in2ebook Chapter 358 The storm (5)
Chapter 358 The storm (5)
The intelligence obtained by Lieutenant General de Gaulle was that there was a senior general in the People's Army who was dissatisfied with the actions of the Soviet leaders and believed that the South Vietnamese revolution had no future. Therefore, he defected to the French army and became a pawn of the French army in the core of the guerrillas.
Following the directive from the Colonial Governor's Office, Charles de Gaulle secretly gathered all nearby troops, with the exception of the 21st Brigade. At this point, the 7th Division, in addition to its subordinates, the 7th, 13th, and 21st Brigades, the 15th Artillery Regiment, and the 33rd Armored Regiment, also comprised the 11th Battalion, the 57th Battalion, and the 217th Army Aviation Group. It also oversaw the puppet 9th Division, the 16th Brigade, and the Ban Chai Police Corps. Excluding the 21st Brigade and its supporting 16th Brigade, Charles de Gaulle still had nearly 2 troops at his disposal.
However, he still felt that the troops were insufficient. The reason was simple: on the Banchai front, the 7th Division was mostly used for defense. Moreover, he did not dare to boldly use the puppet troops. Their combat effectiveness was very weak. In such a large-scale battle, the puppet troops would obviously be giving away heads and weapons.
He summoned his chief of staff and the garrison commander, Banchai, a Frenchman, so de Gaulle wasn't concerned about leaks. After they arrived in his office, de Gaulle briefly explained the situation and his plans. The three of them immediately analyzed the regional situation and the foreseeable combat scenario, and ultimately agreed to Martin's plan. While preparations were underway in secret, the 7rd Battalion of the 3th Brigade was deployed to coordinate with the 217th Aviation Group to form a mobile force ready to reinforce the transport convoy.
Charles de Gaulle was also ruthless. He secretly ordered the 21st Brigade to suspend its plan to continue its deep-seated operations. The transport convoy actually only carried a small amount of weapons and ammunition. Moreover, the divisional guard was hidden in the convoy to strengthen the convoy's defense. A battle of surprise attack and counter-surprise attack was about to begin...
As Charles de Gaulle had anticipated, Ng Nguyen Giac returned. The Soviet and South Vietnamese leadership, frustrated by the failure of the campaign, were ultimately forced to re-employ pragmatic commanders like Ng Nguyen Giac. This time, Ng Nguyen Giac personally drafted the plans against Ban Chai. However, the South Vietnamese leadership, including those in the leadership, were unaware of Ng Nguyen Giac's transformation.
Wu Yuanjia is actually a mixed-race child of Chinese and Kinh people. Because Wu Yuanjia hid his identity very well, everyone always regarded him as a pure Kinh person.
The backbone of Wu Yuanjia's rebellion consisted largely of ethnic Chinese and pro-China elements influenced by the Chinese, with many even receiving direct training from Chinese special operations organizations. This was all part of Qin Shi's future plans during the campaign in northern Burma. By this time, Liu Molong had taken over the leadership of Wu Yuanjia and others. Liu Molong planned to gradually control the South Vietnamese People's Army and establish a leadership structure headed by Wu Yuanjia, becoming a key link in the pro-China forces in South Vietnam and Cambodia.
This included Lieutenant General Nguyen Trinh, the senior general who secretly defected to the French army, acting on Liu Molong's orders. Even Wu Yuanjia's early relinquishment of military leadership and his departure from the peninsula was part of the plan. Because the Soviet Union lacked understanding of Southeast Asian warfare, the South Vietnamese (Indochina) Liberation Organization suffered heavy losses. The core group led by Wu Yuanjia gradually gained control of the middle-level forces of the People's Army guerrillas. It could be said that by this time, Wu Yuanjia's seizure of supreme power in the liberation organization was a piece of cake.
However, Wu Yuanjia did not do so, and Liu Molong would not agree to do so. They wanted to use the seemingly weakened People's Army guerrillas to deal a heavy blow to the French colonists, thereby establishing prestige here and laying a solid foundation for the next step of nation-building.
Wu Yuanjia's plan was to use Nguyen Zhen's half-true intelligence to mobilize the French army, exploit their loopholes, and use the 217th Army Aviation Brigade as the core attack target to eliminate the most deadly threat to the French army around Ban Chai.
Wu Yuanjia chuckled to himself upon receiving the news that the French army had transferred the 3rd Battalion to assist the 217th Air Force and was using the transport convoy to set a trap for him. He then adjusted his deployment, bypassing the Soviet military experts and ordering Nguyen Ching-kuo to concentrate his forces and capture the French 11th Battalion's camp in one fell swoop.
At the same time, he ordered other troops, mainly two division-level guerrilla units, to attack the 217th Air Force and prevent their aircraft from taking off. One division-level guerrilla unit was to feign an attack on the convoy as planned, then feign defeat and retreat; another division-level guerrilla unit was to ambush the retreating force and annihilate the main force of the 11th Battalion.
Two days later, both sides proceeded according to their respective plans. 30 trucks, protected by two tanks and six armored vehicles, slowly drove into the ambush point.
Following the order from the ambush commander, a limited number of mortars flew towards the convoy with a harsh noise.
"Boom-boom--", a few explosions, although they did not cause much damage to the convoy, the French armor and tanks immediately turned around, and launched a rapid fire output at the suspected attack position.
Martin, who was lying in ambush nearby, heard the fierce gunfire in the distance and could no longer hold back. He waved his hand and ordered the 1st, 2nd and 4th companies to move out immediately and encircle the enemy from three sides. Suddenly, Mawang Valley was filled with gunfire.
The commander in charge of the attack was amused to see that the enemy had already been exposed before he had even deployed his troops. He immediately ordered his troops to follow the plan, abandoning some "supplies and corpses" and "fleeing in a panic."
When Martin arrived at the ambush site and saw the monkeys' vulnerability, he was immediately filled with courage and ordered the 11th Battalion to pursue them bravely. The guards ambushed in the convoy were not to be outdone and immediately rushed out of the convoy to join the pursuit.
The attack commander, while retreating, monitored the enemy's movements. He learned that the enemy's main force had already emerged, calculating that they numbered only about 1000 men. Without the tanks, armor, and heavy firepower, Lao Zhen (another divisional guerrilla commander) and his men, with over 5000 men and the rare support of Soviet-made anti-aircraft artillery, should have no problem taking down these French troops. With an idea, he ordered his deputy to lead half of the force in a feigned retreat, drawing the enemy into an ambush. He himself would lead the other half, turning around and using familiar terrain to circle back to Mawang Valley and launch a surprise attack on the now-defunct transport convoy.
The captain of the transport convoy's guard unit, a reinforced armored platoon, sat with the transport convoy leader and a captain, the transport officer. They lit cigarettes, listened to the distant roar of gunfire, and chatted leisurely. Other soldiers emerged from tanks, armored vehicles, and trucks, slouching in groups of two or three, completely devoid of any sense of defense.
The transport team could have continued to move forward, but because the division headquarters guard company rushed out, they had to stop here and wait for the guard company to return after achieving victory.