Brief introduction of football war: the war between Honduras and El Salvador

El Salvador and Honduras are two banana republics in Central America. On weekdays, apart from bananas and football, it is hard for people to think of these two countries in the world. 1July, 969, the two countries really fought the biggest war in the history of Central American countries for bananas and football, which is called "football war" in history.

El Salvador has a more developed economy and a larger population. The population of Honduras is slightly smaller than that of El Salvador, but its area is six times that of El Salvador. United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company of the United States have a large banana plantation in Honduras. Many Salvadorans immigrated to Honduras legally or illegally for job opportunities and settled there. By 1969, there are 270,000 Salvadorans in Honduras with a population of only 3 million, and some Salvadorans who get rich first like to March in the city, which has caused considerable social pressure to Honduras with a population of only 2.7 million. The land reform in Honduras intentionally or unintentionally ignored the Salvadoran immigrants who cultivated land in Honduras, while El Salvador intentionally or unintentionally showed its territorial ambition to incorporate the territory of Salvadoran immigrants into Honduras. Relations between the two countries have been very tense due to border disputes and illegal immigration. In the World Cup qualifiers in the 1970s, Honduras won its first match at home, and Salvadoran fans complained that they were treated rudely in Honduras. In the second match in El Salvador, the El Salvador team won. This time, El Salvador fans were also frank and rude to Honduran fans, and the national flag and national anthem of Honduras were also ridiculed. The tie breaker finally brought the already great anger of both sides to the breaking point. The deciding game was held in neutral Mexico City, and El Salvador won. Honduran authorities and civilian anti-immigrant armed militia immediately began large-scale violent actions of beating, expelling Salvadoran immigrants and looting property, which triggered a strong reaction from El Salvador. After the mediation of the Organization of American States failed, El Salvador launched a lightning-fast raid on the evening of July 1969, with the intention of seizing some border towns and traffic arteries leading inland, forcing Honduras to agree to an agreement beneficial to El Salvador, and even fostering a pro-El Salvador * * *, thus the football war began.

El Salvador's ground forces have four infantry battalions and one artillery battalion. The ground forces in Honduras have three infantry battalions, six border battalions, an engineering battalion and two 75mm field artillery companies. The main battle planes of both air forces are antiques from World War II. The main force of El Salvador's air force is 12 mustang fighters, 6 pirate ships FG- 1D fighters, 1 B-26 bombers and 4 C-47 transport planes used as bombers. The main force of Honduras is 14 pirate F4U fighter and six C-47s. Pirate fighter is the basis of carrier-based fighter, which is superior to Mustang in efficiency, firepower, reliability and flexibility. It is suitable for both air combat and ground attack. The Honduran Air Force is full of pirate fighters, while the Salvadoran Air Force only pays attention to a few pirates. Pirates in El Salvador are early models, only equipped with machine guns. The engine power is low, and most superchargers can't be used, which greatly affects the efficiency at high altitude and high speed (compared with piston engine). The pirates in Honduras are late models with high engine power, and some are equipped with aerial guns, which are more efficient than the pirates in El Salvador. Comparatively speaking, the Mustang and Pirate Fighter of both sides are the main force of ground attack, while the C-47 is regarded as the main force of "strategic bombing" because of its good navigation and night flight ability. The bomb was moved to the door of the cabin by the roller used to move the goods on the inner panel of the plane, and the hit rate can be imagined. For one reason or another, the only B-26 of the Salvadoran Air Force did not go into battle. Both sides used armed trainers to make up for the shortage of soldiers. Cessna ("Du Qiu Aircraft") and agricultural aircraft also went into battle, carrying out unarmed communication, observation, rescue, harassment and other tasks. Interestingly, some trainers in El Salvador were launched by indigenous means, and 60mm and 8 1mm mortars were installed for ground attack. Mortars fly to the sky, which must be unique in the history of world wars. El Salvador does not have an advantage in military weapons, but the Salvadoran army is well-trained and has the initiative to preempt. Neither side has a radar early warning and command system. Air combat is basically a ground observation post warning. After the fighter plane takes off, it looks for and attacks visually, just like its predecessors in World War II.

1On June 27th, 969, the two countries broke off diplomatic relations, and their relations deteriorated rapidly.

On July 14, El Salvador Air Force bombed the air base on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and the war officially broke out, and the air forces of the two countries launched a fierce chase. On July 15, Honduras responded by bombing the airport in Ilopango, and then turned to attack the oil storage facilities and refineries on the coast of the country, thus hitting the fuel supply in El Salvador. On the same day, El Salvador sent1more than 2,000 ground troops to invade Honduras, occupying several border towns and along the Pan-American Highway. However, limited by supply problems, the Salvadoran army was forced to stop moving shortly after the invasion.

On July 16, El Salvador Air Force attacked again, but due to improper air traffic control at the airport, planes collided and the airport stopped operating. At the same time, El Salvador's ground troops were replenished and continued to advance. Honduras recruited 1000 veterans to form Guardia de Honor Battalion, transported planes to the front to resist the Salvadoran army, and harassed the enemy with 10 escort fighters. This situation continued until the stormtroopers occupied santa rosa de Copan and the guard of honor battalion was evacuated.

On July 17, an air battle broke out between the air forces of the two countries, and the Sa army was defeated and the air force's combat power was greatly reduced. At the same time, Honduras also made some gains in the land war, but due to lack of ammunition, it failed to expel the Salvadoran army from the country, which led to a stalemate in the war. 18 In July, El Salvador started a small-scale guerrilla war in Honduras, cutting off the support of the Honduran army. El Salvador also bought fighter planes from neighboring countries to revive the air force, but it took five days to get home.

On the evening of July 1969 and 18, the war ended with a ceasefire agreement under the pressure of the United States and the Organization of American States. The Honduran army stopped advancing at 2 1:30 that night and left El Salvador at 22:00. The Salvadoran army did not return to the country until August 5.

19801October 30th, the two countries signed a peace treaty, which legally ended the football war of 1969 and submitted the territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice.

Basically, both sides "lost" the war: neither side won a decisive victory, but the death toll of both sides was close to 2000.

This war led to the interruption of the Central American Common Market for 12 years, which was a regional integration plan vigorously promoted by the United States as a tool to counter the influence of the Cuban revolution.

The political influence of the armed forces of the two countries has been greatly enhanced. After the war in El Salvador, the National Conference Party was established in the military camp. Because they apologized for their role in the military conflict, they successfully included national and local elections.

The social situation in El Salvador has deteriorated and cannot meet the economic needs of returnees from Honduras. The resulting social unrest was one of the reasons for the subsequent civil war in El Salvador.