The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

According to Ng Nguyen Giap's new organization of the Khmer Rouge (KPA), the KPA was reorganized into the 1st Corps of the South Vietnamese People's Army, comprising the 101st, 102nd, 103rd, 107th, and 111th Divisions, and directly under them were the 112th, 113th, and 311th Regimental Detachments. Detachment 112 was reorganized into an artillery detachment, Detachment 113 into an armored detachment, and Detachment 311 into a special operations detachment. The 107th Division, which achieved the greatest success in this battle, received the most equipment, including over 20 trucks and numerous machine guns. Le Nguyen Giang was arguably the best-equipped of the five divisions.

After the reorganization was completed, Wu Yuanjia immediately summoned four division commanders and three detachment commanders from the 111th Division to his temporary command post for a meeting. When Li Zhen, Zhen Xiang, Nguyen Yi Min, Li Yuanjiang, and Nguyen Jingguo arrived at Wu Yuanjia's command post, they saw a stranger in black sitting with Commander Wu. It seemed that Commander Wu was very respectful to the man in black, as if a subordinate were meeting a superior. You know, Wu Yuanjia was not humble even in front of the leader of the liberation organization, Li Pei, and the Soviet representative Makarovsky. Such respect for a stranger surprised everyone. Nguyen Jingguo was shocked: "Could it be?"

In reality, the others shared Ruan Jingguo's thoughts. To put it bluntly, they were all personnel planted by Qin Shi. Upon receiving their orders, they had been following Wu Yuanjia's command. Seeing everyone present, Wu Yuanjia waved for them to take a seat. Seeing the surprised glances at him and the man in black, he smiled calmly and said, "We're all family, so I'll get straight to the point. This is the representative from that side. With the approval of the South Vietnam Liberation Front, he's serving as the Front's Chief of Staff!"

The man in black stood up, smiled at everyone, and said, "My name is Ruan Zhenhong. From now on, you can just call me Chief of Staff Ruan."

Seeing that there was no response to the shouting, Wu Yuanjia quickly stood up and said, "I won't tell you Chief of Staff Ruan's real name for now, but you should know his code name. He is the number 2 that everyone has been thinking about!"

Number 2! Everyone in the room immediately stood up in surprise. Everyone knew that Number 2 was Qin Shi's codename for Liu Molong, the successor to his secret organization. Qin Shi himself was Number 1, Liu Molong was Number 2, and there were also Numbers 3, 4, and 5, which would not be disclosed to the others for the time being. Wu Yuanjia also had a codename, ranking 17th. Clearly, the arrival of Number 2, Liu Molong, marked the transition of the South Vietnam War from one stage to another.

Seeing everyone's excited expressions, Chief of Staff Li (No. 2 Liu Molong) quickly gestured for everyone to sit down and said warmly, "You've all worked so hard on this front. No. 1 and I are very grateful for your hard work. My purpose this time is not only to fight alongside you, but more importantly, to take our ideals one step closer to realization!"

"One step further!" Everyone was deeply shocked. Everyone knew exactly what "one step further" meant. In other words, the South Vietnamese organization, led by Wu Yuanjia, would officially emerge, becoming the ultimate leader of South Vietnam and achieving the grand goal of nation-building!

Chief of Staff Li and Wu Yuanjia looked at the group of people, their faces full of excitement, whispering to each other but communicating intensely, and they also showed rare gratified smiles on their faces. Wu Yuanjia saw that everyone was a little too excited, so he quickly coughed lightly to remind everyone that the No. 2 leader was going to assign a task.

At Commander Wu's cough, everyone stopped, suppressed their excitement, and sat upright, their gaze level, awaiting Chief of Staff Li's instructions. Chief of Staff Li exchanged a glance with Wu Yuanjia, then stood up again and walked over to the map of the Ban Chai region on the command post's wall. He said in a deep voice, "Everyone is clear about the further understanding, so I won't elaborate here. The core of this step is to win the Battle of Ban Chai. This will lay the foundation for victory in the Cambodian region!"

He continued, "To tell you the truth, not only are you taking action, but the Cambodian National Salvation Army is also taking action. They will launch a large-scale guerrilla operation in the autumn north of Phnom Penh to tie down the main force of the French army and provide strong support for us to annihilate the French 7th Division in Ban Chai."

"Also, No. 7 will lead a Chinese contingent south of Phnom Penh. Everyone should be aware that No. 7's deployment in West Malaysia has been completed, and an agreement has been reached with the Malays for separate autonomy for both Malays and Chinese. Therefore, there's no need for so many military personnel in West Malaysia. To expedite operations in Cambodia and South Vietnam, we're bringing No. 7 and his men here to engage the French in a decisive battle. We're striving to resolve the Cambodian issue first."

"After the victory in the Battle of Ban Chai, the Liberation Front will hold a central organizational meeting. If nothing unexpected happens, Comrade Ng Nghia will become one of the five-member group of the Liberation Organization and the only military member. Everyone should understand what this means. I believe that under the leadership of Comrade Ng Nghia, the South Vietnamese People's Army and guerrillas will eventually fight back to Saigon and establish our true regime!"

After saying this, Chief of Staff Li signaled Wu Yuanjia to make battle deployments. Wu Yuanjia then stood up and said to the group, "Chief of Staff Li has already explained the deployment of the perimeter operations for the Battle of Ban Chai, so I won't explain further. Our 1st Corps' mission is to capture Ban Chai and seize the opportunity to annihilate the French 7th Division and other units that are reinforcing Ban Chai, thus achieving the complete liberation of eastern Cambodia!"

Wu Yuanjia then ordered, "101st Division Li Zhen, your main task is to hold the Banan line. If the French 7th Division moves north along the highway to reinforce, you should slowly lead the enemy to the designated battle zone!"

"102nd Division, Zhen Xiang, 103rd Division, Nguyen Nhat Minh, your mission is to deploy along the southern part of Ban Chai. Among them, you will be assigned to assist the 107th Division in besieging Ban Chai. The main force will maneuver as a mobile force to annihilate the French reinforcements."

"Li Yuanjiang, you will lead the 107th Division, the 112th, 113th, and 311th Detachments as the main force in the attack on Banchai. Your objectives are clear. You must utilize all favorable factors to decisively eliminate the enemy in Banchai and prepare for further expansion of your victory."

"Don't worry about logistics and supply support. The 111th Division, the eastern Cambodia base, the guerrillas, and the people have all been mobilized. The French 21st Brigade has already circled north, attempting to return to Phnom Penh and then turn around. Waiting for them is the Cambodian National Salvation Army. They will be unable to move forward and will inevitably be caught in the vast ocean of people's war."

"In addition, considering the uncertainties of the battle, the headquarters special operations team also secretly entered Phnom Penh. They will use the name of the Cambodian guerrillas to attack and sabotage Phnom Penh, forcing the enemy to prevent them from transferring troops from around Phnom Penh to Ban Chai."