Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 90 Battle Plan
Thank you for your support when Tianjiao comes
After looking at the map sent by Adolfo for a long time, Li Mingyuan had a general strategy for siege in his mind.

The northern wall of La Paz faced the offensive position of the Chinese Independence Army, while El Alto was built on the mountainous terrain of the wall, providing fire support to the defensive forces on the northern wall and being able to flanke the troops attacking the city from the front.

Judging from the construction of the two cities' fortifications and weapon configuration, the Bolivians also placed their main firepower on the northern wall. Eight fixed heavy artillery pieces were evenly distributed on the eight gun ports on the northern wall, while the east and west walls were only equipped with two heavy artillery pieces each and several light artillery pieces.

In the past, Li Mingyuan did not dare to send troops to attack La Paz easily because he did not know the specific firepower distribution of the Bolivians. However, the situation is much clearer now.

The northern wall was the key area of ​​Bolivian defense, and it was difficult to attack. The western wall was also not suitable for the Chinese Independence Army to attack because of its high terrain. Only the eastern wall was far away from the firepower deterrence range of El Alto, and the mountain slope was relatively small, making it the most suitable target for the main attack.

Li Mingyuan had observed the terrain outside the east wall a few days ago. There was a flat mountain area 200 meters away from the foot of the wall. At that time, Li Mingyuan did not plan to choose this as the main attack position because he was not clear about the strength of the Bolivian army in the city.

But now it is different. The distribution of troops on the opposite city wall is clear. If this piece of flat land is raised by another seven meters, it will be just right to attack the heavy artillery on the east city wall. As long as two heavy artillery guarding the city are destroyed and our artillery is used to kill the opposite defenders, the siege obstacles can be cleared in advance for the siege troops below, providing a favorable advantage for the final capture of La Paz.

Now that the direction of the siege was clear, Li Mingyuan called Liu Pu and a dozen staff officers to simulate and perfect the details of the attack. He then summoned high-ranking officers of the Chinese Independence Army and leaders of various Indian tribes participating in the siege to a temporary meeting tent to announce the latest battle plan.

In the military tent, Liu Pu, Wang Dashan, Luo Linshan, Li Dawei, Zhao Yongzeng and other Chinese Independence Army generals sat on the left side of the tent, while a dozen Indian chiefs sat stiffly on the other side, waiting for Li Mingyuan to speak.

Among those present, Wang Dashan, Zhao Yongzeng, Wang Xiaoshan and Luo Linshan are all under thirty years old, but each of them commands an elite force. The older generation, Chen Guozhu, Li Sandou and Zhang Ansong are all in their forties and have rich combat experience, and are in the golden age of a general.

From the Taiping Rebellion to the South American riots, both the newly-emerged young generals and the older generation of Taiping veterans have keen insights into war.
The troops were stationed at the gates of La Paz for three days, digging tunnels, night attacks, and blasting the city walls. These were all methods that had been used to attack cities. The Chinese Independence Army generals present could all think of them, but upon closer examination, they found that each method was difficult to implement.

La Paz was built on a mountain, and there are crisscrossing rocks under the city walls, making it very difficult to dig a tunnel. The Chinese Independence Army also tried methods such as blasting the city and night raids, but none of them were successful.

According to most people's understanding, special forces are omnipotent, and climbing over walls and breaking into cities should be a piece of cake. However, the idea of ​​conquering a fortified city with the help of hundreds of special forces can only happen on TV. This is because special forces are also human beings. Their non-conventional combat capabilities are much stronger than those of ordinary soldiers. They can play an important role in specific battlefield situations. However, for a fortified city with strict defenses, sending hundreds of special forces for a night attack is tantamount to suicide, and there is no possibility of success.

The siege was frustrated and the Chinese Independence Army could not stay in La Paz for too long. Most Chinese generals guessed that Li Mingyuan had gathered everyone to issue an order for a strong attack.
Capturing a fortified city would inevitably be a bloody battle, but the Chinese Independence Army, which had grown up through wars of all sizes, was not afraid of a bloody battle. They firmly believed that Li Mingyuan would lead them to the final victory. Thinking of the upcoming war, a row of Chinese Independence Army generals looked steady, waiting for Li Mingyuan to issue combat orders.

"Everyone, before the meeting officially begins, I have good news for you: a coup against Melgarejo took place in Sucre. The leader of the coup, General Adolfo, captured Sucre yesterday. After learning of the fall of Sucre, Melgarejo led his troops out of La Paz last night. La Paz's defenses are at their weakest right now, so now is the best time to attack La Paz."

As soon as Li Mingyuan finished speaking, the generals and Indian leaders below began to discuss in a low voice.

"Prince, is the information true? Could it be that the La Paz garrison released false information to deliberately trick us?"

Zhang Ansong had just met up with Li Mingyuan with the rearguard troops and didn't know much about the situation in Bolivia, so he asked this question.

"The intelligence is clear. These two are General Adolfo's messengers. They passed on the information about Sucre." Li Mingyuan said, pointing at the two Bolivians standing behind him.

Sent by Adolfo as messengers, the two of them naturally had evidence to gain the trust of the Chinese Independence Army. After Li Mingyuan introduced them to the Chinese generals and Indian leaders present, the two looked at each other, and then one of them stepped forward and said, "My general promised your army that as long as you help us defeat Melgarejo, Bolivia will not only allow your army to pass through, but will also provide food guides on the way to ensure your army's safety in Bolivia."

"Melgarejo has 20,000 troops under his command. If you want the Chinese Independence Army to help you defeat his troops, the price of just providing food and guides along the way is too low."

"Yes, although Melgarejo took some soldiers with him, there are still at least 10,000 defenders in La Paz. Have you ever calculated how many casualties the Chinese troops will suffer in attacking La Paz? Are you sending beggars away just to get a batch of food?"

