"What's going on with the naval forces, they were hit by the enemy several times in three days, how did they do their guard work!"

The Brazilian naval base on the bank of the river was about forty miles from the main camp, and soon after the battle broke out on the riverbank, Garcia immediately sent soldiers to the bank to inquire about the news, while at the same time, part of the Brazilian army besieging the fortress of Humeita withdrew from its position and gathered in the large camp in front of the headquarters to prepare for reinforcements of the riverbank troops.

Garcia misjudged that it was still the Paraguayan guerrillas who attacked the riverbank navy, and that these scattered Paraguayan fleets often harassed Brazil's water transport forces, and from time to time fired cold shots at the coastal bases.

"The commander doesn't need to be angry, the Paraguayans are surrounded by the front and rear, this sneak attack may be their behavior of jumping over the wall in a hurry, hoping to use the sneak attack on the supply channel on the river bank from behind to force our army to transfer the front-line troops, so as to create conditions for the Humeita defenders to break through."

"It's possible." Garcia nodded.

"The defenders of the key defensive positions on the front line will not move, and then the cavalry units of Colonel Grove will be transferred to the headquarters camp to listen to orders to prevent contingencies."

Garcia was not very relieved to think about it, and sent another unit to gather in the headquarters camp.

The lack of limited telegraph lines at the riverbank base led Garcia to misjudge the battle ahead, and two hours later, the inquiring soldiers returned to camp with shocking news.

The army attacking the riverbank base was not Paraguayans, but a group of yellow-skinned men wearing black uniforms that looked like Indians.

"How many of them are there, and how is the battle on the riverbank?"

Garcia didn't bother to find out the identity of this army that suddenly appeared, and asked about the battlefield situation as soon as possible.

"Their number is unknown, but it seems that the river is full of their ships, and there are thousands of enemies on land attacking the defensive positions on the riverbank, and when we return, the Imperial naval ships on the river are already divided and surrounded by the enemy, and the defense line on land is also precarious."

The soldier replied.

The total strength of the navy on the banks of the river has reached 5,000 men, and since the enemy is able to completely suppress the naval forces from the river and land, the number of troops is at least 30,000, and the sudden entry into the battlefield of such a force that exceeds the defenders of the fortress of Humeita will fundamentally change the war.

"Commander, the situation of the naval forces is critical, the first thing to do at present is to mobilize troops to support the riverbank base, otherwise I am worried that the naval forces may be wiped out!"

Although they did not see the real scene of the battle on the riverbank, from the news sent back by the soldiers, the senior generals in the headquarters could also deduce the seriousness of the situation, the enemy army suddenly attacked, occupied an absolute advantage in numbers, and formed an encirclement of the Brazilian naval fleet on the river, the time was delayed, and by the time the reinforcements arrived on the battlefield, the battle was likely to be over, the navy was destroyed, the water access was cut off, and these senior generals who stayed on land would also be in danger.

"Urgently order Grove to lead the colonel to lead the cavalry troops to rush to the aid of the navy immediately, order the first and second divisions to withdraw from the defensive positions and assemble, I personally lead the first division and the second division to assist the navy, and the remaining troops will be handed over to the chief of staff to take over the command to prevent the defenders of Humeita Fortress from attacking."

Quickly giving the order, Garcia said with a heavy face, "Since the march into Paraguay, the imperial army has never faced such a serious situation, and the responsibility of defending the camp is entrusted to the generals, and I will lead reinforcements and meet the enemy, and strive to defeat the enemy army on the riverbank." ”

At the moment of the great enemy, the preparations of the various units of the Brazilian army were quickly completed, and the first batch of 2,000 cavalry units that set out for reinforcements were quickly assembled, and then rushed to the battlefield under the leadership of Grove.

The sound of war horses galloping and horses' hooves hitting the ground was mixed together, and it reached the ears of the Chinese soldiers who were digging their positions.

"The enemy is coming!" Piercing sirens sounded in front of the Chinese Independence Army's position, and the soldiers who were still building up the position quickly put down their shovels and jumped into the unfinished rudimentary fortifications.

The Heavy holds the machine gun and points it at the rapidly charging cavalry, while the two auxiliary soldiers sit on either side, ready to help the machine gun change ammunition.

