The barren fields east of the city of Antofagasta, an important city in northern Chile, have become busier than the city since the outbreak of war. Gone are the overgrown wildernesses, replaced by paved fields filled with earth and gravel, and large tents and curved sheds line the westernmost part of the flatland, where all sorts of airplanes are parked.

"That's the task for today, is that clear?"

In a large square tent, a middle-aged officer in a light blue military uniform is speaking to the pilots in brown and black flight jackets in front of him, behind whom a black presentation board is marked with lines with arrows, and the pilots are each holding a thin document in a simple transparent plastic folder.

"Got it!"

Everyone replied in unison. After the officers announced their dismissal, they walked out of the tent in a whispered conversation, and soon only a pile of empty chairs remained in the tent, which had been very popular a moment ago. In the open space not far from the tent, 25 huge planes were parked on both sides of the runway, and many ground crews were busy around them, some were hoisting round aerial bombs into their bellies, and others were climbing ladders to deliver tin boxes containing machine guns to the nose and back of the planes. The crew usually wore gray overalls, and there were basically one or two guys in brown and black flight jackets on each plane, either the machine gunner or the pilot, and the navigator and bombardier who had just returned from a meeting.

"Good luck!" "Good luck!"

After the friends blessed each other, the pilots returned to their crews one by one. This kind of owl bomber is not a new type, they have been in service as early as 1913, and they have appeared in all the battles in which the German ** team has participated, and their performance is also remarkable. Although they were traditional wooden-skinned structures, and although domestic bombers with longer range and better performance had been successfully developed and were in the test flight stage, they would still form the main force of the German bomber force until 1920.

Each Owl crew usually consists of 4 pilots, a mechanic, a pilot, a nose gunner and bombardier, and a back gunner, and a squadron of 25 aircraft, which is 100 pilots. But don't underestimate the role of these 25 aircraft. They are capable of dropping 3.5 tons of bombs up to 500 kilometers in one go, and can reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour, both engines are housed in armored engine nacelles, and two 7.92 mm machine guns will make it difficult for enemy aircraft to get close.

By 9:30 a.m., the warm winter sun had risen in mid-air, but the temperature on the ground was still just over 10 degrees, and the temperature in the air would be even lower, so the pilots wore thick fur hats, windproof goggles and gloves. When everything is ready. The drivers raised their thumbs one by one, and soon, a large engine with 300 horsepower started in a roar, the propeller rotated rapidly, and there was a burst of flying sand and rocks on the ground. After the navigation crew waved the small flag in their hands, the first bomber slowly drove onto the runway, and the second and third planes were urgent, and when the seventh plane sailed onto the runway in a very orderly manner, the first plane had already slid off the ground and took off.

Fifteen minutes later, 25 bombers formed over the airfield. It then flew in the direction of Argentina to the east. A short time later, a group of single-winged Hummingbird fighters also flew east, which would provide a limited escort for the bomber group.

The bomber formation soon flew over the positions of the colonial divisions in German East Africa. And crossed the Chilean-Argentine border. They flew very high, so they were practically not attacked by the ground fire of the Argentine army. Shortly after crossing the border, two Argentine biplanes appeared, and at this time, four escorted Hummingbird fighters did not hesitate to meet them. The fighters of both sides chased and shot in the air, and although the German Hummingbird fighters were small in size, they had a big advantage in speed and flight performance, and the two two-plane formations solved the incoming Argentine fighters in a short time, and the poor Argentines did not parachute from the time the plane was hit, disintegrated and fell, and they did not know that they were not equipped with parachutes. Or was he already killed in battle.

After a small interlude, the four fighters returned to the bomber group, and did not turn around until the flight was exhausted, by which time the bomber navigator was already able to see the spire of the Salta Cathedral, and during the rest of the bombing and return voyage, the 25 owls would face the challenge of Argentine ground fire and fighters on their own.

At 11:35 a.m., the bomber leader opened the door of his bomb bay, aimed at a target, and the bombardier pressed the bomb button. More than 20 bombs of 100 kg and 200 kg fell one after another, and because they were low-altitude horizontal bombardment, these bombs did not even have time to make a strange noise before they plunged to the ground, and in a dense explosion, a large area was suddenly covered with smoke, fire and dust. Sirens, gunfires, cries fill the perimeter of Salta, Argentine military targets are the main point of attack, but bombs also fall on civilian targets from time to time, this is war!

A quarter of an hour later, the bombing was over, and the bombers looked much more relaxed, regrouping over Salta and heading home, by which time Salta was completely engulfed in flames and smoke. Before the German fleet left, three Argentine planes flew in from the south, and when they saw their cities so badly damaged, the Argentine pilots naturally gritted their teeth one by one, and they flew American, Brazilian, and even German-made planes towards the German fleet. Soon, German bombers began to fire at the attackers with their on-board firepower, and in front of the 25 German bombers in dense defensive formations, the Argentine planes could not find an opportunity to take advantage of them, so they had to brave the hail of bullets to hover around the German group and try to attack from the weakest part of the enemy's defenses. However, the machine guns on the bow and back of the Owl bombers, although unable to strafe their own lower parts, could clear the way for the other bombers in the formation, and the two Argentine fighters had already been punched out of several rows of holes before they could succeed, one of them staggered to the ground, the other also turned back, and the last one persevered a few minutes later due to engine damage and left the battle.

In the comfortable winter sun, the 25 bombers and the 100 pilots on board made it home, with only two machine gunners slightly wounded in the battle, but it didn't seem to be a big problem.

Watching the bomber group return in triumph once again, Leto Fauceer felt more and more confident that he would carry out his brilliant plan.

