Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 484 Surrender
"General Getulio, I am Shen Dehui, the operations staff officer of the First Mixed Brigade of the Han Empire Army. I have been assigned by Colonel Pang Zhenyun to be fully responsible for the connection with your department."

Shen Dehui walked into the Brazilian garrison's field command post, his eyes fixed on Major General Getulio, and said in fluent Portuguese: "Major General, you should understand the current situation. Your troops have been surrounded by our army, and it is impossible to break through our encirclement and escape. In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, I suggest that your troops give up unnecessary resistance and surrender to our army immediately."

"We still have more than 10,000 soldiers. Your army is too confident to talk about surrender at this time."

Getulio looked calm, and although he was determined to surrender, he was very confident.

"Colonel Gaspar, the commander of the 8000nd Regiment of the th Division of your army, was captured by our army. He has come to his senses and has taken the initiative to explain your situation. You have less than people left, and you are short of ammunition and supplies. If you continue to resist, you will only be wiped out."

"Our army received a batch of weapons and ammunition through the eastern port yesterday. The shortage of ammunition has been alleviated. The support troops sent by Lieutenant General Rodriguez will arrive in Villarrica within two days. So it is not that you surrounded our army, but that our army voluntarily gave up the frontline positions, lured you to attack, and then held the defense line, cooperated with the reinforcements, outflanked from both wings, and wiped you out in one fell swoop!"

"Haha, sir, this is the most imaginative joke I have ever heard."

Shen Dehui looked at the serious Brazilian general in front of him and admired his shamelessness.

"The small amount of ammunition carried by humans on their shoulders will probably have little effect on your army's nearly 8000 men.

As for what you said, cooperating with the reinforcements to form a counter-encirclement of our army, it is even more a fantasy.

The eastern port will soon be captured by our army. Even if reinforcements arrive, they will be cut off by the blocking troops. It is impossible for them to break through the blocking positions and cooperate with you to implement the so-called two-wing encirclement strategy, nor can they help you get out of the siege."

"We still have the courage and loyalty of soldiers. We still have 8000 people. The core position is still in our hands. If you force an attack, you will also pay a huge price in casualties!"

Major General Getulio still spoke tough, but his attitude had softened.

"I acknowledge that the trenches built by your army based on the model of our army have reached a certain level and have caused certain obstacles to our army's attack.

However, excluding those who remained in the encirclement, among the more than 5000 casualties of your unit, more than 4500 were captured, and only four or five hundred were killed in battle. Moreover, among them, two infantry companies surrendered voluntarily under the leadership of their company commanders.

"The two junior officers were able to see the situation clearly and make the right decision. As a senior officer, the General is responsible for the safety of nearly 8000 people in the encirclement. You can't be less far-sighted than the two junior officers and not be able to see the current situation clearly, right?"

Shen Dehui did not give Getulio face, and directly sarcastically retorted: "Loving the motherland and defending the territory is the duty of a soldier, but it is a bit absurd to apply it to your army. The land of Brazil originally belonged to the Indians. You are the descendants of the Portuguese and snatched the ownership of the land from the Indians. If we talk about patriotism, the Indians are the most qualified to say that they love the land under the feet of Brazil.

You come from Portugal in Europe. If you are truly patriotic, you should uphold Portugal's colonial rule and should not establish an independent country. Taking a step back, you should also accept the rule of the Brazilian royal family.

As for this so-called Brazilian Republic, it is a product of complete patchwork. Your loyalty to the Brazilian Republic is not patriotism at all.

Also, if you choose to resist stubbornly, it will not have any impact on our army. Your artillery has been destroyed, and there are only a few heavy machine guns and light mountain artillery left. The surrounding high ground and favorable terrain are occupied by our army. Our army has sufficient artillery shells and can use the commanding heights to carry out saturation bombardment on the encirclement. There is no need for soldiers to charge. The artillery bombardment alone can blow you to pieces.

Even if you are bombarded, how many people will be left? Even if the surviving soldiers continue to resist, at most they will cause hundreds of casualties to our army, which will not change the overall situation. And what good will it do for you? Will the high officials of the Republic of Brazil remember you? To them, you are just a string of numbers, no one cares.

No, your relatives, your wife, children, father, and mother will care. The wife will cry because of losing her husband, the parents will be sad because of losing their son, and the children will be sad because of losing their father. "

After listening to Shen Dehui's series of questions, Getulio fell silent and stopped refutation.

"I admit, Major, that there is some truth in what you say."

Getulio's attitude softened completely, and he discussed:

"I have one condition. I hope both sides will cease fire for 12 hours so that my soldiers can treat the wounded."

"No, one hour at most."

"Two hours. Give us two hours. I need to discuss this with the officers."

"One and a half hours, this is the final bottom line. If you agree, I will wait here for you to discuss the final result."

"Okay, Mr. Major, please wait in the lounge for a while. I will give you an accurate answer when the time is up."

"Guards, send Major Shen to the lounge next door."

"Don't bother, just lead the way."

Shen Dehui strode away, and the few remaining middle and senior officers in the field command post looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Adjutant, call all officers above the corps level to the command post for a meeting. I have important news to announce."

"Yes, General."

The defenders were huddled in the last line of trenches, which was small in area and news was transmitted relatively quickly. In less than fifteen minutes, all the notified officers gathered in the field command post.

"That's probably the situation. What do you think?"

