After the exercise, Li Mingyuan personally sent West to the port of Balangka.

"Colonel West, the safety of the fleet in five days is up to Your Excellency." Li Mingyuan said solemnly.

After the arms deal was completed, the time for escorting the Chinese convoy to transfer was also set, and the time was set for the day after the Peruvian side handed over the supplies.

"Of course, that's my responsibility." West said seriously. ……

On a merchant ship not far from Li Mingyuan and West, more than a dozen Chinese-looking men stepped off the ship, their clothes shabby, and many of them still wounded.

When I got off the ship, the first thing I saw was the Chinese soldiers in the harbor who were under martial law, if the large port of Balangka was occupied by thousands of Chinese soldiers,

There were dozens of cannons neatly lined up in the open space by the harbor, and Li Mingyuan and West were closely guarding more than 300 soldiers.

These Chinese soldiers are completely different from the Han army they have seen before, with solemn and majestic black uniforms, new and sophisticated rifles, and solemn and tenacious soldiers' expressions, which make people's eyes shine.

"Brother Li, are they the troops serving the prince of the king?" A Chinese pirate who followed Li Han off the ship was incredulous.

"I guess so." Li Han only looked at the army in front of him for a while, and sighed after hearing the question of his entourage.

Li Han set out with a total of 30 men, and was pursued by local militia while smuggling into Colombia, losing half of his men, and then reached the Pacific coast of Colombia, where he traveled to Barangca on a merchant ship.

"This brother, may I ask if you are the army of the prince of the king?" After Li Han was surprised, he walked to a Chinese soldier standing guard beside him and asked politely.

The soldiers standing guard vigilantly looked at Li Han and his party, and said sharply: "Say, are you deserters!" ”

When the Chinese Independence Army was rectifying the discipline of the troops, more than 500 soldiers fled from the unit for fear of punishment, and later after being pursued by the military police, nearly 400 deserters were arrested, but more than 100 Chinese soldiers escaped.

Before Li Mingyuan ordered the purge of the troops, he realized that doing so would cause a period of shock to the troops.

However, if this is not done, the atmosphere of the troops may deteriorate step by step, and then some officers and men will form interest groups to threaten Li Mingyuan's control over the troops.

Therefore, Li Mingyuan resolutely carried out a purge of the troops, and eliminated them from the Chinese Independence Army while they had not yet formed a climate, so as to ensure the purity of the troops.

The operation to rectify the discipline of the troops was successful, and after the turmoil of the previous period, the Chinese Independence Army generally returned to calm, and all that remained was to hunt down the escaped Chinese soldiers.

After the soldiers on duty asked, more than 20 soldiers around them approached Li Han and the others together, and the muskets in their hands were also aimed at them.

Li Han didn't expect that his simple question caused such a big reaction from these soldiers, and he glanced at his musket and suppressed the dozen or so Chinese pirates who were about to attack behind. said calmly: "I heard that the prince of the prince led the army to revolt, and I specially came to defect, is this how the prince treats his brothers?" ”

Li Han's face did not change in the face of the Chinese soldiers who surrounded him, and he did not look nervous and scared of the deserters at all, and the soldiers on duty were also a little unsure of their identities.

However, if they came specifically to defect to the Chinese Independent Army, he did not believe that after the occupation of southern Peru, all the Chinese workers in the mines and plantations in the south were rescued.

However, the number of Chinese laborers in northern Peru is small, and the Chinese laborers revolt in southern Peru, so the Peruvians have stricter control over Chinese laborers in the northern region, and it is unlikely that they will escape from there.

The soldiers on duty had a preconceived idea that Li Han was a Chinese worker who had escaped from northern Peru, and continued to interrogate: "The Peruvians in the northern region are well guarded, how did you escape from them?" ”

"We are not Chinese laborers who have escaped from northern Peru, and as for our true identity, I need to tell your steward personally."

Li Han experienced the scene just now, and was a little skeptical of the rumor that the leader of the Chinese army was the prince of the king.

The prince was not yet twenty years old, and these soldiers in front of him were arrogant and well-equipped, he was not sure that he could suppress these arrogant soldiers with the age of sixteen or seventeen, so Li Han did not tell the soldiers on duty his true identity.

"Bold, how can you say that you can see the son of the world." Li Han's arrogant attitude aroused the dissatisfaction of the soldiers on duty, and he immediately called the soldiers around him to escort Li Han down for interrogation.

Hearing the soldier on duty say the word "son", Li Han didn't care about breaking free from the soldiers who held him hostage, and asked loudly: "Is the prince you are talking about the son of His Royal Highness?" ”

"Of course, it's the prince of the king," said the soldier on duty proudly.

Li Han observed that the expressions of the soldiers on duty did not seem to be fake, and hurriedly broke free from the two soldiers beside him, and explained: "I am the messenger of Hou Taiyuan, a general under King Sen, and I have something important to see the prince of the king. ”

Although the soldiers on duty only joined the Chinese Independent Army later, they also heard some things about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the army, and knew that there were many princes in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so after listening to Li Han's words, he immediately motioned the soldiers to step back and asked, "Which prince of the Heavenly Kingdom is King Sen?" ”

"Squad leader, King Sen is the commander-in-chief of our Heavenly Kingdom's naval army." Before Li Han could reply, a Chinese soldier beside him reminded him in a low voice.

"Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, that's a big official." The soldiers on duty pondered for a moment and ruled out the identity of Li Han and the others as deserters.

