Chapter Thirty-Four: Madagascar Three
The Southern Army immediately organized a large-scale transport fleet after occupying the port of Diego-Suarez, and transported the remaining troops of an armored brigade to the port.
The French air force and submarines launched an offensive, the South Vietnamese Federation lost 15 transport ships, with more than 500 casualties among officers and men, but finally completed the transportation task.
Facing a numerically superior Southern Federation army, the French had to suspend their planned counterattack on the island of Madagascar.
It is necessary to say something about France's submarines.
The French submarine Eurydice (S644) is a Rubis-class attack submarine of the French Navy.
The submarines were built in the 1960s, with the first boat entering service in 1961. Nine are currently in service.
Principal dimensions: length 57.8 meters, width 6.8 meters, draft 4.6 meters.
Displacement: 860 tons surfaced, 1,038 tons submerged.
Power: 2 x 8PA4-185 diesel engines, 1,300 horsepower.
2 electric motors, 1600 horsepower.
1 group 16 blocks lead-acid battery, dual-axis.
Speed: 13 knots surfaced, 16 knots submerged.
Endurance: 4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h); snorkel depth.
Self-sustaining power: 30 days.
Crew: 53 people.
Dive depth 300 meters.
Armament: 12 x 550 mm torpedo tubes, 8 in the bow and 4 in the stern, with 12 EE-15 type torpedoes.
Electronics include: DLT-D3 torpedo fire control system, Caripso search radar, DSUV-2 passive sonar, DUUA-2 active attack sonar and DUUX-2 passive sonar.
In France, this class of submarines is considered to be one of the better designs, with a suitable size, high underwater speed, low noise, good underwater performance, well-equipped sonar equipment, and suitability for anti-submarine use. They have also been exported to the navies of Spain, Portugal, and South Africa.
The two submarines that fought in Madagascar were Liberté and Archimède.
"It seems that the weapon is still dependent on who uses it." said General Jian Qiang, the newly arrived commander-in-chief.
According to the orders of the General Staff, the land, sea and air forces of the South Huafederation began to implement a plan to occupy the entire island of Madagascar.
Commander-in-Chief - Lieutenant General Jian Qiang of the Southern Huaxia Federation.
The combat force consisted of the 10th and 11th Armored Brigades, the 2nd Marine Brigade, a carrier group, an amphibious assault squadron, an independent attack submarine flotilla, and the Third Air Wing.
The French army began transporting two French infantry divisions and one armored division to Madagascar, while the South Vietnamese Air Force continued its offensive and bombing. The French lost 2 destroyers, 3 escort vessels, 25 transport ships, and over 8,000 casualties, completing their landing.
The Southern Chinese military also paid a heavy price: the aircraft carrier's air wing had fewer than 50 usable planes, but at least they could last for another month.
The French army already has two infantry divisions, one armored division and two independent infantry brigades on the island of Madagascar, which can launch a land-based attack.
General Léonard de Lacour will sit as Commander-in-Chief in Tananarive, the front-line commander is General Deloron, and the French are eager to regain their territory with an offensive spirit.
The target of the French army was the main force of the Southern Han army in the north.
The French planned to advance with their main force from the front while planning a landing at Antananarivo, cutting off the supply lines of the South Vietnamese Federation army in Madagascar and Southeast Asia.
But the attack was halted at Maroumuku Truk Mountain, which was guarded by more than 3,000 Nanshan warriors. The Nanshan soldiers with strong national fighting spirit firmly defended their positions and did not yield to the French army's repeated attacks. The logistics were difficult and the battle became a stalemate.
The French army's frontal assault was unsuccessful, and the South Vietnamese Federation Marine Corps formed many guerrilla units that went everywhere to destroy the French army's supply lines, making it impossible for them to defend.
The goal of the South Malagasy Federation was to support the northern Madagascar tribal armed groups in establishing their own state and eventually becoming the ruling power over all of Madagascar.
On May 25, northern Madagascar established an autonomous region with Ambilobe as its capital, which was not recognized by France.
The Provisional Government of Northern Madagascar called on the people to rise up and defend their homeland. The people of Northern Madagascar responded to the call, enthusiastically joining the army to fight against the French military. The number of guerrilla fighters tripled, making life even more unbearable for the French troops.
The French army could only stake its fortunes on the success of a landing at Antananarivo, and to ensure this, it was decided that two independent infantry brigades would land there and pin down the Hova army in the south.
On June 1, a French naval landing force left the port of Toamasina and transported the First Independent Infantry Brigade and Second Independent Infantry Brigade to Antsiranana.
The fleet led by the aircraft carrier Beyern (standard displacement: 22,100 tons; aircraft: 20 fighter planes, 5 attack planes. Armament: 8 single-barreled 155mm guns, 6 single-barreled 75mm guns, several multi-barreled small-caliber guns, and 4 550mm torpedo tubes) provided escort.
French troops landed on the beach and were met with resistance from a small force of the 8th Infantry Regiment of the Northern Madagascar Volunteers.
The French army, with its superior forces and firepower, finally eliminated the enemy at the head of the beach and occupied the port of Antwerp. Unfortunately, the port suffered severe damage and will need some time to repair.
