WesWorld

Excerpts from Field Marshall Ricardo Arjona’s private diary.

January 6th 1933- “Three Kings Day. Our forces continue to inch forward in the direction of La Paz but casualties continue to mount and the Bolivian resistance is turning stubborn by the minute. I could be forced to relieve the 2nd Division from garrison duty in Tacna (1) and attach them to the Army of the Andes. What a present for that glorious soldiers of Peru that will be!”

January 18th 1933- “I ordered yesterday the execution of three partisans captured by cavalry border guards protecting our supply lines. The attacks have turned so bad I signed yesterday an order giving the prerogative to unit commanders to execute in the spot any Bolivian using a weapon against Peruvian troops while wearing civilian clothes. Of course any Bolivian still wearing his uniform will be given the rights according to the Geneva Convention.”

February 7th 1933- “Even with the arrival of the 2nd Division the advance is slowing down to a crawl but definitely the Bolivians are scrapping the bottom of the barrel. We have captured lads as young as 14 and men as old as fifty in the last couple of days. I doubt they will resist for too long.”

February 10th 1933- “Damn the Bolivians to hell! They launched a counter offensive against the tired 6th Division and forced them back into the left bank of the River Beni. While so far the advance north of the Lake Titicaca has been good compared with the one south of the Lake for the first time heavy resistance was encountered in that part of the front. I only can think they move troops from either their Paraguayan or their Brazilian border. If they did so they are on their last legs.”

February 18th 1933- “I will return tomorrow to Lima to meet with Francisco and Rodolfo (2). I need more troops to end this and I will tell them so. While they are sitting their arses in Lima I have being missing a lot of the comforts (3) of civilized life. Oh yes! They will hear about it and they better let me get what I want.”

February 25th 1933- “The bastards! Francisco and Rodolfo agreed to announce a draft in two weeks time but they made me accept the creation of a Naval Infantry, for God’s sake! And we will have a draft but more than half of the new draftees will go to the Navy and the Air Forces under Rodolfo’s ministry (4). At least the meeting I had with the Iberian ambassador went well.”

March 6th 1933- “The city of Viacha was captured last night by the 2nd Division and we could be close to capturing La Paz very soon.”

March 15th 1933- “The last gasp of the Bolivian defenders of La Paz was defeated after five days of heavy fighting. The Bolivians tried to stop us and they failed miserably. The Iberians again were very useful in defeating the enemy attacks but the casualties they suffered could force me to send them to the rear. Hope we see more of them soon.”

March 20th 1933- “We have reached the outskirts of La Paz but instead of entering the city I ordered the forces to cutoff the avenues of approach to the city instead. I hope to give the message that I will starve the city and razed it to the ground if they don’t declare the city as open.

March 23rd 1933- “I bluffed the defenders of La Paz to leave the city. The commander, a General name Toro, meet me under a flag of truce and I explained him that I didn’t desire to damage the city but if he refused to leave I will raze the city to the ground. Of course I also invited to the meeting the major of the city and the remaining members of the government; they plead to me to spare the city and Toro finally relented to their whining. The city will be declared an open city late tomorrow but I will not move in until after the defenders leave the city. In reality I don’t know if I had the strength to actually capture the city but the gamble paid off.”

March 27th 1933- “La Paz is mine! My troops marched thru the empty avenues and I moved into the Presidential Palace, my new Headquarters. Victory will be ours! (5)”

March 30th 1933- “ The Bolivian refused the offer by Francisco to come to the table. They know weather will get worse pretty soon and they are resisting accordingly. They know they could try to raise more troops during the winter months but if they can we also can do the same. Too bad the Chileans will not stay idle during the fall and the winter!”

(1) They moved into Tacna on November to help with the “transition.” They were replaced in the province by Border Guards.

(2) Foreign Minister Francisco De La Guarda and Naval Minister Rodolfo de La Garza.

(3) Just crap. He’s living better than any trooper on the field but of course for him is a step down to his life of bon vivant.

(4) Something I found interesting. The Air Force was part of the Navy until 1941 in OTL and I guess is the same ITTL.

