Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation

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7775
April 12th, 1943

Quonset Point
- Lagadec: "At the beginning of the week, we start the laps again so that the pilots finally understand how to land a Corsair safely. Everyone must understand that the flight parameters must be strictly respected.
Another accident, in the middle of the afternoon, this time due to a rebel landing gear that was not locked. The gear retracted by itself; the plane landed on its belly and ended up sliding on the grass... More fear than harm! Especially since it wasn't the pilot's fault."
 
7776
April 12th, 1943

Burma Front
- It is again a field north of Moulmein that is targeted, but this time it is the Spitfire Vs of Sqn 67 and the H-87 Kittyhawks of Sqn 340(B) that escort 16 Bristol Beaumonts from Sqn 45. Arriving from the northeast after a detour through Thailand, the Beaumonts escape with only one badly damaged aircraft (it will crash on landing). Their escort loses one Spitfire and three H-87s (the latter are not really competitive against the Ki-44) in exchange for two Hayabusa and one Shoki.
 
7777
April 12th, 1943

Indian Ocean (Andaman Sea), 03:00
- Admiral Kondo's fleet turns to starboard to come north-northwest. It continues to follow the west coast of Malaysia (but still out of sight of it). The day before, everything went without incident, will it be the same today?
It will not be the case. At the end of the day, the Junyo's radar reports an intruder heading straight for the fleet, which is sailing at the latitude of Mergui at the time. Two Zero in patrol are dispatched to the echo, but the indications given by the radar operator are approximate and it is the target - a Catalina from Port Blair - that spots the Zero before being seen. The seaplane immediately dives into a providential cloud and escapes without spotting the Kondo ships, but its pilot, New Zealander Jack O'Sullivan, had time to identify his adversaries without confusion. The presence of these aircraft in the middle of the ocean indicates the proximity of a Japanese aircraft carrier, and therefore of a whole fleet!

Trincomalee - Tonight, the main Royal Navy base in the Indian Ocean is in a state of alarm! Informed of the misadventure of the Catalina in Port Blair, Admiral Somerville puts his fleet on alert. He also orders the Andaman base to launch a reconnaissance mission at dawn the next day to clarify the matter. He will not decide to sail only if a precise contact is obtained with a Japanese squadron.
James Somerville's Eastern Fleet had just received an important reinforcement: nothing less than a squadron carrier, the Indomitable, which had just been repaired in Philadelphia and arrived after a brief acclimatization period at the secret base of Addu Atoll. The fleet based in Trincomalee has three large aircraft carriers: the Indomitable, the Illustrious and the Victorious. The last two have 30 fighters each: 15 Grumman Martlet and 15 Hawker Sea-Hurricanes, as well as 12 Fairey Albacores - reliable but hopelessly outdated torpedo bombers. The Indomitable has 25 fighters: 10 Martlets and the 15 Supermarine Seafire Ib of Sqn 801, commanded by the ace Danny Potter. Much is expected of the naval version of the Spitfire, but the real novelty is the presence of the 30 Fairey Barracudas from Sqn 810 and 827 - the FAA finally has a modern bomber, monoplane, versatile and above all fast enough.
The aircraft carriers are accompanied by the two powerful battleships Nelson and Rodney.
Powerful, but slow: they barely reach 24 knots, at best.
The fleet also includes (apart from the ships that carried out escort missions for convoys) a significant number of convoy escort missions) a significant number of cruisers and destroyers, some of which have been renewed and homogenized since Operation Pedestal.
- Three County class heavy cruisers, the Cornwall, London and Sussex.
- Five Colony/Fiji class light cruisers, the Bermuda, Fiji, Gambia, Mauritius and Trinidad.
- Two anti-aircraft cruisers, the Charybdis and Phoebe (Dido class).
- Sixteen destroyers of various types: twelve British, the HMS Ashanti, Duncan, Eskimo, Foxhound, Hotspur, Inconstant, Ithuriel, Jervis, Lightning, Onslaught, Penn and Petard, two Australians, HMAS Nepal and Norman, and two Dutch, HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes (ex-Nonpareil) and Van Galen (ex-Noble).
Finally, three submarines of the 10th Flotilla, the Tempest, Tribune and Trespasser (twins of the Tigris sunk in February), are on patrol in the eastern Indian Ocean and the northern Strait of Malacca.
.........
To these forces should be added those based in the Andaman Islands and in Sabang.
Port Blair airfield is home to the 16 Supermarine Spitfires of Sqn 132 (RAF)* and the 15 Bristol Blenheim IV of Sqn 211 (RAF), as well as the 8 Vickers Wellingtons of Sqn 413 of the Coastal Command (mixed unit also equipped with seaplanes). The seaplane base has the particularity of being Anglo-French. Indeed, it is protected by the anti-air escort HMS Tynwald and the MN Commandant-Teste is in charge of the supply and maintenance of the aircraft. The latter are the 12 Supermarine 355 Floatfire II of Sqn 804, the 18 Northrop N-3PB torpedo bombers of Flotilla 10F (ex AT4) and the 6 PBY-5 Catalina seaplanes of Sqn 413**. 804 (the only fighter squadron of the ASF) is commanded by Lt-Cdr A.J. Sewell and the 10F is led by CC Jean Maudron, an experienced pilot and a very popular leader.
The Sabang base is protected by an Australian-Indian garrison (with some Dutch elements withdrawn from Sumatra). This one is equivalent to a reinforced battalion, but very well entrenched however. The track, or rather the set of tracks of mediocre quality, allows the 12 Blenheim V of Sqn 11 and the 15 Hurricane II of Sqn 30, installed there as lost children to annoy the Japanese of Malaysia. The island could be supplied since the fall of Singapore. The same fast ships and heavy seaplanes that had been shuttling back and forth to the big city continue to do so, but their task is much easier with the small island. The Blenheims come from the Andaman and the Hurricanes were delivered in flight by Eastern Fleet carriers.
 
