The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-04-14

WI mo- Ai'' I'''Ai''A A''
been attained before the furious adj
vance Of the rebels drove In the rear
guard, and pending the capture Of the
arsenal, Ricardo realized his opera
tons were at an impaSSe. Promptly
he dug himself in, and the battle de-
veloped into a brisk affair Of give and
take, involving meager losses 10 both
factions, but an appalling wastage of
ammunition.
The arsenal, a large, modern con-
crete building with tremendously
thick walls reinforced by steel, would
have offered fairly good resistance to
the average field battery. Surround
Ing It on all four sides was a rein
forced concrete wall 30 feet high,
with machine gun bastions at each
Orner and Il platform along he wall,
inside and % feet from the ground,
which afforded foot room for infantry
which could use the top five feet Of
the wall for protection while firing
over It. There was but one entrance,
a heavy, barred steel gate which was
always kept locked when 1t was not
necessary to have II opened for In
gress or egress. Given warning Of an
attack and with sufficient time to pre-
pare for 1t, 100 Of the right sort of
fighting men could withstand an in
definite siege by Il force not provid-
ed with artillery heavier than an or
binary field gun. With a full realiza-
ton of this, therefore, Ricardo and
his confreres had designed to accom-
plish by strategy that which could not
be done by the limited forces at their
command.
AS the column approached the
neighborhood Of the arsenal, three de-
tachments broke away from the main
body and disappeared down side
streets, to turn at right angles later
and march parallel with the main
command. Each of these detachments
was accompanied by n unit Of the
motorcycle mounted machine gun bat
terry with its white crew; two blocks
beyond the arsenal square each de-
tachment leader so disposed has men
as to offer spirited resistance to any
sortie that might be made by the
troops from the palace In the hope OF
driving or the attackers of the ar
senal.
Having thus provided for protection
during It's operations. the main body
nominally under Or. PachecO but in
reality commanded by the chief of the
machine gun company, proceeded TO
operate. With the utmost assurance
In the world the armored truck rolled
down the street to the arsenal en-
trance, swung In and pointed Its I'M
pudent nose straight at the iron bars
while the hidden chauffeur called
loudly and profanely In Spanish upon
the sentry to open the gate and let
him in-that there was necessity for
great hurry, since he had been sent
down from the palace by the presi-
dente himself. for machine guns TO
equip this armored motorcar. The SEN
try Immediately called the officer OF
the guard, who peered out. observed
nothing but the motortruck, which
seemed far from dangerous, and with
out further ado inserted a huge key
in the lock and turned the bolt. The
sentry swung the double gates ajar.
and with a prolonged and raucous too
of its horn the big car loafed in. The
sentry closed the gate again, while the
officer stepped up to turn the key In
the lock. Instead, he died with half
a dozen pistol bullets through his body.
and the sentry sprawled beside him.
The prolonged toot Of the motor
horn had been the signal agreed upon
to apprise the detachment waiting In
q secluded back street that the truck
was inside the arsenal wall. With a
yell they swept out of the side street
and down on the gate, through which
they poured into the arsenal grounds.
At sound of the first shot at the gate,
the commandante Of the garrison,
which had been drawn up In q
double rank for reveille roll call,
realized he was attacked, and that
swift measures were necessary. FOrtu-
lately for him, his men were standing
At attention at the time, preparatory
20 receiving from him one of those
%ante-battle e~Xhortations SO dear to the
Latin soul.
A sharp command, and the little gar
'ison had fixed %bayonets; another COM
nand, and they were in lire Of squads;
before the autotruck could be swung
Sideways to permit a machine gun to
play on the Sobranteans in close
formation. the latter had thrown out
! skirmish line and were charging;
while from the guardhouse window,
Just inside the gate. a volley, poured
into the unprotected real Of the truck
following its passage through the
gate. did deadly execution. The driver.
bullet through his back, sagged for.
ward into his steel-clad citadel; both
machine gun operators were wounded,
and the truck was stalled The sit
nation was desperate.