Exchange of Interests (Happy New Year!)

The war had broken out after all.

For Bolivia and Paraguay, the oil in the North Chaco region was an absolutely vital resource they could not afford to abandon.

Even if defeating the other side meant paying a heavy price to the Great Powers, both countries were determined to unleash this war and fight with everything they had to defeat their enemy.

However, when it came to military strength, Paraguay and Bolivia actually had a tremendous disparity between them.

Before the outbreak of war, Paraguay's Regular Army numbered only around 3,000 men. Its weapons consisted merely of ordinary rifles, machine guns, and a small number of artillery pieces.

Bolivia was different. Because Bolivia had received substantial loans from Mobil Oil Company, the Bolivian government had enough funds to purchase large quantities of modern weapons from the European Great Powers, including tanks and aircraft.

These also included tanks, aircraft, and heavy machine guns from Australasia, allowing the Bolivian army to maintain a massive lead in both manpower and equipment.

But that did not mean Bolivia could enjoy an absolute advantage in the war. A glance at a map would show that Bolivia and Paraguay were completely different distances from the focal point of the war—the North Chaco region.

Paraguay was only around 200 kilometers from the North Chaco region, so the logistical pressure was minimal.

Bolivia was different. It was more than 2,000 kilometers from the front line. That 2,000-kilometer supply line could be served almost entirely only by trucks.

Although the Bolivians had purchased large numbers of tanks, they were basically useless on the jungled savannas of the Chaco region.

It was worth noting that the reason the two countries went to war was also quite unique. Because Bolivia had purchased large numbers of aircraft, it began organizing large-scale aerial