Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 518: An Age of War and Suffering

Like ordinary Brazilian civilians, among the crowd hurriedly avoiding the war, British businessman Boris also very much longs for the arrival of peace.

With the British Empire's unrivaled naval military strength, Boris, who was born in an ordinary merchant family in Wales, also enjoyed the dividends brought by the country's strength. In 1881, he mortgaged a house in his hometown from a local bank in Wales and obtained start-up capital. Then he came to the Republic of Brazil in South America and began his entrepreneurial journey. The divided Republic of Brazil was in a state of disrepair. In order to restore national strength, obtain the funds needed for national development, and unify the entire Brazilian region as soon as possible, the ruling Fonseca military government sold a large amount of mineral resources, railways, ports and other basic transportation equipment and natural resources to European powers and businessmen such as Britain, the United States, and Germany.

Taking advantage of this favorable situation, Boris' wallet quickly became fatter. He not only paid the interest and principal of the loans, but also expanded the scale of his business and accumulated considerable assets.

According to the original plan, Boris was going to save up funds for another two years, gradually sell off his properties in Brazil, and then return to his hometown in Wales, buy a few hundred acres of land, and live the leisurely life of a farmer.

Unfortunately, the Paraguayan War and the ongoing Second Brazilian Civil War disrupted his rhythm and plans.

A small printing and dyeing factory and a machinery processing factory in which the company held a stake in the city of Ilheus were hit by artillery shells. Although there were not many casualties among the workers, the factory buildings collapsed, the machines and equipment were destroyed, and most of the invested funds were wasted.

Boris's assets in Brazil were mainly distributed in Ilheus. He abandoned local factories and houses and other assets. His wealth loss reached at least 70%. The achievements he had worked hard for nearly ten years were lost just because of a war.
Boris was very unwilling to give in. Relying on his status as a British citizen and businessman, he contacted a small French businessman and a Dutch businessman to protest against the Ilheus garrison and demanded that the garrison guarantee the safety of their property. The garrison of the Republic of Brazil was naturally willing to protect the property safety of European merchants. Unfortunately, they were unable to take care of themselves and could not stop the Brazilian Imperial Army from indiscriminately attacking the garrison and civilians in the city.

Boris's protest did not achieve the expected effect. When he and several foreign businessmen returned to the destroyed factory to continue guarding their property, two more shells fell nearby. After the shells exploded, more than 30 people, armed with knives and sticks, and even four or five Brazilian white men in their fifties wearing tattered military uniforms, carrying old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles, rushed into the destroyed factory. They ignored the warnings and obstructions of Boris and other European businessmen and looted and plundered the factory area without any hesitation. This scene was very similar to what happened in São Paulo State and Rio de Janeiro Port. The difference was that the occupied areas such as São Paulo State and Rio de Janeiro suffered from organized expropriation and demolition by the Han army, while in the city of Ilheus, what happened was the wanton revelry and looting of idle elements.

The situation in Ilheus was on the verge of collapse and out of control. More and more thugs gathered on the streets, including retired veterans and militiamen carrying guns, sabers and other standard equipment. There were more and more violent incidents. In the end, the emotional thugs were no longer satisfied with looting ordinary local people and businesses, and instead turned their attention to wealthy businessmen and foreigners.

On the way back to the factory, Ilheus witnessed two Brazilian civilians being killed by the chasing thugs. When trying to stop the thugs from rushing into the factory, if several foreign businessmen had not hired more than a dozen armed bodyguards, the thugs would have even wanted to rob them of their valuables.

The incident that occurred in the city in the morning brought a profound shock to Boris and other foreign businessmen. In the afternoon of the same day, several European businessmen, including Boris, unanimously decided to temporarily ignore the destroyed factory buildings and the machinery and equipment buried underneath. They simply packed up their belongings, took their valuables, and left Ilheus immediately.

In this way, Boris and his entourage, including family members and hired white bodyguards, a total of more than 40 people, hurriedly left from the south of the city.

"Mr. Henry, let me ask you, why don't we take the railway to the south? Instead, we follow the fleeing crowd and take the more time-consuming road?"

In the crowd, Boris pulled open the curtain in front of the carriage and sat at the front of the carriage with the servant driving the carriage. He looked at a middle-aged white man about 40 years old who was following on the left side of the carriage. He had a new breech-loading rifle on his back and a Han-made saber on his waist, and spoke with respect.

