Chapter 101: The curtain opens

After Garcia took over the mess left by Mitchell, instead of rushing to attack the Humei Tower fortress, he ordered the troops to repair it in place while stopping the shelling of the Humei Tower fortress.
During the troop repairs, Garcia personally explored the terrain around the Humei Tower fortress and observed the deployment of Paraguayan forces in detail. After one month of observation and preparation,
A plan was gradually forming in Garcia's mind.
The main defense direction of the Humei Tower Fortress is the location of the Parana River on the west, and the mountain leans on the east as a barrier.
In the previous offensive and defensive battles, the main attack direction of the coalition forces has always been the west river position, and the east side has only carried out a tentative attack. As a result, the attacking force has not yet reached the position behind the Tiger Fortress. It was because of disease and in the mountains and forests. Lost and other reasons and returned halfway.
After the failure of the roundabout attack from the east failed, the coalition forces abandoned the flanking attack plan and turned to attack from the front.
Garcia questioned several surviving soldiers involved in the detour, and found that the detour was not impossible.
The failure of the first tentative offensive was, of course, affected by the rugged mountains and harsh environment, and the inadequate preparation of the offensive forces by the coalition forces was also an important reason for the failure.
When deciding to conduct a circuitous combat plan, the coalition commander only demarcated the marching route on the map, and then dispatched a thousand soldiers to set off directly. Materials, logistical support, and other tasks were configured in accordance with the standard mountain march, and no consideration was given to marching in the Asuncion Mountains. The difficulties and dangers caused the circuitous troops to march more than half the distance, and the consumption of food and medicine was too large, and they had to be withdrawn.
Knowing the information he wanted from the surviving soldiers, Garcia had enough confidence in the garrison garrison to siege Tiger Tower.
One month of repairs and preparations were completed, and the morale of the coalition forces was restored to a certain extent. At the same time, Garcia began to formally begin the siege of Humei Tower.
First, Garcia transferred the most expensive iron armored ship from the navy to counter the mines and fire on shore from Paraguayans.
Secondly, the artillery unit resumed the bombardment of the Humei Tower fortress, the coalition forces launched an attack on the Paraguayan garrison, and the Humei Tower fortress, which had been silent for a month, was filled with smoke and fire again.
The fighting artillery on the front battlefield was fierce but not terrible, and the stark contrast was the allied forces behind the attacking Humei Tower fortress from the flanks.
Uncles and thousands of coalition forces transported through the naval fleet and landed from the shore two hundred miles away from the Humei Tower fortress, where they interspersed rolling hills and dense virgin forests behind the Paraguayan garrison and cut off the Humei Tower garrison. The army and Asuncion's left-behind forces reached the goal of annihilating Paraguay's main force in World War I.
For this roundabout attack, Garcia used all the naval forces on the Parana River, and in order to prevent the strategic fortification of the Tiger Fortress Fortress by the coalition forces, Garcia mobilized the naval forces of Porto Alegre against Tiger The waters around the fortress of the tower were blocked, and the passage between the Humei tower garrison and other troops was temporarily cut off.
Puerto Alegre is the capital and naval base of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, with 5,000 guards stationed, but as coalition forces advance to the heart of Paraguay, Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil, is free of Paraguayan troops. The immediate threat became the rear of security. As a result, the Brazilian troops originally stationed in Porto Alegre were gradually transferred to the Paraguayan front to supplement the missing coalition forces. When Garcia's order came, the last batch was offshore. The naval forces are heading to the front line. The entire guarding force of Rio Grande do Sul is empty. There are about 1,000 people left in the regular forces. There are also 800 militia units that can be assembled in emergencies, plus a port. The small gunboats in it, the armed forces of 2,000 people are all the defense forces of Rio Grande do Sul.
Paraguay was beaten back to his hometown. Rio Grande do Sul was on both sides of the sphere of influence of the Argentine and Uruguay allies. Behind it were the other four states in southern Brazil. Even if the main defensive forces were transferred, the Rio Grande do not face the attack Danger. Based on this judgment, Garcia decisively transferred the remaining troops from Porto Alegre to implement his circuitous encirclement plan. However, the strategic deployment of Garcia's precision plan missed the influence of the Chinese troops.
On February 15, 1868, before Mitchell was not dismissed, the main force of the Chinese Independent Army was pulled from Sucre and proceeded along the tributary of the Mamore River towards Paraguay. The plateau between Sucre and Asuncion, Paraguay's capital, The geographical environment such as the desert and the forests of the Ascension Belt changed in turn. Chinese troops with more than 100,000 people encountered various difficulties while walking on the uninhabited plateaus and desert areas.
During the first half of the journey, the Chinese troops did not encounter much setbacks in the Bolivian Plateau due to the guidance of Bolivian guides. However, after crossing Uyuni City, the road ahead gradually became more difficult. Gobi and hills divided the plateau. Fragmented parts, carriages and horses are very difficult to walk on fragmentary roads, and the climate of the plateau in the south of Bolivia is erratic. Hail and torrential rain often fall on the marching troops without warning, due to torrential rain and hail. More than a thousand Chinese died.
Crossing the erratic Bolivian plateau, the Chinese troops entered the temporarily unowned Chaco wasteland. After trekking on the wasteland for a month, the main Chinese troops finally entered Paraguay. At this time, the Chinese troops lost a total of 3,500. Most of the 3,500 people lost during the march were originally middle-aged workers with relatively weak physical fitness. The number of young and dead workers did not exceed 1,000.
And this is the only place where Li Mingyuan is grateful.
Thousands of miles into the land are difficult, and the loss of people is huge. Relocation at sea is also not a pleasant trip.
The fleet sailed along the Chilean coast and encountered a hurricane along the way. Three vessels filled with Chinese workers were severely damaged and had to dock and repair along the coast of Patagonia.
Shortly after the fleet docked, a Chinese team that went out hunting met the local Indian Mapuche ~ EbookFREE.me ~ The Mapuche had just begun to treat the Chinese troops as white invaders, and the two sides would have to meet as soon as they met. At this time, the leader of the Chinese unit sent a soldier to negotiate, and no conflict erupted on both sides.
Knowing that the Chinese troops were also enemies of white people, the Mapuche people became enthusiastic. They gave the collected animals to the Chinese troops as a gift, and the team officers gave the Mapuche two muskets as a gift.
The fleet stayed on the coast of Patagonia for a week. After exchange of food with the Mapuche and the fresh water with the backward guns on the ship, the fleet set sail again, until the Magellan Strait. The fleet was not in danger. ,
However, after entering the Magellan Strait, the fleet suffered a serious loss. Three cargo ships were severely damaged. Two merchant ships carrying Chinese sunk on the reef. Only two hundred people were rescued from the 1,000 Chinese on the sunken two merchant ships, and three were transporting food and supplies. All three hundred people on board the cargo ship were killed. Just crossing the Strait of Magellan, the Chinese troops lost 1,100 people, which has to be said to be a huge loss.
Enduring the risk of storms and reefs at sea, the fleet arrived off Rio Grande do Sul on April 25, 1868. The lighthouse in Porto Alegre also appeared in front of the fleet.