Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 468 Asuncion II

At 1889 a.m. on September 9, 20, the Republic of Brazil announced that after nearly a week of fighting from September 9 to September 14, the Brazilian army successfully occupied Asuncion, killed more than 9 enemy troops, and won a decisive victory in the Paraguayan War.

The next day, in response to the diplomatic declaration made by the Republic of Brazil, the Han Dynasty solemnly responded. On the one hand, it condemned the shameful behavior of the Brazilian army in wantonly abusing and killing captured Paraguayan soldiers, and called on the remaining Paraguayan soldiers and civilians to unite under the command of the Han Dynasty and adhere to the policy of fighting against the Republic of Brazil.

On the other hand, it emphasized that Han's determination to reinforce Paraguay would not be shaken by the fall of Asuncion. Han would still accept the request of Mrs. Lynch and Lopez Jr.'s fifth son Leopoldo (born in 1862) and continue to send reinforcements to Paraguay to fight back against the aggression of the Brazilian Republic's army.

On September 9, under the order of the mainland, the Han army accelerated the march and broke through several water obstacles set up by the Republic of Brazil along the way. After that, more than 22 Han troops arrived in San Antonio, shortening the straight-line distance with Asuncion to less than 100 kilometers.

At 9 a.m. on September 23, adhering to the original combat plan, Chen Zongbai, commander of the 5st Division (Imperial Guards Division) of the Han Army and commander-in-chief of the Asuncion Front, issued the latest combat orders in San Antonio, ordering the th Division of Wu Fengdian, the nd Mixed Brigade of Chen Dechao, the rd Mixed Brigade of Li Ying and other units with a total of nearly people to follow the general command of the front, disembark and march along the coastal routes of San Antonio, Elisa Town, Lambarre, etc., to attack the Brazilian army in front of them, in order to cooperate with the navy's inland fleet to attack from the front and back and complete the strategic goal of destroying the main force of the Brazilian army.

At 9 a.m. on September 23, the Han army that was carrying out the combat plan in the Asuncion direction was divided into two parts. One was a water attack force composed mainly of the navy's inland fleet, with a total strength of about 1.5 people. It continued to advance along the Paraguay River towards the nearby Asuncion outer port of Bie Port. The other was a main force of nearly 5 people, serving as the spearhead of the army's attack. After the order to advance was issued to each basic combat unit, it quickly took action.

At 1200: a.m., a mixed force of about people, including cavalry, engineers, infantry, and artillery, left the camp first and headed towards the town of Elisa under the guidance of Paraguayan guides.

At 4:27 p.m., the 5th Division of the Han Army, the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, and the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade completed their preparations for departure.

At 5:20 p.m., the assault mixed unit responsible for reconnaissance and security sent back the first intelligence. After receiving the intelligence, Chen Zongbai immediately issued the first formal combat order, ordering Chen Dechao to lead the Second Mixed Brigade to set off immediately and speed up to Elisa Town to join the mixed assault unit. …………

Five hours ago, in central Paraguay, a troop of more than a thousand men, lined up in a long queue, suddenly appeared on the dirt road leading to the small town of Elisa.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, and there were endless woods and bushes all around. The ground under my feet had become hard from being baked by the sun.

The narrow dirt road was covered with dust from the marching troops.

The front troops had just passed by, and the soldiers at the back of the team, with their rubber-soled cloth shoes stepping on the ground, stirred up clouds of dust.

The trees on both sides of the dirt road were obviously well nourished by the rain. Their sturdy branches and dense leaves stretched above the dirt road, completely covering the space above the entire path.

There is no wind in summer, and the sun shines through the layers of leaves.
Projecting sparse spots of light.

Although the soldiers were not directly exposed to the sun,
However, the hot weather and the exertion of several hours of forced march still caused sweat to ooze from their faces.

Sweat kept pouring out of the soldiers' bodies.
The fitted grey military uniform and military cap were the first to be soaked with sweat.

The sweat mixed with the dust on the body swayed with the marching movements and was constantly thrown to the ground, gathering into patches of slightly wet mud.

The relatively closed natural environment, the stench of dust, sweat, and dirt mixed in the surrounding air, and the fatigue brought by long-term rapid marches caused some soldiers to gradually lose their physical strength, and they unknowingly reduced their marching speed and fell behind the entire army.

"Captain Cai, the troops have been marching for more than four hours. Should we choose a suitable place for the brothers to rest for a while?"

At the front of the queue, an officer riding a tall horse asked another officer.

"How far is the unit from Elisa Town?"

"According to our army's normal marching speed, we will be able to reach Elisa Town before six o'clock in the evening."

"It's 12:04 noon now. There's still time."

Cai Jiu checked the time while riding on his horse, then nodded and said, "Marching before a war requires both time control and maintaining a certain level of physical strength to cope with unexpected battlefield situations.

Captain Zhang, notify Captain Chen of the Fourth Battalion in front of the column and order them to stop and repair immediately.

"Yes, Captain."

After the young officer answered, he added: "During the rest period of the troops, should we notify the reconnaissance troops to strengthen their vigilance?" "The second company of the brigade's reconnaissance battalion is more than ten kilometers away from our army. They are not equipped with new wireless telegraphs (the first generation of telegraphs in the Han Dynasty were large in size and had a short communication distance. It was not convenient for a small reconnaissance unit to carry them when performing reconnaissance missions).

It would be a waste of time to send someone to notify them directly.”

Cai Jiu thought for a moment and ordered: "Let's not trouble the brothers of the Second Company of the Reconnaissance Battalion. Let's shorten the rest time of the troops to 20 minutes. Let Captain Chen send two platoons of troops to serve as guards. After 20 minutes, the troops will continue on their way."