Twelve Napoleonic guns were loaded, and the shell watchers were staring at the road signs set up in advance in front of the position,

"Fifteen hundred meters, one thousand two hundred meters, one thousand meters." The Brazilian cavalry that accelerated the impact stepped into the attack range of one thousand meters, the artillery signal flag fell, twelve artillery pieces opened fire one after another, and a blasting shell exploded to form a killing range of more than ten square meters, and the Brazilian cavalry within the range covered by the fragments sprinted at a speed, and eight or nine cavalry who were hit by the fragments fell off their horses, and more than ten vacant areas appeared in a dense cavalry formation in an instant.

The Brazilian cavalry hit by the first round of shells was less than a hundred, but the fallen war horse became an obstacle to the advance of the subsequent cavalry, the Brazilian cavalry in a group of rapid sprints lost the flexibility of the direction of movement, and crashed straight into the dead war horse, the huge inertia threw the cavalry on the war horse, and the war horse on both sides was hit by the flying cavalry, and fifty or sixty Brazilian cavalry crashed to the ground, becoming the first batch of buried goods of the cavalry hit.

The Brazilian cavalry is different from the Peruvian cavalry, the Peruvian cavalry is mainly based on light cavalry, the cavalry charge is scattered in formation, and the purpose of the battle is to gradually weaken the enemy's army, while the main body of Brazilian rule is the royal family and nobles from Portugal, influenced by the traditional cavalry combat in the West, the Brazilian cavalry unit takes the cavalry power France as the imitation target, and the composition of the cavalry unit is mainly equipped with heavy cavalry with cuirass and cavalry spears, and the purpose of the operation is to break through the enemy formation with the help of the excellent equipment of the cavalry and quickly resolve the battle.

Heavy cavalry equipped with cavalry rifles and cuirassiers was an important combat force even in France, Grove did not consider his cavalry unit to be outdated, the cavalry casualties caused by the first round of artillery bombardment did not shake his determination to attack, the enemy's position was in front of him, and the elite heavy cavalry would destroy the enemy in front of him without mercy.

"Columns keep in formation, rush through the front positions, and take out the enemy!"

"Victory!" The Brazilian cavalry erupted with a loud noise, and the vacancy left by the fallen cavalry was filled by the cavalry behind, and the scattered formation gradually restored order.

"Hurry up, quickly clear the chamber and load the shells." Immediately after the shelling, the artillerymen behind the position were busy, and three gunners were responsible for cleaning the chambers and reloading the shells.

The Napoleonic cannon has superior performance and great power, but the traditional bronze cannon has the same shortcomings as it exists, after each fire, the shells to clean and reload take more than the iron artillery, because of this shortcoming, Li Mingyuan allocated more soldiers to serve as auxiliary work, more than a dozen people in charge of a Napoleonic cannon, to minimize the time between two shells.

Taking advantage of the time for the artillery to prepare the shells, the Brazilian cavalry quickly advanced, and after three rounds of shelling, the Brazilian cavalry had lost more than 700 men.

The remaining 1,300 Brazilian troops advanced to within 300 meters of the position, Napoleon's artillery lost its effective deterrent to the Brazilian cavalry, and Grove, who had suffered heavy losses, insisted on continuing the attack, pinning his hopes of breaking through the position of the Chinese Independence Army in the last 300 meters.

The Brazilian cavalry continued to advance, the wounded cavalry was trampled on the ground by the horses of his companions, and before he could cry out in pain, he became a mutilated corpse, the tragic condition of his companions affected the mood of the other cavalrymen, the hands holding the cavalry spears trembled for fear of the unknown danger ahead, the distance quickly shortened, and rows of dense bullets were fired head-on at the charging cavalry,

The horses screamed and the wounded bodies of the cavalry fell to the ground and convulsed. The charging cavalry was like a feeble wheat sprout, falling under the fury of the raging storm.

The gunfire stopped, and the last Brazilian cavalry fell in front of the position ten meters away, terminating the last cavalry, and not a single Brazilian cavalry unit stepped on the position of the Chinese Independence Army.

The Brazilian cavalry was well-armed, and the strong protective power of the cuirass could block the bullets of ordinary muskets, but the ferocious artillery and machine guns destroyed the cuirass that protected the cavalry, causing it to destroy and die along with its users.

The charge of the heavy cavalry was more brutal than that of the infantry, and the rapid explosiveness and inertia caused the cavalry to not stop at all, and in the face of the forward position, the heavy cavalry either stepped through the enemy's defenses and won the victory, or went forward and died on the way to the charge.

Li Mingyuan admired the courage of the Brazilian cavalry, but he would not go far when the two armies fought, and the best way to deal with such enemies was to destroy them and make them a stepping stone on the road to the strength of the Chinese Independence Army.