7778
April 12th, 1943

Hanoi
- The atmosphere is heavy at the Japanese Embassy. Consul General Ogawa and the secretary general of the Japanese delegation, Mr. Kuriyama, invited General Tyo to give him severe remonstrances, although wrapped in the circumlocutions that the Asians like.
The consul, who wears a superb tailcoat for the occasion, is the first to speak around the ritual green tea: "General, we are all aware of the Army's efforts to maintain peace in Indochina. However, we must face the facts. The only recourse to military power does not allow us to make the inhabitants understand that we are working in their interest. Our sacred mission is to unite all communities under the imperial leadership." The elegant diplomat drinks some tea, with the ceremonial gestures required by the operation. He then speaks again to state the guiding principle of the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. "As the former foreign minister, the eminent Matsuoka san, has said, Japan's ideals are to make manifest to the world the spirit of its founding principles, by which the benevolent rule of the Emperor can be extended to embrace the universe. There is no other country that has such a superb and elevated mission, concerning all the inhabitants of the world."
After this dignified and lofty statement, the secretary general took over:
"The crisis of 1929 weakened our country, which lives only on the added value of its production. We import raw products and we transform them. We supported the military solution, in China and then in the Pacific, only because it allowed us to give back to Japan its status of great power and opened us an easy access to the resources necessary to regain our rightful place.
Guided by the flame of the Yatsukuni Shrine*, our soldiers are courageously working throughout the Co-Prosperity Sphere of Greater Asia. I would like to understand why simple peasants without culture, still slaves of the French colonizers, can ridicule our glorious Army. I await your explanations, General
."
Facing the two civilians who form with him the triumvirate governing Indochina, General Tyo presents a smooth and expressionless face. No doubt he is angry but, anxious not to lose face, he shows nothing of it and bows to the two diplomats: "Ogawa san, Kuriyama san, I am grateful to you for having reminded me of the greatness of our task. However, I would like to complete your knowledge of the fighting in this region. Our men are not less brave here than on other fronts. Nor are their officers any less competent. But our opponents know the teachings of the Treatise of the Five Wheels**.
Now, in the master's doctrine, it is said that one must know how to use all the weapons at hand, that everything is a means to victory. It is also said that a man who picks up a sword aims to kill the one who stands in front of him.
All the rest is useless and dangerous frills. The one who strikes the first blow and to kill is most often the winner of the fight
."
Consul General Ogawa bows slightly: "I pay tribute to your knowledge of the classics of military literature, General Tyo. But, excuse me, I am afraid that we have lost our way a little in the subject of our discussion."
General Tyo does not hesitate: "It is for me to apologize for the imprecision of my words, Ogawa san. I wanted to say that we are in a relationship of strong to weak. Our army would easily outclass the enemy in a pitched battle. But the enemy knows that. He does what has been taught for centuries in such cases. Instead of concentrating his troops, he disperses them so that we can't crush them with one blow. He strikes only where we are weak and does not accept the fight when we are strong. This forces our forces to run constantly to extinguish a fire, only to see another one start. Our men are exhausted by the task. We drop tons of bombs and deploy our regiments without being able to sweep away more than a handful of peasants armed with old rifles."
General Secretary Kuriyama frowns, "If I understand you correctly, General Tyo, we are condemned to constantly chase an enemy who is evading us."
General Tyo hastens to correct: "To fight a fire, Kuriyama san, there are two ways. Extinguishing the fires, as we have been trying to do until now, does not work. We are getting weaker while the enemy is getting stronger. The other possibility remains: to deprive the fire of fuel, that is to say to deprive the enemy of supply. To do this, we tried to cut off the enemy's supply lines - without success, because there are too many of them: we set up a roadblock in the east, the supplies were sent to the west. No, the only solution is to strike at the head."
The general stands up and points to the large map of Indochina that covers a wall: "Here is the base of Dien-Bien-Phu. This is the only airfield still in enemy hands. It is vital for the supply of his forces. If we attack it, they will be forced to defend it without retreat because it is also their headquarters. In one operation we can cut off the head of the snake, crush the best of its army and cut off its supply lines at the base. In a word, inflict a fatal blow to the adversary.
- Didn't we make a first attempt to do this a year ago
[in June 1942, in fact]?" asks Consul Ogawa.
- That's right," Tyo grumbles. "But given the situation in Malaya at that time made it so that the resources committed were not up to the task. We should not make that mistake again.
The general is discreetly silent about the fact that, while Singapore had fallen seven months earlier, the situation on the Burmese front and in China was such that it seemed difficult that Tokyo would allocate significant resources to eliminate a miserable enemy base lost in the jungle...

