WesWorld

October 3rd 1933- Minister de La Garza read the reports regarding the first payment to the South African Kingdom and was shocked at the size of it. "Pretty much we will be shutting down any major construction for the next six months and any construction at all for the next three months."

He them began reading a report coming from the mission in Iberia that stated the Iberian government was sending some signals like they desire some kind of repayment for their help in the upgrading of the naval infrastucture of Peru. "The Iberian intelligence service has stated it seems Mexico is thinking in building some fast heavy cruisers and an experimental Dane design could be a response in kind to those ships. Of course they have been throwing hints in our direction like they want us to build it."

De La Garza pushed the report away in disgust, knowing full well his Navy needed support ships instead of more capital ships. But he also knew that thanks to the Iberian help they now have a dock big enough for capital ships and the upgrading of a slip into one capable of cruisers was an ongoing concern. He grabbed the report again and hated himself while posting a note ordering how soon the funds could be available to build the ship the Iberians want them to build.

Excerpts from Field Marshall Ricardo Arjona’s private diary.

October 5th 1933- “Weather continues to be nasty, with snow being reported deep in the mountains. It seems it will be a late Spring this year.”

October 14th 1933- “News from the South state the Chileans have began moving into the city of Sucre and heavy fighting is being reported. While the reports being received from our Allies are being incomplete it seems some sectors of the city are under their control but enemy resistance continues to be fierce.”

October 19th 1933- “The Iberians began moving South in the direction of Cochabamba but they are moving slowly in that direction due more to the weather than anything else. Their superioty in numbers and the overwhelming number of support weapons (1) is having a telling effect in the defender but Mola seems to be cautious in his approach.”

October 26th 1933- "The friends from the Far East (2) finally arrived to La Paz and are being assigned a part of the airfield far away from the press. They are officially announced as another "Volunteer" force fighting on the side of Peru to defeat the evil Bolivians. It will be a good way to evaluate their products."

(1) At least for South American standards.

(2) The Thai White Elephant Squadron.

Quoted

assigned a part of the airfield far away from the press.

When Elephants are not enough...

October 12th 1933- Foreign Minister De La Guarda returned today from Geneva were the League addressed the growing brutality of the ongoing Andean War and finally decided to create a commission to investigate a way to end the conflict. Delegations of Poland, Japan, Great Britain and Greece were asked to investigate further into the current conflict and post a report with their recommendations before May of 1934 (1). Minister De La Guarda stated "the League is being unjust in pointing fingers in our direction even when we have showed proof of our innocence and of our Iberians friends in the events that occurred in Cochabamba. We are insulted and maybe some things need to be done to show the League the seriousness of our resolve."

(1) the War must likely will be over by them. Another example of how useless the League is.

October 23rd 1933- Minister de la Garza continued to read the reports from Europe and at least some good news came out from there. "The Italians sold two of their Armored Cruisers to the Danes, keeping the ships at least in the AANM alliance."

De la Garza was really hoping for the Iberians to get those ships but of course with the Iberians being busy building the three battleships of the Luna class were in no mood to purchase those ships.(1) He put the report down and began reading one from the other side of the world. After reading it he shook his head and smiled. "So they want to visit our nation, do they?" He took a sheet of paper and began writing a letter to his counterpart asking him to give more details of their proposed visit and to give a date for that visit.

(1) of course is just the opinion of de La Guarda not the official Iberian reason for not purchasing the ships.

Excerpts of the private diary of Francisco de La Guarda

October 29th 1933- “The Brazilian giant has finally responded after close to a year of silence, something I wasn't expecting. I offered them a plea of nonbelligerancy and neutrality in case of conflicts with any third parties and they surprised me by actually responding and accepting our hand in friendship. Of course they didn't offered any assurances of this been a permanent arrangement, just that at the moment they thank our offer.

Now that put me in the bind of what to do with what was discussed with the Argentine Foreign Minister during his visit in July. Maybe a visit to both Argentina and Brazil to gauge their intents is in order."

