Chapter 786: Two countries compete, and the great powers gain

Although this brutal South American version of the Battle of Verdun lasted only three days, it caused the loss of most of the elite soldiers in Bolivia and Paraguay.

It can be said that most of the troops that the two countries entered into the war next were recruits with little training.

After the defeat of Saavedra, the Bolivian army had lost control of the front line. The frontline troops were completely defeated. In less than a week, Paraguay captured nearly 30 military strongholds.

Seeing that the front line was about to fall, the Bolivian army could not sit still. 1. The Bolivian army, which thought it had been carefully prepared, launched a vigorous attack on Paraguay's frontline position, Fortress of Nanava.

Fortress of Nanava is located on the west side of the Paraguayan army and protects the flank of the Paraguayan army. If the Nanava Fortress falls, not only will the Paraguayan army fighting head-on be threatened from the flanks, but the Bolivian army may also move down the river, directly threatening Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay.

Paraguay naturally attaches great importance to this extremely important flank military fortress.

The attacking Bolivian army numbered approximately 40,000 people, while the defending Paraguayan army had a division of nearly 70,000 people.

Although the number of troops is at a disadvantage, Paraguay is equipped with a large number of machine guns from Britain and Australasia in the Nanawa Fortress, as well as a small number of artillery as firepower output, making this flank fortress very strong.

After a simple assessment, the Australasian Officer Corps believed that Nanawa Fortress could withstand the attack of at least three enemy divisions with one division stationed there.

The current situation faced by Nanawa Fortress is almost exactly the one versus three situation that the Australasian Officer Corps had previously assessed.

Facts have proved that there is basically no difference between the Australasian Officer Corps' assessment and the actual results.

Although they faced an enemy twice their own size, the Paraguayan army was stationed inside the Nanava Fortress and was able to hold on with dozens of machine guns and more than a dozen artillery pieces.

However, despite holding on, the Paraguayan army suffered heavy casualties.

The offensive and defensive battle at Nanawa Fortress lasted for more than ten days, causing a total of more than 50,000 casualties to both sides.

Among them, a division of the Paraguayan army stationed in the Fortress of Nanava basically lost its combat effectiveness, with more than 5,000 dead, and the rest were more or less injured.

As for the Bolivian army, of the 40,000 troops involved in the attack, less than 10,000 troops were withdrawn to Bolivia.

More than half of the remaining 30,000 troops died in the battle in front of Nanawa Fortress. The blood directly dyed the land near Nanawa Fortress red, making the smell of blood permeate the vicinity of Nanawa Fortress for several kilometers.

The reason why the Bolivian army suffered such heavy casualties was that they launched a fierce attack on the Nanava Fortress without much protection.

In such a situation, machine guns become extremely important. Although Paraguay only had a few dozen machine guns, the dozens of machine guns used cross-fire coverage, leaving no blind spots for firepower in front of the fortress and blocking the Bolivian army's offensive route.

Coupled with the occasional firepower output of the artillery and the supplementary firepower of the Paraguayan army inside the fortress, the Bolivian army was directly blocked more than 100 meters in front of the blaze line.

Until the end of the war, the Bolivian army did not get within 100 meters of the fortress, and could only look at this small fortress in despair.

After the battle for the Nanava Fortress ended, both Bolivia and Paraguay had suffered heavy losses.

Although the war did not last long, for two countries with small populations, the casualties at this time were already unbearable.

You know, the Paraguayan army only had about 3,000 people before the war, making it a country with relatively weak armed forces.

But now, the death toll alone is nearly five times the total scale.

Not to mention the number of soldiers and civilians injured in the war, the combined number has already exceeded 50,000.

Such huge casualties have almost reached the point of breaking out for the small country of Paraguay.

What's more, in order to win this war, the two countries borrowed large amounts of debt from the countries that supported them to purchase weapons, equipment and strategic resources.

Don’t underestimate these debts. So far, Bolivia's total debt to France and Mobil Oil has reached 1.2 billion francs (5.83 million pounds) and is still rising.

Although Paraguay's debt is smaller than Bolivia's, it is still close to 7.43 million Australian dollars (3.71 million pounds).

It can be said that if the war continues, both Bolivia and Paraguay will suffer heavy losses. The only ones who really benefit from the oil war may be the big powers behind it.

For great powers like France and the United Kingdom, the debts lent out will be recovered sooner or later, and there is no need to worry that Bolivia and Paraguay will default on the debt.

As time entered August, the war in the Northern Chaco region also entered a more stalemate state. After the casualties on both sides exceeded 50,000, the next thing to compete was the human and financial resources of Bolivia and Paraguay.

Knowing that he did not have the upper hand in terms of manpower, at the suggestion of the Australasian Officer Corps, José Felix Estigarrivia decided to launch a counterattack against the Bolivian army in the Northern Chaco region to establish his own Advantage in war.

1. Jose Felix Estigarribia led more than 50,000 Paraguayan soldiers to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the Bolivian army on a front line of more than 70 kilometers.

Jose Felix Estigarrivia's plan was to take advantage of the Bolivian army's two consecutive defeats and take the lead in occupying the entire Chaco region before their reinforcements arrived, thus determining Paraguay's war advantage.

What neither side expected was that this offensive war would last longer than the war so far, and it would also indirectly directly exhaust the effective forces of the two countries.

Paraguay's full-scale counterattack began on August 17, and by the time it ended, it was already the end of October.

This comprehensive counterattack, which lasted for more than two months, was a rare event for these two small countries.

