Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 275: Win the first city

The city of Maspalomas surrendered, and the blue and white flag of the Argentine Federation fell from the top of the city. The commander of the defending force, Golani, led the remaining 700 soldiers, marched out of the city of Maspalomas, and surrendered their weapons to the National Defense Forces.

The city of Maspalomas is located on the eastern plain of the Pampas. The surrounding terrain is flat. There is only an old stone city and a small piece of high ground protruding to the west that can serve as a position to resist the attack of the National Defense Forces.

Before the war broke out, due to insufficient troops and the small area of ​​the western highlands, the commander of the Argentine garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Golani, gathered all his troops in the city, hoping to use the solid city walls to delay the Wehrmacht's offensive speed and buy time for the arrival of reinforcements from Britain and Brazil.

However, the war situation did not develop in a favorable direction for the Argentine defenders.

On the morning of April 75, Wu Fengdian adjusted the combat deployment of the troops, withdrawing two infantry battalions from the 1000rd Mixed Brigade, a machine gun company and a mm field artillery company from the rd Division, and re-formed an offensive group with a total of more than people. At o'clock in the morning of the same day, he launched another attack on the city of Lomas.

The roar of field artillery explosions marked the beginning of the battle. Unlike the tentative attack yesterday, there was no intense close combat at the beginning of the battle on the morning of the 75th. Five mm field artillery pieces were deployed on the side of the high ground abandoned by the Argentines, and they fired shells at the artillery, machine gun and other positions of the Argentine defenders according to the coordinates provided by the assault troops yesterday.

The city defense artillery and Gatling heavy machine guns were bulky, and the Lomas city defense system was more than a hundred years behind the times. The earlier fortifications such as artillery positions and towers also did not allow the defenders to move artillery and heavy machine guns.

Three Gatling heavy machine guns and several artillery pieces were deployed in isolation on the core defense positions around the Lomas city wall. One shell after another, leaving sparks from the intense friction in the air, was fired towards the target position.

In the first round of test firing of five shells, the deviated shells landed six or seven meters away from the defenders' artillery position. The violent explosion knocked to the ground more than a dozen Argentine soldiers within the killing range. The wailing, cries for help, and the roar of artillery fire drowned out the orders of the Argentine defenders' commander, and the city wall positions were in chaos due to the sudden outbreak of fierce artillery fire.

Local militia and new recruits can provide reserve forces for the troops when the war between the two sides is tense. However, in an unfavorable situation where the gap in strength between the two sides is too large and the offensive and defensive situations are reversed, they have not received special training and their psychological qualities cannot adapt to the harsh battlefield environment. Instead, they are likely to become destroyers of their own morale.

The tragic war scenes frightened the new recruits who were going into battle for the first time. Groups of Argentine militiamen were so frightened that they huddled up on the edge of the city wall and convulsed all over. Some suffered mental breakdowns after witnessing the horrific scenes of their comrades' mutilated limbs, and fled around the city wall screaming.

The brutal war tested the quality of the Argentine defenders, and as the commander of the attacking side, Wu Fengdian also had his own concerns.

The National Defense Forces fought far away from the Han homeland, and the ammunition supply and logistical transportation costs were huge. Each front-line unit was equipped with a limited amount of ammunition. The commanders of the front-line troops needed to use the ammunition and equipment in their hands to complete designated combat missions and could not consume ammunition reserves indiscriminately.

Heavy artillery was inconvenient to transport, and the 75rd Division and the 15rd Mixed Brigade where Wu Fengdian was located were only equipped with one mm field artillery battalion, with field guns and two medium-sized combat base ammunition configurations. In the Battle of Lomas alone, he mobilized five field guns and a base of ammunition reserves. After the Battle of Lomas, strategic strongholds such as De Zamora and Florence also needed to be captured. Therefore, after observing seven rounds of artillery fire hitting the Argentine defenders, Wu Fengdian ordered the artillery unit to stop the attack, and then replaced a previously severely reduced infantry battalion with two infantry battalions to launch an attack on the city of Lomas.

