After the short rest, the soldiers, led by the various ministers, formed a long and narrow marching column and continued to hurry on their way.
The marching speed of the troops gradually increased, and the distance to the destination became closer and closer.
At 3:09 p.m., when the troops marched to an outlying plain not far from a Paraguayan village, several soldiers disguised as Paraguayan civilians ran back on horseback and brought back intelligence from their investigation: "The village was occupied by
A large number of Paraguayan militiamen and civilians were killed. Their corpses were left on the ground without anyone sorting them out. Many of their corpses were already showing signs of decay and stinking. It is estimated that the Brazilian army arrived here two or three days ago and took the lead.
Massacre of Paraguayan militiamen and ordinary people in the village."
"Is there anyone alive?"
"We found seven or eight living children in the village. They were all young, the youngest was three or four years old, and the older ones were only eight or nine years old. We guessed that those children may have been outside the village when the massacre occurred.
Play, so you avoid disaster."
A young officer in charge of the reconnaissance mission reported: "However, the condition of the surviving children was very bad. They must have not eaten for several days. When we rushed to the village, we saw them lying next to the ditch.
, drinking the dirty water from the ditch that was contaminated by corpses and blood.”
"In a sudden disaster, all relatives and parents were killed. The few surviving children were just relying on their instincts to try to find a way to survive."
Although the Han soldiers were cold-blooded and ruthless towards their enemies, they were not beasts who only knew how to kill. Therefore, after hearing the tragedy of the Paraguayan children and standing behind Cai Jiu, Zhang Shishan, who graduated from a serious military academy, could not help but feel a little in his heart.
Sympathy: "Captain, please send someone to take in those poor Paraguayan children. Their parents and relatives have been killed. If they are left in the village with no one to take care of them, it will be difficult for them to survive until the end of the war."
"The imperial army is an army of justice. Our army went abroad to fight under His Majesty's orders. It has the mission to save the Paraguayan people from disaster. It is also our duty to take in the Paraguayan children who were killed by the Brazilian army."
Compared with the increasing number of young officers in the army who have received formal military academies education, although Cai Jiu has not received formal military education, he has experienced various hardships in the Peruvian plantations in his youth and participated in the Chinese labor force.
The dozens of battles he participated in after joining the army also tempered his character, giving him a calmer battlefield judgment than the former.
In the village not far ahead, the experiences of ordinary Paraguayan people may make him feel some sympathy, but it will not interfere with his normal judgment. The task of the mixed assault force is to arrive at the destination as soon as possible and capture Eli as soon as possible.
In Sa Town, sheltering and rescuing Paraguayan children is also one of the political tasks of the Han army, but it is not the top priority.
Cai Jiu had already made a decision in his mind. Therefore, facing the slightly emotional suggestions from his officers, he made it clear: "However, the first task of our army is to occupy the town of Elisa. Any task that has nothing to do with the task of occupying the town of Elisa is
All matters must be postponed.
Battalion Commander Zhang, please send a telegram to the front headquarters to report the situation we saw on the way and request the front headquarters to dispatch a specialized logistics reception unit to take over the homeless Paraguayan children.
, and at the same time, bury and process the corpses scattered inside and outside the village, so as to prevent the spread of diseases and plagues that may be caused by the decay of corpses in advance."
"Yes, leader."......
The village ahead was littered with dead bodies. In order to prevent the troops from contracting the disease, Cai Jiu ordered the mixed assault force to pass through the village and travel north from a small river near the east of the village.
The small river near the east of the unknown Paraguayan village is only four or five meters wide. The gentle water mixed with yellow filth flows along the river. It must be that they heard the movement of the troops marching. Several Paraguayan children in shabby and dirty clothes came out of the village.
He walked out and looked at the soldiers wading across the river with a numb expression.
On both sides of the river are destroyed rice fields, and pieces of trampled green seedlings are drooping and crawling on the water.
Near the rice fields are dozens of scattered corpses crouching on the ground. Some rotting and smelly Paraguayan militia corpses may have been soaked in the water for too long, like drunkards lying quietly.
It doesn't move there.
A few wild dogs wandered near the river bank, like hungry ghosts, greedily devouring the corpses that had not yet decayed.
Scattered corpses, numb Paraguayan children, dirty and disgusting river water, none of the sights in front of me made people feel comfortable.
The soldiers marched forward silently across the river. When a few young soldiers could not help but look behind them out of curiosity, the picture that emerged in their minds was a pair of greedy eyes glowing green, and
Wherever the wild dogs looked with greedy eyes, there were Paraguayan children with disheveled hair and dull eyes.
"Haotian God bless them and bless them to survive safely."......
Endless trees and destroyed farmland kept appearing in the field of vision, and then slowly moved back.
The dust jumped wildly in the scorching heat. The tributaries of Paraná appeared and disappeared, disappeared and reappeared. In this way, the mixed assault force walked from morning to noon, and from noon to afternoon.
At 5:30 in the evening, the sun slowly sets towards the west, and the hot weather gradually reduces its power with the arrival of evening.
The marching troops still maintained the discipline and vigilance they should have. The cavalry, infantry, and artillery lined up and advanced in sequence. When the time slowly moved to 5:49, a relatively wide river appeared in front of Cai Jiu.
