At the end of March 1879, the strength of the Argentine troops, which had suffered a disastrous defeat in Santa Fe, was severely weakened and they were no longer able to deal with the threat of the Han National Defense Forces on three fronts at the same time. Therefore, it was initially determined that the enemy forces on the Paraná River Front were the main force of the Han National Defense Forces.
Under the circumstances, Miter drastically reduced the defensive forces on the other two fronts, and then took advantage of the window period of the National Defense Forces' post-war repairs to continuously strengthen the transferred forces to the positions along the Paraná River.
After losing the city of Santa Fe, the only remaining barriers in front of Buenos Aires were the two fortresses of Rosario and Paraná, one large and one small.
Paraná City is a small coastal city located in the north of the middle section of the Paraná River. In terms of strategic position and defensive capabilities, Paraná City, with a population of less than 10,000, cannot compete with Rosario, with a population of more than 100,000.
In comparison, therefore, except for the troops deployed to defend Buenos Aires, most of the troops deployed from the other two fronts were strengthened on the Rosario first-line defensive position.
As the most important strategic location to protect the security of Buenos Aires, Rosario's defense strength quickly increased to 15,000 people after the Battle of Santa Fe. At the same time, in order to block the Han army's attack as much as possible,
Advancing, Miter dispatched an additional 5,000 young laborers to assist the Rosario garrison in building fortifications.
The Argentine federal government used the precious time between wars to constantly adjust previous combat deployments. However, for the defenders who rushed to respond, the preparation time was always difficult to meet their requirements for the war. Just eight days after the Santa Fe war ended, Li Mingyuan
Leading the 140,000 National Defense Force troops, they spared the useless city of Paraná and headed south along the Paraná River towards Rosario.
On the morning of March 25, the main force of the National Defense Force was divided into three groups and launched a fierce attack on the Rosario defenders from the north, east, and west directions.
At noon on the 28th, after three days of continuous attacks, the National Defense Forces successfully occupied the four lines of defense set up by the Argentine troops outside the city. The spearheads of the three offensive forces were all directed at the core area of Rosario Fortress.
It stands to reason that the garrison strength and defensive capabilities of the fortifications of Rosario Fortress are much stronger than those of Santa Fe City. However, what frightened and confused the generals of the Rosario garrison was that under the attack of the National Defense Forces, Rosario
However, the defensive line of the city's perimeter defense lasted shorter than that of Santa Fe City.
The number and quantity of the National Defense Forces used in the front-line offensive did not change significantly. The military strength of the Argentine troops on the peripheral defense line was not inferior to that of the Santa Fe defenders. The reason why the National Defense Forces were able to maintain a more powerful force despite the fact that the strength of both the offensive and defensive sides did not change much.
The reason why Rosario's peripheral defense line was captured in a short period of time was because more than a week had passed and the continuous heavy rain finally stopped, and the transportation difficulties that plagued the National Defense Forces' logistical supplies were greatly alleviated. As a result, the National Defense Forces troops on the front line were able to
New weapons such as improved mortars and grenades are available from the rear.
Mortars and grenades are weapons that have been used in actual combat since the founding of the National Defense Forces. However, due to the crudeness and deficiencies of industrial technology, the initially produced mortars not only faced disadvantages such as short range, low accuracy, and difficulty in aiming and shooting.
And the most important thing is that the quality of the steel raw materials used for the mortar body is low, resulting in a short service life of the produced mortar, and it is easy to be in danger of exploding the barrel due to improper operation, inadequate maintenance and other reasons.
The improvement of mortar manufacturing technology relies on the support of steel technology. Therefore, it was not until the outbreak of the Argentine War that Haffield discovered a method of smelting manganese steel, and many problems that restricted the development of mortars were quickly solved.
The synthesis of special steels has many commonalities. After using manganese as an additive to solve the hardening problem of steel, Haffield and others quickly began to improve the performance of mortars and quickly made substantial progress. Those who followed the logistics
The mortars transported by the troops were the results of improvements by Harfield and others.