(5) Propaganda crap. But he’s sitting pretty as the most popular man in Peru right now. The Conqueror of La Paz.

So what's going to happen to Bolivia post-war? I assume one factory to each Peru and Chile, but unless the post-war border goes through Lake Titicaca the rest of their infrastructure is going to be pretty worthless. ;-)

Quoted

Bolivia - 2 factories
at Tiguina:
1 Type 0 slip
1 Type 1 drydock

January 11th 1933- A deal has been announced today for the purchase of 15 Viking Mk1 fighters from the Kingdom of Nordmark. Admiral La Garza stated the aircrafts will be delivered by the beginning of the fall and they will be used to raise a pursuit squadron. When asked if the recent purchases have to do with the rumored casualties suffered by our air forces in Bolivia he announced the interview to be over and no further comments were given.

January 17th 1933- A deal was reached with the armament giant Skoda for the delivery of 150 ZB-26 machineguns. It was explained by the source in the War Ministry that they will be allocated to the forming armored unit, nicknamed the Panteras Negras. That name has been passed around some circles due to the black leather overcoats used by dispatch riders in the unit at the beginning but now they are a common sight in all sections of that unit.

January 22nd 1933- Jose Carvajal, a purchasing agent for the Peruvian government, smiled while presenting his report to the Peruvian ambassador to the Court of St James. The ambassador read the report with a couple of times looking at Jose with inquisitive eyes in between the reading of the report. He put the papers down and shook his head before speaking.

“Señor Carvajal, yours orders were to purchase aircrafts ready to flight in a short notice, not to put an order for aircrafts still in the prototype stage. Do you really think this will fly?” was the question presented to the agent.

“Maybe not but my friends in Hawker and in Bouldon Paul LTD informed me under the wraps that design are ages ahead of anything we have right now in Peru and they could be ready in less than two years. Why not purchase into the future instead of wasting our money in old things?” was the response of Carvajal.

The Ambassador pondered the response for a couple of minutes and them gave his answer. “I will send the order forward but I’m washing my hands on all of this. The responsibility is all yours.” Carvajal nodded in agreement. Them the ambassador continued, “I will sign with my reservations added to the report and let’s see what the Naval Ministry decides. I hope that so-called Hurricanes and Defiants (1) are worth the money you offered to both companies. For the 140 untested aircrafts you promised to both companies we could have purchase 200 ready to flight aircrafts somewhere else.”

(1) 70 Hurricanes and 70 Defiants are in order and should be delivered some time in late 1934. They will be export versions and a little bit slower that the ones planned for the RAF.

Hurricanes and Defiants? Gotta speed up my own aircraft programs.

Quoted

Originally posted by Desertfox
Hurricanes and Defiants? Gotta speed up my own aircraft programs.

I first started with an order for a heavy fighter with a heavy rear armament and discussed the possibility with our British representative in WW. He pretty much told my order could be the excuse to start a Hurricane and a Defiant program maybe a couple months ahead of schedule. He mentioned Hurricanes and I jumped at the chance. My air force will be a mismatch by the end of the War. Maybe sell on a discount or donate some of the older types of aircrafts to Colombia or Paraguay.;-)

Hopefully WW Defiants will be fitted with at least a token forwards-firing armament? A pair of .303s in the cowl would have solved a multitude of sins in @...

Quoted

Originally posted by Swamphen
Hopefully WW Defiants will be fitted with at least a token forwards-firing armament? A pair of .303s in the cowl would have solved a multitude of sins in @...

Actually yes, I told him to put one .303 in the nose for forward protection.

The export Defiants will be getting one forwards-firing MG, and (given the date) an engine not quite of the Merlin's standard in the Peregrine. The Hurricane will get the same engine, for the same reason.

Don't panic too much: the Peregrine is less powerful than the Merlin, so they're only just 300mph, and early Hurricanes are likely to have only six MGs. At least the RAF ones will; the Peruvian ones could have eight crammed in if wanted.

And I know about the Peregrine's reliablity issues. The Merlin had them too, at the same stage of development. It's just that the Merlin was in a lot of needed planes, so it got the work done whilst the near-unused Peregrine was left alone.

