April 10, 1937
The snow crunched beneath Salvador as he trudged up the narrow mountain path. He had been wishing for snow back in the deserts of Bolivia, but now, he was wishing he hadn't. He had never experienced temperatures these low in April before, and the snow had always been melted by now. But then, Salvador had never been to the Andes.
Somewhere ahead of him and his battalion, were the positions the Bolivian army had taken in their defence. It was expected to be fierce; this was the last territory on the way to La Paz. After months of reorganization, Justo had finally ordered another assault on the Bolivians, and this one was assured success. With Justo's corps attacking from the south, and Valles' corps attacking from the east, the Bolivians would surely fall.
A loud report echoed across the mountains. The line of soldiers halted, crouching low, searching for the source of the shot. More rang out. Salvador found himself scarbbling for cover behind a conveniently close boulder with several other soldiers. He couldn't see where the rest of them had run off to.
"Where the hell are they?"
"We're siting ducks down here."
Salvador peered around the boulder, farther up the mountain pass, but he couldn't see anything. The Bolivians were doing an expert job of hiding themselves.
"I can't see anything up there," he said.
"Well, we've got to get up there or this whole assault fails. Justo's relying on us to take out this flank."
Salvador nodded. Lieutenant Mendez knew what he was doing, and commanded a lot of respect from the men. He never pretended to be superior. They would all follow him to their doom, if it so happened.
Salvador heard a snicker off to his left. It was Vargas. "It's only one division we're up against here. I mean, Justo's got an entire army over there. If he can't beat one division..."
Salvador joined with the rest of his little squad in silencing Vargas with stern looks and a few slaps to the face. Lieutenant Mendez simply grinned.
"Alright men. Let's get up this mountain, shall we?"
Mendez sprang to his feet, firing his sub-machine gun toward the Bolivians. Salvador was up a moment after, running down the path into the gunfire, following Mendez. More men joined them as they sprinted past and charged the Bolivian positions.
Finally, Salvador could see them, scurrying between the boulders and small chasms ahead of them. He couldn't tell how many there were, but by the gunfire now directed toward them, it felt like the entire division was arrayed against this small squad.
Men went down beside him as they ran, tumbling down the steep slope, tripping up soldiers behind them. But still, Mendez ran on, Salvador trying to keep the pace. To his right, he caught movement, saw a Bolivian on a bouder taking aim at the Lieutenant. Salvador raised his gun to his shoulder, fired without breaking stride. The Bolivian toppled, falling backward off the boulder. But more were taking his place.
The first machine gun emplacement started firing at them now and they dove for cover. Some men dove to far, into chasms, some didn't dive soon enough and were cut down by the endless spray of bullets. Sandoval looked across the path to Mendez. Mendez grinned at him and pulled out a grenade. Sandoval quickly followed suit. They threw the grenades in unison.
Before the smoke had even cleared from the explosions, the Argentinians were in the makeshift fortifications. What they could shoot, they shot. The rest was grueling hand-to-hand combat. Sandoval saw Vargas go down with a knife would in the thigh, but the Bolivian never finished the job as two more Argentinans overwhelmed him. Lucky Vargas, he thought.
When the small battle was over, Sandoval was standing on a small pile of bodies. The trench was littered with them, not all of them dead. He took stock of himself, found no injuries. Lucky me. He breathed a sigh of relief, his thoughts straying toward home and the promise he'd made Ines.
A hand fell on his shoulder. "Nice fighting, Escavera." He turned around to see the blood caked face of Lieutenant Mendez smiling at him.
"Uh, thank you, sir."
Mendez looked around. "We just may be the only two men in this entire battalion who didn't end up injured. Lucky us, huh?"
"Yeah, lucky us."
The snow crunched beneath Salvador as he trudged up the narrow mountain path. He had been wishing for snow back in the deserts of Bolivia, but now, he was wishing he hadn't. He had never experienced temperatures these low in April before, and the snow had always been melted by now. But then, Salvador had never been to the Andes.
Somewhere ahead of him and his battalion, were the positions the Bolivian army had taken in their defence. It was expected to be fierce; this was the last territory on the way to La Paz. After months of reorganization, Justo had finally ordered another assault on the Bolivians, and this one was assured success. With Justo's corps attacking from the south, and Valles' corps attacking from the east, the Bolivians would surely fall.
A loud report echoed across the mountains. The line of soldiers halted, crouching low, searching for the source of the shot. More rang out. Salvador found himself scarbbling for cover behind a conveniently close boulder with several other soldiers. He couldn't see where the rest of them had run off to.
"Where the hell are they?"
"We're siting ducks down here."
Salvador peered around the boulder, farther up the mountain pass, but he couldn't see anything. The Bolivians were doing an expert job of hiding themselves.
"I can't see anything up there," he said.
"Well, we've got to get up there or this whole assault fails. Justo's relying on us to take out this flank."
Salvador nodded. Lieutenant Mendez knew what he was doing, and commanded a lot of respect from the men. He never pretended to be superior. They would all follow him to their doom, if it so happened.
Salvador heard a snicker off to his left. It was Vargas. "It's only one division we're up against here. I mean, Justo's got an entire army over there. If he can't beat one division..."
Salvador joined with the rest of his little squad in silencing Vargas with stern looks and a few slaps to the face. Lieutenant Mendez simply grinned.
"Alright men. Let's get up this mountain, shall we?"
Mendez sprang to his feet, firing his sub-machine gun toward the Bolivians. Salvador was up a moment after, running down the path into the gunfire, following Mendez. More men joined them as they sprinted past and charged the Bolivian positions.
Finally, Salvador could see them, scurrying between the boulders and small chasms ahead of them. He couldn't tell how many there were, but by the gunfire now directed toward them, it felt like the entire division was arrayed against this small squad.
Men went down beside him as they ran, tumbling down the steep slope, tripping up soldiers behind them. But still, Mendez ran on, Salvador trying to keep the pace. To his right, he caught movement, saw a Bolivian on a bouder taking aim at the Lieutenant. Salvador raised his gun to his shoulder, fired without breaking stride. The Bolivian toppled, falling backward off the boulder. But more were taking his place.
The first machine gun emplacement started firing at them now and they dove for cover. Some men dove to far, into chasms, some didn't dive soon enough and were cut down by the endless spray of bullets. Sandoval looked across the path to Mendez. Mendez grinned at him and pulled out a grenade. Sandoval quickly followed suit. They threw the grenades in unison.
Before the smoke had even cleared from the explosions, the Argentinians were in the makeshift fortifications. What they could shoot, they shot. The rest was grueling hand-to-hand combat. Sandoval saw Vargas go down with a knife would in the thigh, but the Bolivian never finished the job as two more Argentinans overwhelmed him. Lucky Vargas, he thought.
When the small battle was over, Sandoval was standing on a small pile of bodies. The trench was littered with them, not all of them dead. He took stock of himself, found no injuries. Lucky me. He breathed a sigh of relief, his thoughts straying toward home and the promise he'd made Ines.
A hand fell on his shoulder. "Nice fighting, Escavera." He turned around to see the blood caked face of Lieutenant Mendez smiling at him.
"Uh, thank you, sir."
Mendez looked around. "We just may be the only two men in this entire battalion who didn't end up injured. Lucky us, huh?"
"Yeah, lucky us."
Jesper
