Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 450 Encarnacion

After the heads of various departments exchanged greetings, the soldiers of the 105st Mixed Brigade, under the command of several officers, assisted their comrades from the th Artillery Regiment in pulling the horse-drawn carriages towing artillery pieces into the camp.

A standard 105mm artillery regiment consists of 1800 soldiers and 2000 pack horses and mules.

After the carriages and pack horses entered the camp, the soldiers were busy dismantling and moving artillery, ammunition and other combat supplies, while the pack horses and mules that had just completed their heavy transportation tasks were placed in the military horse farm and stayed with the horses of the 1st Mixed Brigade.

The Pampas grassland in the central part of the Han Dynasty is one of the most suitable horse farms in the world. Benefiting from the superior animal husbandry resources, the total number of local horses reached 1889 million for the first time in 700.

The Second Industrial Revolution was still in its development stage, and emerging means of transportation such as internal combustion engines and automobiles were still in the stage of research and development and performance improvement. They failed to replace livestock as they did in later generations and become the main force of material transportation. Therefore, at present and in the next thirty or forty years, pack horses and mules are still the undisputed main force of material transportation.

Because of the advantage of abundant local horse resources, the Han Dynasty's field troops and second-line garrison troops were equipped with a large number of pack horses and mules to perform material transportation tasks.

Each standard full-strength division (1.5 to 1.8 people) is equipped with a total of 1.1 to 1.3 pack horses and mules: within the range,
The total number of pack horses and mules equipped for each fully-staffed mixed brigade (9000 people) is between 6000 and 7000.
Each fully-strength security brigade (5000 people) is equipped with a total number of pack horses and mules ranging from 2000 to 3000.

The large number of horses and mules assigned to each unit not only reduced the pressure of material transportation during combat, but also improved the unit's sustained combat capability.

Each division and brigade-level regular army unit in the country has an independent field cavalry battalion. Each cavalryman has two horses, and the standard establishment is 460 people and 1000 war horses. Whenever encountering foreign wars, the cavalry battalion always acts as a vanguard reconnaissance and mobile force, staying away from the main force and launching attacks on the enemy from the flank.

Advanced weapons and equipment and abundant numbers of horses are the reasons why Pang Zhenyun is confident that he can defeat the Brazilian Republic's army on the Paraná River line. Therefore, when the first combat order issued by the headquarters was conveyed to the temporary command of the 105st Mixed Brigade, Pang Zhenyun quickly convened the chief officers of the st Regiment, nd Regiment, th Security Brigade and Howitzer Regiment of the st Mixed Brigade to hold a small-scale meeting on how to implement the combat plan.

"According to the intelligence sent by the headquarters, the enemy we are facing is the Parana River Front Army of the Republic of Brazil. This army is commanded by Lieutenant General Rodriguez of the Republic of Brazil Army. It includes the Third Division of Major General Rodriguez Prestes, the Ninth Division of Major General Getulio, and some other affiliated units. The total strength is about 3.7, of which 2.6 are assembled on the front line, which is about twice the number of our troops."

Pang Zhenyun pointed to the sand table on the map and introduced: "Yesterday, a part of the enemy's Paraná River Front Army of about 1 people set out from the port of Iguazu and moved westward by land, intending to occupy Villarrica southeast of Asuncion, and then set up a defensive position there to prevent our army from supporting Asuncion.

Villarrica is the midpoint and hub of the Asuncion-Encarnacion railway line. If the Brazilian army occupies it, our railway line to Asuncion will be cut off, and the remaining Paraguayan troops who are holding on to Asuncion will also face the dilemma of losing their southeastern flank and being cut off from external communication channels. Therefore, the combat mission assigned to our army by the headquarters is to immediately mobilize an advance force, use the railway line controlled by our army, and quickly advance to the direction of Villarrica, and then get ahead of the Brazilian army to control the Villarrica railway hub and surrounding strategic locations. Then organize a defensive position on the spot to block the attack from the Brazilian army in the east. "

"What weapons and equipment does the Brazilian Republic's offensive force have? Do they have a large number of cavalry units?"

