The soldiers of the cavalry regiment rested for the night in the military horse field, and the next morning returned with the captured horses and Peruvian prisoners,

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the soldiers of the cavalry regiment returned to Arequipa, and Li Dawei handed over the military horses and captured supplies.

When he was about to leave, he received an order from Li Mingyuan to discuss important matters.

According to Li Mingyuan's request, Li Dawei took Sun Yanming and Zheng Guosheng towards the conference hall.

In the conference hall, Li Mingyuan and Liu Pu sat together.

"Four hundred tons of gold is very important for the future development of the Chinese Independence Army, since we have obtained the clues of this gold, we might as well check it tomorrow."

After listening to Li Mingyuan's introduction, Liu Pu said seriously.

"We can't swagger in search of treasure, or the Peruvians will find out and cause a series of problems."

"That's true, 400 tons of gold is a huge amount, and if the news leaks out, I am afraid that not only Peruvians will be ready to move, but other European countries will also play with the idea of this gold."

Liu Pu nodded.

"The soldiers of the cavalry regiment are all specially selected old Taiping soldiers, and their loyalty does not have to worry, so I am ready to let the cavalry regiment follow me to find gold." Li Mingyuan pondered.

"The Chinese Independence Army cannot be leaderless for a long time, and if the golden underground cannot be found, the prince must rush back as soon as possible to prevent a possible surprise attack by the Peruvian Navy."

The Southern Army of the Peruvians has been wiped out by the Chinese Independence Army, and in the short term, the Peruvian Army will not make a big move, but the Peruvian Navy has a lot of power at sea and is capable of launching a landing operation against the Chinese Independence Army.

"The Peruvian Navy is a trouble, after I leave, you have to strengthen the vigilance of the coastal city to prevent a sneak attack by the Peruvian Navy."

"Understood, son."

"By the way, after we attacked Balangca last time, didn't we capture more than 20 sea ships, is it possible to take the ships away when we turn into southern Brazil." Li Mingyuan suddenly asked.

"Impossible, son." Liu Pu shook his head, walked to the map, pointed to the map, and said, "There is no continuous waterway from the Peruvian coast to the south of Brazil, and it is impossible to transport the ship from the sea to the south of Brazil, unless it is to spare the coastal areas of Chile and Argentina by boat." ”

Among the 23 seagoing ships captured, three warships could carry 500 men, and the other 20 seagoing ships had a larger carrying capacity because they had to transport minerals, and could transport 7 or 800 Chinese troops at a time.

The Chinese Independence Army has established itself in South America without a navy.

Since the capture of 23 seagoing vessels, Li Mingyuan specially selected 3,000 soldiers to practice sailing skills with the captured Peruvian sailors.

The Chinese Independence Army under Li Mingyuan was all the remnants of the Taiping Army and poor peasants from the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong.

Many of them had experience at sea, so they followed the captive Peruvian sailors for half a month to learn seafaring knowledge, and now the selected Chinese Independence Army seagoing units have been able to master basic seafaring skills.

The naval units that had just been trained, Li Mingyuan didn't want them to turn into landlubbers without boats.

Hearing Liu Pu's second plan, Li Mingyuan walked to the map, looked down the map, and saw the coastal area of Patagonia from Chile.

"Liu Pu, the Pacific coast is all Chilean-controlled areas, and they won't let us pass smoothly." Looking at the long coastline of the Pacific coast, Li Mingyuan said disappointedly.

"My son, the Pacific coast is not all controlled by Chileans, and the southernmost part of Patagonia is still under the control of local Indians."

Liu Pu pointed out Li Mingyuan's mistake.

Li Mingyuan thought for a while and realized that the current Chile and Argentina had just begun to infiltrate the Patagonia region, and they had not yet controlled nearly 800,000 square kilometers of land in southern South America.

So by boat, as long as they dodged the navy near Santiago, they were able to land in the Patagonia area and move on.

"Liu Pu, is it possible to bribe the Chileans to let our ships pass."

The Chinese Independence Army (CIA) is a rebel in the eyes of South American countries, and even if the Chileans do not go to war with the Chinese Independence Army, they will not be relentless when they encounter the Chinese fleet passing through the Chilean coast.

"It's difficult, what Chileans want is the Antofagasta region of Bolivia. We don't have the conditions to impress them. Liu Pu said.

Antofasta is rich in saltpeter, and the Chileans have coveted the area for a long time, and later there were wars to seize Antofasta with Bolivia and Peru.

"Shizi, it is very difficult to set off from the sea by boat, because even if we pass the Chilean pass, the Argentine navy behind us will not be easy to deal with."

Liu Pu continued.

"You see if it's possible, we found the treasure, bought supplies from the Prussians with gold, and then bribed the Prussian naval commander to have our fleet pretend to be Prussian ships and sail with them."

"It should work. But the key is that we have to find the gold first. Liu Pu said.

"Yes, in the final analysis, it is a matter of money, and money can make ghosts grind. The Chinese Independence Army (CIA) fought alone, and without a large amount of money as a guarantee, we would not have been able to gain a foothold in South America. Li Mingyuan agreed.

"Shizi, what I said just now made me think of a good idea."

"Oh, you say,"

"We now have twenty-three ships that can fight, and then we can put together some small merchant ships that have been captured, almost fifty ships, and with these ships, we can transport a part of the elite soldiers to the south of Brazil, take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, directly seize the province of Rio Gran do Sul, and then cut off the rear route of the Brazilian army, and encircle the Brazilian army together with the main force in Paraguay."

"It's a good idea, I was thinking about keeping these ships, but I didn't expect you to think further."

"Therefore, whether or not the gold can be found this time, we will also draw a part of the funds in exchange for the support of the Prussians."

"I remember that the Prussian fleet with which we traded arms had a liaison office in Barangka, and after I left, you should find two shrewd and capable brothers to talk to them, first talk to them about the arms deal, and then talk about pretending to be a Prussian warship after the terms of the arms deal are negotiated."

After Li Mingyuan occupied Balangka last time, he first sent troops to protect the merchants of the Western powers and ensure that their interests were not lost. That's why those European countries didn't bother with the Chinese Independence Army.

"I'll find someone to do it right away." Liu Pu said that he was about to leave.

"Don't worry, when Li Dawei comes, discuss the matter of finding gold, it's not too late for you to send someone." ……