He Yanliang made great contributions to the suppression of the Brazilian guerrillas and was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 1st Guard Brigade. On the day the promotion order was issued, all soldiers of the 1st Guard Brigade set out from Porto Alegre under the order of Li Mingyuan and arrived two days later as the first batch of retired soldiers.
Soldier settlement - Santa Maria,
Santa Maria is located in the center of Rio Grande do Sul, far away from hostile countries such as Santa Catarina and Uruguay controlled by Brazil. It is in the center of the area occupied by the Chinese Independence Army and is the rear base of Li Mingyuan's plan.
The main force of the mopping up force is stationed in the Santa Maria area. The first batch of decommissioned troops were also placed in the rural areas around Santa Maria. In addition to the 4,000 First Guard Brigade soldiers who were ordered to come, the Santa Maria area's
The number of Chinese has reached more than 20,000. In Rio Grande do Sul, there are seven or eight cities the size of Santa Maria. However, in terms of resettled population, Santa Maria is second only to Porto Alegre.
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Porto Alegre is the capital of Rio Grande do Sul and the temporary headquarters of the Chinese Independence Army. A large number of Chinese soldiers and retired soldiers are settled in Porto Alegre. While taking advantage of the geographical advantages of Port Alegre's offshore, a large number of
The main force of the field army is also to defend against the Brazilian army's maritime attack.
During the Paraguay War, the Chinese Independence Army captured a total of three ironclads. One of the ironclads whose main gun was damaged was repaired briefly and one of the forts was removed. It has restored most of its combat capabilities and formed the main battleship with the other two ironclads.
At the port, the captured Brazilian navy taught Chinese soldiers operational training, and there was still a long way to go before formal maritime combat capabilities were formed.
Maritime operations are different from water operations. When fighting in Paraguay, you can rely on captured Brazilian navy soldiers to operate artillery to attack unprepared enemies. However, in the vast sea, the Brazilian navy will not have enough space for movement and will not be like a living target.
It is allowed to be attacked by the Chinese Independence Army. Therefore, when the sea power is defeated by the Brazilian Navy, there is a certain danger in establishing the headquarters in Porto Alegre.
Worried about the Brazilian army attacking Porto Alegre from the sea, Liu Pu and others persuaded Li Mingyuan to move his headquarters to Santa Maria, but Li Mingyuan rejected their proposal.
Porto Alegre is one of the few excellent ports in Rio Grande do Sul and is the only channel for the Chinese Independence Army to communicate with the outside world. If the main force moves back, the remaining troops will have difficulty resisting the Brazilian army with ironclad ships.
Brazil has a population of nearly 10 million, making it the most populous country in South America. The loss of more than 100,000 army troops in the Paraguay War will temporarily cause it to lose its ability to counterattack on land. However, with a population advantage of nearly 10 million, Brazil's maritime power cannot be underestimated.
Two large ironclads plus a large number of gunboats and sail warships. If Britain intervenes again to encourage Brazil to attack from the sea and seize Porto Alegre, the Chinese Independence Army will not only lose the best port, but will also be destroyed by the Brazilian Navy.
Blocked on land,
The sea lanes were blocked, and the land was all hostile countries. Without the import of Chinese immigrants and the exchange of trade materials with overseas countries, the Chinese Independence Army's combat effectiveness honed through thousands of miles of expeditions had no place to use. Therefore, Li Mingyuan tried his best to stand out from the crowd.
Instead of choosing a suggestion that seemed safe but was actually dangerous, Porto Alegre was used as a temporary headquarters to always be alert to the Brazilian army's maritime attacks.
As Li Mingyuan's advisers, Liu Pu, Sun Bin and others may provide useful suggestions to Li Mingyuan in peacetime traditional wars. However, as they have not accepted the influence of modern sea power theory, they will not think of the power of the navy for a modern war.
The decisive significance was that Liu Pu and others did not see the disadvantages of the main force of the Chinese Independence Army moving back. Li Mingyuan did not dismiss their suggestions because of this. Instead, while deciding to set up the headquarters in Porto Alegre, he agreed to move the headquarters to Porto Alegre.
Retired soldiers also have a large amount of supplies, as well as rifles and bullets that were disassembled and transported from Peru. The production line for bullets was established in Santa Maria as a production and construction base for the rear.
The construction of the base cannot be separated from the support of a large amount of manpower and material resources. In order to complete the construction of the military factory as soon as possible and put it into production, Li Mingyuan transferred 3,000 Brazilian prisoners of war to He Yanliang for use, and the remaining nearly 20,000 Brazilian prisoners were concentrated in Porto Alegre.
, responsible for the construction of fortifications in the port area.
