Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 472 Asuncion

On September 9, the troops completed their rest and assembly, and continued to advance towards Asuncion with the 27nd Mixed Brigade as the main force and part of the th Division assisting them.

On the 28th, the troops advanced to the Pilar line and immediately launched an attack on the opposing defenders. The flames of war that had been silent for several days began to burn again. At noon that day, a part of the th Infantry Battalion under the nd Mixed Brigade broke through the enemy's defense line in front of them. When they continued to advance, they encountered a counterattack from the defenders. After repelling the intruding troops, the defenders launched two rounds of counterattacks in an attempt to recapture the position. However, due to the fierce firepower of the Han army, the counterattack troops suffered heavy losses and had to give up.

On the 29th and 30th, the battle was in a seesaw state. The positions along the Pilar line were broken through by the Han army many times, and were counterattacked and recaptured by the defenders many times. The lines of both sides were intertwined and difficult to distinguish.

On the third day of October, as the Han army's attack intensity gradually increased, the defenders were under increasing pressure. Several key support points on the defense line were breached. On October 10, the front line of defense of Pilar was completely lost, the flank was exposed, and the defenders were at risk of being surrounded. In the evening of the same day, taking advantage of the night, the defenders left Pilar overnight and retreated to Aldir behind.

The defense of Aldir was simple, with only a few makeshift trenches serving as defensive barriers. The retreating Brazilian defenders rested for a night, and then set fire to the village of Aldir the next morning and continued to evacuate to the rear.

Chen Dechao's troops followed slowly behind, and when they reached Aldir, they had to stop because the village was destroyed. They set up camp in the open space outside the village and rested for a while.

After losing and abandoning Pilar Alberdi one after another, the Brazilian army's defense line retreated step by step. When the Han army advanced to the town of Oliva, it was less than 70 kilometers away from Asuncion. The only remaining outer stronghold of Oliva town and the Humeta Fortress, which served as the main defense support point, were left ahead.

Having learned the lessons of the First Paraguayan War, after occupying Asuncion, the Brazilian Republic arranged a defense line along the opposite marching route of the attack on Lopez Jr. The first line of defense was the outer defense line, relying on the towns of Pilar, Aldir and Oliva. It delayed the attack of the Han army layer by layer and bought time for the defenders to strengthen the defense line and stockpile ammunition and troops.

The second line of defense is the Humeita Fortress. During the First Paraguayan War, Lopez Jr. relied on the fortress's perfect defense system to block the attacks of nearly 10 troops from the Brazilian Empire and the Argentine Republic, and finally waited for the Chinese uprising army led by Li Mingyuan to bypass the coalition forces and resolve the crisis on the Paraguayan side. Now, the original attacker has become the defender, and the Oriental Labor Uprising Army that suddenly appeared on the historical stage of South America has taken root in this land, grown and developed in just 20 years, and turned the tables and became the attacker.

Relying on the Humeta Fortress, Lopez Jr. maintained a stalemate with the 10-strong Brazilian-Argentine coalition for a year. In the eyes of the Brazilian decision-makers, 20 years have passed, and technological progress has brought about the renewal of weapons. The number, combat effectiveness, weapons and equipment of the Brazilian Empire and the Argentine coalition are not comparable to those of the Han army 20 years later. However, there is no need to persist for a year. According to the current situation, as long as General Wagner Santoro in the Asuncion direction leads his troops and uses the Humeta Fortress to delay the Han army for half a year, by then, the armies of Chile, Bolivia and other countries will complete their mobilization, and the weapons promised by Britain and the United States will be equipped with troops, which can force the Han country to return to the negotiating table and recognize the actual control of the Republic of Brazil over Paraguay.

In order to stop the main force of the Han army outside the Humeta Fortress or the Asuncion defense system and buy time for a political solution, General Wagner Santoro, the highest commander of the Brazilian Republic Army in the Asuncion direction, spared no effort to collect all the available personnel, materials and equipment, and then continuously invested them in the three-layer defense line in the Asuncion direction.

The outer defense line lacks strong defensive facilities, and the temporary defense line can only serve to lengthen the Han army's supply route. Therefore, Brazil did not invest too many troops in the outer defense line. The second line of defense with Humeita Fortress and Carapegua as the core and the third line of defense composed of San Antonio Battery, Porto Viejo, Asuncion, etc. are the focus of Admiral Wagner Santoro's defense.

In order to strengthen the defense of Asuncion's city defense system, in addition to the Humeta Fortress and the San Antonio Battery built in the Lopez Jr. era, Admiral Wagner Santoro also built deep defense positions in the north of the Humeta Fortress and in the port of Bie west of Carapegua in the southern suburbs of Asuncion, as another line of defense against the Han army's assault in the event that the Humeta Fortress fell.

The gradual advance of the Han army still brought pressure to the Brazilian defenders. Under the strict orders of Asuncion, the soldiers who were defeated from Pilar Aldir, under the scolding of their superiors, together with the original local defenders, took on the responsibility of guarding the last outer line of defense.

On October 10, two days later, when the Han army troops lined up in columns and riding tall horses appeared in the town of Oliva, the Brazilian troops squatting in their positions suddenly became nervous. Even those Brazilian veterans who had fled from the front line and fought against the Han army seemed to smell the breath of danger. These Han troops seemed to be a little different from before.

The Han army that appeared in the town of Oliva was still Chen Dechao's troops. If there was any difference from the previous one, it was that the day before the departure, on the afternoon of October 10, a telegram brought by the supply troops ordered Chen Dechao's troops to end their rest and tactical feints and launch a formal attack on the enemy in front of them.

