| The South American War | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 19th February 1964 - 23rd December 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Concurrent: | The Pacific Wars | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | *Minor Strategic victory for the Spain*Minor Strategic Victory for Japan*Fall of Argentina to Francoist rule
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The South American War, sometimes also referred to as the Argentinian Civil War, South Americas World War or the 3rd Great War was a conflict between the Francoist states of Chile, Spain and parts of the Argentine army and the Rio-Washington axis, an alliance consisting of Brazil, Bolivia and the United States of America as well as what remained of the Kingdom of Argentina. Over its four year course the war also saw intervention by other powers, most notably the Chilean government in exile and its allies Japan, Australia and the Anglo-Dutch Union. The fourth bloodiest conflict of the 20th century, behind only the two world wars and the Anglo-Dutch Civil War the South American war caused the deaths of over ten million people and only ended when Emperor Pedro IV decided that he was not willing to match Franco's gambit over the use of Thermonuclear weapons.
Origins of the Conflict
The Growth of Francoism in South America
Francoism tied heavily into the existing narratives of Socialism and Marxism, tying them into narratives of national restoration and religious exploration. This appealed greatly to a large majority of the South American Population, in particular the oppressed and those disaffected with the leadership. Francoism grew particularly quickly in the Northern parts of South America where the Brasilians had had very little interest in the continued success of the peoples in that area, unlike Chile or Argentina where they had had a vested interest in keeping the people happy. Venezuela, Columbia, Paraguay, Ecuador and Peru fell to Francoist rule in quick succession and by the end of the 1940's every country in South America except Chile, Brasil and Argentina was ruled by Francoist leaders who were overseen by Spain.
Prior to the Argentine Civil War the last country in South America to fall to Francoism was Chile. The Chilean government under Carlos Frodden had held out until 1954 before in the 1954 election he was tied with Salvador Allende in a two way tie for the presidency. The senate decided to award the presidency to Frodden but the Chilean army staged a coup, placing Allende in a position of power. Two things however marked the Chilean transition to Francoism as different to the transitions that had effected other countries in South America. Firstly while the majority of the Chilean armed forces did back Allende a sizable percentage of the Chilean navy including its flagship, the Capitan Prat, a 60,000 ton Heavy Fleet Carrier backed Frodden and allowed him to escape to Japan, forming the Chilean exile fleet. Secondly while Frodden had received the largest number of votes in the General Election he had only done so by around 25 thousand votes, and given that there were widespread allegations of electoral fraud by Frodden's supporters it was not hard for Allende to claim that his regime was legitimate and was able to maintain a considerable degree of support, both internationally and domestically.The Brasilian opposition leader João Goulart described Allende as an old school socialist and when speaking against potential Brasilian intervention described Allende as as much of a Francoist as Clement Atlee.
Brasilian Counter-Francoist Operations
In 1956 the Brasilian government decided that enough was enough and decided to launch a major series of counteroffensives against the Francoists. Bolivia was the first and the easiest victory from the Brasilians, The Francoist coup in Bolivia had met major resistance from the Armed Forces and although they had complied with the coup in the end they had only done so to spare the Bolivian people the major death and destruction that would inevitably follow a major civil war. The backing of the Brasilian military caused the Bolivians to reconsider there positions, the backing of the Imperial Brasilian Air Force caused them to act against the Francoist government. Given that the Civilian governments control over the Bolivian military had been barely secure before the Francoist coup the counter coup by the Bolivian military was not surprising, the establishment of the Bolivian military dictatorship was relatively bloodless and took less than a month.
Bolivia proved to be the only stand out success for the Brasilians, Brasilian military operations in Paraguay and Peru for example, while eventually successful required a massive investment of men and material, particularly in Paraguay where the military had been the main instigator of the coup. The cursed decades as they became known saw every Brasilian success countered by a Francoist success of similar caliber. Brasilian victory in Paraguay for example was only assured when the Brasilians turned back a Paraguayan invasion through the use of nuclear weaponry. Nonetheless by 1964 the Brasilians had been successful in turning back Francoism in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay and Venezuela. Despite this, it remained a major problem for the Brasilians who were all to aware of there vulnerability to the other South American nations. Argentina remained the only nation with the capacity to take on the Brasilians however and the continued presence of Emperor Maximilian on the Argentine throne allowed the Brasilians to be confident that the Argentinians would make no challenge to continued Brasilian dominance of South America. The Emperor however was becoming increasingly elderly, he was in his 90's by the 1960's and his only child Maximilian the 2nd was widely regarded as lacking the necessary skill to keep the Francoist influence in Argentina under control.
