[FONT="]No ghost was ever seen by two pair of eyes.[/FONT]
[FONT="](Thomas Carlyle)[/FONT]
[FONT="]The ghosts of the Llanos were black: black ghosts in black clothes coming out of limbo in the black of the night, raising hell – and disappearing again before dawn. They were invisible during daytime, but after dusk, one could hear them gathering. Strange guttural noises could – sometimes – be picked up in the distance, as well as whistling, the sound of bugles and far away drums. And then – around midnight – the attacks would start; nothing big – a sentry vanishing here, a messenger getting missing there, some explosions blasting off somewhere else...[/FONT]
[FONT="]After one week, the army was reeling on the brink – for lack of sleep and exhaustion. Every day, one had made fine progress in full day light, no doubt. There was no organised conventional resistance – only that the nights belonged to the ghosts, who came and killed without mercy – and dissolved without leaving a trace before sunrise...[/FONT]
[FONT="]Eventually, thirty miles north of the Río Apure, the Mantuano army ground to a hold. One needed rest and one needed supplies. The ghosts had hit and annihilated several supply columns – one had to organise rear area control or the whole invasion was doomed. [/FONT]
[FONT="]And then, one of the ghosts was captured eventually. The man had been hit in the lower leg, the bullet smashing shin bone and splint bone. The other ghosts had tried to recover him, but in this case the mercenaries had been smarter and quicker. [/FONT]
[FONT="]When interrogated, the man had voluntary told his rank, his name and his unit: Unteroffizier Hans Irebu, mittelafrikanisches Infanterie-Regiment Nummer Vierzehn – and his personnel number – but nothing else. Nevertheless, the leading men of the Mantuanos were now certain that they were fighting Middle African ghosts. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Juan Vicente Gómez was wondering: How had these bastard rebels managed to get a troop of Middle African mercenaries? – That they had enough money for such a move was out of question. But why would the Germans allow their black underlings allow to fight for the Movimiento de la Equidad? – The answer only could be: oil! Obviously, the German EVEG had a finger in the pie – like in Bolivia...[/FONT]
[FONT="]This was serious. His contacts in Bogotá had no additional information, but promised to inquire farther, which meant that the US FSO would get on board. – However, all this was secondary; the main question was how to proceed with the reconquest. – From what Gómez was able to deduce, the ‘ghosts’ were nothing but a delaying force, too weak to do substantial damage but sufficient for slowing down his army, which they just had managed to do...[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thus, the bulk of the Middle African and Venezuelan forces had to be waiting in the northern mountains... [/FONT]
[FONT="]After long and agonising deliberations, Gómez came to the conclusion that withdrawal was the wisest thing to do. His force was designed to battle the Venezuelan rabble. These Middle Africans were a horse of quite another colour. After all, he knew what they had done to the mercenaries in Liberia... [/FONT]
[FONT="]Well, there would come another opportunity...[/FONT]