Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 20: Transmitting Intelligence

"Untie all the ropes on them." A group of Chinese workers came to where Sun Qisheng and others were staying, and Sun Qisheng said,
A dozen soldiers went up and quickly untied the ropes on them.

"Didn't you buy us to work for you?" Chen Lu'er asked puzzledly after the ropes on his body were untied.

"We are all Chinese and we will not push you into the fire pit."

"I understand. You are the Chinese army that rebelled, right?" Cai Jiu said suddenly when he saw that Sun Qisheng and the others had ruddy complexions, unlike them who were pale and thin.

"This is not the place to talk. I will send you out of the city first. After you leave the city, keep going south and you will meet our people soon."

Sun Qishengdao.

"Thank you all heroes for your help." Although Sun Qisheng did not directly respond to their identities, Cai Jiu guessed that they were gathering information for the Chinese rebels after they disguised themselves as Indians and sneaked into the city.

Cai Jiu said bluntly, "My fellow heroes, we have just come down from the Peruvian city gate fortifications and have some understanding of their military deployment. I am willing to stay and lead the Chinese heroes who have revolted to check the Peruvian intelligence."

"Do you know the Peruvian military deployment?" Sun Qisheng said in disbelief.

"I dare not deceive you. I was trying to escape while I was building fortifications at the city gate, so please pay attention to the number of Peruvian soldiers while you are working."

Cai Jiu looked at everyone who was listening to him, and continued, "The Peruvian military camp was heavily guarded and did not allow Chinese workers to approach. However, since they had to go out for training and meals every day, I observed the construction site for five or six days and roughly calculated the Peruvian troop deployment at each city gate."

Cai Jiu picked up a small stone from the ground and drew on the ground: Please look, among the four gates of Arequipa, the South Gate is most likely to face attacks by the rebels, so the Peruvians deployed two thousand people here, about one thousand people at the East Gate and West Gate, and eight hundred people at the North Gate. The rest of the troops are under the jurisdiction of Iquidoc, the military commander of Arequipa. The specific number of people should be two thousand.

Cai Jiu drew a rough map of Arequipa's troop deployment on the ground, and then waited for Sun Qisheng's reaction.

Sun Qisheng looked at the distribution map carefully and asked, "Brother, I am curious about how you know so much about the situation in Arequipa."

After Sun Qisheng finished speaking, he looked at him warily. If he showed any signs of guilt, he would take them down immediately.

You can't blame Sun Qisheng for being suspicious. Reconnaissance and intelligence gathering on the enemy is related to the success or failure of the Chinese army. Every detail must be carefully analyzed without any omissions.

Although the Chinese Independence Army had won two major victories in succession, the Chinese army, surrounded on all sides, was still in a disadvantageous position. Once the Chinese army suffered a defeat, the Peruvians might think that the Chinese were vulnerable and launch an attack on them.

Moreover, the territory occupied by the Chinese Independence Army is already bordering the Bolivians. If the Chinese do not show strong behavior, the Bolivians, who are jealous of the saltpeter producing areas, may regard the areas occupied by the Chinese as fat meat and rush to get a piece of the pie.

Cai Jiu didn't expect Sun Qisheng to doubt him, and explained, "My brothers and I were working on a plantation in Arequipa, and the army that arrested us when we escaped last time was sent by Iquidoque, the commander of the Arequipa garrison."

"Brother, please don't be offended. Intelligence investigation is related to the life and death of the 80,000 rebel brothers outside the city. I have no choice but to be cautious."

After carefully observing Cai Jiu and his group, he found that the scars on their bodies were all one or two months old, and did not look like they were newly left to lure them into the trap. Combined with what Cai Jiu said, there were no loopholes, so Sun Qisheng believed him.

"Captain Sun overestimates the Peruvians. They have not read the Thirty-Six Stratagems, so they would never think of using the strategy of inflicting pain on us," said Wang Chenglin.

"You all have important responsibilities, so you should be careful," Cai Jiu echoed.

