On this day 67 years ago, on September 17, 1958 (August 5, 1958 in the lunar calendar), the Castro guerrillas launched a counter-offensive against the Cuban government. On September 17, 1958, Fidel Castro's forces launched an attack on the Batista government forces from their mountainous stronghold in western Cuba, fulfilling a promise he had made beforehand. The insurgents' radio broadcast said that six columns had left the mountains and were "going deep into the territory of the Republic". Reports said that at least two columns had gone deep into the northern and southern regions of the Camaguey province in central Cuba. The troops fighting along the south coast were said to have been led by Che Guevara, who turned out to be an Argentine doctor and had become Castro's main aide. The other column was led by Fidel's younger brother, Raul Castro.