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The eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains have become a key area for the Argentine Army's defense. Argentine Army Minister Martin personally arrived in Uspallata, located in the foothills of the Andes, to direct the battle, and half of the Argentine Army's forces were already deployed in these areas. According to information received by the Argentine side, this area will be the focus of the Chilean Army's attack.

Before the outbreak of the war, Argentina had a total of 400,000 troops, and it followed the expansion of the Chilean Army. However, in the case of Argentina's population, they are far less stressed than Chile. Argentina's population is almost twice that of Chile, which also means that they are able to raise more armies. After the outbreak of war, especially after the navy was annihilated by the Chilean navy, the Argentine army was once again expanded. According to the plan of the presidential palace, the size of Argentina's army will be doubled, eventually increasing to 800,000 people. However, the expansion of the army cannot be completed overnight, and it will take at least three months to turn a farmer or herdsman into a soldier. And with the Chilean Army offensive imminent, Argentina doesn't have so much time left. Therefore, the task of the Minister of War Martin is to intercept the Chilean army in the western region and buy more time for Argentina!

Debakas is a small town in the Andes with a population of less than 1,000 people, and from here you can take the easy road to Uspallata further east. The Argentine Army deployed the strength of a regiment here. However, when the vanguard of the Chilean Army arrived, it was occupied in just half an hour. Most of the Argentine Army soldiers were captured, and only a small number escaped. This also made the Argentine Army aware of the arrival of the Chilean Army!

On the evening of November 8, Lieutenant General Yang Ming, chief of staff of the Sixth Group Army of the Chinese Army, arrived here and accompanied him. Admiral Federo, Chief of Staff of the Chilean Army. Nominally, the Chilean Army will be under the command of General Federo, but in reality, all orders are given by Lieutenant General Yang Ming. The victory of the Chilean Navy has proved to the Chilean top brass that the ability of the officer corps sent by China is far from being comparable to that of the Chilean generals, and it has also made the generals of the Chilean Army more willing to obey the command of the Chinese officers!

Lieutenant General Yang Ming and Admiral Federo walked into the improvised temporary headquarters, where maps of Uspallata and the surrounding area were already hung on the walls. The Argentine Army's defense on the map has been clearly marked!

"Where is the North Road? When can I cross the Andes? Lieutenant General Yang Ming asked. This time the Chilean Army was divided into two parts, Lieutenant General Yang Ming was on the South Road, a total of ten divisions of the Chilean Army, and there were eight divisions on the North Road!

"General, the commander of the northern route is calling. They were able to get out of the Andes two days later and then attack San José de Hazar. The Argentine army is concentrated around Uspallata, and they have no Argentine defenders there, so they can easily succeed! A staff officer replied.

"Hmmm! Send a telegram to the army on the northern route, telling them to attack San Juan south and then move south to attack Mendoza, after taking San José de Hazar. Join us in encircling and annihilating these 200,000 Argentine troops! As long as these Argentine troops are eliminated, then it will be difficult for the Argentine Army to resist us! Lieutenant General Yang Ming ordered. The previous division of troops was precisely for the purpose of encirclement. I just didn't expect the Argentine side to be so cooperative. Took the initiative to gather the main forces.

"Yes, General!" After saluting, the staff officer turned and left.

Lieutenant General Yang Ming and Admiral Federo stand in front of the map, studying their attack on Uspallata.

"General Federo. Now the Argentines have deployed two hundred thousand troops in Uspañata, of which. More than 50,000 men of the four divisions were deployed in the plain area at the foot of the mountain. Of the other 150,000 people, 100,000 are in Uspallata and another 50,000 in Mendoza. I decided to attack the day after tomorrow, first eat the 50,000 Argentine troops at the foot of the mountain, and then concentrate my forces on Uspallata! Lieutenant General Yang Ming said.

"General Yang, yes, I have no objection!" Admiral Federo said.

On October 10, four of the ten divisions in the southern foothills of the Chilean Army had already crossed the Andes, including the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th divisions. Except for the 5th Division, which was left to rest, the other three divisions all attacked the Argentine army!

The attack began at 10 a.m., and the Chilean Army was completely equipped with the Chinese Army, except that the artillery battalions of each division were all equipped with 105 mm light howitzers and not heavy howitzers. These light howitzers alone are useless when crossing the Andes, and it is even more impossible for heavy howitzers to cross the Andes!

Three Chilean army divisions, hitting more than a hundred 105-mm light howitzers, launched a fierce artillery attack on the Argentine army!

