He'd been expecting the attack after the killing of the Cadres and the arrival of the Army unit. Now, the Army had gone. Their last act had been to build a barbed wire entanglement around the village perimeter. Theoretically, it was there to stop the enemy infiltrating the village, in reality it was an open challenge. “If we build it, they will come” Phong Nguyen thought grimly. And they were coming in strength. A fourth observation point clicked in, another estimated 30 men moving on to the perimeter. All gathering along the North and West sides. No surprises, no aces to pull, this was going to be a straightforward infantry slugging match
The tension in the air made it feel heavy and thick, threatening to suffocate the waiting villagers. In fact the night was cool, even by local standards. It was 00:30, the heat of the day had passed and it would be a comfortable time to sleep. Only nobody would, for at that moment when the enemy started to pour mortar, rifle-grenade and machine gun fire from several positions surrounding the village. The explosions inside the village marched across the defense positions, or at least, across the old ones.
Nguyen had guessed the Cadres would have passed information on what they had seen to the Main Force fighters. So he'd changed the positions around and moved the foxholes forward. He winced as several mortar shells landed in the area of his hut and that of the headman. At least it indicated the Main force were unaware the Tahan Pran were waiting for them. The explosions were deafening even though the mortars were mostly 50 millimeter, the ones the Japanese called the “Knee Mortar”, Nguyen hoped, with grim humor, that at least some of the enemy had taken that name seriously and shattered their kneecaps in the attempt.
Now his own mortars thumped. He had three of them, American 60 millimeters. They weren't firing explosives though, instead the area over the wire perimeter was bathed in brilliant white light as the Tahan Pran parachute flares ignited over wire entanglements. As he'd guessed, there were sappers in the wire, cutting paths for the infantry to follow. They were already most of the way through; the next stage would be for them to use satchel charges on the defensive positions. There would be more sappers following the main infantry attack, they would be carrying flamethrowers to burn the women and children sheltering in the bunkers. Nguyen knew the pattern well; he'd organized similar attacks himself during his days with the Viet Minh.
But the lead wave of sappers weren't going to get anywhere, they were trapped in the wire and the villagers were starting to open fire at the targets highlighted in the harsh white light. Nguyen could hear the slow rhythmic thumping of the AK.-47s against the light crackle of the Japanese Arisakas. The sappers were dropping, pinned down, unable to go forward or back. One forgot himself and jumped up only to be tangled in the wire. Nguyen could see his body jerking as the 7.62mm bullets struck him.
The Tahan Pran were doing it right, each of them had multiple fire positions and they would fire a short burst from one, then roll to another before firing again. Rifle and machinegun fire was coming out of the woodline, suppressive fire intended to make his men put their heads down. Even as he thought that, he saw the streak of a rocket flash out from one of the Tahan Pran positions and explode in the trees, he thought he saw bodies thrown by the explosion but it could all have been a trick of the light.
The rocket might as well have been a signal. Enemy troops boiled out of the treeline, a quick estimate, showed at least 300. The outposts had obviously missed some of the infiltrators. Some dropped into cover position and started laying down grazing fire on the Tahan Pran positions, hoping to keep the defender's heads down while others tried to run forward to seize new positions.
The AKs continued their dull thumping, backed up by longer bursts from the two light machineguns. They forced the advancing enemy to drop into cover, made them fire their Arisaka automatic rifles at the fortified defenders. Mow it was a straightforward firefight, the bogged-down attackers trying to suppress the fire that held them; the defenders trying to prevent any additional movement towards them.
The attackers had one advantage, they knew where the village was, their mortars didn't need the flares to see where to direct their fire. The Thai mortars were tied down delivering flare rounds so the riflemen could see what they were doing. On the other hand, the attackers were relying on rifle grenades to handle the Thai foxholes, while the Tahan Pran had their RPGs. Even as Nguyen watched, another rocket slashed out across the field, smacking into a small knot of enemy troops sheltering in a dip.
In the village, some of the children were running out of the bunkers, carrying fully loaded magazines to the Tahan Pran riflemen and bringing back the empties for reloading. A mortar round landed close to one and the child was thrown into the air, hit the ground and lay still, the empty magazines he had been carrying scattered around him. A girl ran out, collected them up and ran back to her shelter with them. For once, just for once, in an infantry battle, ammunition wasn't a problem for the defenders; they had plenty of it stockpiled. The problem was just getting it to the rifle pits.
Out on the wire, an enemy officer was trying to drive the riflemen forward, to get them moving against the vicious fire from the AKs. Suddenly he spun around and dropped. He hadn't really stood a chance, the automatic rifles were pumping out so much firepower that the attempt to lead men forward was almost suicidal. Automatic rifles made standing up on a battlefield a mistake that carried its own, terminal penalty. Nevertheless, the attack was moving forward. The enemy was extending the front to the sides, stretching the flanks to envelop the defense. On the left, they were almost up to the wire before the threat was seen and pinned down by the AKs.
At least the enemy mortar fire was petering out. The enemy did have a restricted ammunition supply, for their heavy weapons at least. As if to take advantage of fire support while they still had it, the troops on the left surged forward. As they did, there was a heavy thudding burst, a Japanese 13.2 millimeter machinegun that had previously been silent, opened up on a defense position.
The big machinegun was quickly silenced as another rocket tore into its position but the damage was done; the Tahan Pran defenders at that point were killed or pinned down for a crucial few seconds. The attackers were through, into the main line of resistance. At close quarters they had a slight edge, it was down to bayonets and the longer Arisaka was a better bayonet platform than the short, stubby AK-47. There was a brief fight around the rifle pits in the area of the breakthrough, then the pits were silenced.
This was critical, Nguyen knew that the militia would fight well from fixed positions and defenses but lacked the tactical skills and co-ordination for a running fight. Now, the attackers would start their next move, to roll up the positions on either side of them, opening a hole through to the center of the village. Nguyen grabbed his own AK and gathered his reserve up. Vo Nguyen Giap, in their long hours together, had hammered the lesson home, always have a reserve. No matter how stretched the line, no matter how few the resources, keep a reserve. Even if its only yourself and your best friend, keep a reserve.
“Now, at this crucial moment, he had a force to meet the penetration. He and his Tahan Pran troops ran forward and dropped into the cover of the buildings. The attackers had directed their last few rounds of mortar ammunition to support their breakthrough but it was too little; one of Nguyen's reserve force went down but the rest poured automatic fire into the disorganized attackers. The Tahan Pran riflemen in the rifle pits on either side of the penetration were also firing, hosing bullets into the group in their midst. Swamped by fire from three sides, the attackers fell back.