As soon as the Bolivian messenger finished speaking, the two Chinese officers immediately refuted.

The attack on La Paz was a spontaneous act of the Chinese Independence Army. Even if Adolfo did not send anyone to contact Li Mingyuan, they would still attack La Paz. However, since Adolfo took the initiative to seek cooperation, the Chinese Independence Army would naturally ask for more benefits.

As soon as the first two Chinese independence army generals spoke, the other Chinese independence army generals quickly understood and denounced Adolfo for having no sincerity in cooperation.

No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. Adolfo offered himself to be slaughtered, so Li Mingyuan would not be polite. However, the issue of reward would have to wait until Melgarejo was defeated. The current issue was to capture La Paz as soon as possible. "Okay, everyone, be quiet," Li Mingyuan said, and the Chinese generals below immediately stopped denouncing him. Instead, more than a dozen Indian leaders were relentless and angrily rebuked the messengers sent by Adolfo. Looking at their fierce appearance, if they were not in the Chinese Independence Army camp, the two messengers would have been eaten alive by the Indians.

Li Mingyuan is happy to see the conflict between the indigenous Indians and the descendants of Europeans, and these Indians are also his means to check and balance Adolfo. As long as Adolfo is not a fool, he will not dare to go back on his word after defeating Melgarejo, because in that case, Li Mingyuan can also unite with the Indians to deal with the white descendants. Maybe Adolfo really doesn't care about the position of President of Bolivia, but he will not risk the white descendants losing their rule over Bolivia by turning against the Chinese Independence Army.

After calming down the angry Indian chief, Li Mingyuan continued, "Chief of Staff Liu and I worked out a battle plan overnight last night. I'm going to present it to you now. Let's see if there's anything you want to add."

Li Mingyuan picked up a small wooden stick and pointed at the sand table in the middle of the crowd, saying, "The defenses of East City and West City of La Paz are weak, while the terrain of East City is relatively good, which is suitable as a breakthrough point for siege. Therefore, the main attack point this time is East City of La Paz."

"Sir, the enemy's firepower configuration is unclear. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to rashly choose East City as the main attack location?"

Now, most Chinese independence army generals would not question Li Mingyuan's decision. Only the older generation of Taiping Army veterans such as Chen Guozhu, who watched Li Mingyuan grow up, would speak out in opposition when they encountered something they disagreed with.

Li Mingyuan led the Chinese Independence Army to victory in every battle, and the faith brought by religion led to the generals of the Chinese Independence Army having a blind confidence in him. Li Mingyuan realized this situation after he had a long talk with Liu Pu. However, the best solution to this situation is to give his generals more opportunities to lead the troops alone, so that they will not be influenced by Li Mingyuan and make their own judgments.

Prior to this, Li Mingyuan divided the Chinese Independence Army into three units: the navy, the field army, and the logistics unit, and marched them separately. This was a decision he made based on the overall situation and the desire to train his men to stand on their own. Of course, as to the effectiveness of the move, only when the three units met in southern Brazil would they know.

"Haha, Uncle Chen, you're worrying too much. I have already obtained the defensive fortifications layout of La Paz City, and the battle plan was also formulated after an actual survey of the terrain outside East City." Li Mingyuan said with a smile.

"Now that the prince said that, I, Old Chen, feel relieved." Chen Guozhu laughed.

After explaining, Li Mingyuan continued: "Dongcheng is the main attack direction. I plan to deploy a brigade of troops to attack. Dashan, I will leave the main attack mission to you."

"Yes, I humbly accept my order."

“In order to confuse the enemy and prevent them from discovering our true intentions, I decided to launch an attack on the West City, North City and El Alto at the same time. We want to give the enemy an illusion that the North City of La Paz is the focus of our attack, and the other three points are just feints.

Drive the enemy's forces to create favorable conditions for conquering the East City."

The Chinese generals and Indians in the military tent followed the movement of the wooden stick in Li Mingyuan's hand and also focused their attention on the north city.

The northern wall had the largest attack surface, and would also suffer the greatest losses from troops attacked from both sides. None of the Chinese generals present wanted their soldiers to suffer heavy casualties, so no general took the initiative to undertake the task of attacking the northern city.

Li Mingyuan was about to speak to designate a candidate when the old Aymara chief who had been standing behind him said, "General, let us Aymara people take over the task of attacking the North City. I promise to hold back the enemy and cover you in capturing La Paz."

Li Mingyuan looked at the old Aymara chief with appreciation and said with a smile: "Old chief, please consider the overall situation. I cannot say nothing. How about this? After we capture La Paz, I will give the Aymara people 500 muskets, and the Aymara people will also have a share of the spoils from the La Paz city gate."

As the first Indian tribe to cooperate with the Chinese Independence Army, the Aymara village received nearly 200 muskets from the Chinese Independence Army. With the muskets in hand, the Aymara village attracted many small Indian tribes of the same ethnic group. Now the Aymara village has not only recovered its vitality, but the scale of the village has also expanded a generation compared to before. There are 1,500 young and strong people in the tribe who can fight. This time, in order to assist the Chinese Independence Army to break through La Paz, the old patriarch brought 1,000 young and strong people.

Of course, a thousand men were not enough to attack the North City. Li Mingyuan set his sights on the other Indian leaders.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you are willing to send troops to attack the North City, you can get a share of the muskets and the spoils of war. This is a one-time opportunity, so please consider it carefully."

The Indians did not value the captured food and other supplies, but they were eager to get the muskets that were strictly controlled by the Bolivian army. Li Mingyuan was right. If you don't fight hard, you can't get the muskets. A dozen Indian leaders discussed in a low voice for a while and made the same decision as the Aymara people.

(End of this chapter)