* Shinto shrine where Japanese who gave their life for Japan are symbolically buried.
The belief of Japanese warriors in the value of sacrifice is called "Yatsukuni spirit".
This spirit is characterized by contempt for death, the shame of being captured (with the only way out being honorable seppuku), and the desire to recover the bodies of soldiers killed in battle and send their ashes to the eponymous shrine as a reward for their sacrifice. For the whole of Asia, this monument is today the much maligned symbol of Japanese nationalism.
** This text written by Musashi Miyamoto is a classic of Japanese warfare. It is largely inspired by the work of Sun Tzu, but enriched by the very rich personal experience of its author, famous ronin of the 17th century.
 
7779
April 12th, 1943

Kiska
- Convinced that many troops are occupying the island, the Allies throw the third battalion of the 23rd US-IR and regimental elements on the beaches used the day before, while the 1st Battalion of the Canadian Fusiliers (City of London Rgt) land further north, near Witchcraft Point.
The fighting intensifies. But if the Americans are much better equipped than their comrades of the 9th US-IR during their battles on Attu, they do not have the experience of a confrontation with Japanese embedded on the ground. A mild weather fortunately allows the A-24s of the 407th BG to be called upon to multiply the interventions.
 
7780
April 12th, 1943

Changsha
- In the six weeks since he arrived in China, Joseph Needham has wasted no time. Shamelessly shaking off the dusty diplomatic bureaucracy, he has multiplied his contacts with Chinese academics to find out how he could best carry out his mission: to save the Chinese higher education system from annihilation, which had been severely struck by six years of war and the disorderly exile of the intellectual elite to the interior.
He took advantage of this to finally live his dream: to fully immerse himself in a China until then only dreamed of in his Cambridge laboratory. One of his first decisions was to dress in the Chinese style: he had a local tailor make a superb blue silk changpao lined with white satin, his tall, gangly Englishman's height made it impossible to wear clothes with local measurements. For the natives, he is Li Yuese, a strange foreigner with his big Western nose and his giant size, but elegantly dressed like an old-fashioned scholar and speaking a very correct, if a bit stiff Mandarin. And his success with the female population of the Middle Kingdom has nothing to envy to the one that earned him a deserved reputation as a Casanova in Cambridge, where he left his wife, his mistress and an unknown number of one-night stands.
The day before, he left Chongqing for the first time since late February. A plane took him to Changsha, to prepare a report to the Chinese government about the use by the Japanese of bacteriological weapons that some provincial officials have alleged. The provisional capital of Nationalist China had seemed to be in bad shape because of frequent Japanese bombings, but the capital of Hunan province is now a ruinous mess, ravaged by a series of sieges, counter-sieges, voluntary destructions to leave nothing to the enemy and, the year before, caught in the fires of the bloody campaign of Zhejiang-Jiangxi. It is in a dispensary of the Red Swastika installed on the bank of the Xiang river that Needham begins his investigation, flanked by the one who will be his secretary and confidant for many years, Huang Xingzong.
 
7781
April 12th, 1943

Schorfheide Forest
- Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring decides to take a few days of rest. The former World War I ace wants to take his mind off the war and get away from the hateful atmosphere in Berlin for a short time. The muffled struggle between the Nazi hierarchs and his crushing responsibilities are weighing more and more heavily on his shoulders. A stay devoted to his two passions, hunting and playing with beautiful model train circuits,is planned. But while waiting to arrive at Carinhall, his beautiful country house, Göring still has to deal with a few reports.
The most recent report is devoted to the Luftwaffe's ground formations. Several divisions are already operational, to the fury of some Wehrmacht officers. But he does not care. By reinforcing the contribution of the Luftwaffe to the war effort, Göring intends to remain in Hitler's favor and to counterbalance the ambitions of his many political rivals. The frequent recourse to morphine does not, however, alter all his intellectual capacities: it would be better if these units, on whatever front they were, remain in the second line, in reserve.
 