The Death of Maximilian I
On the 2nd of January 1964 Emperor Maximilian I of Argentina passed away in his sleep, and the Argentine political sphere broke into chaos. Prime Minister Arturo Illia was already under heavy pressure from the left wing political leader, republican and former Prime Minister Juan Peron to end the kingdom and re-establish the Argentine Republic. Peron, a former General in the Argentine army was extremely popular, his Justicialist Party was the largest party in the senate and although Peron had lost the 1958 election to Illia he had only lost by around forty thousand votes. Furthermore because of the continued Justicialist control of the senate Illia had been forced to rule by royal decree. With the Emperor's death Illia lost the ability to govern effectively. Peron saw this as the opportunity to remove the influence of the Brasilian imposed monarchy once and for all and agreed to back Illia provided he agreed to declare an Argentine Republic. Reluctantly Illia agreed and a week after the death of Maximilian the Argentine republic was declared with Illia as president and Peron as Prime Minister.
Peron had underestimated the support within the Armed forces for the Monarchy, secret meetings between Illia and the Argentine Military led to the establishment of a plan to overthrow the Peronist regime and re-establish the monarchy. The Imperial loyalists in the Armed forces placed together a plan that would establish a permanent Argentine Monarchy. Unknown to Illia he was not the only one planning to act against one of his co-conspirators in the government. Peron held meetings with the Argentine Navy and the Spanish government in order to overthrow Illia. The two sides acted almost simultaneously in February 1964, sparking the Argentine Civil War.
The Argentine Civil War
Forces loyal to Illia had the initial advantage, over the course of the next three months the Argentine Imperial Army, as the forces loyal to Illia and the deposed emperor called themselves were successful in forcing the Peronist forces on the defenses. The Peronistas, however, had a key advantage. The recall of Emperor Maximilian II and the support he gave to Illia's forces served to undermine the Imperials. The Argentine public had no real love for their imposed Brasilian monarchy, particularly not for Maximilian II who they viewed as a bumbling idiot. The Argentine navy would prove vital in assisting the Peronist forces. The Navy's ability to intervene along the length of the Argentine coast allowed the Peronist militias to act wherever it was needed.
As a result, despite the inital success of the Imperial forces the Peronist milita was able to take control of Buenos Ares and establish Peronist control over the vast majority of northern Argentina. This began to frighten both Illia and the Brasilians who had barely tolerated Peron's rule of Argentina the first time. With a hostile militia on the southern border the Brasilian government was even less happy with Peron the second time around and talks began in the Brasilian Parliament over concerns that the fighting might spill over the borders and plans began to be made for Brasilian ground troops to intervene.
Brasilian Intervention
Re-installation of Emperor Maximilian II
The Republican forces loyal to Peron became increasingly successful as time went on, the Peronistas successfully destroyed the Argentine Imperial navy and were able to inflict heavy defeats on the Imperial Air Force. The Success of the Peronists which had already frightened the Brasilian government now threatened to remove what was left of the Argentine Kingdom, the Emperor and his confidence in the royal palace in Buenos Ares. Nonetheless Illia's troops put up a determined defence in which Imperial troops were able to temporarily hold of the Argentine Republican troops outside of Buenos Ares, As a result, the Brasilians believed that it might be possible for the Argentines to become intertwined in civil conflict that would prevent them from becoming a threat to the Brasilian Empire. In June 1964 Republican troops had captured Buenos Ares but the Imperial troops under Illia, with support from the Brasilian government were able to maintain a major presence in the far northern reaches of Argentina.
