Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 194 Countermeasures
After temporarily placing the food and ammunition supplies, Ma Jizu and his team's marching speed was greatly accelerated. A day and a half after setting out, Ma Jizu met the messenger sent by Sun Qisheng halfway, and learned about the difficulties faced by Sun Qisheng's troops from the soldiers who broke through.

There were seven or eight hundred Argentine troops besieging Sun Qisheng's troops. It was undoubtedly like hitting a rock with an egg for Ma Jizu's thirty-odd men to fight against Argentina's valley defense line. Therefore, after carefully considering the pros and cons, Ma Jizu decided to return along the original route and then take out two 75mm artillery and five heavy machine guns in the transport supplies, and try to use the firepower advantage of the artillery and heavy machine guns to tear a hole in the Argentine troops' defense line and create a way out for Sun Qisheng's troops.

Even in the most optimistic scenario, the battle plan envisioned by Ma Jizu faced numerous difficulties. The valley where Sun Qisheng and other surviving troops were located was more than 300 miles away from the place where the supplies were hidden. There was also an important Argentine military town between the two places. Although most of the Argentine troops in the military town were sent to besiege Sun Qisheng's troops, the hundreds of Argentine soldiers left behind were not something that thirty soldiers could deal with.

When setting out, Ma Jizu led thirty soldiers to advance by alternating between water and land routes. The target was relatively small and not easily discovered by the Argentine troops in the military town. However, after carrying weapons such as artillery and heavy machine guns, the troops could only choose to travel along the water route, which greatly increased the risk of exposure.

The journey to reinforce the besieged troops in the valley was full of risks. After successfully reaching the outside of the valley and breaking the defense line, Sun Qishen and others also had to face the difficult choice of abandoning dozens of wounded soldiers. The situation was extremely unfavorable for the National Defense Army. When Ma Jizu had no better way to resolve the crisis, he had no choice but to take the current action plan.

The rescue team of more than 30 people turned back halfway on the way. With the addition of two surviving messengers, the team was not only exhausted, but their morale was also low because of the news they received.

Ma Jizu, like his soldiers, forced himself to march more than ten miles despite his tired bodies. At this time, the soldiers who were exploring the way ahead reported that they had discovered unknown armed forces in the mountains and forests.

Our troops are outnumbered and our soldiers are tired. If the armed forces that appear are Argentine troops, the thirty-plus soldiers will have to die in the wilderness before they can rescue the besieged troops in the valley.

When Ma Jizu heard about the enemy situation, he immediately tensed up, took out the officer's pistol from his waist, and quickly followed the soldiers to the front.

"Captain, look, they seem to be planning to rest in the woods." The soldier who came back from reconnaissance pointed forward and reminded in a low voice.

"Yes, there are people stationed in the woods ahead and near the rivers on both sides. We have to pass through them to return to the supply and ammunition placement point."

Ma Jizu put down the monocular telescope in front of him and waved to the messenger he met on the way to come to him: Brother Zhou, let's see which armed force they belong to.

The soldier who broke out took Ma Jizu's telescope, observed carefully for a moment, and said: Captain Ma, this unit should belong to the armed forces of the gaucho Davis.

"Is he the Gaoqiao rebel leader who is as famous as Lord Sun?" Ma Jizu said with some impression.

"Yes, Lord Sun had cooperated with Davis's troops several times before he was besieged, and a large part of their weapons were sold to them by us."

"No wonder Davis's troops have grown rapidly in northern Argentina. It turns out that they have received help from Lord Sun."

Ma Jizu nodded, then lowered his head to carefully savor the implicit message in the messenger's words. After more than ten minutes, Ma Jizu's thoughtful brows gradually relaxed, and finally he said with joy, "Brothers, I have thought of a way to rescue Lord Sun and all the besieged brothers." As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Jizu immediately felt that he was still outside Davis's troops, and then lowered his voice and said, "Davis and Lord Sun have a cooperative relationship, and from the current situation, Davis's troops may have been driven out of their lair by the Argentine encirclement and suppression troops, and had to lead his subordinates and the women, children, and the elderly to move in. At this time, we use the stored weapons and food as gifts to invite Davis to send troops to rescue Lord Sun. I think as long as Davis is not short-sighted, he will not refuse our proposal."

