In Search of Enemies - A CIA Story - John Stockwell

13
Disaster
On November 11, 1975, the day of Angolan independence, a small
force of fifteen hundred men altogether-FNLA, the Zairian Seventh
and Fourth Battalions, and a hundred Portuguese Angolan
commandos-moved cautiously across the wide, flat Quifangondo
valley, twenty kilometers from Luanda. The advancing column was
supported by a dozen small armored cars and half as many jeepmounted
rn6 recoilless rifles. The four South African 5.5-inch artillery
pieces were emplaced on the ridge behind, manned by South
African artillerymen. A few kilometers back, the two North Korean
130 mm. long-barrel cannon were located where they could place
their devastating shells at any point on the road from Quifangondo
to Luanda itself. CIA and South African advisors watched the column's
movement across the valley.
Morale was high. The soldiers had confidence in their officers and
in each other, for they had recently met and routed the MPLA in
several small encounters. From the ridge behind they had seen the
fuel storage tanks on the outskirts of Luanda. Every soldier thought