Southwest of Paraguay, the inland town of General Dias Fort.

In the drizzle, hundreds of soldiers wearing ear-protecting helmets and carrying badgers fur backpacks lurking quietly in the bushes. Some of them have dark yellow-brown skin, some of them have mixed-race species with Asian skin and European outlines. Some of them have skin tones and appearances that are close to black people. The younger ones look just adult, and the older ones are about thirty-five or six years old. There are almost no fat people among them. Many of them have thin faces, but they are full of energy, firm expressions, and a steady look. The ruthlessness of a cheetah is faintly revealed in their calm eyes.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded through the fields. The soldiers holding Mauser rifles jumped out of their hiding place without hesitation and quickly advanced in a loose and orderly formation. The crisp sound of machine guns sounded behind the soldiers. A series of bullets accurately swept to the hills with red and yellow flags on the opposite side, and many flagpoles were directly interrupted by machine guns. Without any resistance, this German-looking unit swept across the fields like the wind. After approaching the hills, they threw grenades that would not explode, sprayed stone piles marked with white lime with flamethrowers, cut the wire with engineers, poured into the empty trench position from the breakthrough, pulled out the flagpole, cheered...

At the soldiers' departure position, several officers with upper lip beards watched the seemingly simple military exercise with a serious look on their faces, and talked to each other in German from time to time. They were standard German army uniforms, wearing active-duty officer logos and medals representing military honors, with a proud and serious expression, as if they were still dissatisfied with the details of the exercise. In the fields behind them, six M96 field guns made by Krupp, and gunners wearing beanie hats were training according to the prescribed schedule. Each of them had a straight look and no sloppy look.

Paraguay was a small South American country with an area of ​​only more than 300,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 800,000. It is located in the inland area, bordering Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. It lacks strategic development space and seems to be an insignificant role. However, half a century ago, at the same time when Prussia defeated Austria and France successively achieved imperial hegemony, Paraguay actually fought against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay with one country, and staged a vigorous South America.

The war left one classic example after another for the world. It is a pity that although Paraguay had strong combat power at that time, under the leadership of the military madman Francisco Lopez, he still could not defeat the three South American leaders. This fierce war basically destroyed Paraguay's industry and reduced the population of this country by more than half. For more than 50 years since then, Paraguay has never had a hero like Lopez again. It lies dormant and quietly waits for the day to break its fate.

A few years ago, exploration teams from the United States discovered oil resources in the northern region of Granchaco, where there was territorial disputes in Paraguay and Bolivia. Faced with considerable potential interests, both countries wanted to control this sparsely populated barren land. When diplomatic channels could not resolve the dispute, both sides were ready to fight. Bolivia received support from the United States and Chile. The powerful Mobil Oil Company even offered a sky-high contract for the Bolivian government. Moreover, the Bolivian army has been coveting the Paraguay River in the Grand Canyon of Chaco to obtain a river transport route to the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, because the land is larger than Paraguay and the population is larger than Paraguay, they constantly mobilize troops and take an aggressive attitude.

Germany's military aid to Paraguay can be traced back to 1916. Britain's comprehensive strategy was reduced due to its defeat, while German intelligence personnel were looking for opportunities to take advantage of it. Although Paraguay does not have rich natural resources, its geographical location in South America is like Prussia back then. The domestic situation is stable. The people still regard Lopez as a national hero. They worship him as the courage to win with less and be an ideal object for military cultivation.

Over the past decade, Germany's investment scale and immigration in Paraguay have long surpassed that of the United States, Britain and other countries. The diplomatic officials assigned by Berlin have also established a good relationship of trust with the upper class of the country. As the disputes in the Chaco area gradually heat up, more and more German officials with war experience have come to Paraguay to help the Paraguay train the army, instill in modern tactical ideas, and even directly serve as commanders of some troops. At the same time, a large number of replaced weapons by the German army, Mauser 1888 rifles, m96 field artillery, Hubert-13 light tanks and even the "Albatross" fighter jets were all handed over to the Paraguay army secretly and free of charge.

The Germans were constantly giving Paraguay military aid. The Bolivians were not completely ignorant of this. They used the loans provided by Mobil Oil Company to purchase a large amount of military equipment in order to defeat the Paraguay army before further strengthening their strength. In September 1928, an armed conflict broke out in the Chaco area, and the Bolivian army fought undeclaredly and sent troops to occupy two Paraguay military fortresses in the North Chaco desert. A few days later, Bolivia officially declared war on Paraguay on the grounds that the Paraguay army was provoking the border.

