Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 474 Contraction
At 7 p.m., General Wagner Santoro of the Brazilian Army finished his day's work and was about to enjoy dinner when he was interrupted by a battle report from his operations staff.

"Admiral, the defenders of Aoli Town were completely annihilated. The Han army's frontline attack force advanced to the outer defense line of Hume Tower Fortress and launched a tentative attack on the fortress this afternoon. General Robini asked if we could take advantage of the fact that the Han army has been marching for a long distance and has not yet built fortifications, and use our army's familiarity with the terrain to launch a counterattack against the Han army under the cover of night, eliminate some of the Han army troops, and boost the morale of the defenders."

"How many Han troops have rushed into the Hume Tower Fortress? What are their weapons and equipment? Which unit do they belong to?"

"There are about 5000 people. Judging from the uniforms, standard weapons and equipment flags of the enemy soldiers, it is estimated that they are the Second Mixed Brigade of the Han Army. Because the battle has just started, the number of heavy weapons of the enemy has not yet been ascertained."

"Notify the 1st Division Commander Major General Nakgal, the 4th Division Commander Major General Mirhei, the 6th Division Commander Major General Kautaz, and the Front Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Anderson to attend the meeting to discuss the battle plan."

Wagner Santoro ordered his attendants to put away the tableware that had just been placed. After thinking for a moment, he ordered, "Also notify Colonel Silva, the Director of Intelligence, to attend the meeting.

Regarding the Humeta Fortress, the reply was to General Robini that the enemy's situation was unclear and for the sake of safety, the first task was to save manpower and defend the fortress. Without the clear order from the front command, they were not allowed to leave the fortress's defense line without authorization to fight.

Also, the supplies and personnel that were requested earlier are ready, and troops will be dispatched in the near future. Let him prepare in advance and arrange for personnel to receive them."

"Admiral, the Han army has appeared in the area around Humeta Fortress. Colonel Andrew is worried that if we advance along the waterway and transport supplies to Humeta Fortress, we may be attacked by the Han army's coastal and inland forces."

"What does Andreut think?"

"Colonel Andruett suggested that all the supplies be unloaded and then our army would be responsible for transporting them by land to the Hume Tower Fortress."

"The 155mm heavy artillery is large in tonnage and difficult to transport by land. Apart from the two heavy artillery pieces that are scheduled to be allocated to the Humeta Fortress, the other supplies will be carried out according to Colonel Andruart's suggestions. As for the two heavy artillery pieces, they will be temporarily placed in Asuncion. That's it."

The mine obstacles deployed from the waters of Asun to Pilar were constantly cleared and destroyed by the Han army's inland fleet. As the three outer defense lines were lost, the threat from the water became increasingly greater. Rather than risk being intercepted, it would be better to spend two more days and take the land transportation route.

Wagner Santoro looked up outside. The sky was pitch black, and a breeze accompanied by humid water vapor blew in from the window. Paraguay's rainy season is coming soon. Maybe in a few days, it will be continuous rainy weather. I hope this year's rainy season will come as late as possible. In that case, we can also stockpile more combat supplies.

Inside a magnificent building complex, soldiers in uniforms of the Army of the Republic of Brazil shuttled back and forth. The long corridor was brightly lit. Oil lamps were hung under the eaves beside the corridor. The bright yellow lights connected together and pointed to the royal palace that represented the highest power in Paraguay.

This building complex was built during the Spanish colonial period and was originally the residence of the Spanish governor. After Paraguay's independence, this building complex was named Estrella Independence Building by Lopez and used as the president's office and residence. Then, Lopez Jr. took over the rule of Paraguay from his father and inherited the ownership of this building complex, continuing to use it as a symbol of the Lopez family's rule over Paraguay.

Now, this classically shaped building complex, which is in the style of the Louvre in Paris, France, has changed its owner again. Faced with the unique and luxurious decorations around the corridor, several senior Brazilian military officers who were in a hurry on their way had no time to appreciate them.

As the war was imminent, even the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder. As if affected by the tense atmosphere, the two hyacinth macaws trapped in cages inside the building complex kept chirping, expressing their inner uneasiness and restlessness.

"Colonel Silva, have you figured out the intelligence on the Han army?" Admiral Wagner Santoro looked at the intelligence director who was walking behind the others, and said with a sullen face, "The war has been going on for half a month, and the intelligence on the enemy's marching route, number of people, weapons and equipment, unit numbers, etc., are too different from the actual situation reported by the frontline troops. Do you think it's a problem with the intelligence or is the situation reported by the frontline troops distorted?"

"It's my fault, General!"

Colonel Silva did not dare to defend himself after being criticized by his direct superior. He honestly admitted the mistakes in intelligence work: "The intelligence sent back by the intelligence personnel who infiltrated the southern Paraguay and northern Han countries was distorted, which led to the disadvantageous combat of the front-line troops. I am willing to bear the corresponding responsibility for this."

"You should take the responsibility for your dereliction of duty!"

