>>42139
>Legendary battles
Guararapes in the 1640s as part of the wars against Dutch invasion, several in the War of the Triple Alliance such as Avaí, Tuiuti and Riachuelo, and Monte Castello in WWII. Off the top of my head the war against the Dutch is remembered as an early expression of local sentiment (despite being on behalf of the Crown in Lisbon) and a join effort of all races. The war against Paraguay is conceived, amongst other things, as either an incursion of civilization into a dark, barbarian land or a massacre of an innocent people.
And now, to get more specific, the idea of what our soldiers were like in WWII is something I had to look up. They're seen as scrawny, malnourished underdogs and are the protagonists of several humorous tall tales. In reality the three regiments (1st, 6th and 11th) that made up the 1st Expeditionary Infantry Division were from the core of the country and the most physically fit men were the ones chosen to go abroad.

Speaking of legendary battles is hard because there are no battles. But that is by itself the legend! Aside from extreme violence in the 19th century, little combat is assumed to have taken place in national territory except for the 1932 civil war which might have left some 2000+ dead. The perfect example of this is the term "battle of Itararé", sometimes used as a metaphor for an anticlimactic conflict that doesn't go hot. As it is believed, during the apex of the 1930 Revolution both sides massed troops in that town on São Paulo's southern border, but before they could engage in apocalyptic battle the revolution's triumph ended hostilities. But to give a glimpse of the reality, I'll quote from a book specifically about this event:

Still on October 16 approximately 4,300 revolutionaries attacked all of Morungava's two-kilometer defensive line for the whole day. In Morungava's defense, under FP Major Teóphilo, there were 760 legalist soldiers. Morungava was defended with a profusion of automatic weapons distributed on fortifications in the heights and trenches in the slopes of Pelame's hills and Morungava farm, preventing a direct revolutionary attack.
General Miguel Costa decided to employ the plentiful artillary at his disposal on Cafezal hill, launching a devastating bombardment onto legalist positions by morning. Artillery fire was intense and accurate, restricting the movement of legalist troops, which remained firm in their lines.
Combat continued intensely, even under the torrential rain that fell over the battlefield, doubling the extent of the lines and reaching, by the day's end, four kilometers in length.
The 8th Infantry Regiment was the attacking unit that got the closest to legalist lines, without success, however, as it was forced to retreat, leaving as prisoners 72 enlisted and 5 revolutionary officers. The 15th Caçadores Battalion also took part in the attack. Both units attempted outflanking movements through legalist flanks, without success.
The revolutionaries couldn't dislodge the legalists and no longer had enough troops to cover the whole front. In a last effort the 15th Caçadores was thrown on the far end of the legalist line, trying to envelop it, but also had no success, with the entire attacking organization retreating back to its starting positions in Sengés.
The revolutionaries employed practically a reinforced brigade, equal to around ten battalions, against positions defended by two battalions. The artillery employed, the number of prisoners, everything shows the struggle's intensity.

All of this happened on the immediate outskirts of Itararé. The revolutionaries were about to deliver the killing blow when a coup d'état in Rio de Janeiro installed a junta that sued for peace and handed power to the revolution. So in everyone's mind, a battle of Itararé is a dramatic, bloody engagement that doesn't took place. The historical event didn't, because there were dramatic, bloody engagements immediately around!