November 1st 1933- Admiral Raul Velasco, commander of the Peruvian Navy, observed from his flagship his small fleet and shook his head."One battleship and one coastal one escorted by five destroyers, that is all." He of course knew of the purchase of the South African dreadnaughts but he knew the sacrifices it brought with.

"No more Cuzco(1) and the projects for the first part of next year are now cancelled. What to do? What to do? We need more support ships if we are building a fleet of this size but how if we don't have the funds to do it?" He also knew of a proposal brought forward by members of the Naval Academy Board tasked with answering that same question but in his opinion while it aliviate the problem somewhat the cost was very high. But the decision wasn't his, it was of his mentor De La Garza and he really didn't want to be on his shoes when the moment comes to make it.

He turned in the direction of the radiomen o the bridge and told him to signal the Iberian fleet to meet in the prearrange coordinates for their exercise.(2)

(1) it was supposed to be the sister ship of the Lima.

(2) in Iberian Ecuadorian waters.

Edited post. My mistake the city captured was Santa Cruz, not Sucre. Chile has the city of Sucre under siege and the terrain made impossible for the Peruvian to launch an armored attack in the direction of Sucre while if swinging ona north to South axis is possible to take Santa Cruz. I guess the Hrolf report should said Santa Cruz instead of Sucre.


November 9th 1933-Brigadier General Alejandro Sanz observed the force under his command with pride. The Panteras Negras were a sight to behold, with their black leather overcoats, their German style helmets and their Czech machineguns making them an unique unit in the Peruvian Army. Having a cavalry brigade attached to it to increase the size of the unit really didn't change his opinion his unit was ready for the mission at hand. While it was true the rumors of movement by Brazilian forces was bringing the timetable forward he knew that while in the mountains the weather wasn't 100% ready for large offensive operations, the one in front of him was.

Excerpts from Brigadier General Alejandro Sanz Memoirs

November 11th 1933- The roar of artillery broke the silence of the morning, signalling the start of the offensive aimed South. The 6th Infantry division took some casualties crossing the Secure River but more important a breach was reached on the frontlines that allowed my Mobile Regiment and the attached cavalry to surge forward and continue their advance South. By the end of the day we were already half the way to Chapare River and with only feeble resistance by the Bolivians being encountered.

November 19th 1933- The Chapare River has been finally crossed after a two day wait for engineer forces to repair the damage to the bridges. The complete domination of the sky has been an advantage(1) but the lost of 10 tanks due to mechanical malfunctions and the difference of speed between the mechanized and cavalry sections of the force have been a disappointment for me.

November 26th 1933- The city of Yapacani has been captured by my forces. The rail bridgehead was destroyed by the enemy on their withdraw but my force is suffering from lack of supplies and the trucks carrying the infantry are already falling apart.

November 30th 1933- We began our advance South again after supplies arrived two days ago. We repaired some tanks and the force is back to over 40 tanks strong. We expect the enemy to continue to falter but rumors than Brazil has crossed the Bolivian border abound.

December 3rd 1933- We defeated a last gasp attempt by the enemy to stop us on the city of Montero. Our forces were too fast and encircled them and them a weapon as I never seen before(2) obliterated the main enemy forces, the inferno it caused been a truly demoralizing force for the enemy. The road now lies open but it wasn't easy. On the heat of the battle over 20 of my beloved tankswere either destroyed, damged or suffered some engine trouble. Now the force is reduced to 20 running vehicles but we will not stop until we reach our objective.

December 9th 1933- We entered the empty streets of Santa Cruz, the government fleeing South to Villamontes according to rumors. My force has being reduced in to 15 running vehicles but we demonstrated the feasibility of the armored vehicles, only the lack of supplies and how slow the supply train really stopping us.

(1) Italian Ba-65's and American A-9's being used as flying artillery.

(2) The rubbergas being tested by the White Elephant Squadron under combat situation.

[Sent via diplomatic cable from the German embassy in Lima to Berlin, for delivery to the Generalstab, with a copy for delivery to General Guderian at Grafenwohr.]