"Captain Ma, I believe Davis understands the principle of "the lips and the teeth are cold". However, you can see that although there are thousands of people in the forest, most of them are armed with bows and arrows, shuttles and other cold weapons. With them, the chances of attacking the 700 to 800 well-prepared Argentine siege troops are slim. Even if Davis wants to help Deputy Commander Sun, he will not let his men die in vain."

The messenger soldier said directly.

Ma Jizu was not embarrassed by the other party's blunt words. Instead, he lowered his voice and explained, "To rescue Lord Sun, we don't necessarily need to break the siege of the Argentine troops directly. We can change direction and start from the rear of the Argentine troops."

"Besiege Wei to save Zhao?" the messenger soldier said suddenly.

"Yes, it's called siege Wei to save Zhao." Ma Jizu retreated from the hillside where he was observing, returned to the location of the troops, took a branch and drew a few positions on the ground, and said, "Iarreta is one of the five existing heavy troop assembly points in Argentina. A week ago, the Argentine troops attacked Lord Sun's camp and left hundreds of corpses. In addition, there are seven or eight hundred troops besieging the valley. Now Iarreta is short of troops and is at its weakest defense. If we, together with Davis's nearly 1,000 armed forces, suddenly attack Iarreta, what do you think the Argentine troops besieging the valley will react to?"

"Iarreta is an important military base of the Argentine army in the northern provinces. Once the city of Iarreta is in danger of being breached, the troops on the front line will definitely return to rescue it as soon as possible."

The messenger soldier lowered his head and looked at the trading map drawn on the ground. He unconsciously followed Ma Jizu's thoughts. Then he noticed something was wrong and asked, "Captain Ma, the Argentine siege troops will only withdraw and return to rescue Iyareta when the city is in danger of being breached. If our attack with Davis' troops cannot shake Iyareta's defense line, the defenders in the city will not send a rescue order to the front line. In this case, aren't we working in vain?"

The messenger's doubts were not without reason. As one of the only five military towns in the north of Argentina, Iarreta City was able to survive the previous major rebellion without being breached, which showed that its defensive capabilities should not be underestimated. Of course, Ma Jizu did not underestimate the defensive capabilities of Iarreta City. After listening to the other party's questions, he calmly explained, "Brother Zhou has been fighting in northern Argentina with Lord Sun for more than half a year. I believe he knows the situation in the northern region much better than I do." Ma Jizu smiled and praised the other party, and then said, "Iarreta City is backed by a tributary of the Paraná River. There is a fortress on each of the three necessary roads to the north, south, and east of the city. The northern fortress is behind the city and is the farthest from our route, so we can eliminate it first. The southern fortress is the farthest from the city. According to our observations when we came, there are about 200 garrisons in the fortress, and the eastern fortress is less than three kilometers away from Iarreta City. Because it is closest to the city, it has the least defensive forces, but the difficulty of attack is also great. The troops need to guard against reinforcements from the troops in Iarreta City when attacking."

Ma Jizu paused, and after the surrounding soldiers understood for a while, he continued, "In order to force the defenders of Iarreta to issue a rescue order, we must break through one of the three defensive fortresses and let the defenders in the city feel the danger of the city being broken. Therefore, before joining forces with Davis's troops, we must first determine the main target of the attack. The northern fortress of the three fortresses is excluded first, and the eastern and southern fortresses have their own advantages and disadvantages when attacking. However, the sudden attack emphasizes suddenness and the blow to the defenders of Iarreta. Therefore, the eastern fortress closest to Iarreta is the most suitable target for attack. As long as we take down the northern fortress before the defenders of Iarreta react, the gate to Iarreta will be opened, and there will be a huge loophole in the enemy's defense system. The goal of rescuing Lord Sun's troops can also be achieved."

After explaining the battle plan he had come up with in one breath, Ma Jizu discovered that among the more than 30 soldiers, only the messenger soldier named Zhou had a look of enlightenment on his face, while the other soldiers all looked confused.

The proportion of officers in the National Defense Force who know how to read maps and command operations is not high. The messenger soldiers are selected special forces and can understand simple maps, while other soldiers who are responsible for transportation tasks have just begun to learn to read and are somewhat unfamiliar with the slightly more advanced knowledge of map recognition.

Ma Jizu gave up the opportunity to show his strategic talent in front of the soldiers, and arranged for a messenger soldier who had some relationship with Davis to act as a messenger to contact the other party, and then ordered the remaining soldiers to stay vigilant and wait for news from Davis.

(End of this chapter)