"Your Highness, there is new news from Lord Nanyang Sun."

On the way back from the Xinjing Machinery Factory, Li Mingyuan and his party met soldiers delivering messages on the way.

"Hurry back to the council room, I want to see what good news Sun Bin has brought!"

The South Seas and the American continent are tens of thousands of miles apart, and the news from the South Seas was delayed for some time before they were able to reach Rio Gran do Sul.

The Xinjing Machinery Factory was not far from the headquarters of the National Defense Forces, and after receiving the report from the messengers, Li Mingyuan and his entourage quickened their way and appeared in the National Defense Forces conference hall more than 10 minutes later.

"Sun Bin accepted the recruitment of the Annam government, and the brothers in Annam occupied the two provinces of Quang Ninh and Lang Son, and now the number of Chinese in the areas controlled by the Sun brothers has reached more than 300,000, and the development situation of the National Defense Forces in Nanyang is very good."

Affirming Sun Bin's achievements in Nanyang, Li Mingyuan sighed a little, "When the Sun brothers were sent to Nanyang, the plan was just to occupy a small foothold in Nanyang as a transit station for transshipment immigrants, but I didn't expect that Brother Sun arrived in Nanyang less than half a year ago, and quietly created a good foundation, there are many talents like Brother Sun in Rio Grand Sul, and the cause of the Chinese in South America is not prosperous!" ”

"When the Nanyang strategy was formulated, we all overestimated the strength of the Annan army, and the action strategy formulated was somewhat conservative, and Brother Sun personally went to the northern part of Annam to preside over the affairs of the National Defense Force in the entire Nanyang, and was able to observe the reality of the Annan Kingdom on the spot, and had a clearer understanding of the strength of the enemy and us.

After reading the contents of the telegram, Liu Pu analyzed rationally.

"Mr. Sun's opening up in Nanyang will allow our army to obtain immigration from Nanyang and the mainland, and the problem of human resources restricting the development of Rio Gran do Sul can also be greatly alleviated.

It is proposed that a field regiment of 1,000 men be redrawn from the field units of the Wehrmacht and set off together with the next batch of transport convoys to increase the armed forces of the Wehrmacht in Annam. ”

Luo Linshan's headquarters had already set off for northern Argentina, Li Sandou's second division was stationed in the field, and the only divisional generals who participated in the meeting in the conference hall were Chen Guozhu and Zhang Ansong.

Although Chen Guozhu held the post of commander of the First Division, his strategic insight could only be regarded as average, so when Chen Guozhu did not speak out, Zhang Ansong put forward his own opinions.

"Although the number of Chinese in Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces is large, the number of soldiers who have received regular military training is too small, and it is appropriate for the headquarters to send field troops to reinforce Sun Bin."

Li Mingyuan nodded in agreement with Zhang Ansong's suggestion, and his eyes swept over Chen Guozhu, who was not in good spirits standing on the side, and couldn't help but feel a sense of regret in his heart.

Chen Guozhu was the oldest of the remnants of the Taiping Army, and he would reach the age of knowing the destiny of heaven in two years.

Chen Guozhu followed the king Li Shixian to fight in the early years, and left a body of scars, after living in South America, he spent several years of hard life in the mine, and his body bones were not very good, and the Chinese founded the country of Rio Gran do Sul, there was no war for more than a year, and after the spirit relaxed, people's health also declined rapidly, and various injuries and illnesses left since they appeared within a year, and the whole person has aged a lot compared with a year ago.

"Uncle Chen, you are not in good health, so you don't have to stand and deliberate.

Guards, bring a chair from the wing. ”

Li Mingyuan couldn't bear to see Chen Guozhu standing hard, and ordered.

"Your Highness, don't bother, I can still hold on." Chen Guozhu stood on his waist and said strongly.

Although Chen Guozhu has a strong temperament, he can't bear the fact that his body is not as good as before, and under Li Mingyuan's insistent request, he finally did it.