As the battle line lengthened, some dislocations and difficulties were inevitable in the communication and supply between the frontline troops of the Han homeland command. Especially the telegraph of this era still could not avoid the problem of short communication distance.

Due to the limited content of the telegram, Chen Dechao was not clear about the specific reasons for the change in combat orders, but that did not stop him from being happy. More than 10,000 people had been out of the country for nearly half a month. Even though the intensity of the subsequent battles was not great, the ammunition and baggage consumed by the men and horses was still a considerable number. Whether from an economic perspective or out of a soldier's instinct, launching a long-distance attack and assault on the enemy was what he wanted to do most at the moment.

"Order, the troops stop to build a temporary defense line, the whole army will rest for 2 hours, at pm, after lunch, the entire nd Regiment of the Mixed Brigade, the nd Battalion of the st Regiment, and the st Battalion of the rd Regiment of the th Division of the Brigade's Artillery Battalion will launch an attack on the enemy's frontal defense line, and the cavalry battalion and reconnaissance battalion will outflank the enemy! Make sure to annihilate the enemy completely!"...

On the surface of the Paraguay River, black smoke streams drifted from far to near. A few gunboats led the way, followed closely by wooden steamships, blew their horns, and sailed in three loose rows towards Asuncion.

The Paraguay River originates in Diamantino South in Mato Grosso Province, Brazil. It is one of the tributaries of the Paraná River. It flows through Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and other countries. It is one of the two most important waterways in the La Plata region and has irreplaceable economic and strategic value.

Any war that breaks out in the La Plata region cannot do without the participation of the Paraguay River. The Han army moves from north to south, from the Paraná River to the confluence of the Paraná River and the Paraguay River, and goes upstream along the waterway to transport combat supplies to the front-line troops. In order to maintain the stability of the front line and prevent the Han inland river fleet from going south to cut off Asuncion's water supply line, Admiral Wagner Santoro searched as much as he could and seized 4 500-ton offshore gunboats and 27 large steam transport ships from the Brazilian Navy. Together with the 7 200-ton gunboats and more than 70 wooden steam civilian ships with a displacement ranging from 100 to 500 tons, they formed a transport fleet responsible for the water supply and alert of the line from Mato Grosso do Sul to Asuncion. The Paraguay River flows through the Asuncion area, and the water surface becomes wider. The crew of the steam transport fleet operates the engine to slowly bring the ship closer to the shore.

"Click" the ship docked, and the crew lowered the ropes to secure the ship.

"Hey guys, why are you standing there? Come over here and help us get the cargo off the boat."

The crew members jumped off the boat nimbly and greeted them.

"What's on board? Are there beef, eggs, vegetables, or fruits?"

A group of soldiers busy at the port saw the ship parked at the shore, walked up and asked: "If there is no vegetable beef, canned food will do. We have been fighting for several months and have not had a good rest. The food has not improved. We eat bland potatoes and bread every day. We have no energy at all. How can we continue to fight like this?"

"Don't complain, brother. It doesn't matter if you're a little tired or a little bit exhausted, as long as there's no war. You should pray to God that the Orientals will never break through the frontier defenses, or pray to God that you can survive safely until the end of the war."

"Bah, what's the point of praying to God? If you want to survive the war safely, it's better to surrender to the Orientals directly!"

“Haha, that’s a good idea.”

The soldiers joked, venting their nervous and depressed mood: "It's so unlucky, all of them are artillery shells, explosives, guns, cannons, machine guns and other iron lumps. They can't be eaten, and they can't be sold for money. What's the point of moving them down!"

The soldiers gathered around the fleet one after another, looking at the boxes of goods being unloaded from the ship, and complained: "The food is getting worse and worse. The beef cooked by the cooks last time was rotten. I don't know which son of a bitch bastard embezzled the food and supplies transported from the mainland. If it wasn't secretly detained and resold by those bastards in the logistics department, why has the amount of beef, fruits and vegetables supplied to the front line become less and less in the past month?"

"Those parasites in the logistics department have kept supplies privately. Not only canned beef, vegetables and fruits, but also firearms and shells that pass through their hands, and they also deduct 10%. Otherwise, where did the British standard rifles in the hands of the local manor gentlemen come from?"

A white soldier with a thick beard and a big red nose said sarcastically, "It's an open and unspoken rule that the parasites in the logistics department are asking for things. But I heard from the staff of the city defense headquarters that the change in the types of supplies in the past month is the result of the intervention of Admiral Wagner Santoro. It seems that in order to strengthen the defense capabilities in the Asuncion direction, the supply of weapons and ammunition has been given the highest priority, especially the supply of artillery and shells, which has been raised to the level of first-class importance."

"That sounds reasonable."

"I'm not kidding you. Look over there. That 700-ton steamship is carrying a 1mm heavy gun. There are a few ships with even larger displacements behind it. Judging from their draft and the size of the big guns covered by gun covers on the deck, they should also be carrying large-caliber heavy guns."

"Hey, Admiral Wagner Santoro looks like a good guy. I just wonder if those parasites in the logistics department have given him some benefits."

"Who knows? Maybe they are in the same group. Why worry about it? Just do your work. If the Orientals attack us, it will be a life-threatening situation. Save your life first."

"That's right. The local gentlemen and gentlemen have conscripted many black Indians and distributed land to them. They should fight to the death. My life is precious."...

Because of the different social classes they belong to, even ordinary soldiers of the Brazilian Republic who pick up guns find it difficult to firmly tie their fate to that of the country. In their eyes, perhaps having a delicious meal is far more important than defending the Republic.

(End of this chapter)