7782
April 12th, 1943

Moscow
- The commander-in-chief of the Soviet air force is finalizing an action plan for the coming months. Alexander Novikov wants to find a way to disrupt the Wehrmacht's organization and operational capabilities. Rather than directly attacking the front line, he has the idea of attacking the Achilles' heel of the adversary: its logistic lines. For that, Novikov intends to mobilize the bomber divisions of air forces engaged in secondary theaters and reinforce their impact by drawing additional units from the Stavka reserves. The priority targets will be the high-capacity railroad lines used by the Ostheer and its allies, the major railroad facilities, fuel, supply and ammunition depots, as well as major airfields used by Luftwaffe transport units. Stalin approves the idea and even demands that the effort be stepped up. For this purpose, it is necessary to call upon the bombing and ground attack units of ALL Fronts. The list of targets should also be expanded: why not attack the major cities in the enemy's rear by mobilizing long-range aircraft (Ilyushin Il-4 and especially Petlyakov Pe-8 and Yermolayev Yer-2)? Their range should be sufficient to attack the Polish and even Prussian urban centers by day and night.
Thus amended, Novikov's plan is validated. It will implement, from north to south, the 13th and 14th Air Armies (Baltic Fronts), the 2nd, 8th and 15th Air Armies (Belorussian Fronts) and the 3rd, 4th, 16th and 17th Air Armies (Ukrainian Fronts) - nine air armies in all. In parallel, the air component of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets will be mobilized to attack coastal targets, including in the depth of the enemy's position. Finally, an independent corps of long-range bombers will be entrusted to General Golovanov to strike the large opposing cities. Of course, such requirements may affect the efficiency of crews and equipment not necessarily designed or trained for these particularly demanding missions but Novikov prefers to keep it to himself. The start of operations is set for April 20th.
 
7783
April 12th, 1943

Italian front
- The Brosset brigade, of the 83rd DIA, goes into reserve on the French left wing, towards Trevi; it is relieved on its former positions by the Belgian 4th ID.
Meanwhile, on the French right wing, the 86th DIA extends its position eastward, to meet the 46th British ID. In this compartment, the clashes are only minor, German infantrymen seem to have deserted the field.
Further east, the picture is the same for the Indians, who patrol all day in the Sibylline Mountains without being caught once.
 
7784
April 12th, 1943

Trigoso
- Return from Villafranca where we spent the night, in this beautiful spring day that can sometimes make you forget the world war activity. Even the driver Moritz has slowed down the pace of the beautiful 6C 2300, whose engine is purring on the Tuscan and Ligurian curves. However, one should not forget its duties! Upon arriving in Trigoso, the Oberst Thom immediately starts looking for a place to set up a launch pad. Precisely, the promontory bordering the port to the west, Monte Castello, seems interesting. Its slope corresponds to that of the V1 ramps, they could be installed directly on the ground! At the right angle, of course.
By going around the hill on the side of Sestri Levante, Georg Thom quickly notices a similarity of the two faces, favourable to a doubling of the ramps. It will be necessary of course to foresee also a solid Flak battery on the hill*.
Whether in Trigoso or in the neighboring town of Sestri Levante (the two towns touch each other), a greater German presence, like at La Spezia, a fracture in the ranks of the population between those who support the fascists of the RSI and the opponents - royalists or "reds", who are quite numerous. Certainly, innkeepers and hoteliers, whatever their opinion, are forced to comply with the demands of their customers, especially those dressed in verdigris, but the hostility is often palpable, and Georg Thom can only observe this. But as long as he is served properly, he doesn't mind...

* Remains of this battery still exist today and are often mistaken for ancient ruins by tourists!
 
7785
April 13th, 1943

Quonset Point
- Another crash, much more serious this time.
Lagadec: "The pilot came in way too fast and literally framed the planet. An ambulance evacuates him to the military hospital in Boston. The plane is nothing but a wreck.
I immediately send all our young people on the ground back into the air, a little brutally perhaps, but too bad! I only remember afterwards that in school they must have seen more crashes than we, the old ones, have seen recently."
 
7786
April 13th, 1943

Amsterdam
- The SS is preparing the deployment of the Indische Freiwilligen-Legion in Holland - in fact, a small regiment. Indeed, if the Indians, as promised, will not fight against the Russians, they can always be used, while waiting to liberate India, to protect the coasts of Europe against a possible landing of the disgraced British! At least, this is what the German General Staff estimates, in its wisdom.
This is why, one month later, the 1st Battalion moves to Zandvoort, a seaside town twenty kilometers west of Amsterdam, while the 2nd Battalion is deployed north of the island of Texel, in the Frisian archipelago.
 
