THOUSANDS DEAD

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 54, Issue 191, 26 May 1934, Page 5

THOUSANDS DEAD

TWELVE THOUSAND WOUNDED.

WAR IN SOUTH AMERICA.

BOLIVIANS' CLEVER ATTACK. PARAGUAYANS SURROUNDED. (United Press Association—Copyright). LA PAZ (Bolivia), May 24. Army dispatches from the battle front stated to-night that more than 6000 Paraguayans were killed and at least 12,000 wounded in ,a strategic Bolivian counter-attack before Fort Ballivian, the Bolivian stronghold in the Chaco Boreal, ill Central South America.

The action is regarded here as a master strike by -Colonel Beriiarchno Bilboa Rioja, commander of the Bolivian forced in “Canada,” one of the strongest sectors of the front. An official description of the action is as follows: ,' . . . The Bth, 7th and 2nd Paraguayan Divisions occupied respectively, the left, centre and right wings of the Paraguayan line and were laced by the-2nd Bolivian Division. , _ The 2nd Bolivian Division was deployed strategically for the strongest possible . defence of the sectors, but at the same time, it asked for immediate reinforcement from other garrisoned positions. As these reinforcements arrived they were distributed effectively in a circling movement, mathematically designed to surround the three Paraguayan, divisions. The 2nd Paraguayan Division was placed in an untenable position, and after a hot battle was dispersed, the men fleeing into the jungle. < The 7th Division, holding the Paiaguayan centre, attempted to fight a way through to establish contact vith the Bth, or left-wing division, but a Bolivian force had advanced strategically to establish a semi-circle around the two remaining Paraguayan divisions and keep them apart. The commander of the ,/th Paraguayan Division, finding his tqrcesm laimer, withdrew them .sectionally, with the result that the Bth Division is surrounded and is in a most diffiCU More >S than ! £OOO men were killed in this action and the wounded numbei at ' least double that number A great quantity of war matenals, trucks and a munition dump were captured.