In the 19th century, when he was nearly 50 years old, he was already considered an old man, and Chen Guozhu and Zhang Ansong and Li Sandou, who were younger than him, were in a weakened state of health after the Paraguayan War, but Zhang Ansong and Li Sandou were in better health than Chen Guozhu, and they did not reach the point of affecting the command of operations.

Chen Guozhu's three identities are more special, they are the subordinates left by the servant Li Shixian to protect him, and in a sense, they are also Li Mingyuan's uncles, Li Mingyuan does not want to see them unable to get a comfortable second half of their lives because of illness and complicated military affairs.

The older generation of soldiers is gradually withering, and Li Mingyuan, whether for the sake of their health in the second half of their lives or the good development of the army, must start thinking about the replacement of new and old officers in advance.

Among the younger generation of officers, Wang Dashan and Zhao Yongzeng have a calm personality and are suitable as military generals on the leading side, while Wang Xiaoshan, Li Han, Zhou Daniu and others are temporarily unsuitable for the position of senior officers either because of lack of training or because of personality reasons.

After examining the younger generation of officers of the National Defense Forces in his mind, Li Mingyuan found that there are still many difficulties in building an excellent modern army.

Rio Gran do Sul lacked enough reserve senior generals, and Li Mingyuan had to turn his attention to the South Seas and the mainland in advance.

Liu Yongfu, Chen Shangfa, Chen Zongbai, Ye Chenglin, and Wu Fengdian were all military generals who left their names in history, and Sun Bin also appreciated them very much in his telegram.

True heroes always have a chance to get ahead in troubled times, although Liu Yongfu and others have changed their original life trajectory because of the rise of the National Defense Army, but in the war with Annan, they still made a lot of contributions. After Sun Bin stabilized in the Annam region, the possibility of a large-scale war in the next few years was not high, and it was also a good choice to transfer them to Rio Gran do Sul for key training by taking advantage of the stable development of Nanyang.

After carefully considering the pros and cons of the transfer of Liu Yongfu and others, Li Mingyuan made some adjustments to Nanyang's follow-up planning.

First of all, in accordance with Zhang Ansong's proposal, a regiment of field army soldiers and a group of weapons and equipment were reinforced with the fleet to support the Nanyang troops, and second, a group of elite peasant army soldiers from Nanyang were transferred back to Rio Grande do Sul with Liu Yongfu and others, and the Nanyang and local troops were exchanged.

Finally, it is necessary to strengthen the building of intelligence work, increase the number of intelligence personnel in Japan, the mainland, Nanyang, and other places, and realize the advance layout of intelligence work.

Liu Pu, Zhang Ansong, and others also agreed with Li Mingyuan's approach, but most people did not understand that Li Mingyuan had spent a lot of effort to expand his intelligence work in Japan.

"Your Highness, the deployment of intelligence personnel on the mainland and in the South Seas can expand the influence of our army on the local Chinese, but the Wa State has nothing to do with our army, and the valuable intelligence personnel are placed in the Wa State, and the subordinates do not understand what benefits it will be to our army?"

"Liu Pu, do you think so too?"

Zhang Ansong said, Li Mingyuan asked Liu Pu, who did not speak.

"His position has the same opinion as Master Zhang, but His Royal Highness the Prince thinks long-term, and I think His Royal Highness the Prince must have considerations that others don't know."

"You can talk." Li Mingyuan laughed, and then explained, "It is true that Japan is a small country, but the Japanese do have something to learn from us in some aspects.

As you may all know, Japan carried out the Meiji Restoration last year.

If you have ever been to Japan, you will surely see many poor weavers spinning clothes and weaving cloth in dilapidated wooden houses in the countryside, Japanese men wearing samurai headdresses cutting off their hair that symbolizes the status of samurai, and high-ranking officials and aristocrats setting off an upsurge of learning Western knowledge and etiquette......

Japan is a small country, but it is also a country that is good at learning, with a population of more than 30 million, which is about the same as the population of Britain and France in Europe.

