Chapter 10: Garimandan II
A convoy of seven vehicles was traveling along the chaotic road, with armed helicopters occasionally flying overhead in the camera's viewfinder. Armored vehicles would emerge from the grass on both sides of the road from time to time, and more often, infantrymen holding assault rifles and smoking cigarettes were standing lazily around, looking around.
In the distance, a vast flat area can already be seen. With careful observation, it is clear that this area has been roughly flattened by tanks and armored vehicles.
As far as the eye can see, the ground is black with people sitting down, and the scene is magnificent. There are not many guards around the flat ground, but there are dozens of armored vehicles patrolling around.
"Colonel, are all the prisoners of the Seventh Indonesian Army here? With only a few dozen guards for tens of thousands of prisoners, won't there be problems? How's Zhang Jian's injury?" Zhang Li asked with concern.
At this point, the questioning has deviated from the neutral stance of news media and is completely biased towards the Chinese side.
It is only natural that Nanyang Siang Pau, although it claims to be neutral as a principle of the media, leans towards its own kind as a matter of instinct.
"Don't worry, two companies have taken more than 3,000 prisoners to cut down trees and soon a simple POW camp will be set up here. At 3 pm this afternoon, 700 soldiers will arrive, it's easy to guard these Indonesians, they don't dare to resist." The news officer replied politely, Zhang Li's concern made him happy.
The war in Kalimantan has been closely watched worldwide since the beginning, what are the military strengths of Indonesia and Malaysia? How many people are there in Kalimantan? What is the number? What formation? What equipment? Who is the commander? What achievements have they made? Everything has been repeatedly interpreted by the media to the point where audiences can recite it.
The press officer smiled: "Ms Zhang Li doesn't need to worry, the Chief of Staff is in good health."
"The whole world knows that his foot injury has not healed yet, and such bumpy road conditions are irresponsible to the body." Zhang Li sighed, she could only ask to this extent.
Although the man's figure is etched in her mind, the beautiful hostess has a clear understanding of herself and has a secret crush on him that can only be hidden deep within her heart, never to be spoken aloud.
The story of heroes and beauties has been passed down for generations. Admiring heroes is the nature of every woman, and relying on the strong is the instinct of all human beings.
The youngest Lieutenant General of the South Huah Federation, Jian Shao, frowned as a medic changed his blood-soaked bandages. Unfortunately, the wound on his thigh had indeed burst open again. The roads on Galimantan Island were simply terrible to the extreme.
From one battlefield to South Kalimantan, the journey is only over 200 kilometers. The battle has reached this point, whoever wants to watch can watch.
The main force of the Indonesian Army defending the island, the Seventh Army, was completely annihilated. The remaining 21st Brigade in South Kalimantan had only more than 9,000 people, and the 33rd Brigade in West Kalimantan had only more than 10,000 people.
However, compared with a battle that requires shedding blood, he would rather make an emergency landing.
Indonesia and Malaysia want to take advantage of geographical advantages to defend Kalimantan Island.
The South Vietnamese side was determined to occupy the island of Galimantan at all costs, establishing the first large island and gathering Chinese on the island.
The plan was to first use strong military pressure to force the troops of both countries to withdraw from Kalimantan, and if they did not withdraw, to land and seize it by force. Tactically, a quick battle would be adopted, and the regulation of not taking military action against East Malaysia and Java would be observed.
Before the war, people in Indonesia and Malaysia were excited, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the main squares of their respective capitals, singing national anthems, shouting slogans, and wishing for victory.
More than a dozen political parties in both countries have expressed unanimous support for the government's actions, and no one is considering the government's failures in dealing with economic issues anymore.
The Dutch also intervened very actively and initially wanted to solve this crisis politically.
As a result, Foreign Minister Van den Boogaerde intervened at that time, but unfortunately the attitudes of both sides were very resolute.
Within a week, the General Staff of the South Huaxia Federation completed a series of preparations including formulating combat plans, organizing battle formations and tactical exercises. According to the wartime decree issued by the Congress, 158 civilian ships were requisitioned as logistical support forces for the fleet, and the requisitioned civilian ships were quickly modified as needed.
On April 17, the South Vietnamese government decided to limit the war to the island of Borneo and not attack Java and East Malaysia.
The advance force arrived in waters near Kalimantan on April 24.
On April 22, thirty special troops first took a submarine to arrive at about three nautical miles from the island, and then swam ashore for reconnaissance, clarifying the strength, equipment, firepower configuration of the garrison on the island, and selecting a landing site for the follow-up troops.
On April 25, the special troops on the island guided the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment to parachute onto the island, so that the troops first occupied the important forward base on land, and then transported personnel and various equipment to the island while deploying the troops.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Vietnam announced that from 11:00 on April 30, 1960, all aircraft and ships entering the 200-mile prohibited zone around Kalimantan Island would be attacked.
Indonesian and Malaysian troops also went on high alert, with curfews and blackouts imposed in Kalimantan.
On May 1, 1960, the army of the Republic of South China began attacking the garrison on Kalimantan Island.
Heavy bombers flying from Bougainville and fighter aircraft flying from carriers made their first air raid on the island of Galimantan.
The air force continued to bomb Kalimantan Island, with main targets being airports, radar stations and warehouses.
