Outside the plantation, Li Mingyuan guarded the city gate with 500 men.

After pulling out the Duraya mine, there was no large-scale Peruvian armed force around the Patibilka Valley, so after discussing with Chen Guozhu and other high-level Taiping Army leaders, Li Mingyuan decided to divide his troops to capture the Patibil Valley, and rescue as many Chinese workers as possible before the Peruvians reacted, so as to strengthen his own strength.

"Shizi, the brothers in the plantation have sent a signal," Zhao Yongzeng, who had just taken over the reconnaissance company, whispered.

In the future, the special forces unit will be managed in a unified manner with the reconnaissance troops, so Li Mingyuan first arranged Zhao Yongzeng in the position of reconnaissance company commander so that he could familiarize himself with the situation in advance.

A torch swayed from side to side at the city gate, and Li Mingyuan vaguely saw the figure of Sun Qisheng holding the torch.

"Sun Qisheng is a good seedling to be a special forces officer, Yongzeng, in a few days, when the whole army competes, recruit him to the special forces."

The all-army contest is an activity organized by Li Mingyuan to select and promote personnel from various branches of the armed forces, and when the time comes, not only the newly established special forces will come to recruit troops, but other units will also take this opportunity to recruit troops.

"Understood," Zhao Yongzeng said

"Don't miss the opportunity, Yongzeng, you lead your subordinates to take the plantation." ……

Since all Peruvians in the mine were exterminated and captured, other surrounding mine plantations have not yet received news of the Chinese labor riot.

Taking advantage of the information asymmetry, Li Mingyuan spent less than 10 days to wipe out the Peruvian forces in the Patibilca Valley in one fell swoop, occupying a total of 19 mines, 28 plantations, rescuing 57,341 Chinese laborers, and seizing countless materials.

In less than a week, Li Mingyuan led the Taiping army from 2,000 to 60,000 people, and the growth speed was amazing.

The rapid expansion of the army naturally brings all kinds of problems.

First of all, the newly joined Chinese workers had no combat experience, and the individual combat capability of the expanded Taiping Army decreased.

Secondly, the daily food and drink expenses of more than 60,000 people are also astronomical, although relying on the capture, the Taiping army can still hold on to the supply of materials for three months, but the place occupied by the Taiping army is a desert area, except for the sporadic plantations and saltpeter mines, the supply of living materials also depends on the support of the Peruvian mainland.

When the Peruvians reacted, as long as they surrounded the Patibilka Valley, they could trap the Taiping army to death, and it was precisely because of the geographical shortcomings of Patibilka that Li Mingyuan gave up establishing a base here.

In order to solve the dilemma he is facing now, Li Mingyuan plans to fight a few battles in Peru to beat the Peruvians badly, so that when the Taiping army moves in, the Peruvians will not dare to pursue.

Conquering mines and plantations, the Taipings killed a total of 800 Peruvian troops and captured 5,000.

In addition to the Peruvian army and armed militia, there were also 47 large mine owners and large estate owners, these people were able to open mines and plantations, and they were all related people in Peru, and the combined influence of the 47 people was very great.

Among the 61,000 people, except for more than 3,000 who are physically sick and weak, the rest are eligible to serve as soldiers.

Being in a foreign country and facing enemies on all sides, Li Mingyuan did not dare to be careless in the slightest; at the moment of the great enemy, Li Mingyuan was not in the mood for farming and development, and the 58,000 people who met the conditions for joining the army, whether they wanted to or not, were all stuffed into the army.

If there is enough time, Li Mingyuan will find time to train them, but they are about to face the counteroffensive of the Peruvian army, and Li Mingyuan can only take them to the battlefield and directly rely on actual combat training.

"Shizi, all the officers above the company commander have arrived." Zhou Daniu, who took over as the commander of Zhao Yongzeng's guards, reported.

When the Taiping officers arrived, Li Mingyuan temporarily put aside the thoughts in his heart and came to the hall with Zhou Daniu.