Since the end of the Battle of the Pekka Triangle, Leto Faucebell and his soldiers have been largely left with nothing to do. After such a humiliating fiasco. The Argentines then changed their commanders, with 65-year-old commander Aleandro taking command of Army Group North, but Army Group North, with its five infantry divisions, never dared to attack the Chilean border again, and there was little disturbance. Aleandro only retreated his main force to Salta, the capital of Argentina's Salta province, which is more than 100 kilometers away from the border, and deployed numerous guard posts between Salta and the border with Argentina, and also sent planes to conduct reconnaissance in the open area between the two armies every day.

Although the Argentines lost nearly 20,000 soldiers in the Battle of the Pecca Triangle, they were soon reinforced by the Argentine 3rd and 11th Reserve Divisions from the interior, and their strength quickly recovered to 55,000. And the German ** team and the Chilean army they faced were only 19,000 men in total, barely more than a third of them.

After a careful analysis of the situation, Leto and Fokber submitted a battle plan to the German headquarters in Chile, suggesting that the defenders take advantage of the low morale, limited mobilization, and lax defenses in the interior to launch an offensive on their own. The generals of the Special Command believed that it was feasible to take the initiative, but they were not optimistic about Leto and Faucebel's plan to personally lead 5,000 men to the Argentine interior for a long distance, in addition to the Argentines having nearly 150,000 troops in the two armies in the north and south, distance and supplies were also their main concerns. Nevertheless, the generals presented Leto Faulkbel's battle plan to the German High Command, because the prospect of a successful high-risk plan was very attractive.

Leto Faulkber never thought of it. Just 11 days after he submitted this battle plan. He actually received a letter from the Kaiser, in which he not only praised him for his outstanding performance in the previous battle, but was also very interested in his proposed operation to Buenos Aires. He was told that the risks of such a large-depth penetration with infantry alone were much greater than with the use of armoured troops, but that the high risks also meant that the Argentines would not have guessed that an outnumbered opponent would take such a bold and active attack. Although there is a possibility that such an operation will be completely annihilated, as long as we are bold and careful, carefully planned, and with the active cooperation of the Navy and Air Force, the hope of success is still in our own hands.

After receiving such an enthusiastic letter, Leto Faulkber was greatly confident, and he was even more overjoyed that the German Special Command in Chile had assigned to him four German regiments that had recently arrived in Chile, and that one squadron of newly arrived bombers and two squadrons of attack aircraft would also be used to cooperate with his initiative plan.

It is worth mentioning that these four infantry regiments are all from the German Royal Combat Army, which is specially prepared for overseas operations is a well-known secret within the German Army. Priority was given to soldiers who knew a variety of foreign languages, and in addition to frequent trips to the German colonies abroad for climate adaptation training, new weapons were given priority to them, and with a higher field allowance and disability pension than ordinary troops, many of the best soldiers were willing to serve in this unit, including the ace snipers who made a name for themselves in the war.

After reviewing the basic information of these four regiments, Leto Faulkbell decided to reduce the number of soldiers involved in the attack from 5,000 to 3,600, and to transfer 160 snipers and 120 engineers from the four local regiments to join the attack force.

From June 7. The 17th Bomber Squadron, which belonged to the 4th Bomber Wing of the Luftwaffe, began to bomb the city of Salta, where the Argentine Army Group North was concentrated, and as long as it was not stormy weather, the squadron flew to Salta at least once a day, sometimes once in the morning and once in the afternoon, and by June 29, the 17th Bomber Squadron had dropped more than 2,000 tons of bombs on military targets in and around the city of Salta, which was also a fierce bombardment that the Argentines had never encountered. The Northern Army lost more than 1,000 soldiers and a large amount of equipment and supplies in the bombing, and its morale continued to slide irretrievably to the bottom. During the whole bombing process, the Argentine ground fire failed to pose a threat to the German bombers, and the first bomber squadron was only damaged by Argentine fighters with three bombers, and the Argentine fighters were shot down by these German bombers and escort fighters with seven of them.

As the continuous bombardment drew to a close, Leto Faulkbell went into action. On June 30, the 17th Bomber Squadron flew to Salta, more than 250 kilometers from Antofagasta, for the 26th and 27th flights, and dropped more than 1,000 aerial bombs of 100 kg and 200 kg in the two bombings. The Argentine Army Group North, which was stationed around Salta, took advantage of the gradually improved bomb shelters and anti-aircraft bunkers to hide, but they did not know that a catastrophe was coming.

After the bombing, the Argentine soldiers came out of the anti-aircraft bunkers as usual to clean up the mess, but they neglected that there was a very terrible character waiting for an opportunity on the side of the border, which was more than 100 kilometers away. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, just after dusk and before nightfall, Leto's troops of Faucebel left their starting positions and moved towards Argentina, while the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Colonial Division in East Africa remained in their positions, and more than 21,000 soldiers, including the Chilean army, launched a fierce attack on the Argentine border defense line in three directions, and within one hour captured the position defended by more than 3,000 soldiers of the Argentine border guards and the 5th Division of Army Group North.

After that, the 923rd and 927th Light Infantry Regiments from the German mainland and the 1st Chilean 6th Infantry Division advanced to the northeast, and after nightfall launched an attack on San Salvador de Jujuy, less than 60 kilometers from the border; Soldiers of the 933rd and 934th Light Infantry Regiments from the German mainland and the 2nd and 4th Regiments of the 1st Colonial Division in East Africa advanced towards Salta under the cover of more than 50 cannons.

At this point, the Argentines were far from expecting what this small German force would bring to the Pampas, but they would spend the next month in torment and fear.