December 12, 1933

Report of General Hans Kundt on the Peruvian armored advance

On the 11th of November, the Peruvian panzer regiment, reinforced with a cavalry brigade of two regiments, set off across the Secure River after their 6th Infantry division had made a breach in the Bolivian lines. By the 9th of December, this same force entered the Bolivian capital of Sucre.

By the time the battlaion reached and took Sucre, only 15 vehicles were still in working order, the rest having either been destroyed, damaged, or broken down. Most of the vehicles involved in the nearly month-long campaign had broken down at least once and been repaired during one or more of the pauses to wait for supporting units (infantry, artillery, cavalry, or supplies).

The infantry battalions, mounted in trucks, had great difficulty keeping up with the panzers, by the latter stages of the campaign the remaining trucks were being used strictly to bring up supplies and artillery, none could be spared to transport the infantry so the panzers were reduced to a marching pace even when they could have moved faster.

The cavalry brigade as a supporting unit did not work as well in practice as hoped: the march speeds were simply too different and the cavalry tended to be left behind in a bound then catch up and mill around aimlessly after a battle was over, or stumble into a counter-attack. They did prove somewhat useful, though, in recovering bogged down vehicles..

A costly lesson was learned in a couple of engagements: unsupported panzers against a prepared position will pay a high price. Most of the tank losses came in a pair of engagements where the panzers had outrun their support and encountered an enemy force that held a positional advantage and had weapons that could damage the Peruvian Vickers panzers (such as a 75).

Lessons learned:

1 - There is no point to a panzer that moves faster than it's support - a panzer is a formidable weapon, but by itself it is much less so and much more vulnerable than when it is supported by infantry and artillery and can work with the other arms.

2 - The trucks used cannot stand up to the stress of combat useage in this terrain, very few were still operational at the end of the one month of advancing. Additionally, their cross-country speed was terrible, even when they were fresh and had not yet begun to breakdown.

3 - The panzers needed to be more reliable, too many were lost for too long due to overheating, breaking a track, and other minor mechanical failures. Getting stuck will happen, it's impossible to always avoid all poor terrain, but the rate of breakdown was clearly excessive.

4 - Communications are a key - panzer operations can move more rapidly than infantry operations can, and this speed of movement means opportunities can appear more rapidly than in infantry operations. If the commander does not know the opportunity exists, he can't respond to it, so the panzer units must have a way to report to higher commanders.

5 - Panzers as support - panzers armed with machineguns or machineguns and cannon proved very useful in supporting the infantry against dug-in infantry or infantry in field fortifications. For dealing with these sorts of targets, Germany should look into mounting infantry guns on a panzer, as the larger high explosive shell would have great effect on field fortifications.

6 - When available, airpower can serve as artillery support - at times, the Peruvian aerial forces were the difference between victory and defeat, as they provided support to the advancing or waiting troops while the units artillery was being deployed or trying to get to the battle. At other times, the aerial forces took no part in the battle, due to time of day or weather.

Excerpts of the private diary of Francisco de La Guarda

November 18th 1933- “I arrive yesterday to Cordoba but so far this has been a wash. The Argentinian Minister has being very forward and candid thru our private comversations and pretty much stated that they were indeed surprised by the silence by the Brazilian Empire during the last year(1) but he also informed me they have being in communication with Brazil for the last month now and progress have been made by them."

November 24th 1933- "I'm leaving for the Brazilian capital after close to a week of talks with Castagone(2). The Argentines seem to have reached some kind of agreement with the Brazilians in regard to some issues between them, making them pretty much useless to us for now."

(1) what happen in Brazil during that time is only for the new Brazilian player to tell.

(2) the Argentine Foreign Minister

Excerpts of the private diary of Francisco de La Guarda

November 26th 1933- “I was welcomed in the airfield by the Brazilian Minister and I have to admit the Imperials know how to give a proper reception. The food was incredible and the entertainment afterwards was also very good. The samba dancers were very, very friendly and only the recommendation of my security chief that most likely they were spies stopped me of taking them back to my room for a nightcap. A damn shame indeed."

