Love your videos thank you for always posting! Also, 26 July is the start of the overthrow of Batista. A great day indeed and a great name for a Vanguard Party.
During the Sierra Maestra firefights, Che describes his (and Fidel Castro's) preference for a telescopic-gunsight 1909 Springfield ("Springfield a cerrojo, con mirilla telescópica"), noting Fidel as a temible sharpshooter. During this era he was photographed with a Astra pistol, and also a Colt 45 pistol sidearm. Che notes killing his first enemy soldier with an semiautomatic M1 Garand, as described in his book "pasajes de la guerra revolucionaria" (excerpts from the Revolutionary War). In this book he describe also using a Thompson submachinegun, and several of his leutenants using a local submachinegun. In most of the photographs on the Sierra Maestra, he is armed with a M2 carbine. During the times of the Bay of Pig invasion, he is photographed with a Colt 1911 pistol. The Cuban revolutionaries did get FAL rifles in Cuba in the early 60s. Fidel Castro is portrayed firing one of those during the times of the "Lucha contra Bandidos" rural anticastro uprisings. Although, at his time in Bolivia, Che was photographed in his mule with an M2 carbine and his trademark habano cigar.
@@Maryland_Kulak It has to be the case. In Excerpts from the Revolutionary War, Che describes the weaponry at their disposal at the Granma yatch. Mostly M1 and Thompson submachineguns bought or traded in Mexico and Nicaragua. Their heavier weapons were M60 mortar (two) and M1919 american colt machine-guns, browning pattern (three). All but one of those were lost at the first ambush with a sizable patrol near Alegría del Pío water stream, with extreme heavy losses for the guerrillas (50+ killed, only 5 survivors including Che as medic). After those 5 joined several stragglers and the Fidel group, and started the guerrilla movement, with increasing effectivity. Killing two or three soldiers in sudden ambushes and stealing their rifles, counting each ammunition round, capturing officers by surprise, surprising small patrols of 2 or 3 in the jungle and grabbing conscripts by the testicles and shouting them to steal their rifles was not uncommon on the first stages of the Sierra Maestra firefights. But the most of the weaponry was provided by local rebels in the form of innefective but sizable shotgun armed bands ("escopeteros").
@@pajodato5339That makes evident one of Batista’s mistakes. There should never have been small 2 or 3 man groups of Soldiers. If there had only been squad or platoon size elements (9 to 30 soldiers in a group) Fidel would never have been able to piecemeal them that way. One of the principles of war is “mass”.
@@Maryland_Kulak Incidentally, the cuban regulars tried the "big band" concept, described by che as "exploración en cadena" (something like "chain of scouts"). But the guerrillas countered by the extremely good use of scoped Springfield fire from concealed jungle positions. They always sniped the first conscript soldier of the marching column using just a single round, aimed to the chest of even the neck (Fidel Castro was an astounding shooter at this). Those conscripted scouts were formally ordered to do recon in force on the supected front, but unformally, they were to act as bullet magnets. The effect was that an entire company-size column stopped at the spot after the gruesome loss. Suddenly, nobody wanted to be man-on-point ("puntal"), and the officers had to resort to extreme measures to make advance a terrorized column. Even firing at them on occasion. Che notes that if the experience of the armed men dictates that always the leading man in a column is killed or severely wounded, the entire unit would react in an predictable organized way, but curiously "organized way" in the sense of a brainless terrorized animal. In fact, these armed men ceased to be soldiers, operating blindly, not even refusing orders, but refusing to act on reason, even to act in self defense to survive as a unit. If an single officer would try lead by military example, these would be sniped at very close range and captured if possible. In such disdain, the entire column would scatter or surrender, even at a advantage of 10:1.
Hasta la Victoria Siempre, Comandante!
Love your videos thank you for always posting! Also, 26 July is the start of the overthrow of Batista. A great day indeed and a great name for a Vanguard Party.
Another great advantage of the FAL is the adjustable gas system.
