In November 1864, the Paraguayan War officially broke out.

Paraguay's enemy is the Triple Alliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, which is dominated by Brazil, and in the face of an enemy whose economic strength and population far surpass that of Paraguay, Francisco López decided to adopt a preemptive strategy and take the initiative to attack Brazil, in a vain attempt to force the three Brazilian countries to the negotiating table with a quick victory.

When the war broke out, López Jr. first attacked north, entering the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso, which was larger than the British, French, and German provinces, but had a population of only 90,000 and was weakly defended. López's army is in a no-man's land. Due to the difficult terrain, it took two years for Brazilian reinforcements to get close to the area.

In the early days of the war, López took the Brazilians by surprise with his fast and slow tactics, but at this time he made a serious mistake, in May 1865, López divided his small force into two parts, he personally led his troops into Corrientes, and the other part was led by Colonel Istigalibi and fought along the Uruguay River into the Brazilian settlements.

López had estimated that both sides were attacking disputed territory between the two countries, and that the Paraguayan army could exploit the separatist sentiments of the locals against the central governments of Brazil and Argentina. However, Colonel Istigalibi was not able to go this way, and the local resistance to the Paraguayan army was repeated, resulting in the Paraguayan army losing a major battle in June, which ended in Colonel Istigalibi being forced to surrender.

After the crushing defeat of Colonel Istigalibi, the war entered its second phase. López had to shift the war from offensive to defensive.

In October, López began to retreat from Corrientes. In 1866, the Triple Alliance troops began to invade Paraguay along the Paraná River, and this time, the Triple Alliance used 16 of the most advanced steel gunboats of the time, plus more than 70 wooden warships, against the Paraguayan wooden warships. In a lake at the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, the largest naval battle in the Americas ended with the Paraguayan side almost completely wiped out.

After the naval battle, López led his troops to retreat to the fortress of Humaita on the riverside, where they took advantage of the terrain to resist the allied attack.

In May 1866, López launched a series of counterattacks at Tuyuti, attacking a coalition of 32,000 with 24,000 Paraguayan troops, with at least 18,000 casualties on both sides on the banks of the Paraná River. It became the deadliest war on the South American continent.

The offensive and defensive battle of Humeita Fortress failed, and López Jr. lost the only mobile force in his hand, so he had to transfer the remaining troops to the fortress to defend it.

Humeita Fortress is the east gate of Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, guarding the navigation center of the Paraná River, has always been the focus of defense of the Paraguayan army, since the independence of Paraguay, after two generations of dictators such as the old López and the little López to repair and reinforce, making the Humeita Fortress one of the most difficult fortresses in the South American continent, and joining the remaining troops of López to defend, the entire fortress defense force reached 25,000 people, and the tight, strong fortress system and sufficient troops in the fortress made the coalition side suffer enough.

Beginning with the siege of Humeita Fortress in 1866, the Triple Alliance continued to launch large-scale attacks on the fortress, but apart from the heavy casualties, the losses caused to the enemy were minimal.

Nearly two years of offensive and defensive warfare have failed to achieve the set goals, and a large number of casualties and massive material consumption have made the governments of the three countries very dissatisfied.

In the past two years, more than 20,000 troops of the 100,000 coalition forces have been reduced by combat, while the non-combat attrition caused by cholera, dysentery, and other diseases has reached 50,000, and a large number of veterans with combat experience have left the battlefield because of injuries and illnesses, and in order to continue fighting, the Brazilian government has successively conscripted 140,000 troops, some of which are to supplement the troops attrition at the front, and most of them are assigned to the rear troops for logistical support and maintaining law and order in the occupied areas.

In February 1868, the Uruguayan troops withdrew from the defense line besieging the fortress of Humeita, and then the Argentine troops also expressed their intention to withdraw, and one after another bad news gave the commander of the coalition forces, Marshal Mitchell, the commander of the coalition forces, and finally temporarily stabilized the Argentine troops who wanted to pick and choose, but then got a desperate news.

In the tent-built headquarters, officers from Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the Brazilian Empire, announced the order of the parliament with a blank face: Field Marshal Mitchell, who was ordered to attack the fortress of Humei in May 1866, commanded the troops to launch a total of 131 attacks, large and small, including the capture of 18 small fortresses, 3,000 killed in battle, 20,000 wounded, 51,000 attrition due to illness, and about 3,000 casualties to the enemy.

Thirty-two thousand guns and one hundred and seven artillery pieces were consumed,......

A large number of detailed data on army losses kept coming out of the heralds' mouths, and Mitchell's face grew paler.

The losses were huge and the results were limited, but was Mitchell to blame for all this? Mitchell obviously doesn't think so, Mitchell can be a field marshal, lead 100,000 troops to foreign countries, and his previous record is naturally brilliant, but the enemy he dealt with this time is different, little Lopez has been hiding in the Tiger Meta Fortress since he led the troops to counterattack and failed, and Mitchell tried his best to take the tortoiseshell-like Tiger Meta Fortress.

No matter how many tricks you use, I just can't come out of the fortress, and even the famous generals of the ancients can only cry out in vain.

And Mitchell, who has a large army but nowhere to do it, truly feels this sense of powerlessness.

"The war lasted for nearly two years, Field Marshal Mitchell miscommanded, stopped at the fortress of Humeita, resulting in a large number of casualties among soldiers and delaying the course of the war, at the proposal of the Imperial Parliament, with the approval of His Majesty Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, the removal of Mitchell as commander of the coalition forces, and the commander of the coalition forces was replaced by General Garcia."

"No, you can't do this to me, give me another month, and I'll promise to take the Tiger Meta Fortress."

The command of the battle was unfavorable, and he was dismissed from his post and returned to China halfway. Mitchell can't accept such a punishment, as a soldier, it is not shameful to be defeated by the enemy, but because he can't break through the enemy's fortress, he was removed from his post and returned to China to investigate, which is a shame that Mitchell can't accept.

He didn't dare to imagine what would happen when he returned home, and those laughter pointing behind his back "Look, this is our field marshal, with 100,000 troops, he can't even take a small fortress, oh, I can't imagine how he became a field marshal." ”

Thinking of this kind of picture, Mitchell felt that it was better to kill him.

"Marshal, this is the decision of His Majesty and the Parliament, if you have any grievances, you should go to Rio de Janeiro and explain it to Your Majesty and the Parliament in person."

The other party's words shattered Mitchell's last hope, his face became more and more pale, and he muttered: "It's over"

Straight to the ground.

"Marshal"

The officer next to him hurriedly reached out to support Mitchell, but he passed out due to fatigue and today's stimulation.

"Marshal Mitchell is overworked, let's let him have a good rest." The herald officer finished speaking lightly, turned around and walked out.