"Yes, Commander, I will send someone to notify Captain Chen right away."…………

The order to repair and rest during the journey was passed on to the grassroots combat units in front and behind the formation through messengers.

After receiving the order to rest, the soldiers, who were already tired and exhausted, looked for a place that was as cool as possible to rest.

However, there were not many shady places available for rest in the woods, and due to military orders, soldiers could not leave the garrison within 50 meters. Therefore, most soldiers who could not find a suitable shady spot to rest could only sit under the big trees beside the dirt road and use broken branches as a tool to cool down and drive away the heat.

Artillerymen carrying small mountain guns, cavalrymen riding tall war horses, infantrymen carrying rifles on their backs and full of grenades on their waists, and soldiers who march on two feet, etc., sit together in groups of three or five to rest according to the nature of their arms and their positions.
Perhaps because they were too tired, in the first ten minutes when the troops stopped to rest, almost no one in the resting troop, which numbered more than 1000 and had a queue length of more than 2 kilometers, was willing to speak.

Halfway through the rest time, after a short rest, the soldiers gradually recovered some of their energy and gradually found their original nature. The cavalry sat beside their horses, chatting and laughing in low voices, while sharing the interesting things happening around them.

The infantry, who made up the largest proportion of the soldiers and worked the hardest during the march, complained that their pack horses were taken away by artillery, machine gun companies and other units. At the same time, they were a little cautious and made fun of their superiors and cavalry officers.

Soldiers from the artillery battalion and machine gun company, who temporarily served as the main force of the army, took advantage of their rest breaks to look after the pack horses and weapons around them.
Military doctors were sent out to take care of soldiers who were injured or suffered from heatstroke due to the forced march. Two platoons of security soldiers also set up temporary hidden observation points hundreds of meters away from both sides of the dirt road to provide a reliable and safe environment for the troops to rest.

The main commanders of the mixed forces, including Cai Jiu, Chen Lu'er, Sun Yinglin, and Zhang Shishan, who had left their horses at the front of the repair team, took a few minutes' rest and then sat together to discuss with each other.

"There is a river blocking our current position from the town of Elisa. The area near the river is full of wetlands and there are no transportation facilities such as railways and roads, making it difficult to march.

Therefore, before arriving at the town of Elisa, the engineering battalion needed to build a simple floating bridge on the river and the surrounding wetland area to allow the mixed forces and subsequent main forces to pass smoothly.

Cai Jiu opened the marching map, pointed to a location in Chinese, and instructed Sun Yinglin, the commander of the Fifth Division's Engineer Battalion, "Our troops are expected to arrive at the town of Elisa this evening. Are you sure that we can complete the task of building the pontoon bridge before tomorrow evening?"

"Captain Cai, according to the intelligence provided by the Paraguayan guide, there was originally a stone bridge and two wooden floating bridges on the river south of Elisa. If the Brazilian army had not completely destroyed the bridge's underground foundation facilities, the engineering battalion would be able to build two simple floating bridges within twelve hours on the basis of the bridge destroyed by the Brazilian army."

"On the early morning of September 9, the Brazilian army initially eliminated the main force of the Paraguayan army. Now it is only the 20rd, less than three days before the Brazilian army enters Asuncion. Even if the Brazilian army occupies the town of Elisa, there should not be enough time to completely destroy the bridge facilities on the river and in the wetlands."

After comparing it with the intelligence obtained previously, Cai Jiu analyzed: "The front-line troops of the Republic of Brazil have not yet established a firm foothold, and after a great victory, they are inevitably careless and relaxed. Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that the army of the Republic of Brazil does not have enough understanding of the direction of our main force's advance, the navy and land forces advance simultaneously, and perhaps we can catch them off guard."

"It's very possible."

Chen Luer, who had been following Cai Jiu since he was a slave in Peru, agreed: "The Brazilian Republic's army is poorly trained and has poor discipline. Relying on its numerical advantage, it still has an advantage in bullying the Paraguayan army that has lost the command of Little Lopez. However, if they face the local army, even without considering the difference in weapons and equipment, they are no match for the imperial army."

"Everyone knows roughly how strong the Brazilian army is, but looking at the current situation of our army, I think we should not only focus on the Brazilian army, but also on the Paraguayan soldiers roaming in our combat zone and some Paraguayan militias who are hostile to our army."

Zhang Shishan, the commander of the 7th Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the 5th Division, reminded: "When Lopez Jr. was alive, although the Empire maintained normal economic cooperation, Paraguay has always been highly wary of the Empire in terms of military and political aspects. Under the influence of Lopez Jr. and the Paraguayan high-level officials, some Paraguayan soldiers and militias who were scattered in the local area were unwilling to accept the command and restraint of the Empire. Instead, they attacked and ambushed our small logistics troops and lone soldiers on our marching route. For these people, under the current situation, I suggest taking severe punishment measures. Once discovered, they should be immediately arrested and interrogated by the gendarmerie."

"Not all Paraguayans support the rule of the empire. It is indeed necessary to take punitive measures against some stubborn elements who are determined to undermine the empire's strategy."

Cai Jiu nodded in agreement with Zhang Shishan's suggestion, and then ordered: "Captain Zhang, draw a platoon of troops from your unit and the artillery packhorse unit to form a temporary reception unit, which is specifically responsible for receiving and accommodating soldiers who cannot keep up with the march of the troops due to injuries, illnesses, etc."

"Yes, Captain."…………

(End of this chapter)