The Brasilian government flooded material and equipment across the border and into the hands of the Imperial forces allowing them to launch a counter attack against the Republicans . Although the Imperial troops were outnumbered by their republican opponents the Imperial troops had access to advanced equipment, particularly armour and IFV's that enabled them to get the upper hand for a short while, in September 1964 the Imperial troops were able to recapture Buenos Ares and re-establish the Monarchy for a short while. The Imperial troops successfully held onto the city for around a month and a half despite successive attempts by the Republican troops to take the city back. Nonetheless in November of 1964 Buenos Ares fell once more to Republican troops.
Brasilian Troops cross the Border
The loss of Buenos Ares to Republican troops for the second time caused the Brasilian government to once more re-evaluate its position on intervention in Argentina. The Brasilian government decided to intervene militarily in the Argentine civil war by sending the Brasilian army into northern Argentina. Marshaling the Brasilian army was an extremely controversial topic within Brasil's domestic political environment, the left particularly the Workers Party was extremely angered with the idea that the Brasilians would intervene in another country. This was particularly problematic because the Brasilian military had intervened both successfully and otherwise in a number of other countries in South America. The Brasilian left initially put up a major political resistance to the intervention in Argentina but the defeat of the Argentine Imperial remnant in northern Argentina was a tipping point the pushed enough of the center left in Brasilian politics into supporting the intervention and authorising the use of the Brasilian armed forces.
The Brasilian army, still tied up elsewhere in defending Brasilian backed dictators in the rest of South America was limited in the amount of military support that it could directly supply to the Argentine Imperials. In theory the Brasilian army vastly outnumbered its Argentine complement, even in peacetime and before the civil war in Argentina the Brasilian army had had fifty divisions to thirty Argentine divisions, not even including the ten division strong Marine & Air Divisions. The Brasilian operations in the rest of South America tied up twenty five Brasilian divisions, leaving only twenty active combat divisions to face off against nineteen Republican Argentine divisions. Nonetheless the Brasilian Royal Navy massively outnumbered there Argentine counterparts and the the Argentine republican navy withdrew to the Argentine ports on Isla Santiago where they hoped that they might be able to survive the considerably larger Brasilian fleet.
The Brasilian army crossed to border into Argentina in December 1964 and within a month the Argentine republican forces had been pushed back to the gates of Buenos Ares. The Brasilians had a considerable advantage in both numbers and technology that enabled them to enjoy early successes against the republicans. The Argentines however knew the terrain and had a home advantage that allowed them to halt what appeared to be an inevitable Brasilian advance less than a hundred miles into Argentina.
Fall of Buenos Ares
The success of the Argentine Republican forces in holding up the Brasilian Army forced the Brasilian government into considering other options to take against the Republicans. As was inevitable there plans soon turned to the Brasilian Royal Navy and Air Force. A number of grand strategic plans were thought up, including one that involved taking out the Argentine fleet on Isla Santiago and then hopping up the coast with the support of the Brasilian navy while another involved launching tactical nuclear weapons against the Argentines. In the end though the Brasilian high command decided to go with a concentrated naval and air assault against Buenos Ares in the hope that the defeat of the Argentine troops holding the Capital would allow the Brasilians to achieve at least a public victory even if defeat of the Peronistas entirely would probably take longer. The Attack on Buenos Ares had a number of challenges however, the attack would have to be dependent on the Tides and the weather conditions. Furthermore there was no precedent for a naval operation of this scope and this ambitious. The last naval operation of that size had been the crossing of the bearing straits in the second world war, the Japanese landings on Hawaii had been smaller in size in order to establish a bulkhead. No one had ever landed a Field Armies worth of troops in a city on a single day as the Brasilian high command planned to do. The Americans and the Anglo-Dutch had landed an entire army group in Northern Russia in the second world war but they had the entire north Russian coast to attack.