The French army advanced from the port to the inland, and the vanguard was ambushed by the main force of the 235th Mechanized Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Zhu Mingyu of the Southern China Army and the Eighth Infantry Division of the Northern Madagascar Volunteer Army. The loss was extremely heavy, but fortunately, the rescue was effective, and they broke through the encirclement.
Thereafter, two French independent infantry brigades felt insufficient in manpower and logistics, and switched to a defensive posture.
The French military headquarters in Madagascar assessed that a small number of troops could be deployed but no more.
On June 15, the French fleet left the port of Toamasina, transporting two infantry regiments and an armored regiment to Antsiranana, escorted by a destroyer, two frigates and two minesweepers.
After the departure of the relief fleet, the French land-based air force began to bomb northern Madagascar, bombing ports and airports there.
But the air raid was also unsuccessful, and after two days of fierce battle, the French military lost more than sixty planes. The excellent performance of the aircraft carrier-based aircraft of Nanyue gave the French Air Force a hard time.
On the second day, both sides continued to fight. The French side received support from 50 land-based aircraft, but unfortunately, they arrived on the battlefield in batches, and half of them failed to find their targets. The remaining half completely missed their targets. The pilots were all newcomers with low ability to attack at sea, and 30 planes were shot down by themselves.
In comparison, the French carrier-based aircraft had some effect on the South Huafederation's carrier fleet.
A 250 kg bomb hit the Wuhan destroyer, causing it to lose its helicopter takeoff and landing capabilities. Two 227 kg bombs hit the Zhangjiakou escort ship, sinking it.
However, on this day all of the French Navy's torpedo bomber aircraft were shot down, greatly weakening the fleet's ability to launch a torpedo attack.
This time, the South China Sea aircraft carrier formation adopted a fighter-to-attack ratio of 5:1 for its carrier-based aircraft, which is a formation aimed at competing for air superiority, with the goal of largely annihilating French warplanes.
On the third day, the French aircraft carrier fleet retreated to the nearby port of Toulon, but was still subjected to air raids by Southern Huai naval aircraft, and two destroyers sank.
The French Army's land-based air force launched a wave of airstrikes against the South Vietnamese Federation's aircraft carrier fleet, missing all targets but losing 25 planes.
Although the sole French aircraft carrier escaped sinking, it was heavily damaged and unable to participate in further combat.
The French transport fleet, anchored in Antongil Bay, continued to be bombed and under the cover of French land-based aircraft, forced its way to the port of Toamasina, where only 10 transports finally arrived.
Most of the troops who fell into the water were rescued, but the heavy equipment was almost completely lost. An armored regiment had only 2 tanks left, and the two divisions' artillery with a caliber of 100mm or above was less than 10 guns.
Due to the lack of transport vehicles, the three detachments had to march on foot and fell far behind friendly forces. The French command simply assigned them the task of guarding communication lines.
This combat example was featured in a comic strip format in Aviation Knowledge in the late 1960s:
Power tri-wing aircraft, this type of aircraft is light and flexible, low noise, has very low requirements for takeoff and landing sites, more importantly, they can fly at low altitude to evade radar surveillance.
After careful planning and training, the South China Sea Marine Corps selected 15 warriors to form a strike team, driving a powered tri-wing aircraft.
The assault team set out from the northern Madagascar volunteer army base at midnight, 10 triangular wing adult characters flew low to the French army's forward command post, and entered the French side already at dawn.
At this time, the French patrol at the other end of the French army's position noticed a faint engine sound in the sky and began to strengthen their vigilance. However, they absolutely did not expect that an assault team had already landed behind the French army, hiding their parachutes and forming a combat formation to search along the highway.
At this time, a jeep drove far away, and the Nanhua Army soldiers immediately opened fire on it. The driver was killed on the spot, and the female officer in the car was seriously injured.
The sound of gunfire was particularly jarring in the early morning hours, and nearby French troops began to mobilize.
Time waits for no man, the South China Sea Marine Corps assault team rushed to the French army's frontline command post, shot and killed the guards after rushing in, and opened fire on the French officers who were studying maps, unaware of this, under the crossfire The rain of bullets was knocked down one by one.
The awakened French army began to organize a firepower counterattack. Due to the load-bearing limitations of the trimotor, the assault troops only carried light machine guns and submachine guns, and their firepower was at a disadvantage.
To cover their comrades, three team members were killed by the French army, and other team members retreated while fighting to a hidden triangular wing location where they boarded the triangular wing to retreat.
At this time, the French army called in armed helicopters to encircle and intercept them. One of the team members was unfortunately hit by a machine gun, but he insisted on flying until his last sacrifice, at which point he was less than 100 meters from his own position.
This raid, the assault team paid the price of four people sacrificed in exchange for killing eight French military officers at the division level, wounding more than 40 French soldiers, and causing a major psychological blow to the French army.
From then on, the French army not only had to guard against guerrilla attacks from the ground by the South Vietnamese and North Madagascar, but also had to be constantly on guard against aerial attacks by the enemy, and this battle became a classic example of special warfare in the 1960s that was recorded in history.