"Sir, during the war, the railway was requisitioned by the army. Even if you obtained a train ticket to the south with your British citizenship, you couldn't leave by train. You may not know that the Han Navy and the Brazilian Empire Navy have blockaded the coastal waters of the Republic of Brazil. The Brazilian Empire Army bypassed Ilheus and landed at the port of Belmonte. The railway line south of Belmonte and north of Itamaraju was temporarily blocked by the Brazilian Empire Army, and there was no way to pass the train at all."

"What about Rio de Janeiro? Do you know anything about the area around Rio de Janeiro?"

"The Han army boarded warships and transport ships and landed in Sao Paulo State and Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian Navy in the port of Rio de Janeiro was completely wiped out. The Han army occupied Sao Paulo City and Niterói in the southeast of Rio de Janeiro. It is said that there are 30,000 Han army troops, heading towards Rio de Janeiro from Sao Paulo City and Niterói."

“What about the rest of the Brazilian Republic?”

“President Fonseca issued an emergency order to reinforce the capital. All the garrisons in Volta Redonda, Juiz, Guaratingueta and other surrounding areas were transferred to Rio de Janeiro for defense. Currently, the total number of garrisons in Rio de Janeiro is about 2.2.

Admiral Santos led the troops evacuated from Paraguay and moved to Aracatuba, and is reinforcing Rio de Janeiro in accordance with President Fonseca's orders.

“Has the situation in the Republic of Brazil deteriorated to such an extent?”

Boris said in a frustrated tone.

"It's not all bad news. The Americans have sent their Atlantic Fleet to provide reinforcements to the Republic of Brazil. The arrival of the American fleet may bring about changes in the situation."

"Americans? Americans are involved too?"

Boris' mood did not improve when he heard the news of American intervention. The war dealt a heavy blow to commercial transactions, and the competitive behavior of the Americans in the Republic of Brazil also seriously damaged the interests of British businessmen. Therefore, the United States sending a fleet to support the Republic of Brazil was not good news for Boris.

"Hey, rich guy, don't worry about your safety on the road. With us here, those bastards who only know how to bully civilians and those cowards without courage won't dare to rush up and cause trouble."

Another white man, who was also riding a horse and carrying a rifle on his back, walked in front of the carriage. He said arrogantly, "Do you know how lucky you are to hire us to provide you with protection? In the Shanghai International Settlement in the Far East, everyone would give a thumbs up to Wedemeyer, Henry, Claire and others. We made a big name for ourselves in the Far East. Isn't the South American Han Army powerful? I saw it ten years ago. At that time, we carried out a thrilling personnel transportation mission with an officer named Wang from the South American Han Country. Oh, he should be a lieutenant colonel now. It was me, Wedemeyer, who led the team and evaded the search of the Qing government and successfully transported the people needed by the Han Country out of the Far East."

"What happened next?" Boris saw that Henry and his group were not simple, so he deliberately followed Weydemeyer's words and asked.

"Later, the Han people gave us twelve breech-loading rifles, forty grenades, and an additional 2000 rounds of ammunition as a reward. With the weapons in our hands, we did a lot of business in the Far East. All merchant ships that passed through the Shanghai International Settlement and landed had to pay us a security fee. Unfortunately, due to an unexpected incident, Montfield was arrested and shot by the French, and all the wealth we earned was confiscated by the damn French! That was a full 5 taels of silver, which is nearly 1.3 pounds when converted into pounds."

"Weidemeier, shut your stinky mouth! Don't say anything you shouldn't say."

Seeing that Weidemeier was getting more and more excited and almost revealed everyone's experiences in one breath, Henry spoke up to stop him in time.

"Hey, Henry, what are you afraid of? It's been five or six years since the incident. The French have long forgotten about it. Besides, this is America, not France or the Far East. The French can't control us."

The man named Wei Demai still said nonchalantly.

