Well Greg, I don't know how much better the Spanish troops performed, 20 years after the Rif War in Morocco--when they got their butts kicked severely by a bunch of mountain tribesmen. (Much like the Russkies in Afghanistan, except the Rifis didn't have the CIA shipping them modern weapons. Most of what they used, they captured from the Spanish.) Those Spanish soldiers were so poorly paid and poorly led--apparently their officers ripped off their pay--that they sold bullets to get by. Bad choice for them, because the Rifis were happy to acquire more bullets to use in the Spanish Mausers they captured.