In front of you.
"The battlefield has arrived."
As if to confirm Cai Jiu's guess, just a few minutes after the troops stopped, several sparse gunshots were heard in the woods not far from the other side of the river.
"The whole army is on alert! Artillery and cavalry are looking for favorable cover!"
The first time he heard the gunfire, Cai Jiu decisively issued a combat order.
"Captain, did the Brazilian army discover us?"
"It's unlikely. The brothers from the Second Company of the Reconnaissance Battalion arrived on the other side of the river before us. If the Brazilian army discovers our whereabouts, the people from the Second Company of the Reconnaissance Battalion will inform us in advance."
Cai Jiubaan squatted behind a forest and continued: "And based on the intensity of gunshots, there were only about 20 people shooting on the opposite side. If the Brazilian army discovers us, or turns over to the brothers from the Second Company of the Reconnaissance Battalion,
If there is a fire, it is impossible for the troops they send to only have so many people."
Cai Jiu took off the monocular telescope hanging in front of him, and while watching the movements on the other side, he ordered: "Tell the brothers not to act rashly, and first find out the situation on the other side temporarily before deciding on the follow-up battle plan. Without my order,
Don’t fire a single shot!”…………
On the other side of the river, in the small town of Elisa, dozens of soldiers from the Second Company of the Reconnaissance Battalion, who Cai Jiu and others had high hopes for, were hiding in various directions near the town like static statues.
In the small town of Elisa, the Paraguayan defenders and young militiamen, who were angered by the brutal tactics of the Brazilian army, held on for four days before the superior Brazilian army finally broke through the defense line.
Most of the Paraguayan regular army and militiamen died in the fighting four days ago. A small number of Paraguayan militiamen who were lucky enough to survive hid in the villages and resisted stubbornly.
On the Brazilian side, the Asunción Front Command transferred about 6,000 soldiers from Asunción to join the siege of the surrounding areas of Asunción. Among them, about 2,000 people participated in the siege of the small town of Elisa.
Like a turtle wearing a carapace, the thick earthen walls and solid, seamless doors that defended the outside world were destroyed by artillery fire.
Paraguayan militiamen hiding in houses one after another were discovered and shot to death.
Without the protection of their own army, the Paraguayan people in the small town of Elisa became lambs to be slaughtered.
In the chaotic town, Paraguayan people fleeing were constantly shot to death on the streets. Those Paraguayan people who were lucky enough to survive and were caught by the Brazilian army had a fate no better than that of their dead relatives and friends.
More than forty old Paraguayan men, estimated to be over fifty years old, were taken to an open space to the west of the town by Brazilian soldiers.
The translator asked many questions, and some people beat and kicked them. They were scared to death and collapsed on the ground, as if they had lost half of their consciousness before being killed. The Brazilian soldiers looked at these poor old people with a smile.
Like a naughty child teasing a humble insect.
They were trembling in the abyss of fear. They encountered this sudden and worst misfortune. They were frightened and at a loss. A Brazilian soldier inserted a bayonet and thrust it straight out!
When the other old Paraguayans saw the pitiful end of their companions, they all trembled and fell to the ground. It was better to say lying on the ground than lying on the ground. They scratched the ground with both hands, and one can imagine the level of fear in their hearts.
The old people in Paraguay were desperate. The sound of bayonets and gunshots kept ringing out. One after another, familiar neighbors and friends fell to bayonets and bullets.
The killings continued, from inside the town to outside, except for Paraguayan women of appropriate age, all Paraguayan people became the targets of killing by the Brazilian army.
More and more Paraguayan people tried to escape from the town. Under the gunfire and bayonet killings, in addition to the increasing number of people falling, the number of Paraguayan people who managed to escape the encirclement of the Brazilian army and fled to the other side of the river also increased.
is slowly increasing.
The sound of gunfire and shouts were mixed together. More than a dozen Paraguayan militiamen threw away their weapons and jumped into the river. Behind them were more than 20 Brazilian soldiers pursuing them.
"Bang, bang, bang," the Brazilian soldiers who chased them to the river bank kept pulling the trigger and shooting killing bullets into the water.
Blood dyed the nearby waters red. More and more Paraguayan militiamen were hit by bullets, but fewer and fewer people were still floating on the water.
Perhaps feeling the pleasure of killing, the Brazilian soldiers standing on the shore did not seem to be in a hurry to shoot all their prey. They patiently allocated their targets and then fired bullets one after another.
Bullets rang out behind them, and the bullets falling into the water stirred up splashes of water. At this time, most of the Paraguayan militiamen had been hit by bullets, and only four or five Paraguayans were left, desperately fighting under the threat of death. Swim towards the other shore,
They dived into the water and surfaced again. Countless bullets chased them,
However, the hit rate decreases rapidly as the distance increases.
At 6:41 in the evening, the sun set over the mountains and white mist appeared on the water. The gunshots near the water gradually became fainter. The two Paraguayan militiamen who had narrowly escaped pursuit lay exhausted in the mud on the shore. In the middle of the ground, the Brazilian army on the other side, after venting their murderous anger, also ended the water shooting game, picked up the rifles in their hands, and began to walk back.