You honestly make some of the best videos on CZcams
Thanks. I wonder if anyone from Cuba watches them.
@@countryshootin5361 well at the very least this cuban watches them
Make videos analyzing soviet military equipment
During the Sierra Maestra firefights, Che describes his (and Fidel Castro's) preference for a telescopic-gunsight 1909 Springfield ("Springfield a cerrojo, con mirilla telescópica"), noting Fidel as a temible sharpshooter. During this era he was photographed with a Astra pistol, and also a Colt 45 pistol sidearm.
Che notes killing his first enemy soldier with an semiautomatic M1 Garand, as described in his book "pasajes de la guerra revolucionaria" (excerpts from the Revolutionary War). In this book he describe also using a Thompson submachinegun, and several of his leutenants using a local submachinegun. In most of the photographs on the Sierra Maestra, he is armed with a M2 carbine.
During the times of the Bay of Pig invasion, he is photographed with a Colt 1911 pistol.
The Cuban revolutionaries did get FAL rifles in Cuba in the early 60s. Fidel Castro is portrayed firing one of those during the times of the "Lucha contra Bandidos" rural anticastro uprisings.
Although, at his time in Bolivia, Che was photographed in his mule with an M2 carbine and his trademark habano cigar.
Almost everything you describe is World War II surplus that was probably handed down to Batista and captured by the revolutionaries.
@@Maryland_Kulak It has to be the case. In Excerpts from the Revolutionary War, Che describes the weaponry at their disposal at the Granma yatch. Mostly M1 and Thompson submachineguns bought or traded in Mexico and Nicaragua. Their heavier weapons were M60 mortar (two) and M1919 american colt machine-guns, browning pattern (three). All but one of those were lost at the first ambush with a sizable patrol near Alegría del Pío water stream, with extreme heavy losses for the guerrillas (50+ killed, only 5 survivors including Che as medic).
After those 5 joined several stragglers and the Fidel group, and started the guerrilla movement, with increasing effectivity. Killing two or three soldiers in sudden ambushes and stealing their rifles, counting each ammunition round, capturing officers by surprise, surprising small patrols of 2 or 3 in the jungle and grabbing conscripts by the testicles and shouting them to steal their rifles was not uncommon on the first stages of the Sierra Maestra firefights. But the most of the weaponry was provided by local rebels in the form of innefective but sizable shotgun armed bands ("escopeteros").
@@pajodato5339That makes evident one of Batista’s mistakes. There should never have been small 2 or 3 man groups of Soldiers. If there had only been squad or platoon size elements (9 to 30 soldiers in a group) Fidel would never have been able to piecemeal them that way. One of the principles of war is “mass”.
@@Maryland_Kulak Incidentally, the cuban regulars tried the "big band" concept, described by che as "exploración en cadena" (something like "chain of scouts"). But the guerrillas countered by the extremely good use of scoped Springfield fire from concealed jungle positions. They always sniped the first conscript soldier of the marching column using just a single round, aimed to the chest of even the neck (Fidel Castro was an astounding shooter at this).
Those conscripted scouts were formally ordered to do recon in force on the supected front, but unformally, they were to act as bullet magnets.
The effect was that an entire company-size column stopped at the spot after the gruesome loss. Suddenly, nobody wanted to be man-on-point ("puntal"), and the officers had to resort to extreme measures to make advance a terrorized column. Even firing at them on occasion.
Che notes that if the experience of the armed men dictates that always the leading man in a column is killed or severely wounded, the entire unit would react in an predictable organized way, but curiously "organized way" in the sense of a brainless terrorized animal. In fact, these armed men ceased to be soldiers, operating blindly, not even refusing orders, but refusing to act on reason, even to act in self defense to survive as a unit.
If an single officer would try lead by military example, these would be sniped at very close range and captured if possible. In such disdain, the entire column would scatter or surrender, even at a advantage of 10:1.
I had a Springfield FAL back when they had to have a butthole stock... I wish I had never gotten rid of it.
When we're these days fnfals available? My dad has an Israeli metric,