In the field, we will carry out targeted attacks on the defenders' artillery, heavy machine guns and other fire support points, and then send in the main force to press forward in an all-round way, focusing on attacking the enemy's weak points in defense.

Lieutenant Colonel Golani had the misfortune of experiencing the Wehrmacht's luxurious artillery and infantry combined strike.

Because it was close to the Wehrmacht artillery positions, the western wall of Lomas was most severely damaged. A section of the wall nearly eight meters wide collapsed under repeated artillery fire, leaving a narrow gap.

The key breakthrough direction of the Wehrmacht's offensive force was the gap in the western city wall. More than 500 soldiers, led by a battalion commander, rushed to the gap in batches.

Standing on the battlefield outside the city where the smoke had not yet dissipated, Lieutenant Colonel Golani recalled the battle that had just ended. He couldn't help but make a hypothesis in his mind: "If I had immediately deployed troops to block the gap after the city wall collapsed, would it have changed the outcome of the battle?"

"Sir, the Defense Forces kept their promise. They opened the passage to Florence. Among the more than 9,000 residents of Lomas, 6,000 of them went to Florence and other places through the passage opened by the Defense Forces."

An officer's report interrupted Golani's thoughts, and his thick, messy eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"Why are there still 3,000 people who haven't evacuated? Did the soldiers fail to notify them all?"

"No, sir. Captain Corinth has personally informed the residents of the city that the more than 3,000 residents are staying here voluntarily. They said that there are wars everywhere in Argentina and that even if they flee to other places, they are likely to encounter danger. They would rather stay in Lomas and wait for the decision of the National Defense Forces than risk wandering to other places."

"Forget it, let them be."

Lieutenant Colonel Golani said in a dull tone, "Go and tell the residents who are willing to stay that the National Defense Forces promise not to harm them and let them live in Lomas with peace of mind."

Lieutenant Colonel Golani and his troops, most of whom were Lomas people, had to give up their last attempt to resist and lead the remaining soldiers to surrender because of the threat from the National Defense Forces.

War is a matter between soldiers, and even though the fighting is over, Golani doesn't want the residents left behind to continue living in fear brought about by the federal government's propaganda.

"Sir, Captain Collenster left you a message. He promised to return to Florence and explain to the federal government that you were coerced by the National Defense Forces and surrendered only for the safety of the residents of Lomas."

"Captain Collenster is an excellent soldier. I will remember his kindness."...

"Brigade Commander, the Second Battalion of the Third Division sent a message to the battalion commander that there are Argentine soldiers mixed in with the retreating Argentine civilians."

On the other side outside the city, Wu Fengdian stood on a high ground and listened to the soldiers' reports.

"Well, I see."

Wu Fengdian waved his hand, stood up and walked towards the surrendering Argentine troops.

In the later stage of the siege of Maspalomas, the National Defense Forces entered the city through a gap in the western city wall and encountered a sneak attack by the Argentine defenders who had retreated to the city. In order to resolve the battle as soon as possible and reduce casualties and ammunition consumption, Wu Fengdian issued an ultimatum to the defenders in the city. If the Argentine defenders refused to surrender, the National Defense Forces would use field artillery to carry out indiscriminate attacks on the city.

The garrison commander Golani was unaware of the fact that the Wehrmacht's artillery ammunition was tight. Under pressure from Wu Fengdian and local conscripted soldiers, he finally chose to lay down his arms and surrender.

The few Argentine soldiers mixed in with the civilians were irrelevant to the overall situation.

Wu Fengdian successfully captured the city of Lomas and achieved his established tactical goals. There was no need for him to argue with the other party over a trivial matter, which would affect his own credibility and that of the National Defense Forces.

Thanks to Dean Hanjia for his support!

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(End of this chapter)