Henry, Wedemeyer and others made a living in the Shanghai International Settlement in the Far East in their early years. In 1881, Wang Shizhen was assigned by the Han Kingdom to return to the Far East. In order to conceal his tracks, he hired Henry, Wedemeyer and other European whites to transfer Li Mingyuan's clan members, Li Rongfa, a descendant of Li Xiucheng, the King of Loyalty, and others to South America. Through this line, Henry and others became Han's non-staff armed intelligence personnel, and relying on the weapons obtained from Han, they collected protection fees from merchants in the Shanghai International Settlement, and occasionally worked as pirates part-time. One time, the leader of the group, Meng Feierde, drank too much and lost his mind. He robbed a French merchant ship and killed two Frenchmen. He got into trouble and was arrested by the French Concession and lost his life. The remaining people sought help from the Han State and escaped the French search. Then they left the Far East and came to the South American continent. While continuing to take risks and make money, they continued to act as peripheral personnel of the Han State, collecting intelligence on the industry and minerals in the Republic of Brazil for the Han State. (Chapter 366 of this book).

"Since you have had contact with the Han Kingdom, why don't you continue to serve the Han Kingdom, such as joining the Han Foreign Legion. I heard from others that the Han Foreign Legion recruits European whites and the treatment is not bad."

Henry, the leader of the group, did not continue to stop Weydemeyer from talking, so Boris continued to test the waters.

"Foreign Legion? No, no, the Foreign Legion is too strictly managed, and now the recruitment standards have changed. They mainly recruit naturalized white people from Han, as well as some Annan, Korean, Japanese, and Thai people. As for foreign personnel from other regions, the number of recruits has been greatly reduced."

"It seems that the Han Kingdom's influence in overseas areas has expanded and no longer needs to rely on the names of European countries."

"Hey, that's not necessarily true. In Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Far East, our white faces are more useful, especially in the Far East. The Han Kingdom and the Far East are in a hostile relationship. They set up immigration stations and commercial bases in the Far East, still in the name of other countries, and the apparent person in charge is also white. Even if the local officials in the Far East know that the actual controller of these bases is the Han Kingdom, they can use the foreign company's skin as an excuse to prevaricate with the Qing government."

"Europe is the center of the civilized world. In South America, the Han Kingdom, which ranks first in military strength, also needs the protection of the British Empire to resist American interference. In the Far East, the Han Kingdom also needs to rely on the influence of European countries for business and immigration transportation!"

After hearing Wedemeyer's introduction to the Han Foreign Legion, Boris felt a sense of pride in being a citizen of the British Empire and said proudly.

"Haha, white people are the leaders of the civilized world! It was only after the Han people learned from Europe that they quickly developed into the strongest country in South America in terms of comprehensive strength."

Weydemeyer laughed and agreed with the other party's point of view, consciously ignoring the achievements and status that the Han Dynasty had achieved in emerging fields such as chemical industry and electricity, which were ahead of European countries.

"Mr. Weidemeier, what are your future plans? Are you still planning to stay in the Republic of Brazil?"

"It's boring to stay in Brazil. I might as well go back to the Far East. There are more opportunities to make money there."

"Aren't you worried about the French wanting you?"

"It's been five or six years since the incident happened. The French should have forgotten about it long ago. Besides, when I go back, I can change my identity and go to southern Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi or other coastal areas in the Far East to start a new career."

Wedemeyer generously shared his plans, and then did not forget to kindly remind the other party: "Kuang, if I were you, I would not stay in the Republic of Brazil. It would be much better to go to the Far East. The officials there have always been very respectful to European citizens, and the environment for doing business and developing a career is also very good. You really shouldn't miss the opportunity."

"Go to the Far East?" Boris carefully analyzed Weydemeyer's suggestion and fell silent.

The fleeing crowd spread out in a long line of seven or eight kilometers. In the evening, the light from the exploding shells illuminated half of the sky red. Boris looked back at the city of Illeus shrouded in flames, and finally made up his mind to stay away from the war and head to the Far East to start a new business journey.

"Almighty God, may you have mercy on the devout believers and bestow the gift of peace as soon as possible." Boris made the sign of the cross on his chest and prayed for the people who were still in Ilheus and suffered from the war before leaving.

However, just like the dense sound of gunfire and the raging fire, the threat of war was also lingering all over the world at the end of the 30th century. The Far East, North America, Central America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe, wherever human footprints remain, will face the baptism and test of war in the next years.

This era is filled with blood and fire, war and suffering. No one can stay out of it.
(End of this chapter)