After Pang Zhenyun finished his introduction, the commander of the 4th Security Brigade, Hu Kunshan, asked.

"The Brazilian army is advancing towards Villarrica
About half of the soldiers were equipped with Martini Henry breech-loading rifles, and the remaining half were equipped with old-style rifles such as Snyder and Spencer. Moreover, the rifle propellants used by their soldiers were all black powder, which was much weaker in firing rate and killing power than our Jianye Six-Year Rifle. "

Pang Zhenyun added: "The Brazilian army has a cavalry unit of several hundred people, but the Brazilian cavalry just got off the water by boat, so their combat effectiveness should be reduced."

"The Brazilian army's weapons performance and arms coordination combat effectiveness are not as good as ours. The only advantage they have is that they have more soldiers than ours." Shen Dehui, a major staff officer in charge of formulating combat plans and providing tactical advice to military chiefs, listened to Pang Zhenyun's supplement and was silent for a moment before speaking: "In the direction of the Paraná River front, the total number of the Republic of Brazil's army is nearly three times that of ours, and the number of combat troops used in the front is about twice that of ours. Based on the current intelligence analysis of Brazil's hastily divided its troops to march towards Villarrica, it can be roughly inferred that the Brazilian commander in charge of the Paraná front lacks confidence. He is not sure that he can defeat our army on the front battlefield, so he adopts a conservative and passive defensive strategy, intending to get ahead of our army and occupy Villarrica with superior forces first, and then rely on the surrounding fortifications to delay our reinforcements in the Asuncion direction step by step, so as to buy as much time as possible for the main force of the Republic of Brazil's army to occupy Asuncion."

"So, the enemy we are facing now has no intention of engaging in a head-on decisive battle with our army from the beginning?"

Hu Kunshan asked,

"Nine out of ten times this is true. The Brazilian army has fought against our army several times, but has never won a battle larger than the division level. Now within the Brazilian army, the majority of Brazilian generals hold a passive and conservative attitude towards combat."

Shen Dehui responded.

"It's not good for the Brazilian army to be too passive. If they keep hiding in their fortifications like turtles, and retreat as soon as the wind is not right, it will be difficult for us to keep all of them."

Pang Zhenyun pondered.

"Haha, Brigadier General, don't worry. It's not easy for the Brazilian army to escape unscathed after entering Paraguay. Moreover, even if the Brazilian army senses the danger in advance and withdraws from Paraguay, it won't make much difference whether we destroy a unit that is always afraid of a tough battle and values ​​its own life more than anything else."

"What Staff Officer Shen said makes sense. There is really not much difference between a annihilated troop and a troop that only knows how to escape."

Pang Zhenyun's concerns were dispelled, and he raised his voice and said, "The Brazilian army's strategy and tactics are conservative and passive. They want to deploy blocking positions ahead of us, but we can't let them succeed.

Commander Zhang, I order you to select three infantry battalions and the engineering battalion, the 75mm field artillery battalion, the brigade reconnaissance battalion, the machine gun company and other units to form an advance force. You will be the commander. You must set off by train before 24: p.m. and take control of Villarrica before the Brazilian army. hours after you set off, I will lead the main force with Brigade Commander Hu and Staff Officer Shen to meet you by train.
Before the main force arrives in Villarrica, you must keep the Brazilian army out of the railway hub!"

"Yes! Brigadier!"

"Brother Hu, Commander Wu, the war is urgent. Please return to the 105th Guard Brigade and the th Artillery Regiment immediately and start arranging the troops' movement and transfer."

Pang Zhenyun continued to make arrangements with Hu Kunshan, commander of the 105th Guard Brigade, and Wu Jiadong, commander of the th Artillery Regiment.

"Don't worry, Brigadier General Pang, we will go back now to arrange preparations for the troops to set out."…………

(End of this chapter)