Operation Fireball (Napoleon's World)

Operation Fireball (Span: Operacion Bola de Fuego) was an Argentinean military operation from March to September 1980 in which they launched an offensive and preventative invasion of Brazil, partially in response to the Aerolineas Argentinas Flight __ incident on February 27. Launched on March 24 with the codeword "Fireball" being broadcast to readied Argentinean forces, the initial strikes caught Brazil completely off guard and allowed Argentina to advance within sixty miles of Curitaba within three weeks. The remainder of the fighting throughout the late spring and summer was mainly contested on Brazilian soil, and in August and September Brazil launched a broad counteroffensive in taking advantage of Allied retreats in the north. This resulted in Operation Trench (Span: ), the defensive operations that Argentina would employ in Uruguay and northern Argentina during late 1980 and most of 1981.