Nonetheless when the attack finally took place on the 4th of March 1965 the Brasilian government was successful in landing the entire Field Army along the beach by Buenos Ares. The Brasilian army found itself trapped in a protracted city conflict that it hadn't predicted. The Argentine troops were able to hold the Brasilians at the breach with little effort and in the first week the Brasilians had failed to make more than half a mile gains into the city and had struggled to get off the beach, having lost nearly forty thousand troops in the first three days. Over the next month the Brasilians were able to make gains at last through the use of excessive fire power from the Fleet Air Arm and the Imperial Air Force. The Argentinians were able to hold onto the cities docks however which forced the Brasilians to use smaller and smaller numbers of troops, limited to what they could bring in through paradrops and hovercraft. In particular the Brasilians were unable to get access to there tanks and heavy vehicles. Furthermore the attack had failed to have the effect that the High Command had hoped with the Argentines being able to draft new troops even within the city, meaning that they didn't need to divert troops from the front lines. Nonetheless by the end of April Brasilian troops had finally secured the docks, although the Argentines had superior numbers the loss of Aerial support from the Argentine Air Force and the establishment of Brasilian control of the skies and the seas meant that the Argentines were pushed steadily back into the city.
Spanish Intervention
The loss of the Argentine Capital City to Brasilian troops caused the Spanish government to become concerned that its operations in South America might be under threat by the Brazilians. The Spanish had already supplied the Argentines and the Paraquayans with military equipment to help defend themselves from the Brasilians but had so far decided not to directly interfere in South America. However many in Franco's ruling Justice Party were concerned that the Brasilian victory over the Peronists, who they had spent considerable money and supplies in supporting. As a result the Spanish Cortes began to openly discuss the prospect of intervening directly in South America once more. Spain had not interfered in South American politics directly since before the second world war and Franco's rise to power. Nevertheless, Franco became convinced that without direct Spanish assistance there Argentine allies would be defeated, a prospect that upset a number of people in the Cortes and the Spanish public.
Unlike the last conflict between Spain and Argentina this time the Spanish had an ally on the continent on whom they could rely, the Chilean's, never friendly with Brasil even at the best of times would happily assist the Spanish troops, both through there large navy and there army and air force. The Spanish hoped that their larger naval force would be able to cut out the threat of the Brasilian navy and allow them to land a large expeditionary force on the southern coast of Argentina, once that force had landed Franco and the Spanish High Command hoped that they would be able to make there way up the Argentine coast, retake Buenos Ares and force the Brasilians to stand down.
For this to happen the Brasilian navy had to be dealt with, the Spanish South Atlantic fleet outnumbered the Brasilian fleet three-to-one in super carriers and had an advantage in numbers in both Fleet Carriers and destroyers although the Brasilians could muster four battleships to the Spanish three. However the Spanish navy, particularly the South Atlantic fleet was older than the Brasilian fleet and although the Brasilian fleet was smaller the Brasilian government had spent a considerable amount of money in ensuring that its fleet was one of the most advanced in the world. Although the Brasilian fleet was less advanced than that of the Union or the Japanese Empire the Brasilian fleet was considerably advanced, particularly the two super carriers, the first mass produced design to feature a Nuclear Reactor and the four battleships that featured a considerable missile arsenal.
The Spanish fleet reached the coast of South America in September 1965 and on the 5th of September a flight of scout jets from the Aircraft Carrier Phillipe II encountered a Brasilian aircraft carrier squadron based around the super carrier San Jose. The Spanish fleet launched an attack squadron that preceded to sink the majority of the San Jose's escort ships, although the Brasilians launched a counterstrike that sunk a Spanish carrier the loss of the Jose's escorts frightened the Squadrons commander who decided that he would order the squadron to retreat back to the Brasilian coast. Although the Brasilian fleet remained intact the threat of the Spanish convinced the Brasilian high command that the threat of the Spanish navy was to great and ordered the fleet confined to the shore.
Landings on the Southern Coast
The withdrawal of the Brasilian fleet back to the coast allowed the Spanish to land there expeditionary force along the Southern coast. The Imperial Army fought valiantly against the initial Spanish landings and was almost successful in driving back the Spanish into the sea. In fact the Brasilian army was so successful that the Spanish high command decided that the war was going so badly that they would deploy another ten divisions to the Southern front. The Chilean army took advantage of the distraction that the landings provided in order to move into Southern Argentina, threatening to cut the entire Brasilian Imperial army off from its supply routes.