"I misunderstood, it's all my own brothers, if you don't put down your gun, it's not good to accidentally injure your own people." The soldier on duty changed his smiling face and greeted.

The soldiers around him retreated, and Li Han and the others also relaxed, after all, it was not pleasant to be pointed at by others with guns.

"I can understand where the military duty lies." Li Han said a few words to the soldiers on duty, and said, "Please ask this brother to help inform His Royal Highness the prince, my general is still waiting for us to go back and report the news." ”……

On the port side, West and Li Mingyuan had a good conversation, West smiled and shook hands with Li Mingyuan, and exclaimed: "Your Excellency's command talent is extraordinary, if you were born in Prussia, you will definitely be an excellent general." ”

"German reunification is a historical trend, and I am sure that Your Excellency will soon have its own place."

"Lee, do you think Prussia will soon have another war?" Through contact with Li Mingyuan, West knew that Li Mingyuan was a far-sighted military commander, and since he thought that he was useful, he was definitely not untargeted. So he asked tentatively.

"The military is a continuation of politics, on the one hand your country has tied most of the German states to the Prussian chariot by means of railways and the Customs Union, and on the other hand Austria, the main obstacle to the unification of Germany, has been defeated by your country,

Therefore, in order to finally unify Germany, your country will definitely go to war against France, which controls the southern German states, and I estimate that the outbreak of war will not be more than three years away. ”

In 1870, war broke out between Prussia and France over the Spanish succession.

Before the outbreak of the war, the Junker military aristocracy led by Bismarck advocated the use of war to unite the whole of Germany, so without the permission of King Wilhelm I of Prussia, Bismarck issued a telegram without authorization, angering the French king, leading to the outbreak of war.

As a member of the Junker military aristocracy, West had also heard rumors of war, but he was not sure.

Because France, as the hegemon of Europe, occupied half of Prussia during the Napoleonic period, and although France is not as strong as it was during the Napoleonic period, it also controls the South German states and the colonies second only to Britain.

In the face of France's hegemonic existence in Europe, from King Wilhelm I of Prussia to ordinary Prussian nationals, they were not absolutely sure of defeating France, and even Bismarck, who provoked the war, went to the battlefield with poison, so after hearing Li Mingyuan's words, although West felt that it made sense, he still didn't believe it.

"France is very strong, and I don't think that in a few years, Prussia will go to war with France." West shook his head.

West's rank was not high, and he did not have access to the core secrets of the Prussian army, so he did not know that after Bismarck came to power, he had been secretly expanding his armaments, including purchasing mineral materials from Peru, developing railways for army mobilization, and so on......

"No, you will." Li Mingyuan said confidently: "Austria has just been severely damaged by your country, if you wait until Austria's strength recovers, your country will definitely face obstruction from Austria, France and even Russia when it launches a war of unification.

At that time, it was basically impossible to unify Germany.

And France is not as strong as it seems on the surface, since Napoleon III came to the throne, relying on the army and Napoleon's prestige to suppress the growing contradictions at home,

In the event of a major defeat, the rule will soon fall apart, so the best time to start a war is within three years.

Your Prime Minister, Count Bismarck, was a far-sighted statesman, and I am sure he would have seen the situation facing Prussia. ”

Li Mingyuan's remarks made West understand the bad situation facing Prussia and the inevitability of Prussia starting a war in the near future.

"Li, I still underestimated you, I didn't expect you to know so deeply about the situation in Europe."

"West, you know that my father was a prince of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and when I was in China, I once studied European history with a knowledgeable missionary, and the loyal king Li Xiucheng was my uncle, and he had a foreign army under him, and I followed them to understand the customs and customs of European countries and learn from them the languages of various Chinese."

Li Mingyuan explained.

Li Mingyuan is proficient in German and English, and West has seen it, and he has no doubts about what Li Mingyuan said about getting along with foreigners since he was a child.

"Li, it's a pleasure to know you, and before I leave, I'll give you this saber."

West ordered his subordinates to take out a delicately decorated saber, handed it to Li Mingyuan, and introduced: "This is a saber awarded by the long-term officer of the Prussian Royal Guards Regiment, and I will pass it on to you today." ”

The saber is finely crafted, and the hilt is engraved with the emblem of the eagle representing Prussia.

Li Mingyuan simply took the saber and pulled out the saber, and the sword body reflected a burst of silver light under the reflection of the sun. "Good sword, good sword, I like the sword sent by the colonel."

Li Mingyuan praised twice in a row, put away his sword, and said with a smile: "The army is just starting out, and there is a shortage of materials, so I have the right to give the colonel a short gun as a souvenir." Li Mingyuan took out the short gun he was carrying with him and handed it to West.

"Thank you," West took the gun, not displeased with its simplicity.

"This short gun has accompanied me to many victories since the uprising, and today I give it to the Colonel, hoping that it will bring the same good luck to the Colonel."

"Ordinary weapons can also play an important role in the hands of heroes, and your Excellency's short spear has a special meaning, and I will treasure it." West played with the short gun in his hand and said thoughtfully.

When the Prussian fleet was about to start, West and Li Mingyuan said a few more words, and finally said goodbye: "Prussia is about to usher in a war that will determine the fate of the country, and after completing this transportation mission, I will ask the commander to transfer to the army unit and personally participate in the war related to the fate of the country." ”

"Prussia is a respectable country, and Germany will eventually move towards reunification under Prussian leadership." Li Mingyuan said sincerely.

"Goodbye and look forward to our next meeting." After saying this, West turned to board the warship......