7787 - Start of the Battle of the Andaman Sea
April 13th, 1943

Indian Ocean (Andaman Sea)
- Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall of Sqn 413, in Port Blair, spends a long time in front of the map. If it is indeed a Japanese fleet the Catalina had spotted the day before, if it is heading straight for Port Blair at 25 knots, by dawn, it will be... here. Right on the ocean. No need to watch the waves
closer to the Andaman. The Wellingtons will take off well before dawn, they will have nothing to see during the first hour of flight anyway. But as you never know, the Catalinas will take off at first light.
.........
The Wellington A for Able takes off in the middle of the night like its six teammates (the eighth had an engine problem). The pilot-officer L.A. Leicester is at the controls.
"It's very beautiful, a sunrise over the Indian Ocean, especially from the air. But hey, of course, we weren't looking at the colors that made the sky look like a shimmering silk fabric... We were wearing out our eyes trying to spot a wake, and preferably several. The first one to spot something would get a free drink at the mess in the evening. At my post, I was far from being the best person to see something. But I was the one who hit the jackpot - in my radio headphones.
A frying sound of the same kind I had learned to recognize over occupied Europe the year before. There was a German-made radar in the area. On a guess, I tried to head to the side where the frying was stronger and bingo! It was the forward gunner, Sgt. Ira Bennett, who started yelling:
"Skipper! I see them, I see them! Tonight, I want a free drink too!"
I told him OK - if there was anything left to drink after the Japs passed. Because you could see two aircraft carriers launching everything they had...
"
Either the radar operator of the Junyo (which has the best radar in the fleet) was distracted by the launch of the raid, or that the fighters on patrol were not properly directed: A for Able is not worried.
.........
At Port Blair, the Wellington's message, quite accurate (two aircraft carriers, two battleships, four or five cruisers and ten destroyers at least), triggers effervescence. The Spitfires wait until the last moment to take off and climb in order to welcome the enemy. The Blenheim IVs take off alone, counting on the cloud cover to sneak up on the enemy fleet before a semi-diving attack.
But on the seaplane base, the distance to be covered is estimated. About 400 miles.
"Nautical miles," growls Andrew Sewell, 804's commander, "not statute miles!" At this distance, his Floatfires would have difficulty escorting the Northrop N-3PBs of the 10F. It is to be expected that time will be lost searching for the target and that a fight will consume a lot of oil... "Don't worry," smiles CC Jean Maudron, of the 10F, tapping his nose, "I have a nose for it, we'll go straight there!"
But he too knows that it is unlikely that he will still have an escort when he arrives on the Japanese fleet.
Nevertheless, the eighteen N-3PBs take off in great sprays of water, followed by the twelve Floatfires.
.........
Leaving first, the Japanese raid strikes around 08:40. Forty bombers escorted by twelve Zeros. The 14 operational Spitfires of Sqn 132 are waiting for them, but the Japanese fighters interpose themselves and the pilots of the bombers show their usual Japanese impassivity - despite the losses, they do not break formation and carru out their attack to the end. The Port Blair facility is hit hard, and, as the Japanese planes fly away, great plumes of smoke rise into the sky. The attackers lost nine aircraft (two Zero, two Kate and five Val) in exchange for three Spitfires.
.........
About an hour later, the Blenheims of 211 arrive at the supposed position of the fleet, but see only a deserted ocean. They turn around for more than twenty minutes before spotting the enemy. During this time, the Japanese radar detected them and all their available Zeros - twenty-two - take off. But as the fighters begin to climb, one of the fighters that had taken off from the Ryuho lets out a cry of alarm: torpedo bombers! They are indeed the N-3PBs of the 10F. Ensign Georges Lejoyeux follows his leader closely - it is his first combat.
"The Pasha did not lead us straight to the Japanese, but almost: we only had to turn about ten minutes before we saw them. But we all knew that ten minutes were too long for the Floatfire and that we were going to be naked when it came time to attack. All of a sudden, the sky and the sea, just below us, were filled with tracers and shell explosions, I felt like the Fourteenth of July, in the role of a firework! In the headphones, the Pasha was calmly giving his orders: Blue (it was him, and eight others including me) by the right, Green (the nine others) by the left, it was necessary to take the aircraft carriers in pincer, but where were they, these aircraft carriers? He seemed to know, and I followed him, telling myself that I would end up seeing them too. Someone shouted, "Zero's overhead, at eight o'clock, they're coming towards us!" I realized that we had lost the other wingman of the Pasha, I never knew whether it was the flak or a Zero that got him. And then we heard the most wonderful music in our headphones: the voice of Squadron Leader Sewell. "Hullo Blue Leader, this is Red Leader, I take care of your ass. Yellow Leader is covering your Green buddies!" The Floatfire of the 804 had not let us go!