After receiving three thousand Brazilian prisoners of war from the ordering officer, He Yanliang asked, "I have ten thousand retired soldiers and three thousand prisoners of war here. The construction and production of the military factory can be completed within the time specified by the prince. However, after completing the plan of the military factory
, how to arrange these prisoners of war? Should they be dealt with on the spot? "
"Brigadier He misunderstood. These prisoners of war are not only used to build military factories. The prince has other jobs for them to do."
The messenger officer took out a blueprint from his arms and handed it to He Yanliang and said, "This is a small fortification designed by the staff based on the prince's proposal. After the construction of the military factory is completed, three thousand prisoners of war and some retired soldiers will be transferred to the construction."
In the work of the small fortress, Brigadier He, this is a task personally assigned by the Crown Prince, you must complete it seriously."
He Yanliang studied military theory in the Wounded Corps for half a year, and he could understand ordinary fortification drawings. However, the drawings handed to him by the ordering officer made him confused. The structure of the fortifications was very simple, and it was just a
The construction area of the fortification is less than three or four meters long. What role can such a small construction fortification play?
"Commander Wu, what is the purpose of the fortress on the drawing? Why can't I understand it at all?"
"It's normal for Brigadier He not to understand. The fortresses on the drawings are somewhat different from those usually built by foreigners."
The staff officer put the drawing on a table, pointed to the mark at the bottom of the drawing and said, "General fortresses are often built around the city to form a defensive fulcrum to defend the city, but the small fortresses you are going to build this time are different. They will be built according to the staff officer's instructions.
The specific locations selected after partial survey were arranged in various areas in the wild to form a fortress group covering the entire Santa Maria area."
"The area of Santa Maria is not small. The small fortress built in the wild does not have enough people to defend it, and it is scattered throughout the area, so doesn't it allow the enemy to defeat it one by one?" He Yanliang asked.
"No, each small fortress will be located in hidden areas such as high slopes and mountains and forests. The main structure of the fortress goes deep into the ground. The surface of the fortress retains the original appearance of the construction site to ensure that the enemy cannot find it. Moreover, the bottom of each small fortress is excavated.
The tunnels must be connected. Even if a fortress is exposed, the defenders in the fortress can retreat through the tunnel and block the tunnel leading to the fortress to prevent the enemy from finding the entrance to other fortresses."
"Use tunnels to connect various small fortresses. Even if the enemy occupies the area on the ground in Santa Maria, our army can use the tunnels dug in advance to gather near the enemy, break into the enemy camp at night, and annihilate the enemies entering Santa Maria.
military."
After hearing the staff officer's introduction, He Yanliang thought for a while and realized.
"When the Brazilian army counterattacks again, the number of troops will definitely be larger. During the battle in Paraguay, the prince led our army to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to defeat the Brazilian army. After suffering a big loss, the Brazilian army will naturally be very alert. Imagine it again like last time
It is basically impossible to annihilate the enemy quickly and decisively.
Therefore, at the suggestion of the Crown Prince, the General Staff re-formulated a plan to deal with the Brazilian army's counterattack, in which Porto Alegre would serve as the main defensive location of our army to hold back the offensive forces on the Brazilian sea, and Santa Maria and other occupied areas would be fortified and cleared.
The strategy of using all the people as soldiers puts the enemy into the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and then uses bunkers and fortresses connected in various places to gather forces, and use local superiority to annihilate the scattered Brazilian troops."
"The Brazilian army counterattacked Rio Grande do Sul to regain lost territory. In the early stage of the enemy's attack, our army moved into bunker fortresses and some important areas for defense, leaving the evacuated cities and towns to the Brazilian army. They would not let these areas go.
No matter what, we will definitely divide our troops and occupy various places. In this way, our army will avoid direct confrontation with the main Brazilian troops. Instead, we can use the sparrow warfare taught by the Crown Prince to kill small groups of enemies in surprise attacks, continuously weakening the enemy's effective strength, and becoming the main force.
The purpose of building underground fortresses is to allow the Brazilian army to divide its forces. In order to regain its territory, the Brazilian army had to send troops to garrison even in empty cities and small towns. To implement the superficial phenomenon of regaining its territory, it fell into the hands of the Chinese Independence Army.
In the trap they set.
"Brigadier He, Santa Maria is the rear base set up. Military factories and various factory facilities will be relocated here. The prince had earlier placed the first batch of retired soldiers in Santa Maria and three thousand
The soldiers are assigned to you to better build and protect the security of the base. Brigadier He has a heavy burden on you. If you have any difficulties, you can raise them and I will convey them to the staff and the Crown Prince."
When the Brazilian army counterattacks, Porto Alegre and the Santa Maria Military Factory will become two key defense points and cannot be given up easily. Therefore, after He Yanliang completes the construction of the base and the bunker fortress, he will also take on the responsibility of guarding the base.
, the burden cannot be said to be light.