The preemptive Bolivian army took the initiative in the battlefield in the early days of the war, and after the national mobilization, the strength of the Paraguay army quickly expanded from 5,000 to 60,000, of which about 20,000 had received regular training from German officials, and most of the remaining soldiers had received reserve training. The high-morning Pakistani main force was led by General Estigarivia to the front line, and before the large force arrived, it was stationed on the Paraguay side in the Chaco area.

The defense forces took advantage of the fact that the Bolivian army had not yet gained a foothold and decisively launched a counterattack. This time, the battle planned by German Army Colonel Von Bloomberg only invested more than 1,600 Paraguayan soldiers and 18 field artillery pieces. There were no armored combat vehicles and heavy artillery, and even fewer cavalry used for reconnaissance. However, they received support from the German Task Force stationed in General Dias Fort. The German army's best-good air-ground coordination tactics showed its power on the South American continent for the first time.

The Bolivian army that captured the Pitiantuta Fortress thought that the Paraguayan army would not arrive at least half a month later, so they were psychologically neglected to prevent the enemy planes that came to reconnaissance repeatedly. On an afternoon of drifting heavy rain, the Paraguayan border troops, which were marching rapidly, launched a raid under the cover of short artillery fire. Two charges captured the military fortress with a very important geographical location. The Paraguayan army suffered less than 100 casualties, while the Bolivian army was killed and 44 were killed and 570 were captured.

Not only the Bolivians, but also the military observers sent by the United States and Britain were shocked by the sudden defeat. According to the description of the fleeing Bolivian soldiers, they thought that Germany sent troops to directly participate in the war. Without direct evidence, the United States and Britain put pressure on the German government through public opinion, and the German officials rebuked the Germans. In addition to a very small number of military instructors hired by the Paraguay government in their personal capacity, there were no German soldiers and soldiers in Paraguay and even Chaco.

During the reign of William II, the Germans' guarantees were never ineffective, and this time was no exception. Not to mention those German officials who directly participated in military operations, nearly half of the crew of Paraguay's only chariot battalion were German active-duty soldiers, and the Paraguay Air Force was basically supported by the German contingent air force.

Lies will always be exposed, but the German senior executives are not very worried about this, because they have obtained reliable intelligence. The United States and Britain have also sent a lot of aid personnel to the Bolivian army, and a considerable number of them are serious active-duty soldiers. The U.S. and British troops, which failed to "train" in France, seem to have regarded the Chaco War as a good mobile phone training experience.

One day in late September, Captain Hermann Goring and Lieutenant Helmut Gerber, who were drawn from the 4th Fighter Wing of the Luftwaffe, were transported to join the task force, as usual, to fly their "albatross" in the North Chaco area. During the flight, they found three Caproni bombers with unique twin fuselages and three-tail wing shapes across Chaco Canyon and headed towards the Pitiantuta Fortress.

Caproni is an Italian aircraft manufacturing company. Its history of developing and producing bombers was earlier than that of Britain and Germany. The Caproni Ca-32 biplane triple-engine bombers that were put into operation during the war were famous for their long range and large bomb loads. After the war, after repeated comparisons of the British Handley Petty and the Italian Caproni, the U.S. Navy Air Force decided to purchase the Handley Petty V/1500 as long-range reconnaissance and bomber models. The U.S. Army Air Force favored Caproni. They purchased a batch of Ca-32s and later ordered an improved Ca-33. By the mid-20s, these wooden-skinned bombers had obviously failed to keep up with the times. The Americans transferred them to the reserve force and then transferred them to the Bolivian Air Force.

Like the Caproni Ca-32 and Ca-33, the German albatross fighter jets were also the product of the last battle. However, unlike the Caproni bomber that showed off its skills on the Eastern Front, the glory of the albatross appeared in the war-lossed more than 400 aircraft lost by the British and French troops on the Western Front. At least 200 were shot down by the albatross fighter jets equipped by the German army. From 1913 to 1927, the German Albatros aircraft manufacturer produced a total of more than 9,000 various models of albatross. The early Albatross Type D and the 20s Albatross H models were both very successful models.
Chapter completed!