"According to your intelligence, there are about 7,000 Peruvians in Arequipa. If we notify Commander Li and Commander Luo who are on the sweep outside, and raid the South Gate where the least number of people are located in the middle of the night, we should have a great chance of winning with the cooperation of both inside and outside forces." Sun Qisheng pondered.

"Captain Sun, Arequipa is an important city in Peru. In a few days, there will definitely be other military support. If we don't take advantage of the good opportunity now to capture it, it will be even more difficult to capture it in the future."

Wang Chenglin advised.

"Captain Sun, although we are injured, if we fight the Peruvians, all of our brothers will be as strong as the young men." After hearing that Wang Chenglin wanted to attack Arequipa, Cai Jiu felt that revenge was possible and spoke up. "Whether to attack Arequipa or not is not something we should consider. Let's pass the news to the nearby mopping-up troops first, and let them report to the prince for the decision."

Sun Qishengdao.

"As commanded,"

"Wang Chenglin, you take the five brothers to deliver the message to the two division commanders. Brother Cai Jiu, you pick a few brothers who are still in good health to serve as guides, and the others will leave the city later."

"Captain Sun, just pass the message to another brother. I'm a good shooter, and I might be of greater help if I stay in the city."

"Okay, then I'll have another brother take your place."

After some consideration, Sun Qisheng agreed to Wang Chenglin's request.

Among the 104 Chinese workers, Cai Jiu selected six who were not seriously injured to stay behind. The others left under Anthony's cover half an hour after the person who reported the news left.

"You mean you have discovered the military deployment in Arequipa?" Li Sandou asked the soldier who reported the news in Li Sandou's temporary base in Luolin Mountain.

"Yes, Commander Li." The soldier who reported the news repeated the information to the two men.

"Brother, you've worked hard. Go down and rest first. As for the intelligence, Commander Luo and I will seriously consider it."

After the soldier who reported the news left, Li Sandou opened the map, pointed to Arequipa and said, "Commander Luo, Arequipa is fifty miles away from us. If we make a long-distance raid, we can arrive tonight."

Li Sandou and Luo Linshan's two divisions had finished their mopping-up operation and assembled. When they were about to go back, they heard the information from Sun Qisheng and began to think of Arequipa.

"Captain Sun's information should not be false. I don't want to miss such a good opportunity." Li Sandou saw Luo Linshan lowering his head to think, and continued.

"This is indeed a good opportunity, but our mission is to sweep the surrounding towns. I'm worried that it will cause the prince's dissatisfaction if we attack Arequipa without his order. Moreover, we didn't bring any heavy siege equipment this time. It's not easy to capture Arequipa with just a dozen field artillery." Luo Linshan said carefully.

"The lack of siege cannons is indeed a problem," Li Sandou frowned.

After capturing two cities, the Chinese Independence Army gradually gained strength, and they had twenty heavy artillery pieces for siege (the heavy artillery here refers to the small mountain artillery pieces that are relatively easy to carry). Li Mingyuan organized them into a heavy artillery battalion, which was under the command of Luo Zhongguo's artillery regiment.

Because Li Sandou and Luo Linshan were sweeping small towns and mines, they only carried a dozen small mountain cannons and did not carry any heavy cannons that were difficult to transport.

"Captain Luo, let's make a plan. Let's send someone to inform the prince first. At the same time, two divisions will travel overnight to surround Arequipa first. When the prince sends heavy artillery troops, we will attack the city."

"It's a shame to waste such a good opportunity. I agree with Master Li's suggestion. Let's write back to the prince in our names. Even if the prince wants to blame us, we will bear the responsibility together."

Although the two of them wrote a letter to Li Mingyuan to introduce the situation in Arequipa, their actions were already a case of acting first and reporting later, so Luo Linshan hesitated just now.

"Don't worry, Commander Luo. The prince advocates that frontline commanders should have their own judgment and know how to fight flexibly. They don't need to ask the headquarters for instructions on everything."

Li Sandou laughed.

"Then I feel relieved." Luo Linshan joined the Chinese Independence Army later, so he acted cautiously.

After the two commanders made the decision, the soldiers of the two divisions quickly assembled and marched towards Arequipa overnight.

(End of this chapter)