Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 10 Military Competition
The next day, at nine o'clock in the morning, the open space outside the mine was full of people.

The news that Li Mingyuan was holding a military competition spread two days ago. Sixty thousand Chinese workers who had nothing to do in the desert mines all came out to watch the competition.

"Old Liu, I heard that the winner of the competition will be personally received by the prince."

"That's not all. I heard from the company commander that as long as you perform well in the competition, you can become an officer."

"Then I'll join in, too. I'm strong enough to fight two or three people. I want to be an officer, too."

The idea of ​​officialism has always been serious in China. After Li Mingyuan announced the news of selecting some officers through martial arts competitions, the soldiers were very enthusiastic and lined up to sign up.

Because there were too many people who signed up, Li Mingyuan divided the competition venues into fifteen areas for selection in four events: shooting, fighting, running, and weightlifting.

"Liu Pu, the brothers are very enthusiastic." Li Mingyuan walked around several locations and watched the soldiers' performance.

"Brothers all want to serve the prince." Liu Pu flattered Li Mingyuan.

Li Mingyuan smiled and ignored Liu Pu's flattery.

In order to encourage soldiers to participate in the competition, Li Mingyuan not only took out a large amount of captured gold and silver as prizes, but also promised that the champion of each event would become the battalion commander, and other soldiers with good performance would also become company commanders, platoon leaders, and squad leaders.

When the soldiers heard that they could become officers, they immediately became excited. Although they couldn't become champion, as long as they performed well, they still had hope of becoming a company commander or platoon leader. So the soldiers who felt that they had some abilities signed up for the competition one after another.

"Liu Pu, how many people have signed up now?"

"A total of 5,900 people signed up."

"Five thousand nine hundred people, almost one tenth of the total population." Li Mingyuan said with some emotion.

"Eight hundred of the 5,900 people are from four divisions conducting group simulation operations."

The military competition is divided into two parts. One is a group competition mainly composed of four newly formed divisions. Each unit sends out a part of its troops and then conducts an offensive and defensive competition in a simulated war environment.

The remaining 5,100-odd people underwent personal specialty selection, which tested the soldiers' individual capabilities.

"Five thousand one hundred is not a small number. After this competition, we will select one thousand people with good performance to serve as company and platoon officers. This will just fill the gap in officers after the expansion of the army."

Peru's counterattack is imminent, and Li Mingyuan does not have time to slowly promote officers. Although selecting officers through military competitions is a bit arbitrary, it is the most appropriate method now.

"If the Peruvians want to deal with us, they must send at least 30,000 people. Otherwise, if they send fewer people, they will just be sending us equipment." Liu Pu has always been in charge of military logistics, so he is very familiar with the weapons and equipment of the Taiping Army, which was renamed the South American Chinese Independence Army. With the existing equipment, the Peruvian army with less than 30,000 people will not be a match for the Chinese Independence Army.

"The gap in weapons and equipment is too big, otherwise I would have taken down Balangka directly." Li Mingyuan said with some regret.
After capturing Dulaya, the Independence Army seized some weapons and equipment one after another. Now there are more than 20,000 muskets in total, but most of them are outdated muskets seized from mines, and there are only about 6,000 muskets in good condition.

Because there were not enough muskets, about half of the soldiers were still armed with cold weapons such as swords and spears. These weapons were enough to defend the city, but it was impossible to attack the heavily guarded Baranka.

Because Barranca is an important port city in Peru, with hundreds of merchant ships docking in Barranca every day, the Peruvian government has stationed a large number of troops in Barranca.

These troops were not used to supervise the Chinese workers, but to guard against the Chileans. In the eyes of the Peruvians, the Chinese workers were hardworking and capable, but cowardly, and they never thought that they would launch an uprising.

Li Mingyuan wanted to attack Baranca not only to seize supplies, but also to gain access to the sea, and then trade with Prussia and other powerful countries through the sea route. "Baranca is a nail behind Peru's entry into the Patibilka Valley. Only by taking it can we fully prepare for the war against Peru." Liu Pu nodded.

The two men talked as they walked, and soon arrived at the shooting competition arena.

"I'm Zhou Daniu, the commander of the security corps, reporting to the prince." Li Mingyuan was talking to Liu Pu when he was suddenly interrupted by a loud voice.

Li Mingyuan turned around and saw that it was Zhou Daniu during the first riot. At that time, Zhou Daniu led a hundred people to protect the old and weak Taiping Army and did not participate in the mission of attacking the hall.

But it was also Zhou Daniu's bad luck. After the riot was successful, Li Mingyuan lacked capable subordinates, so he left Zhou Daniu behind to guard the old camp, causing him to not participate in subsequent battles and not gain any military merit.

"Daniu, how are you doing in the security regiment?" Li Mingyuan asked with a smile.

"Prince, please change the troops for Daniu. He has been guarding the old camp all the time and his hands are itching to stay idle." Zhou Daniu said.

"The Guard Regiment is responsible for the security of the old camp. It is a heavy responsibility. I value you by letting you be the Guard Regiment Commander. Why are you still not satisfied?"

"No, Prince, the work of guard is important, but Lao Niu is not cut out for it. When we were short of manpower during the riot, you asked me to do the work of guard and Lao Niu didn't hesitate. But now the army has expanded and there is no shortage of manpower. It's not too much for Lao Niu to change to another unit." Zhou Daniu said unwillingly.

"Haha, I'll let you be the head of the garrison for a while. How about this? You hand over the garrison duties and take up your post at the newly established Second Mixed Brigade tomorrow."

The Second Mixed Brigade is one of the two mixed brigades directly under the headquarters, the other brigade being headed by Wang Dashan.

The mixed brigade has 6,000 people and is half a level lower than a division.

Although the mixed brigade has a small number of people, most of the soldiers are Taiping troops with combat experience. In addition, it is directly under the headquarters of the Independent Army, so its weapons and equipment are better than those of the four divisions.

"Yes, I will go to handle the handover procedures now." Zhou Daniu did not expect that Li Mingyuan would let him be the commander of the mixed brigade. He was so happy that he could not wait to complete the transfer procedures immediately.

"Don't worry, since I promised you, I won't go back on my word. Come on, accompany me to see the soldiers' shooting results." Li Mingyuan stopped Zhou Daniu who was turning around to leave.

"Am I not too happy?" Zhou Daniu said embarrassedly.

"Daniu, you are in charge of the shooting competition. Please help me introduce the competition situation." Li Mingyuan said.

"Sir, there are 437 soldiers who have signed up for the shooting competition. After two rounds of elimination, there are still 25 left to participate in the competition."

"There are a few people participating in the shooting competition." Liu Pu next to him said.

"There are not many people participating in the shooting competition, but the level of those who have registered is quite good. There are also five soldiers with sharp shooting skills who can hit targets 150 meters away." Zhou Daniu said.

"Oh, hitting the target at 150 meters, I want to meet them." Li Mingyuan said with interest.

During World War II, the sniper rifle was invented. With the help of a scope, a sharpshooter could only hit a target about 200 meters away. The accuracy would drop if the target was farther away. Therefore, being able to hit a target at 150 meters without the help of professional aiming equipment was still very impressive.

(End of this chapter)