Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 78 Misjudgment
On the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, a few wisps of smoke rise from the woods. Looking closely, you can see that there are simple thatched houses hidden under the trees. The rising smoke is produced by the owners of the houses cooking.

In front of the thatched cottage was an empty lawn, where seven or eight hundred people, young and old, formed a semicircle.

Looking at the thirty or so young men in front holding guns.

"Bang, bang, bang," more than thirty gunshots were heard in succession. The bullets hit the big tree in front, spraying out some dead wood debris.

"Look, chief, the musket bullets shot into the big tree." After the shooting, an Indian youth said in surprise.

The Indian chief picked up the bark that was knocked off by the musket, looked at the damage the musket had caused to the tree, and a relieved smile appeared on his tense face.

"Our friends from afar did not deceive us. The muskets they sent us were very powerful."

"With these muskets, we can hunt more prey, and the children in the village won't have to go hungry." An old hunter said happily.

"No, these muskets are not for hunting. I want to use them to protect the safety of the village."

What Li Mingyuan gave them were obsolete and backward weapons, but these weapons seemed very precious in the hands of the Indians.

Since these were obsolete muskets, Li Mingyuan gave out 1,500 bullets, an average of 50 bullets per musket. If they used muskets for hunting, these bullets could be used for a while.

"The white people are greedy wolves. They have occupied our land and driven us into the desolate mountains and forests. We can no longer believe their lies. We must use our own weapons to protect the safety of the village."

"Chief Bamoza, give me these muskets. I will teach the warriors in the village how to use them."

A strong Indian man with feathers on his head shouted.

"Benadi, you are a warrior among the Aymara people. I believe you will lead a group of brave warriors."

The Indian with feathers on his head is called Bernardi. When the army massacred Indians a few years ago, Bernardi killed two Bolivian soldiers and escaped from the city of Varas. Therefore, he was revered as a warrior by his tribesmen.

Five or six miles away from the Indian village, the Bolivian army heard a burst of gunfire.
"Where did the gunshot come from?" the officer in charge asked after the gunshot.
"Report to the commander, the gunshots came from the forest in the north."

"Which Indian tribe is that to the north?"

"The Aymara tribe lives in the mountains to the north. They originally gathered near Baras, but were later driven to live in the mountains."

"Oh, the Aymara people. They are the savages among the Indians. During the last rebellion, more than a dozen soldiers died at the hands of the Aymara people."

"Sir, do you suspect the Aymara attacked Major Bavi's troops?"

"Yes, didn't you hear the gunshot just now?"

"But the gunfire was sparse, not like the sound of more than 200 troops."

"Maybe Major Bavi is about to finish the battle, so the gunfire has become sparse." said the leading officer.

"Sir, please take us there quickly. If we go too late, all the stuff will be snatched away by Major Bavi's men."

Hearing the words of their leader, the soldiers immediately became alert.

Following others to grab the fruits of victory is profitable and risk-free, so the soldiers are naturally enthusiastic. "Major Bavi has defeated the Indians ahead, and they are probably arresting people all over the mountains and plains now," the leading officer loudly exaggerated that there are a lot of benefits waiting for the soldiers to take. After hearing this, the soldiers below shouted that they wanted to help the friendly forces.

The spirits of the Bolivian soldiers were aroused, and the leading officer immediately led the soldiers towards the Indian village without hesitation.

"Kill, rob the alpacas, rob the women!" The excited Bolivian soldiers shouted before entering the Indian village.

"What's that noise?" asked Bernardi, who had just distributed the muskets.

"Bernardi, look! It's white people and mestizos! (Mestizos are the name given by the Indians to the mixed-race people in Bolivia.)"

"Basang, go and inform the chieftain that the white army is coming to attack us." Bernardi clenched his rifle and shouted to the Indians around him, "All warriors, go to the fence to stop the enemy and cover the retreat of the old and young in the tribe."

The Bolivian soldiers attacked suddenly. Although they had exposed their identities in advance, by the time Bernardi led more than a hundred young Indian men to the wooden fence, more than twenty Bolivian soldiers had already climbed over the fence and were preparing to rush into the village.

"Shoot." Bernardi shouted, and then opened fire. Seven or eight Bolivian soldiers were shot by the musket and fell to the ground.

The sudden shooting slowed down the Bolivian soldiers' attack speed. They did not expect that the backward Indians also had muskets.

The Indians' first round of shooting did not produce ideal results. More than 30 muskets only injured seven or eight enemies, with a very low hit rate.

Bernardi was very anxious after seeing the results of the first round of shooting.

There were very few Indians who could use muskets, and even fewer who could master the shooting skills of muskets. Among the more than 30 makeshift musketmen, less than ten had ever touched a musket before. That was a few years ago when Bernardi killed two Bolivian soldiers and then used the muskets he had snatched from them for training, and only then did he allow eight or nine Indians to touch the musket.

"Stop them quickly." While the Indians were shooting, Bolivian soldiers outside the fence continued to pour in. When the Indians had used up the ammunition in their muskets, more than 20 Bolivian soldiers entered the fence.

The wooden fence is the most advantageous defensive tool for the Indians. If the enemy is allowed to cross the wooden fence now, the Indians in the village will suffer a very tragic fate.

"Puff", an Indian who was blocking the wooden fence was besieged by two Bolivian soldiers. Just when he used the bayonet on his musket to block the attack of one soldier, the other soldier stabbed the bayonet into his body. The Indian, who was in extreme pain, wanted to fight back, but was stabbed in the heart by the soldier who came up from behind, and then fell to the ground powerlessly.

The Bolivian soldiers advanced and shot at the same time. Within a few minutes, less than half of the first hundred or so Indians who arrived were still able to stand up.

However, their sacrifice was meaningful. The sacrifice of more than fifty Indian youths bought time for the Indians who came later. Under the leadership of the patriarch, all the men in the Indian village who could hold weapons rushed to the battleground between the two sides. The Indians used their numerical advantage to temporarily drive the Bolivian soldiers out of the fence, and the two sides temporarily ceased fighting across the fence.

The brief battle caused considerable casualties on both sides. As the attacking side, more than 40 Bolivian soldiers who entered the fence in front were killed and more than 20 were injured. The Indians suffered even greater casualties, with more than 180 injured, and the death toll was slightly less than that of the Bolivian soldiers, with more than 30 killed.

During the intermission of the battle, the old chief looked at the heavy casualties among his people and felt grief in his heart. He did not understand why the white soldiers wanted to attack them. There were more than 400 soldiers outside the fence, and the entire village, including the elderly men, could not even make up 800 people. In the previous battle, more than 200 Indians had been killed or wounded, and there were less than 600 men who could resist the enemy's attack.

It was impossible for more than 600 old, weak and wounded soldiers to repel more than 400 Bolivian soldiers. Even though the Bolivian soldiers were just ordinary security forces, their weapons were still much stronger than those of the Indians who were armed with bows and arrows and a small number of muskets.

The power disparity between the enemy and us was too great, and the old patriarch was filled with grief and indignation: "Great Sun God, please save your people!"

The sun god is the most worshipped deity by the Indians, but when Western colonists were slaughtering the Indians, the god had not appeared yet, let alone at this time.

The old patriarch was in pain and sadness, but he still had a calm expression on his face as he comforted his people.

(End of this chapter)