Hey, the RAF got a bad enough time of it in @, so why not give them modern aircraft. By WesWorld standards, they're not all that above-standard. Look at the I-100.

No issue from here, Germany will be just a touch behind that with the Bf-109s so it's no problem as far as I'm concerned.

The Merlin is only running at 890hp cont with 87-oct fuel and 1030 emergency. Only the years of development by RR made it reliable and powerful. Eventually producing 2640hp in 1944.

Quoted

Originally posted by RLBH
The export Defiants will be getting one forwards-firing MG, and (given the date) an engine not quite of the Merlin's standard in the Peregrine. The Hurricane will get the same engine, for the same reason.

Don't panic too much: the Peregrine is less powerful than the Merlin, so they're only just 300mph, and early Hurricanes are likely to have only six MGs. At least the RAF ones will; the Peruvian ones could have eight crammed in if wanted.

And I know about the Peregrine's reliablity issues. The Merlin had them too, at the same stage of development. It's just that the Merlin was in a lot of needed planes, so it got the work done whilst the near-unused Peregrine was left alone.

Hey, the RAF got a bad enough time of it in @, so why not give them modern aircraft. By WesWorld standards, they're not all that above-standard. Look at the I-100.

The six machine guns will be fine in the Hurricanes. The Hurricane will be the postwar main fighter with the Defiants being used as bomber interceptors. Must likely will keep the remaining Cr-32's, the He-59's and the Ba-65. Will purchase some real bombers but will keep the airforce at a size of no more than 300 total aircrafts. More will be too much of a stretch to the infrastructure. So I will have a fire sale at the end of the war.

Quoted

Originally posted by Red Admiral
The Merlin is only running at 890hp cont with 87-oct fuel and 1030 emergency. Only the years of development by RR made it reliable and powerful. Eventually producing 2640hp in 1944.

My point exactly...

I might note that the observation that Peru is going through aircraft like they grow on trees* is a factor in the RSAF's decision to expand just a little more than originally planned...

Quoted

So I will have a fire sale at the end of the war.

~Mr. M. prepares the Royal Chequebook~




* - Well yes, technically most of them still do, but still...

Quoted

Originally posted by Swamphen
I might note that the observation that Peru is going through aircraft like they grow on trees* is a factor in the RSAF's decision to expand just a little more than originally planned...

Quoted

So I will have a fire sale at the end of the war.

~Mr. M. prepares the Royal Chequebook~




* - Well yes, technically most of them still do, but still...

At least you will have the advantage of increasing the size of the RSAF following a plan. Peru is just purchasing anything they can get their hands on. I already agreed for another purchase (with the Dutch) but that one will happen in Q2 and they will not be their most modern aircrafts.

The Peruvian Air Force will be large by the end of the war but it will be unbalanced, full of different calibers, speeds, ranges, etc.

January 29th 1933- Rumors abound that the Naval Ministry has requested some nations under veil of secrecy to put forward designs for a fast heavy cruiser, to be possibly build in Iberian docks at a later date. The Naval Ministry denied the rumors but admitted that indeed they have asked the government of the Philippines to possibly engage in the design and production of minelayers plus other small sized ships for the Peruvian Armada.

OOC: Already the design has been decided. This is something I did about a couple of weeks ago with a couple of nations thru PM's. The nations were either friends of Peru or nations willing to sell heavy ships to them.

Iberia and the Phillipines in the same paragraph? The Horror!

Quoted

Iberia and the Phillipines in the same paragraph? The Horror!

February 3rd 1933- The beast rumored to come from Skull Island has been finally unveiled to the public, a hervibore similar in size to an elephant but in shape to a Brontosaurus was shown in his habitat purposely build for the beast.

Dr. Jose Luna, director of the Zoo, stated the beast was "one of the many wonderful beasts that exists on that island and we hope many more of them are shown to the world in the future." When asked how the beast was acquired he failed to name specifics but stated an independent contractor was the source of the animal.

As all the lectors know Skull Island is a very dangerous place according to the poor souls that had made the trip to that island and travel has been regulated to the area by the powers close by. We can only imagine how that animal arrived to our coast and what were the risks for the gallant men that captured it.