Chapter 1471 Battle
In the Paraguayan War of the last century, even the Paraguayan soldiers who survived were probably just child soldiers at the time. Even if they are still alive today, they would not mean much to the Paraguayan side.
Although Bolivia has suffered repeated defeats in recent years, its military has not been broken, and this is Bolivia's advantage.
However, Paraguay's military construction has always been supported by East Africa, but because there has been peace for so long, it lacks corresponding practical experience.
…
The city of Asuncion is on the east bank of the Paraguay River.
The East African barracks stands in a population bay area on the banks of the Paraguay River. The full name of this military base is the East African Support Camp in Paraguay.
The support battalion is an amphibious combat force. In addition to land combat equipment, it is equipped with a variety of river vessels and regularly cruises on the Paraguay River.
East Africa does not have many troops stationed in Paraguay, but it does serve as a deterrent to neighboring countries, especially Argentina, because a large part of the border between Paraguay and Argentina is the Paraná River.
However, in normal times, the support battalion has more symbolic significance. However, with Bolivia's sudden attack on Paraguay, this symbolic force also began to take action.
The support battalion commander, Gossel, held a final mobilization meeting.
"According to the order from our superiors, in this war between Paraguay and Bolivia, we must stand on the side of Paraguay and help Paraguay defeat Bolivia and achieve the final victory in the war."
"I know you'll wonder why we're personally getting involved in this war."
"The reason is simple. This illegal military action by Bolivia goes against the interests and layout of the empire in the region."
"The empire originally planned to build the Asuncion-Lima railway, and with the help of this railway, it would further expand the empire's market in South America, which would be a good thing for the development of the empire's industry and commerce."
"At the same time, this railway is good for Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru, especially Bolivia, which has become a landlocked country at the beginning of this century. The development of inland transportation is most beneficial to it."
"However, the Bolivians, instigated by the United States, resolutely undermined regional peace and stability, launched a war, and invaded Paraguay. Their actions not only undermined the empire's efforts for regional peace, but also forced the start of construction of the Asuncion-Lima railway to be delayed."
"Therefore, in response to this Bolivian invasion, we should help Paraguay stabilize the situation. This is also a necessary measure to safeguard national interests..."
Since the East African government has decided to intervene in this war, it naturally has to first grasp the greater good. The so-called greater good is mainly to convince its own people, thereby reducing the psychological pressure of the soldiers and consolidating their fighting will.
This is very important. Otherwise, even if the East African army is strong, it may become the US army in the rain forest of Vietnam or the Soviet army in the mountains of Afghanistan in the past life...
With the development of the times, an important reason hindering the development of colonialism is the change in the thinking of the people within the colonial empire.
When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. The descendants of the executioners, who became wealthy through bloody primitive accumulation of capital, have become well-behaved "gentlemen".
On the contrary, if the living standards of the "masters" decline, their moral standards will also "regress". In fact, no matter how they change, their nature has not changed, that is, if a man does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth.
Therefore, the East African governments must pay attention to the mental health of their soldiers. If the army’s faith collapses, it would be very terrible. The Soviet Union was able to overthrow Tsarist Russia, and the awakening of the grassroots soldiers played a huge role.
In the Tsarist era, soldiers were ignorant and numb, but under the narrative of the Labor Party, they rediscovered their own meaning, and thus were able to burst out with new fighting power.
Battalion Commander Gossel's job is to instill in the officers and soldiers of the support battalion the idea of why this war is being fought.
First, East Africa is defined as the messenger of regional peace and development and the arbitrator of regional affairs, then Paraguay is the victim of aggression, and finally Bolivia is the ignorant being provoked by US imperialism.
Here, the East African government did not completely set Bolivia as a "villain" because Bolivia is very "weak" compared to East Africa itself, and such a weak country can obviously win a certain amount of sympathy.
Therefore, it is easier for people to feel pity for Bolivia, which is instigated by the United States, and be angry at its lack of resistance.
In fact, no country is innocent in this war. Bolivia and Paraguay have their own little thoughts, and the United States and East Africa behind them are even more evil.
Battalion Commander Gossel obviously would not tell the truth to the East African soldiers. In fact, this young and capable East African officer himself was brainwashed by the East African ideology.
