Part VI: The Six Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Indochina Wars were a series of conflicts between the powers attempting to gain control over the Indochina region following GWII. The French Indochinese colonial administration went into instability when the French mainland was occupied by German forces. Although the colonial government swore allegiance to the new Vichy government which ruled France, it was still de-facto orphaned as it had no way of directly contacting the metropolitan homeland. British forces from India quickly moved in in 1941, in order to “reestablish order”. Seeing the colonial powers weakened gave a chance for indigenous peoples to move towards independence. The man at the forefront of Vietnamese independence was Ho Chi Minh. By the end of the war, in 1945, Ho Chi Minh petitioned France for allowing Vietnam greater autonomy. He also asked the United States to help back his independence movement. Both refused. Minor skirmishes occurred in the areas most supportive of Ho Chi Minh, where his Viet Minh operated.
1946: Nihonese weapons flow into northern Vietnam through the bay of Tonkin. Negotiations break down and fighting starts between the French colonial forces and the Viet Minh. The First Indochinese War begins.
1947: The Soviet Union begins shipping weaponry to Vietnam by way of the warm water ports of Iran, through the Indian Ocean, Straits of Malacca, and ports in Cambodia. The French launch Operation Lea in northern Vietnam.
1948: The French-controlled South Vietnamese government is cemented in place around Saigon. It is recognized as the true independent Vietnam shortly afterwards. The United States begins their alliance with Thailand.
1949: The Soviets begin sending military advisors and heavier weapons to the Viet Minh.
1950: The Soviet southern supply route is too unpredictable, as it must pass through much of French-controlled Indochina in order to reach the Viet Minh. The Soviets quickly reach the limit of how much supplies they can put through and begin searching for alternate routs. Without assurance of supplies, general Giap does not end the guerrilla phase of the war and waits. Without a significant Soviet threat to the US, Truman does not authorize large amounts of aid to the French and decides to wait for further developments.
1951: The Soviets make deals with Nihon, to use Nihonese shipping to ferry Soviet advisors, weapons, and supplies to the coasts of North Vietnam, which the French cannot control, and thus cannot restrict. The French cannot stop the Nihonese ships, as Nihon has too much military power in the region, especially from their bases on nearby Hainan. With proper supplies, general Giap ends the guerrilla phase of the war to attack French positions. There is a double-blow dealt to the French forces. They are taken by surprise in the sudden assaults on their fortified positions. Shortly afterwards, French general De Lattre is stricken with cancer and must return to France, temporarily paralyzing French leadership.
1952: De Lattre dies of cancer and is replaced by Raoul Salan. The French attempt a counter-attack but take heavy casualties in Giap’s hit-and-run attacks.
1953: French general Navarre takes command and conducts search and destroy missions with relative success, but Laos and North Vietnam are lost to the Viet Minh, and public opinion in France has turned against the war. Lacking funds and supplies, Navarre is unable to enact his strategy of baiting Giap into a pitched battle. Instead, he fortifies the cities and attempts to clear the coastal areas.
1954: Clearing the coastal areas fails, and the Viet Minh mass troops inside South Vietnam, surrounding the fortified cities. With popular support on their side, the entirety of the Vietnamese countryside is now in Viet Minh hands, with only pockets of heavily fortified positions around major cities remaining. Saigon, the symbol and center of French control, is shelled by artillery in a demonstration attack. Having been outmaneuvered, run out of supplies, the French sue for peace.
1955: The Geneva Conference gives much of the Viet Minh controlled territory to North Vietnam. Only Saigon and the Mekong River Delta Region remain with South Vietnam. Alarmed by the gains of communists in the region, with the support of the Soviet Union, no less, America “wakes up”. The Americans realize that were placated by their success in Europe and have not only let Persia and Vietnam fall into the hands of the Soviets, but also allowed anti-colonial independence movements throughout Africa and South Asia to be penetrated by socialist elements. America begins building military bases in Thailand.
1956: Unable to access Vietnam directly, the Americans cannot cancel the re-unification elections in Vietnam. The South refuses to participate, and with support from the U.S. resists the North Vietnamese. The U.S. sends aid to South Vietnam, but is limited by only being able to use British bases from Australia and Singapore.
1957: Viet Minh guerrillas and propagandists begin working in South Vietnam.
1958: North Vietnam declares a war of national reunification with the South. The Second Indochina War begins.
