Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 145 Morandi

On December 18, the troops marched to Passo Fundo, where two thousand men of the 2nd Mixed Brigade and half of its artillery turned west, while the rest of the troops continued toward San Pedro.

The two sides in Misiones officially engaged in battle on December 6th. After twelve days of fighting, the Paraguayan army captured several towns controlled by the Argentine army. The vanguard troops once conducted reconnaissance activities in Posadas, the capital of Misiones Province.

The Paraguayan army is a veteran with rich combat experience, but the troops suffered heavy casualties in the war, the main force was limited in number, and the initial fierce offensive lasted for five or six days. They faced the dilemma of dividing their troops to occupy disputed towns and the reduction in the number of front-line troops, resulting in insufficient stamina for the offensive forces.

Argentina then concentrated its frontline forces to launch a counterattack, retaking four towns along the Paraná River and forcing the Paraguayans back to the outskirts of the city of Morandi Engineers west of San Pedro. The two sides began a continuous battle for the city of Morandi.

"Boom," more than 20 artillery pieces fired at the city gate. The shells hit the city wall, leaving small pits. A little stone dust mixed with gunpowder residue spread above the city wall. The pungent smell of gunpowder entered the mouths of the Argentine soldiers defending behind the city wall, causing a cough, which was covered up by the artillery fire.

After three rounds of scattering, the artillery fire stopped and the battlefield became quiet in an instant. The defending soldiers rang the bronze bell in the center of the city wall, and the brief calm was immediately broken.

"Hurry, hurry, get back to the combat position. The Paraguayans are coming!" Upon hearing the alarm bell, more than a dozen Argentine grassroots officers stood up first and loudly issued orders to the defending soldiers.

Thousands of soldiers left their hiding places and quickly returned to their defensive positions.

Under the city wall, Paraguayan soldiers with rifles rushed towards the city gate one after another. "Da da da," five or six machine guns fired at the crowded area, and rows of soldiers fell down like harvested wheat.

The soldiers in front fell down, and Paraguay behind stepped over the bodies of his comrades and continued to charge. The machine guns on the top of the city stopped shooting one after another after a few minutes. Among the six machine guns, two were damaged due to excessive use, and the ammunition of the remaining four machine guns was used up. The surrounding auxiliary machine gunners were busy replacing bullets.

The machine guns used in the South American battlefields were a new thing of this era. The machine guns that had just appeared on the battlefield had various shortcomings. Their service life was limited, they were heavy and needed to be transported by pack horses, they had a slow shooting speed, and the ammunition was easily jammed.

Various shortcomings hindered the large-scale popularization of machine guns. The newly formed National Defense Army only purchased a part of the machine guns and formed a special machine gun team, unlike later generations which distributed machine guns to squad and platoon-level combat units.

The machine guns at the positions outside the city gate fell silent, greatly reducing the obstacles ahead for the attacking soldiers.

"Follow-up troops will follow up, and the artillery will provide cover. We will take over the position outside the city this morning!"

Colonel Istigari stood in the front-line command post, saw the battle situation ahead through a telescope, and gave decisive orders.

"Yes."

"Second echelon, reinforce the first echelon, attack immediately."

The deputy commander under Istigalibi ordered his adjutant.

The adjutant grabbed a rifle but was stopped before he could leave.

"No need to send orders. I will personally go to the front line to command."

Istigali saw through the telescope that the machine gun positions set up by Argentina outside the city were breached, and more than a hundred Paraguayan soldiers entered the first outer position of the Argentines. The defeated Argentine soldiers were retreating to the rear positions.

"The Argentine outer troops retreated, and the enemy was in a panic and had no time to set up a defense line. Our army followed the defeated enemy soldiers and attacked, disrupting the Argentine deployment and taking advantage of the situation to attack the city!"

Istigali keenly sensed the favorable opportunity and made a decisive move to mobilize all his soldiers to break the defense of the Argentine army.

In the front-line command post built in a wooden shed, staff officers and guards followed Istiga to the front line 500 meters away. The Paraguayan soldiers who were repairing in the trenches set out in formation under strict orders and launched an offensive.

