the bear in the land of the jaguar

OK so maybe its one of my most imaginative titles but... I am about to present a story of Russians in Oronegro, just after the great soviet reunion of 2021. A few years before the total collapse of order and the height of the great rebellion

the following is an account of a skirmish between a squad of the 12th battalion and an a small unidentified force of foreign soldiers:

1:30am - just outside the small town of El Gato
 the 12th battalion under the command of Centurion Juan Alfonzo Costa Pizarro was encamped in the small town of El Gato when a native tribal elder entered the town reporting an "well armed and hostile force" patrolling the highlands around the town. he described that "they spoke in an odd language not that of the local tribes or of the Spanish settlers". the General soon got other reports from locals of strange sounds coming from the west during thunderstorms. he went to discuss his actions with his other officers.

1:50am-4:00am
A squad (20 men) was sent out into the forest using the trails that the local tribe showed them. they approached a ridge line when the chief stopped and pointed into the top of the hill where a silhouette of a human form could be seen. it was decided that the squad should proceed but no sooner had they stood back up that the jungle around them was suddenly full of noise.

4:00am
the first shots are fired from the hill top. at first they come from small arms but then automatic fire and heavy machine guns rain lead down upon the squad. 2 men are KIA and a further 2 are wounded. the soldiers are poorly equipped as they are members of the native battalion who receive equipment that was standard in the late 1940's and 1950's. though the fire is constant the trees provide cover and the squad manages to get into secure positions.

5:00am
as the sky starts to turn blue the fire-fight begins to die down. by this stage the squad has lost 5 men 1/4 of it's strength and 3 are wounded. the local tribal chief and his followers manage to escape taking the wounded with them, to the village 3 km away.

6:12 am
the squad hears the sound of helicopters in the distance, and takes this as a sign of reinforcements on the way....

6:21am
to the dismay of the remaining soldiers it is Hinds that appear coming up the valley. the Hinds immediately open fire on the position forcing the soldiers to abandon their fallen comrades and disperse into the jungle.

6:45 am
the remaining 12 men of the squad regroup. they are found by the local tribe which then takes them to the safety of the village.

7:00am
the rest of the 12th battalion enters the village after hearing the fire fight. they all then decide to go up to the ridge.  however they only find their dead and a few bullet holes in the local trees on top of the ridge. whoever was there did a good job of hiding the evidence.

The foes encountered by the squad have never been positively identified. it is clear they were not just the normal guerrilla bands that Oronegro was facing at that time, it may have been the "lost legion" as battalion under the command of General Juan Carlos Alonzo Fernandez. which disappeared into the forest around that time only to reappear a few years later as the rebel army.... however the Hinds suggest that a foreign force, most likely a Russian one (due to the language that was reported) was involved however the Soviet Union denies any involvement in the lands of Oronegro until the Rebellion intensified in 2123-24 and foreign troops entered the nation to stabilise and then fight over it for political reasons