“We can and we will.” The Ambassador’s voice was pitiless. “Every hope we have for the future now hangs on us defeating the French in Indochina. And we are defeating them. We have driven them back almost 30 kilometers and are only 20 kilometers from Sisophon. We have wiped out their border forces already. All that is left of them are groups of stragglers heading east.
“We know the French are assembling their main force at Yang Dham Khung. They have massed nine battalions of infantry, two battalions of artillery and a company of tanks there. When the French launch their counterattack from Yang Dham Khung, we will have 15 battalions of infantry, three of artillery and two complete battalions of tanks waiting for them.
“In the north, we have already reached the Mekong in Laos and are digging in there. North of the Tonle Sap, we are swinging across country, peeling off units to guard the Mekong as we move east. Above all, the fourth regiment of the Queen’s Cobra Division is swinging south to by-pass Battambang to the east. The first regiment of the White Horse Division is swinging north from Trat to the same destination. The other two cavalry regiments are heading for Phnom Penh. When they link up, the whole French Army in Indochina will be encircled around Battambang while we advance on Phnom Penh from north and south of the Tonle Sap. Soon, there will be nothing left between us and Saigon. The French have no idea what they are up against.”
Marshal Plaek raised his hand placatingly. “I know what we are achieving. And I understand how important those achievements are. I just fear for how long our Air Force can keep up its efforts.”
The Ambassador relaxed slightly. “Perhaps this may calm your fears. We captured these documents at a minor skirmish on RC-157. An affair of no great importance, except for the capture of these French intelligence assessments of our forces. Take a look at them.”
She handed the role of documents over and Palek read them. As he did, his eyebrows lifted in surprise. “These are completely wrong. The French seem to think we have copied their triangular division and regiment structure. They don’t realize our infantry divisions use the German square structure with four regiments per division and four companies per battalion. That basic mistake means they’re underestimating our strength by over a third. They put our army at 44 infantry battalions? Now that we are mobilized, we have seventy-seven and that increases as more reservists join the colors.”
“And those battalions are a third larger than theirs.” The Ambassador sounded very satisfied. “The Air Force need only struggle for a few more days, my old friend. Then, our pilots can rest before we deal with the Japanese.”
At least, this time, we have the high ground. Here, the French forces were arrayed along a ridge that lay behind a twisting river. It is, Roul thought, a good defensive position. On the long march back along RC-157, he’d realized just how hard this part of Indochina was to defend. The ground sloped steeply downwards from the mountains along the Thai border, so anybody advancing from the west always had the high ground. This was the first point at which the geography changed. Here, the French positions were at an elevation of 30 meters while the low ground in front of them was, at most, 16 meters. What worried him was that the Indochina Army would be launching its counterattack from these positions and would have to pass through the heavily-forested areas that lay between their ridge and the river. Roul’s two previous actions had taught him that the Thai Army knew how to maneuver and he suspected they would make good use of that jungle.
The problem was that Colonel Jacomy, whose “Groupement J” was assigned to conduct the attack, wouldn’t listen to anybody. Especially a Lieutenant whose sole contributions to the engagements over the last few days had apparently been to retreat as fast as his legs would carry him. Roul’s attempts to report on the actions he had fought and the lessons he had learned had been brushed aside with overt contempt. The survivors of his platoon had been assigned to reinforce an antitank battery belonging to the Fifth Regiment of the Foreign Legion. To an officer of the regular French Army, that was very close to being an insult.
The antitank unit had two Model 1934 25mm guns. Roul wasn’t quite sure what the third gun was. It had originally been a standard Soixante-Quinze, but the Legionnaires had modified its carriage drastically so that it sat much lower on the ground and was easier to move around. He’d arranged the three guns in a triangle, with the 75 at the back. The 25mm gun was light and underpowered, but it could deal with any tank in this part of the world. Roul was more worried about the Thai infantry. Against them, the 25mm was just a very big rifle. The Soixante-Quinze had explosive shells as well as solid shot and could put up an adequate fight.
“Interesting defensive position.”
Roul jumped at the unexpected comment. He looked around and saw Major Belloc, commander of the Foreign Legion battalion standing behind him. He jumped to attention and snapped out a salute.
“Sir?”
“Putting the Soixante-Quinze at the rear. How did you come to that conclusion?”
Roul took a deep breath. “Sir, I’ve fought the Siamese twice now. Each time, when they ran into opposition, they maneuvered us out of our defenses. They would never attack us frontally. They always pinned us down and then maneuvered against our flanks. If there was a position that was too tough for them to take with a quick attack, they would bypass it and continue on.”
“Stosstruppen tactics.”
“Exactly, sir. I’ve also seen the Siamese bringing up tanks. If we engage their tanks with our guns, they won’t fight it out. The tanks will pull back, they’ll bring up their infantry and try and outflank our position. So, I’ve got the two twenty-fives positioned forward to take on the tanks. Then, when the infantry move up, the Soixante-Quinze will be perfectly positioned to support the antitank guns and we can hold out here.”
Belloc nodded. “You’ve fought the Thais before. You’re Roul, aren’t you?”
“Sir.”
“Hmm. Colonel Jacomy suggested I put you somewhere you can’t run away. Have you anything to say to that?”
Roul was outraged. “Sir, my platoon has lost more than two thirds of its strength fighting the Siamese. We held our ground until it was impossible to do so any longer, then we disengaged in as good an order as the circumstances permitted.”
“I thought as much. Anyway, Colonel Jacomy forgets that we in the Legion have no personal history, save that we make for ourselves here. But, I need to know everything you have to tell me about the actions you have fought. Soon, we will start our counter-offensive and try to drive them back. I think this will be a much harder fight than our commanders realize. By the way, you may be interested to know that two border guard battalions of the Tirailleurs Tonkinois have been dispersed. To all intents and purposes, they have been destroyed as fighting formations. They were so unwise as not to disengage when the circumstances dictated that course of action.”
“We have a chance to redeem ourselves.”
Major Wuthi Wirrabut spoke quietly in the pre-dawn darkness. A few years earlier, the Royal Guard battalion had made the worst mistake any military unit could make in a civil war. They had picked the wrong side. Following the coup that had ended the absolute monarchy, Prince Boworadet had led pro-royalist forces, including several infantry regiments, a cavalry unit and several artillery batteries, in a march on Bangkok to restore the traditional order. They reached the capital to find that most military units in Bangkok supported the government. The Royal Guard battalion had been the exception; they had sided with the traditionalists and shared in the defeat that had engulfed them.