The rest of the fight remains confused in my memory. I finally saw the aircraft carriers. I saw the carriers and dropped my torpedoes, I could hear my gunner yelling at the Zeros and firing everything he could.
I tried to follow the Pasha but he wasn't there anymore, so I headed for Port Blair and found myself alone between sky and sea.
On the way back, I first got lost, then I found my way back, in the end I was almost out of oil, fortunately, you couldn't miss Port Blair, with columns of smoke visible for I don't know how many miles. I landed easily, but when I got out of my cockpit, I was as wet as if I had been in the water. The mechanics were making a funny face. I quickly realized that by now, no one was expected to return, and nine of the eighteen planes were missing. One of them was the Pasha's. The eight others that had returned were pierced like skimmers, but mine was intact!
As for the guys of the 804... None of the twelve had returned. Well, no Floatfire.
Sewell had told his guys at the last minute that there was no way we were going to be left alone and that they would be picked up on the way back by Catalinas...
And it was true: six of their guys got away with it (the Catalina pilots said they were yelling so loudly on the radio to be picked up just before they went to the bathhouse that we had to hear them from Tokyo!). But Squadron Leader Andrew Sewell stayed there.
Since that day, the planes of the 10F also carry the 804 badge and those of the 804 the 10F insignia
."
.........
The Floatfires of the 804, at a great disadvantage because of their floats, nevertheless shot down four Zeros (including one by Lt. R.J. Cork and one by Lt. Blake, both of whom were among the survivors). Most importantly, they prevented the total destruction of the 10F.
But the courage of the English and French aviators could only obtain a mediocre result: only one torpedo hit the target, and it did not hit one of the targeted aircraft carriers but the small heavy cruiser Kako. Hit at the level of the front boiler room, it has to stop.
It is then that the twelve Blenheims appear. It seems that the cries of the Japanese director of the fighters who had spotted them on his radar screen were drowned out by the noise on the frequencies as the Zeros fought the Floatfires and N-3PBs. As a result, the twin-engine semi-dives went unopposed.
But the Blenheim crews only ever bombed ships during training, and the conditions of the battle are quite different!
Three of them attacked the biggest target in sight: the battleship Mutsu. A 500-pound bomb scratches the colossus, destroying a double-masked 127mm AA mount and killing or wounding most of its crew, while the flak shoots down one of the twin-engine planes.
Six aircraft attack the easiest target : the Kako, immobilized. The cruiser receives a 500-pound bomb which explodes at the level of the avia installations, destroying a seaplane and starting a fire. A 250-pound bomb disembowels the connecting duct between the already hit boiler room and the forward stack, causing steam to billow from a boiler already damaged by the torpedo explosion. Another 250-pound bomb demolishes a 120mm anti-aircraft mount. The Japanese safety teams respond effectively and bring the fires under control, while the front boiler room is isolated, to allow for a controlled flooding. The cruiser sinks slightly but keeps a stable list and attitude.
Finally, three Blenheims attack the Junyo, but only succeed in shaking it as two near-misses riddle the hull with shrapnel, but without much damage.
That's the end of it. The first round of the Battle of the Andaman was a close call.
The most notable result is that the Japanese have lost the Kako, which is out of action. However, the cruiser is able to resume its course at 10 knots, with the forward boiler room drowned and fires extinguished. It is sent back to Singapore, accompanied by the only destroyer Yugiri.
.........
On board the Mutsu, Kondo is reasonably satisfied. He has suffered limited losses and is convinced that he has eliminated the Andaman air strike force - this is true, given the Blenheims' lack of expertise. His plan can follow its course.
In the afternoon, he would launch the battleships towards Port Blair, with the Naka and six destroyers. In addition to their original mission, they will target two interesting prey that the airmen had reported: a cruiser and a light aircraft carrier! It is of course the small Tynwald (whose dense anti-aircraft fire was an illusion) and the poor Commandant-Teste, which never carried a single aircraft*...
Meanwhile, the aircraft carriers, with the Chokai, the Abukuma and the other destroyers, will sail straight to Rangoon.
.........
As Kondo had predicted, the afternoon is calm. The defenders of Port Blair were prepared for a second wave that would not come. Not having the means to launch a new attack, the British are content to watch from afar, thanks to the Wellingtons and Catalinas of Sqn 413, the movements of the Japanese fleet. However, it seems that the separation of the fleet into two groups was not spotted, or that it was considered temporary and due to the normal maneuvers of the launching and maneuvers of the carriers launching and recovering their CAPs.
Far to the west, Somerville and the Eastern Fleet had sailed, of course, but slowly, slowed down by the heavy Nelson and Rodney.