The Brasilians responded by launching an armoured offensive against the Chileans that gained them enough breathing space to resupply there Army Group in the south. Despite this the Brasilians found themselves increasingly pushed back by Argentine Republican, Spanish and Chilean troops, The advanced Brasilian armour allowed them to occasionally gain the upper hand on there less advanced opponents. Nonetheless the Spanish, much as the Brasilians had against the Argentine republicans had an advantage in that they were able to supply there troops with off shore naval bombardments and support from the Spanish air force. By the end of 1965 the Brasilian army had been pushed out of Southern Argentina and found itself holding onto Buenos Aires in the face of almost overwhelming opposition from Algiers Pact troops.
Battle of Buenos Aires
The Brasilians had twenty five divisions with which they hoped they would be able to hold Buenos Aires, of these twenty five divisions, four were armoured divisions while one other division consisted of elite Brasilian paratroops and the rest were regular Brasilian army infantry divisions. Against this the Algiers Pact troops consisted of two field armies under Spanish and Chilean command each of which consisted of fifteen divisions, most of which were mechanised and armoured divisions as well as two divisions of Air Cavalry and one elite Spanish naval infantry division. The Brasilians hoped that they would be able to hold the Algiers pact forces through the use of booby traps and infantrymen installed in buildings. Over the next few months the Brasilian troops found themselves pushed farther and farther towards the Brasilian border.
Deciding to go on the counteroffensive the Brasilian high command decided to risk an attack on the Spanish fleet off shore, diverting a number of squadrons from there Aerial Supremacy operations over Argentina the Imperial Air Force launched a number of air attacks on the Argentine and Spanish fleet combined with an assault by the Brasilian navies surface fleet. Although the attack was unsuccessful in destroying the Spanish fleet altogether the pressure from the Brasilian battleships and air attacks drove the Spanish back from the shore. As a result the Brasilians were able to launch a counteroffensive through heavy use of naval bombardment. Despite this the Spanish, at heavy cost were able to defeat the counteroffensive. The defeat of the Imperial Armies counteroffensive weakened the Brasilian army and allowed the Spanish to go on the attack and push the Brasilians out of the city once and for all.
The USA Intervenes
In the United States the Democrats had lost control of the Senate and the powerful nativist party had decided to re-instate the United States protectionism over South America. Although the United States was primarily interested in the control of the Pacific Ocean the Nativists were concerned over the expansion of Francoist rule in South America and feared that it might lead to the spread of Francoism into North America, particularly Mexico which still retained its desire to reclaim the territory that it had lost in successive wars with the United States. As a result alongside Brasil the United States had supplied counter francoist movements in South America and the Pacific throughout the cold war, even though it officially had no position on the conflict between the Algiers Pact and the NSA.
The Senate ordered the American High Command to come up with a plan for limited American intervention in the South American conflict, the United States couldn't afford the high domestic political cost of actually sending troops into a foreign war, particularly while still fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. The American fleet on the other hand represented a way through which the United States could assist its allies in South America without having to worry about heavy loses that would inevitably result from a ground invasion.
Destruction of the South Atlantic Fleet
The Decision was therefore taken for the Atlantic fleet to destroy the Spanish South Atlantic fleet and prevent the Spanish government from re-inforcing its troops in Argentina. However, the Spanish South Atlantic fleet outnumbered the American Atlantic Fleet on its own and so the Americans decided to launch a joint operation with the Brasilian navy in order to take it out. The Brasilian government was reluctant to lend anymore of its forces to the Americans, it had already lent a battleship squadron and a pair of heavy bomber squadrons to the USA for the Pacific conflict and was officially at war with Japan. The Brasilian left in particular doubted that the USA would use the ships for there stated purpose and might use them to replace the heavy American losses in the Pacific.
Nonetheless the combined Imperial-American operation was given permission by the the joint Rio-Washington High Command who decided that they would allow the operation and the use of a joint task force. A scout squadron from the USS Mohawk encountered the Spanish fleet on the 12th November 1966. The Americans turned to the wind and launched an attack wave of strike fighters against the Spanish that successfully destroyed two Spanish super carriers. Although the two fleets were in theory evenly matched the early loss of two Spanish super carriers meant that the combined Imperial-American fleet had the advantage in the engagement. The Spanish counter attack sent the USS Sioux to the bottom of the ocean but this still left the Allied fleet with a higher number of super Carriers than their Spanish opponents, the next American wave destroyed another two super carriers and the Spanish commander, Admiral Blanco decided to order the remnants of his fleet to retreat to Chile. Although the Spanish force in South America remained more powerful than its Brasilian opponents and could draw on supplies from Argentina and Chile they could no longer be re-inforced directly from Spain.
