After the greetings between the ministers, the soldiers of the 1st Mixed Brigade, under the command of several officers, assisted the comrades-in-arms of the 105th Artillery Regiment in pulling the wagons with artillery to the camp.

A standard 105-mm artillery regiment has 1,800 soldiers and 2,000 pack horses and mules.

After the wagons and pack horses entered the camp, the soldiers were busy disassembling and transferring artillery, ammunition and other combat materials, while the pack horses and mules, who had just finished their heavy transportation tasks, were placed in the military horse yard and stayed with the horses of the 1st Mixed Brigade Headquarters.

The Pampas grassland in the central part of the Han Dynasty is one of the most natural horse farms in the world, benefiting from superior animal husbandry resources, and the total number of native horses reached the order of 7 million for the first time in 1889.

The second industrial revolution is still in the development period, and new means of transportation such as internal combustion engines and automobiles are still in the stage of research and development and performance improvement, and have not been able to replace livestock transportation capacity as the main force of material transportation as in later generations.

Because of the abundant local horse resources, all field troops and second-line garrison troops of the Han State were equipped with a large number of pack horses and mules to serve as material transportation tasks.

Each standard full weaver (15,000 to 18,000) is equipped with a total of 11,000 to 13,000 pack horses and mules: within the range,

Each fully integrated brigade (9,000 people) is equipped with a total number of pack horses and mules in the range of 6,000 to 7,000.

Each fully equipped garrison brigade (5,000 people) is equipped with a total number of pack horses and mules in the range of 2,000 to 3,000.

The high number of horses and mules attached to each unit reduced the pressure on the transportation of materials during the operation, and also improved the troops' sustained combat capability.

Each division and brigade-level regular army unit has an independent field cavalry battalion, the cavalry battalion has one person and two horses, the standard establishment is 460 people, 1,000 war horses, whenever it encounters a foreign war, the cavalry battalion always plays the role of the vanguard reconnaissance and mobile troops, and is far away from the large army alone, attacking the enemy in the flank direction.

Advanced weaponry and abundant horses are where Pang Zhenyun's confidence lies in the confidence that he can defeat the Brazilian Republican ** team on the front line of the Paraná River, so when the first operational order issued by the headquarters was conveyed to the temporary headquarters of the First Mixed Brigade, Pang Zhenyun quickly summoned the commanders of the First Mixed Brigade's First Regiment, the Second Regiment, the Fourth Garrison Brigade, and the 105th Howitzer Regiment to hold a small-scale meeting on how to implement the combat plan.

"According to the intelligence transmitted from the headquarters, the enemy army currently facing our department is the Front Army of the Paraná River Front of the Republic of Brazil, which is commanded by Lieutenant General Rodriguez of the Republic of Brazil, and includes the third division of Major General Rodrigues Prestes, the ninth division of Major General Gerturio and other affiliated units, with a total strength of about 37,000 people, of which 26,000 troops are assembled in the front line, which is about twice the number of our army."

Pang Zhenyun pointed to the sand table on the map and introduced: "Yesterday, about 10,000 people of the enemy's Paraná Front Front set out from the port of Du Iguazu and moved westward by land, intending to occupy Biarrica in the southeast of Asunción, and then set up a defensive position there to prevent our army's support for Asunción.

Biarrica is the midpoint station and hub station of the Asunción-Encarnación railway line, if the Brazilian republican ** team occupies there, our army's railway line to Asunción will be cut off, and the Paraguayan remnants of the army that are holding on to Asunción will also face the dilemma of losing the southeastern flank and cutting off the external communication channel. Take control of the Villarrica railway junction and the surrounding strategic points. Then organize a defensive position on the spot to block the attack from the Brazilian Republican ** team in the east. ”

"What is the armament of the offensive forces of the Brazilian Republic? Do they have a large cavalry force? ”

After Pang Zhenyun's introduction, Hu Kunshan, commander of the Fourth Garrison Brigade, asked.

"The Brazilian Republican ** team heading in the direction of Biarrica

About half of the soldiers are equipped with Martini Henry breech rifles, and the remaining half of the soldiers are equipped with old-fashioned rifles such as Snyder and Spencer, and the rifle propellant used by their soldiers is black powder, which is much weaker in terms of rate of fire and lethality compared with our Jianye six-year rifles. ”

Pang Zhenyun added: "The Brazilian army has about a cavalry force of several hundred people, but the Brazilian cavalry has just come off the water, and their combat effectiveness should be reduced. ”

"The Brazilian army's weapon performance and the coordinated combat effectiveness of the arms are not comparable to our army, and the only advantage they have is that the number of soldiers is more than ours."

Shen Dehui, a major staff officer in charge of formulating the battle plan and providing tactical advice to the military commander, listened to Pang Zhenyun's addition, and after a moment of silence, he spoke: "In the direction of the Paraná River front, the total number of Brazilian republican ** troops is nearly three times that of our army, and the number of combat troops used for the front line is about twice that of our armyTherefore, it adopted a conservative and passive defensive strategy, intending to take a step ahead of our army, first occupy Villarica with superior forces, and then rely on the surrounding fortifications to delay the reinforcement of our army in the direction of Asunción step by step, and buy as much time as possible for the main force of the Brazilian Republican ** team to occupy Asunción. ”

"So, the enemy facing our army at the moment did not intend to have a frontal main battle with our army from the beginning?"

Hu Kunshan asked,

"Ten of them Jiǔ is like this, the Brazilian army has fought with our army several times, but has not won a single battle above the division level, and now within the Brazilian Republican ** team, Brazilian generals with a passive and conservative combat attitude occupy the vast majority."

Shen Dehui responded.

"It's not good for the Brazilian army to be too passive, if they keep shrinking in the fortifications as turtles, and if the wind is not right, they will retreat, and it will be difficult for us to keep them all."

Pang Zhenyun pondered.

"Haha, the brigade commander doesn't have to worry, the Brazilian army has entered Paraguay, and then it is not so easy to retreat and run back, and even if the Brazilian army senses the danger in advance and withdraws from Paraguay, then, a force that is always afraid of fighting a tough battle and values its own life more than anything else makes not much difference whether it is eliminated or not."

"What Staff Officer Shen said is reasonable, there is really not much difference between an annihilated army and a unit that only knows how to escape."

Pang Zhenyun's concerns were dispelled, and his tone rose: "The Brazilian army is conservative and passive in strategy and tactics, and wants to deploy a blocking position in front of us, but it can't let them succeed.

Regiment Commander Zhang, order your department to transfer three infantry battalions and engineer battalions, 75mm field artillery battalions, brigade reconnaissance battalions, machine gun companies and other units to form an advance force, with you as the commander, before 1 p.m., take the train to depart, be sure to catch up with the Brazilian army in front of the control of Villarrica, 24 hours after your departure, I will join you by train with Brigade Commander Hu and Staff Officer Shen and the main force.

Before the main forces reach Villarica, you must keep the Brazilian army firmly out of the railway junction for me! ”

"Yes! Brigade! ”

"Brother Hu and Regiment Commander Wu, the war is urgent, and I also ask the two of you to immediately return to the Fourth Garrison Brigade and the 105th Artillery Regiment to start arranging for the transfer of troops and matters."

Pang Zhenyun continued to make arrangements for Hu Kunshan, commander of the Fourth Garrison Brigade, and Wu Jiadong, commander of the 105th Artillery Regiment.

"Brigade Commander Pang, don't worry, we will go back now to arrange the preparations for the troops to be deployed." …………