Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 452 Encarnacion End

At the port of Puerto Duguaizú, on the broad surface of the Paraná River, a loading and unloading fleet consisting of small steam-powered ships and small wooden sailboats frequently travels back and forth between the fleet and the port.

Boxes of cargo were unloaded from the transport ships and then transported to the port via small steamers. Then, groups of soldiers acting as manpower cooperated with each other to transfer the cargo to the military camp.

The transport fleet was carrying shells, ammunition and other military supplies for the Brazilian Republic's Parana River Front.

Standing on the shore of the port, turning his eyes to the right front, Rodriguez could even see the shining rifle bullets through the holes in the broken wooden packing boxes.

The holes on the wooden packaging box were obviously not caused by improper loading and unloading, but rather looked like damage caused by being hit by bullets from an old-fashioned breech-loading rifle.

Rodriguez's guess was correct, which was easily verified by the several officers who were wrapped in white bandages.

"General, I'm sorry. The fleet was attacked by several Paraguayan resistance forces on the way from Guaira to Duguaizú. More than 40 soldiers on the transport fleet were killed or wounded, and six boxes of ammunition on board were destroyed."

An officer with the rank of colonel on his shoulder straps and a white bandage on his right arm walked up to Rodriguez and said with a hint of apology.

"It's not your fault. The resistance armed activities in central and northern Paraguay are becoming more and more rampant. You were able to cross the rebel armed activities area and safely transport the ammunition and supplies to Duguayzu, which means you have completed your mission. As for the loss of some ammunition and supplies during transportation, it is inevitable."

Rodriguez understood the difficulty of carrying out logistical transportation missions, so he did not make overly harsh accusations against the transport fleet. However, he also had a doubt in his mind. The mission of transporting military supplies was a military secret, and the departure time of the transport fleet and the stopover supply locations were generally not leaked. But how could the Paraguayan resistance forces predict the departure time and stopover locations of the transport fleet, and ambush in advance near the various supply and stopover ports along the route to carry out precise attacks?

Rodriguez thought about it carefully and noticed something unusual.
The people who knew the departure time and docking location of the transport fleet were limited to the Paraguayan army. Without the tip-off from insiders, the Paraguayan resistance forces would have had no chance of accurately predicting the movement patterns of the transport fleet.

The result of the guess is very close to the truth. However, on second thought, there are endless corruption and factional strife within the Republic of Brazil. Many senior military and political officials, for economic and personal interests, are intentionally or unintentionally leaking all kinds of intelligence to the Han State. It can be said that in the face of the financial offensive, the military and political internal affairs of the Republic of Brazil, which were originally the result of compromises and mixing of various forces, have been corroded by the intelligence forces of the Han State.

It is very likely that the officials and generals of the Republic of Brazil, who advocate money and interests as the most important values, would sell out military intelligence within the army of the Republic of Brazil in order to obtain money and possible future political commitments from the Han side.

One or more bribed Brazilian officials and generals passed the intelligence on the transport fleet to the Han State through secret channels. The Han State intelligence organization then leaked the information on the departure and stopover of the transport fleet to the local resistance forces in Paraguay through the intelligence branch deployed in Paraguay.

Through a secret intelligence channel that spreads across Brazil, Han and Paraguay, military intelligence is transmitted from the inside out. Based on the capabilities of the Han intelligence department, which has been operating in Brazil and Paraguay for more than ten years, it is not difficult to achieve this level.

After roughly guessing the truth behind the attack on the transport fleet, Rodriguez suddenly became alert and began to doubt the Brazilian officer in charge of the transport mission.
However, suspicions based on pure speculation would have no effect and would not have a positive effect on the operations of the Brazilian Republic's frontline troops. Therefore, although he had doubts in his heart, Rodriguez did not show any abnormality on the surface and carried out the material handover work with the other party according to the established rules.

After working hard for most of the day and transferring all the military supplies to the port shore, Rodriguez got up and returned to the military camp.

"General, how come the combat supplies shipped this time are one-third less than last time?"

A middle-aged general walked into Rodriguez's room, holding a list of supplies and asked, "The fighting in Asuncion is fierce, and the consumption of combat supplies is huge, so the central government has decided to divert part of the military supplies that were originally intended for us to the Asuncion Front Army."

"But the supply of combat materials for our army is also very tight. A month ago, Rio de Janeiro cut the amount of military materials supplied to our army by a quarter, and now it is moving another one-third to Asuncion.

General! Due to the lack of supplies of daily necessities and military materials, the frontline troops have already suffered more than 20 incidents of looting Paraguayan villages.
If the central government continues to mess around like this, our army's continued combat capability will be greatly weakened! The army's morale will also suffer a major blow!"

Major General Machiel, Chief of Staff of the Paraná Front, said angrily: "We must report to Rio de Janeiro the difficulties our army is facing. We must not allow any more reductions in military supplies. Otherwise, we will not be able to continue this war."

"Rio de Janeiro also has its own difficulties. The Asuncion Front is the main offensive direction of the Paraguayan War. The fighting there is more intense than that in the Paraná River Basin. They do need more military supplies."

Rodriguez explained: "As long as we take Asuncion, our chances of winning this war will increase by half. There is no problem in giving priority to the supply of military supplies to Asuncion.

Of course, the role of the Paraná River Basin front cannot be ignored. If our army had not contained the flanks and delayed the Han army in the direction of Encarnacion, it would not have been so easy for the Asuncion front to achieve final victory.

Therefore, I will fight for the military supplies that should be fought for from Rio de Janeiro. When it is time to make concessions for the sake of the overall situation, I will also make concessions generously. "

Rodriguez patiently appeased his chief of staff, and then continued: "The current military material reserves are enough to support our army to sustain a medium-sized battle for a week. Transferring some military materials to Asuncion will not affect our current front-line situation. After a week, if the war is deadlocked, our army can also apply for new ammunition and material supplies from Rio de Janeiro."

"Yes, General."

Mahier sighed and reluctantly accepted Rodriguez's persuasion.

"Okay, don't worry about the logistics issues. Let's focus on the frontline battlefield and pay attention to the advance troops' march."

Rodriguez forced a smile and asked, "Where is the Ninth Division of Major General Getulio marching to? How far is it from Villarrica?"

"General Getulio called back an hour ago and said that the Ninth Division is currently staying in Mauricio County for repairs. They are about three hours away from Villarrica."

"Call General Getulio back and give the Ninth Division two hours to rest and stay. After the two hours, immediately leave for Villarrica. Make sure the Villarrica train station is in the hands of the advance troops."

"Yes, General!"…………

(End of this chapter)