Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 107 The war begins

On June 1868, 6, a huge fleet of more than 11 people set sail, heading directly for the main camp of the Brazilian coalition forces. During the voyage, the riverside supply points and supply ships set up by the Brazilian coalition forces were occupied one by one by the Chinese Independence Army. The ammunition and supplies originally prepared for the coalition forces all fell into the hands of the Chinese Independence Army. As the fleet moved forward, the captured ships were added to the fleet for use. The size of the fleet became larger and larger, and the originally tight transportation capacity also seemed abundant.

At its peak, the Brazilian coalition forces numbered 1868. As the war dragged on, the number of frontline soldiers in the coalition forces gradually decreased due to the loss of soldiers and the pressure of logistical supply. By June , excluding the Brazilian troops that were successively wiped out by the Chinese Independence Army, the number of coalition forces in Paraguay was about .
Of the 60,000 troops, 50,000 were Brazilian troops, and the remaining 10,000 were led by Argentine Army General Miret and stationed in Formosa, guarding the border area between Paraguay and Argentina.

More than ten days ago, when the Chinese Independence Army had just engaged in battle with the Brazilian army that had bypassed them, 10,000 Argentine troops were still stationed on the front line fighting side by side with the Brazilian army. However, following the instructions of some important government officials in Argentina, the Argentine troops on the front line began to make trouble. They used the rampant dysentery and cholera in the army as an excuse to refuse to accept the combat missions assigned by Garcia. Some soldiers even declared that they would withdraw from the war and return to Argentina.

With instructions from Argentine government officials above and instigation from officers below, most Argentine soldiers believed that the war was about to end and they could go home soon. Influenced by this atmosphere, it was impossible for Garcia to command the Argentine army. Moreover, the command of 10,000 Argentine troops was in the hands of Miret. Garcia was only the nominal commander-in-chief. If he wanted to truly command the Argentine army, he had to get Miret's nod.

Of course, there was a reason why the Argentine troops started causing trouble sooner or later. On the one hand, it was impossible for Garcia to send troops to encircle Fort Humeita without notifying the Argentines. A few days ago, the defenders of Fort Humeita withdrew troops to support the rear, proving that the outflanking plan had been successful. The defenders of Fort Humeita were completely surrounded, and surrender was only a matter of time.

On the other hand, it took ten months to capture
The attack on the Curupaity Fortress caused heavy losses to the Argentine army, and the strategic materials prepared in Argentina for several years were exhausted. At this time, smallpox began to rage, and then cholera also began to spread. The two diseases caused a large number of non-combat casualties, and the morale of the troops dropped to the lowest point.

Argentina originally had nothing to do with the Paraguayan War, but later Brazil used the unresolved territorial issues between Paraguay and Argentina to persuade Argentina to join the war.

Three years into the war, the disputed land with Paraguay had been occupied by Argentina, and continuing the war was only to fulfill the original alliance obligations.

The purpose of Argentina's participation in the war was to take back the disputed territory. It was not in Argentina's national interest to completely eliminate Paraguay. Brazil had a large territory and a large population. If it could swallow up Paraguay, which had two major rivers, Brazil's strength would become even stronger.

There are no eternal enemies in front of a country. For the sake of Argentina's interests, the political leaders in Argentina could not openly tear up the alliance agreement, so they adopted a non-cooperative approach to hinder the Brazilians.

Argentina's non-cooperation at the critical moment posed a problem for Garcia. Leaving them on the front line would only waste supplies and not contribute to the war situation. Agreeing to their withdrawal to Argentina was not something Garcia could decide. After repeated consideration, Garcia came up with a compromise solution, transferring the Argentine troops to the rear for rest, while the Brazilian army would be solely responsible for the battle in the front.
Garcia was confident in making this decision. The garrison of Humeita Fortress was over 20,000 people, less than half of the Brazilian army. It would be very difficult for them to break out head-on. Therefore, without the Argentine troops who were not contributing their efforts, Garcia was still confident that he could encircle the garrison of Humeita Fortress.

The agreement to allow the Argentine troops to rest was not without conditions. The Argentine army was not allowed to interfere with the subsequent spoils and various gains from the occupation of Paraguay.

Miret received instructions from home and naturally would not compete with Garcia for these interests. An agreement was quickly reached. Miret led the Argentine troops away from the front line and set up a camp in Moresa, waiting until the end of the war to lead the troops back to Argentina.

Formosa was located behind the position where the Chinese Independence Army captured the warship. After capturing the warship, in order to avoid exposing their whereabouts in advance, the Chinese Independence Army gave up attacking the Argentine army in Formosa and went upstream to the main force of Brazil.

After the Argentine army left the front line, Garcia had a few days of peace, but the good times did not last long. He became increasingly anxious as there was no news from the flanking troops.

The 5,000 troops were elite troops selected from the main force. When there was no news in the past few days, he thought that the war might be progressing smoothly and the troops were attacking the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion. However, nearly ten days later, not only was there no news about the 5,000 flanking troops, but the escort fleet that last sent back news three days ago could not be contacted.

"Could it be that something unexpected happened to the flanking troops and the fleet?" A bad thought flashed through Garcia's mind.

