s and the rebels took the countryside as well, exploiting a degree of mobility that would prove decisive. The Rwandan army is essentially an all-infantry force that by a shrewd collusion of economy and design carries no weapon heavier than one man can handle.Kabila's retreating forces, by contrast, were tethered to the road. Their armored vehicles required the Congolese alliance to move predictably, confined to a tree-lined track that runs across the handsome cattle ranch like a country road through rural Belgium, its owners' ancestral home.When open range gave way to elephant grass, the Rwandans attacked. The village of Mutoto Moija, a decrepit Interahamwe base whose name translates as One Child, fell after six hours. "At midnight, we heard sounds like they were retreating," said Mulisa. "In the morning they were no longer there. We followed."What ensued, according to Rwandan and Congolese soldiers alike, was a three-week running battle across the 100 miles between Pepa and Pweto. Weeks later, the road south toward Pweto remained speckled not only with green and white butterflies, but with corpses -- here the body of young man cut down clutching an AK-47, here a splayed green poncho topped by a skull.But veterans of the battle said most of the fighting took place in the surrounding woods. The Congolese and their allies sought the high ground above the road. The Rwandans and RCD rebels moved through the woods behind them and caught them in crossfires."The Rwandans are very strong; they do flanking actions," said a Congolese soldier, Selester Mbanza, 30, from a hospital bed in Nchelenge, Zambia, where he was being treated for a bullet wound in the buttocks. "They get around behind people. That's how they fight. They used the right tactics. They came when we were resting, and we'd be distracted."There was a major engagement at every village, half of which had been fortified by bunkers or other defenses that the Congolese in each case ende...