1959: Guerrilla attacks on Saigon. Laos under the control of communists.
1960: Thailand, with American air support, sends troops to Laos to help the pro-westerners “re-establish democracy” before the Declaration of Neutrality of Laos can be made. The North Vietnamese Army begins their strategy of encircling Saigon. The US sends thousands of advisors and combat troops to Vietnam to protect Saigon.
1961: Large scale bombing operations in Vietnam begin.
1962: China agrees to give assistance to South Vietnam.
1963: Having mismanaged the war, a coup deposes Diem. The South becomes completely dependent on the U.S., the Siege of Saigon is slowly coming into place.
1964: The U.S. begins air raids over North Vietnam.
1965: The noose tightens around Saigon and the Siege begins in earnest. The Americans are trapped and unable to access the countryside. The Chinese conduct bombing runs against North Vietnam and Laos. The U.S. deploys the B-52 in Vietnam for the first time to conduct bombings inside South Vietnam.
1966: The Siege of Saigon continues, the bombing campaign in the Mekong Delta intensifies into one of the most ferocious bombing campaigns ever as the Americans attempt pound every square inch of land that could be used as a supply route for the forces sieging Saigon.
In the Cochinchina Crisis, American warships intercept a Nihonese shipment convoy off the coast of Vietnam, knowing that it contained Soviet-made weapons for the Vietnamese. Nihon, a nuclear power, brought up nuclear submarines to the hotspot. Quickly, the situation escalates to the point where Nihon, China, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were on full alert and ready to go to war at the push of a button. It was the closest the world had ever gotten to global nuclear war, one that would have had all six of the worlds great powers at war with each other, as well as the world's three greatest alliance systems. In the end, the U.S. ships do not block Soviet shipments, in exchange, the Soviets withdraw all support from Cuba. The Soviet Union quickly breaks the promise and returns support for Cuba, but at the time it is enough for the U.S. to stand down while saving face. Nuclear war is averted.
1967: The U.S. decides there is no way to win, and hands over the reigns to South Vietnam in the “Vietnamization” phase.
1968: North Vietnamese offensives begin just as U.S. troops are beginning to leave every part of Vietnam they occupy outside of Saigon.
1969: The U.S. signs a cease-fire with North Vietnam.
1970: The U.S. leaves weapons for the South Vietnamese and evacuate soldiers in Saigon towards bases in Thailand.
1971: Saigon falls, the Second Indochinese War ends. The U.S. moves to secure Cambodia.
1972: Vietnamese forces escalate the conflicts in Laos and Cambodia.
1973: The U.S. enters Cambodia in force to prevent a feared communist takeover. The Third Indochinese War begins.
1974: Thailand begins full scale invasion of Cambodia, to help the Americans secure it, and hopefully retrieve lost territory. The Americans, needing Thai aid, ignore their motives. The communists in Cambodia set aside their differences with the Vietnamese communists to fight off the Americans.
1975: Even with Vietnamese aid towards the resistance, Cambodia is pacified. However, in the peace treaty, the Americans do not allow the Thai to annex Cambodian territory, fearing that they would lose public support in the entire region as foreign imperialists facilitating Thai conquest. Feeling betrayed, Thai relations with the U.S. cool. Thai units pull out of Laos and stop helping the pro-westerners. China fills the power-vacuum as the primary supporter of anti-communist elements in Laos, and sends advisors, weapons, and air support.
1976: Having secured a pro-American government in Cambodia, the U.S. prepares to arm a new Cambodian army and allow itself to exit the country, having contained the expansion of communist influence in the region. The Third Indochina War ends.
1977: The U.S. begins exiting Cambodia, leaving behind a pro-American military regime
1978: A coup in Cambodia destabilizes the government. Vietnam intervenes and military units cross Cambodian borders to install and pro-Vietnam government.
1979: The Sino-Viet War occurs. In response to the fall of the pro-western government in Cambodia and the Vietnamese attempt at replacing it with their own puppet, China initiates a “punitive” invasion of Vietnam, which is stopped just short of Hanoi. The Chinese retreat. The Chinese also withdraw from Laos, ending the Laotian Civil War. Vietnam withdraws from Cambodia, leaving it neutral, but keeps forces in Laos.
End of Part VI
Geopolitical map of the major factions and their influence by 1980:
