In the jungle east of the Paraguay River, a group of troops dressed in Brazilian army uniforms marched slowly, with only more than 300 people in this force having white characteristics, and the others were clearly Han Chinese-looking.

Li Mingyuan learned from Canudut the information he wanted, the circuitous route of the Brazilian army and the specific location of the receiving fleet.

Garcia's mobilized naval vessels escorted 5,000 troops ashore and did not leave, but anchored at the landing site to provide logistical support for the roundabout troops, and according to Canudut, more than 10 warships were moored at the landing site, including two steam-powered ironclads.

After entering the nineteenth century, ironclad ships gradually eliminated sail warships and became the main warships of the navies of great powers.

When he was in Peru, Li Mingyuan heard the news that the Peruvian Navy was equipped with ironclad ships, and Li Mingyuan also proposed to obtain an ironclad ship, but was categorically rejected by the Peruvian president.

Then Li Mingyuan retreated, and received a batch of large sail merchant ships from Peru as compensation.

After the first industrial revolution, ironclad warships became the main weapon in the battle at sea, and Li Mingyuan wanted to move enough people from the mainland to master a large number of ironclad warships and steam ships.

The Chinese troops used the captured Brazilian soldiers to disguise themselves as soldiers who had come to transport supplies, and then boarded the battleship to control the Brazilian crew on board, and two ironclad warships and a dozen sail warships fell into the hands of the Chinese Independence Army.

Half of the main ships of the Brazilian Navy were moored together to provide support for the roundabout troops, and after capturing this fleet, not only did the Chinese Independent Army have its own naval force, but it was also possible to use these ships to break directly into the rear of the main Brazilian force along the river and give the Brazilian troops a surprise attack.

Garcia was resourceful and attacked the Paraguayan defenders from the flank, but what would be the expression on his face if he knew that the Chinese Independence Army would also give him a hand.

Li Mingyuan was in a good mood and beckoned Kanudute to him.

"When you arrive at the dockings of the fleet, I will send a team of soldiers to follow you, and then your task will be to gather the Brazilian naval officers together, and then the troops I send will deal with them,

When it succeeds, I'll get rid of all the Brazilian soldiers who have seen you, and I won't give you any trouble. ”

"General, isn't your plan too risky, if they find a flaw, you and your men will be in danger."

"For the sake of two ironclads, a little risk is worth it. But rest assured, my men will always be with you, and they will keep you safe even if the plan fails. ”

Sending people to follow Kanudut certainly meant to spy on him, but Li Mingyuan said that protecting him was not to deceive him.

Canudute is the heir of Duke Frobert of the Brazilian Empire, and teaming up with him will be of great help to the future development of the Chinese Independence Army in southern Brazil.

Canudute is the deputy commander of the 5,000-strong Brazilian army, and the Brazilian general who served as the main command has been executed by Li Mingyuan, and there are only more than 300 people left in the entire 5,000-strong army to follow the team.

Since he agreed to the conditions of the Chinese Independence Army, now he can only go one way to the black, according to the plan designed by Li Mingyuan.

On June 10, 1868, at eight o'clock in the evening, a group of Brazilian soldiers appeared at the naval camp by the river.

Many sailors gathered in the camp by the river, this time was the time for them to eat, the Canudute family was young, he had not been in the Brazilian army for a long time, except for some high-ranking officers in the army, ordinary soldiers had not seen him at all, so after arriving at the camp, Canudute first sent two soldiers to inform the naval officer of the camp, and then took the twenty soldiers around him to the riverside warship after obtaining permission.

The night was dark, and the Brazilian troops by the river ate and chatted as usual, and did not notice that there was a change in the river.

Not far from the two ironclad ships, more than a dozen blurry figures gradually approached the warships, the weather in June in South America, the river water was a little cold, Chen Sen endured the coldness caused by soaking in the water for a long time, and cautiously swam towards the warship.

The ship-seizing plan was divided into three operational steps, first, the special forces soldiers who followed Canudute captured the Brazilian naval officer, then the Chinese Independence Army Navy frogman unit boarded the warship and controlled all the soldiers on the warship, and finally Li Mingyuan, who was ambushed on the shore, launched a general attack to eliminate the Brazilian sailors on the shore.

As a veteran of the Taiping Army's naval division who had been personally trained by Li Mingyuan for several months, Chen Sen knew the difficulty of the operation better than others.

The Brazilian crew on the two ironclad ships was about 400 people, and the frogmen who participated in the operation plus the special forces soldiers on the ship were only more than 120 people in total, and it was a major test for the newly established frogman troops to take down the 400 enemy troops on the ship with more than 100 people, but in order to succeed in the operation, Li Mingyuan had already explained many times on the way, Chen Sen believed that even if the operation was difficult, the Chinese Independence Army would win the battle.

The outline of the warship became clearer and clearer in Chen Sen's eyes, and he could even see the figure of the sailors on duty on the warship.

"Raise soldiers for a thousand days, use soldiers for a while, the prince specially selected us to form a frogman army, whether the two months of hard training can achieve results is tonight, brothers, use all your skills, fight tonight, play the reputation of our frogman troops, do you have confidence."

In the shadows, Chen Sen whispered, and the black-pressed frogman troops gathered together, raising their right hands to show their determination.

Special operations in the water, all kinds of codes were also plagiarized by Li Mingyuan and used in frogman training, seeing that his frogmen were full of confidence, Chen Sen made a gesture, and the gathered frogmen quickly dispersed and swam towards their intended targets.

On the warship, Brazilian naval officers were holding a meeting, and after Canudute led people into the cabin hall,

Sun Qisheng quietly closed the door, and the special forces soldiers around him scattered around the hall, and the more than 20 Brazilian naval officers who held the meeting instantly became prisoners of the Chinese Independent Army.

"Everyone, I'm sorry, I'm forced to do it." Kanudut gave an apologetic expression, then found the fleet commander and went to control the other warships under the escort of special forces.

Sun Qisheng, deputy commander of the special forces, successfully operated, and the frogman unit led by Chen Sen also boarded another ironclad ship.

"Click", the sailor on duty was twisted and his neck was broken, and a frogman sailor behind took the body of the sailor and put it on the ground, and quickly moved towards the center of the warship.

"Bang" A wounded Brazilian sailor fired a short gun on his body, and the calm warship instantly resounded with continuous gunfire.

"Leave the soldiers on deck alone, all personnel control the bow control room according to the plan to prevent the enemy from sabotaging the warship."

The soldiers of the frogman unit basically boarded the warship, Chen Sen was ready to deal with emergencies at any time, and as soon as the gunshots rang out, he immediately ordered the frogman soldiers to turn to the attack.

The increasingly fierce gunfire on the ship also startled the Brazilian soldiers on the shore, several Brazilian officers ran out of the tent where they were eating, and subconsciously wanted to reinforce the friendly forces on the ship, but before they could mobilize their troops, the Chinese Independence Army on the shore also charged from the hidden darkness, with mental calculations or unintentional, and the sound of the enemy's charging horn was heard on all sides in the darkness,

The morale of the Brazilian army instantly fell to its lowest point, and after an hour, except for the 1,000 soldiers who escaped under the cover of night, the remaining 2,000 soldiers on the shore and the naval sailors left behind on the ship were all captured or annihilated.

The blood on the decks of the two ironclad ships had not yet been cleaned up, and Li Mingyuan couldn't wait to board the ship to check the results of this battle.

"General, the ironclad ship under your feet is a battleship purchased by the Brazilian Navy from the British,

The specific data of the warship are as follows: hull: displacement 6270 tons, total length 78.5, waterline length 71.67 meters, total width 14.5 meters, draft 8.1 meters, 420 crew members;

Power: 7 boilers, 2 reciprocating steam engines, power 3000 horsepower, maximum speed 13.5 knots, endurance 3000 miles and 10 knots, single-shaft propulsion;

Armament: 2 270 mm combined main turrets, 2 240 mm 19 x diameter cannons, 4 140 mm 21 x diameter cannons

Protection: broadside armor 178-200 mm, gallery armor 160 mm, turret armor 150 mm. ”

Kanudit stood beside Li Mingyuan and took the initiative to introduce him.

"Kanudut, you're doing a good job, I'll keep my promise to let you go."

Canudut cooperated with the Chinese Independence Army to capture the ships of the Brazilian Navy, which made Li Mingyuan very satisfied, so he praised him a little.

"Shizi, another ironclad ship has been cleared, do you want to take a look?"

Accompanying Li Mingyuan to visit the ironclad ship as the flagship of the Brazilian Navy for a while, Chen Sen proposed.

"No need, another ironclad ship, Kanudot, has already introduced it to me, it's not too early today, let's go see it next time."

The other ironclad ship was only half the size of this one, with a displacement of 3,000 tons and a full crew of 200 people.

In the mid-19th century, ironclad technology was still relatively backward, and the dark iron sheets, towering chimneys, and sails left behind from sail warships undoubtedly ruined the coordination of the entire warship.

After satisfying his initial curiosity, Li Mingyuan lacked interest in observing another ironclad ship.

In the mid-nineteenth century, ironclad ships did not have a long lifespan, and decades later, with the update and development of technology, more and more new warships appeared, and the original old warships were quickly eliminated from the stage of history.

I didn't think too much about things in the future, but for now, the capture of two ironclad ships and a dozen sail warships quickly improved the water power of the Chinese Independence Army, and laid a good start for the Chinese to establish a country in South America.

The problem of the battleship was quickly arranged, and the uncooperative sailors were immediately executed,

Obedient sailors were left on each ironclad to operate the warship, and the rest of the positions were controlled by Chinese soldiers.

The two warships were named Chaoyang and Dawn according to Li Mingyuan's meaning, implying that the Chinese Independent Army would stand on the South American continent like the rising sun and the dawn in the morning.