Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 482 Breakthrough
"Bang, bang, bang", a small team of dozens of people passed the destroyed heavy machine gun positions set up in front and arrived in front of the enemy's first trench, and fired at the soldiers of the Republic of Brazil in the trench from a high position.

Five Brazilian soldiers were hit by bursts of gunfire and fell in a muddy tunnel, struggling to move their bodies.

"Follow up, everyone behind, and maintain battle formation!"

The leading officer jumped into the trench first and moved in the direction where more than a dozen Brazilian soldiers were fleeing.

"Hiss!" The grenade fuse was pulled out and ignited, and thrown towards the fleeing crowd.
"Boom" accompanied by the sound of the explosion, several Brazilian soldiers were swept off the ground by the shock wave and hit the protective wooden railings on both sides of the trench, leaving a trail of blood.

"Kill!" The Han soldiers attacked too quickly and ran into a group of Brazilian soldiers pouring out from the bend on the other side of the trench. The distance was too close, and they did not have time to pull the bolts of their rifles. The two soldiers running at the front of the line shouted loudly, flattened their rifles with bayonets, and rushed forward.

"Puchi" the bayonet stabbed into the body of a Brazilian soldier and then was quickly pulled out.

The wounded Brazilian soldier staggered back two steps and collided with his own soldiers who were in a panic.

Taking advantage of the momentum of successfully breaking through the enemy's defense line, more than a dozen Han soldiers launched a hand-to-hand attack on more than 20 Brazilian soldiers in the trench in front of them.

In the naked cold weapon confrontation, people on both sides were injured and fell from time to time. They could not hold out for more than 5 minutes, even though the number of Brazilian soldiers pouring in had reached more than 40. Because they were exposed in the front line and faced the Han army's bayonet charge, several Brazilian soldiers could not bear the fear of death, turned around and retreated, and squeezed together with the soldiers who were pushed in.

"Boom boom boom." The Han army that arrived later threw several grenades, and immediately blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the crowd was emptied.

"Spread out and advance. Be careful of the enemy's hiding places in the trenches."

A senior officer gathered more than 30 people from different companies around him. According to the requirements of the Han Army Manual, he automatically became the commander of this front-line assault team and immediately issued combat instructions: "When encountering the remnants of the enemy, attack decisively, crush the enemy's will to fight, and force them to surrender to reduce our casualties."

"Yes, sir."

"Everyone, divide into 4 groups, coordinate your actions, and set off!"...

The first wave of assault troops composed of the 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Mixed Brigade of the Han Army successfully broke through the enemy's first trench defense line. When the news was passed back to the field command post set up on the hilly heights, everyone had a smile on their face.

"Sir, Commander Zhang is personally leading the First and Third Battalions of the First Regiment to continue advancing and is expanding the breakthrough point. Please give us your instructions for the next step of the battle."

"The enemy's artillery positions behind our positions are still silent?"

"No, our first wave of assault troops attacked quickly. In less than an hour, they tore five or six gaps in the enemy's first trench. At present, our first wave of assault troops and the Brazilian defenders are intertwined. The enemy may be worried about accidentally injuring their own soldiers, so they did not fight back."

"Perhaps the enemy is worried that if they use artillery too early, it will easily expose their targets and be hit by our army."

"Regardless of what the Brazilians really think, we will continue to follow the original battle plan. They think their own way and we fight ours."

Pang Zhenyun did not dwell on the real reason why the enemy commander did not use artillery to counterattack immediately, but focused on another aspect.

"What were the casualties of the first wave of assault troops? Is there a big discrepancy between the number of heavy firepower at the enemy's frontline positions and the data observed before the battle?"

"According to preliminary estimates, our army suffered more than 100 casualties, more than half of whom were strafed by enemy heavy machine guns while crossing the no-man's land between the two armies' positions and launching a charge. The enemy's trench layout imitated ours, with each section of the trench being jagged and tortuous, and inside the trench, semi-underground soldier hiding caves, observation ports, drainage ditches, toilets, rifle firing ports, forward command posts and other facilities were built according to their functions.