The staff officer asked him if he had any difficulties. He Yanliang thought about it seriously and said, "If the Brazilian army invades, will Commander Luo stationed in Santa Maria be transferred back to Porto Alegre?"
"The mission of the mopping up troops is to expel Brazilian residents. After the mission is completed, the First Division and the Cavalry Brigade will be transferred back to Porto Alegre for repairs."
The transfer of the mopping up troops back to Porto Alegre means that the garrison in Santa Maria only has 4,000 soldiers from the 1st Guard Brigade and 10,000 retired soldiers. The 4,000 soldiers from the 1st Guard Brigade are the main force of the battle, and even the guard brigade has not been selected.
Among the 10,000 soldiers on board, in addition to 1,000 disabled and wounded soldiers, about 4,000 of the remaining 9,000 soldiers could be selected to assist in the battle. A total of 8,000 soldiers were the entire force defending Santa Maria.
It was a bit difficult for eight thousand people to garrison the smaller Santa Maria base. In order to prevent the base from falling, He Yanliang proposed to allocate a regiment of field troops to garrison the Santa Maria base. The staff officer nodded in agreement and promised to report truthfully to the staff.
After handing over the tasks assigned by the staff and leaving behind the soldiers to measure and screen the construction of the bunker and fortress, the staff officer left Santa Maria and returned to Porto Alegre.
In Santa Maria, retired soldiers who had just harvested corn, under the command of He Yanliang, started construction work at the same time as Brazilian prisoners of war. Among them, three thousand prisoners of war were assigned to the most tiring work such as digging soil and carrying stones, while the retired soldiers were responsible for the most tiring work in Santa Maria.
The walls of Leah Castle were thickened and raised based on the original foundation. The musket production equipment disassembled into scattered parts were pulled into the castle by retired soldiers. Artillery pieces were also placed above the castle under the pull of slings. Busy construction projects
Scattered throughout the castle and wild areas of Santa Maria.
Santa Maria's retired soldiers and prisoners of war are busy, and Porto Alegre is also a scene of construction.
Paraguay fought with the Brazilian army. After several battles, the Chinese Independence Army captured a total of 27,000 Brazilian troops. Adding in the 5,000 Brazilian prisoners transferred from Paraguay, the number of prisoners in the hands of the Chinese Independence Army reached 32,000.
More than 30,000 captives are high-quality free labor. Three thousand captives were sent to He Yanliang, and 5,000 captives were each sent to Erechim and Caxias Sur, two places close to Brazilian forces, plus some others.
The prisoners transferred out by the local government and the 15,000 Brazilian prisoners of war who remained in Porto Alegre were all arranged to reinforce and build forts at the port of Lake Patos, which is connected to the sea.
The naval force of the Chinese Independence Army has not officially formed an army. The naval force with insufficient maritime combat effectiveness needs the protection of forts and fortifications at the port. Therefore, based on the forts built by the Brazilians, six newly planned forts are under construction. The new plan
The six artillery pieces are distributed on the east and west sides of the port, and three new artillery pieces are added on each side. Together with the artillery left by the Brazilians, they form the core force to defend the port.
The fort alone could not reassure Li Mingyuan about the safety of the warship. Outside the fort, all the destroyed gunboats and sail warships that had lost combat effectiveness captured in the Paraguay War were dismantled. The artillery on the gunboats and warships were dismantled and installed outside the fort.
Form peripheral protective firepower,
Between the peripheral forts and the port forts, a guerrilla fleet of twenty-five gunboats is formed, taking advantage of the small size and flexible movement of the gunboats to disrupt the Brazilian army's attack. At the same time, the twenty-five gunboats will also serve as early warning, patrolling the outer seas.
After the naval force issues a warning of an enemy attack, twenty-five gunboats will scatter the captured mines on the lake outside the port in the shortest possible time, acting as the first line of defense to block Brazilian warships.
Modern mines first appeared during the Russo-Turkish War in 1769, when Russian engineers first tried to use floating mines and blew up the pontoon bridge leading to Dunay from Turkey. Since then, various types of mines have been continuously developed and improved, and are widely used.
In the mid-19th century, the Russian B.C. Atubi invented the electrolyte trigger mine. During the Crimean War from 1854 to 1856, Tsarist Russia used this trigger mine in harbor defense warfare.
Then in the American Civil War, mines also played an important role in maritime operations.
Li Mingyuan was very happy when he heard that the mines had been captured. He thought that a large number of mines could be deployed to block the Brazilian warship's maritime attack. However, after seeing the captured mines, this idea was immediately dismissed. The number of captured mines was not large, at best it was only enough.
They are deployed for one use, and Porto Alegre does not have a factory that produces mines.
The captured mines were used once and then disappeared. After asking the Chinese navy who was training to keep the mines and take them out for use during battle, Li Mingyuan felt that it was time to spend money again to purchase weapons and weapons production equipment.