<P> On 2 December, 3,500 additional men and 416 horses disembarked in Pisco . Some two weeks later, on 15 December, 14,000 Chilean men, 2,400 horses and mules, plus supplies, departed Arica for the north . Baquedano, the Chilean commander, decided that only one brigade in the Pisco region, Lynch's brigade, would march the 55 miles (89 km) north to the coastal town of Chilca, a town only 45 kilometres (28 mi) from Lima . All other Chilean forces would be (re) embarked in Pisco for naval transport to Chilca . The Chilean troops disembarked in Curayaco, slightly north of Chilca, on 22 December 1880 . The artillery was later disembarked at Lurín, on the southern outskirts of Lima, as the Chilean army was able to advance quickly after landing . </P> <P> Piérola, who had expected a landing north of Lima, ordered the construction of two parallel lines of Peruvian defences, one at Chorrillos and one at Miraflores . It was hoped the Peruvian professional Army would defeat the Chileans in Chorrillos . If that measure failed, a reserve army, increased with remnants of Chorrillos and the Callao troops, were expected to hold the Chilean advance at Miraflores . The Peruvian forces numbered approximately 25,000 to 32,000 men and were titled the Army of Lima . </P> <P> The main Peruvian defense line ran from the seaside resort of Chorrillos through Morro Solar, Santa Teresa, San Juan, the Pamplona (hills) until Monterrico Chico, a line of defence approximately 15 km long . Gatling guns, artillery, covering forts and trenches located along the top of the steeply natural hills (280 m in Morro Solar, 170 m in Sta . Teresa und San Juan) and minefields around the roads to Lima crossing the hamlets of San Juan and Santa Teresa--settlements the Peruvians anticipated would be important targets of the Chilean attack--were all utilised by the Peruvian military . </P> <P> The second line of defense was less strong, consisting of 7 redoubts (one every 800 meters) for infantry and artillery, that the Peruvians hoped would stop any Chilean offensive . </P>

Which of these was behind the war of the pacific