Although the number of Taiping troops has expanded rapidly, because a new round of reorganization has not yet been carried out, the positions of various Taiping officers have not changed.

"Let me tell you a good news today, the Taiping Army will be reorganized, and everyone here may be promoted to two levels, or even higher."

Scanning the more than thirty people below, he found that everyone had an eager look in their eyes, Li Mingyuan knew what they were thinking, the army had expanded, but the position was still the same as before, of course he was uncomfortable in his heart.

"I've been waiting for the words of the prince for a long time, I have 10,000 people under Lao Chen, and I still hold the position of battalion commander, why don't you feel comfortable." Chen Guozhu grinned.

"Lao Chen, you are really an official fan, as soon as the prince spoke, you couldn't help it." Li Sandou said with a smile.

"Li Sandou, don't talk about me, don't you want to be promoted?" Chen Guozhu asked rhetorically.

After listening to the conversation between the two

The Taiping officers below let out a burst of laughter.

"Okay, let's get down to business, according to the original establishment, the four musket battalions will be directly expanded into divisions, with four main regiments in each division, an artillery battalion, a reconnaissance company, and a logistics battalion, with a number of 10,000 people."

Li Mingyuan's voice fell, and the officers below talked to each other, discussing what position he might get.

Li Mingyuan only said that the establishment of four divisions is needed, but only four divisions need hundreds of officers, and the officers below, the South American Taiping Army has not been established for a long time, and there is a huge shortage of officers, so the officers who are doing it do not have to worry about losing the election.

"Everyone, be quiet," Li Mingyuan reminded, and the officers below suddenly quieted down.

"In addition to the four divisions, the remaining 18,000 people will be temporarily placed under the direct command of the headquarters, and a big competition of the whole army will be held tomorrow, and the winning troops will be given priority in selecting soldiers."

"Rest assured, my old Chen's troops must be the first." Chen Guozhu shouted.

"Who wouldn't brag, Lao Chen will lose too badly tomorrow, don't blame me for not giving you face." Li Sandou said-for-tat.

Chen Guozhu and Li Sandou have been fighting for more than ten years, and it is not surprising that they are officers who are doing it.

"Let me remind you that our occupation of the Patibilka Valley will not be hidden for long, and that the Peruvians will definitely send a large army to encircle and suppress it as soon as they get the news. Therefore, there is not much time left for everyone, and while the Peruvian army has not yet arrived in the past few days, all units should speed up their training and try their best to let the new soldiers in the camp run in and form combat effectiveness. ”

"Son, there is nothing to fear about Peruvians, and the Peruvians of Patibilka are not easy for us to exterminate." A young Taiping officer spoke.

"What's your name?" Li Mingyuan stared at him and said.

"Qian Jianyu, deputy company commander of the third company of the first battalion of the humble post"

"Have you fought in the Duraya battle?"

"No," Qian Jianyu said honestly.

Qian Jianyu joined the Taiping Army after the battle of Duraya. He had never fought against the regular Peruvian army, so he did not know much about the combat power and weapons and equipment of the Peruvian army, and only thought that the Peruvian army was as vulnerable as ordinary mine supervisors.

Li Mingyuan asked an officer next to Qian Jianyu who had participated in the siege of Duraya to tell him about the equipment of the Peruvian army, and Qian Jianyu suddenly lost the confidence to speak, and said, "I underestimated the strength of the Peruvian army by my humble position, and I ask the prince to punish him." ”

"You can be promoted to deputy company commander in a few days after joining the Taiping Army, and you are also a capable person, in view of the fact that you don't understand the enemy's strength, I won't punish you this time, but you can't underestimate the enemy in the future."

The successful capture of the Patibilka Valley made some Taiping troops have the mentality of underestimating the enemy, Qian Jianyu is just one of these people, Li Mingyuan beat him today to make the Taiping soldiers face the enemy squarely and avoid army losses due to underestimating the enemy.

At the end of the meeting, Li Mingyuan reminded all officers at and above the company level to face the enemy correctly before dismissing the meeting.