Operation Gordian Knot (Operação Nó Górdio) was the largest and most expensive Portuguese military campaign in the Portuguese overseas province of Mozambique, East Africa. The operation was carried out in 1970, during the Portuguese Colonial War (1961-1974). The objectives of the campaign were to close down the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO)’s infiltration routes across the Tanzanian border and to destroy permanent FRELIMO bases inside the liberated zones in Northern Mozambique. Gordian Knot was a seven-month long campaign ultimately employing 35,000 men, and was almost successful since it destroyed most guerrilla camps located inside FRELIMO’s liberated zones and captured large numbers of rebels and armaments, forcing FRELIMO to retreat from their bases and outposts in the provinces.
In March 1970 Brigadier General Kaúlza de Arriaga was appointed commander for Portuguese forces in the Portuguese Overseas Province of Mozambique. He had studied the Mozambican theater from a position on the staff of the Institute of Higher Military Studies in Lisbon and had served as commander of ground forces in Mozambique for eight months prior to assignment as overall commander. He consulted with American General William Westmoreland on American tactics in Vietnam. Arriaga insisted on the deployment of aircraft to support ground operations, particularly helicopter gunships. He initiated large scale “search-and-destroy” missions. He also requested a further increase of troops and materiel. Bolstered with three thousand additional Portuguese soldiers, Arriaga launched the largest offensive campaign of the Portuguese Colonial War.
The objectives of the campaign were to seal off the infiltration routes across the Tanzanian border and to destroy permanent guerrilla bases. “Gordian Knot” was a seven-month campaign employing ultimately thirty-five thousand men, and was almost successful. The brunt of the effort was in the Cabo Delgado, in the extreme north of Mozambique on the border with guerrilla sympathizer, Tanzania. Tactics consisted of lightning quick airborne assaults on small camps. Continual artillery and aviation bombardment rained down on larger targets, while bulldozer-guided, motorized armies converged. These tactics were effective and Arriaga pursued the guerrillas relentlessly. However, the exertions of “Gordian Knot” could not be continued indefinitely.
The Portuguese had excellent coordination between light bombers, helicopters and reinforced ground patrols. They used the American tactics of quick airborne (heliborne) assaults supported by heavy aerial bombardments of FRELIMO camps by the Portuguese Air Force (Força Aérea Portuguesa or FAP) to surround and eliminate the guerrillas. These bombardments were accompanied by the use of heavy artillery. The Portuguese also used mounted cavalry units to cover the flanks of patrols and where the terrain was too difficult for motor transport, while units of captured or deserted guerrillas were employed to penetrate their former bases.
However, as the number of guerrillas killed and captured increased, so did the number of Portuguese casualties. The politicians in Lisbon-the metropole-, although dissatisfied with the success of the counterinsurgency until Arriaga’s assumption of command, had been content with the relatively low casualty figures. As casualty rates continued to climb during “Gordian Knot”, their early pleasure with the improving tactical operations diminished. Political meddling in the conduct of the war occurred with increasing frequency.
Though “Gordian Knot” had been the most successful campaign of the counterinsurgency, it had not delivered the ultimate victory desired by Arriaga – for several reasons. The first, noted above, was political “queasiness” with the increased casualty rates and subsequent meddling in the operation itself. The second was the onset of the rainy season in November which proved to be longer than usual and subsequently gave the guerrillas more than enough time to partially recover. The third was the simple fact that Arriaga had to mass all of the Portuguese forces in Mozambique to pursue the campaign in the extreme northern provinces in the hopes of a relatively quick but decisive victory. FRELIMO realized this and reacted by dispersing into the jungle, prolonging the campaign and trying to consume Portuguese resources. Simultaneously, guerrillas increased operations in other provinces, left sparsely guarded by Portuguese troops, but with no success. A Portuguese communique issued in late January, 1971, acknowledged that, in spite of the massive operation, not all military objectives had been realised.
The Portuguese eventually reported that 651 guerrillas were killed and another 1,840 were captured, for the loss of 132 Portuguese troops. Arriaga claimed that his troops had destroyed 61 guerrilla bases and 165 guerrilla camps, while 40 tons of ammunition had been captured in the first two months of the operation.