Battles in the South Pacific
With Chilean attention drawn east the Chilean government in exile began to put together plans to intervene in South America and establish the Government in Exile in Santiago once more. The Chilean exile fleet, while reasonably large was outnumbered by the Chilean Fleet, particularly once the Spanish remnants were included. Furthermore the Chilean government in exile, while in command of a reasonable naval force lacked a major land contingent. Admiral Frodden drew on his close links with the Japanese government, in particular Admiral Yamamoto to get the Japanese to agree to supply the necessary land forces. Admiral Yamamoto was able to convince the Japanese to act and was able to get the Anglo-Dutch to commit to using the Union's Pacific Fleet to defeat the combined Spanish and Chilean fleet.
Battle of Puerto Montt
"Hah, a Battle, calling Puerto Montt a cake walk would be overstating how easy it was. The battles of the Pacific Wars, Midway, Manila Bay and Lyete those were battles, Puerto Montt was a walk in the park."
- Admiral Frodden describes the battle off Puerto Montt.
Despite the advantage in numbers that the combined Union-Japanese fleet had over the Chilean fleet it would be impossible for the combined North Seas Alliance fleet to land the Japanese Naval Infantry Divisions without first defeating the Chilean Spanish navies in combat. The NSA fleet outnumbered the Algiers Pact fleet, having ten super carriers to the two Spanish super carriers and the one Chilean Heavy Carrier, The NSA Fleet had only ten fleet carriers to the eight Algiers Pact carriers with the Pact leading only in terms of its six battleships. The NSA fleet launched its offensive in the summer of 1966 with the expectation that the combined NSA fleet would be successful in quickly defeating the Algiers pact fleet
A Scout squadron from the NSA fleet overflew the Chilean and Spanish fleet on September the 11th 1966, the follow up NSA air strike was successful in taking out the two Spanish super carriers in one attack. The Algiers Pact fleet launched a counter strike from the fleet carriers that severely damaged the super carriers HMS Audacious and HMS Imperial Glory. Aware that he had no real advantage in terms of air power Admiral Blanco decided to send out his battleships to engage the NSA fleet, Admiral Trump, aware that the NSA fleet remained vulnerable to Battleships, as had been demonstrated in the 2nd and 3rd Pacific Wars decided to launch a strike against the Algiers Pact fleet, with his fleet carriers putting up a heavy CAP Trump was free to use his super carriers to launch a strike against the Pact battleships. Despite the lessons of the Pacific Wars the Pact had not invested a great deal in anti-aircraft technology something that the NSA pilots were able to exploit to send all of the Pact battleships to the bottom of the ocean. Outnumbered over three to one in terms of planes and carriers Admiral Blanco decided that discretion was the better part of valour and ordered the Pact fleet to surrender.
Japanese Landings
The defeat of the pact fleet enabled the combined NSA forces to land on the Chilean coast, although in theory the Japanese Marine Corps had only ten Naval Infantry Divisions assigned to the operation compared to 14 Chilean divisions the continued fighting in Argentina between the Chilean and Brasilian troops meant that the Chilean army could actually only muster five regular infantry divisions and ten home guard divisions. The Chilean Home Guard despite being well equipped and well trained was not the most motivated force in the world, Allende's support of the Spanish in the face of heavy domestic opposition had not gone down well in Chile. The Japanese Marine Corps landed on the Chilean coast in October 1966 and launched major combat operations against the Chilean troops.
The Chilean army put up a major resistance against the Japanese troops that was successful in holding the Japanese in a line along the Chilean coast. The Japanese launched an offensive that finally pushed the Chileans back along the coast and succeeded in getting major gains for the NSA. Despite this the Chileans launched a counter attack that used the Chilean armies only four armoured divisions to punch a hole in the Japanese defensive lines, forcing the Japanese infantry back to Isla Santiago where they established a major re-inforcement point for the transfer of men and material from the main NSA staging base in Australia.
