After the ministers and ministers exchanged greetings, the soldiers of the 1st Mixed Brigade, under the command of several officers, assisted their comrades in the 105th Artillery Regiment in pulling carriages towing artillery pieces into the camp.
A standard 105mm artillery regiment has 1,800 soldiers and 2,000 pack horses and mules.
After the carriages and pack horses entered the camp, the soldiers were busy dismantling and transferring artillery, ammunition and other combat supplies. The pack horses and mules that had just completed their heavy transportation tasks were placed at the military horse farm to stay with the horses of the 1st Mixed Brigade.
in one piece.
The Pampas grassland in the central part of the Han country is one of the most suitable horse farms in the world with the most suitable natural environment. Benefiting from superior livestock resources, the total number of local horses reached the order of 7 million for the first time in 1889.
The second industrial revolution is still in the development stage, and emerging transportation vehicles such as internal combustion engines and automobiles are still in the stage of research and development and performance improvement. They have not been able to replace livestock transportation and become the main force in material transportation like later generations. Therefore, in the current and next thirty or forty years,
For more than a decade, packhorses and mules were still the main force in material transportation.
Because of the abundant local horse resources, all field troops and second-line garrison troops of the Han Dynasty were equipped with a large number of pack horses and mules for material transportation tasks.
Each standard full division (15,000 to 18,000) is equipped with pack horses, and the total number of mules is between 11,000 and 13,000: within the range,
Each full mixed brigade (9,000 men) is equipped with a total number of packhorses and mules in the range of 6,000 to 7,000.
Each fully equipped garrison brigade (5,000 men) is equipped with a total number of packhorses and mules ranging from 2,000 to 3,000.
The high number of horses and mules assigned to each unit not only reduces the pressure on material transportation during combat, but also improves the unit's continuous combat capability.
Each division and brigade-level regular army unit in the mainland has an independent field cavalry battalion. The cavalry battalion has one person and two horses. The standard establishment is 460 people and 1,000 horses. Whenever it encounters a foreign war, the cavalry battalion always acts as the vanguard for reconnaissance and maneuver.
The role of the unit is to stay away from the main force and attack the enemy on the flank.
Advanced weapons and equipment and abundant horses are the reason why Pang Zhenyun is confident that he can defeat the Brazilian Republic Army on the Parana River. Therefore, when the first combat order issued by the headquarters was conveyed to the temporary headquarters of the 1st Mixed Brigade, Pang Zhenyun quickly
The chief officers of the 1st and 2nd regiments of the 1st Mixed Brigade, the 4th Guards Brigade and the 105th Howitzer Regiment were convened to hold a small-scale meeting on how to implement the combat plan.
"According to the intelligence from the headquarters, the enemy force currently facing our unit is the Paraná River Front Army of the Republic of Brazil. This army is commanded by Lieutenant General Rodriguez of the Army of the Republic of Brazil, and his command includes Rodriguez Pulles.
Major General Tes's 3rd Division, Major General Getulio's 9th Division and other affiliated units have a total strength of about 37,000, of which 26,000 are assembled on the front line, which is about twice the number of our army.
.”
Pointing to the sand table on the map, Pang Zhenyun introduced: "Yesterday, a unit of the enemy's Paraná River Front Army of about 10,000 people set out from the port of Duiguazú, turned to the land route and headed west, intending to occupy Bia, southeast of Asuncion.
Rica, and then set up defensive positions there to prevent our army from supporting Asuncion.
Villarrica is the midpoint and hub station of the Asunción-Encarnacion railway line. If the army of the Republic of Brazil occupies it, our army's railway line to Asuncion will be cut off in the middle, and the troops who are holding on to Asunción will
Paraguay's remnant army will also face the dilemma of losing its southeastern flank and cutting off external communication channels. Therefore, the combat mission assigned to our army by the headquarters is to immediately mobilize an advance force and use the railway line controlled by our army to quickly move towards Villarrica.
direction, and then rush in front of the army of the Republic of Brazil to control the Villarrica railway hub and surrounding strategic locations. Then we organize defensive positions on the spot to block the attack from the army of the Republic of Brazil in the east."
