Combat orders were issued to all grass-roots units. After receiving the combat mission, the three infantry battalions of the 1st Mixed Brigade and the 1st Regiment, the brigade engineer battalion, the 75mm field artillery battalion, the brigade reconnaissance battalion, the machine gun company and other units, a total of more than 3,600 people, quickly
Assemble, then take the train at 12:55 noon and rush to the designated combat area.
"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,,, a long train, that's blowing thick black smoke, driving at high speed on the railway to Villarrica. On the plain near the train window, there's one dense tree after another.
The tree quickly appeared in the sight of the soldiers, and then was pulled behind by the train in the blink of an eye.
The area from Encarnacion to Villarrica has not been affected by the war, but looking out through the windows, you can see groups of people fleeing and migrating.
There was huge hatred between the people and the military of Paraguay and the Republic of Brazil. During the First Paraguay War from the beginning of 1864 to the end of 1868, the number of casualties in Paraguay and Brazil reached 120,000 and 80,000 respectively.
.
Among the casualties on the Paraguayan side, there were about 92,000 men, and nearly 30,000 women and the elderly and infirm.
The 80,000 people lost by the Brazilian army were all soldiers and officers directly involved in front-line battles.
The Paraguayan War, which lasted for nearly five years, exhausted the stamina of both warring parties. Whether it was Brazil or Paraguay, when one side captured prisoners of the other side, in order to vent the pressure accumulated due to the war, they often subjected the captured prisoners to cruel punishments and torture.
revenge.
Among them, because the war took place in Paraguay, the Paraguayan people who had no ability to defend themselves suffered more severe war persecution than the Brazilian side.
The villages and towns where they lived were burned down, and the men in the villages were arrested and executed on suspicion of participating in the war.
During the First Paraguay War, the extreme measures taken by the Brazilian Imperial Army against the Paraguayan people were repeated again and again in northern and central Paraguay.
The Brazilian army's corruption and loose military discipline have caused great harm to the ordinary people of Paraguay. However, in the face of bullying and banditry by various units at the grassroots level, even though Field Marshal Choppeto of the Republic of Brazil issued several orders explicitly prohibiting the troops from robbing the weak at will.
However, because the participating troops entering Paraguay belonged to different factions, and more than one-third of the black soldiers were mixed in each army, Shopeto's order went through many deliberate partialities and indulgences.
After being passed down from officer to officer who had his soldiers plunder, it was not implemented effectively at all.
The atrocities committed by the Army of the Republic of Brazil in plundering and harming ordinary people in Paraguay not only caused a large number of Paraguayan people to be displaced and fled, but also aroused the will of many Paraguayan people to resist. Civilian resistance armed forces, large and small, appeared one after another. The Army of the Republic of Brazil established
In the dozens of military transfer stations and logistics transfer stations in central and northern Paraguay, there are often reports of being attacked or even occupied.
There are a considerable number of resistance elements active in the rear occupation area. One resistance force is often wiped out, and within a few days, another resistance force reappears. It is precisely because the rear transportation routes are frequently attacked, the frontline military command of the Republic of Brazil
The ministry had to transfer some of its precious troops back to central and northern Paraguay to suppress the successive attacks by rebel armed forces and maintain normal frontline supply routes.
The instability in the rear occupied area of the Republic of Brazil not only bought the Asuncion garrison nearly a week of breathing and repair time, but also provided the Han army with the necessary mobilization and marching time to calmly intervene in the Paraguayan Civil War.
The fleeing crowd outside the train window appeared in the sight of the soldiers from time to time, but as time passed, the soldiers' curiosity about the scene outside the window quickly disappeared.
"The train is expected to arrive in Villarrica at 5:30 this afternoon. It is now 4:17 in the afternoon. You still have 43 minutes to eat and repair!"
In the rickety steam train carriage, a junior officer sat near the window. While holding the carriage seat with his left hand, he stared at the watch on his right hand and loudly said: "At four fifty, the brigade munitions department will give
Everyone distributes tonight’s marching rations in advance. This is the last marching ration for our troops in the next few days. Brothers, please cherish it."
"Do you have canned pork? Company commander."
"Yes, there are canned pork, beef, and mutton. You can eat this meal today. After you get off the train, you don't know when you will be able to eat the next march meal. So, if you don't have this meal
Eat enough, tonight and tomorrow you will have to rely on field rations to fill your stomach."