* In addition to the hundreds of aircraft it flew - from December 31st, 1939 to June 18th, 1940, it flew about 300 aircraft from France to Algeria and Lebanon, mainly training aircraft, before devoting itself to the delivery of American aircraft to NAF.
 
7788
April 13th, 1943

Da Cau region (not far from the Cho operation theater)
- If the Vietnamese and other Indochinese are naturally in the front line during the confrontations against the Japanese, the former colonizer did not abandon his people (not entirely voluntarily, it must be admitted...). But for one year, the bulk of the French forces in Indochina, or rather of what survived the Japanese invasion, remained on the sidelines.
For political and strategic reasons, these troops devoted themselves, on the one hand to the defense of Dien-Bien-Phu, on the other hand to the training of the Su Doan (divisions) of the new Vietnamese army. The Vietminh was able to demonstrate, in the meantime, that it excelled in the defensive. General Martin, however, imposed, supported by High Commissioner Jean Sainteny, that the first real offensive - limited as it was, but so symbolic - was left to French troops. It is appropriate to remind everyone, both in the rebel camp and in the occupying camp, that the liberation of Indochina from the yoke of Japan would come from the Allies - and first of all France. The new President of the Council fully approves: if he had once promised autonomy to the peoples of Indochina, he has to show that France can offer it to them and that they will not pick it up in the dust of the tricolor defeat.
.........
The 9th Colonial Infantry Regiment only exists in name. What remains of it barely reaches the size of a reinforced battalion - the same is true of the other regiments in Indochina. Some practical-minded Vietnamese have suggested that it would be simpler to disband some regiments and bring the others up to full strength. They were met by a group of vociferous French officers, horrified that the traditions of their units could be thrown to the wind. A few weeks later, however, they admitted a provisional dissolution of some regiments, but in the hierarchical order of their history and seniority; the 9th RIC will survive, of course. In the meantime, what will soon be its core is preparing to write a new page of glory (as its citation in the Army Order will say).
.........
The soldiers wearing Adrian helmets look strangely out of place in this landscape of rice fields drowned in the shadows of the night. Major Lejeune stands at the front of the second of three columns deployed around the village of Dinh Bang.
Binoculars in hand, he glances anxiously at the watch ticking on his wrist. The men are silent. The mortar men have set up their tubes and are standing by. The Mac 24/29 machine gunners have taken their finger off the trigger of their weapons. They are so nervous that a shot could go off unintentionally. Unfortunately, the battalion has no weapons heavier than a few Hotchkiss 1914 machine guns - museum pieces. In 1942, during the long retreat through Indochina, we could not afford any guns! But the men are there, ready for action.
Lejeune seizes the flare pistol handed to him by Lieutenant de Saint-Pal. On the dial of his watch, the second hand has just joined the 12 in company of the two other hands. Midnight!
A red rocket rises in the dark sky.
The men who launch the attack are curiously armed. Most of them have Berthier 1934 rifles, rechambered to 7.5 mm to be able to use the ammunition of the MAS 36. The others have some kind of rifle - in fact, M50 Reising. This inexpensive weapon was originally intended for the US Coast Guard and American submarine crews. It only found its way to the front line on secondary fronts - the Casabianca discreetly delivered several hundred to the Annam coast.
No sooner had the troops gone a hundred meters than heavy fire causes the soldiers to dive behind the dikes that cut through the rice field. A few wounded are rescued, while the French retaliate: mortar fire surrounds a solid bunker made of logs and sandbags, sheltering a machine gun that sows death. Impossible to breach the solid protection with the small 60 mm tubes with which the battalion is armed. Sergeant Maurras nevertheless advances with his group: a machine gun and several men, mostly Vietnamese, armed with rifles and grenades. They are covered by fire directed at the first enemy line and by a few smoke shells, which allows them to approach the Japanese bunker with only one casualty.
While the machine-gun enfilade the nearest trench, killing a dozen enemies, Maurras pulls the pin on a grenade and sends it right into the machine-gun slot of the bunker. A puff of gray smoke rises and a sonorous bang shakes the building.
In the French lines, a bugle sounds the assault, in the old fashioned way. The men leave their shelters to run towards the trenches. Machine guns and mortars support the advance. Hating to undergo this kind of attack, the Japanese come out of their shelters to counter-charge. The two groups clash with the bayonet, but the Reising machine guns, very effective at short range, give the attacker the advantage.
Cut to pieces, overwhelmed by a more numerous attacker, the soldiers of the Empire of the Rising Sun retreat. Orders go up from the rear, the Japanese let go and retreat more or less in order towards the interior of the village.
But on his side, Sergeant Maurras does not remain inactive. While the first line is being stormed, he decides to push his luck and keeps moving. His squad eliminates a few lone Nipponese before reaching a new blockhouse that blocks the main street. Better still, having anticipated the Japanese retreat, the sergeant finds the structure unoccupied. He quickly placed his FM in battery and opens fire on the men who are retreating.
The flares that fall from the end of their parachutes illuminate the mustard uniforms and tetsu-bo helmets of the Japanese. The sudden fire from their own lines throws them into a stupor. The MAC 24/29 lays down one row of soldiers and scatters the others, who take refuge in the ruined huts and return fire with energy while the advancing French clean up the front line (they all know that they must avoid leaving behind any Japanese!).
The fight goes on for several minutes. Caught between two fires in the darkness, the Japanese resist tooth and nail, when the lieutenant who commands the defenders decides to charge the bunker that prevents his men from redeploying. Against all modern military doctrines, the descendants of the samurai gather in the street under the enemy fire in a compact block bristling with bayonets. Led by the lieutenant, katana in the clear, they throw themselves with a formidable Banzai !
The FM and the machine guns dig bloody gaps in the ranks of the Japanese even before they come into contact, and then at the moment of being overrun, Maurras had grenades prepared in advance thrown. It is a slaughterhouse... The explosions splash the whole street with blood.
The battle is still raging. The soldiers of the Mikado fight without the slightest concern for their own lives. However, the battle has definitely turned in favor of the attackers, who arrive in a banana plantation separated from a bamboo grove by a pond covered with water lilies. The Japanese soldiers hide under the vegetation cover, but once again the machine guns give the advantage to the French.
Reinforced by a dozen men, the sergeant and his group pierce what remains of the Japanese lines. What a surprise for Maurras when he arrives in the center of the village: in the middle of the small square, a Japanese officer is waiting for them. He is mounted on a superb white horse and wears a summer uniform without a jacket. His boots are perfectly polished and his off-white shirt is immaculate. Drawing his sword, he charges alone the soldiers covered with the mud of the rice fields. Petrified for a moment, Maurras reacts and empties the magazine of his Reising. Without knowing it, the sergeant has just killed the Japanese commander of Dinh Bang. His horse, lucky (it is unhurt) and used to the clash of weapons, does not flee. It is recovered as a trophy, along with the officers' sabers.
The fighting is not over, however. The town hall served as the enemy's last bastion, and it is one of the few solid buildings in the village. Mortars and machine-guns are relentless for half an hour, but the enemy does not surrender. An assault is necessary. It is the last of the battle of Dinh Bang, but it is also the most deadly, because the Japanese have machine guns and know how to shoot. The French lose many men, but once the first ones are able to throw grenades into the building, the matter is settled. The echoes of the explosions has hardly died down that the doors are broken down. Maurras is one of the first to enter. The interior is a nameless chaos, a few wounded Japanese groan in the middle of the debris that litter the ground. They are the only prisoners (for the few who will survive the trip to the Highlands).
We go upstairs, there are still a few survivors. Sergeant Maurras almost dies a second time from a sword blow, when a second lieutenant throws himself on him katana raised. It is one of the sergeant's men who shoots him with a burst of fire.
Half an hour later, the soldiers of the 9th RIC gather around the triumphal gate of Dinh Bang, decorated with two dragons now speckled with impacts. Lejeune gives a short speech: "Gentlemen, we have just won a battle that will not appear in the history books. Except for you, no one will remember that it was fought. That does not change the courage you have just shown. Never forget it. There will be hundreds more such battles before the enemy is defeated. Each one will be a nail in his coffin. Vive la France! Long live Vietnam!" He sees clearly, Lejeune.
 