The Chinese population of Rio Gran do Sul is only more than 300,000, and you can see how much life has changed compared with the past after the introduction of industrial equipment from Prussia, and Japan has a population of more than 30 million, which is more than 100 times the population of Rio Gran do Sul. ”

Liu Pu has never been to Japan, but if Japan is really as Li Mingyuan said, in a few decades, Japan will rise soon, and the situation on the East Asian continent will also change dramatically because of the rise of Japan.

After Japan completed the industrialization reform, it was bound to expand to the outside, and as the traditional suzerainty of the neighboring countries in East Asia, the conflict between the mainland region under the rule of the Manchu Qing and Japan was inevitable, one was a new industrial country, and the other was a feudal backward country ruled by foreign races, even if the Manchu Qing had the advantage of military strength, Liu Pu, who was familiar with the strength of the Qing army, was difficult to be optimistic about the Qing army's victory in the war.

The remnants of the Taiping Army were exiled overseas, and after the founding of Rio Gran do Sul, they looked at the Qing-Japanese War decades later in a different capacity, and Liu Pu did not know which mood to use to describe his inner feelings.

"Japan's industrialization is something that is difficult to change, and the purpose of sending intelligence personnel to Japan now is to prepare for the future, so everyone should take a long-term view of the problem, and not just focus on the immediate gains and losses."

"The position is dull, thank you for your advice." Regardless of whether they really understood Li Mingyuan's true intentions or not, after Liu Pu took the lead in expressing his position, others also echoed in unison.

"Intelligence work is a major event, Nanyang, the mainland, Japan and other places need to set up intelligence stations, Sun Bin alone will inevitably not be able to take care of it, Sun Bin proposed in the telegram to let the headquarters of the National Defense Forces send a group of people to help him share the military and intelligence work, reduce the burden on him, what do you think?"

Ending the topic of Japan, Li Mingyuan then asked.

"Brother Sun wears many hats, which is indeed a bit inappropriate, and it is also appropriate to send a group of people to help him share military and intelligence work."

Liu Pu followed Li Mingyuan's meaning and said, "My subordinates suggest that Brigade Commander Wang of the First Mixed Brigade be transferred to take over Sun Bin's military command, and Liang Xing will take over the intelligence work in various parts of Nanyang. ”

"Dashan has been in charge of the work of the First Mixed Brigade for more than a year, and it is more appropriate for him to go to Nanyang to take charge of the local military work, as for Liang Xing, he is a businessman, and he has some connections with Chinese businessmen from all over Nanyang, so it is appropriate to engage in intelligence work."

The two candidates proposed by Liu Pu were both in line with Li Mingyuan's wishes, and after asking the others again and having no opinions, Li Mingyuan decided on a candidate to succeed Sun Bin's military command and intelligence.

Then he announced the order for the follow-up development of Nanyang: "Telegram Order: In response to the opinions put forward by your department, the following orders are hereby made: First, Liu Yongfu, Ye Chenglin, Chen Shangfa, and Wu Fengdian are hereby ordered to take up posts at the headquarters of the National Defense Forces, and Chen Zongbai will temporarily listen to the order in Nanyang, and make further arrangements according to the subsequent development of the situation in Nanyang.

Second, the military title of the Nanyang Regiment of the National Defense Force was conferred on the troops stationed in Annam, and Wang Dashan, the former commander of the First Mixed Brigade, was appointed as the commander of the Nanyang Corps, and the officers and men of the unit were reorganized into a fully integrated brigade with an establishment of 5,000 people, including 4,000 troops stationed in Annam, 1,000 troops stationed in Natuna Qundao, and 2,000 militia troops, organized into two militia regiments, one regiment stationed in the two northern provinces of Annam, and one regiment stationed in the Natuna Islands.

3. The Taiping Society was established to coordinate and manage overseas intelligence work in Nanyang, the mainland, and Japan, and Liang Xing was the chief officer of the Taiping Society.

Fourth, the post of Governor of Nanyang was established, and Sun Bin was appointed as the Governor of Nanyang, responsible for managing all civil, military and political affairs in the occupied areas of the Nanyang Defense Forces. ……”