In addition to the 50,000 soldiers initially invested, Paraguay sent three divisions, or about 40,000 soldiers, to the front more than a month after the war started.

As for Bolivia, three divisions were initially stationed on the front line. Together with reinforcements, there were also six divisions with more than 90,000 soldiers.

After this all-out counterattack ended, two Paraguayan divisions were almost wiped out, with a total death toll of more than 20,000 people and more than 20,000 injured.

Bolivia is no better. This all-out counterattack still ended in failure in Bolivia, which also resulted in the annihilation of two Bolivian divisions, with more than 8,000 deaths and countless injuries.

After this war ended, the effective strength of both sides had dropped to freezing point. At present, Paraguay has only three divisions of troops with less than 50,000 troops that can be mobilized.

Bolivia is not much better, with less than two divisions on the front line and more than 50,000 prisoners in Paraguay's hands.

It is worth mentioning that the French commander who was originally responsible for commanding the Bolivian army has lost the trust of all Bolivians after experiencing several consecutive defeats.

Taking over command of the Bolivian army from the French was a rising star in the army, Enrique Peñaranda.

Speaking of Enrique Peñaranda, he is also a famous figure in Bolivia.

As a native born in Bolivia, Enrique Peñaranda began joining the army as a boy and relied on his ability to study at the Bolivian Army Military Academy.

When Peñaranda was 18 years old, he had successfully graduated from the military academy and received the rank of second lieutenant.

Since then, Peñalanda has been appreciated by many military leaders and has been successfully promoted to the rank of colonel.

After the Chaco War broke out, Peñaranda led his Army's Fourth Division in the early stages and occupied several Paraguayan military fortresses.

But after the command was taken over by the French, Peñaranda had no room to display his abilities.

It was not until this time that Peñalanda returned to the attention of the Bolivian government after the Bolivians gave up the command of French officers, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, becoming the commander-in-chief of the Bolivian Army.

In history, Enrique Peñalanda is definitely a famous player in Bolivia.

Although he came from the military in his early years, Enrique Peñalanda had a smooth journey and eventually served as the president of Bolivia.

After Enrique Peñaranda took over the command of the Bolivian army, he changed the decision made by the previous French commander and ordered the Bolivian army on the front line to switch to full defense.

This is actually a wise choice. Although Bolivia is ahead of Paraguay in terms of population, it currently lags behind Paraguay in the number of troops it can mobilize.

Bolivia's losses in the war were much higher than those of Paraguay, which to a certain extent evened out the population gap between the two countries.

If the attack continues, it will not be a good thing for the Bolivian army. In particular, there are a large number of wounded in the rear who are in urgent need of medical supplies.

For Bolivia, it is time for the Bolivian army to reorganize order and launch a counterattack until these wounded can regain their combat effectiveness after simple medical treatment.

Before that, the most important task on the front line was to hold on and try to delay it as long as possible to create a certain opportunity for domestic treatment of the wounded.

Although the Bolivian army has moved on the defensive, the Paraguayan army has no intention of competing with Bolivia.

After all, Paraguay is at a disadvantage in terms of land and population. Being able to end the war early is the key to whether Paraguay can win the war.

Fortunately, Paraguay has the support of the two major powers of Britain and Australasia. In addition to the manpower that needs to be prepared by itself, including funds and weapons and equipment, Britain and Australasia can handle it single-handedly.

Of course, none of this is free. For Paraguay, the longer the war dragged on, the more loans it owed to Britain and Australasia.

By the time the value of the loan was far greater than the value of the oil in the Northern Chaco region, it was time for the Paraguayan government to collapse.

It is worth mentioning that in these two months, Britain and France have almost solved their respective problems.

The French temporarily stabilized the Lone Star Republic by paying certain benefits.

However, Mexico's coveting of the Lone Star Republic is becoming increasingly intense. Either they can strengthen their control over the Lone Star Republic, or they can only strengthen their military strength on the south coast of the United States to prepare for possible moves by Mexico.

While the French only had diplomatic troubles, the British's troubles were military rebellions within India.

However, as the French expected, this military rebellion was not fatal to British rule in India.

In just over half a month, the Indian army had quelled Prabati's military rebellion.

The Indian government even arrested many members of the Indian National Congress, including Prabati and Gandhi, and incidentally solved the non-violent actions that had previously caused headaches for the British.

Although the Indian government clamored to execute the criminals who started the armed rebellion, most countries understood that Gandhi would basically be fine.

It's the same truth as before. As long as Gandhi lives for one day, India won't have much problems.

If the Indian government really wants to execute Gandhi, what they will face next may be armed rebellions across India.

Sure enough, more than half a month after the arrest of Gandhi, the Indian government announced the sentences against various members of the Congress Party.

Although most of the members were sentenced to death, the maximum penalty for a small number of members, including Gandhi and his confidants, was only two years in prison.

Moreover, the prison where Gandhi was imprisoned had a better environment among Indian prisons, the kind specially used to imprison British people.

This actually shows the attitude of the British. They also understand the importance of Gandhi to India.

Until he was not completely sure that he could control India, Gandhi was undoubtedly safe.

In Australasia, the actions of Britain and France in the past few months, including Bolivia's change of army coach, were all reported to Arthur's desk.

Arthur was not surprised by the actions of Britain and France, especially the French, who did not want to see a war at this time.

If France, which was previously strong, faced provocation from a country like Mexico, most of the French army would probably clamor to declare war on Mexico.

But now, the French's mere threat is enough to prove that they are not willing to see a war, even if the target of the war is only the not powerful United States of Mexico.

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