USB-C port on my iPad Pro 11 inch, model A1934, is DEAD

Dear Apple Community, I have similar problem, my ipad pro 11 inch, model A1934, refuses to recharge using any (including the original Apple cable / charger) usb-c cable. My fault, I left my ipad outside one morning and it received 10mm of rain, 1/4 inch of rain. Luckily it had an Apple protective cover. I dried it off, used a hairdryer etc. etc. and everything functioned perfectly until it was time to recharge the ipad. Applying some pressure to the usb-c cable, the ipad sporadically accepted a charge. Silly me, i thought it was corrosion on the usb-c port and so used a light sandpaper to remove the, what i thought, corosion. Now it refuses to re-charge. I've taken the ipad to local repairers and they refuse to try and repair (seemingly the usb-c port is soldered to the motherboard). I then went to a certified Apple repairer and they were going to charge me 689 euro / 800 US$ to repair. I refused.

My questioin, finally, can i use the ipad smart connector to recharge my ipad? I would need to buy an Apple Magic Keyboard for my ipad? Will this work to recharge my ipad? Is there anything else out there using the Smart Connector which could recharge my lovely ipad? For older ipads, Logitech had an ipad stand which also used the smart connectors to recharge. Thanks in advance for you comments and suggestions. Dominick