7789
April 14th, 1943

Kiska
- Today there is no snow, no rain, not even a stormy wind, but the almost clear weather of the day before has been replaced by a layer of ice fog which limits the visibility, blurs the details or even erases elements of the landscape... This fog considerably hinders the fighters - especially the attackers, of course, especially since the aerial interventions are done almost blindly.
In the north, the Canadians first try to pass between the plateau that separates them from the south-eastern coast and the volcano that forms the northern tip of the island. But the lakes that extend in this sector (East and West Kiska lakes and Lake Christine) had begun to thaw and the terrain is impassable, forcing the Canadian Fusiliers to climb the plateau.
To the south, the Americans are now up against the best-defended area. The Japanese mines and machine guns cause many casualties.
 
7790
April 13th, 1943

Zossen
- The meeting almost sounds like a conspiracy, but Zeitzler insists on the need to discuss matters outside the German capital. Berlin is a nest of spies and it would be wrong for Jodl or Keitel to be able to warn Hitler against the famous plan that Kluge had told him about even before it was presented to him.
Accompanied by Heusinger, the chief of operations of the OKH listens attentively to Manstein.
This one proposes quite simply to destroy the Soviet armies massed in Ukraine in order to prevent the Red Army from launching a devastating summer campaign. For that, Manstein recommends to strike from the strong to the strong by a straight blow to the 1st and 3rd Fronts of Ukraine, by employing powerful armored masses that would shear the opposing positions and deal severe blows to the Soviet power.
But, argues Heusinger, couldn't the Russians refuse the fight? In this case, the assaults of the Panzers would only lead to territorial gains without any future. Manstein replies that in order to force the Soviets to commit themselves fully and to deploy their precious reserves, it is necessary to attack a point that Stalin will refuse to abandon. A place that he will do everything to defend, even if it means making serious mistakes and allowing an encirclement. Zeitzler and Heusinger do not need a map to understand what their interlocutor is getting at. There is only one city that could capture the attention of the Soviet leader: Kiev. But that would not be the only advantage. The third largest city in the Soviet Union could also prove to be tempting enough from Hitler's point of view that he would validate the whole operation! However, the three generals are aware that the success of this project would require a united front against the OKW, Halder and all those who might oppose it.
At the end of the meeting, the roles are distributed. First of all, the Führer must be approached.
 
7791
April 13th, 1943

Italian Front
- The clean-up around Norcia is complete and the two British infantry divisions are advancing at a snail's pace across a landscape empty of Germans. The Germans seem to have withdrawn to the next ridge lines. It is again an extremely calm day, which sees the junction between the French 86th DIA and the British 46th ID.
In the air, the Belgian P-39s distinguish themselves. Helped by some advanced air controllers seconded to the Italians, they patrol over the valley between Fabro and Orvietto, destroying more than twenty vehicles.
 
7792
April 14th, 1943

Quonset Point
- Lagadec: "Our 50 pilots, well unfortunately 49 now, have finally finished with the landings. Everyone finally understood. It cost us a pilot and two planes, one of which was a total loss.
Despite the accident of the day before, the atmosphere is not too much altered. The old-timers, used to losses in combat, hide their feelings and the young people model their attitudes on their elders. We note just a few words that are a little louder and more nervous than usual."
 
7793
April 14th, 1943

Sidi Rached Bridge, Constantine
- As night falls, a white-haired man in a long, dressed in a long anonymous grey coat is hurrying along. Probably a traveller who has lingered in the city center and is hurrying not to miss the last civilian train to Algiers. Nobody pays him any attention. At the most a walker notices, at some distance behind the old man, a group of three men who walk in the same direction and seem to be in a great hurry.
 
7794
April 14th, 1943

Burmese Front
- A formation of 8 Hurricane IIIs from Sqn 1 RIAF, 8 H-87 from Sqn 341(B) and 8 Hurricane IIc from Sqn 342(B) attack the base north of Ye that the Wellingtons had visited a week earlier. The overcast weather masks the approach of the attackers and the surprise is total. Many planes are destroyed on the ground, without any loss for the attackers. Following this raid, the Japanese command asks Singapore to provide flak reinforcements. In an emergency, it withdraws several sections of anti-aircraft guns from the front.
 
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