nycdaug Chapter 359 The storm (6)
Chapter 359 The storm (6)
The guerrillas made a detour and rushed to Mawang Valley. Seeing the situation of the French transport convoy, they immediately organized various groups to move towards the French army.
Suddenly, "Da da da——", short bursts of gunfire rang out, and the first to be knocked down were the enemies near the tanks and armored vehicles. Then, countless grenades and improvised explosives flew over, "Boom boom boom boom——", explosions were heard everywhere, including the captain of the guard team and the captain of the transport convoy, all of whom were killed in the first time.
The panicked French survivors returned to their tanks, armored vehicles and trucks, but were subjected to ruthless fire suppression by the guerrillas. Countless guerrillas rushed from multiple directions. Faced with the sheer number of people and firepower, the surviving French soldiers had no choice but to surrender. In just ten minutes, the guerrillas took over the convoy.
The guerrilla commander contacted his superiors to report the battle situation, while at the same time ordering the guerrillas to escort the French prisoners and drive the convoy into the dense forest.
After receiving the battle report, Wu Yuanjia was very satisfied with the commander's improvisation. He ordered him to hide the convoy, use the French prisoners to drive the tanks and armored vehicles, and use the captured supplies to form a column to set off towards the French 11th Battalion camp to assist Nguyen Ching-kuo and capture the 11th Battalion camp.
At the same time, Martin and others were ambushed by the Lao Zhen guerrillas. The French army, which was originally charging forward, was covered by fierce fire from more than a dozen anti-aircraft machine guns. Many soldiers did not react at all and were cut in half by the 17mm anti-aircraft machine guns. In an instant, there were human remains everywhere and wailing.
Other guerrilla firepower from the People's Army also attacked the French from all directions. Explosives flew everywhere, exploding repeatedly among the French troops. The guerrillas, disguised as defeated, blocked the French retreat in time. By this point, Martin and his troops were completely disorganized, unable to organize an effective counterattack or resistance, let alone break out. Within 15 minutes of fighting, the French had lost all will to resist, and Lieutenant Colonel Martin was forced to order Bai Qi to surrender.
Major Andrew, who stayed behind in the camp, was shocked to hear the news of Martin's defeat. He strengthened the defense of the camp while requesting support from the 217th Air Force.
The 217th Air Force was already unable to take care of itself at the moment. When Martin and others were attacked, the 217th Air Force received an order to prepare to dispatch helicopters and carry the 3rd Battalion to provide support.
However, around him, Wu Yuanjia personally commanded two main division-level guerrillas to surround this place. The People's Army guerrillas rarely concentrated 15 150mm heavy mortars, more than 24 anti-aircraft machine guns, Japanese 75mm mountain guns, 92 infantry guns, etc., and even the 82mm field guns captured from the French army in the early stage were pulled over.
Before the 217th Air Force's helicopters could even take off, they came under intense guerrilla fire, with some helicopters destroyed before their propellers even started. The 3rd Battalion suffered particularly heavy losses. Having just assembled and awaiting their flight, the enemy's artillery barrage descended upon them. Unable to evade the attack, the 3rd Battalion suffered heavy casualties, and within minutes, they had lost their combat effectiveness.
Meanwhile, Camp Andrew came under attack from Nguyen Ching Kuo's guerrillas. The two sides were roughly evenly matched. Nguyen Ching Kuo had over 700 men, but their weapons and equipment were poor. Andrew, with only about 3 men from the 200rd Company, consisted of police and puppet troops, with little combat effectiveness. Fortunately, the French, combined with the camp's defensive weapons, were more than enough to deal with Nguyen Ching Kuo's guerrillas.
In this way, Ruan Jingguo could not take the city down for a long time, and Andrew did not dare to fight back, and the two sides were in a stalemate. But time was becoming increasingly unfavorable for Andrew.
Andrew received word that the 217th Army Air Corps was under siege and attack. Lieutenant General Charles de Gaulle of the 7th Division personally ordered him to hold his ground and had ordered the Phnom Penh Air Force to support them. Meanwhile, the 21st Brigade, deep in the jungle, also received orders from Lieutenant General Charles de Gaulle to withdraw and return to defend Ban Chai.
By this time, de Gaulle had already understood that Wu Yuanqie's first-stage target was Banchai. Destroying the 217th Army Aviation Corps would resolve the biggest air threat and eliminate the hidden dangers for capturing Banchai.
The 11th Battalion camp where Andrew was located was a borrowed point and barrier in the east of Ban Chai. For this reason, Charles de Gaulle had to let Andrew defend it to the death. He was coordinating with Phnom Penh and planned to let a battalion of the airborne regiment directly under the French headquarters set up an airborne camp.
Nguyen Ching-kuo was also having a hard time. Wu Yuanjia's orders were clear: capture the camp at all costs. However, the enemy inside the camp seemed to be mad, fighting to the death. They occupied the camp's established positions and used their firepower advantage to suppress the guerrillas. Nguyen Ching-kuo's men had already attacked more than ten times, suffering over 100 casualties, with little success.
Just when Nguyen Ching-kuo was about to make a desperate move, a burst of artillery fire suddenly exploded in the camp. Then, two French tanks and several armored vehicles appeared in sight. They quickly broke through the French defense line and advanced deep into the camp.
Nguyen Ching Quoc spotted his old superior, Le Yuan Giang, commander of the 107th Division (People's Army designation), from afar. It was this commander who, acting on the spur of the moment, decisively split his forces and returned, attacking the French convoy and seizing tanks and armored vehicles. He was then ordered to support Nguyen Ching Quoc.
He did not say much to Nguyen Ching Kuo and took over the command. Under the guerrillas' powerful firepower, Andrew knew he was no longer able to resist and had to order them to lay down their weapons and surrender.
After Li Yuanjiang and others occupied the camp, they immediately organized defense and utilized all available materials. They also used puppet troops and police to build fortifications.
An hour later, the French planes finally arrived. The navigator and flight captain were very smart. When he failed to contact Major Andrew, he immediately realized that something was wrong. After hurriedly dropping some bombs, he returned to Phnom Penh with the airborne battalion.
Charles de Gaulle quickly received intelligence that the 11th Battalion's camp had been captured. Seeing the impending doom, he became concerned about the 21st Brigade's advance. The People's Army guerrillas had already captured the camps of the 217th and 11th Battalions, seizing a significant amount of heavy weaponry and possessing nearly 2 troops. The 7th Brigade, with a maximum strength of less than 5000 men, was surrounded during its advance. Not only would the defense of Ban Chai be impossible, but the annihilation of the 21st Brigade could also lead to a complete loss of control over eastern Cambodia.
Charles de Gaulle quickly ordered the 21st Brigade to turn immediately, avoiding the Ban Chai area and returning via a detour from the north. As for Ban Chai, he voluntarily admitted defeat to the French Commander-in-Chief, Governor-General of Indochina, Latte Rudeau, and offered to resign as commander of the 7th Division. He also urged him to mobilize the Foreign Legion (mercenaries) in Phnom Penh and Saigon to airlift troops to Ban Chai to prevent the collapse of eastern Cambodia.
Soon, the French Foreign Legion airdropped into Ban Chai, and a large-scale battle began.