The young officer lowered his head and glanced at the watch on his right hand, and urged: "The train is bumpy and unstable. Brothers, please finish your marching meal as soon as possible, then check your weapons and equipment. When the train arrives at the station, quickly assemble and stand by!"
"Yes! Company commander."......
"Director Wang, have all the marching rations been distributed to the officers and soldiers?"
At the other end of the train, Zhang Wenlian, commander of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Mixed Brigade, asked a quartermaster officer beside him.
"It was just distributed to each soldier. One can of meat (choose one of pork, beef, and mutton), one staple food (fried noodles, bread, cold rice, tortillas), one sausage, one sausage, and one piece of cheese candy.
, a total of 3,627 copies, were distributed to each company and platoon unit at 3:50 in the afternoon."
The Director of the Military Supplies Department of the 1st Mixed Brigade said: "Because of the urgent time, I only brought half a day's marching rations and two days' field rations with me this time. (Han's military rations are divided into three types, namely garrison rations, marching rations and
Field rations), if the war is still intense after two days, the supply of military rations for the advance troops can only be entrusted to the logistics department to be transferred from Encarnacion."
"Two and a half days of military rations are enough. If all goes well, before tomorrow evening, the brigade commander and Brigadier Hu of the 4th Guard Brigade will lead the main force to Villarrica. At that time, the advance force will join the main force.
We don’t need to worry about the supply of military rations for the advance troops.”
Zhang Wenlian was optimistic about the progress of the Villarrica war, so after understanding the basic military supply situation of the troops, he continued: "Military rations and ammunition reserves are sufficient to sustain our army's combat needs for the next two to three days. Therefore,
After meeting the demand for combat material supply, what our army has to do is to complete the combat mission of occupying Villarrica first and blocking the Brazilian army outside the Villarrica train station in accordance with the requirements of the brigade headquarters."
Zhang Wenlian stood up, while maintaining the balance of his body, he focused his eyes on the march map fixed on the table: "Look, everyone, there are two strategic locations around Villarrica.
One is Mbokayadi and the other is Twikwari.
Mbocayadi is located northeast of the Villarrica railway hub. It is the north-south chokepoint for attacking the station from the direction of Mauricio. It is surrounded by hills and has complex terrain, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is an ideal defensive position.
Teviquari is located in the south of the station, with mountains on its back and rivers on its back, and the land is open, which is conducive to the deployment of the Brazilian army, but it is difficult for our army to set up blocking positions.
Therefore, based on the geography and strategic advantages and disadvantages of the two places, I plan to place the main forces in the town of Mbokayadi, including the fourth and sixth battalions of the first regiment, two companies of the 75mm artillery battalion, and a machine gun company and a machine gun platoon.
All reconnaissance battalions are deployed here."
"Which unit will be assigned the task of defending Tveikuali? Tevikuali is no more than 20 kilometers away from the Brazilian army's straight marching route. If the Brazilian army's march is dangerous, it will bypass the frontal marching route and return to Tivikuali.
In the direction of the front line, our army will face great defensive pressure in the south of the station."
Li Jitai, commander of the brigade reconnaissance battalion, asked.
"We cannot rule out the possibility of this happening."
Zhang Wenlian nodded and explained: "Tevikuali is the biggest weak point of Villaria's defense line. Therefore, in order to prevent the Brazilian army from threatening the Tevikuali defense position, I plan to build the remaining four machine gun companies.
The six-year-old heavy machine gun, a company of the 75mm artillery battalion, the fifth battalion of the first regiment and the engineer battalion were all placed in the direction of Twikwari, and then the fortifications dug by the engineers battalion soldiers and the heavy equipment provided by the machine guns and 75mm field guns were used
Fire support to disrupt the offensive posture of the Brazilian army."
"Twikwari has to be defended. The combination of engineers, machine guns, artillery and infantry can give full play to the advantages of the combined arms of our army and offset the disadvantages of Twikwari's geography and terrain to the greatest extent."
Zhou Liying, commander of the 75mm field artillery battalion, simulated Zhang Wenlian's troop deployment in his mind and nodded in agreement.
"It is easy to divide our army's frontal strength by dividing the troops for garrison. However, with the station as the central defense point, the distance from the station to Mbokayadi and Twikwari is no more than seven kilometers. With our army's firepower configuration and reserve team
In terms of central support mobilization, dividing the troops into two defense groups is the most appropriate method at the moment.”…