The mortar made of newly produced special steel solved the shortcomings of the gun body being too heavy and easy to explode, making it capable of close combat. In the battle to attack the outer positions of Rosario, it was precisely because of the
The use of new mortars caused the Argentinian fire support points to be destroyed before they could play their due role, which in turn accelerated the fall of Rosario's peripheral front and provided the National Defense Force with the ability to quickly resolve peripheral battles.
favorable conditions.
After all three peripheral positions of Rosario were lost, the northern port connected to the Paraná River became the only channel for the defenders in the city to connect to the outside. At 7:00 a.m. on April 1, the National Defense Forces concentrated the First Division and the Third Division.
More than 20,000 troops launched an attack on the northern port of Rosario. At the same time, in order to maintain the only escape route in the city, the Argentine defenders unleashed a combat effectiveness far superior to that of ordinary troops and tenaciously resisted the attack of the National Defense Forces.
At 9 a.m., the first section of the third regiment of the 1st Division occupied the Argentinian position at the mouth of the river. A few minutes later, a group of more than 700 Argentine troops arrived at the position at the mouth of the river and immediately launched a counterattack against the third regiment.
Artillery fire roared, soldiers screamed, and mutilated or bleeding corpses were piled up layer by layer in the narrow space.
The battle for the river mouth entered a fierce stage from the beginning. The positions occupied by the soldiers of the Third Regiment were captured by the Argentines four times. Then, with the support of new troops, the remaining soldiers of the Third Regiment once again launched a counterattack against the Argentines, and from the opponent's hands
Seize the position.
The traditional position offensive and defensive battles evolved into a bloody tug-of-war. The National Defense Forces and the Argentine defense forces continued to invest their strength in the battle for the river mouth position. Until 12:10 noon, the First Division and the Second Division suffered 800 casualties.
At the cost, all the Argentine troops who counterattacked were defeated, and the battle for the river mouth position came to an end.
At 2:40 pm, Li Mingyuan ordered the 2nd Division and the 1st Mixed Brigade to take over the troops of the 1st and 3rd Divisions who were fighting continuously, and continue the reactionary attack on the remaining enemy forces in the northern port of Rosario. The battle continued until 4:20 pm
By the end of the war, all the northern ports of Rosario fell into the hands of the National Defense Forces. The last Argentine force of more than 3,000 people left a large number of wounded and fled back to the city of Rosario. The National Defense Forces completed a comprehensive siege of the Argentine defenders.
In the following three days, the National Defense Forces, under the command of Li Mingyuan, on the one hand put up a full-scale siege posture, and on the other hand sent two troops to the west and east of Rosario to ambush Cordoba and Buenos Aires.
Argentine reinforcements were sent in the direction of the Argentinian army, but unfortunately, no matter what actions the National Defense Forces made, Miter, who was short of troops, and Urquiza, who wanted to preserve his own strength, did not send troops to relieve Rosario.
After waiting for three days without finding his prey, Li Mingyuan immediately gave up his strategic plan to encircle the point and mobilize reinforcements, and instead launched the final attack on Rosario.
At three o'clock in the afternoon on April 5, the 155 mm heavy artillery regiment blasted a seven-eight-meter-wide gap in the western city wall of Rosario. Then, the troops of the First Regiment of the Third Division, led by their officers, entered the city along the gap. In the afternoon
At 3:30, the National Defense Forces repulsed the Argentine troops in Duji, and the main force began to enter the city. On April 7, after two days of fierce street fighting, the National Defense Forces initially cleared the enemy troops in the city, leaving a small number of broken troops hidden among the Argentine whites.
It was no longer possible to pose a threat to the National Defense Forces, so at 2:40 in the afternoon, Li Mingyuan announced the end of the Battle of Rosario, and the National Defense Forces also began to prepare for the last large-scale battle in the Argentine War.