Battle of Cañada Strongest
The Battle of Cañada Strongest was a battle fought from May 10 to 25 in 1934 between the Bolivian and Paraguayan armies during the Chaco War. The engagement is considered the greatest victory of the Bolivian army during the war, and actually took place some 60 km southwest of Cañada Strongest, near a dried river-bed called Cañada Esperanza. The battle originited from a Paraguayan iniciative to outflank and eventually conquer Fort Ballivian, a large stronghold considered to be the keystone of Bolivian defenses. Paraguayans begun to open a new trail in the dry subtropical forests of the Chaco but were discovered by the Bolivian aerial reconnaissance. The Paraguayans troops, unaware of having been discovered, were encircled by Bolivians troops who had waited for a large number of Paraguayans soldiers to enter the pathway. A 250-men strong Paraguayan detachment sent in to monitor the Bolivian movements was also surrounded and eventually captured on May 25 along Lóbrego path, a route between the first Paraguayan lines and Cañada Esperanza. The Bolivian army caught 1,500 prisoners and a good amount of weaponry, trucks and supplies, while almost 400 Paraguayan soldiers were killed. A whole Paraguayan division, however, managed to slip away along with some scattered units.
Sources
- Farcau, Bruce W. (1996). The Chaco War: Bolivia and Paraguay, 1932-1935. Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 177-182. ISBN 0275952185
- Latin America's Wars: The age of the professional soldier, 1900-2001. Robert L. Scheina. Page 98.