry brigade commander's instructions, so he lowered the muzzle of his gun slightly and shot the Indian in the thigh.

"Be careful when shooting, and try to capture them alive," the cavalry platoon leader shouted to the pursuing soldiers after he fired.

Because of the order from the cavalry platoon leader, the thirty-odd soldiers were much more cautious when shooting, which resulted in half of the Indians running away.

Four Indians were shot and wounded by the Chinese soldiers, and five more were surrounded.

The surrounded Indians wore tight short jackets, trousers that were just above the knees, and a woolen cloak (a cloak is an outer coat similar to a cape). They had a coarse cloth belt around their waists and held bows and arrows in their hands, aiming vigilantly at the Chinese soldiers.

"Why did you attack us?" the cavalry platoon leader shouted.

But these Indians obviously didn't understand what he said.
They just stared at the Chinese soldiers with hatred. The cavalry platoon leader saw that they did not understand what he said, so he stopped talking and ordered the Chinese soldiers to raise their guns and prepare to shoot, forcing them to surrender.

The Indians had been ruled by the Spanish for more than three hundred years. Seeing the ferocious look of the cavalry platoon leader and the soldiers on all sides holding guns ready to shoot, they realized that they would be doomed if they did not surrender. So they put down their bows and arrows and dejectedly allowed the Chinese soldiers to tie them up.

After the battle was over, the Chinese soldiers did not forget to carry back the two alpacas that were shot and wounded in the fighting.

The sound of gunfire from the battle between Chinese soldiers and Indians woke up Li Mingyuan who had just laid down.

Li Mingyuan stood up from the tent with a start, ran outside and asked the guard, "Where did the gunshot come from?"

"Report to the prince, it is the north."

To the north was the cavalry brigade's camp. Could it be that the cavalry brigade had been attacked? A question flashed through Li Mingyuan's mind.

However, the Chinese Independence Army had always been very strict in its vigilance, so it was impossible for the enemy to sneak into the Chinese Independence Army camp quietly. Moreover, the gunshots were sparse, and it did not seem like they were being attacked by a large group of enemy troops. Could it be that the soldiers accidentally fired their guns?
Li Mingyuan thought of many possibilities in his mind in an instant.

"All troops on alert, find out what happened!"

"Yes." The guard quickly rode his horse towards the cavalry brigade camp.

News soon came from the Cavalry Brigade, informing them that nine Indians had been captured. Li Mingyuan called Zhao Youde, who had lived in South America all his life, and asked him to talk to these captured Indians to find out why they attacked the Chinese army.

"Sir, they are the Aymara people in Bolivia. They said that our soldiers stole their alpacas first, so they fought back."

After talking with several Indians, Zhao Youde reported to Li Mingyuan.

"So, they raise those alpacas?"

"Yes, Prince. The Aymara used to be a nomadic people living on the Andes grasslands. They used to herd alpacas and sheep on the plateaus of Peru and Bolivia. Some of the alpacas in our army were obtained through trade with the Aymara people in Peru."

Bolivia was an unfamiliar region to Li Mingyuan and the Chinese Independence Army.

In southern Peru, because Chinese workers had lived there for several years or even more than ten years, they were able to quickly occupy various areas with their understanding of the local area.
Bolivia is different. Bolivia is the country with the highest proportion of Indians in South America, and indigenous Indians account for half of the country's total population.
And unlike the Peruvian Indians who created the Inca civilization, there are many indigenous Indian ethnic groups in Bolivia, with more than 40 ethnic groups of all sizes.

These ethnic groups are less civilized, and even though they make up the majority of the country's population, they still suffer from oppression and rule by the descendants of European immigrants and the mestizos after independence.
It was not until the late twentieth century, after Bolivia's reforms, that the Indians were given a piece of land of their own.

In a way, Li Mingyuan sympathizes with the Indians in Bolivia. They are simple and gentle, and have the same hardworking characteristics as the Chinese. Of course, their hardworking and non-aggressive characteristics also lead to the rough fate of the entire country of Bolivia.
In the past, Bolivia first lost its access to the Pacific Ocean in the Guano War, and then lost a large piece of land to Paraguay in the Chaco War. After losing both wars and losing territory, Bolivia gradually became the bottom country in South America.

Li Mingyuan didn't want to bully these Indians who had little money, so he ordered the doctors in the army to treat their wounds and then let them go.

(End of this chapter)