The Paraguayan army was mixed with the outer Argentine troops, and the artillery on the city wall stopped firing at the positions below the city to prevent accidental injuries to its own soldiers. Istigali risked his life to charge among the front-line soldiers. The adjutant beside him tried to stop him but was pulled away.

“The soldiers risked their lives to attack the city, I should set an example for the whole army and fight with them!
Captain! Take up your gun and destroy the Argentines. The shame of the Paraguayan soldiers needs to be washed away with victory. Execute the order immediately! "

"Yes, sir." The adjutant was frightened by Istiga's murderous eyes. He pulled out the pistol from his belt, gritted his teeth and rushed forward.

Colonel Istigari was a general under Lopez Jr.

During the Paraguayan War in May 1865, López divided his small force into two parts. He personally led the main force into Corrientes, and the remaining soldiers were led by Colonel Istigalibi to attack Misiones as a detachment.

Istigali was short of troops and was besieged by the superior armies of Brazil and Argentina when attacking Misiones, so he had no choice but to surrender.

After the victory of the Paraguayan War, Lopez Jr. did not blame Istigali. After redeeming him from the Argentines, he continued to give him important tasks.

When the Misiones conflict broke out, Istigali received the news and volunteered to go to the front line to command the battle, defeat the Argentine army and wash away his previous shame.

During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, appointed Li Jing, who had made mistakes, as the main general to lead troops to attack the Turks. Li Jing launched a surprise attack on a snowy night and killed 100,000 Hu people.

Little Lopez may not have heard of the Chinese allusions, but he was able to apply the core ideas of the allusions flexibly. After the Paraguayan War, he trusted Istikal as before and re-appointed him with important tasks.

In return, Istigali completely returned to his loyalty and worked hard on the battlefield to command and prove his ability.

Senior generals of Western armies rarely served on the front lines, but Istigari, either eager to make a contribution or influenced by some officers of the Chinese troops, ordered his guards to carry the military flag symbolizing the commander-in-chief's status and charge forward with the ordinary soldiers.

The high-flying military flag and the figure of Istigali at a distance from the flag caught the eyes of the nearby soldiers, and the morale of the troops quickly increased.

The encouraged second echelon and reserve soldiers charged with all their might, and a few minutes later they would join the first echelon soldiers. The two groups of soldiers worked together to eliminate the defeated Argentine troops outside the city and took control of the Morandi East Gate.

Ignoring the urgently closed city gate and the dense bodies of soldiers outside the gate, more than 300 Paraguayan soldiers escorted more than ten trucks of explosives and rushed towards the East Gate under artillery fire.

More than a dozen three-wheeled black carts loaded with gunpowder were lined up in a row and advanced in parallel. During the journey, the black carts were constantly hit by shells and the explosives exploded, killing dozens of Paraguayan soldiers around them. However, as there was enough distance between each black cart, the explosives did not affect nearby vehicles.

Under the fire of artillery and dense bullets fired from the city walls, four of the more than ten heavy carts finally arrived at the foot of the city.

The fuse was hastily lit, and the remaining fifty or so Paraguayan soldiers quickly left the city wall and ran outside.

"Boom boom boom boom" four loud noises sounded all around the battlefield. Accompanied by a huge explosion, the east wall could no longer withstand the damage and collapsed before the loud noise ended, leaving a gap of more than 30 meters long. All the Argentine soldiers on the collapsed wall were buried under the ruins.

The walls of Morandi collapsed and the battle was quickly decided. Most of the Argentine troops in the city surrendered, and only more than 100 soldiers followed the Morandi defending general and successfully escaped.

After defeating the Argentine garrison, Istigali immediately dispatched some soldiers to occupy the river ports outside the city. In less than a day, the Paraguayan troops advanced thirty miles, and the area around Morandi fell into the hands of the Paraguayan troops.

Soon after the battle ended, Istigali immediately sent someone to report the victory to Lopez Jr. and request additional troops for support. At the same time, he recruited Argentine prisoners and young and strong people in the city to repair the city walls and guard against attacks by Argentine reinforcements.

(End of this chapter)