Collapse of the Chilean Regime
The conscription of a hundred thousand Chilean citizens into the Home Guard was an extremely unpopular decision, Admiral Frodden had become a massively popular figure in Chile since his exile and the Chilean people had become increasingly angry at Allende, although Allende had been successful in winning the 1960 and 1964 elections his regime had become increasingly unpopular and dependent on military oppression to stay in power. The landing of the Japanese Marines on the chilean coast had only exaserbated the existing tensions within Chilean society. However the Japanese were turned to an advantage by Allende who was able to recast the greater south american conflict as being involved with the long lasting rivalry between Chile and Japan. As a result the Home Guard saw increased volunteers and the Chilean francoist regime was able to hang on to power.
Battle for Santiago
The NSA had hoped that the landing of the Japanese marines on the chilean coast would have been enough to break the will of the chilean government and to force Allende to step down. When this had not occurred and the Chilean's had driven the Japanese back to Isla Santiago the NSA's Pacific High Command met again in the city of Canberra. A number of options were open to the NSA at this point, they could withdraw and leave there Chilean Allies in the Exile Fleet alone to take on Allende's regime, they could land more Japanese naval troops on the coast but Admiral Abe argued against this, reminding the Pacific Command that Chile and Japans long standing rivalry might undermine and Japanese sucesses and might even cause more support for Allende's Regime. Deployment of troops from the Union or India, the other to major NSA powers in the Pacific was out of the question for domestic reasons. Admiral Trump suggested that the deployment of ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand) troops might be the solution, although ANZAC forces traditionally weren't involved in NSA deployments, not being a member of the alliance they did share an alliance with Japan and the Union. John Gorton, the Australian prime minister was initally unwilling to deploy Australian troops but the Anglo-Dutch applied leverage, threatening to launch an investigation into Australian mistreatment of aboriginals, something the Japanese in particular felt strongly about as well as threatening to cut australia out of the Anglo-Dutch Free Trade Area.
Unsurprisingly Gorton changed his mind and an ANZAC expeditionary force of ten infantry divisions and six armored landed on Isla Santiago. Meeting up with the considerable Japanese forces still on the Chilean Island the ANZAC forces launched an offensive that pushed back the Chileans to there capital Santiago. Here Allende had to make a stand but no longer had the numbers to effectively fight the ANZAC troops, especially with Brasilian armored divisions crossing the eastern border. Against the twenty division strong ANZAC force were ten chilean home guard divisions, the remaining chilean armor having been dispatched to fight of the brasilian troops crossing the border. Over a single month ANZAC forces drove out what remained of the Chilean army from Santiago and secured the city for the Chilean exiles who now looked poised to regain control of there country.
Allende Steps Down
With Allende's regime having become increasingly unpopular Admiral Frodden and the Chilean exiles were met with Juibilation when they landed at the Chilean port city of Valparaíso. Crowds surounded the exile fleets members as they traveled from Valparaíso to Santiago and Frodden was met with acclaim everywhere he went. The Chilean armored corps was dispatched to deal with the exiles but its commander General René Schneider surrendered to Frodden ordering his troops to stand down and respect the wishes of the Chilean people. The refusal of the Chilean armies last effective military formation to engage the Exiles effectively ended Allende's rule in a single stroke. Without the backing of the military Allende was forced to step down and called for new elections. Frodden agreed to return to Japan in exile and to not stand for the presidency, recognising that Chile needed a clean break from its past. In the hastly organised elections that followed Schneider stood as a candidate for national unity, hoping to mend the divisions within Chilean society.
Nuclear Warfare
The limited NSA intervention showed the Brasilians that they were truly on there own against the Spanish. Although they had the opertunity the NSA refused to expand its intervention in South America to support the Brasilians. Furthermore the United States still refused to support brasil with troops on the ground. As a result in the winter of 1966 the brasilian cabinet passed Security Bill 177 allowing brasilian troops in the field access to the brasilian armies tactical nuclear arsenal.