At dawn on the 1st of April Zerbini's power slipped through his fingers as Kruel's direct orders to the 5th and 6th Regiments, core of the invasion force, overrid his. At 01:00 he phoned the 5th and heard everyone had got on trucks and left, leaving their quarters empty. He sent a motorized patrol to find out but never got any news from them. At 06:00 the 6th Infantry informed him they were marching east. After unsuccessful attempts at contact he finally phoned his commander, Aluísio, who was coming with a Mechanized Recon squadron and was now a turncoat. Zerbini convinced him to give him a lift. His only hope now as to delay the IInd Army and wait the legalist reinforcements.

A light tank company went by rail and the rest on the highway. Infantry Regiments were still foot infantry. The 5th had its trucks but still had to use 3 private buses. The 6th went on private trucks and a company's buses. At the Governor's orders, fuel was requisitioned on gas stations on the way just by leaving behind a note.

The best-covered unit movement was that of the artillery component, the 2nd 105 mm Howitzer Regiment "Floriano". It was in readiness since the 30th and had an incident at night on the 31st: a subliutenant tried to convince the soldiers not to fight against the government and the "worker's movement" as they, too, were workers. He was arrested. Such cases of legalists within rebel units and vice versa are ubiquitous.
The Regiment's most forward unit, the 1st Battery headed to São Paulo at 07:30. Part of its convoy were 4 donated civilian trucks (4 other were with the other batteries). 2 visibly carried munitions, and 2 were each covered with a canvas and the words "AMMUNITION - DANGER". Beneath, camping material. It was a weak Regiment, with a single Group of howitzers, on a weak Army.
Passing through Jundiaí they feared a reaction from the Divisional Artillery and 2nd 155 Howitzer Group commanders, whose loyalties were dubious. That Group's HQ had a clear view of the road and could block it. They phoned reliable officers and had them keep these commanders the Divisional Artillery's wasn't even there but in vacation at the Divisional Artillery HQ, far from the highway.
Curiously enough, though the 4th Infantry was part of the reserve, they were to meet with it. It was nowhere to be found and they went on.
"The march in Rio's direction was harsh. The first warm meal was served at 21:00. We all got our soup, and I went to my jeep, as it was starting to drizzle. The canvas had holes, a water funnel formed and fell over my dish; the potato soup was icy and tasted like canvas."

All of this happened with traffic still open on the road. Civilians shared the lanes with huge columns of trucks.