The enemy's relatively complete trench system offset some of the fire damage. After the artillery attack, the enemy's front trenches retained some heavy machine gun positions and artillery positions. It was these enemy support firepower fulcrums that escaped the artillery attack that caused certain damage to our assault troops. "War is the best teacher. Brazilians also improved by learning and imitating our military tactics in the war."

Pang Zhenyun nodded in agreement and continued to ask, "Have you figured out the enemy's troop deployment?"

"We are still counting. According to the analysis of the front-line battle situation reported by Commander Zhang, the Brazilians deployed about 1500 to 2500 people in the first trench defense line. The number of heavy weapons and equipment is not much different from the data observed by our army before the war, with one more heavy machine gun and one less artillery.

Moreover, the enemy’s sustained firepower output was insufficient, and one heavy machine gun group and two 1mm mountain artillery groups ran out of ammunition and were captured by our assault troops who broke through the defense line.”

Operations Staff Officer Shen Dehui replied.

"Artillery and heavy machine guns are the core support of the trench system. If the number of artillery and heavy machine guns of the Brazilian defenders is equal to that of our army, and the ammunition supply is sufficient, the damage caused to the charging troops will increase a lot."

"Wars are fought with comprehensive national strength. More than two-thirds of the Brazilian army's weapons and ammunition are imported. With the way our army fights, they cannot afford the ammunition consumption alone."

"Ten or twenty years ago, the Brazilian army had more weapons and equipment and independent supply capabilities than ours.
At that time, we were still using muzzle-loading rifles, and we didn't have heavy weapons such as heavy machine guns and field artillery. Moreover, we couldn't even have one muzzle-loading rifle per person, so we used bullets sparingly. In order to minimize the consumption of weapons and ammunition, play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, and offset the enemy's firepower advantage as much as possible, Your Majesty had no choice but to form a broadsword team to take on the attack mission. "

"In an era of great strife, we must strive for survival and strength. In today's world, the strong prey on the weak. Brazilians have not kept up with the times. Even if they are forced to learn from our army now, it is too late."

South America was like a stagnant pool of water. Li Mingyuan led the Chinese to take root and establish a huge foundation, which brought a little change to Brazil, Chile and other countries that were used to a comfortable life and made them aware of the crisis. Unfortunately, they were slow to make changes step by step, still stubbornly sticking to the old experience, and making changes slowly. When the time was extended to 20 years, the gap in strength between Brazil, Chile, Peru and other countries and the Han Kingdom not only did not narrow, but became larger and larger. At this point, Brazil, which originally claimed to be the largest country in South America, split into two countries, and also realized the imbalance in the power comparison between it and the Han Kingdom. Then the rulers of the Republic of Brazil put down their face and asked Britain and the United States for help.

After everyone sighed, Pang Zhenyun refocused his thoughts on the current battlefield. He swept his eyes across the field map spread out on the table and made minor adjustments to the combat plan formulated before the war based on the actual progress of the battle.

"Brigade Commander Hu, draw two battalions from the Mbokayadi right wing attack force to cooperate with the 2nd and 4th Battalions of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Mixed Brigade to support the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Regiment. After eliminating the remaining enemy forces in the first trench, leave a guard battalion to defend, and the remaining troops continue to advance to the enemy's second trench.

I want to see how long the enemy's artillery positions can hold out."

Hu Kunshan, commander of the 4th Guard Brigade, saluted and accepted the combat order.

"Sir, I apply to join the war!"

Operations Staff Officer Shen Dehui felt a little lonely when he saw that all the troops had obtained combat missions according to the predetermined plan.

"Staff Officer Shen, you are on the battlefield now."

Pang Zhenyun joked.

"Report to the commander, I apply to enter the enemy's front line to participate in the battle, please allow me!"

"Your willingness to fight is commendable. Okay, I agree to your request."

Pang Zhenyun laughed, intending to provide the young officers with an opportunity to exercise, and immediately arranged: "The 10st and 65nd Regiments of the 8st Mixed Brigade will dispatch mm light mountain cannons and heavy machine guns, led by Major Shen Dehui, to establish a temporary position in the first trench of the enemy to provide close combat fire support for the assault troops."

"Thank you, sir!" Shen Dehui responded loudly and hurriedly left the field command post.

(End of this chapter)