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Dense shells fell on the positions of the Argentine Army, and clusters of orange-red fireballs rose into the air, and the trenches and fortifications dug by the Argentine Army were lightly destroyed in the dense artillery fire. The shell of the 105-mm light howitzer is only 128 kg, but it is still not half of the civil fortifications that can withstand it. Add to this the fact that the Argentine Army has not fought a war for almost two decades, and their tactical base is still stuck in the last century. Even though France sent a lot of instructors to Argentina, they learned very little. For example, the Argentine Army has started digging trenches, but their trench roots are not up to standard. One by one, the firing points were also blown up into the sky by the artillery fire of the Chilean Army.

"Damn, how do Chileans have so many cannons? How much does it cost? Artillery give me a counterattack! The Argentine commander, Lieutenant General Aaron, ordered. It's just that there are only a few dozen cannons in hand, and they are all 75-mm field guns purchased from France. Compared with the 105mm light howitzer equipped with the Chilean Army, the difference is not half a point!

After the Argentine artillery opened fire, the Chilean artillery immediately divided part of the artillery to suppress it, and the other part of the artillery continued to ravage the positions of the Argentine army.

In less than twenty minutes of artillery battle, the Argentine army lost half of its artillery, and the Argentine commander, Lieutenant General Aaron, felt sorry for these precious artillery pieces and immediately ordered the artillery to stop firing and move positions.

At 11 a.m., the Chilean Army attacked under the cover of artillery fire, and a division of infantry jumped out of the position, bowed and rushed towards the Argentine Army position. At this time, the Argentine Army had already suffered heavy losses under the ravages of the Chilean Army's artillery!

Infantry artillery coordination, blocking fire, although these tactics are still a little rusty for the Chilean Army to use, but there is no problem against the Argentine Army. By the time the Chilean Army rushed to less than 500 meters from the Argentine Army's position, the Chilean Army's artillery had already begun to extend to the rear to prevent the Argentine Army from reinforcing the frontline positions. And at this time, the Argentine army in the defensive position dared to come forward and counterattack the attacking Chilean army.

"Quick! Heavy machine gun fire! Kill those Chileans! You coward, get up for me and shoot! "The junior officers of the Argentine Army, who were lying in the trenches and shivering, drove up the Argentine soldiers and let them resist the attack of the Chilean army!

"Da Da Da! Bang bang bang! "Heavy machine guns began to fire, and the gunfire of the infantry also looked a little disorganized!

The few Chilean soldiers who rushed to the front suddenly fell to the ground, not knowing whether they were alive or dead!

"Heavy machine gun cover! Mortars, knock out the enemy's heavy machine guns! "The junior officers of Chile, according to the tactics they have learned in the past few years of training, calmly give orders!

Soon, the heavy machine guns of the Chilean army began to suppress the Argentine army, and the mortars began to know the point of fire of the Argentine army!

At 11:30 a.m., at the cost of thousands of men, the Chilean army entered the positions of the Argentine army and began to clear the Argentine troops from the positions. The commander of the Argentine army, Lieutenant General Aaron, sent reinforcements from two divisions, but suffered heavy casualties under heavy artillery fire from the Chilean army. Often, a battalion of troops has passed through the artillery blockade and only half a battalion remains.

Under such an attack, the Argentine Army could not hold out.

At 12 noon, two other divisions of the Chilean army also attacked. Under the fierce attack of the Chilean army, the Argentine army's defense lasted less than half an hour before crumbling.

"General, the front line has collapsed, the Chilean army has broken through our defense line and is now approaching us, let's retreat immediately!" A major general reported to Lieutenant General Aaron, who was a division commander at the front. It's just that his division has been surrounded by the Chilean army, fortunately he saw the opportunity early and fled when the Chilean army broke through the position, otherwise he would have been trapped inside!

"Damn, how can this be? How could these Chileans have increased their combat power so much? Lieutenant General Aaron couldn't believe this qiē at all. If it weren't for the fact that the Chilean army was still Caucasian, he would have really thought that the squadron was wearing the uniforms of the Chilean army to fight them!

At this moment, Lieutenant General Aaron has only one division in his hands. He weighed it, even if this division was put into it, it was estimated that it would not be able to change the situation on the battlefield. So, he immediately led this division to retreat towards Uspallata. However, while he was retreating, a regiment of the Chilean army launched a pursuit on them. Thus, the retreat turned into a rout!