The main force of Paraguay was besieged in the Humeita Fortress. Argentina and Uruguay were both allies of Brazil. Garcia really couldn't think of any other force that could pose a threat to the flanking troops and fleet.

Unable to figure out the reason, Garcia stopped thinking about it and sent another patrol team to check for news. If there was no news after a day, he would find out the truth himself.

The messenger sent by Garcia arrived at the naval base on the river and conveyed Garcia's order.

The Brazilian naval officer in charge of guarding the coast was a little confused: "Since yesterday, we have sent three patrol fleets to contact the support fleet, but no ship has returned to the base. Did something big happen over there?"

"I don't know. I am only responsible for conveying the commander's orders. The commanders should follow the orders. As for other aspects, they are naturally responsible for them."

The captain who delivered the order shrugged with a serious look.

Normally, a captain wouldn't need to be in person to convey orders, but this time things were a little unusual, so Garcia sent a captain from the headquarters to personally board the ship to contact the fleet and the flanking force. "Sir, the commander doesn't have much time, you'd better arrange the ship quickly, I have to go out to complete the task ordered by the commander."

"Wait a moment, brother. I will arrange it right away."

In recent years, Prussia has defeated Denmark and the Austrian Empire successively, and its national strength and influence have increased rapidly. As a result, various systems implemented by Prussia have also been imitated by South American countries. The Brazilian Empire set up a general staff in accordance with the Prussian army, and the staff officers were selected from domestic nobles and children of big capitalists. Therefore, although the staff officer who sent the order was only a captain, the lieutenant colonel officer in charge of the management of naval ships on the river did not dare to slack off. He talked to the staff officer in a good tone and the lieutenant colonel officer quickly ordered his sailors to prepare the ship.

Because it was Garcia who gave the order himself, the ship was quickly prepared. The staff officer boarded the ship and was about to order the ship to move when he saw two ironclad ships belonging to the Brazilian Navy.
The Brazilian Empire had a total of five warships with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons. Three of them were sent to participate in the battle in Paraguay, and the other two remained at the coastal bases of Brazil to guard the country's offshore security.
The staff officer was very familiar with the three ironclad warships that accompanied the Brazilian army in the battle. At first glance, he recognized that the two ironclad ships on the river were the Goiânia and Maceio, which had lost contact.

"Sir, those are the Goiania and the Maceio. Are we still going to set out on our mission?"

The fleet that was needed to contact the captain appeared before his eyes. The captain of the gunboat didn't know whether to continue sailing, so he turned around and asked for instructions.

"No, the escort fleet is not that large. There are too many ships behind us!"

Xiao in the navy knew the fleet better than anyone else. When he saw the densely packed large and small transport ships behind the ironclad ships, he immediately felt something was wrong.

Two ironclad ships sailed into the entrance where the Brazilian warships were moored, and the huge black gun muzzles were slowly raised and aimed at the Brazilian warships on the shore.

"Oh no, the people on the ironclad are not ours!"

The lieutenant colonel was the first to notice the enemy. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he heard a loud roar, and then a sailing ship next to him was immediately hit by a cannon.

The hull of a sailing warship has weak resistance to attacks, and a shell fired from the main gun is enough to cause huge damage to it.

The shells were fired from the front of the ship and just passed through the ammunition room of the sailing ship. Roars sounded one after another, and the fire caused by the gunpowder instantly covered the entire sailing ship. With a click, the sailing ship, which was hit by the shells, broke into two halves and sank into the water under the burning flames. The ironclad warship attacked suddenly, and a shell destroyed the sailing ship. Hundreds of Brazilian naval soldiers on the warship became victims of the warship before they had time to react.

"What the hell, what happened? Didn't I tell you to aim at that ironclad ship? How did you miss?"

On the Liming, Chen Sen, who was temporarily serving as the captain, loudly reprimanded the Brazilian sailor captive who was operating the main gun.

Chen Sen was discovered by Li Mingyuan when he was searching for gold treasure in Kara Lake. Then he performed well during the training of the navy frogman unit, gradually surpassing other competitors and getting the opportunity to lead the frogman unit.

After capturing two ironclad warships, Li Mingyuan, who had no one available, arranged Chen Sen on the Chaoyang warship to serve as the captain of the warship with a displacement of more than 6,000 tons. This opportunity was hard-won. Chen Sen planned to accumulate military merits by attacking the Brazilian army, and then occupy an important position in the newly established Chinese naval force. However, he clearly ordered an attack on the ironclad ships anchored by the river, but the captured sailors hit the wrong target. Although others might not see the problem and think that Chen Sen commanded properly and destroyed an enemy main battleship with one shot, in Chen Sen's eyes it was a very serious problem. At the moment of battle, the gunner deliberately let the enemy go. How could this be tolerated?

"Aim at the ironclad ship and shoot. If you make a mistake again, I'll blow your head off."

Chen Sen took out a pistol, pointed it at the captured gunner's head, and threatened.

The captured gunner could not understand Chen Sen's words, but his murderous look easily conveyed the meaning of his words.

The Brazilian gunner did not want to be one of his comrades who were killed yesterday, so he operated the artillery with trepidation, aiming at the Brazilian army.

Thanks to the book friends for the reward

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(End of this chapter)