He began to make pre-war deployments: "In this war, our support battalion will send more than 300 people to participate, and the rest of the personnel will stay at the base to maintain the operation of the base, ensure contact with the mainland, maintain logistics, etc."
"We will fight alongside the Paraguayans and will be directly under the command of the General Staff of the Paraguayan Defense Forces to coordinate with the larger forces."
There are also East African military advisers in the General Staff of the Paraguayan Defense Force, who have a great influence on its war decisions, so the use of the support battalion is actually ultimately decided by the East African military advisers within Paraguay.
Although the number of people participating in the war in the support battalion is small, as professional soldiers in East Africa, they can play a big role in the development of the war.
You have to know that the entire Paraguayan regular army has only 8,000 people, and the Bolivian invading army has only more than 6,000 people. Therefore, the mere 300 people in the support battalion are also a force that cannot be ignored in the armies of the two countries.
If these 300 East African soldiers can be used well, they can have a miraculous effect.
Gossel emphasized: "The imperial army is one of the most powerful armies in the world, especially compared to small countries like Paraguay and Bolivia."
"For example, Paraguay's national military strength is only about 8,000 people, and the number of troops that are actually capable of fighting is even smaller."
"Although our support battalion has a small number of people, our equipment level, training intensity, and professionalism are obviously much higher than the average level of these two countries, so you don't need to underestimate yourself."
"In the next war, as long as our support battalion can perform at the level we perform during normal training, we will definitely shine in the war."
Countries like Paraguay and Bolivia have not fought a war for at least 30 years, so it is questionable how many troops they have that are truly combat-ready.
Although East Africa has not experienced large-scale wars in recent years, colonial security wars have basically never stopped. At the same time, the East African army obviously has more training opportunities than the armies of the two countries.
In terms of target shooting alone, the strength of the military of a big country and a small country is completely not on the same level, which involves the country's level of industrial development.
Countries like Paraguay and Bolivia are purely agricultural. Their military industries are very weak. Even the simplest weapons and ammunition rely on large-scale imports. Not to mention the production of weapons and ammunition, they can't even get the raw materials. Under such circumstances, the opportunities for live-fire training are obviously not as many as those of the industrial countries.
In this case, even if the East African Support Battalion is not considered the elite force of the empire, their combat proficiency is top-notch in South America, not to mention that the East African army is also blessed with weapons and equipment.
…
Soon, the support battalion encountered a real war. Due to its land area, Paraguay itself has a small depth, with the distance from Asuncion to the Northern Chaco region being less than 300 kilometers.
In modern times, this distance can be traveled in one day if there is a car, not to mention that the terrain in Paraguay is very flat, and the support battalion has few people, so a few military trucks can basically complete the mobilization.
"Battalion Commander, we found a military stronghold built by the Bolivians one kilometer northwest. It's not large, with only about two to three hundred people!" The scout from the support battalion reported to Gossel.
Gothel asked, "How well are their military strongholds defended?"
The scout said: "The fortifications are very simple. Originally, the place should have been a military base of Paraguay. There are only four tiled houses."
"The Bolivians should have strengthened their Paraguayan positions on this basis and dug trenches around them, but there were no barbed wire or concrete fortifications."
The Paraguayans did not have many troops in the Northern Chaco region at the time, so their military outposts were very simple. Their struggle with Bolivia for the Northern Chaco region was itself more like a colonial war model.
The so-called colonial war model is basically not much different from the two sides fighting for mountaintops with bandits. For example, in the wars between colonists in West Africa, wars involving only a few hundred people were considered relatively large in scale.
The military conflict between Paraguay and Bolivia in the Northern Chaco region was at this level.
After all, it was not until the war actually broke out that the military strength of both sides reached a scale of more than a thousand people. Before the war broke out, it is conceivable how bad the situation of the two countries' armies in the Northern Chaco region was.
Gossel said excitedly: "This should be the vanguard of Bolivia, and it is a 'big fish'. I didn't expect that we would encounter such a good thing just after arriving!"