Admiral Wagner Santoro vented his anger and gradually calmed down. Excluding some subjective factors, the Han Kingdom's emphasis on intelligence and counterintelligence, as well as the fact that the battlefield was far away from the mainland and the lack of support from the Paraguayan people made it easy for intelligence personnel to be exposed and difficult to collect intelligence, were the main reasons for the distortion of intelligence. "General Anderson, did Marshal Peixoto respond?"

Admiral Wagner Santoro no longer had any hope for intelligence gathering on the mainland, but instead relied on the intelligence passed on by the British. Through Marshal Peixoto, he inquired about the Han army intelligence from the British military attaché to the Republic of Brazil.

Marshal Peixoto was the supreme commander of the Paraguayan War. His headquarters was set up in the capital of Paraná State. He was stationed in Paraná State and directly commanded about 30,000 garrisons in the areas bordering the Han State, as well as all Brazilian troops in Paraguay, to coordinate the war against the Han State.

"General, this is the information conveyed by the State of Paraná. I am preparing to report it to you in person."

Lieutenant General Anderson, Chief of Staff of the Asuncion Front, produced a copy and passed it to Wagner Santoro through his military adjutant.

Wagner Santoro opened the envelope and took out more than ten pieces of Latin-written paper. He carefully examined them for nearly 20 minutes. After thinking for a moment, he asked his adjutant to distribute the intelligence to the participants for them to read in turn. He analyzed: "Combined with the information feedback from the front-line troops, the intelligence sent back by the British is more real.

The number of troops that the Han State had stockpiled on the Asuncion front was not 4 to 5 as we estimated, but 6 to 8.

The number of troops that went forward to attack the towns of Pilar, Aldir, and Ori was also 4 to 6 more than expected. According to the intelligence analysis provided by the British, the Han army strengthened the attack force and firepower on the Asuncion front, which led to the rapid fall of Ori. "

"The British deliberately concealed the power of the new gunpowder. Before the war broke out, when Rio de Janeiro proposed to purchase new breech-loading rifles, it was the British who used sweet words to dissuade the president from purchasing Leber rifles from France, and then used the modified Martini Henry rifles to fool us. If we had foreseen the situation today, we should have insisted on the military's position."

Major General Kautaz, commander of the 6th Division, complained.

"Not only standard rifles, but also the various types of artillery possessed by the various units of the Han army that entered Paraguay are close to ours. Considering the comparison between the strength of the frontline troops and the density of artillery, with the same strength, the number of artillery possessed by the Han army is twice that of our army."

"The British are famous for their stubbornness. The British Army itself has not adopted new gunpowder as ammunition for standard rifles and artillery. Taking the Han Dynasty's Jianye Six-Year Rifle as a reference, only France, Austria-Hungary, and Germany have similar weapons in service. Moreover, due to production capacity and technical confidentiality, the three countries may not be willing to sell corresponding weapons to our army."

Diplomatic embassies in the Han capital of Chang'an (Cordoba), Songjiang (Buenos Aires), Huaiyang (Rosario), and British merchant ships sailing on the Paraná River and the Paraguay River took advantage of convenient conditions to collect all kinds of information during their contacts with the Han State, and then screened and compiled them into various types of intelligence, which were then transmitted back to Britain for reference and analysis by policy makers.

The huge troop movement could be concealed from the Brazilian army far away in Paraguay, but it was difficult to block the British prying eyes. Compared with the intelligence collected by the Republic of Brazil itself, because it was only summarized through fragmented information, the intelligence obtained by the British was somewhat discrepant with the actual data of the Han army's military mobilization numbers, weapons and equipment, but it was relatively close to the actual value.

Apart from the first batch of 7 troops that entered Paraguay, the Han Empire continued to stockpile troops and various supplies in Xianghe City (Posadas) and Luoning County (Formosa). Therefore, while providing intelligence support to the Brazilian side, the British also proposed to gather troops to defend several important strongholds, surround the two main water arteries of the Paraguay River and the Paraná River, confront the Han army, and finally seek a political solution after blocking the attack of the Han army.

Wagner Santoro listened patiently to the speeches of the participants and carefully thought about the suggestions put forward by the British in his mind.

Since Marshal Peixoto passed on the intelligence and suggestions provided by the British to himself, it also shows that Peixoto himself also agreed with the key points of retreating and using the relatively complete defense system of various strategic fulcrums to engage in offensive and defensive battles with the Han army.

The gap between countries cannot be reversed by subjective efforts. Even if the Republic of Brazil tries its best to collect personnel, weapons and supplies, it is still at a disadvantage in terms of comprehensive strength. The population of the Han State is several times that of the Republic of Brazil, and its total number of troops, individual combat capabilities, weapons and equipment, and logistics supply capabilities are also superior to ours. The strength gap is so huge that taking a defensive stance is the most sensible choice.

After some discussion, even though some senior officers were disgusted with the British behavior, in the face of military pressure from the Han State, the participants still accepted the British advice to shrink the defense line, hold the main defense points, and respond to the Han army's attack.

(End of this chapter)