This greatly dampened the morale of the defending troops and caused the main forces of the Indonesian and Malaysian navies to withdraw from the waters around Kalimantan, not daring to fight.
On May 4, the Indonesian Air Force dispatched a Dassault Mirage V fighter-bomber to fire two French-made Exocet anti-ship missiles at the South Vietnamese frigate RVN Le Fougueux (F-28) about 40 nautical miles east of Kalimantan, sinking it and killing 20 crew members with another 27 wounded.
This was a major blow to the landing force, and afterwards the landing force learned from its lessons and took various measures to prevent missile attacks. The most typical method is to dispatch helicopters equipped with early warning radar for early warning above the fleet.
On May 6, the Southern Army dispatched 16 special forces to sneak into the Riau Archipelago Air Force Base on Java Island by submarine and then rubber boat, destroying 10 of the 14 mysterious fighter-bombers in the Indonesian military's only possession, severely damaging the Indonesian military's long-range strike capability.
The Indonesian Air Force made the nightmares of the Southern Army last forever.
On May 12, Indonesian aircraft again sank two escort carriers in the waters near Brunei, all of which took off from military airports on the island of Java.
To pull out the thorn in the flesh, 50 special troops were airlifted to the island on May 14th evening by three helicopters and destroyed six Indonesian Pucara attack aircraft, four T-34 trainer/attack aircraft and one transport plane.
Gunfire spotting teams in the squadron guided attack planes to pound targets on the island, destroying 1 ammunition dump and 6 radar stations.
Special forces returned safely by helicopter in the midst of fierce fire, with a cost of 2 people lightly injured, achieving a complete victory and clearing all obstacles in the air.
Due to the large number of Chinese residents on Kalimantan Island, special agents of the South China Federation Republic could operate under their cover, on the one hand, to clarify the deployment of the garrison, and on the other hand, to carry out active activities, attacking all over the place, but not attacking the command post of the garrison.
The main reason was that the codes of Indonesian and Malayan forces had been cracked, and the garrison's command became an important source of intelligence.
By June 10, the Southern Army had largely achieved its objective of blockading the island of Borneo and weakening the garrison's strength, and was ready to make preparations for landing.
It was subsequently confirmed that it would land on June 10.
On the 2nd day, nearly a hundred Indonesian aircraft were dispatched again to continue their fierce air raids and sank the Tangshan escort ship of the South Vietnamese Navy.
On June 15, the Indonesian and Malaysian air forces launched an all-out attack, with more than 200 sorties throughout the day, achieving brilliant results of sinking the USS LST-1198, sinking two transport ships, damaging one destroyer, one escort ship, and three transport ships.
Fortunately for the landing force, the 16 multi-purpose helicopters being transported on the amphibious assault ship had flown ashore before it was sunk.
For a week, Indonesian and Malaysian air forces fought bravely, inflicting heavy blows on the Southern Vietnamese landing troops.
But first, the performance of the aircraft was not as good as that of the Southern Chinese Air Force. Second, they did not receive effective support from their own naval and ground forces. Third, due to poor combat readiness, 40% of the bombs dropped in low-altitude attacks did not explode because the fuses were set for high-altitude bombing, so they could not stop the landing.
The Indonesian and Malaysian air forces lost up to 61 aircraft on June 15.
Malaysian forces in East Malaysia also sent out small groups of troops to conduct reconnaissance and harassment operations against Bruneian security forces on 24 and 25 December, but were repelled.
As the defending ground forces did not conduct anti-landing operations, and the air force counterattacked mainly striking warships, this allowed the South Vietnamese troops to land smoothly and consolidate their landing site, completing preparations for a ground assault.
The troops who had established a solid foothold began their attack on the defending forces on June 27.
Since the start of the South Vietnamese ground offensive, Indonesian and Malaysian air forces have repeatedly attacked joint naval vessels and supply bases.
On June 30, the Indonesian Air Force used Exocet missiles to attack the Selden, damaging it at the cost of two planes shot down.
On July 8, the Indonesian military mobilized a large number of aircraft to launch an air raid on the joint forces at Pantai, sinking one small landing ship, damaging one escort vessel and one patrol boat.
The Indonesian military lost 61 aircraft, but by then the Indonesian Air Force was like a spent arrow and had no more power to stop the advance of the Allied forces.
At this time, the strength of the South Vietnamese army on the island had been greatly increased, with three armored brigades, one marine brigade, 450 heavy artillery pieces and 920 tanks of all types.
On July 11, after three days of preparation, the South Vietnamese Air Force heavy bombers and attack aircraft, along with artillery fire, conducted a concentrated bombardment to provide cover for the ground troops' assault on the enemy's core defensive line.
On July 18, the main force of the garrison on the island, the Indonesian 7th Military Area Command, was annihilated by the 2nd and 3rd Armored Brigades of the Republic of South Vietnam after a three-hour battle.
In this war, the Southern Chinese forces lost over 1,000 people, injured around 3,300 people, hundreds of people missing, and lost 11 ships and 27 aircraft.
Indonesia and Malaysia suffered 25,500 military deaths, 37,770 wounded, more than 51,000 captured, lost 36 ships and 234 aircraft.