Getulio briefly reported the news of the arrival of the Han envoy and the meeting process just now, and then asked for everyone's opinions.

"I agree to surrender. Just as the Han army messenger said, if we continue to hold on, we will die. Now we have no other choice but to surrender gloriously and end the war."

"The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it will be. If we continue to fight with the Orientals and anger them, we may not even have the chance to surrender."

"We have been fighting in Villarrica for nearly ten days. We have fulfilled our duties as soldiers and have fully lived up to the Republic. Now it's time to consider ourselves." Before the position was surrounded, several officers who had actively persuaded Major General Getulio to disobey orders and retreat flexibly were the first to express their position and agreed to surrender to the Han army.

"What about you? What do you think?"

Major General Getulio turned his gaze to the five or six officers who had not expressed their opinions and asked.

"I was wondering..."

An officer caught in Getulio's gaze stammered and opened his mouth, hesitating.

"Don't be silly. We are already surrounded. We can't wait for reinforcements to come and save us. What's the point of continuing to hold on?"

"Why are you still hesitating? If you don't surrender, you will die. Have you asked your soldiers? Are they willing to die with you?"

Several trusted officers guessed Getulio's true thoughts and began to persuade him.

"General, if we surrender, will the Orientals break their promise and kill us? Many people in the country say that the Han Kingdom is a barbaric and uncivilized Oriental indigenous country. They like to abuse and massacre their enemies. I am worried that after I surrender, I will be killed by them."

“If we surrender, will our relatives back home be persecuted by the government? Will our property and land be taken back?”

Several officers plucked up their courage and expressed their concerns.

"That is the art of propaganda. In order to intimidate ordinary residents and incite local residents to support their policies, those domestic officials deliberately vilify and discredit the Han people. You hold low positions and do not understand the real situation of the Han country, so misunderstandings exist.

In fact, the military discipline of the Han army is better than that of the Republic Army. When entering Paraguay, have you ever seen Paraguayans say bad things about the Han army? They treat ordinary Paraguayan residents well, and they will not treat us who surrender voluntarily any worse.

Of course, the Han army was relatively lenient towards those who obeyed, but would severely suppress those who stubbornly resisted.

There is one more thing I will say in private. Everyone listen. Don't spread it out to shake the morale of the army. The Han country has a relatively unified policy towards black people. They are either repatriated or sent back to Africa. We are all middle and senior officers here, and there are no black people. Don't worry about this."

"Orientals are not as terrible and barbaric as propaganda claims. Many Paraguayans pass on intelligence to them. On the contrary, our troops often suffer hostility and attacks from Paraguayans."

"The status of local blacks is getting higher and higher. In our Ninth Division, there are more than ten black officers above the rank of second lieutenant, and there is even a black captain. We shouldn't give them so many benefits. They have not made any contribution to the Republic at all."

"The government liberated them, gave them land, farm tools, and the same rights as white people, but they did not know how to be grateful. Instead, they evaded the government's conscription, slacked off work, and even hid. The Republic should not be so good to them."

Compared with the treatment of the blacks, the Brazilian officers in the command post felt much better and were less resistant to surrender.

“The Ninth Division is one of the main forces of the Republic. Even if we surrender, after the war, the Republic will exchange prisoners with the Han Kingdom and take us back. It is not easy to train a main force. The Republic will not give up on us just because we surrender.

Moreover, this is not the Empire era, we must abide by the law, even if the president and the military are dissatisfied, they dare not harm our families or property, otherwise, not only those gentlemen who always say that private property is sacred and inviolable will not agree, but other troops currently fighting will also not agree. "

After explaining, Getulio finally asked, "Now that the situation has been explained clearly to everyone, how many people agree to surrender? Please raise your hands."

There was a sudden roar, and all the sixteen people in the command post raised their right hands except himself.

“I respect everyone’s opinion.”

Major General Getulio nodded with satisfaction, and then everyone gathered together to discuss the specific details of the surrender and related surrender treatment and conditions.

An hour and a half passed in a flash. When Major Shen Dehui walked back into the field command post of the Brazilian garrison, he saw that everyone's expressions were much calmer and more relaxed than when they first met.

"Major, on behalf of the 9th Division of the Republic of Brazil and the front-line troops in Villarrica, I would like to make a formal response to your army. If you are willing to accept the following conditions proposed by our army, our army is willing to take the initiative to end the war."

"Your Excellency the General has made the right choice."

Shen Dehui smiled and asked, "What are your conditions?"

"1 Ensure the personal safety of captured officers and soldiers, and do not abuse or kill prisoners of war."

2. Except for arms, horses, military equipment and military documents, the personal effects and property of officers and soldiers shall remain in the possession of prisoners of war;

3. Prisoners of war shall not be forced to perform dangerous or humiliating labour;

4. Prisoners of war shall not be subjected to physical or mental torture or to any other form of coercion in order to obtain any information;
5. Officers of corresponding military ranks should be given due treatment according to their different job levels.

6. Provide necessary medical treatment to the injured.

7 After the cessation of hostilities, prisoners of war shall be released or repatriated without delay;”

Getulio read it solemnly, then handed the letter with the surrender terms to Shen Dehui.

"I will convey the general's request to the commander, and I will give you an accurate reply before 12 o'clock tonight."

Shen Dehui put away the letter, agreed on the final reply time with the other party, and left quickly.

(End of this chapter)