It is no wonder that Gossel was so excited. Just imagine that the entire Northern Chaco region covers an area of 260,000 square kilometers, and the combined size of the armies of both sides is only more than 10,000 people. With such a small number of people in an area equivalent to a province, trying to find the other side is not much different from looking for a needle in a haystack.
If both sides disperse their forces and fight guerrilla warfare, the war will become a "hide and seek" competition of hellish difficulty.
Therefore, it is not surprising that this Bolivian army of only two or three hundred people was called a "big fish" by Gossel.
However, out of caution, Gossel conducted a more in-depth investigation: "What are their weapons and equipment and troop composition?"
The scout said: "We didn't get too close, but the enemy probably doesn't have heavy weapons like artillery. They have a certain number of cavalry, possibly equipped with machine guns."
"At the same time, because the terrain is open, the enemy has a visual advantage, and with the fortifications they have built, it is not advisable to get too close."
The annual precipitation in the Northern Chaco region is less than 600 mm, the vegetation is almost mainly grassland, and the terrain is relatively flat and open.
This also means that once the two sides collide, there is almost no difference between them and the open cards.
Gossel said: "If that's the case, then it won't be difficult for us to defeat this unit. We have advantages over the enemy in firepower and mobility. As for the enemy's cavalry, we should be able to suppress them with machine guns."
Afterwards, Gossel began to make military deployments. After calculating the distance between the two sides, the East African soldiers quickly approached the enemy's position and dug temporary fortifications. At the same time, artillery, machine guns and other weapons were also quickly deployed.
The enemy soon discovered the existence of the support battalion. They used cavalry to make initial attempts, but before they could get close, they were suppressed by the machine gunners of the support battalion.
After the artillery was deployed, Gossel began to counterattack: "Hans, you must aim carefully. We don't have many shells, and it will be difficult to replenish them later. One less round will be fired."
The support battalion only had one artillery piece and ten rounds of ammunition, so Gossel had to use them sparingly.
Hans said, "Don't worry! Captain, I can't guarantee one shot, but I can definitely hit the enemy's position within two shots."
Gosser patted Hans on the shoulder and said, "If the shot was accurate, it would have been your contribution."
Then he ordered, "Company One, launch a tentative attack to draw out the enemy's firepower."
Some East African soldiers tried to move forward, but the enemy discovered their movements. Soon a tongue of fire emerged from the enemy's position, and the enemy's machine guns started firing.
The machine gun bullets were not very accurate, but they also put tremendous pressure on the East African soldiers. Under the suppression of the enemy's machine guns, a company of soldiers had to crawl on the ground.
At this time, Gossel ordered Hans: "See, point the gun barrel at the enemy's machine gun position and kill their machine gunners!"
Hans began to measure the distance and angle, and after a round of adjustments, he was ready for the final preparations.
"Let it go!" said Goserl.
"Boom..." There was a roar in my ears, and I saw a dusty area instantly blown up by the artillery shells on the enemy's position. The artillery shells did not hit the enemy's machine gun, but were not far away.
Gossel was a little disappointed, but he soon discovered that the enemy's machine gun had stopped. He immediately judged that it might be the impact of the explosion of the artillery shell that affected the enemy machine gunner.
He reacted instantly: "First Company, charge! Provide machine gun cover!"
As the charge sounded, the East African soldiers who were originally crawling on the ground stood up swiftly, holding their guns, and sprinted towards the enemy position.
The five light and heavy machine guns of the support battalion fired at the enemy's bunkers at the same time. Under the interweaving of firepower, the enemy could not show their heads at all and could only resort to faith shooting. They could not observe the enemy's movements and could only fire blindly. Therefore, although the enemy's gunshots still existed, they themselves probably didn't even know where the bullets had gone.
Under such circumstances, the East African soldiers quickly reached the enemy's position and after a few grenades, the crude trenches were instantly filled with casualties, and the enemy completely lost its combat capability.
"Surrender, we surrender!" Some frightened Bolivians raised their hands high above their heads, and the rest of the Bolivian soldiers also completely gave up struggling.
The support battalion's first war ended so simply. After the war, the support battalion suffered only three casualties, but successfully captured the enemy stronghold, killed 29 enemies, injured 47, and the rest all became prisoners.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