"What are the weapons and equipment of the offensive forces of the Republic of Brazil? Are they equipped with a large number of cavalry units?"
After Pang Zhenyun finished his introduction, Hu Kunshan, commander of the 4th Security Brigade, asked.
"Army of the Republic of Brazil heading towards Villarrica
About half of the soldiers are equipped with Martini Henry breech-loading guns, and the remaining half are equipped with old-fashioned rifles such as Snyder and Spencer, and the rifle propellant used by their soldiers is black powder, which is the same as our Jianye
Compared with the six-year-old rifle, the rate of fire and the number of kills are much weaker."
Pang Zhenyun added: "The Brazilian army has a cavalry force of several hundred people, but the Brazilian cavalry has just come off the water by boat, so their combat effectiveness should be reduced."
"The Brazilian army's weapon performance and unit coordination combat effectiveness are not as good as ours. Their only advantage is that they have more soldiers than ours."
Major staff Shen Dehui, who is in charge of formulating combat plans and providing tactical advice to military commanders, listened to Pang Zhenyun's additions. After a moment of silence, he said: "In the direction of the Paraná River front, the total number of the Brazilian Republic's troops is nearly three times that of our army.
The number of combat troops on the front line is about twice that of our army. Based on the current intelligence analysis of Brazil's hasty division of troops to march towards Villarrica, it can be roughly inferred that the Brazilian commander in charge of the Paraná front is not confident enough.
We were sure that we could defeat our army on the frontal battlefield, so we adopted a conservative and passive defensive strategy with the intention of being one step ahead of our army. We first occupied Villarrica with superior force, and then relied on the surrounding defense fortifications to delay our army's attack on Asia step by step.
Reinforcements in the direction of Asuncion will buy as much time as possible for the main force of the Brazilian Republic’s army to occupy Asunción.”
"So, the enemy our army is currently facing did not intend to engage in a decisive frontal battle with our army from the beginning?"
Hu Kunshan asked,
"Nine times out of ten, this is the case. The Brazilian army has fought with our army several times, but has never won a division-level battle or above. Currently, within the army of the Republic of Brazil, the vast majority of Brazilian generals hold a passive and conservative combat attitude."
Shen Dehui responded.
"It is not good for the Brazilian army to be too passive. If they keep cowering in the fortifications and retreat once the wind is wrong, it will be difficult for us to keep them all."
Pang Zhenyun thought.
"Haha, Brigadier, there is no need to worry. After the Brazilian army enters Paraguay, it is not that easy to escape unscathed. Moreover, even if the Brazilian army senses the danger in advance and withdraws from Paraguay, then one group will always be afraid
For a unit that fights tough battles and values its own life more than anything else, it doesn't make much difference whether it is eliminated or not."
"What Staff Shen said makes sense. There is really not much difference between a troop that has been wiped out and a troop that only knows how to escape."
Pang Zhenyun's worries were dispelled, and he spoke in an upbeat tone: "The Brazilian army's strategy and tactics are conservative and passive. They want to deploy blocking positions in front of us, but they can't succeed.
Commander Zhang, order your department to mobilize three infantry battalions and engineer battalions, a 75mm field artillery battalion, a brigade reconnaissance battalion, a machine gun company and other units to form an advance force. You will be the commander. You must take the train before 1 p.m. Get ahead of the Brazilian army and take control of Villarrica. 24 hours after your departure, I, Brigadier Hu, and Staff Officer Shen will lead the main force to join you by train.
Before the main force reaches Villarrica, you must keep the Brazilian army firmly out of the train terminal!"
"Yes! Brigadier!"
"Brother Hu, Commander Wu, the war is urgent. Please return to the 4th Guard Brigade and the 105th Artillery Regiment immediately to start arranging the troop departure and transfer."
Pang Zhenyun continued to make arrangements for Hu Kunshan, commander of the 4th Security Brigade, and Wu Jiadong, commander of the 105th Artillery Regiment.
"Don't worry, Brigadier Pang, we will go back now to make preparations for the troops' departure."......
