Chapter 268: Santa Fe (Page 1/1)

ps: It's been more than ten days, I'm sorry.

On March 15, 1879, Santa Fe, an important town in northern Argentina.

"General, call from the base camp."

"Read."

"The situation presented by your department is known, and the base camp has ordered the troops of the province of Córdoba to come to the nearest rescue, and I hope that the officers and men of your department will resist bravely and hold out until reinforcements arrive.

President Mitre, March 15. ”

The communications officer unfolded the message and read it.

"Got it, let's go down."

Delgado, commander of the Santa Fe garrison, waved his hand and motioned for the communications officer to leave.

"General Delgal, the enemy attack is fierce, our garrison has been fighting for five days, and the number of casualties is more than three thousand.

He implored the General to ask the President for help again, otherwise not only the city of Santa Fe but also the area along the Paraná River could fall into the hands of the enemy. The First Battle of Santa Fe is very important, and the general must not be cautious! ”

After the communications officer stepped down, Guzmán, Delgado's deputy, spoke earnestly.

"Since the President has ordered the troops of the province of Córdoba to come to the aid of our army, there is no need to ask the base camp for reinforcements."

Delgar waved his hand and rejected the suggestion.

"Urquisa has always disobeyed the jurisdiction of the federal government, and now that the main force of the federation is at war with the Han people, Urquiza can't stand aside and watch the excitement, how can he honestly accept the order of the president to support us?

The troops of the provinces of Urquiza and Córdoba are unreliable, and if you want to solve the crisis in Santa Fe, you still have to rely on the reinforcements of the president, general, I beg you, send another telegram to the president asking for help, right? ”

"The president has his difficulties, and as subordinates, we also have to think about it for the president."

Delgar shook his head helplessly, was silent for a while, and then said, "Well, for the sake of the security of Santa Fe City, I will send another telegram to the president, hoping that the president can send some troops to support us." ”……

The rain stopped, a foggy drizzle enveloped the positions after the fierce battle, and dozens of soaking wet soldiers laboriously pushed a cannon stuck in a mud puddle.

"Let's work hard, I'll shout to three, push hard together!"

A junior officer, shirtless, loudly commanded more than twenty soldiers to push the artillery.

"One, two, three, up!"

The officer counted from one to three, then shouted, crossed his feet and propped himself back, pushing his arms hard on the wheel on one side of the gun.

"One-two-one-two......"

More than 20 soldiers shouted the trumpet, mustered up their strength, pushed the artillery step by step, and finally took more than 20 minutes to move the artillery to the predetermined position.

The busy soldiers rested for a while under the humble wooden hut, and then, still dressed in the drenched rainwater, holding a piece of hard steamed bun that had been distributed, five or six people sat around with a few canned pickled food, and made do with a crude lunch.

As the heavy rains of several days raised the water level of the Paraná River, and the logistics teams from the country encountered obstacles in their advance towards the riverbank ports, the troops on the Santa Fe front were somewhat short of supplies, and the soldiers were not as well fed as they had been before the war.

The heavy rain made it more difficult for the Han troops to attack the defensive positions of Santa Fe, and the delay in the high-intensity offensive that lasted for five days did not achieve the established results, which made Li Mingyuan feel anxious, so after yesterday's offensive failure, Li Mingyuan suspended the operation of continuing the strong offensive and instead took advantage of the noon break to personally come to the frontline position to check the situation.

The long military boots stepped on the loose soil, raised his feet and splashed a faint sound of water, Li Mingyuan walked on the drizzly position, did not use other people's umbrellas to cover the rain, and walked steadily towards the high ground on the left flank of the position.

"Your Highness, in front of you is the Corendist position on the outskirts of Santa Fe City."

Walking to the top of the high ground, Luo Linshan, who was the commander of the attacking force, pointed to the position road on the other side of the high ground.

"Surrounded by mountains on both sides, backed by a tributary of the Paraná River, the Argentines set up their positions there, and they really chose a good place."

Li Ming looked at the tightly defended deployment above the Corenste position from a distance and spoke.

"The Corliste position is connected to Santa Fe across the river, and when our troops attack, the heavy artillery defending the city in Santa Fe can assist the Coriste position to carry out artillery strikes on our army, so the attack in the first five days has not been successful because of the influence of the heavy artillery in Santa Fe."

"Why doesn't our heavy artillery suppress the enemy? I remember that two days ago the 155-mm heavy artillery regiment was already delivered to the front-line troops? Didn't you return fire with 155-mm guns? ”

"Your Highness, the distance of Santa Fe City is beyond the effective range of 155 mm, in yesterday's attack, the subordinate tried to use 155 mm artillery to counterattack, but the effect was average, the shells fired did not have an effective impact on the Argentine artillery units, and the 155 mm heavy guns were large in size and much heavier than ordinary artillery, and it was difficult to move in heavy rain, not only could not cause damage to the heavy artillery in Santa Fe City, but also the damage to the Argentine troops above the Coriste position was also limited, Therefore, although the front-line troops were reinforced with 155-mm heavy guns, in terms of attack, the help of 155-mm heavy guns was very limited. ”

Rollin explained.

"Torrential rain is a headache, but the strategic purpose of our army is to use superior forces and a large number of artillery to quickly take Santa Fe, before the Argentine troops are fully prepared, eliminate the Argentine central government, and then divide and surround other local forces, if our army stays outside Santa Fe for too long, the Argentine central government will have more time to call the young and strong to participate in the war, and then if we want to take the whole of Argentina, we will pay a greater price."

There were objective reasons for the failure of the war to capture Santa Fe, with the sudden turn for the worse and the continuous torrential rains being the reason for the interruption of the war on the one hand, and the slow progress of intelligence work on the other.

Santa Fe was a predominantly white city, and it was difficult for the Wehrmacht to infiltrate the Argentine garrison and obtain the intelligence information they needed.

Intelligence is the eye of military operations, and without the support of internal intelligence, the war between Han and Argentina is only a hard-hitting collision of strengths.

"The war is urgent, and it is not appropriate to wait until the weather improves to continue the siege."

Li Mingyuan thought for a moment and made a decision in his heart, and continued: "The machine guns and mortars of the second and third divisions are temporarily assigned to the first division, and the artillery unit will also fully support your attack on the city. ”

"The subordinate understands that within two days, the position of Korenster will be taken at all costs!"

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