November 29th 1933- "Conversations have being cordial so far but I got the feeling they have a hidden agenda but at least I can't perceive any threat in the near future. Our main concern is the rhetoric about their Manifest Destiny."

December 2nd 1933- "I was informed that Brazilian forces crossed the border into Bolivia in what they called giving a helping hand in the defeat of the Bolivian threat. It was expected due to the rhetoric of the last couple of days but still it could change our plans for a postwar Bolivia. I'm already stated to our Brazilian "friends" we want economic reparations from Bolivia(1) but no territorial demands will come from us. Of course we started a new round of discussions after my short statement."

(1) Peru desires the output of a Bolivian factory for a set amount of time as part of the postwar agreements.

Well Argentina did try to warn Peru only last quarter to ditch Iberia as allies and end the war.

Now Brazil wants a chunk and Peru is getting scared and we no longer find a mutual anti-Iberian pact worthwhile since relations with Brazil and Chile seem settled on post-war decisions and prior plans made some time ago. Perhaps its too little too late from Peru?

BTW OOC any land deal with Chile will result in Argentina gaining Bolivian territory, maybe as a protecting power, and ending years of hate between Arg and Chile.

(Actually, Brazilian forces aren't scheduled to enter Bolivia until 1/1/34. So either rumours are flying or somebody got trigger-happy.)

Memo to Bolivia:

Quoted

Thanks for coming out. Better luck in the next sim.

Well, let me know when you sort out who gets the choice cuts of Bolivia so I can update the BigAssMap.

Excerpts of the private diary of Francisco de La Guarda

December 5th 1933- “It turned out the rumors of the Brazilians joining the war were only that, rumors. Still it seems Brazil will join the conflict soon except if we sweeten the pot somewhat. Of course we can't stop them from joining if they desire but we have nothing to offer that is worth giving up. I will be sending a message to the Bolivian government and the League for mediation in this conflict before the Brazilians join this thing. I'll try to get the Argentinians involved in this also. I hope it works.(1)"

(1) OOC: so what will be the response of the League? Bolivia must likely will accept mediation but what will be the response of the League? Need input of the League members of WW in what will be the decision. Also will not enter any unilateral negotiations, Chile needs to be present. And what will be the response of Argentina.

Excerpts from Field Marshall Ricardo Arjona’s private diary.

November 6th 1933- “The first major air operation of the Spring was launched by a combined Iberian-Peruvian force that attacked the fortifications and airfields around Oruno. The damage was reported as heavy but more important it seems the Bolivian airforce is as good as eliminated.

November 17th 1933- “General Mola (1) reported to me his forces were approaching Cochabamba and he considered it will be only a matter of days before the city falls to his forces. I hope he fails. The pendejo needs to be given a lesson.”

November 21st 1933- “The Iberians were pushed back on the Cochabamba front by what is considered by our intelligence experts as a last ditch counteroffensive. That same men being the same that said the Bolivians had no offensive capabilities doesn't give any confidence in their prognosis.”

November 23rd 1933- "The Iberian Colonial Brigade reached the city of Oruro after some heavy combat only to find the city already occupied by Chilean forces. Also news of the continued savagery in Sucre(2) has surprised many, especially the members of my staff. It seems the Bolivians are trying to bleed the Chileans in an attempt to get better terms."

(1) Emilio Mola, commander of the CVI

(2) It must be turning into something similar to the 1936 fighting in Madrid. But for the standards of the era must be the first urban type action since the Great War and very savage fighting indeed.

League of Nations, December 10th, 1933.

Gentlemen, there has been a request for the League to mediate in the issue of the Bolivian Conflict. The Netherlands will motion that the League accept this request. If the League does not wish to bestir itself, the Hague Tribunal, which was established to facilitate international dispute resolution, formally offered its services nearly two years ago.

*the Brazilian delegate to the Leage scribbles a note and hands it to an aide, who scurries off*

The Republic of Germany will second the motion of the Netherlands to accept the request that the League mediate the issue of the Bolivian Conflict.