In fact, it was not only UNITA's resistance that fell into a trough. 1976 was a year when many things happened. A great man left the country he created in this year, and a divided country was reunited in this year.
Not long after UNITA was retreating steadily, sad news came from Asia that made countless American men shed tears. The South Vietnamese government that they had sweated and sweated before was finally over. Now, the entire Vietnam has been reunified, and the United States has been in Vietnam for several years. Ten years of expense and sacrifice were all wasted.
Not only did they not gain any benefits, they even left a large amount of military equipment to the newly established Vietnamese government, including a large navy and the world's fourth-largest air force.
Such huge assets were all taken over without loss by the other party, which caused serious turmoil in the domestic political ecology of the United States and resulted in a result that no one expected.
That was 1976, at a time when the Cold War confrontation was extremely acute, the United States ushered in a true good-guy president!
When he learned that Jimmy Carter successfully ran for the office of President of the United States, Shepard was counting the assets he had brought back from Vietnam. When South Vietnam collapsed, he was well prepared and immediately feasted on the huge corpse without restraint. got up.
By force and robbery, Shepard obtained a large amount of heavy equipment, including three CH47 helicopters. These items were sold to Shepard at cabbage prices by senior South Vietnamese generals who were eager to escape.
"Good old man, this is really good news!"
It is no exaggeration to say that Jimmy Carter is a truly good person. In later Internet media, he even had the nickname Mei Renzong. During his tenure, he signed many documents that were used to mediate conflicts. He has also taken many measures to ease conflicts, such as returning the Panama Canal ***. Even after retirement, he is still working on the homeless apartment project.
Shepard personally welcomes Jimmy Carter's rise to power. Anyway, the opponent's policy agenda has no conflict with his own. Instead, he is happy to see this good old man competing in the international arena.
But soon, Shepard discovered that a good-natured president who upheld pacifist ideals was actually not that good.
Because, he cuts the funds!
The funds originally used by the CIA to support Savimbi were drastically reduced after the other party took office. Although the funds were not completely cut, but only half, out of support for friendly countries, this was enough to cause irreversible damage to the deterioration of the war situation. .
For example, the wages of mercenaries!
When the Angolan Civil War broke out, the CIA was hiring armed personnel to participate in the war. The mercenaries who participated in the war could receive more than a thousand yuan every month. Although this money was not enough to make the mercenaries rich, it was enough to support them. There were no problems with the family. Therefore, nearly ten thousand mercenaries participated in the Angolan civil war, and thousands more were still employed by UNITA.
But now, after the funding is cut, the CIA cannot find the money to pay these mercenaries, and Savimbi, who has lost its port, cannot pay the wages of these mercenaries without stable income. , and immediately, a vicious circle emerged.
Because mercenaries cannot be paid, mercenaries who are capable of fighting are rapidly losing, and UNITA's survival territory continues to be crushed. As a result, UNITA, whose income continues to drop sharply, cannot afford to pay mercenaries, and the loss of personnel will make it even more difficult. serious.
The situation of South Africa's friendly forces is also not much better. Because of its consistent policies, South Africa, as an alternative that is located in Africa but never forgets to colonize and dominate Africa, has been targeted by a number of African countries. Even within South Africa, it is not monolithic. Domestically, the African National Congress of South Africa is criticizing the government's foreign policy, and they are also targeting the money bag.
The military and intelligence agencies that advocate intervention in Angola have often been at odds with each other. It can be said that everything has not gone smoothly since the second half of the year.
Even Shadow Company was affected. The two million that Savimbi originally used to pay Shadow Company became one million, but the content of the contract remained unchanged. Shadow Company will train 2,000 more people for Unita. military personnel.
But say yes
Of the two thousand people who could be sent to Shadow Company in the end, it was actually only more than a thousand people. Although UNITA was not at the end of its rope, it was true that the human resources that could be recruited continued to decrease sharply. Previously, UNITA Child soldiers can also be mobilized to join the war, but now there are very few child soldiers, let alone young adults who can take up arms and fight.
"UNITA has no more soldiers left to fight!"
It’s ridiculous to say that two years ago, UNITA was the largest in Angola. Not only did it occupy a lot of territory, but it also had the best economy. As the leader, Savinbi was even more prosperous in the international community, but Now, with only the last big city in hand, UNITA can't even achieve even a small degree of security, while their opponents are gaining ground.
At the end of 1976, UNITA, which had been resting for more than half a year, tried to launch a counterattack of unprecedented scale to regain the lost territory. With the support of the South African Army and Air Force, the early stage of the plan went very smoothly. The mercenaries went deep into the enemy's rear to carry out interference and destruction, and the regular army was on the front line. Attacking the city and conquering the territory is invincible. The two sides cooperate closely, and the situation is about to be reversed. Read the book
However, the MPLA is not what it used to be. After completing the founding of the country, the MPLA carried out economic construction while suppressing its opponents. The overall strength of the two sides was first of all unbalanced. At the beginning of the war, the MPLA lost thousands of combatants. personnel, but then the Angolan government, which had established a preliminary mobilization system, immediately made up for these losses.
On the front line, the Cuban volunteers continued to rely on the terrain to block and consume. After UNITA exhausted its reserves of resources and there was no offensive spearhead on the front line, the MPLA immediately began a counterattack.
At the beginning of the new year in 1977, UNITA simply handed over the last big city in its hands, Lubango. At this point, there were no longer any cities in the UNITA-controlled area, only the vast southern countryside remained.
Although he lost the city, Savimbi did not intend to end it just like that. He was determined to continue the struggle by launching a guerrilla war in the countryside to surround the city.
But no matter what, the Angolan civil war has finally turned a new chapter. In the past two years, Shepard, who has made nearly 10 million in profits, can be regarded as completing his initial capital accumulation. Next, his first The second-step plan can then be launched.
After all, it’s not good for a man to be dependent on others all the time!
